Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 218, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1910 — Page 3

Sylvia's Romantic Year

On her twenty-fifth birthday Sylvia “rough stood face to face with grim necessity for the first time in her “te. She sat perfectly still and helpess in . the big leather-covered armnair in qld Judge Buchanan’s private office—the spot in which the smal revelation of her poverty had borne to her—a crushed and bewilered little figure, dainty as a flower even in her distress. - ‘‘Oheer up> Sylvia," consoled the grizzled old lawyer, her dead husf frlen <an* her own, stone c * lUd k ood - “You are young and the very best of life is still before L U \ f- 11 the - unhappiness of this cruel day will be blotted out and the ®~ ,le of your sudden affliction will grow duller with the passing of time. . 6 * ev ® me, dear friend, you will even be happy again." Should it happen as you predict," nne said with a pitiful attempt to ccept his cheerful augury as Bomefning prophetic, "I shall recall how it seems to me today." “ , wa s Sylvia’s great problem, and ner lack of preliminary training left ner he lpl ess to solve it When she pnea .to take stock of bor possible resources she could settle on nothing *kat was likely to prove available. 7~ e , c ° uld Play and sing in an amateurish way. she had rather a pretty Knack at composition, but was a lamentable speller. She was unskilled In housewifery because she had never Kepi nouse and she was not an adept .with the needle. Clearly, she had reason to doubt her capacity to become a successful bread-winner, and that is Precisely the alternative to which she (was reduced. There was not even ,time to hesitate, so urgent was the peed. In her depression she searched the newspapers, and made lists of everything that suggested the barest hope, juffl of many things which did not. .Then she tuned her courage to the highest note and set out on her novel errand. The first advertisement in her collection was for a private secretary for the head of a mammoth concern which collected news from nil parts of the globe and sold it at [bargain prices. Sylvia knew that (there were such factotums as private (secretaries, but of their qualifications iand duties she was profoundly ignorant.

Tha*. was the reason she made her (way to the office of the advertiser |and asked for an interview with the ©resident At first sight of him she came to the conclusion Instantly that (she had blundered. He was a young of about her own years, a giant (In stature, with a face and figure of ‘remarkable perfection, but with an expression and manner that made her {shrink from him before he had spoken ja word. ; “Are you another applicant for the [vacancy in my office?” he asked her in a tone civil enough, but suggesting Mount Olympus. : Sylvia was too uncertain of her voice to speak, but she nodded slightly and tried to recover her self-posses ■ion. “What is your name?” he continued, with a look In his great blue eyes that was so eloquent of superiority that she could answer him only in a tremulous half whisper. "Have you any well-defined reason to suppose that you could be satisfactory to me?" he demanded, loftily. At that she rallied, her Indignation developing slowly, but very certainly. "I’m quite sure I shouldn’t,” she said firmly. ' She looked at him, and as their eyes met she fancied that his seemed 'less insistently azure; still they were [the bluest she had ever seen and she jdid not like the color. “Would you mind telling me why you are so sure?” he asked, and for (the life of her she couldn’t tell whether his manner was the reflex of Impertinence or the honest expression of a desire to be informed. “I’m afraid I’m not competent,” she bald, giving him the benefit of the jdoubt “I have had no experience.” ■ He smiled frigidly. “It is possible (that you underrate your ability," he - said. “You are the first of all who have applied for the position to projfess lack of confidence in your capaoSty. That, of Jtself, is noteworthy. I Will give you a trial.” ' Without giving her the opportunity |to say yea or nay, the extraordinary young man touched a bell, and to the(Slight, dark young man who appeared [lnstantly from an inner office he proceeded to give this amazing order: , “This young woman will act as my .private secretary until further notice, jyou will instruct her as to what Is •expected of her and arrange the salsay. I am going out of town and ishall not return until Monday." _ go saying, he turned on his heel without so much as a glance at her and left the room. Sylvia could only stare at the remaining young man with a look that besought enlightenment He had seated himself at the table opposite her, •and his clear-cut refined face was ‘aglow with amusement and polite inSterest - { “First of all,” be said, with a little Sugh that dissolved some of the gloom at had fallen on her, “you are not to [take our president too seriously. He its so new to the business that he isn’t {properly adjusted yet Until very re-

