Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 285, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1913 — Page 3

The Basement Philosopher

By KENNETT HARRIS

(Copyright, 19X3, bjr W. G. Chapman) "No, Nels, my friend,” said the Janitor to his sorrowful Scandinavian assistant. “No, Nels, I would not make a complaint to the police.” He shook his head slowly and solemnly. “No, I would not,” he repeated. “Not that I grudge Hie police any harmless amusement; they’ve^a-hard life of it, them boys, what with investigating committees, grand Juries and the like. There ain't none too many rays of Bunshine on their pathp. But I’m considering it from your standpoint and an a matter of principle. First of all, what good is it agoing to do you? “Now, as I understand it, the guy that sold you the'ring was a medium sized guy with a sandy mustache. If you look close and careful at me, you’ll see that I’m medium sized and while I wouldn’t want no one to call my mustache ‘sandy’ to my face, I ain’t got no doubt but what ‘sandy’ is the ~word a stranger would use describing of it. And I ain’t the only one. There’s medium sized, sandy mustached guys on the police force, even. If they was to throw out the drag and bring in all the sandy runts In Chicago, business would be at a standstill and the cars would stop running. You wouldn’t want that, would you? Sure you wouldn’t “In the next place, Nels,” continued the Janitor, "this here guy didn’t give you no written guarantee that it was a genu-ine six-carat diamond that he sold you for two-seventy-flve. He may have give you the impression that it was, when he picked it up off the sidewalk, but impressions don’t cut no

“TAKE IT FROM ME, NELS, THE FELLOW THAT’S ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SYMPATHY, NEVER GETS IT.”

Ice. He might have thought it was genu-lne himself and been mistaken, the same as you was. Anybody’s liable to make a mistake. What you <6ught to have done was to have took it to a good Jeweler -and had it certified before you paid out any money on it. You was careless, that’s, all there is about it. "The other reason why JLwouldnit advise you to sefr-the~machinery of the law in motion about this here business, is the principle I was telling you about. You take this for your motto: ‘Never make a holler’ —not under no circumstances. If you get stung, hide the swelling the best you can and keep your mouth shut until you get off Borne place by yourself where nobody ain’t agoing to hear you. Then if you want to relieve yourself by a few rdmarks, go ahead and make ’em and get it off your chest. Anybody’s liable to be a sucker some time; nobody can’t be wise to all the plants there is; but, believe me, the biggest boob in the bunch is the yahoo with the yawp, who wants everybody to know how shameful he’s been Imposed on. "You take it from me, Nels, my friend: the fellow that’s looking for sympathy all the time never gets it. What he gets is the fishy eye or the merry ha-ha, but sympathy—nix. Not if he puts up a holler. If any son-of-a-gun gets the best of me in a deal, I make up my mind I’m just as mur'i to blame for it as he is. All I’ve got is what’s acoming to me. If I can throw a rope on his goat any time without advertising myself as an easy mark, I’ll do it; if I can’t, I’ll charge it up to experience. "You see, I’m a man that likes to have opinion of my friendß,” declared the Janitor, ‘Tve got the reputation of being a pretty flossy proposition, lit least that’s what my frtends tell me, and I’ll stand for a pretty hard poke of the gaff before I’ll . contradict ’em. If there’s any rumors to the contrary floating around, they don’t come from me. If I pick a winnet- any time, I ain’t going to make no dark secret of it, but if I drop a peek’s wages on a bum tip, I wouldn’t even tell my wife. This here world 1b full of brace games, Nels, my friend; and we all go against ’em more or less, the wise boys and the sap-heads both; but there ain’t no evidence againßt the wise ones. They don’t write no indignant letters to the papers. You’ll see ’em come out of the side Bhow with a happy, satisfied smile on their faces, and they don't go back to tell the ticket seller that he’s short-changed ’em. "Most of the trouble we have in the way of getting skinned is when we try to get something for nothing without understanding the game. I’ve watched things pretty close for a man that’s got his work to look after, but I never peen a guy makfe his living by giving valuable property Most gener-

