Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1912 — Page 2

The Talking Cat

By LAWRENCE ALFRED CLAY

It bad been a marriage of love between Edward Chalmers and Irene Hope, but there bad been a sting or two In the courtship. Neither one have admitted to an atom of Jealously In their make-up, but each had betrayed it The husband had been a popular young man, and the wife had had many admirers. They hadn’t been jealous enough to quarrel, but the feeling had not been quite dis--slpated.

Before six months were up Mr. Chalmers came home from the insurance office where he worked, and swore. He had been bullied byhla superior, and he said “damn it!” in plain, unmistakable English. The young wife ought to have realised as a girl that there are times when all ||»Awear, and to have been prepared, but it hit her a surprising blow. She began to cry at once. Mr. Chalmers having arrived at the age of twenty-four and having a bowing acquaintance with at least 50 women, ranging from old married women to girls In short dresses, should have realized that no wife cries in order to irritate her husband. They weep because the dressmaker disappointed them, or because the latest thing in hats doesn’t become them. They have been known to sob over the erroneous idea that this is a sad old world. Mr. Chalmers wasn’t posted on this point, and therefore when the wife wept he took it as a personal affront. He had been bullied at the office, and now she was rubbing it in on him at home. All - the rest of us could have straightened things out ir 15 minutes and then gone to the theater, but this misunderstanding hung on. There were dinner andtears and mental oaths, and romance jumped the fence and disappeared In the bushes. Things might have changed for the better next day but for the god of chance. The wife went-to the butcher's to ordermeat, and on the way met Jerry Simpson. v- —

Jerry was one of her old admirers, but the admiration was all on his side. At any other time he would have been passed with a cold nod. Now it was different. Mrs. Chalmers was mad at her husband. She stopped and shook hands with Jerry and told him how glad she was to see him, and at the end of ten minutes she thought she had done a smart thing. At lunch hour, when Mr. Chalmers went out for his bite,_he met Miss Cator. There was once a report that they were engaged. At any rate, they were pretty good friends. He Was glad to see her, because he knew that* his bride didn’t like her a bit He was so glad that he asked her to lunciTwith him, and the bill presented by the waiter took his last nickel. The Chalmers bald a cat She wasn’t anything to boast of as a cat but good enough to begin housekeeping on. Mr. Chalmers entered the house with his mind made up not to speak first All the husbands he had ever talked with had told him that in case of a family row the husband must hold himself as stiff as a ppker and make the wife do the kneeling act Mrs. Chalmers had decided not to rush forward and greet him with a kiss Shft might look up as he entered, and if encouraging she might smile, but beyond that it must be a mutual thing. Only two weeks previously her married sister had solemnly said to her: “Irene, you and Ed will have a quarrel some day.” “Never!” ‘lt may be your fault and it may be his, but stand on pour dignity. Don’t be the first to give in. If you do the heel of the tyrant will be on your neek forever." Well, the tyrant was there with his heel. Just let him try to put it on her proud neck! For a moment he seemed Inclined to, and then turned to the cat. “Well, pussy, it’s been a cool flay,” said Mr. Chalmers. “Yes, pussy, it has," said the wife. “Pussy, you can tell your mistress ♦hat this looks like a mighty poor dinner for a hungry man.” “And, pussy, you can tell your master that he trotted off this morning without leaving any market money.” It wasn’t the case of a person talking through his hat, but talking through his cat. The feline stretched and yawned and purred, and seemed to say: “Oh, cut it out!” but she was held to her job. That evening, for the first time since his marriage, Mr. Chalmers thought of his lodge. Before leaving the house he said to the cat:

