Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1911 — Page 3

GREAT CHINEST WALL DOOMED

THE Chinese wall, marvelous barrier extending more than 1,760' miles over mountain and valley, is doomed. It is said that under the rule of the new regent, Prince- Chun, a progressiveness will be carried to a point where not only will the. old order of government see its downfall, but all that physically recalls the past will also be destroyed. Y ’ Tradition is the yoke that binds China. It is the obstacle that has kept that country of marvelous resources back. Prince Chun knows this, and it is said that tn his desire to effect reform he will not content himself with merely establishing new methods in his systems of government, but will actually wipe out the physical relics which keep the face Of China turned to the past rather than to the future. Of an these survivals, the Chinese waU is the most famous and the most wonderful. The countries of power in the world today were unknown when this structure was built to keep out the Invader. In cataloguing the won 7 lets of the world, it has never been possible to make a classification that omitted, the Chinese wan. It was 200 years old when Christ came to earth, but even then it was not the work of a young nation, for China has a history that can be traced back for 6,000 years. _( The project for tearing down the Chinese wall originated some years ago, and ft Is said that the late empress her son, whose deaths coming to close together so suddenly changed the whole aspect of the future for China, had consented to abolish the wall, and had even signed the contracts for Its removal when superstitious fear seised them and the order was revoked. Descended as they both were from the Tsln dynasty that built the great barrier, and having that worship of ancestry that is deeply ingrained in the beliefs of the Mongolian, they feared at the last moment to commit this sacrilege on the masterwork of the dead. But Prince Chun, who as regent for the two-year-old baby emperor, Is possessed of full authority, has no such scruples. He Is not the offspring of emperors and there Is nothing to hold him In cheek. He Is known to have strongly advanced ideas and to be especially Independent and scornful where the old ideas of the past are concerned. Therefore, It probable that ha will carry the work of demolition to a finish. The Interest In whether he does so goes farther than the mere question of the wall. It has to do Indirectly with the future of the Immense hordes who people the country. The wall Is the symbol of the ancient that holds the country in check. If he be brought down the modernists will take it as a sign that the new ruler will during his stay as regent enforce the new Ideals. If In spite of his impulses he is wont to let the great wall stay, China will settle back lazily and comfortably and decide that nothing radical will occur finder the present regime. * This Is the situation that now gives such an extraordinary Interest to the old line of fortifications. Modern artillery would speedily /educe the last vestige of the ancient barrier, but it was not built to withstand this kind of attack, and in the days when it reared Its head over the landscape, it was an impassable stronghold. Man’s Great Piece of Work. The visitor who gazes at this stupendous construction is made to feel very modest as to the skill of the modern engineer. Experts of all nations have named It as the most astounding piece of work ever performed by man. Even over the pyramids and the sphinx It Is given the credit In Imagination the spectator Is moved back 20 centuries to the times that ShVHoangti, the greatest of Chinese heroes, reigned. China then led the world in wealth and culture and the nation had a great literature. Rich rewards of conquest constantly inspired the Mongols, wfld tribes who lived In the country now called Mongolia, to make forays. They had Invaded the country on the northern part, and were encroaching further toward Pekin and the provinces of the south. It was In this crisis that Shl-Hoangtl performed the feats of valor that made his name forever famous in Chinese song and poem. Aa-

