Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 March 1911 — Page 3

When a Saint Intervened

“Mias Janet has been down to pot her valentines,” giggled Flossie Brown, peeping out at the trim Agave harrying past “Flossie Brown, will be making tan because I went to the postoffiee topay,’’ murmured Mias Janet to herself, peeing the saucy, peering faoe, “but I don’t care! I just had to go! Now if I can get home without seeing him!" But behind her sharp steps crushed ■the snow and rang clearly an the crisp air, and a moment later James jWybrant hurried past her with averted face. Had he, too, been looking for a valentine? Poor Miss Janet shrank away from him in the dull February twilight like a guilty thing. Yet she had not the fainteßt idea what had changed the man’s loverlike attentions to an enmity of ten weary years, duration. And it happened on Saint Valentine’s day.- ■ - ■ •- - p ~ “I was quite.young and pretty, then,” she murmured a little pathetically, “and now I’m Just ‘Aunt Janet,’ an undesirable but rather convenient member of some one else’s family.” Tears sprang to her eyes, and her lips quivered. “I don’t care if I do cry. I should think I might have that privilege once In a while, and there is never time at home. v Miss Janet found no privacy in her brother’s family. All day there were {never-ending duties for her willing bands, and at night there was always the oldest neice, whom she had pityingly taken in when the second baby came, and who now began to look upon Aunt Janet as an unnecessary adjunct to their room. Ten years, and it seemed like yesterday, so close had ?he held the memory. Her heart hurried a little and her thin cheeks flushed as she saw again the happy girl in her pink, frilly frock who waited in the little parlor for the man who had even now passed her with such slighting coldness. How carefully he once had wrapped her in the warm robes. How he had cared for her vttth the tender attentions dear to woman’s heart before all the young people gathered at the rustic party. How his voice had thrilled as he bade her good night under the blinking stare. “Tommorw is Saint Valentine’s day,” he had reminded her. “Ybu needn’t send me valentine, dear; I’ll come after it myself!” “And he never came! He never came!” Miss Janet now sobbed outright . “I will not think of it,” she cried with sudden vehemence, “and I’ll never be such a poor, weak goose as to go for the mall on Valentine day again! I’ll just hurry home and go to work. ■ No one seems to want me. But I will not be a silly, self-pitying creature another day of my life!” James Wybrant threw his mail upon the living room table with a defiant fling. The daily paper, a farm Journal and an advertisement for star tionary gasoline engines. “Well, what did you expect?” he demanded harshly. Drawing a chair before the fire, he' sat down moodily to await his housekeepers call to supper. “You have been Insufferably rude,” urged the gentle spirit of the man in-* sistently, “and she looks thin and worn and tired.” “But she prefers this life to me,” whispered Pride. “She did her own choosing.” “Still, she was only a girl—she, may have changed her mind.” "She shall live by her.own decision,” flared Pride, "and so shall I!” "But will not live happily—there always will be the regret, and her unhappiness before you!” "Then,” cried James Wybrant aloud, "I’ll go where I can live in peace!” All through his silent meal his mind was at wotlfc 1 He would go to his brother, who was always begging him to come south. A neighboring fanner would gladly rent his land, and the old housekeeper could live on in the house as long as she desired. “I’ll see Fred Hall tomorrow morning about the place,’ he thought, once more back in the lonely living room. "I’ll get away as soon as I can—it will be better for both of v us!" He opened the big old-fashioned secretary. Every compartment was crowded with the accumulation of years. From an upper and seldomused, pigeonhole he drew a bundle of letters and spread them out before him on the lid. His heart gave a quick throb as he noticed a letter in Janet's delicate writing; he reached for it eagerly, and then dropped it into the waste basket with a shrug at his own weakness. There were also letters from his brother and a long envelope, into which had been carelessly thrust Bomp printed papers. As he drew out these • letter fell from among the sheets, tace downward on the table. It was sealed and he turned ft over wonderingly. On the face. In his own strong let tern, stood the name of Janet Bates! Gas mg at it, his eyes grew dark with apprehension and a hot wave seemed to stop his heartbeats. His fingers

By SUSANNE GLENN

(OowStfa > «i.to iwshniKimuTrifj

“Gracious! There's a sickening odor In the boose?" "Tea. We are about to witness S problem play. An old-fashioned cow pie brought along some aaafoetiOa."