“Puwy, 1 am going to my lodge tonight, and 1 may not be home much before midnight." And while Pussy closed her eyes and didn't, appear to care a cent where be went or when he got back, the reply came from the wife: "Pussy, I am going over to see sistor, and I may not be back much before <«» o'clock In the morning.*' CW®® l did net go to Ms Initgj, That was aO a Wsff. Mrs. yWiheem did not go to her sister's. That was all a Mu® to match the other btaff **■ <* the gHM&W tßsy oceupiea was * pOtraL The former owner of the premises bad created it for a fish pond Ho bad Abo built a pagoda on its brink. His Ida* was to sit in that pagoda at i evening tide or some other Ude and

watch the fish swimming about, but before he had done any sitting or watching he had failed in the leather business and lost his property. When Mr. Chalmers left the house he went to a tobacconists five blocks away and bought some cigars. Then he returned and made for the pagoda and the pond. There was some thinking to be done, and there was the place to do it. If the former owner had done more thinking there he might not have failed. He had just lit up and got comfortably settled down and called himself three kinds of an idiot, when footsteps were heard approaching. The night was not so dark but that he could recognize his wife while yet 20 feet away. She had come out there to sit and think She scented the cigar smoke and knew that she was forestalled, but she came right <-n and took a seat on the bench. The cat wasn’t there, but the wife spoke up to say: "Pussy, you can’t blame me a bit. I was told that he had that Helen Cator, out to lunch. You know I never liked her nor she me. Of course, he did it to spite me.” X, The husband drew a long puff and cleared his throat and replied: “Yes, pusjy, but what of that idiot Jerry Simpson ? She stood talking to him for the best part of an hour yesterday, and right on the street, too. Why, the man doesn’t know enough to pound sand, but she laid herself out to be extra charming." “But Miss Cator once said Pd be good-looking but for my face!" “And that ass of a Simpson once asked me if I was bow-legged at my birth!” “Pussy, the husband always begins la family row, and he should be the I first—” ' /

“Pussy, don’t you believe it A wife with a temper can—” “And he has gone to his lodge boping I would cry all the evening!" “And she has gone to her sister’s to get braced up to —” The cat wasn’t there, but the angels were. They folded their wings and reached out their hands and pulled that old pagoda into the old pond. Some folks would have said that the water had undermined the bank and brought about a cave-in, but the angels knew. The water was cold. There was mud with it. There were shouts of alarm—choking—gasping—wading ashore, and then a long, wet and muddy embrace. “Oh, Eddie dear, what—what —” “Yes, what fools!" “And Helen Cator and Jerry Simpson!”

NOT THE WORST DISASTER

. - —.. ■- Miss Thornton Could Overlook the Soiling of Her Silk Dress on This Occasion. Miss Thornton, dressed with tasteful precision, chose her seat in the street car with the air of orie who is habitually careful of her apparel. She looked with an instant’s satisfaction upon the starchy cleanliness of the very littie girl beside her, and then turning to the window thought no more, of rerßeatmate unfit, after a long ride, she became conscious of a moist feeling on her Knee. “Why, what is this? - she asked, with considerable vexation, for it was certainly annoying to discover several large spots on the folds of her cherished silken frock The child, who had been dozing, woke with a start and gazed with astonishment at the limp handkerchief she was holding, and had been holding during her little nap, over Miss Thornton’s dress. "O. it’s all gone!” she exclaimed, with a stifled sob bf disappointment. “Wba is all gone?” demanded Miss Thornton, dabbing her handkerchief ruefully and a little angrily at the discolored silk “What were you carrying that made such a muss?” “It was a big and dandy ice cream peach. It was awfpl good, I know, but I didn’t eat even one tiny bite of it at the settlement party, ’cause I wanted to take it home to mother, for she never even seen* one like it, and now it’e—it’s nothing, and nobody’ll ever eat it” . . .. The little girl’s tone of hopeless regret suddenly made the ryin of a handsome"silk gown seem paltry compared with the tremendous loss of an ice cream peach. Miss Thornton took the small, damp band in hers and said, in her gentlest voice: “I am quite sure, dear, that we can find another ice cream peach for your mother, or something else—just as big and dandy.”— Youth’s Companion.

Preaching and Practice.

The college instructor should take pains to practice what he preaches. Ona member of a class in English composition brought his theme to the professor, after recitation hour in order that the professor might read a marginal correction which he had written, and which the pupil had been entirely unable to make out “Why,” explained the professor, -that says 'Write more plainly.' Youth’s Companion e

Superfluous.