sembling a mighty army, he threw himself on the Mongolian hordes, fought them, defeated them, and sent them flying back from Chinese territory. x But It was not enough to have downed the enemy. The Mongols always came back. They had a pertinacity that made them the most dangerous of foes. Therefore, it became necessary to construct a barrier that would unfailingly perform Its duty. Everything had to be done by hand, for the great engineering devices that today accomplish the work of 500 men had not then been Invented. But fortunately labor was in this most thickly populated country In the world, and swiftly the great wall moved to Its place, grim and powerful able to.withstand any assault that Mongols might make. Its battlemented walls are 50 feet high, and at every few hundred feet they bristle with towers where In days of yore Chinese warriors stood ever ready to repel the Invader. Of Mortared Brick and Stone. The wall is. 25 feet wide and is built for the greater part of its way of mortared brick and stone. When the Ming dynasty had come into power it duplicated for a considerable extent Shl-Hoangti’s wail, and thus for a large part of the distance there is a double barrier. The most powerfur part of the wall Is that at for this gate was only 60 miles from Pekin, and here it was that any charges directed against the greatest and richest city of the natloij would have to be repulsed. One .great battle was fought here, for at the top of the Nankou pass the gate was the scene of the last stand against the noted Mongolian warrior, Genghis Khan, and when he overrode the defenders It was down thd pass and through the gate that the conqueror led his forces. He took the Mongols into China and conquered a country against which his people had been fighting for 1,300 years. Kubla Khan also entered by this pass when he completed the conquest of China and made his realm the greatest the world had ever known. Genghis Khan ! and Kubla Khan were differently dlspositloned.. Genghis turned all the literature of China, but Kubla protected the literature and helped along the people by wise measures that gave prosperity In agriculture and commerce. Kubla fixed places In the wall that had been ravaged by the wars of the centuries and undertook to restore tranquillity in the country. Some historians have said that the great wall accounted for the sloth Into which China fell. .The huge barrier, which even today shows itself to be stoutly built, gave the people a sense of security and made them feel that no nation could overwhelm them. Centuries passed In this foolish delusion, and when the war with Japan came China discovered that she had been steeping for .centuries. Since the humiliation of that defeat by the Mikado a determination has grown up among the younger element of the people to earn a place among the great nations of the world. The old dowager empress and the weakling emperor stood in the way. Now they pre gone, and the country looks with hope to the strong man who Is now at the helm. It is probable that before long China will feeL no matter how the remainder of the world ‘ may regret the passing of a famous relic, that a new era has dawned.

Father of Antiseptic Surgery.

Lord Lister, who recently celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday, is the medical genius who discovered and introduced the antiseptic method of surgery, thereby making possible the almost incredible operations performed by doctors today. Before his discovery It Is estimated that nearly 50 per oent of surgical operations proved fatal, owing to septic poisoning. Lord Lister, like many other scientists, has a wide Interest in things, and his powers of observation are abnormal. Speaking of this on one occasion, he remarked on the 'great advantage of drawing as a training for observation. “The man who sketches,” he said, "looks and. looks again at an object, and thus the alltmportant habit of correct observation is acquired."

RANDOM MUSINGS.

Ambition is the sworn foe of contentment * as Some people say nothing without even sawing wood. ' ’ . ' Those who Indulge in sour grapes deserve to look seedy. Even a floating debt can’t always keep its head above water. •see■ Even in the middle ages there were undoubtedly suburban knights. * . . . ..... There are times when the hail fellow well met is better avoided. In politics it doesn’t always take a new broom to make a clean sweep. The one persojf a man can always convince of his greatness is himself. The man who is always blue can’t expect his memory to be kept green. Lots of people never seem to know right from wrong till they are found out. The tombstone man isn’t the only one who has a penchant for cutting remarks. Many a man hasn’t as much polish as his boot black makes him appear to have. Many a fellow is so close fisted that he will keep everything except his promises. Lots of people never recognize an opportunity unless It is spelled with a capital O.

APHORISMS

The pursuit of happiness Is . the chase of a lifetime. Revenge is sweat only after the heart has become soured. The widow Is entitled to her third, but she must get her second , first. The hobble skirt doesn’t' prevent woman from jumping at conclusions. Take the axerage man at his own valuation and you are pretty sure to get stuck. One of the greatest mistakes a man makes is In thinking he isn’t going to make any. It is true that every man has his price, it is equally true that few of them are worth it Keeping his nose constantly down to the grindstone Is apt to give any man sharp features. The best times we have are when we are thinking about the good times we are going to have. A man should never try tp keep any secrets from his wife. Some kind friend will come along and tell her, anyhow. Any suburbanite will tell you that the thing he misses most living out of town is the eariy morning train to the city.

JUST GIRLS.

One can admire a girl at the same time for her modesty and her cheek. - No girl is more than 50 per cent as pretty as she thinks she is. The alarm a girl feels when kissed is generally a still alarm. Warm love will melt some girls; It takes cold cash to melt others. A pretty girl iseot so sure tjiat we ought not to judge by appearances. It is easier for a girl to be vain without being pretty than to be pretty without bring vain. When you lay your heart at a girl’s feet she expects you to put a ring on her finger. The girl who delights in keeping a man on the rack may find herself later on the shelf.

REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

Begging letters make a man feel worse than being robbed. A man doesn’t call it deceiving his wife is his excuse works. A girl seems to be crazy to have rod hair unless she has It. Theory can start a man, but he’d better finish on horse sense. Every once in so often the straight and narrow path seems to pitch over a precipice. If a man has anything that is a marvel he Is not satisfied unless you think it Is a miracle. There’s not enough money to make all people millionaire*, so most of them have none at an. A man wants to spend his"hioney on having a good time off somewhere, specially If he could have a better at borne for nothing.

