Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1910 — Page 2

THE DAILY REPUBLICAN Every Day Except Sunday. - - r ■ , HEALEY & CLARK, falrtislierg. INDIANA.

people who walked in simple ways Perhaps a coming generation will welcome back the shawl to its shoulders. There has been intense excitement In Springfield, Mass., over the murder of Martha B. Blackstone and the confession oP'Bertram G. Spencer, who admits that he committed the crime and that he has been leading a sort of Jekyll and Hyde existence for many years. According to his own story he has worked at some legitimate occupation during the day and turned burglar at n'ght. His operation* have extended to various parts of the country, but Springfield has engaged his attention for the last two years, and he has delighted in the stories of his exploits there as the masked burglar. Apparently his case is destined to attain some celebrity because of a point that is raised concerning his responsibility for his actions. His criminal instincts began to appear when he was ■'Still a boy, and their origin is ascribed to the effects -of a blow on the head which was dealt him by his father. What value there is in this defense it is impossible to say now, but it is clear that Spencer can be closely associated with certain criminal types. He has inordinate vanity and a love of the sensational. The absence of- a moral sense is indicated by the fact that his crimes have never caused him the slightest remorse. But though a murder might not trouble him he was greatly worried over the loss of a locket which bore his initials. There are in this world many persons who have about the same idea as Spencer of the relative Importance of things, though they may never have been hit on the head. They are absorbed with themselves, dead to the feelings of others, guiltjF of innumerable acts of meanness and cruelty, some of which are merely irritating experiments in malicious mischief, while others lead on to the most serious consequences. Society would be Immensely relieved and improved if the whole tribe could be removed from the face of the earth, and where reformation is out of the question, as it often is, society should be protected by the segregation of the offenders for life. Judged by his own confession, Spencer ought never to be set at liberty whether the blow on the head is an excuse for him- or not.

QUEER STORIES

Eighty-seven In every hundred Canadian farmers own their own farms. An English agricultural society Is raising a fund wlt.h--which to exterminate the sparrow. The sticks of dynamite used in a year in building the Panama canal, if placed end to end, would reach in a straight line from Boston to Spokane. Aluminum, combined with other materials, is appearing as a textile, neckties, shawls, hats, and lacings for shoes being among the newest productions. . . For some unknown reason humming birds are disappearing from the Island of Trinidad. Half a century ago there were eighteen species; now there are but five. In Japan day laborers receive 20 cents a day, women servants 84 emts a month, men servants $1.36 a month, women farm laborers $8.50, men farm hands $15.96. From now on all British veterinarians must give immediate notification of all cases of cattle plague and other contagious diseases to which domestic animals are liable. The lubricating mechanism of a gyroscope car is fitted with an alarm to warn the engineer, for if the axles of the rapidly moving gyroscopes should get hot they would cut through the bearings in an instant. v Dr. Oliver, after many experiments in freezing eggs of hookworm, concludes that hookworm can survive winters In Europe and become epidemic. Recently forty eggs were reported from the brick fields in Holland. - >■ Heretofore regarded as valueless, a certain kind of soil, of which there are large, deposits in Denmark, has been found to make excellent bricks of light weight and so tough that nails may be driven into them without cracking. Among the many extraordinary theories introduces by recent microscopic studies is that of sex in bread molds. After years of patient research it is announced that a distinguished scientist has found that these minute fungi, the lowest order of plant life, possess the characteristics of plants of the highest type, and have the power of reproducing their kind from two distinct and differing races, in addition to giving new life from one. It was a hard thing to account for. The lady didn’t have the dog on her leash, yet he didn't run away. Indeed, he seemed so be very familiar with his mistress’ skirts, and once in a while, as he wagged his tall, there would come a flash of her ankles. The reason was plain when you came up even with her. The nickeled plate on his collar had a clasp on it, and the clasp was fastened tightly to the hem of her skirt. It was simply a new way of leading a pet dog. This was in Fifth avenue on last Sunday.—New York Sun. <, Nearly every man has the fool habit of sitting in the shade, and wishing things, and believing that he is earnestly striving for themCredit, and not women, ruins most men.

DISCOVERED BY ACCIDENT.

