Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 238, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1913 — Page 3

WAS TWO OF A KIND

By BRYANT C. ROGERS.

Miss Grade Hollands was twentytwo years old. Miss Grade was stenographer and typist for the firm of K. & K., and was so smart that she earned sl4 per week. She whs receiving $lO when It was discovered that some employe was carrying goods out of the store. The detective from headquarters spent a week and did not get a clew. “Here is where I get a raise to $12,” said Miss Grade to herself; and she shoved back from her machine and wandered about for an hour and then said to K. & K.: “Your assistant bookkeeper has just gone ont to lunch.” “He goes every day at this hour,” was the calm reply. “And the missing goods go with - ..him.” _

“What! You can’t mean it!” "Come with me! I know where he feeds at this hour.” She led K. & K. to, a quick-lunch room three miles away, and they walked In upon the assitant just as he had ordered his usual spring chicken. “Has the firm failed?" he asked &s he looked from one to the other. “No, but you have!” replied the smart girl with a little giggle of triumph. “Hand over quietly and you may not get over 25 years in the Jug!”

The young man, who was the sole support of a widowed mother and six fatherless sisters, and who firmly believed that the moving picture shows were filling the jails to overflowing, smiled a gladsome smile and began to hand over bolts of silk, yards and dozens of real pearl buttons, until he had deposited enough on the table to stock a department store in the » IJronx. “George, what tempted you?” asked the senior member of K. & K. “I wanted to sell the stuff and buy Bibles for the heathen.” When the thief had been tucked away in a nice little cell in prison Miss Grade was told by the firm: “For your smartness you now get sl2 per.” "Thanks.” “And during your' spare time you can watch otheFs.” She did, and she brought the porter, the janitor and two elevator men to justice. They were in a conspiracy to rob the store of thirty shirtwaists per -week. Then Miss Grade was raised to sl4 per week, and the senior partner said to her: “Such smartness I never saw before, and K. & K. are sure proud of you, but you needn’t do any more watching for a time. It is only a strain on your brain, but you might catch me trying to beat the other K. or vice versa.” Miss Grade Hollands stuck to her real duties, but she imbibed the idea that she was a born detective. She began to look at all men and women as suspicious characters. Even when a young man tried to flirt with her on the street her detective intuition was so strong that she almost laid a hand on his shoulder as she hissed at him: “You are a safe blower, and I know it, and you make your hike or I’ll run you in!”

He was a minister’s son and a salesman in a large jewelry house, and had just organized a Bible class, but he made his “hike” just the same. When Miss Grade began her professional career she went to board with Mammy Jones. It was a hall bedroom and a starvation table, but as the salary went up things improved. When it reached $lO per week Miss Grade took the best front room, and became the star boarder. She did not leave when the salary became sl4.

Strangers came and went. It suddenly occurred to the stenographer that she was most favorably situated to continue her detective work and she went right at It. She suspected the two actors out of engagements; she suspected the old maid who had her hall bedroom; she suspected a grocery clerk who had a room in the house, and she almost suspected the landlady herself. One evening, when an old-clothes man called to see If she had any sec-ond-hand garments to sell, the word "villain” stood out so plainly on his forehead that the girl laid a hand on him and said: "Retribution has overtaken you at last!”

"Vhat Ish dot?" was asked. “Your crime has found you out!” “I lick my wife ten years ago, but she don't go by der police.” Other callers were put through their paces, but none of them was frightened Into confessing murder or bomb explosion. The day must come, however, and It did come. It came three days after a little incident on the\treet. A bare-headed young man with a pencil behind Ms ear, and who ■eemed to be a clerk In a store, ascosted Miss Grade at a corner and asked If she could give him a |lO bill for five twos. It was her salary day and she was carrying home her sl4. Why not oblige the clerk? The |lO was passed over for the twos, and it seemed to the girl that she was beginning to be of some Importance as a capitalist. The cobbler took fifty cents for repairing a pair of shoes; a lunch at a restaurant was 35 cents; a bit of cheap jewelry that happened to please was 75 cents. In each case one of the two-dollar bills was handed out. The other two went Into her board money, and Mammy Jones passed