CURRENT VERSE.

Grandmother** Garden. Grandmother’s garden was edged wttk box. And quaint were the flowers that grew; Foxglove and fennel and lady lock*. Marjoram, mint, and rue; ' * Fragrant It was with mullen pink. And lilies of white and gold; Never was sweeter a spot. I thinly Grandmother’s garden old. Grandmother’s garden, she loved it sot Rainy the day or fair, Down its borders she’d always go, . Watching the blooms with care; Weeding and pruning with skilful hand. But gentle, just so, they say. She reared her children, a goodly band. Who grandmother bless today. Grandmother’s garden! If souls return I am syre that she comes once more. When deepens the green in the ivy iprn And crocuses deck the door, For fields Elysian on earthly bowers May border, coxld dull eyes see, A gracious presence amid her flowers Grandmother still may be. —Rose Mills Powers, irtxWoman's Horns Companion.

The Cowboy Sonneteer.

I never knowed how queer these wimmen are, But you kin bet I’m learnln’ nftghty fast; The other day when I was ridin’ past I took her home f*m school—lt wasn’t far; And on the way we seen the old Two Bar—’Twas roundup-Qhey was brandin’ of the last. And say! but she was made to see ’em cast And throw each critter fer its brandin’ scar. ■ She’d talked a lot ’bout likin’ cowboy life, But now she froze up, and I seen a ' tear Come stealin’ down her cheek—’twas like a knife ( Had stuck me in the heart, I felt so queer; And now she’s fired me, and done it jest as cool— She’ll never wed a man whose work la crool!

The Lover.

Tour sweetheart 1* a haughty and aristocratic dame. She beasts an ancient family, a proud, historic name; My sweetheart has forgotten whence her orgins arise— . Go follow, you, the blood that’s ’blue—l choose the bluer ayes. 1 Tour sweetheart is a wealthy, yea, a plutocratic miss. She brings you house and land and gear— God give you store of bliss! My sweetheart brings herself alone, undowered, sweet and fair; Go grasp your hoard of minted gold—l chooie the golden hair! ✓ Tour sweetheart draws you up to where the social gods hold sway, With her, you may climb proud Position’s mountain, day by day; But here, from higher hlghts I look down on your peaks of IceTour sweetheart led you Into Place—but mine, to Paradise!

Explanation*. Saith one little raindrop To the other: "Pray, Wherefore art thou weeping? Why not bright and gay?” Saith the other raindrop: "I have been deceiv’d, For my love hath left me— Left me lone and griev’d. "With another maiden He has gone from me— That is why I’m weeping; Happir ne’er I’ll be! "Now that I have told you, Pray, why weepest thou? Hast thou not a sweetheart? Why that furrow’d brow?" Saith the first small raindrop: “I’ve cause tears to shed— I am t’other maiden With whom he has fled.”

The Snowslide.

For weeks had I crouched in my lair Where the peaks are craggy and bald. Awaiting a summon* there— And at last the south wind called. It summoned me forth to leap. And it loosened my icy bands, And so, with a mighty sweep, I sped to the lower lands. The rocks that stood In my path I juggled like children’s toys; I smote the pine* in my wrath And they fell with a thund’rous noise. And the town that had mocked me so. With its lights that would never sleep. Can point to its scars and show Where ended the snowslide’s leap. —Arthur Chapman, in Denver Republican.

Ths Cry of a Woman.

Oh, for the chance to soar! The daylight brings The same small tasks to crowd my Ufa : again; The years pass by me and my power has lain So long chained it is dying; she who rings Must know a life apart from little things Or the ever-turning wheel thins her refrain, One cleaves the sky, a million dot the plain And in my heart I know that I have wings, ~ Vain, vain, but more faint-hearted is the cry, I chose the life myself; I chose to stay Here in the plain with those my- heart adores; To make them happier, happier till I die. To turn the wheel more smoothly every day— Maybe, that is the way a woman soars. —Pall Mall Gas«tte.

A Mortgaged Inheritance.