Some great scientific discoveries have been made by accident. The recent arrival of an expedition in charge of a professor of Yale University at Cuzco, the anejent capital of the Incas, brings to mind the interesting ruins found in that vicinity. Dr. Felix Oswald, in “Summerland Sketches,” gives in account of a famous discovery made in Mexico in 1828. Don Pancho Yegros, a Yucatan planter, and his guest, Dr. Lewis Mitchel, a Scotch surgeon, returning from a hunting expeditibn, were seeking shelter from a threatening storm. They chanced j to come across an Indian guided them to an old Indian temple in the forest. They lighted a fire, and having noticed some curious sculptures, the gentlemen proeeedcdte-iaßpeetthe inter-lon-of the building. The masonry was covered with dust and cobwebs, but an application of wet rags brought to light rows of bas-relief. After daybreak, Dr. Mitchel rummaged- in a pile of debris and unearthed the torso of a little image, which tie pocketed with an enthusiasm that puzzled the planter as well as the Indian. On leaving Don Yegros’ house, the doctor requested his host to question ;he Indians thereabouts in regard to ruins, and then rode away, having promised to return the coming year. He was hardly out of sight when Don Yegros remarked to his Indian jervant: “Isn’t it strange that we have lived lere for a lifetime and not suspected he existence of such a curiosity? Why, .hat caballero tells me some’of his countrymen would buy those stones or their weight in gold.” “He gave me half a dollar,” said the Indian, grinning. “He ought to like lia countrymen to the north a bit. In he chaparral there is a square league ust covered with empty old buildngs.” The don turned on the. man. “Are you mad? A league of ruins! You do not mean buildings like those we slept in last night?” v “No, senor, very different. The houses are as high as yours, and forty times as long. One of them has more rooms than the tiles on your roof, and tong galleries with figures and heads.” “Why couldn't you have told us that a few moments sooner?” exclaimed Doti Yegros. “Didn’t you see how delighted the caballero was with one little statue?” “He liked it, didn't he?” returned the Indian. “I- found a much better one once and carried it to the priest, and he said I W’as a miserable idiot.” "So you are!” cried the don. “Get on a horse and ride after the caballero, and bring him back. Why, you came near missing the greatest opportunity you ever had of being of use in the world.” Thus were discovered the great ruins of Uxmal, which rival those of Thebes and Persepolis in beauty and grandeur.

MUSSELS FOB FOOD.

Mach Neglected Mollusk Receives Attention of Fisheries Bureau. The possibilities of the mussel as an article of food are receiving attention, and there is official testimony to the effect that the mdssels, which are extremely abundant in the bays and estuaries of the Atlantic coast from North Carolina northward, and along the Pacific coast from San Francisca to Alaska, are particularly nourishing and good for a weak digestion. The Saturday Evening Post has an article showing-that the fisheries bureau tested the question by practical experiments. Mussels in various styles were served on the tables of the mess of the marine biological station, at Wodds Holl, Mass., and received unanimous approval. Scores of other persons, after the way had been paved by the biological station, were persuaded to

YESTERDAYS.

HIS DEPARTURE FOR THE CITY. Being his mother,—When he goes away I would not hold him overlong, and so Sometimes my yielding sight of him grows O So quick of tears, I joy he did not stay To catch the faintest rumor of them! * * • —James Whitcomb Riley.

try them roasted, steamed and fried, and they report that the flavor is superior to clams and quite equal to oysters. The American Indians, long before the arrival of Columbus, while eating great quantities of oysters and clams, never touched mussels because of a superstitious notion that they were harmful. This idea they communicated to the whites, to whom it has clung ever since. It is for this reason that few people bellevq that the mussel is of any value. The fisheries bureau, as a result of its experiments, now asserts that mussel farms, properly managed, ought to yield ten times the money profit usually obtainable from good agricultural land, and, Indeed, this has already been demonstrated in British waters* where the average annual production is 108 tons of the mollusks an acre, salable in the market for $262. In Europe the mussel is highly reas an article of food, while clams are practically neglected. There the mussel is farmed on an extensive scale. The general method is to collect the young shellfish when they are very small and transfer them to beds in favorable localities, usually in estuaries, where the water is brackish, and other conditions tend to hasten the growth and accelerate the fattening. In such places yields of 100 tons and more to the acre are common. The French give the mussel much attention. For instance, in one fishing village, in the bay of Aiguillon, last year the shipments represented a valpe in excess of $112,000. There wooden structures are prepared for culture purposes. Within a year the mussels are sufficiently grown to be ready for the market. The plan of culture followed is not of recent origin, because it* dates back to 1025 A. D., and was introduced to the French by an Irishman who was shipwrecked on their coast, and who returned the kindness of the fishermen by teaching them how to make the mussel profitable.

CAVE VILLAGE OF PALESTINE.

