Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 115, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1910 — Page 2

TRIBUTE TO AMERICA. Tbere.li x-people mighty in its youth, A land beyond the oceans of the West, Where, though with rudest rites. Freedom and Truth Are worshiped. From a glorious mother’s breast Who, since high Athens fell, among the 'rest, 6at like the Queen of Nations, but ta woe. By Inbred monsters outraged and oppressed. Turns to her chainless child for succor now. It draws the milk of Power in Wisdom’s fullest flow. That land is like an eagle, whose young gaze Feeds on the noontide beam, whose golden plume Floats moveless on the storm, and In the blaze Of sunrise gleams when earth is wrapped in gloom; An epitaph of glory for the tomb Of murdered Europe may thy fame be made. Great people! As the sands shall thou become; Thy growth 4s wwtft as morn when night-meet -fade; Thy multitudinous earth shall sleep beneath thy shade. Yet in the desert there is built a home For Freedom. Genius is made strong to rear The monuments of man beneath thy dome Of a new heaven; myriads assemble there Whom the proud lords of man, in rage or fear, Drive from their wasted homes. Nay, start not at the same, America! —Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Don Felipe's Marriage

Sitting on the porch of his huge wooden mansion Don Felipe Waggoner and I Involuntarily overlooked the movements of the two young people in the rose garden below. The ardent glances of the man, and the coquettishness with which the girl received them were not lost upon us. A frown passed over the Don’s strong face, and he spoke openly to me from the fullness of his heart. "I don’t like it!’’ he exclaimed in his soft, almost effeminate voice. “In the old days this was the most democratic country on earth; we asked no tnkn’s record when he came to us, and in return it was an unwritten rule that he should Ignore our daughters. We married among ourselves, and at least till marriage a man’s life was as open a book as his pedigree.” The young man was my good friend, and as the Don had first spoken I frankly answered: “But, amigo, Wilshire’s pedigree will stand comparison with yours and quite likely his record also. Your own father, you remember, was a foreigner to the Californians, and I know of no wild oats that are worse than the crop you natives sow." The German blood, for Don Felipe was but half Spanish, had tempered the warmer southern stock and the Don merely laughed at my sally. "There is this difference between the races,” he answered. "You sow your wild oats before marriage and we do not. No doubt the boy is honorable in his Intentions toward Melisenda, and he Is a fine fellow. It is simply my antagonism to the new One thing only worries me; there must have been a girl ‘back home’ as you call it—one of those surprising American girls—and women do not soon forget a handsome man like Wilshire. Do you know if he was ever engaged for marriage there in the States?” In spite of the fact that he had been a loyal subject of “the States” all the days of his life, the Don never failed to thus refer to his sovereign power. Five years of Teddy Wilshire’s life I knew nothing of, but answered as best I might. True, there occurred to me a picture that had not so long ago graced the boy’s watch-case, but upon that I was silent. “Never, to my knowledge, Felipe, knd if so you have only to watch him now to see that he has safely forgotten.” Melisenda was reaching up to place a rose in her lover’s hat and he had allowed one arm to encircle her waist. She was a plump little figure of goodnatured loveliness and she jerked away and led him a merry chase about the garden. “Aye, dark eyes will call a man from any vow, but women do not forget so easily,” Felipe replied. “Come, It is 4 o'clock; let us ride over to the newest grove. If these Americans do not stop buying my grain land for orange orchards I shall be hard put to spend the money as fast as it comes in.” Which was only a sly joke, for the thriftiness of the German had blended in him strangely with the indolence of the Spaniard, and Don Felipe Waggoner alone of the descendants of the original owners of the Fernando Valley possessed riches still. It was the remembrance of the picture rather than Don Felipe’s forebodings which led me to take the intending bridegroom to task. “Of course I've had girls before,” he protested, “but they did not really count.” Laughingly he showed me that there was no picture there, and then finally seeing that I was not thus to be put off, he said: - "She was only a girl I used to know back East. Mighty clever girl, too; could do most anything,” he added in ▼indication of his previous choice. "And now you are going to throw her down?" I chanced. “Doni be so brutal in your language,” he flared up. “She understands how it is; she has no more.than I and I have no right to monopK olize her and make her wait for me,’* 1 he virtuously declared, and then, detecting a touch of amusement in ’may face, he went on, *A fellow gets tired of Intellectuality as a steady diet. Meljsenda is such a cute, lively little chunk a fellow can’t help preferring her.” There was a challenge in his •yes that restrained me when I would