There is a land whose streams did wind More winningly than these. Where finer shadows played behind The clean-stemmed beechon trees. The maidens there were deeper eyed. The lads more swift and fair. And angels waited at each one’s side— Would God that I were there! Here daffodils are dressed in gold But there thye wore the sun. And here the btoots are bought and sold But there God gave each one. .There all roads led to fairyland That here do lead to care. And stars were lamps on Heaven’s strand— Would God that X were there! * Here worship drawls upon her course But there with larks would cope. And here her voice with doubt is hoarse But there was sweet with hope. O land of peace! my spirit dies For thy once tasted air, O earliest loss: O prise;— Would God that 1 Mire there!

Through the Pantry Window

On a certain chill October afternoon, which was brightened only by a flare of crimson leaves on all the maples and the ever-present tangles of aster and goldenrod along the bushy banks, Elsie turned her horse In at a rickety picket gate and dismounted before the porch of a tiny, shabby, neglected house. With the reins upon her arm she stood looking about her with tender, remembering eyes. The little yard was grown up with mingled grass and weeds. In one corner was a bit of garden where corn had ripened and was curing where it stood, where a few red tomatoes which the birds had not eaten glowed jewel-wise upon fading vines, and a yellow pumpkin and a. green Hubbard squash lay side by side. At the right side of the narrow path which led up to the door a flower bed showed a , few scarlet geranium blossoms. Upon the shelf within the little porch stood an oxalis and a cactus dead for want of moisture. The house blinds were shut. It was a very pitiful little house, like a shell without its mollusk or a body without its soul. Tears came to Elsie’s eyes as she thought of the dear woman who had animated It with her kindly presence. She felt that she would like to go in and look about and try In imagination to refurnish the abandoned rooms and to people them with the gentle figures that had once frequented them. The thin old horse, a freckled gray from the Imrery stable In town, was pulling at the reins in an effort to get his nose 'to the grass. Elsie sought for some place to make him secure and remembered the little barn. If the door was not nailed up she could put him In there. s The door was not nailed up. It slid open easily and she led the horse In and tied him to the stall which had held'only cobwebs and bay dust for a long time. A little hay remained in one corner. She carried it to the horse, who received it as eagerly as if it had been the freshest of fodder. Then she went to the house. It was locked securely. She went about trying the shutters. At last she found one partly off the hinges—blown off by a high wind, no doubt She swung it dear and put her hand to the window underneath. To her surprise, it raised as she pushed upon it She seemed to hear a familiar voice saying in her ear; “The ketch on that pantry window needs fixing bad, but I can’t seem to do it But, la! what difference does It make? There ain’t no burglar coming in here for the little trash I’ve got. If one did come in he’d be glad enough to get out again after I’d given It to him good and lively with that old pair-of brass tongs I keep handy for the purpose.” Aunt Hope’s dear voice! Aunt Hopes’ own remembered words! And this was the pantry window. Elsie looked in. The tiny place was neat, the cupboard doors shut; an old iron spider hung against the wall. It looked perfectly natural and right, quite as if Aunt Hope had just stepped out Clarissa Mains, the heiress, had left some things as they should be. | The window-sill was only knee-high from the ground, and Elsie climbed over it easily. She let down the window behind her. The floor gave back an empty sound beneath her feet as she walked across it to the kitchen. The kitchen, too, was quite unchanged. There stood the old-fashioned stove from which she had eaten so many oi Aunt Hope’s good dinners. In the dining-room the chairs and the table still stood In their places upon the painted floor. After the dining-room came the parlor. the room that In Aunt Hope's lifetime Elsie had always loved best It was a good-sized room in the front of the house. She lifted a window and turned the slats of the closed shutter. The yellow afternoon light came In across the bare floor. Innumerable motes danced in its rays. Upon the walls a few old pictures still hung, and the wall paper showed fresh spaces upon Its faded surface where ethers had been. There was a what-not in one corner; a few chairs waited as if for occupants; a shell and a large cheap vase were upon the mantel. Of all Aunt Hope’s treasured parlor furnishings these things only remained. *' •» Elsie sat down upon one of the appealing chairs and clasped her hands in their riding-gauntlets about ler knee. There was a chill of fireless ness and stale air in the room, but she did not feel it She was thinking of the last time she had been In this room. There had been flowers tn the room and many people. In the midst lay Aunt Hope, always hitherto so gracious and genial, so quick to respond to the love of her friends and neighbors. Her hands were crossed upon a flower; her lips smiled a new little smile of understanding of men's ways and of God’s. Above the hushed sound of . tears rose a dignified voice: "I am the resurrection and the life.” How vividly she remembered ft all! She had sat here and he had sat there with Aunt Hope between. And though they both looked at Aunt Hope tearfully they would not look at each other. How pale he had been! And, perhaps, she, too. had been just aa pale under her veil. Well, it was