“Can I sell you a fine talking chine, sir?” “N& 1 married one.”

CENTENNIAL OF TNE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE

FW"! HE celebration in Indiana and other western states of the * centennial of General Harrison’s victory at Tippecanoe 1 calls to mind one of the most decisive defeats ever inflicted on the Indians, and a battle greatly important in its bearing on the subsequent attitude of the fierce war-like tribes of the northwest. It quelled the haughty spirit of these discontented hostiles, and defeated the ambitious plan, which they had almost matured, of attacking and destroying the border settlements in detail. If the Indians had been victorious, the .American army would have been annihilated, and the whole extent of the defenseless frontier would have been at the mercy of sanguinary and unsparing savages, drunk with blood and maddened with the conjurations and prophecies of their medicine men. It was unquestionably one of the most spirited and best fought actions recorded in the annals of Indian warfare. The numbers and weapons on either side were nearly equal; and the Indians, contrary to their usual custom, fought hand to hand, and with the most desperate ferocity, displaying a boldness and reckless daring during the engagement that can only be accounted for by their reliance on the specious promises held out to them by _ EHskwatawa. their principal commander and medicine man. This worthy, known to history as the Prophet and generally regarded by his followers as possessing the gift of prescience in an eminent degree, had promised his warriors that “the Great Spirit would turn the powder of the whites into ashes, and charm their bullets, so that they they should drop harmless.” He was wise enough to take no active part In the battle, notwithstanding his prophecies of victory, and during the whole of the contest remained secure on a neighboring eminenpa, chanting a., war. song.

The Celebrated Tecumseh. Tecumseh, his brother, was cast in a different mold. He was a bold and skillful warrior, sagacious in council and formidable in battle. An active, daring, energetic man, but one who preferred tact and secret management to open violence. Deeply imbued with a hatred of the whites, against whom he an unrelenting enmity, full of enthusiasm and highly gifted with eloquence, he appealed with great success to the passions of the Indians, in his endeavors to rouse them to a hostile feeling against the settlers and the army. There had been no war with the Indians since their disheartening defeat by “Mad Anthony” Wayne at the Maumee Rapids in 1795. In 1806, however, Tecumseh, who had been one of the most active braves in the Maumee war, and his brother began a series of artful and daring Intrigues among the Indians along the whole western border. His brother, the Prophet, bad succeeded in obtaining so strong a hold upon the credulity of the deluded Indians that his Influence over the warriors of several powerful tribes was practically unbounded.

During the five years from 1806 to 1811 the situation on the northwest frontierwas undoubtedly grave. ''The threatened Indian coalition was warmly backed by the British in Canada, both with arms and men, openly and in secret. It was fortunate for the future of the country that the most capablq, man for dealing with such a serious state of tnings was on the spot—William Henry Harrison, then governor of Indiana territory, that is, of the whole northwest Major General Francis Greene says of him that “we probably never had in the service a better Indiah fighter or one who more thoroughly understood the , Indian character." / - Harrison’s Ability. Throughout the five year’s Indian war Harrison revealed a military capacity which showed that his desire to enter the army was born of latent ability.

With the exception of a year’s service in congress as delegate from the northwest, Harrison had lived on the frontier for the 20 years preceding the battle of Tippecanoe. He was appointed secretary of the territory in 1797, and governor four years later. In congress be hau procured the passing' of a law relating to the sale of federal land in small parcels, to which the western states ascribe a large

share of their prosperity. He was B ow to find plenty of scope for bis talents and ; experience to soldier and statesman, in the land troubles with the Indians. The sale of lands to the United States under the treaty ot' Greenville, in 1795, had been disavowed by Tecumseh, and the subsequent treaties ot sale effected by Bar- - • ■■ ■....hUrm