have asked him if Don Felipe’s wealth had anything to do with his preference; and so we dropped the subject. The wedding of the only child of Don Felipe Waggoner to Theodore Wilshire of Boston was such as befitted the daughter of the “King of Fernando Valley.” And when the dancing was over and the young couple had departed I said to Felipe as I myself boarded a clty-bound twin: “Now that you have an assistant manager right in the family, you must devote more time to your own pleasure. Come and see me often.” Just what was Margaret Hall’s reason for coming to California was to the family something of an enigma. She was a second cousin of whose very existence we had lived in ignorance till she appeared upon our horizon. But relationship, coupled with the fact that Margaret was a beautiful and dignified blonde, induced me to show her some attention and to see that my sisters made her a welcome house guest. At first it seemed to me that Miss Hall entertained a feeling of distinct and ill-concealed boredom toward all the world, her Western cousins included. Only upon the subject of “Old California" did she display any enthusiasm, and as beauty covers many sins I went out of my way frequently to gratify this one interest of hers. It was one day when I was about to start

THE DON’S WEDDING.

on a trip to Fernando Valley that Sadie, my sister, said: “Why not bring Don Felipe back with you and spring him on Margaret. He is an animated bit of ’Old California’ that ought to amuse her.” In justice to Felipe be it said that important papers which must be executed, and not handsome ladies who must be amused, was the excuse which I used to toll him, to the city. Had Margaret been coached she could not have met the Don with a manner more calculated to catch his attention. Felipe was frankly critical of the "modern girl” as he called her; the trouble was that his gallant speeches were apt to disconcert her. But to his, “Senorita, this is indeed a grand surprise,” Margaret merely bowed and replied: ."I thank you, senor.” It was all so different—he,, the famous beau of other days to be thus coldly treated by a fair-haired American! I could see indignation wrestle with astonishment and determination finally win out. While two days would have sufficed for the business I had Improvised to bring him to the city, Don Felipe remained five and departed, after a wild course of automobile rides and theaters, with urgent Invitations to us all to visit the Fernando Rancho. “Melisenda is so anxious to meet more of her husband’s country-wom-en,” he said with a courtly bow to the ladies. Margaret, at whom we instantly felt the invitation was directed, replied: “It is kind of you to ask us, Don Felipe. I hope some day to visit your home, but fear it may not be for some time. But we hope you will not forget the way to the city." Nor did he. Four times in the next three months the papers chronicled the presence in the city of Don Felipe Waggoner. Margaret maintained hqr half-distant, half-inviting, and wholly attitude till the last; certainly no girl ever appeared less to throw herself at a rich man or to conceal her own extravagant tastes less. With his old-fashioned conservatism Don Felipe felt it wise to consult with his attorney regarding the wisdom of his second marriage. «’■ “My only child is well married. I am a rich man and can afford to en-