any- If a fellow's got something good to sell he wants somewhere near what it’s worth. If I found a six carat diamond ring I wouldn’t sell it to no squarehead for two-seventy-flve when I could hock It most anywhere for ten dollars. Same way if I owned a gold mine that the finest exerts claimed would produce a million a day—l wouldn’t peddle the stock at five cents a share to get money to develop it and keep it out of the hands of the combine. I’d develop it with my finger-nails first. I don’t want my bargains too big. I’m leary of ’em when they get over a certain size. I may lose money that way, but I’ll bet saved lots of it too. Still, if I did happen to buy a gold brick that some sandy mustached guy had swiped from the sub-treasury, and found out afterwards that it wasn’t what it had' been cracked up to be, I wouldn’t .make no complaint to the government. “No, don’t you never holler. Some of these days you may buy an orange grove in Florida and be sort of disappointed with it, but you’ll stand a better chance of trading it off for west side unimproved if you haven’t been too noisy about it to your circle of acquaintances. Ever know a successful politician to squeal when he was thrown down? Not on your life. He lets bygones be bygones and keeps his little snickersnee sharped up for future use. You may not go into politics, but it’s a cinch you’ll get married, and there’s another game where you’re liable to get the worst of it. I guess ‘most every married man thinks he has at times, and the women are< dead sure of It. But why bellyache? Here I’ve been married now close on to twenty years and — "No, Nels, my friend, It doesn’t do no good to holler. Every holler is a knock—and it isn’t the other fellow you’re knocking, though you may think it is. “And if you’d had a five dollar bill in your kick instead of the small change you’d have been two and a

quarter worse off than what you are. Think of that and be happy.”

For Abandoned Children.

Hungary maintains *l7 institution's of indigent, abandoned, delinquent and abujsed children. It Is the custom to receive every - child applicant, to give him a bath and clean clothes and then to Investigate his condition.—ls the investigation warrants the state’s interference the child is admitted.. Seventeen thousand children were thus received in 1908. Most of these are placed out in the country or smaller cities with’ farmers or artisans of good character and In moderate circumstances. Five reformatories hav>3 beep established for delinquent or absolutely unruly children. They have room for a thousand inmates, who live together In family groups of 25, learning a trade under the supervision of the head of the household. Cqrporal punishment Is still administered. Up to 1908 2,331 inmates had been released on parole, 86.6 per cent, had worked steadily and had kept straight, 5.4 per cent, had committed crimes, and 8 per cent, had disappeared.—The Survey.

Free Drinks for Italian Lawmakers.

• Stormy sittings of the Italian chamber of deputies have led to increased consumption of liquids, and some economists are endeavoring to abolish free drinks. When a deputy rises to deliver a set oration, coffee and iced water are brought him by a messenger. One of the speaker’s neighbors pours him out a cup, and keeps it replenished. There is a buffet in the outer lobby where deputies are supplied gratuitously with beer, winejmirits, coffee, ices and mineral wa"TCrs, and in hot weather this is well patronized. As. however, tfie value of the drinks consumed last year by the 508 deputies was barely $4,000 (of which $2,000 went for mineral waters) tfiey cannot be accused of excessive thirst. Parliamentary representatives in Italy receive no pay. Free drinks qnd free railway travel are the only privileges they enjoy.

Increase of Lunacy.

A famous British physician. Dr. Forbes Winslow, collected figures that In all civilized countries lunacy was largely on the increase. “In 1859 there was one lunatic in every 536 of the population. Today there is one in every 275. In France 60 years ago there was one Insane person In every 750 of the population. Today thsre is one in every 300.” This increase he attributed to alcohol, social competition and strain, heredity,* and Injudicious marriages, adding that if the present rate of the growth of lunacy continued we should have more insane than sane In the world 300 years he&ca.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSEIAER, IND.

