Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 259, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1912 — Page 3

LITTLE MISS CALIPERS

How a Sick Lumberjack’s Daughter Made Good.

By N. J. COTTON.

Amos Tuttle hobbled slowly into his rude leg shack, a half mile below the landing and camp of the Kilkenney Lumber company, and wearily threw down his string of wooden figure tablets and calipers. “It’s no use,” he dejectedly exclaimed, “Ican’t go on with that scalings The rheumatism has got me worse than ever. I don’t know what’s to be done. I asked Dunn for a lay-off tonight, and he told me if I quit now it would be for good. He’s had it In for me for a long time, and I suppose he thinks this is his chance to ship me.” • “I’m sure I don’t know what is to become of us, with a payment due on the farm,” complained Mrs. Tuttle, a little worn, tired-faced woman. "Say, dad!" cheerfully exclaimed a sturdy, rosy-cheeked girl of eighteen, throwing an arm lovingly around his neck. “Why can’t ,1 take your place on the log pile? I have been with you ever since I can remember, scaling timber.” “Why, gal,” replied the old man, tenderly stroking her cheek, “it’s no place for you among all those rough men.” ** “But I know the most of them, dad,, and 1 am not afraid.” i “Amos Tuttle loved his daughter better than anything else on earth, and he was proud to have her offer -to step into the breach. But instinctively he shrank from consenting to her coming in contact with all those rough men. For several moments he tenderly regarded her in thoughtful silence. At length he spoke, but with evident reluctance. “Well, Rita, if Dunn is/willing you may try It, but if any of those Jacks Insult you, gal, tell me, and I’ll crawl up there on my hands and knees and shoot the cusses.” Then next morning Amoß Tuttle could not get out of bed, but his substitute, cheerful and self-reliant, promptly at seven o’clock swung the calipers and figure tablets across her shoulder and resolutely started for the landing.-Clad in short skirts and red sweater, with long garters and overshoes, and her riotous curls confined by a long topped Canadian toboggan cap, she successfully defied the cold and was a most bewitching wood nymph personified. Jim Dunn, the boss, was alone on the landing when she arrived. The teams had gone up the mountain after their first load, and the landing men had not come up from the camp. Dunn was a big, coarse, illiterate man, who kept his job by sheer muscular force.

“Hello, little one,” he exclaimed In a" coarse, familiar Voice. Rita acknowledged the greeting as graciously as possible. She had an instinctive dread of this man. “Father is laid up with rheumatism. May I take his place?” Dunn regarded her a moment in open admiration before answering, then laughing coarsely he said: “It’s irregular, gal, and might cost me me job, if the company knew it. But, 1% be danged if I won’t do it, on one consideration. If you’ll give me a kiss every morning, I’ll do It,” he finished. , Rita’B heart sank. “Is there no other alternative?” she asked. “I don’t know what that jawbreaker means; but I reckon you mean, is there smother loop-hole? I opine there ain’t It’s a kiss a day, or you don’t get the job.” “Put a daughter of yours in my place, Mr. Dunn,” she pleaded. “Ain't got none, an’ if I had reckon a kiss wouldn’t hurt her any,” was his unfeeling reply. Her plea had fallen on barren ground. She hesitated. It was an infamous proposition he offered, but on it hung her father’s job, and they needed the money. v 1 “I accept,” she crisply replied, “provided you take the kiss when no one is around.” “All right, my dear, just as you say. Quess I’ll take me first installment now.” Inwardly Rita trembled, and an overpowering disgust for this beast filled her soul. But she resolutely held up her head and submitted to the sacrilege. It was well Amos Tuttle did not witness the act; if he had Jim Dunn would never have lived to insult another woman. Energetically wiping her outraged lips, Rita went to the scaler’s little shack to wait for her first load of timber.. It was not long before several teams drove on the landing, with clanking of chains, booming of dragging timber, and hoarse shouts of the teamsters. Rita’s debut created a sensation, but it was a cordial, good-natured one. Admiration for the plucky girl who so bravely took her father's place amid such trying circumstances brought out a shout of approval from those rough men. One old teamster, a friend 'of her father’s, shouted enthusiastically: “Bully for yew, little Miss Clh pers!” A cheer and the name were taken up and repeated, until the woods rang with the echoes. There was not a man in camp but would have championed her, and taken a licking from Dunn, had she appealed to them. But she realized Dunn was a power there, and it would do no good to appeal to anyone When •he could stand it no longer she would quit v A week passed, and Mr. Tuttle grew