trembled as he tore open the envelope and unfolded the sheet Facing him were the words; “My darling girl—Tve tried to find a valentine good enough fpr you, but it cannot be done. Gilt hearts and cupids seem but poor things when I think of you. "Will you let me tell you what I really want to give you, dear? I want to tell you all by ourselves, andI want to tell you today—Saint Valentine’s day! “There is always a confusion /at your brother’s, and I want you all to myself tonight. Will you let me ..take you out this eveniiig as we go last? When you are ready, put the lamp In the window and I will come. “Janet—Janet, I want to give you a real heart instead of gilded one! I want to give you ” With a groan the man dropped the letter and covered his face with his hands. How could he have failed to post this? What could Janet have thought —what could she not have suffered? Before him rose the long line of unkindnesses devised by his wounded pride. His head sank down upon the open letter. “Ten years,” he whispered, “ten years in which to wound and hurt her, and kill her love!’ His hands gripped the .old secretary. The determination with which Miss Janet returned home failed wearily while she washed the supper dishes. Upstairs her sister-in-law was putting the children to bed. In the sitting room her brother read his evening paper, Janet was alone in the kitchen with her dishes. Answering a tap at the door she beheld—James Wybrant standing in the starlight! “Janet,” he said very softly, under cover of the trummlng piano, as he stepped into the room, “Janet, I have brought you a valentine.” Janet took ths letter and read wonderingly. “I found that • tonight, Janet—l thought—but that does not excuse me. Can you care, after all this time, after all I have made you suffer?” Janet’s breath caught in a sob, and he took her in his arnjs. “If only you will trust me again I’ll try so hard to make up to you for all’these hard years.” “Oh!” breathed Janet In protest. “Let us have our ride tonight, dear. We will go down and tell Parson Andrews that we shall need him tomorrow.” “Tomorrow!” cried Janet, roused to action by this impetuous settling of affairs. “Oh, Jim, you know I cannot think of marrying you—tomorrow!” The brightness In the . man’s face died down. “Of course, dear,” he said humbly, “I do not ponder that you cannot trust me. I will do anything you say; wait as long as you wish.”Watchlng him, Janet reached up suddenly apd drew his face down gently to her own. “I’ll come with you,” she whispered. “And, Jim, I do trust you! I know that you will be good and dear to me, always.” *

Length of Court Sermons.

The recognized time for a preacher to occupy the pulpit when preaching before tbe late king was ten minutes. King George however has never quite approved of these very short sermons, and it has been intimated to the chaplains in ordinary attached to the royal household, from whom the preacher for the morning service at Buckingham usually selected, that their sermons may be lengthier than they were customarily in the late reign- An intimation of this sort amounts practically to a command, but it is doubtful if it will be very welcome to some of the chaplains who were in the late king’s household. who have during the past years rarely preached a sermon of more than ten minutes’ duration. When the king is at Buckingham Palace on Sunday the preacher for the morning service is selected by his majesty, the selection is usually made on Friday and the chaplain who has been chosen Is notified of the fact by the subdean. t'

Aroused His Curiosity.

Among those who attended the first session of the sale of -the household property of Joseph G. Robin, the New York bank wrecker, was a man well known In literary circles, whom no one had eyer seen at a gathering of that kind. He was asked by a man who had a slight acquaintance with him if he bad come as a possible buyer. “No,” said the visitor, “but having read about this man as having directed many business concerns out of which he nude a fortune and that while doing this he found time to edit a magazine, write novels, compose Greek poetry and devote much H-ma to playing the violin, I wanted to aee what his home looked like.”

A Safeguard.

IN THE HEART OF AFRICA.

DURING the last seventy-five years more bis been done to make us acquainted with the geography of Africa than during the whole of the 1,700 previous years since Ptolemy taken together. With Mungo Park, strictly speaking, commences the era of unceasing endeavors to explore the interior. The explorations of the latter half of the nineteenth century, actuated as they were by diverse motives, are full of interest and have resulted in giving the world a great If not en-. tirely complete knowledge of this vast continent