joy the balance of my life with less confining endeavor. Of course I shall have a town house, Margaret demands that, but Teddy can look after the ranch.” It was almost as though he were anxious to justify himself to me.” — . “But she la years younger than you, scarcely older than your own daughter. She may lead you a merry pace,” I objected. , “She Is years older (han Melisenda, in mental attitude at least. As to the merry pace, perhaps I am not such a ‘dead one’ myself." Musical comedy slang was having a sad effect on the purity of the Don's language, "You know American women are extravagant.” The streak of penury in Felipe’s nature had always puzzled me and I felt the caution a wise one. “Is Teddy Wilshire the man who is likely to preserve my fortune intact? That is why I have come to you. I have saved for my daughter, who has married a gringo and I do not Intend that that gringo shall enjoy all my wealth. I want you to arrange a trust fund which will give the Wilshires a comfortable Income for life; I will also provide therein for their possible offspring. This is to be kept an absolute secret even from my future bride and beneficiaries.” The figure he named was a generous one. “The rest,” he went on, with a whimsical smile, “my own gringo‘bride and my Spanish self (eliminate for the moment the consideration of the Dutch in me) shall enjoy as we see fit.” But In spite of the laughing inference the Don probably little anticipated to what an extent they would “enjoy” the ample remainder of his worldly goods. To give Donna Felipe Waggoner her due, it was the Wilshires who first precipitated hostilities by a refusal to attend the Don’s wedding, which was solemnized in the city. Teddy honored me with a letter which one did not need to read between the lines to discover whom he considered responsible for the match. He “devoutly hoped Felipe would.not let that woman make too big a fool of him.” "That woman,” in the light of the facts, was not as insulting a term as I at first construed it—l later learned Teddy, not having met her, did not even know his new mother-in-law’s name till some time after the ceremony. , The honeymoon "trip was taken in the magnificent automobile which had been Felipe’s wedding gift to his bride and was in the opposite direction from the Fernando Rancho. When they returned to the city a few days were consumed in purchasing a town house. Then with my coldly observing self as guest the couple ran out to give the bride her first view of the ancestral Waggoner acres. On the road as we glided smoothly along, Margaret riding in the seat beside the chauffeur, her eyes a-sparkle and her fair hair blowing willfully out beneath her veil, the Don found opportunity to say to me: “You have no idea how fine it is to spend money without a second or calculating thought I had not done so before since my glorious boyhood.” For the moment I quite envied him for having cut loose so completely from all his carefully prepared rules of life. The Wilshires met us where we dismounted before the brick gateway of the rose garden. It was idle curiosity rather than premonition that caused me to watch Teddy so closely as he took his first lorfk at the new Dona, but the start which he gave and the paleness that suddenly overspread his comely features must have attracted the others’ attention. While “mother and son” shook hands cordially, I could not detect that Teddy let his eyes meet the lady’s. The meeting puzzled me, and the one reason for a puzzle Is that It may be solved. I tried my hand at It that afternoon. It suddenly occurred to me that Teddy and Margaret were from the same State, near the same city.

“Massachusetts Is not such a large place; I’ve heard that every one around Boston knows every one else,” I ventured to say to the young gentleman later in the day. Sometimes I allow my own personal consciousness of my shrewdness to show too plainly in my eyes. Apparently this was one of those occasions, for Teddy irascibly answered: “Don’t have such an egotistical idea of your own smartness! I was simply startled to see what a handsome creature she is. No wonder the Don is blowing in so much on her. How long do you calculate it will take him to get through the whole pile at the present rate?” "Did you marry Melisenda for’ her money?” I brutally replied. “Melisenda is the sweetest little woman that ever lived. I grow happier every day to think that I got her,” and with this evasive answer he went to Join her. That same evening Margaret looked across the huge living room at her son-in-law and his wife together at the piano and whispered to me: “He is very much in love with her, isn’t he?” “I fear he has had considerable experience at being ’very much ’in love,’ ” I answered. An elevation of her fine eyebrows was her only answer and voluntarily I went on: “There used to be a picture in his watch-case; I never saw it at close range, but I’ve often seen him wistfully looking at it —before —you understand. I wonder where ,he keeps it now?” “Do pictures in watch-cases signify much? Most men carry them—l have' even sometimes suspected you of one,” she replied, and my disclaimer turned the conversation into safer channels For three years the “merry. pace” continued at an even livelier gait than I had dared to predict. While Mar-