no better. Dunn was somewhat addicted to drink, and on several occasions Rita had been saved further indignities by the opportune arrival of the landing man. On Monday morning Dunn had been drinking more than common, and insisted on kissing Rita several times before he would release her. Suddenly she was conscious of a stranger present, and looking up she saw a tall young man standing in the doorway sympathetically regarding her. ' ■ , There was a quick step, and a clenched fist caught Dunn on the ear, and he went down. With a curse, he was on his feet in an instant,- ugly as a bull. Dunn was a fighter, and Rita trenibled for the stranger; but her concern was needless; he just played with Dunn; circling around him, and when he wished he promptly knocked him down, until Dunn, acknowledged he had enough. “Now,'* said the stranger, standing over the prostrate man, “don’t you ever try to insult this girl again, or you won’t get off so easy next time; and remember she is to continue with the scaling unmolested. I suppose you may as well know, first as last, that I am Ralph Orton, eldest son of Arthur Orton, senior member of the Kilkenney Lumber company. I shall be here for some time, looking after our interests; and if I hear of any more of your deviltry, we shall dispense with your services.” Finishing, with a cheerful nod to Rita, he turned on his heel and walked away. Dunn painfully rose to his feet and slunk away, a look of concentrated hatred on his brutalized face. Rita, trembling with excitement, went into the shack to think, and cherish something new and strange ,that had entered her souL . The days and weeks went by uninterrupted. Ralph Orton took up his abode at Tuttle’s home, and the old man soon acquired a distinct liking for this energetic young man. Ralph helped Rita with her work when he was not on the mountain. Dunn kept his place in sullen, vindictive silence. Ralph and Rita soon fell into the pleasant habit of waiting for each other at the landing, and walking home together in the twilight.

It was a Saturday night in February. The men had all come off the mountain early, except Ralph and Dunn. Anxiously Rita waited, but still they did not come. The sun had dropped behind the western horizon in a deep red setting, tinging the snow blood red. She trembled. A foreboding of danger reached out and closed about her heart. Suddenly she heard a step on the snow. Darting behind a tree, she waited, alert and expectant, Her quick ear told her it was Dunn. Presently he came in sight, and her heart Bank like lead. His face carried a covert look of triumph. Instinctively she knew something had happened to Ralph. Soon as his footsteps had died away she sprang into the road and sped up the hard mountain road like a startled fawn. Her one thought was of the man she loved better than life. She had no definite idea where to look for him; nor had it occurred to her to alarm the man. She knew he waß in grave danger somewhere on that bleak mountain side, and on her rested the task of rescuing him; so, panting and trembling, she sped on. Every few stepß she stopped and called his name. No answer come back, but the moaning of the light breeze through the woods. On she pushed to the top of a ridge. It had got quite dark now. Pausing on a ledge almost on the top of the cant, she shouted: “Ralph! Ralph! where are you?” "Here, Rita, at the top of the cant,” came the quiet, reassuring reply. With a glad cry she hurried to the top of the ridge, where a lone spruce stood. Then she stopped, and her heart sprang into her throat. She saw his danger, and swayed dizzily. -“Courage, my little girl, courage,” came from the smiling lips in cool, even tones. “This is some of that devil Dunn’s work. When my back was turned the coward laid me out. Take heart, little one, we win yet.” It was an appalling situation- Ralph was bound to the lone spruce with a piece of snub warp. The spruce was nearly cut off, so that it cracked ominously in the rising wind. Rita heard it roaring in the distance, and knew when that wave reached them the spruce would break and leap over the ridge to the north, a sheer drop of one hundred feet. A nameless terror seized her as she frantically dug at the knots, and the rising wind roared in her ears like the knell of doom. “Take It easy, Rita, dear, there is plenty of time,” his cool voice reassured her. “My knife is in my pocket, tear it out and cut the warp.” ' Nearer and; nearer the wind came, roaring like a demon in her ears. With one last mad effort she cut the last coil, and Ralph stepped from the tree, safe. With a wild, exultant swoop the wind tore through the tree tops and, with a sharp crack, the lone tpruce sprang over the ledge. “My brave little girl,” he tenderly whispered as she clung to him, choking back quick, nervous sobs. “Thank God! you are safe, Ralph,” she fervently murmured. “God is good, my dear,” was the sober reply. “Let us thank him, Ralph,” she softly whispered. Devoutly two faces were lifted heavenward, one, fair and trustful, the other strong, masterful, compelling, and in each were thanks, mute and appealing. * (Copyright. 1912. by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