By Gerald Prime

cently he was a post-graduate student at the university, His tattler’s death put him at the head of this great concern without a warning. His father invented this system and made it what it is. Qeheral Maitland was a wonderful man.” Sylvia did not shy a word, but she wondered if the son had inherited his father’s manner. The young man must have divined her thoughts, for he looked rather conscious as be proceeded: “The general was a second Chesterfield in deportment. He had the most agreeable manner of any person I have ever known.” .; Still Sylvia did not trust herself to speak. Left to make the conversation as he wquld, he continued: “But our president is very like his fattier in many ways. He is the soul of Integrity and he is very clever. In another year he will know the business from start to finish. Every one here realises that he is capable of great things. He has already revolutionized everything." “But is that good—for the business?” asked Sylvia. “Precisely what it needed," he replied earnestly. “It was getting a little archaic, yon know. Our competitors were beginning to make It warm for us. Our new head has at ready worried them. They are wondering what he will do next" She sighed feebly as his words recalled her own unsettled future. “Pardon me,” he s&id. “I am tiring you with my talk about Stephen Maitland. I should be -telling you what you will be expected to do as his private secretary. You will have to open his mail and read all bis letters." "Never!" exclaimed Sylvia positively. “Not at an difficult," he laughed. “He doesn't receive many letters of a business nature, and as soon as you discover their tendency you are to turn them over to me. It is only his personal mail that you are to inspect"

Sylvia shook her head despairingly. “There are very few of them,” he hastened to assure her, “and they are almost exclusively Invitations and begging letters. The former you will be expected to decline without consulting him. The latter you must return to their writers with a printed slip referring them to the United Charities association. “And now for the actual duties, please,” said Sylvia with dignity. “That’s about the list, so'far as I have been able to find out Of' course, if I were to be Incapacitated by sickness or any other cause I suppose you would be expected to do my work." “What would that be?" "I anl a sort of combination of stenographer, business secretary and confidential adviser. But I should advise you not to cherish any vain hope of stepping Into my shoes even temporarily. I’m never sick and am very careful to. avoid belnd hurt. Your salary will be sl2 to begin. Shall I put you on the pay roll MissMiss—” _ “Mrs. Sylvia Brough," she corrected with still greater dignity. “Ah, I see,” he said, writing the name on a slip of paper. “I am pretty sure I shall not be satisfactory,” she said, rising to go, “but I must try, for It Is very necessary that I should have work.” "Tomorrow morning, then, anywhere between nine and eleven,” he called out pleasantly as she was leaving. -"f

A year later Sylvia made another visit to Judge Buchanan's office. She still wore the doleful garb of a widow, but her face had lost Its hopelessness. “How about my prediction?” the old lawyer asked almost immediately. - - For a reply she sat down and told him her story of the past year. When she had concluded he sat for a moment and gazed at her with a look, half qnlzzlcal, half paternaL “Each of these young men has asked you to marry him,” he said, precisely as if he were summing up 1 In an Interesting case. “Being a woman, you will probably choose—” , “1 have promised to marry Stephen,” she said.

Joseph Epstein, cousin of Louis Simon of the board of review, was born in Dublin, regardless of his name, and lived In Ireland until about two months ago, when he came to Cleveland. Soon after he reached here he began to look around for a job. The manager of a furniture house promtoed to give him a trial. / ‘ ; “Come around In the morning and go-to'riork,” he aald, “and if you can deliver the goods we’ll probably keep you permanently.” The Dublin native went over to tell Cousin Simon about it, according to the story. He confided to him that he didn’t believe he’d go back to take the Job, after aIL “They want me to deliver the goods,” be Bald. “Think of going around delivering big, heavy furniture. That’s wbat horses and wagons are tor in my oountry.”—-Cleveland t Plain Dealer. r .-w. :J

Not Up to Our Slang.

FEMALE ROBINSON CRUSOE

French Woman Who Lived Alone for ■ Two Years on the Isle of 1 Demon*;..- 7 ; v: 4. . The Isle of Demons, off the coast of Newfoundland, was the scene of a romance as thrilling and a tragedy as feel as any told in fiction. About the year 1640 one Marguerite de Roberval, niece of the French viceroy, fell in love with a young cavalier and promsed him her heart and hand. Her uncle, the viceroy, considered the youth unworthy of his niece's proud position, and, angered by her refusal to., give up her lover, passed a sentence of exile on both of them. A vessel carried the couple to the isle of Demons leaving them there with an old nurse, who had attended the Lady Marguerite from her childhood, and who wished to share her exile. At first the banishment did not seem so dreadful a thing. The young man’s strength stood between his wife and suffering, and for two years all went well, a child was born, and the parents began to plan for the establishment of a cqlony which might thrive in this island home. Then came trouble, swift and terrible. Disease fell upon the little family, and the young wife and mother saw her husband, child and faithful nurse all sicken and die. With her own hands she dug their graves and buried ail that was dear to her, and then began a life alone, a life in which the mere question of existence became a problem hard indeed for a frail woman to solve. By means of the gun that had been her husband’s she kept herself provided with food and with skins tor her rdnthing For two years she lived a Robinson Crusoe life, this gently-bred-girL Onoe a boat filled with Indians came near the shore, but the painted faces and fierce aspect of the savages frightened her, so that she hid instead of having them. She spent weeks of la. bor in making a crude canoe, but her hands were unskilled* and when she launched her craft, it would only tip over. At last she was rescued by some fishermen who ventured on the island! half frightened at first by what they thought was an evil apparition. Marguerite was sent to France, but her uncle discovered her whereabouts and continued to persecute her. She finally found a refuge to a small French village, where she hid until the viceroy’s death. After that she came into the world once more and lived to a good ag&—New York Press.