them along to the grocer and butcher And then there was the arrival of the strange man. He took a back room upstairs without board. He was well dressed, but he had' a sly look. In looks and talk be was not the average roomer for that quarter—he was above them. He had plenty of money, and paid a week in advance, besides assuring Mammy that he didn’t play on a flute or an accordion, and he was given the room. It was two days before the detectress caught sight of him, and then she said to the landlady : “Your Mr. Bennett is a crook!” "My stars!” “He’s a confidence man or a wiretapper!” “Get the police at once!” “And from the way he drags his right leg I should say that he was acquainted with the ball and chaia!” “Then he’ll rob and murder us!”

“No, he won’t!” replied Miss Grade, in a firm voice. “Am I not here? Isn’t it a part of my profession to run down crooks?” “But the police—” “Not a»word to them —not a hint! When I have got this man in my toils I’ll communicate with police • headquarters. I’ll shadow him and have a line on him within three days. You must not say or do anything to frighten the bird away.” The stranger seemed to slink out and in. He asked no questions of anybody, and if he gave any of the x people in the house more than a passing glance it was the stenographer. Each evening for three successive evenings she found Him in her hall when she came up from her dinner. She had taken the precaution to lock her door, and had no doubt that he had tried it. '

“Ah, ha, but I’ll set a snarS for the bird!” she exclaimed to herself. It didn’t take two minutes to invent the snare. When she went down to dinner the next evening she left her door unlocked. When the meal was half over rose from the table and tip-toed upstairs. Mr. Bennett wasp’t visible, but she passed along and opened her door with a bang. Mr. Bennett was on his knees before her open trunk! Three yells into the hall of “Help!” "Murder!” "Police!” and then she grabbed the crook. The room filled with boarders in a moment, but Mr. Bennett seem very much embarrassed about it.

“I caught him going through my trunk! ' explained Miss Grade. “Yes,” he calmly replied. “Then you are a sneakthief, and wVll hold you until the police come!” said one of the valiant actors.

“Not quite a sneakthief,” smiled Mr. Bennett. “This badge will show you that I belong to the government secret service.”

“He’s a crook, I tell you!” shot back Miss Gracie.

“I was in my line of duty looking after counterfeit money or plates!” “Counterfeit money!" gasped all in the room.

“Just so. It’s up to you, Miss Hollands, to do some explaining.” "Why doesn’t somebody telephone?” she demanded. “Because no one wants to see yog locked up!” replied Mr. Bennett “Will you kindly tell me where you got those five two-dolldr bills you handed out the other day?”, “Why—why—” “Every one of them was a counterfeit! I came here looking for a plant! I did not want to ask for a warrant for you, Miss Hollands, until sure of my case." The next half hour was as full ,of explanations as-a chestnut is full of life. The police were not called in on the one hand, and on the other it #as tearfully admitted that Mr. Bennett was not a crook.

The next day he had the good luck to capture the man he wanted, and It was only natural that he should come around to the house to make his report. Then he called again to ask Miss Grade’s forgiveness, and agalp with some other excuse, and finally the cheeky man got into the habit,of calling without making any excuse at all. It was during one of these calls that he suggestetd that Miss Grade give up the detective business. She promised to, and then he suggested that she give up K. & K. She also promised that, and when Mammy Jones heard of it she exclaimed: “Whoever heard of the likes! Isn’t it funny how some girls get husbands?” (Copyright. 1913, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

Northern Lights Make Noise.

German scientists are greatly Interested In a discussion regarding new phenomena revealed by the aurora borealis, according to recent Norwegian and German observers. People living In the northern part of Norway maintained that they often hear sounds accompanying the northern lights. These sounds are described by some, as similar to the cracking of flames. Acordtngly German and Norwegian scientists started out to Investigate the phenomena, and one of them, Olav Aabakken, has spent a long time at the Halide observatory In Flnmarken. Aabakken thinks that It is very unlikely that any sound Is to be heard from theinorthern lights. He maintains that tire human senses are not to be relied on, especially regarding the phenomena of sight. He says that the idea of sound connected with the northern lights may result from the fact that these lights look like flames, and as people are aocustomed to associate the crackling sound with flames the' rather uncritical observer of the biasing movements of the aurora borealis is apt to think that he really hears the sound of those flame*.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

HOW POULTRY MAY BE MADE PROFITABLE

View of a Chicken Range on a Poultry Farm Where From Three to Four Thousand Chickens Are Reared Annually.