gkret was Invariably the sponsor for each new method of making the money fly (what Spanish-Californian ever thought of a steam.yacht?) she had ai£ assenting second in the Don. Tp an observer—an observer whose fee new less as the estate diminished—deemed that Dona Waggoner’s only atm in life was to dissipate the heretofore carefully preserved fortune, and certainly she was a fine shot at such a target. l It was a horse—the mount of hia youth and not the automobile of his age—that dismounted Don Felipe from his journey through this vale of tears. He and I were at the ranch on a business tr4p wnd Margaret was in San Francisco. Felipe had had some words with his indignant son-in-law—that it concerned the rapid diminution of the Waggoner fortune I had no doubt and had rushed out to the stables, saddled the most unmanageable colt there, and started on a wild ride from whieh he never returned alive.. The quarrel must have been a very bitter one, for Teddy said as we carried the Don’s lifeless body Into the house of his nativity: "I suppose there will be sotnetfelng left to bury him with.” There was quite a considerable “something" left, as I duly reported a few months later to the beautiful woman gowned so becomingly in black. “Though less than half what It might have been, it is probably twice what would have been left had the Don lived a few more years,” I added reprovingly. “He was good to me. If I had a desire he was not happy till he had gratified it. And I tried to be good to him,” she said. “Undoubtedly you were. Don Felipe passed a happy youth, before the old Dutch Don died. And he was not happy again till you came into his life and taught him to throw the cloak of responsibility to the winds. Hereafter you can gratify your own desires with your own ample means.” “I never Intended that he should leave me a cent," she answered, looking dully out across the dingy roofs. “I wanted that we should spend it—spend it all. And he had provided for the Wilshires before he married me?” “Yes, though they knew nothing of It” _ “lam glad they did not; I wanted to spend it all—theirs as well as mine. They were afraid I was going to. Teddy was afraid, and he had many a bad hour over it, didn’t he?” “These last three years have been a hell on earth for him,” I answered. “I’m glad. For me they have been so gay I could not suffer—continuously. But oh! if I could only have spent every cent Felipe Waggoner ever had!” “But why? Why did you wish to leave those young people as well as yourself penniless?” She turned from her Intent study of the city roofs, regarded me thoughtfully for a moment with a puzzling smile upon her lips, and then slowly answered: “Because I was the original of that picture in Teddy Wilshire’s watchcase.**—Sap Francisco Argonaut.

CHEATED BY THE DOCTOR.

Toolc Off Two Fingers, but Charged Enoogh for a Whole Hand. “I think,” said the man with the drooping mustache, “I must have inherited my tendency to hold out for the worth of my money. There is nothing that galls me so badlyas to be cheated. I don’t object; tQ paying well for a good thing, but it disturbs me to pay out even a dime for what is worth only a nickel. As I have said, I think I must inherit this trait, or whatever it may be called. My uncle Thad was a great hand to Insist on getting his money’s worth, and when he didn’t he always roared loudly enough to let everybody know it. “One time he got his hand mixed up in the cogs of a harvest machine, and it was pretty badly mangled. The doctors thought at first they could save it, t but in a few days there began to be indications of blood poisoning, and Uncle Thad was informed that he would probably have to lose his arm. He kicked pretty hard, but at last gave in, when he was told that he would die unless he submitted to an operation. “They got Doc Bates down from the county seat to do the operating, and for a week or two Uncle Thad was pretty low. Finally he began to pick up, and when he was convalescent one of hie neighbors dropped in one day to see him. " ‘Well, Thad,’ the caller asked, ‘how you gettin’ along?’ “ 'Oh, first rate,’ said Uncle Thad, ‘but If you ever have to get any operatin’ done on you don’t let Doc Bates do it. He’s the worst cheat In this county. He charged me. $45 and only took off two fingers.’"—Chicago Rec-ord-Herald.

Nonedible.

Against an old Georgia negro, charged with stealing a pig, the evidence was absolutely conclusive, and the judge, who knew th© old darky well, said reproachfully, according to Harper’s Magazine: "Now', uncle, why did you steal that Pig?” “Bekkse my pooh family wuz starvin', yo’ honor,” whimpered the old man. “Family starving!” cried the judge. "But they told me you keep five dogs How Is that, uncle?” yo’ htmor,” said uncle, reprovingly, "you wouldn’t ’spect mah family to eat dem dogs?” If a man goes .yrong, he has some good luck if the people don’t say when telling of it, "It runs in the family." You can’t fool the people as easily as you think you can.

DUTCH ARCHITECTURE HONEST.