NOW A MODERN CITY

REMARKABLE . GROWTH - HAS BEEN MADE BY KHARTUM. 0 ' t*» Fourteen Years It Has Risen From Ruins to Hiive a population of Bixty Thousand and Stately Public Buildings. Fourteen years ago the present capital of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was reduced by Lord Kitchener's army to a heap of uninhabited ruins. Today Khartum is one of the most important cities in Africa; with its environs, it has over sixty thousand inhabitants. A beautiful esplanade runs for miles along the bank of the Nile, on which are many handsome stone and brick buildings surrounded by -gardens and groves of palm trees. The most interesting of these are the cathedral, consecrated last January, the Gordon Memorial college, and the governor’s palace. There Is direct railway and steamship connection with Europe, through Cairo, a branch line to the Red Sea, and another to. El Obeid, capital of the province of Kordofan. This will probably soon connect with the French railways, and so complete a transcontinnental route to the Atlantic. When the Cape to Carlo line is completed, Khartum will be the principal railway center of the continent. The value of its exports and imports increased in three years from twelve million dollars to nearly twenty-one million. It is the great trade emporium and the educational center of a country almost ten times as large as Great Britain. In the Gordon Memofial college students are in training to become teachers in vernacular schoolß, judges in district courts, engineers or surveyors. There is an Industrial workshop, in which smith work and carpentry are taught The college also has research laboraties, where economic products of the country and its diseases are studied. The principal cause of this unexampled growth is the position of Khartum, at the junction of the two great rivers that form the Egyptian Nile. The Blue Nile rises in the mountains of Abyssinia, and is the sole source of the floodß that are the life of Egypt. The White Nile takes Its rise from the great lakes of Central Africa and the snows of the fabled mountains of the Moon. Under a dispensation of peace and order the rich natural resources of the country will be rapidly developed. Much of the region is admirably adapted to the raising of cotton. There are very extensive forests, capable of supplying, among other things, the very valuable product, rubber. The vaßt swamps on the White Nile are to be drained and made cultivable. When all these things have been accomplished, the new-born Khartum will undoubtedly become the leading city of Africa In wealth and population, and in industrial and educational activities.

Port in the Ocean.

"When the harbor at Cape Lookout off the North Carolina coast Is com r pleted the means for which were provided by the last session of congress, Beaufort and that part of the Carolina coast will be the most important point on the South Atlantic coast,” said E. J. Rogers, a railroad man of Beaufort, at the Raleigh. "The work has already begun, surveys now being under way. This harbor when completed will give vessels a safe port practically in the ocean, Cape Lookout being about ten miles from the mainland. It will unquestionably be the most available harbor on the Atlantic coast. Beaufort has a harbor that will accommodate vessels of any draught, but the bar at the entrance to the harbor keeps away ships drawing more than twenty feet. Before the war Beaufort harbor was the largest port on the Atlantic coast, but It has done comparatively little since the war.”—-Washington Post.

Bible in Japanese.