After perusing the Bcores of books on exploration, travel and sport In Africa Issued during the last dozen years, for the most part mere shooting trips, Illustrated by indifferent photographs, “In the Heart off Africa,” by Duke Adolphus Frederick of Mecklenburg, is something of a relief. It is the record of an expedition' undertaken during the years 1907-1908 for the purpose of conducting a systematic investigation of the German East African protectorate, the Central African Rift valley, in its expansion from Lake Kiwu to Lake Albert Nyanza, and finally the northeastern confines of the Congo State. The expedition was completed by'the crossing of Africa to the West Coast. This Important undertaking was aided financially and in other ways by the German colonial office, the'German Colonial company, the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, and the Museum of Folklore, Berlin. The vast collections gathered were exhibited publicly in Berlin last year, and were afterwards made over to German museums and other scientific institutions. The results obtained were astonishing in quantity and importance. Vast districts were carefully surveyed and mapped, including the wonderful volcanic regions beginning at the northern point of Lake Kiwu; geological explorations were zealously and scientifically conducted, and the botanicalspoils comprised no less than 3,466 specimens, among which hundreds quite new to science were discovered. The zoological work was done with the usual German thoroughness; 834 mammals, 800 birds, 173 reptiles, 708 fishes, 204 amphibious animals, 686 molluscs, 1,462 decapods, .7,603 insects, 1,181 arachidnae —these are only a portion of the amazing captures of the expedition. The classification of these' specimens, which include a great number of new forms, will be the work of some years. A considerable number of new vertebrates are Included In the collection. From the ethnographical-anthropolog-ical ' point of view, Duke Adolf of Mecklenburg’s expedition is one of the most Important that has ever conducted an exploration in Africa. No less than 1,017 skulls and about 4,000 ethnographica were collected; 4,600 natives were measured; among the five thousand-odd photographs taken, 700 are of curious and Important races of savages. Eighty-Beven phonograms and 37 languages were also recorded.

It is an extraordinary record, abounding in picturesque incident and many dangers, and lightened- here and there by descriptions of-the successful chase of elephants, lions, buffaloes, leopards and many other species of big game. One ot the finest elephants sectired by the duke —shot on the Semllki river—carried tusks weighing 98 and 94 pounds apiece, and measuring 8 feet 3% inches and 8 feat 2% Inches respectively. This mighty elephant was nearly ending the career of the author and one of bis native boys, who were caught by the wounded beast while stuck fast in some swampy ground. The boy was actually twice tossed by the monster, but, thanks to the desperate wounds sustained by the beast, managed to escape with his life. In the haunts of the okapi the duke and his companions soon discovered that it is almost an impossibility for a European to get within shot of these shy and furtive creatures, amid the unfathomable tangle of the Semllki forest Mainly owing to. the exertions of the Wambutti hunters, spurred on by dazzling rewards ot baksheesh, the expedition managed to secure the skins, with the skeletons complete, of four example?, which appear to have bees the first brought home by any German expedition. Some new species of antelope were also secured la this forest re-

The expedition was; as may be supposed, not Invariably free from disaster, during its two years of exploreti6n. Herr Klrschtein, one of the duke’s lieutenants, while collecting on Karimbissi, in the mountainous volcanic region, was, with his native followers, suddenly assailed by a violent storm of hail, followed by a furious snowstorm. The temperature sank to zero, and the natives, already much reduced by seven days’ exposure on these heights, gave up the contest for life and sank exhausted. In spite of the exertions of their leader, 20 of them lay dead next morning “frozen under a tropical sun!” The great, African forestp are scarcely ever pentrated by the sun. Tlje trees comprise almost every variety of wood, grow to an enormous* height, some reaching 180 feet, while underneath there Is a thick growth of bushes and vines. Innumerable insects swarm everywhere. Birds of many varieties inhabit the trees, while wild animals, all manner of feptiles, lemurs, chimpanzees, and babboons make their homes in the dark recesses. Added to these are the various tribes of the forest, among them the dwarfs, the most vicious and degraded of beings. They slay their enemies as well as their game with poisoned arrows. Many of Stanleys men fell victims to their poisoned arrows, or to poisoned skewers, deftly concealed in the pathway, upon which they would tread. The whole region reeks with disaster and death. - * The expeditions of Stanley and Livingstone leaves little to be discovered in Africa that Is now absolutely unknown. All that remains to be done Is detail, in the way of accurate measurements and observations. The origin and meaning of the name of this great continent has been a fertile subject for conjecture among phil-

Pair of Watussi.

ologists and antiquaries. By the Greeks it was called Libya, and by the Romans, Africa. With respect to the word Africa, Suidas tells us that It was the proper name of that great city which the Romans called Carthago, and the Greeks, Karchedon. It is certain, at least, that it was applied originally to the country in the immediate neighborhood of Carthage, that part of the continent first known to the Romans, and that it was subsequently extended with their increasing knowledge, till it came at last to indude the whole continent. -Of the meaning of the name, the language of Carthage itself supplies a simple and natural explanation; the word Afrygah, signifying a separate .establishment, or in other words a colony, as Carthage was of Tyre. So that the Phoenicians of old, at home, may have spoken of their Afrygah, Just as we speak of our colonies. Be that as it may, the Arabs of the present day still give the name of Afrygah or Afrlkiyah to the territory of Tunis. It may also be remarked that the name seems not to have been used by the Romans till after the time of the first Punic war, when they became first acquainted with what they afterwards called Africa Propria.