This is the first photograph taken of the German Zeppelin Airship “L-2” after the terrible explosion which wrecked it 900 feet in the air and killed its 20 passengers.

CHURCH WAS A LAWBREAKER

Congregation Learns Its Business Has Been Transacted in an Illegal Manner. Independence, Kan.—An incorporated concern doing business in the state of Kansas without a charter is -not often found, £ut in this city there is one. It is the First Presbyterian church, which has npt had a charter for at least twenty-three years, if ever. In the meantime the trustees of the organization have as a board representing the church bought and sold real estate and erected two buildings,- a handsome church building and a manse. A meeting was held last Thursday evening at which 299 members of the congregation were represented, either in person or by proxy and application was made for a, new charter. This charter will legalize the acts of the trustees since the expiration of the’ original charter, which. If one ever existed, expired in 1890. The church was organized in this city in 1870. It is the opinion of the charter members, only two oit whom are now alive, that a charter was secured at that time, but if so, it has been lost and has not been seen for more than a quarter of a century. The absence of a charter was discovered a few weeks ago by one of the oldest members, and steps were immediately taken to obtain a new charter. Since the expiration of the old charter the trustees of the church have sold the property on which the first church building was erected and purchased another lot, erected a new building at a cost of about $30,000 and furnished it and have been using it for more than a dozen years. Another lot was purchased some years ago and a parsonage was erected at a cost of several thousand dollars. The acts of the trustees in these matters were entirely illegal, according to goo’d authority, and it is claimed that securing a new charter will legalize these acts and also place the church organization in a position to sue and be sued, although the officers and the members of the church are not looking for anything of the kind to happen, as none of them are seeking law suits. Of the charter members of thlß church only Mrs. J. B. Craig and Mrs. B. „F. Devore remain. Mrs. Craig’s husband was the first mayor of Independence, and Mrs. Devore’s husband, with Judge Craig, was one of the founders of the town of Independence.

LOVE NOTES TO JANE ADDAMS

Man Arrested in New Orleans, Who for Two Years Has Sent Her Missives. Chicago.—Miss Jane Addams, known internationally because of her socialogical activities, allowed it to become known that she has been receiving letters for two years from a

Miss Jane Addams.

fflas who signs himself Henry Leunker. The man was arrested at Miss Addams’ request at New Orleans. Miss Addams said she had never seen the man, but that she was convinced that lie was mentally unsound.

Few Grizzlies Left.

Sacramento. —The grizzly be*r Is :ast becoming extinct in California. The q#ate fish and game commission reported that of hundreds that used to roam the Sierras barely a half-doz-»n are known to remain. The report lays that 30,000 deer are killed ananally in the state, 20,000 by moun' tain lio-s and coyotes.

ALL THAT WAS LEFT OF THE ZEPPELIN “L-2”

Verbomania a Most Dangerous and. Insidious Disease. Preventive Measures Urged for Mai* ady Most Frequently Found Among the Feminine Sex—View of Russian Writer. New York. —Verbomania isn’t a new disease —in fact, it is ancient —but its terrible dangers to society are just beginning to be realized, says Ossip Lourie, a Russian writer, in' an article ranking excessive talking as a dangerous disease and a menace to civilization. Civilization is responsible for it, in his opinion, and nothing but a strenuous regime to enforce temporary silences on those afflicted can stop its dreaded ravages. And he urges humanity to inaugurate a campaign against verbosity just as it wages war against tuberculosis and against excessive alcoholism. Progress is decidedly hindered, he goes on *o say, by this prevalent vice, and he urges the immediate attention of the teacher and the minister and the doctor. According to his theory, human language developed from signs into articulate speech and then was fixed by writing. Then people, like the pianists who can render difficult compositions without thinking about them, acquire the power to talk without thinking about what they were saying. So words become possible without ideas in the mind of the speaker. If it were impossible to speak without thinking, Mr. Lourie insists that the greater part of mankind would grow dumb in a few years. For far from being creatures that think “men are nothing but animated talking machines.” They carry within themselves the principal of verbal movement which is determined by a power over which they have no control. When the words become divorced from the idea talking becomes pathological, a disease for a man’s intelligence is not measured by the number of words he speaks, but according to his power of comprehension. Idiots frequently express themselves with great facility, while men of genius are often able to talk in only the most poverty-stricken terms. Verbomania, he insists, affects numbers of people who are in other respects quite normal and whose malady does not prevent them, unfortunately, from taking part in the regular business of every-day life. Among its victims he counts leaders of sects and of political parties, and also habitual gossips, whom he places in the same class as dipsomaniacs. These verbomaniacs become moral weaklings, and their disease becomes associated with all kinds of vanity, slander, calumny and perjury. It is more frequently found among women than men, and it spreads more rapidly among the southern races. M. Lourie urges preventive remedies for family, school and general social use. Don’t let a child pronounce a word until he- knows its meaning, don’t let him talk rapidly and force him to remain alone for at least one hour a day. And for professional and incurable talkers he recommends longer treatments of silence. There is an absolute need for places where gossips and social wrecks of various descriptions can pick themselves up. Otherwise there is infinite future woe and disaster which will be worldwide.