King Among His Fellows.

A Kentucky capitalist who waa arrested hi Kansas City for having’ violated the law of the arid belt, this plea to the judge for release: “l own forty-seven hundred acres of Kentucky land -with bine grass a foot high all over It, ninety head of thoroughbred Hereford cattle, eighteen stands of bees, a barrel of money and two pairs of suspenders. I'm the only fellow In the world that-ever owned two pah* of galluses at once." The judge was thoughtful, but the plea didn’t go with him. Every man has Ideals In his mind. One of them, held almost universally, Is to own two pains of suspenders at once so that he will not be obliged to change these valuable supporters continually frcrtn pants to trousers. Few achieve it, however. It Is not a matter of money, for many well-to-do and even rich men are tied to one pair of suspenders through early habits of thought and training, Inertia, absent mindednes and the like errors. When we see a man who owns two sets of suspenders we say to ourselves c “There goes a king!"

Horse Had Hia Sympathy.

A chauffeur whose first love Is horses even If he Is now wedded to an automobile, made his appearance on Seventh avenue, New York, on a scorching afternoon. A string df automobiles stood In the shade -of a big hotel Presently a delivery wagon was added to the row of vehicles, but the Bhadows were not wide'enough to shelter It, too, and the horse stood panting and trembling in the broiling sun. The driver of the machine that stood Just behind the delivery wagon alighted and patted the horse’s sweaty flank. “You poor old fellow,” he said, “it’s a darned shame, Isn’t It?” Then In the absence of the horse's driver he undertook to remedy the shame himself. His own machine was run away from Its position at the curb, the horse was backed into the shade, and the automobile took Its place In the sunshine. It Is not recorded that thereafter anyone expressed sympathy for the automobile.

Pleased the Old Widower.

“I never saw such a pleased old wldower as that Griffon vulture was when a pair of young members of hla tribe were put into hla cage the other dayj" aald a keeper in the Central park menagerie. "The old fellow’s mate died several years ago and he had been leading a lonesome life since hto bereavement. His dally routine waa to eat and sit on the porch blinking at visitors. The new pair consisted of male and female. Their advent caused the old chap to take on a new interest He sidled up to the female and seemed to be telling her not to mind the other fellow, that he was-the boss of that household When the yotnger beau resented this the old chap gave him a trouncing sent him Into a comer. Since then when the three are on the perch you will find the widower sitting between the female and her former sweth&rt, the picture of contentment

KNOX’S OLD CHURCH

BT. GILE3 BETTER KEPT THAN IN DAY OF REFORMER. Famous Edinburg Meeting House Now Swept and Garnished, With Modern Stained Glass Windows and Monuments. "Come,” said Dr. Samuel Johnson, when he and Boswell went to the great church of St Gile% •'let us see what was once a church.” As great mediaeval churches go the collegiate church of St Giles never was very famous architecturally, says the Advance. The present structure dates from the fourteenth century. Its lantern tower and the artful arrangement of its interior pillars are the only features of Interest remaining. Here as effectively as anywhere the reformation created havoc and let loose the dogs of war. The hammerlike eloquence of John Knox, who preached here his 20 sermons a week, each an hour or two long and terrific in vehemence, smashed the Btained glass windows, shattered the carved images of Baints, broke in pieces the priceless fabrics of mediaeval art, destroyed altars and shrines. In Dr. Johnson’s day the scars were very visible. St Giles was occupied by four distinct congregations of worshippers, the great church being partitioned off for their convenience. A prejudice existed even against cleanliness in churches. "The pew swept and lined!" cried Mess John's wife; "my husband would think It downright popery T" Even Boswell admitted that the church was shamefully dirty. Slnoe Johnson’s time the higher aesthetic taste of nations, the appreciation of mediaeval art first stimulated by the Waverley novels, have caused the attempted restoration of St. Giles*. The place is swept and garnished. There are modern stained glass windows and monuments abound. The memorial of Robert Louis Stevenson is placed among those of Montrose and Argyle. The war-worn banners of Scottish regiments give a touch of color for the eye and a thrill to memory. Here Knox shaped history. Here Jennie Geddas threw her stool. A mediaeval church, especially of the Gothic type, is not well adapted to the use of the protestant religion. There is an incongruity to the structure. The great choir, separated formerly by an impenetrable screen ; the many chapels for masses, the arrangement of the building for a worship by the clergy, exclusively without reference to the comfort or convenience of the people, without the idea of an auditorium for the preaching of sermons, make an awkward adaptation for modern needs which will be especially observed In the cathedrals to England. The Scots, more logical and less conservative, rooted out the screens and turned the church into a meeting house.