Subterranean Re»orf» ' Served aa Refugee, from Arab Attacks. When we went to the house of the cave, the owner pointed out the entrance and said: “There is the cave, bqt I 'dare not take you in. The place is full of underground streets and houses and shops, and one can go for miles and miles in them, but it won’t do to go in because the caves are full of spirits who bate to be disturbed. The first time anyone went in a boy of my family was killed by the spirits; the next time a girl died and the one or two other times ill luck fell on the household. If we sacrifice a goat it will be all right, but I can’t sacrifice one.” We expressed our willingness to pay for a sacrifice and asked if he had a goat to sell, Ellsworth Huntington says in Harper’s Magazine. Yes, he had, and he dived into a shed' and yanked out a kid by the ears. He would sell us the goat and show us the cave for 3 mejidlehs. “Go ahead and sacrifice it,” we said, but he seemed in no hurry, an*, after pretending to get ready, remarked: “It is getting late now and you haven't much time. The cave is very big. If you want to hurry I will just cut off the beast’s ear and complete the sacrifice Igter.” When all was ready we were one by one let twirling down by a rope into a cistern where straw was stored. The only opening was a hole two feet in diameter, through which we squeezed head first and found ourselves in a passage of about the same height. Lighting our candles, we went forward, sometimes on hands and knees and sometimes on our stomachs, like worms trailing over the damp jnnd of the cavern floor. . We were expecting to get to a larger passageway, but never did, although occasionally the tunnel widened into a cave where one could stand and walk around. Three times we came to chambers large enough to furnish shelter to a score of people; again we traversed passages

whose branches ended sometimes in blank walls of masonry, or in shafts leading up to the courtyards of houses in the village, or in dry cisterns which once furnished water to the people of the caves. We crawled for an hour and a half and came out plastered with mud from head to foot. No one knows just when the caves were made, but their use is evident. They were places of refuge from the Arabs. Each house seems to have had a well communicating with the underground chambers. When there was an alarm the people and their chief valuables could promptly be hidden in the caves. The enemy might plunder or burn the houses, but no ~one could ever risk attacking the refugees in their dark burrows, where death might lurk at any corner. There are probably other cave villages of the same sort, for an inscription at Kanawat, thirty miles northeast of Edrel, has been interpreted as an exhortation of Agrippa I. to the people to give up the practice of living like wild beasts in caves.

His Last Moments.

Nurses in hospitals are rather apt to lay too much stress on the advantages received by the patients and their duty to thankfulness, but still it is the poor soldier who suffers most from always having his causes to be ■jrateful flung in his teeth, the San Francisco Chronicle says. Witness the following true story: Chaplain—So poor Hopkins is dead. I should have liked to speak to him once again and soothe his last moments. Why didn’t you call me? Hospital Orderly—l didn’t think you ought to be disturbed for ’Opkins, sir, so I just soothed him as best I could myself. Chaplain—Why, what did you say to him? Orderly—“’Opkins,” says I, “you’re mortal bad.” “ ’I am,’ says ’e. “ ‘ ’Opkins,’ says I, ‘I don’t think you’ll get better.’ ? “ 'No,' says ’e. ‘“’Opkins,’ says I, T don’t think you can ’ope to go to ’eaven.’ “ ‘I don’t think I can,’ says *e. ‘“Well, then, ’Opkins,’ says I, ‘you’ll go to the other place.’ “ ‘I suppose so,’ says ’e. ‘“’Opkins,’ says I, ‘you ought to be very grateful as there’s a place perwlded for you, and that you’ve got somewhere to go.’ And I think ’e ’eard, sir, and then ’e died.”

Output of Matches.

An expert in the match industry estimates last year’s output of matches at I,soo,ooo,ooo,ooo—fifteen hundred billions—the New York World says. This provided something like 3.000,000 matches a minute for the use of the civilized world. Plenty of people now living remember when the sulphur match in its present form was unknown. And the old flint has nos yet gone entirely out of . use. . In fact, it has had a recent revival of practical usefulness and is on sale now as a substitute-for matches perhaps more extensively than at any time in the last half century. In neat little leather cases, with a pocket for the very inflammable ‘‘kindling,” fire flints and steel are offered at most places where hunting outfits are for sale. They are so well made that no special skill is required in their use and a fire is produced quite as quickly as with a match. Among the Eskimos the possession of a flint is the sure mark of wealth, or was until fur traders from the south began bringing matches into the arctic circle and made it possible for a man to attain the distinction of havIng a fire starter by the simple exchange of a few furs for a box of matches. - Sometimes a man who has worked hard all his life, retires, and becomei so shiftless that he doesn’t keep hit spectacles cleaa. . A. Domestic Convenience. Garson —Have you hot water in your house? De Long—Yea; my wife’s mother lives with us.