(By KATHERINE A. GRIMES.) “The proof of the pudding is in the eating,” and the proof of success in the poultry business is in the profit made at selling time. You must begin to plan as to when and how you are going to market your fowls about as soon as the eggs are set —or even before, so as to know what your aim is to be —whether mature dressed poultry, birds for breeding, or frying chickens. Of course it all depends upon what the demand in your vicinity is for. If you live where there will be sale for good birds for breeding, it may not pay you to sell many fowls to the market. If you find a good call for broilers or small chicks for frying—and these usually bring good prices—you might do your best work in raising some kind of earlymaturing fowls that will make a pound and a half at six weeks or two months old. If you intend to sell dressed poultry, it is usually best to choose a breed having yellow legs and light-colored feathers, as they look nicer than the black-legged, black-colored varieties. The meat is not a bit better, but you know it is looks that count when a buyer comes into a market. As soon as the pullets can be told from the roosters, they should be separated, and unless you expect to sell them for breeding, the surplus males should be fattened and disposed of as early as possible. If you want to hurry them onto the market, one of the very best plans is that known as the crate-feeding method. Take some slats about an inch and a half wide —lath will do very nicely—and make a coop with a flat top and a slat bottom, about 18 Inches wide, the same in height, and long enough to accommodate the number of fowls you have to fatten. Allow about six Inches in length to each bird. Divide your crate into sections that will hold four or five fowls each. Set it up on a trestle —a couple of sawhorses make good supports—so the droppings will fall through the slat bottom and not soil the coop. • Now make a V-shaped trough the same length as your coop. This is used for both feed and water. The feed should consist of finely-ground oats mixed to a stiff batter with skimmilk or preferably the latter. Feed this mixture three times a day, but do not let it stand in the troughs. Give them ample time, say half an hour, to eat all they want, and

PREPARE ANIMALS FOR BEST RETURNS

Most Common Mistake Among Farmers Is in Selling Product Only Half Finished. It Is astonishing to observe during a visit to the stock yards how little care most farmers take in conditioning their animals for market. The most common mistake is made in selling animals that are half finished. Fully 75 per cent of all the animals sold reach the markets in an unfinished condition. This, more than anything else, is probably accountable for the common belief that there is no money In feeding livestock. Sometimes stock Is sold because grain is high. At other times the available supply of feed has been consumed before the stock Is conditioned, but more frequently perhaps, many feeders do not understand what wellconditioned means. With some feeders It is a case of going with the crowd. No amount of reasoning can overcome the Influence of that old proverb that a bird In the hand Is worth two In the bush. It Is true unless a man Is a good shot. If he has judgment and nerve he can just as well bag two birds at one shot as to miss the one. If he has plenty of feed and conveniences for handling his stock he can finish out and not sacrifice It tn a poorly finished condition to save a few bushels of corn. Whether he is feeding /cattle, sheep, hogs or horses It Is the last few bushels of feed required to get them up to the proper weight that brings the best return*.

then if any is left, clean out the trough well and fill with cool, fresh water. This should be left befoil them until next feeding time.

A cup of grit should be fastened where they can get at it all the time. A little green stuff and mixed with the feed is a good appetizer, but not indispensable.

Two weeks in a coop like this will nearly double the weight of a thrifty bird. Even the culls and “runts” can be brought to a very satisfactory market stage in a few days. For old hens, such as every flock should be cleared of once a year, it is the best possible plan to get them into shape for selling. The flesh of crate-fatten-ed fowls is white and tender, not having been toughened by exercise. Then, too, there is the satisfaction of knowing that only clean, wholesome food has been eaten. To a fastidious person this makes a great difference. Probably the best way to market poultry, for the average boy who has a small flock, is to work up a trade among customers. This can easily be done where the same plan has been followed in selling eggs. If he has kept his eggs up to a high standard, the buyer reasons that his chickens will Joe so as well. Even on the start he can demand, and get a price that is much above the ordinary market stock, provided, always, that he sets and keeps a high quality as his standard.