,HOU£«I of Holland Designed Moro - s? architecture of Holland could be sfarfmed up in the one word, honest. Prete&e is altogether latking, pfa to many this is far from being a fault. The Influence of Germany has been greatly felt, owing, of course, to the close proximity of that country. The French feeling has also found its way into the Netherlands for the same reason; but the Italian influence has rarely been known, and its absence is always to be deprecated, says the Delineator. The Dutch are a neat, thrifty people and their houses express to a marked degree many of their traits. In the cities and small towns, tor instance, the trim rows of private dwellings are particularly attractive, though built primarily for comfort and devoid of much adornment. While Dutch house exteriors may not Invariably please the eye, it must be remembered that the Hollanders have greatly atoned for thpir lack of artistic feeling here by A splendid Sense of interior decorating. Witness, for instance, their passion for tjfejft, porcelain and other ceramics, and the uses to which they have put them in their schemes for interiors. They cannot, then, be called a wholly inartistic people. Their homes, on the contrary, are worthy of the closest study; and the duplication of a Dutch house, Inside and out, should prove a fascinating idea. A Dutch kitchen, for example, is always delightful; and the same feeling, carried through the entire house, would make something rarely distinctive in this country. x

MEN OF ACTION.

In the rush for Alaskan gold men did not forget to be ready to help the unfortunate. The author of “Trailing and Camping in Alaska,” A. M. Powell, narrates an Incident that occurred at Valdez. The place was overcrowded with prospectors and miners, food was scarce and there was a good deal of Sickness. Many had come over the glacier, and others had lost their lives in the attempt. A dog team galloped up and stopped in front of the only pretense of a hotel at Valdez. The night was dark, as the northern winter nights always are when the moon is not shining. The dogs immediately lay down, almost exhausted from their long trip, and the two men were soon surrounded by inquiring friends. One of the two said: “What do you think, fellows? Just this side of Saw-Mill Camp we passed a woman who was pulling a sled on which was her sick husband. We .remonstrated against the undertaking of crossing the glacier, but she replied that they might as well die up there as anywhere else, as it meant certain death to stop. Our dogs could only pull our outfit, and there wasn’t grub enough for all, so we were compelled to leave them., They will be at the last timber to-night, and if somebody doesn’t go to their rescue, they will be dead by this time to-morrow.” A man stepped out from the crowd and said: "I’ll go for one. Now who else has a good dog team to. splice in with mine?” “I’m your huckleberry,” announced another It was three o’clock in the morning before they had made their selection of dogs and were ready to start on that hazardous trip. “There goes the best dog team in Alaska and driven by the best two men on earth!" exclaimed a man, as they turned a corner and were gone. The trail was easily followed, and soon the nine miles of level were parsed. The" speed slackened only when they were ascending the summit, which they reached by eleven that mornfng. Down, down the steep descent they plunged, and by one o’clock were off the glacier and skipping over level ground. The poor woman had pulled the sled until she was exhausted, and had sat down beside her husband. She was bidden to seat herself comfortably while they fastened the two sleds together. Soon they were bounding away at such a rapid rate of speed that the woman wept for joy. When they recrossed the summit the whple range was “smoking” and the wind was sending the fine snow along the crust. “Twenty miles to tbwn, and it can never catch us,” said the driver. Townsmen anxiously waited and watched the trail. As the team rushed up they were surrounded by eager, helping hands. They were saved by men, not of good intentions only, but by men of Instant action.” ■

Stage Fright.

“They tell me your husband has become one of the easiest and most graceful after dinner speakers in the city. I understand he has no end of engagemeuts.” “Yes, and I have to sit up and give him a good dinner after every one of them.” y “After every banquet?” _ "Yes. Wfien he knows they are going to call on him to speak he’s always too scared to eat.”—New York Journal. Lore'i Market. She —Harold, do you speculate? Harold —Well, I’m engaged to you.— Life. When woman has a great deal of energy, the people always say, “What a pity her husband doesn't have some of it”