Glad to See Arnold.

Matthew Arnold was sitting in his study one morning when the butler showed in an American lady and a small boy. The lady said, —‘Glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. Arnold, I have often heard ,of you. No, don’t trouble to speak, sir! I know how valuable your time is!’ Then turning to the boy she said, —’This is him, Lenny, the leading critic and poet. Bomewhit fleshier than we had been led to expect.’ "—A. C. Benson, in the Atlantis.

JAMEB BUCHMAN.

SOME ODD SKINS AND HIDES

Queer PeSiThat Find Their Way Into American and Canadian <i Market*. Among the skins and hides which find their way Into the American and Canadian markets are the boar skins, which come from Mexico, and the hide of the Mexican peccary, with fur or bristles of a pepper and salt mixture In color, the beast being a savage looking animal alive. Like deer skins, boar hides are shipped dry. The boar skin makes a heavier leather thaw deer Bkin and Is used for glove trimmings. Goat skins in large numbers are Imported from the various Latin American couhtrfes, including the West Indies; but ibp great sources of the World’s supply of goat skins are China, Russia and the East Indies in the order named. From those countries there are imported annually millions of goat skins which are made into leather, 90 per cent, of which Is used In the manufacture of shoes. Goat skins are shipped principally dry. From the countries to the south of the United States afe brought annually some thousands of alligator hides, mostly from Mexico and the AJnlted States of Colombia, with some from Ecuador. These alligators are shot or are speared from boats. Alligator hides are shipped wet salted. If they were once dried they never could be softened sufficiently to be made into leather. To be kept in perfect condition in the hot countries the alligator must be skinned and the hide salted right away. The supply is still sufficient, but in the countries from which the hides are now mainly brought alligators are diminishing In number. There are too many hunters and too many young alligators are taken. Formerly some alligator leather was used for shoes and boots, but now It Is used chiefly in the manufacture of handbags and suitcases. Occasionally a few manatee or sea cow hides, which come from Mexico, /find their way north. These hides are shipped wet salted. The manatee hide tans into a very thick leather, cheaper than walrus leather but used like it for the making of buffing wheels for polishing purposes. » From Mexico also come a few tlgei* cub skins, which are tanned and made up Into rugs.

Repulsed Their Hero.

George Barr McCutcheon is noted for his shyness and retiring disposition, and some there are mean enough to credit these not entirely unworthy traits to the fact that he figures that his “Bill Nye countenance” and “shining pate” are apt to cause a coldness on the part of matinee girls and others who worship his romantic heroes, says the New York Telegraph. The following story concerning him Is worth repeating. Two young girls were discussing him: *T just dote on McCutcheon.. Don’t you think ‘Beverly of Graustark’ Is just about the swellest book you ever read?” Said Marne to Gert: “Indeed I do. I’d give anything for a photograph of McCutcheon, and if I could only meet him, o-o-o-o!” McCutcheon heard the young lady; he arose from his seat, donned his best “Graustark" smile, and then — Said Gert to Marne: “If that bald-headed onion that's been making googoos across the aisle for the last half hour dares to speak to' me rip slam him on the map with my umbrella.” And McCutcheon folded his tent like the Arabs —and beat jt. Perchance if Marne and Gert cast their optics on this page they will realize how near they came to meeting their favorite author.

Ignorance In High Place.

Funny stories are current of high officials in England at the present day. Grant DufT answers, for one. School boys ought tp know that there Is a town on the Persian Gulf called Busbire, once great and still of high importahce strategically. A personage was sent there frcftn India on diplomatic business. In due time he forwarded the Itemß of his expense at Bushire to the foreign office, along with others incurred. The amount was transmitted to him with these latter deducted. On inquiry he was told that the foreign office could not recognize ’bus hire. May one dare to impute ignorance to Charles Darwin? Certainly he was the first to laugh if, in after years, he recollected advising Sir Joseph Hoofler to write to “Wien," ••that unknown place—where—they—publish—so—many books. Where la it, by-the-by?” When his fame was already worldwide, Darwin did not know that Wien is Vienna.

Many Suns to Give Light.

“During the day we say that the sun shines; during the night we should say that the suns shine," writes a Boston correspondent of the New York Times. “During the day one sun reigns over us; during the night many Buns sparkle' and scintillate upon us. The only difference is that Our sun of day is so much nearer than our suns of night; but there is one sun of night that, during our winter, far outshines the other sparkling sky gems. That son is Sirius, whose distance has been estimated at 50 blllionl of miles, whose size has been conjectured to be as vast as that of seven thousand suns like our own.”