What He Remembered.

"You took a vacation last summer?" he queried of the clerk In the musio store. -■ “Oh,.yea." "Went to a farmhouse, probably?" "I did." "Seven dollars a week?” “Just seven." ..l "Have any moonlight nights out there?" *1 can’t remember.” "Any girls around to spoon with?” “I have forgotten.” <- “Catch any fish.” "Well, really now—” v “Milk and vegetables all rights "Dear, dear me, but my memory la bad.” “Do any bathing?” “Say, now—” “Do you remember any one thing that happened to you?” demanded the questioner. “Oh, yes. I worked an ear of corn out of the mattress of my bed and carried it to the farmer and asked him what he thought of it and he replied: “ *Qee whizz, but I lost that ear over five years ago, and have been looking for it ever since!* ’’ —Pittsburg Dl»> patch.

Martyr to Science.

It has been reported that more than five thousand members have been enrolled In the "Kiss Not” club in Cincinnati end that the club baa received notice from many places where similar organizations have been founded In the Interest of “good health.” A teacher In an Indiana town who wished to enlist the cooperation of her friends In the cause sent out a circular letter and received among others this reply: "Nearly two years ago I was so unfortunate as to be kissed by a man whose lip was not entirely free of germ foeterlng hair. I experienced no 111 results up to the present time, and should like to make further research. X am perfectly willing to take the risk in the aid of science should the opportunity present Itself.”

Speaks Many Languages.

Elite Island will soon have a linguistic wonder who will be able to understand pretty nearly all the wduldbe citizens who land there. He is Henry Oellitt of St Louis, and he is coming to the nation’s gateway as a representative at the immigration commission of Missouri to direct desirable aliens thither. Mr. Gellltt speaks six languages, German, English. French, Italian, Spanish and Swedish, besides n»any dialects of different sections at Europe.

HEALTH and SUNSHINE in JAMAICA

ON A dreary November day L in company with about 130 other health and pleasure seekers, started from Paddington by the Great Western railway for Bristol, en route for the Isle of Joy and Sunshine. Dining excellently meanwhile, we were soon whisked to Avonmouth, where our ship, the Port Kingston, was awaiting our arrival, all spick-and-span to a coat of pure white, showing off her beautiful lines, looking quite fairylike, and sparkling with electric lights. By 11 o'clock we had retired to our comfortable staterooms, and soon afterwards all was quiet and ready for the voyage of over 4,000 miles.

High winds and rolling seas kept most of the ladles in their cabins for four days, but the men and a few hardy ones of the other sex who would not give up came on deck, practising for their “sea legs.” Soon the wind dropped and the sea calmed; the glorious sunshine and mild breezes ‘brought out the butterflies from below, and the spacious deck was thronged with fashionables. • Before long we were In the tropics, and soon sighted the Island of Bermuda, the fortress, guardship and wonderful dry dock well In the foreground. We were enabled to land, and enjoyed a few hours on shore and a drive over the well-kept roads, passing flourishing plantations and gardens In all directions, and being reminded of home by the FngH*h names given to the places and homesteads. The rest of the voyage was delightful beyond expression. The t<toe passed only too quickly, and the Blue mountains of Jamaica were visible early one morning. The most glorious sunrise imaginable was the reward of those who rose to greet the wonderful panorama presented to our view—a picture never to be forgotten! Immense business is done In Kingston, vh.ich rapidly recovered from the effects of the earthquake. Great emporiums are In full working order, and In more than one may be seen endless varieties of fabrics and models which would not disgrace Worth or Jay. Landed and past the customs, we “were soon on the road for “Constant Spring,”~a distance of six miles, reached In about twenty minutes by excellent motor omnibuses every few minutes to the “Constant Spring” hotel, so-called after a wonderful spring which has never been known to fall! The hotel delightfully situated, la excellent in every way, replete with comfort and, bqlng away from the heat and bustle of Kingston, it is an ideal palace "lifting to eternal summer.” Mr. Verley*s training stables are about seven miles from Kingston, near his rebuilt and enlarged mansion, which was much Injured by the earthquake. Here are also, within a short distance, the Jockey club racecourse and polo ground.