PREACHER NETS FISH, FINED

Judge, Out of Respect for Minister’s Calrtng, Reduces SIOO Penalty, However. Virginia, Minn.—Rev. K. E. Forsell, teacher In a Minneapolis business college, was arrested at Dunham lake, between Virginia and Duluth, charged with netting fish. The warden seized his fish and a 100-foot gill net. He was fined SIOO and costs, but S9O was remitted because he was a clergyman.

Jamaica, N. Y. —Follbwing the advice of their principal that they wear their hair bo they can hear their lessons, all girl pupils in the local high school changed their style of coiffure in a single day.

DO LITTLE TALKING

Girls Change Hair Dressing Style.

WARFARE OF OTHER DAYS

Described In Lecture by Professor Delbrueck of Berlin University. London. —Warfare of other day* was described in a fascinating lecture on “Numbers in History,” recently at the University college by Prof. Hans Delbrueck, professor of history at the University of Berlin. Professor Delbrueck said the first point to which in any history cf war they had to direct attention was the number of the warriors, it was a recognized fact that Moltke displayed great genius in 1970 when he directed a monstrous mass of his troops from one center, drew them up abreast and made them act together in battle. To direct such a mass unitedly was, even with railways, roads, telegraphs and a general staff, an exceedingly difficult task. Armies, however, demanded not only to be moved, but also to be fed, and even for this side of campaigning later war history, such as the provisioning of Bazaine’s army in Metz, gave us measures of which we could make use for older times. Herodotus related that 5,100.000 men was the strength of the army of Xerxes. If that were true one might calculate that the last men could only have left Susa beyond the Tigris when the first arrived before Thermopylae. The plain of Marathon was so small that 50 years ago a Prussian staff officer who visited it wrote with some astonishment that a Prussian brigade would scarcely have room there for exercises.

SHOCK FOR OLD COIN MARKET

Roman Laborer Unearths Huge Quantities of Ancient Money,. Buried 2,500 Years, Rome. —There was a bad slump In the market for old coins, which has been very active, owing to the interest taken by King Victor EmmanueL In digging a trench here for a sewer, a laborer struck and broke a large

King Victor Emmanuel.

clay pot. A stream of coins poured ouL He filled his pockets and ran away, but was caught. Altogether there were 7,600 coins of the early consular period, dating back about 2,500 years, and all well preserved. <

WALKS 360 MILES TO “PEN"

“Buck” Patterson Finally Admitted to Five-Year Term After Error in Court Routine. Little Rock.—An error in the court routine caused Buck Patterson to walk 360 miles to begin his sentence to five years in the penitentiary here for manslaughter. Patterson, fiftysix, was convicted at Russellville, 183 miles from here. He had always borne a good reputation, and upon bis request was allowed to make the trip aloncr. He rode to Little Rock, but when he reached the State prißon, was told his commitment papers had not arrived. Penniless, he walked back to RußsellvUle, secured the papers and then walked back to Little Rock, „overlng the distance in a week. Something was wrong with the papers, however, and admittanse was refused. Patterson had a lawyer friend start legal proceedings, but was admitted to the prison before the case was called. .