Birds that are to be kept for sale as breeders should never be allowed to become fat. They should be kept in good in clean, attractive quarters, and always where they can be shown to prospective customers, at a moment’s notice. The finest bird in a dirty, bad-smelling coop will not show to good advantage, and will not sell-as quickly as an ordinary one in attractive surroundings. Birds having white plumage should be kept where they can be kept clean, otherwise they will not show for what they are.

Sell your roosters early, keep the pullets to increase your flock, and get rid of your old hens as soon as you are through with them for sitters and mothers. Never sell a bird for breeding purposes unless it is first class, even at a lower figure than common. If a fowl is to advertise your business, and bring you new buyers, it must be of the best. Don’t let anything else go from your yard.

MULCHING SOIL TO RETAIN MOISTURE

Sprinkling Pot Should Be Thrown Away When Water Becomes Scarce Quantity.

(By L. M. BENNINGTON.)

When water gets scarce throw away your watering pot, or rather your sprinkling pot. At such a time It is a menace to the life of the flowers when In the hands of the novlce'who "scatters pearly drops” upon the flowers’ stalks, and give* the roots none. Remember that when water 1* scarce the spade or hoe can do wonders when tn the hands of the enen> getlc person who knows how to use these tools. * Deeply dug soil retains moisture far longer than that stirred to a shallow depth. Keep the surface soil loose and light, giving the plants a surface or dust mulch with a sharp hoe. Mulches of all kinds are beneficial —fallen leaves, weeds pulled from the garden, lawn clippings. Potted plants should be thoroughly watered so that the heart of the roots receives its share of moisture. Redded plants, however, can exist without watering, but if you give them any. give them plenty. The lawn should never be “spilnkled,” but if possible let the hose run on it for hours after sunset. Unless one has an unlimited supply of water do not water the lawn, but save the water for the bed borders and vegetable gardens.

HIGHWAY IMRPVEMENT

ROAD IN RURAL COMMUNITIES Ever Recurring Problem of Upkeep Can, in Large Measure, Be Solved by Use of Road Drag. (By R. H. FLINT. University Farm. St. Paul. Minn.) Because of its cheapness the earth road is, and for many years to come wfil continue to be, the most common form of road in use in rural communities. The ever recurring problem of upkeep on such roads can, in a large measure, be solved by the use of the so-called split-log drag, which can be constructed as shown in the accompanying picture by any one who has suitable material at hand. A log is not necessary, or perhaps not desirable, for its construction. Choose four pieces of plank of some strong wood, such as elm or red fir, two inches thick and eight feet long. Two of them should be ten or twelve inches in width, but the other two may be narrower as shown in the picture, since, they are simply bolted to the backs of the wider planks for reinforcement. If planks three and a half or tour inches thick can conveniently be obtained, a single thickness of them should be used, instead of building up as shown in the cut. In any case, the drag can be put together

Road Drag.

with round poles wedged into auger holes as shown, or the crosspieces may be set in with mortise and tenon joints and kept tight by long bolts reaching through the front and back planks. A piece of Iron about three and one-half feet long, three or four inches wide and one-fourth of an inch thick should be used for a blade. By means of bolts with flat, counter-sunk heads, this blade should be attached to the front plank in such a manner that its edge will project a half-inch below the plank at the ditch end, while the end of the iron toward the middle of the road should be flush with the edge. of the plank. If the face of the plank stands plumb it will be well to wedge out the bottom of the iron with a wedge-shaped piece of wood to give the iron a set similar to that of a plane bit. A platform of Inch boards cleated together, with cracks an Inch wide between the boards to prevent dirt from collecting on top, is placed on the cross-pieces of the drag to furnish a platform for the driver. This platform should rest upon the crosspieces between the planks without being fastened to the drag. It is not shown In the illustration. Any chain having the strength of a trace chpln may be used to draw the drag and should be attached as shown In the picture, but the proper position for attaching the doubletrees must be determined by experiment and will vary with the kind of work done. The chain should be about nine feet long for a drag of the size shown In the cut and should have the eye for the clevis put In about three feet from the end. The chain attaches by means of an eyebolt, as shown in the picture, to the ditch or blade end of the drag. The other end of the chain should finish with a grabhook for use in adjusting the length of the hitch after the chain is passed around the cross-piece at the road end of the drag.