Old Favorites

“Wkleh Shall It Bet** “Which shall it be? Which shall It be?" I looked at John, John looked at me. (Dear, patient John, who loves me yet As well as though my locks were jet), And when I found that I must speak. My voice seemed strangely low and weak: “Tell me again what Robert said.” And then I listening bent my head. “This is his letter:— “ *1 will give A house and land while you shall live. If, in return, from out your seven, One child to me for aye is given.’ ” I looked at John’s old garments worn, I thought of all that John had born* Of poverty and work and care, Which I, though willing, could not share. Of seven hungry mouths to feed. Of seven'little children’s need. And then of this. “Come, John,” said I, "We’ll choose among them as they He Asleep;" so walking hand in hand. Dear John and I surveyed our band. First to the cradle lightly stepped. Where Lilian, the baby, slept; Her damp curls lay like gold alight, A glory ’gainst the pillow white:

Softly her father stooped to lay His rough hand down in loving way, When dream or whisper made her stir, And huskily he said, “Not her.” We stooped beside, the trundle bed, And one long ray of lamplight shed Athwart the boyish faces there. In sleep so pitiful and fair, I saw. on Jamie's rough red cheek A tear undried; ere John could speak, “He’s but a baby, too,” said I, And kissed him as we hurried by. Pale, patient Robby’s angel face Still in his sleep bore suffering’s trace; “No, for a thousand crowns not him,” He whispered, while our eyes were dim. ■Foor Dick, sad Dick! our wayward son. Turbulent, reckless, idle one— Could he be spared? Nay, He who gave Blds us befriend him to the grave; Only a mother’s heart can be Patient enough for such as he; “And so," said John, "I would not dare To send him from her bedside prayer." Then stole we softly up above And knelt by Mary, child of love; "Perhaps for her ’twould better be,” I said to John. Quite silently He lifted up a curl that lay Across her cheek In willful way, And shook his head. “Nay, love, pot thee;” The while my heart beat audibly. Only one more, our eldest lad, Trusty and truthful, good and glad— So like his father; "No, John, no: I cannot, will not let him go!” And so we wrote, In courteous way, We could not give one child away; And afterward toil lighter seemed, Thinking of that of which we dreamed; Happy, in truth, that not one face We missed from its accustomed place; Thankful to work for all the seven. Trusting then to One in heaven.

WOMAN'S STRANGE BEQUEST.

An All-White Funeral and Chopln'a March Fifty-Seven Times. The Vkomtesse de Vaugelet, who has just died at the age of 77, left the bulk of her fortune, estimated at SIOO,OOO, various minor legacies being deducted, to the town of Riom on certain curious conditions, which were all, or nearly all, complied with, a Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paris letter says. She insisted on an entirely white funeral, with white trappings, white flowers and white horses. No white horses were discoverable ,in the country, but in other respects her wishes were obeyed. The late vicomtesse seems to have been particularly musical, for she bequeathed S2OO to the local band on condition it played Chopin’s “Funeral March” continually during the obsequies all the way from the house to the church and from the church to the graveyard, a distance of sixteen mlies.X The result was that the band played Chopin’s “Funeral March” fiftyseven times and then retired almost inanimate to a villagte inn, where a portion of the S2OO was consumed in drinks. Mme. de Vaugelet also left $6,000 to the French academy, to be bestowed “upon a child aged between 5 and 15 years having shown peculiar distinction in music.” There seems to be no time limit for the discovery of the requisite prodigy by the academy. Finally the residue of the vlcomtesse’s fortune goes to the town of Riom, owing, it seems, to the stubborn disinterestedness of M. elements!, former minister of the colonies, whom for years she Implored to be her heir. - As he persistently refused, she appointed him only her executor and the town of Riom her residuary legatee.

All In a Flutter.

For the first time in her life she was about to make a railway journey. When she arrived at the station she didn’t know what to do. She hailed a porter. “Young man,” she said, "can you tell me whore I get my ticket?” "Right there at the bookin’ orfls!" answered the porter, jerking his thumb backward; “throu’ the pigeon ’ole.” She regarded the hole, aniTthen she regarded the porter. Her face was crimson with insult. “You be off, you idiot!” she screamed. “How on earth do you think I’m going to get thrO’ there? I ain’t no blessed pigeon!”—Answers. We have become used to having people refuse to laugh at our jokes. ' What has become of the old-sash, ioned Salvation Army?