By CLAUDINE SISSON

• V ’’y; • 7 . .» X’ ■ over. Of what use was it to regret?* Yet Elsie knew how anxiously Aunt Hope had longed for tfiqm ' to be friends again, how strongly she had' advised their making up their foolish quarrel. “You are both young and hightempered,” she had pleaded again and again, “but there’ll come a time when you’ll be old and remorseful unless you make up now. Why/you are made for each other, Elsie. You’ll never be happy with anyone else, nor will David. He’s a splerdfd young fellow. Don’t I know? Wasn’t I with his mother the night he was born and haven’t I watched hiflj grow up from baby to man? ’’And haven’t I Watched you grow up, too? And I love you both. I’ve tried to have you care for each other because I felt that was as it should be. And now ■you’ve let Cjit little trollop of a Doris Kennedy come between you! Oh, I knew what folks say about me —that I am a meddling old matchmaker— “ Peacemaker, Aunt Hope,” Elsie had laughed tremulously.' “Well, then, peacemaker, I hope I am. Blessed —you kpow what the Bible says. But I ain’t sure of that unless you'll let me make peace between you and David!* “Some day,” Elsie had half promised.’ That was a year ago. Then they had met at Aunt Hope’s funeral and had not spoken. Afterward David had gone back to the city to his work and Elsie had gone to hers in the little country town.' As far as she knew now, her romahice was ended. There was no Aunt Hope to advise and gently smooth away the difficulty. But, oh, the sweetness and the bitterfiess of it lingered with her like mingled myrrh and money. She had loved David—she loved him still —and must go on loving him as long as she lived. But she. bad the Bennett temper. He had It, too, for back somewhere, a couple of generations ago, a certain marriage had made 'them kin. She would not give up. Neither would he. And It was all because she had not liked his city cousin, Doris Kennedy, and he had! Perhaps down in her heart Elsie had been a bit jealous of the blonde young woman who looked ask If she had been run In an exceeding slender mold and had never so much as bent her back since—an effect obtained, it was said, by means of an exacting dressmaker. Elsie was far too natural to admire Doris’ immobility, loads of false hair and layers of pink and white powder. And she had told David so in a none too pleasant way. “But her heart is all right,” he had argued stoutly. "Doris-Is a good girt. The trouble Is, you are envious of her, that’s all.” “Envious!” cried Elsie, scarlet With rage. So thg quarrel had begun. And it had ended in David going his way end Elsie hers. As she sat there now in the empty room Elsie owned to . herself sadly that she had . been unreasonable. After all, Doris was David’s own cousin and older than he. There had been no reason in the world for her being jealous—as she had been; yes, she had to admit that now. T 9 ’ "If only I had listened to Aunt Hope. If only I had let her make peace as she wished—” ~ r - A crash at the back of the house startled her. A window bad fallen! She sprang to her feet. Steps were coming toward her through the house —heavy steps—a man’s. Now they were In the kitchen—now the diningroom. She plunged toward the door that opened into the little front entry. It was locked. She tugged at it frantically. Heaven! To be. shut in this bouse with a tramp. 'BtflL tagging, with futile desperation, at the unyielding door she looked back over her shoulder just as the Invader appeered In the parlor door—a tall ybung fellow In a respectable ulster, who looked almost as white and shaken as she knew she was. “Elsie!" he exclaimed. “Great Scott!” "David!” she gasped. And half felt against the supporting door. They stared at each other, the color slowly coming back to their faces. "Did you get in at the pantry window, too?" Elsie asked, " wheh she could. ' ' He nodded. “I remembered that Aunt Hope was always going to have it fixed and never did. What are you doing here, Elsie?" He came close to her. “What are you?” "I came becapse I had ta i felt as if I was being called.” "David! That’s just the way I frit" Their eyes sought each other’s, awestruck, wondering. Then their hands met "Forgive me, Elsie. I was wrong," he faltered. "Forgive me, David, I was wrong, too." They clung together. •.' ‘4 “I didn’t care for Doria. .But she was my cousin " , “1 know. I know." She was in his arms now. And ho had kissed her. -David." Elsie said, from his shoulder. solemnly, “do you she. Aunt Hope, drew us here today F His eyes had the look of one who knows?” ? he anlwerjd /w low. "Blessed are the peacemakers!"