rlson with the different tribes only served to further irritate that proud and haughty chief. In 1809 Harrison, by the treaty of Fort Wayne, purchased from the Indian tribes two large portions of land, for which they were paid by certain annuities which they considered a satisfactory equivalent. Tecumseh was absent at the time on a visit to the distant tribes but, on his return some months later, be stormed and raged and threatened some of the chiefs with death for participating in the council. Harrison invited him to a council which he attended with 400 fully ' armed warriors. The Fort Wayne treaty was fully explained to this haughty savage, particular stress being laid on the voluntary agreement of the chiefs who owned the. lands, and their satisfaction with the compensation granted. Tecumseh violently declared that the governor lied, and his warriors Jumped op, brandishing their tomahawks and war clubs, and threatening Harrison with fierce menaces. His coolness and presence of mind averted an outbreak which would have resulted in the massacre of the small force at his disposal. The next day Tecumseh took his departure, saying to Harrison with ominous significance that “your great father may sit over the mountains and drink his wine, but if he continues this policy, you and I will have to fight it out” In the following year, 1811, the Indians proceeded to more open violence and assumed an attitude of more decided hostility. Aggressions of the most atrocious nature were audaciously committed by the Indians within the limits ,of the territory and every day brought fresh accounts of the perpetration of those ruthless deeds of depredation and murder which always give the first intima-, tion of the approach of a savage war. The people, on the frontier—became exceedingly alarmed and Harrison was instructed to march with an armed force to the Prophet’s town, but to avoid hostilities not absolutely necessary. Eluding all ambuscades Harrison reached the vicinity of Tippecanoe, where he was met by a deputation of the Prophet’s counsellors demanding a parley. A suspension of hostilities was agreed a meeting was to take place the next day between the governor and the chiefs to agree upon the terms of peace. But Harrison knew too well the treachery of his artful antagonist and encamped in a carefully selected position, taking every precaution against a night surprise.

The night was dark and cloudy and -soon after midnight there commenced a light fall of drizzling rain. The governor and his officers were sitting In conversation about the Are when the attack began. One of the sentries discovered an Indian creeping toward' him through the grass and fired. This was immediately followed by the piercing Indian war-whoop and a furious charge, so sudden and fierce that the guard in that quarter gave way, at first, to their savage assailants; but notwithstanding the severe fire they soon rallied and maintained their'ground, with desperate valor. Harrison had formed his men Into a hollow square, which was now determinedly attacked at every point When day broke about two hours later the troops took the offensive, making a simultaneous charge upon the enemy on both flanks. So vigorous and determined was this attack that the enemy broke in all directions and fled from the field. . Tecumseh’s Gallant End. Tecumseh was not present at the battle of Tippecanoe, being on a visit to the southern tribes, whom he was endeavoring to unite in his combination against the United States. In his absence, his affairs bad sustained a sharp reverse and his ambitious plans were ruined. He joined the English and commanded their Indian allies In the War of 1812, holding the rank of brigadier general. Jointly with General Proctor he commanded at the battle of the Thames, laying aside his sword and uniform and putting on this hunting dress tn the conviction that he must fall. His Indians were driven back, and he fought desperately till he was killed. In the War of 1812 Harrison held the chief command in the northwest.

with unusual discretionary powers. It was, however, Tippecanoe that gave Harrison his greatest recitation. Notwithstanding his distinguished services in the War of 1812, and afterwards as senator and as a foreign minister, the chief source of his popularity was this battle with the Indians, and nearly 30 years after It the campaign song which carried him into the presidency was 'Tippecanoe Tyler too.-

MOST ANCIENT OF MEN

recent discoveries In England ARE INTERESTING. 7 Flint Implements Made Before the Glacial Period of Europe Are Found by an Eminent Archaeologist in Suffolk. The new discovery in regard to ancient man (of which I am able to speak with full confidence since I have studied the specimens and the localities myself, and have just sent an illustrated account of the implement to the Royal society) is that of flint implements of very deflnite and peculiar shape, in some abundance, in a bed at the base of what geologists class as a Pliocene deposit (that is, the Pleistocene), namely, the “Red Crag” of Suffolk. We owe this most important discovery entirely to Mr. J. Reid Moir of Ipswich, who found his first specimens in October, 1909, and after a year’s careful examination of the district and the finding of more specimens in crag pits ten miles and more around Ipswich, announced it in a letter to the Times in October, 1910. Now that another year has passed more specimens have been found and' the matter is beyond dispute. Two distinguished geologists, past presidents of the Geological society, have certified that the bed in which Mr. Moir’s flints are obtained is certinly the undisturbed basement bed of the Red Crag, so that they may be justly spoken of as due to the work of pre-crag man. The implements are not at all like those previously known. They are not flattened, almond-shaped, or kfte-like (elongated, triangular or leaf-shaped), as are the large Paleolithic implement (the Chellean, Acheuilian and Moustierian) hitherto known. Bbt