The reports and rumors published of the hurricanes and ravage caused by floods have been greatly exaggerated, yet a good deal of damage is done to the plantations, roads and bridges, and torrents of rain fall. The results, however, give work to hundreds of men, and eventually prove a blessing in disguise. It 1s believed the next two or three years will prove great fruit seasons, in consequence of the heavy rains. The Jamaica club is a fine house in a pleasant situation in Kingston, and is celebrated far and wide for its hospitality and loyalty. The homeward voyage was even more pleasant than the outward, because of the perfect weather we were labored with, and it was only when within sight of the Irish coast that the colder breezes and mist reminded us our trip was nearly at an end, and. regarding this, there was only one opinion—never had time been-passed more pleasantly or profitably from a health point of view than on this cruise to .amain and back, MOO-mileu in five weeks! Mention of the late Sir Alfred Jones, the chief of the imperial direct West Indian mall service, has been left to the last for obvious reasons. Just before starting for Jamaica a long telegram was handed to me from the founder of this and many other great undertakings. He never forgot anyone or anything, and fell a victim to his zealous work. Of Sir Alfred's somewhat sudden death the public are fully aware. It has been said no one is so good that he cannot be replaced, hot it will be very difficult indeed to

replace the one whose whole thought was the good of his country! It Is known he did much for the great causa of empire, but it may never be knows how much good he did, how he worked day and night for the one great ides of his life. He was always ready to do a kind action, and many of his noblest deeds were done to secret. The working and enterprise of the firm with which was connected can to. justice be mentioned, more especially now that the chief has passed away. Amongst the great distribution of the products of Jamaica over Europe and America none stands higher than the firm which was formed on the advice of Sir Alfred Jones, who introduced Jamaican bananas into Britain, and it worked unceasingly till he had conquered and the business became so immense that he was called the “Banana King."

W. CLIFFORD WEBLYN.

WHY JAPANESE DON'T BOAST

Pride, Not Modesty, Blts Throned on Their Hearts, Bays Sir lan Hamilton. “I study the Japanese from morning to nfeht; I talk to them, walk with them, eat with them and drink with them also, whenever there 1b anything worth drinking. I am watching them all the time, for I have little else to do. As a result of my patient investigations,” writes Sir lan Hamilton in the Mindanao (P. I.) Herald, “everything about these strangers Is becoming so obscure and contradictory that I can only marvel at the temerity I displayed In dashing down wbat purported to be an analysts of their characters before I bad lived with them a month. “For Instance, the modesty of the Japanese Is a trait which, above all others, has won my profound and unstinted respect Never has there been so much as a tinge of exultation, or what, In Its most vulgar form, our colonials call *blowing/ about the officers, non-commissioned officers or men of the First army. There haws been many unconscious revelations of a sense of superiority to the European, but I cannot call to mind one single occasion of a sober Japanese making a consciously swaggering remark, even In the triumphant reaction immediately after a victory. “It has always been a special pleasure to recognize and do homage to so generous, high and knightly a quality, but now a corner of the veil has been uplifted, and 10, I seem to preceive a figure like that of Pride sitting throned upon the Japanese heart fit great aloofness. ‘The Japanese do not boast after a victory because they an Incapable of imagining for one moment that they are not going to win. Bad men may bet on certainties, only fools would boast about them. I am not a theologian, and do not fed called upon to say whether this quality to to be ranked amongst tbs cardinal virtues or the deadly sins. Certainly self-reliance was considered by the Romans a virtue of tbe first order. Possent quia posse rtdentur. But I am sure, nevertheless, that whatever the quality may be, it is not modesty.”

Croker’s Love for America.

“Richard Croker will undoubtedly come back to America to live," said a Tammany man at a banquet at Delmonico’s. "Yes, Mr. Croker," he went on, "told me down in Florida that his attachment to America was as strong ae the old woman’s tea. “ The old woman’s tear said. I, pus- . tied. "Then Mr. Croker explained that this old woman used to brag about her tea in these words: "*Och, but mine te the -lovely sthrong tay. Sure, it takes such a powerful grip on the second wither.* * —Detroit Free Press. ■?.

Sounds Good.

Patience—lsn’t, this ‘summer reading’ stuff silly? Patrice—Oh, I don’t know. Here’s something 1 just read which sounds good to me: “As the long arctic night approaches, the polar bear repairs to the foot of the cliff or some other similar place and allow the enow to cover him"