BOOK REVIEWS

Capt. Frank H. Shaw, author of "First at the Pole,” the first of the north pole stories for boys that have appeared since the recent reports of exploration in polar seas, is still a comparatively young man with a true love for travel and adventure. A young seaman at 16, Cept. Shaw served four years in sailing ships and had been three times around the world at the age of 29. He has crossed the Atlantic to/ty-two times. Warwick Deeping, the author of "The Red Saint,” ‘‘Uther and Igiaine,” has a new book ready for publication called “The Rust of Rome-.’’ In this-'* story Mr. Deeping deals with the problems of modern life with the same vigor which made his mediaeval stories successful. Mr. Deeping began his career by studying medicine and practiced as a doctor for a year. Abandoning medicine for literature, he wrote several stories. He lives in Sussex, England, where in the intervals of his literary work he occupies himselt with tennis, golf, cycling, gardening, carpentering and all out of door work. A. Radcliffe Dugmore, author of “Camera Adventures in the African Wilds,” is the son of an English army captain, who spent most of his life at outdoor sport, chiefly shooting and falconry. When Radcliffe, Jr., was 8 years old he was taken on daily bunts over the family estates in Ireland. It was his job to mark the birds and “if I didn’t,” he says, ”1 got a good licking.” After a few years of that life in Ireland his father took the whole family around the world io a cruising yacht, a trip that lasted six years. Capt. Dugmore was a collector of guns and the yacht was a grotesque arsenal. The boy had the, to him, delightful task of keeping those guns clean and bright. His schooling was of necessity desultory, but the wide range of miscellaneous knowledge he bas acquired on all sorts of outdoor subjects has been of great assistance In his work. “The Undesirable Governess,” the last of the three books left unpublished at the time of Mr. Crawford’s death, differs from the novels associated w’itb its prolific author. The story is distinguished by its humor of situation and characterization and in the past humor has not been a weapon-employ-ed by Mr. Crawford to any great extent. The theme of the story Is decidedly novel and original. It concerns the desire of a lady of society to have in her employ a governess who shall possess the highest mental attributes, but whose physical charms shall not be such as to win the attention of any of the men of the family. The way in which the author develops the theme is amusing, and the skill with which his characters are placed in unexpected situations and extricated from their difficulties shows that Mr. Crawford’s gifts as a story writer remained unimpaired to the last. Katherine Cecil Thurston, who wrote “The Masquerader,” and the new novel “Max,” now running serially, is described as a thoughtful woman, very simple in her tastes and a lover of the country. She is an especially good walker and Is never happier than when she is walking along the cliffs or over the fields of the Irish country which she calls her home. Mrs. Thurston believes that In modern literature sincerity is the chief essential. “Here and there,” she said, recently, “you meet with the man or woman ,who says to you, ’Oh, this or that was not my real work. I did not put myself Into it.’ There is no statement more false than this. There is no position less tenable for the artist. Every deed that man does and every word that a man writes contains inevitably something of himself, and if we are to be truly sincere, we do not shelter behind excuses, but prefer to say, ’The work was weak, the work was immature, but at the time I could do no better.’ ”

What the Light Revealed.

A story is told of a simple and devout Methodist minister who was not sufficiently eloquent or businesslike to be approved by the presiding elder. Through the influence of the elder he felt sure he was appointed to a small and widely scattered settlement, where there was much hard work and the results were necessarily meager. One day he was commenting sadly on the narrowness, of his opportunities to a friend, who said gravely that he ought to pray for light that he might see the hand of the Lord in his appointment. ‘‘l have, brother,” he answered, “again and again. But so far," be added with a whimsical smile, “I’ve only had light enough to see the interfering hand of Elder Brown.”

Waited Twenty Years for a Solution.

A bit of pure and harmless mischief at recitation at. Yale was the device of a member of the class of '72, who introduced at recitation a turtle covered by a newspaper pasted on the shell. The tutor had too much pride to come down from his perch and solve the mystery of the newspaper movement, but twenty years after, meeting a member of the class, his first and abrupt question was, “Mr. W., what made that paper move?” If a man carries a revolver that is one Indication that he hasn’t sense enough to be trusted with one. Even soft gloves are apt to hurt A blind man’s feelings.