they are shaped like the beak of an eagle, compressed from side to side with a keel or ridge extending from the front point backward. Their shape may be compared to the hull of a boat with its keel turned upward and Its beak-like prow in front. They are from four to ten Inches in length, and all have been fabricated by a few well-directed blows given to an oblong piece of flint so as to knock off greatpieces right and left; leaving a keel In the midline, whifedhe lower face is trimmed flat. These implements are, in fact, beaked hammer heads —probably used In the hand without hafting—and applied to the smoothing and “dressing” of skins, as well as other purposes. Some are more symmetrical and carefully “trimmed” than others. With these, which I call “eagle’s beak implements,” or the “rostro-carlnate type,” are found a few other large afld heavy sculptured, flints of very curious shape (like picks and axes) unlike any hitherto known, but certainly and without the least doubt chipped into shape by man.

The flint implements—our eagle’s beaks made by men in the relatively warm Coralline Crag days—were actually carried off the land by an ice sheet and deposited in the earliest layers of the Red Crag deposit The Irrefragable proof of this is that very many of the eagle’s beak flints are scratched and scored on their smooth - surfaces by those peculiar cross-run-ning grooves which we find on a pebble from a glacier’s “moraine,” or stone heap. Nothing but the immense pressure of the stones embedded in one sheet of ice, rasping by slow movement other stones embedded in another sheet of ice over which the first very slowly advances, can produce these markings. The Red Crag marks the beginning of the Pleistocene and of the glacial condition of North Europe. A great question, difficult of decision, is whether the earliest river gravels which ,we know In England and France were as early as the Red Crag, overlying which are vast marine deposits ot glacial sands and clays. In any case Mr. Moir’s flint implements are pre-Crag; they were made before the glacial conditions set in, and are quite unlike those found in the river gravels. The discovery is one which will profoundly interest the “pre-hfs-toriahs” of France and Qermany, as. well as English archaeologists and geologists.—London Times.

Girls That Smoke.

Apropos of the Rita-Carlton, New York’s fashionable hotel that permits ladies to smoke, Mme. Simone, the Parisian actress, said the other day: “Well, why shouldn’t ladies smoke? There’s nothing ungraceful in the habit On the contrary, to see a pretty owman with a cigarette is a very charming picture.“Those who object to smoking among women have never, perhaps, seen smoking done decorously. Their idea, of smoking is that of the old Provencal woman. "A society girl, calling on this old woman in her cottage, took a cigarette from her gold case, fitted it in a tube of amber, and saids ‘"You don’t mind if I smoke, do you ?’ '"Why, of course not, dearie? Of course not!’ said the old woman. ‘Jeanne,’ she added to Ker servant, ‘go fetch a spittoon!"’

On Second Thought

“You know,” said the Chinese philosopher, “that our nation nmUy invented gunpowder." "Yes," replied the court official, “and when I see the trouble we are having I can’t help thinking it was rattier tooiisn oi