When the bible was translated into Japanese an equivalent to the word “baptize” could not be found, and the word "soak” had to be used Instead. So that Japanese biblical students are acquainted with a person named “John the Soaker,” and with a doctrine of “Boaking for remission of sins.” In that case the mistranslation is due to inadequacy of language. It iS'SOftener due to ignorance. A schoolboy once rendered "Miserere, Domine!” into "Oh, heart-broken schoolmaster!” And another recovered from German the text, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” In the form, “The ghost, of course, is ready, but the meat is feeble”

Needle in a Haystack.

“A bottle of hay” was formerly much used in Derbyshire, England, and probably Is so still, to denote a bundle of hay, which was taken from a rick to fodder cattle in a field. When it was difficult to find anything that had been lost, the farmer folk were wont to say: “You may as well hunt for it as for a needle in a bottle of hay.” £ • ' - Sometimes the rope tied round the hay had a piece of wood with an eye in it at one end, through which the rope was passed to tie up the bundle, and a sharp point at the other end. and this piece bf wood may have been called a needle; if so, a needle of this kind may have been referred to in the proverbial saying.

BANQUET TO CHINESE HERO

Egg Two Hundred Years Old, Bhark = Fins and Bird's Nest Figured on the BIH of Fare. An egg laid two hundred years ago In ' a hen codp hear Pekln aiid BlrtSd shortly after in four feet of black mud was served to Gen. Lan Tien Wei, hero of the new republic of China, at a banquet given in his honor at the Amoy Fhr Low case by one hundred prominent Chinese and city officials. The precious egg was escorted into the brilliantly decorated banquet hall by a retinue of orientally garbed waiters and carefslly placed in front of the guest of honor, who eyed it curiously. While the other diners were waiting for the fifteenth coUrse the general proceeded to make away with the almost priceless delicacy, while scores of Chinese, peeking in through the doors and windows on the unusual scene, gazed in admiration and wonderment. After eating the egg, which was as black as charcoal, the general leaned over to C. F. Yin, his secretary, and whispered in his ear, while a broad smile played over his features. The proprietor of the case informed the general before serving the historic hen fruit that he wasn’t taking any chances, as it was just as fresh as if laid yesterday, despite the fact that it bad been in a state of preservation a lifetime before Washington crossed the Delaware. The banquet was one of the most elaborate, as well as unusual, ever given in Los Angeles, and congeniality reigned supreme from the first to the twenty-eighth or so course of rare and interesting edibles. Following are a few of the viands on the menu: Rock moss soup, shark’s fins, bundle of wood with mushrooms, duck and bamboo shoots, bird’s nest, lotus nuts, broiled squab, chop suey, spring blossom rolls, chicken fried with almonds, smoked oysters stewed with vegetables. Other dishes highly prized by the Chinese epicures were served. All of them were prepared in true Chinese fashion, but they were served in American style, in courses, instead of Chinese fashion, which is for everything to be placed on the table at once and all be served from large bowls. The big ban was put on chop sticks, and knives, forks and spoons were used by the diners to make way with the good things to eat. Rare Chinese wines of ancient vintage and of great value were there in abundance. For dessert there was candied ginger, preserved nuts, pickled fruits and various kinds of sweetmeats. —Los Angeles Times.

No Files on Bohemia.

This consulate has from time to time received letters, from manufacturers of various sorts of fly paper in the United States who wish to extend their trade. These letters have been fully answered, giving the names and addresses of local dealers, and also the various sorts of American and other fly paper sold here. It is not possible ta work up an extensive trade in Bohemia as there are not sufficient flies to exterminate. In most of the dining rooms during the course of a meal perhaps three or four flies appear during the season. In restaurants there are very few flietj. Here screen doors to keep out flies and other insects are unknown. The buildings are all constructed of brick, stone or concrete. The docks along the river front are of granite. The pavements and sidewalks are made of granite blocks. There are no wooden sidewalks, stairways or buildings in the city. Decayed vegetable or animal matter is not openly exposed to flies, and the streets are frequently cleaned during each day. There are no open drains in the city to attract and breed flies. I can only ascribe the absence of flies to the lack of breeding places.—Consular and Trade Reports.

Her Course.