The Mean Old Thing.

Mrs; Scrappington—You provoke me till I am absolutely beside myself! Mr. Scrappington—Then stand off a little way from yourself and see hoar ridiculous yon look l — Puck. ,

MUST THANK JESTER

• ’ 1 r • ;/• ABKING GIRL’S PA NOW EASY FOR) THE SUITOR. '> ... •• ■ v- — Old Custom la Happily FalliiM Into Disuse—The Bride Is the One Who j Is Now Taking All the * " n * "" " We’ve often wondered why it is always the bridegroom who Is rattled during the marriage ceremony, wheat It’s the bride who Is taking ,all the chances. Not that this question baa anything to do with what we are going to talk about; but neither has anything else, and one must start somewhere. And really It is strange hoar cool the girl always is. Our theory is that this Is because a person doesn’t easily get rattled at the complications that follow the business in which he is an expert. The tyro is the one who la nervous, petting married a man Is entering unknown ground. The girl, on the other hand, has the whole field plotted. Getting married Is her business—it is the man’s fate. Where the man falls down first is In the horrible ordeal of “asking papa." This old custom Is happily falling Into disuse, but in many old-fashioned families It Is still considered necessary. The conventional picture shows a timid young man, hat in hand, approaching an ogreish old person to whom he has to Introduce himself. The young man fully expects to be killed, but he Usually gets off with a few minor bruises. This is the way It Is done in the funny papers and in some of our more conservative families. ’ In real life the man has an easier job. The girl casually announces at breakfast that she Intends to marry Jack. Mamma screams: “What! Didn’t I tell you I didn’t approve of him?” “Yes,” answers the daughter, cheerfully, “but that’ll be all right. He doesn’t approve of you, either." Papa doesn’t even get a look-in. To salve his feelings the young chap consents to call on him. ‘1 suppose Mollie told you we were going to get married,” he observes, handing out of cigar. "Hope you and I won’t let It interfere with our friendship.” . “Are you sure you love my daughter?” asks the old man. ‘‘Great Scott!” exclaims the younger, with a giggle. “You aren’t going to get sentimental at your time of life, are you?” The father'blushes and offers to buy a drink. Sometimes, to be sore, it Is an ordeal for the suitor. He considers it a doubtful compliment when he says: '‘Can I have your daughter?” and the old man says: “No; but I’d like to give you a job with my firm. I hat# to see such nerve as yours going to waste.” There are so many comebacks to the “Can you support her in the style to which she has been accustomed?” gag that the modem suitor has his prospective father-in-law licked before the conversation is fairly started. Life and Its problems are simplified by a sense of humor.

The “Dear Fiends.”

A prominent sportsman, who is president of an equally prominent club of fellow sportsmen, recently had a scrap with them and it became necessary for him to write them, a letter. His stenographer, in gay and lightsome mood peculiar to the members of her craft, inadvertently dropped an “r” and began the letter “Deal* Fiends." The president, preoccupied with the subject matter of the letter, signed it without observing the omission and the communication reached the club as originally written. The president pro tern is a man of gentle voice, beseeching manners and limpid humor. In sweet, almost girlishly silver tones he announced at a club dinner, “I have here a letter from our esteemed president, who is not with us this evening, and it becomes my pleasure to read the communication to you at this moment It is as follows: ‘Dear Fiends.’ ” Here he paused solemnly, but for only a iaoment. The club members, recognizing the situation, yelled one mighty yell, as men may at a stag dinner, and the scrap with their president was over. Thus may one touch of the typewriter artist make the whole club kin.

Private Fortunes of Sweden.

By order of the secretary of the treasury a careful Investigation was made of the value of all estates of deceased persons for the years 1906-1901, and a calculation based on these figures was worked out, indicating the approximate value of the total of the private fortunes in Bweden, says Consul General E. D. Winslow, Stockholm. The result of this investigation gave the citizens of the kingdom credit for t 5,197,000,000,000 divided among 1,238,600 estates, viz: In the provinces, V 022,300 estate, aggregating $1480,000,000,000; in the cities. 216,200 estates, aggregating $1,017,000,000,000; the private estates in Stockholm were estimated at $482,000,000,000. The average assets for each individual for the kingdom were $402; for the provinces. $260, and for the cities, $760, except Stockholm, where the fortunes were estimated at $1,425 for each citizen.

Bargain Bale. “If you are. looking for bargains,’* said the broker, “I can suit yon. I can offer you some stocks at ten cents a share." “But why are they so cheap?” demanded the lady shopper. -You see, they have been slightly damaged by water.”