HE DIDN’T MAKE THE CALL 1

The Office Boy Left “Higgins” N» Alternative but to “Beat It,” and He Did. ■ During the recent visit to New York! of Robert S. Hichens, the English novelist, he wished to call upon the man-, aging editor of a Park Row paper. Just at that time any paper one pick-; ed up had an interview with Hichens. Besides, the editor and he were' friends. So that Hichens—-not having experienced the Park Row office boy—thought he would have no difficulty in invading the sanctum. '“Take) .—haw—my card If the managing editor,” said he'ttxthe office boy. That grimy functionary holds hia job by seeing to it that not one card in ten presented to him ever gets anywhere. He casts a coldly suspicious’ eye upon the novelist. The latter was dolled up In his Piccadilly clothes, car-' ried a cane, wore spate, and shot a monocle from his right eye in astonishment at the urchin’s impertinence. “Whadda yuh wanta see him fur?” asked the boy. : Mr. Hichens tried to wither the boy. Only unwitherable boys last on Park Row. He ordered the boy to go in with that card. The boy said in New York-: ese that there would be nothing* doin’! until he found out why Hichens wanted to see the editor. Mr. Hichens had! an inspiration. “I am an English journalist,” said he. “Give my card and tell him that I wish to write a series! of articles on New York for his paper.” ' The boy disappeared behind a, screen. Mr. Hichens smiled happily at the thought of the merry laughter with which His friend, the editor, would receive the statement. Pretty soon Mr. Hichens heard the voice of the office boy. “Guy out here named Higgins,” said the boy, “says he wantfl a job.” 1 The voice of an unseen and hard worked man replied that no jobs were open to any Higginses. The boy handed a thumb smudged card back to Mr. Hichens. “Nothin’ doin’ ” said he, indifferently, and buried himself in bls late edition. > “But —” began Mr. Hichens, indignantly. “G’wan, now,” said the boy, brusquely. “Beat it, Higgins.” And so Mr. Hichens did.

Women parl Divers.

The pearl divers of Japan are all—or nearly all —women. Along the shores of the Bay of Ago and the Bay of Kokasho, says the Oriental Review, the thirteen and fourteen year old girls, after they have finished their primary school work, go to sea and learn to dive. They are In the water and learn to swim almost from babyhood, and spend most..of their time in the water, jexcept in the coldest season, from the end of December to the beginning of February. Even during the most in-, clement of seasons they sometimes dive for pearls. They wear a special, dress, white underwear, and the hair twisted up into a hard knot. The eyes are protected by glasses to prevent the entrance of water. Tubs are suspended from the waist A boat in command of a man is assigned to every five or ten women divers to carry them to and from the grounds. When the divers arrive on the grounds they leap into the water at once, and begin to gather oysters at the bottom. The oysters are dropped in to the tubs hung .from their waists. When these vessels are filled the divers are raised to the surface and jump into the boats. They dive to a depth of from 5 to 30 fathoms without any special apparatus, and retain their breath from one to three minutes. Their ages vary from thirteen to forty years, and between" twenty-five and thirty-five they are in their prime.

From Behind Prison Walls.

Not long ago a story drifted down from Sing Sing about one of the colony of local bankers now doing time, says the New York correspondent of the Cincinnati Times Star. The banker had a caller, who had been of service during the trial. The caller had then learned to regard the jugged financier with an affection which was not reciprocated. ■M want to see Mr. Banker,” said the. caller to a keeper. “Write your name On a card and I’ll take iCin,” said the keeper. “And what do you think,” said the caller to a friend, on his return to the city. “That keeper brought my card-back to me. ’Sorry, sir/ said he, •but Mr. Banker isn’t at home today.’ ” A complementary yarn is the one now told of “P. K.” Connaughton, who for years has been principal keeper at Sing Sing. The other day Connaughton told a prisoner to drop a bag of onions he was carrying at the door, and come into the keeper’s office to be questioned about some recent offense. The prisoner stood the crossexamination well. When the prisoner and “P. K.” came out the bag was there, but the qnions had disappeared. “By thunder,” said “P. K., n “there’s a thief in this place." ' S'i

Twas Ever Thus.

“Now, by me halldome!” stormed Sir Michael De Byte, pausing in the donning of his clothes, “ ’twas a neglectful and slatternly housewife I got when I wed thee!" “What irketh thee, Mike dear?” r .asked Ms trembling “What iketh, quotha! There be three rivets out of my clean shift of mafl!” And she was fain to weep softly an he smote her With his mace. *