An Episcopalian deaconess, who had been recounting some of her experiences as a missionary in China, said: “I was talking to a Chinese convert one day, and somehow the conversation turned to fashions. I told him something about the constant changes of fashion in our part of the world and described some of the styles of dress worn by American women. ‘There is one good thing about your Chinese costumes,* I remarked. ‘they are not subject to change.’ ‘Not often,’ he admitted, ‘but they do change somewhat from time to time, especially the cot of sleeves. But you—does the fashion of your dress ever change?’ ‘Never,’ I laughed. ‘I wear this black habit year in and year out and mean to wear it always.’ Ha looked at me wonderingly for a moment and then said with a note of sincere admiration in his tone: ’Ah, how you must love your faith to be willing always to make yourself look as you do.’”

Paradoxical Effects of Air Resistance.

There has been installed In the Champs de Mars in Paris an aerodynamic laboratory for the making of experiments relating to the laws of atmospheric resistance. In the course of his studies one eminent engineer verified a curious statement communicated some time ago to the Academy of Sciences —namely, that the pres-; sure upon a square surface inclined" thirty-seven degrees to the wind is one and one-half times stronger than that exerted on the same surface exposed tt ninety degrees.—Harper's Weekly.

How to Open Religious Conversation

By REV. H. W. POPE.

Moody Bible lmiiute. Qucafto

TEXT: Acta xfcaßHte witnesses unto me.” Open Jt just as you would any other conversation. Decide what you wish

if it is really good news to you, then speak of It in the same joyful way that you would bring any other glad tidings. The president of one of our largest theological seminaries was led to Christ in this way. During his college course, as he came out of recitation one day, a classmate gave him a slap on the back and said, “Say, Gus, I wish you were a Christian.” Gus made no reply and the matter was dropped, but years afterwards he told his friend that it was that remark which led him to accept Christ as his saviour.. The hearty ahd natural way in which his companion spoke, made him feel that he was missing something which he could not afford to lose. Study the art of diverting conversation to spiritual topics. Go through the Gospel of John and study carefully the Saviour's methodß of approaching men. Indeed, the Gospel of John might be called the personal worker's 'gospel, so full is it of incidents which illustrate this Important subject. Take the case of the Samaritan woman. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. As he drank it you can imagine him saying, “This is very good water, but any (me who drinks it will soon thirst again; whosoever drlnketh of the water that I shall give him shali never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water, springing up unto eternal life.” “What is that?" asked the woman. “A water, which if you once drink it, you never thirst again." “Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw." By this clever device he excites her curiosity simply to attract attention to himself. At another time he is the bread of life, the vine, the door, the Good Shepherd, but whatever the subject of conversation, he always leaves his hearers face to face with the son of God, and his supreme claim upon them.

“But I am not the Saviour,” you reply. “Very true, but if you are a Christian, the Saviour dwells in you, and he has said, “I will give you a mouth and a wisdom which; all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist." I know a lady to whom an agent was trying to sell an article for taking out stains. He was rubbing away, and meanwhile eloquently describing he merits of his goods. Soon the lady said, “I know something that will take out stains too.” “What is that?” asked the man eagerly, not knowing but that some other dirt-killer had canvassed the town ahead of him. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Do you know anything about that, my friend?” Do you suppose that man would demonstrate his goods again for six months without thinking of that “other something” which could take stains out of a sinful heart?” I doubt if he would forget that lesson to his dying day? A friend of mine at the Northfield conference was asked by an expressman to direct him to a certain man’s tent. "I am very sorry," he replied, "that I cannot tell you where to find him, but if you had asked me the way to heaven I could have told you. Do you know the way to heaven?” “No,” said the man, "I cannot say that I do.” “Well, it is Just this way,” said my friend, and he went on to explain it The result was that the man was led to Christ right then and there. 11. Choose an opportune time and place. It is not well to stop one who is running for a train to inquire about his soul, neither is it the highest wisdom to give a hungry man a tract Par better give him a cup of coffee, and make it so hot that be cannot drink it Then while he is sipping the coffee, you can perhaps say something to warm his heart Remember that people are often more ready to talk with strangers about religion than with those whom they know. Remember that the Holy Spirit is all the while convicting people of sin, the Providence of God is continually softening hearts, and preparing the way for some one to drop in the good seed of the gospel. Re- • member also that thousands of people have never once in all their life had the way of salvation made plain to them, and then in a firm but loving way have been urged to settle the question, and settle it now.