How Good Refines Us

Br REV. JAMES M. GRAY. D D.

D-i. of Moody BUe imitate Chicago

TEXT—He shall sit aB a refiner and! purifier of silver.—Malachl 2:3.

al Christian believer in the present time. God is refining and purifying every one of us who is truly his through faith in his dear son; - and the close of the old year and the opening of a new one, is a good time to consider some of the ways in which, he does.it, , , , 1. He refines us by the example of that son. He sets him before us in, his word as one who was always well-' pleasing in his sight Obedient to his earthly parents, faithful as a workman at his bench, content in povertyand obscurity, meek and lowly in. heart, kind and tender to his fellowmen, reviled, but reviling not again,, trustful, hopeful, loving, holy always and without sin—as we gaze upon him, in his inspired portraiture in the gospels, how we long to be like him, if we posses his spirit at all, what a refining and purifying power there i» in the story of his life! 2. He refines us by his providences.' How wisely, how patiently, and how lovingly God deals with us every one, and how universally is it true as David said, that his “gentleness” makes u» great (2 Samuel 22:36). “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Heb. .12:6), but think what this chastening has meant to all who have Berved him —Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Paul! But these are Joyous providences as well as grievous ones, and they are refining and purifying too. It was the great draught of fishes which Peter did not expect, that caused him to cry out: “Impart from me, for-I am a sinful man, Oh, Lord” (Luke 5:8). What do you know of this experience? 3. He refines us by his word. We recall the testimony of the psalmist, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee,” (Psalm 119:11). The intercessory prayer of Christ for his disciples, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” (John 17:17). The teaching of Paul to the Romans, where he says (6:17, 18) “God be thanked, that ye were' the servants of sin, but yet have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Where could we find a clearer statement of the refining power of the word of God? First, by nature, we were servants of sin. Then, we heard the word of God, “the form of doctrine,” as Paul calls it, the message of the gospel. This we obeyed, we believed in him of whom it spake, and we began to inquire about his will and to seek to do it. Immediately thereupon, and in so far, we became free from sin. No longer did it continue to hold the old power over us, but instead we became “servants of righteousness.” Like our holy exemplar, we could say, “I delight to do thy will, oh, God!” 4. He refines us by his spirit. The holy spirit is a divine person, the same as the father and the son, and he dwells within every true believer in Jesus Christ. “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he Is none of his” (Romans 8.9). His office work in the believer is to sanctify him, to lead and guide him into all truth, and to take the things of Christ and show them unto him (Jphn 16:13, 14). Of course, this means that he uses the Bible, the word of God, and hence the necessity that in all ouy reading and study of that word, we be continually in prayer for the spirit’s aid. But,oh, what wonders he works In such, a case! “Be not deceived”; say* Paul to the Christians at Cornitb, “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, noi adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieveß, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shell inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but yc are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God" (1 Cor 6:9-11). What a testimony, and yet how often has it been repeated in the history of the saints from that day until this! Verily, God U a refiner and a purifier. Let us trust him. Let us obey his word. Let us follow the example of Jesus Christ, and “walk even as he walked.” Let us yield ourselves to his spirit, that he may be glorified iu us. Let the year that la just ahead of us, If we live, and if the Lord tarries, be one in which “Our gold shs.ll shine out with a riche* glow. As it mirror* a Form Who bends o’er the, Ate, unseen by a* With a look of ineffable love,”

The words refer l primarily to God’s future dealings' with the natlon> of Israel, when he! will come again# in the person of his sou, to purga them with judg-< ments, and restore them to fellowship with himself in the blessings of the Millenial age. Bub they may be employed profitably in the experience of every individu-