Commonly the drag should follow the team at an angle of about fortyfive degrees with their line of travel, to cause the dirt to move steadily find freely along the faces of the planks from the ditch toward the center of the road. In every case the angle at which the drag will travel can be governed by the position of the hitch, which Is changed within reasonable limits by lengthening or ’ shortening the chain, and by the position of the driver on the drag. A very little experience will enable anyone to adjust these things satisfactorily.

To Clean Plumage.

The plumage of a white fowl can be cleaned of stain by washing with a clean white or transparent soap that Is free from much alkali. Make a strong lather and use your hand feathers downward, from the head to the tall.

Abuse of Roads.

Using the roadside for a “public dump” and tilling the side ditches with waste material doesn’t help appearances any, nor does it help to solve the drainage problem In the maintenance of roads.

Takes Out Wrinkles.

If you are riding in a swiftly moving vehicle, like an automobile, you can easily tell whether the road has been dragged or not. Dragging takes out all the “wrinkles."

The ONLOOKER

HENRY HOWLAND

What Have Y>u Done?

You are going to do great things, yoa say— But what have you done? You are going to win in a splendid way. As other have won; You have plans that when they are put in force Will make you sublime; You have mapped out a glorious upward course— i Bbt why don’t you climb? You're not quite ready to start, you says If you hope to win The time to be starting is now—today— , Don’t dally, begin! No man has ever been ready as yet. Nor ever will be; You may fall ere you reach where your hopes are set— ( But try it and see. You are going to do great things, yo» say. You have splendid plans; Your dreams are of heights that are far away; They’re a hopeful man’s— But the world, when it judges the easi for you. At the end, my son. Will think not of what you were going! to do,But of what you’ve done.

What He Deserved.

“What,” she asked, looking down at the shining tip of her dainty little ihoe, and speaking very softly and sweetly, “would you do If at this moment your fondest wish, your highest hope, could be realized?” He started up suddenly, with a gleam in his eyes. Her heart throbbed expectantly; it seemed as If paradise were opening to her. L. 1 “Yes,” he said, “by George, I’d do it! _ I’d order a carriage when I go home tonight, even if I do live just around the block.* Later, when he looked ont and saw that it was raining, and wished he had an umbrella she merely said: “Br-r-r! What a nasty night,” and slammed the door behind him.

WORTH A "TIP."

“I noticed that you didn’t have your thumb In the soup when you served 1 IL"

Her Modest Wish.

“Sometifires," said the poet, “I al* most get to thinking I would rather have been born rich than a genius." “Oh, dear," his wife replied, “I don’t go to such extravagant extremes. If you'd only been born with a longlnc to go out and get a job somewhere I‘< be satisfied. '*

Alice's Limitations.

Allee practices with dumb-bells In the college "gym;" She can beat her brother jumping, She outclasses him As a sprinter and a fencer; As for suppleness. She can double up to look like A big letter 8; She can chin a pole one-handed. She can vault and leap. But. alas, alack, she isn’t Strong enough to sweep.

This May Explain It.

"Why Is It that women are *d strongly opposed to polygamy?" "I dunno,” replied Mr. Henpeek, "unless the average woman justly co»aiders herself more than a match for any man.”

Their Hits.

"I notice that nearly all the comedians are playing Hamlet now." "Yes, and you can’t deny that some of them are a good deal funnier than they were before."

Frugality.

"I thought she was going to marry an English duk*." "No. Her father found a Russtui - - prince that he could get for half th* price.”

“You must be new to this bust- 1 .. ness,” said the customer as the waiter was brushing away the crumbs. “Why do you. think so, sir?"