to say, and then say it Say it in the same tone in which you would speak of anything rise. It is a great mistake to suppose that one must lower hiS voice, and look solemn, the moment he introduces the subject of religion. The gospel is good news. If you do not think so, the less you say about it the better, but

QlGOKffi FlmishiMit^ Yuh got me back all bloody-bare, th’ cat 'M Is In yer hand; Yuh’ve kept th’ count, an’ some to spare. Is an’ I can hardly stand. ?jjj Don’t hang th’ cfct up till ye’re done? S you’ve lashed me to me shame— *0 Now go an’ lash ’em one by one—th’ folks' that Is to blame. Go back a century or so, an* trace It to- ~ 3 Its start— Th’ cunnln’ notions deep an’ low, th* crime that found me heart. There’s a man back there, an’ wlmmen,, : j too, that gave their thought an'* deed To build th’ soul that In me grew alb warped to fit my need. Go back an’ find th’ men that lied, an’ | stole but wasn’t caught, Th’ wlmmen with deceitful pride whose soft words come to naught; ;>ll Go back an’ lash ’em one by one, an' I then don't think ye’re through— The punlshin’ will not be done; there’s. y| more for ye to do. Go find th’ alley whet 4 I come unwelcome M to this earth— A part o’ human nature’s scum, a bad 'un from my birth; - Go find th’ fo|ks that let us be, con- : .f tented with our dirt— They've got to take some blame for me, <| they’ve got to feel my hurt. Qo find th’ folks that made th’ law an' never put In love. That thought® that what they never saw was done by God above! • Go lash th’ good ones! Them that drew' $ away In righteous scorn From alley an’ from hovel, too—th’ place where I was born. God knows that I am bad enough an' never had a name. But High-Heeled Shoe an’ Spotless Cuff has got to share th,* blame. Wy, Just a word, a lodjjc. a smile that they would never miss ' M Might ha’ made me go straight a while, ; | might ha’ kep’ me from this. Tuh’ve got me back all bloody-bare, th' ||| cat has left Its sting; I ain’t a man, so you don't care—to yon | I'm Just a Thing. , 5 But who made me a Thing, I say? All J right. I'll do my time, 'Mgj But lots o’ you on Judgment Day will 1 share with me my crime!

He Wears the Blue.

“My son,” says the poor mother, “wears the blue.” “Ah, my good woman,” sqys the philanthropist, “there’s a twenty-dol-lar bill for you. And do you never feel anxious at thinking of the brave lad daring the dangers of the tented field, *and er-er-what regiment does he belong to?” “Regiment?” asks the thankful woman, tucking the twenty away. “He Is a messenger boy, kind sir.”

He Was a Dead One.

“I see that a law has been passed which requires thf railways to carry baggage for a corpse,” remarked the gentleman who had lapsed into a deep reverie each time the round of drinks was up to him. "That’s good,” said one of the party. “Now you can take your trunk with you whenever yon go anywhere."

It Puzzled Her.

“I can’t understand about this wireless telegraphy,” said Mrs. Wunder. “Why, it’s plain as day,” said Mr. Wunder. “Why just send the message through the air instead of over wires.” "I know that,” said she, “but how do they fasten the air to the poles?”

Obviously Not.

' ..j----“That baker keeps presenting his bill,” said the debtor, “as if he needed the dough.” ._ ■' ‘■ "Perhaps.” said the highly humoroub friend, “if he get the dough he can’t knead any wore."

The Next Move.

- “Muggs has just borrowed the lawn mower,” said Miggles, with a doleful look. “Don’t worry about that,” said Mr*. Miggles. “I wouldn’t worry if 1 thought toe matter would end there," groaned Wiggles, “but it U. only a step from borrowing the lawn mower to borrowing my safety razor*