Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1914 — Page 2

A MERCENARY AFFAIR

By EDITH DOANE.

When Mrs. Palmer announced the engagement of her daughter Helen to James Corey, everyone wondered why on earth Helen had not chosen a younger man. j" Until almost in the same breath, it leaked out that Mr. Palmer, who was always trading on tips and going broke on the market, had plunged once too often —had ihdeed been face to face with bankruptcy until James Corey came to his rescue. Then the world, as represented by society in Glenwood Park—proffered congratulations and smiled discreetly. Of course, if the Palmers accepted James Corey’s money, they must accept its giver, too. - - The Park was apt to assemble informally at the Country club for five o'clock tea. There was something pleasantly coxy in gathering around - the low. Chinn-laden table on the wide club house porch. But now chocolate cooled forgotten, tea boiled quietly away, while their possessors eagerly discussed this marriage of convenience in their midst. “The poor girl is deliberately sacrificing herself,” declared Mrs. Lawrence tragically waving a tea cake. “And she is so pretty,” put in little Mrs. Brooks irrelevantly. “Her youth has been bartered for gold,” said Mrs. Ellis, who had a fondness for fiction. “And he is so much older.” “Money isn’t everything.” “Perhaps even yet she may be saved ' from it,” faltered little Mrs. Brooks, hopefully. “Why save her?” briskly interrupted Mrs. Wylie, joining the group and taking the cup of fragrant tea offered herl* “Mr. Corey i§ hosprable, charitable, rich —a good man in every respect. She ought to be proud of him. I’m sure I can’t imagine what more she could want.” Five pairs of eyes confronted Mrs. Wylie in shocked surprise. “Well, I’m sure I hope she takes your view of it,” said Mrs. Lawrence gloomily. “If he only were younger. He’s as old as—as Father Abraham.” “Oh! if Mr. Palmer had not' been in such straits.” “Still, it is lovely to be able to cling to one’s faith in human nature as you do.” “I’m clinging to nothing,” said Mrs. Wylie stubbornly, “but, for my part, I think she's a veiy lucky girl.” “Oh, of course, everybody respects him.” “And he is a very rich man.” “But it is so evident that she did it to save her father.” “Besides —there is her cousin, Tom Breuster,” said Mrs. Brooks softly. Tom Breuster was an ordinary sort of a fellow—fairly good looking, fairly clever. In fact, he did not amount to much one way or the other, but he happened to Imagine himself very much in love with Helen, and when her engagement was announced burst in on his aunt with a storm of indignation. “What’s this you’ve done?” he demanded vehemently. “Why was I kept in ignorance all this time?” “I don’t understand you,” returned Mrs. Palmer coldly. “Don’t you?” he went on ruthlessly. “Then I’ll explain. You have engaged Helen to a man for whom she has not the smallest spark of affection. To save yourselves—for the sake of mere money—mere worldly position —you and her father have consented to sacrifice that poor girl, body aDd soul.” “You must be insane to talk to me like this,” returned his aunt icily. ‘There is no reason why Helen should not marry Mr. Corey—or any one else she chooses.” “Let us confine ourselves to Mr. Corey. She has no right to marry him at all events.” “No?” said she; “and why?” “Because a loveless marriage can never be right.” “But who says it isn’t a love match?" -she went on, forgetting her anger in her desire to convince him of the futility of interfering with Helen's engagement. "Mr. Corey is a charming man. Why not care for him?” ing. Yt>u are sacrificing her.” ,‘‘Ab though I could make Helen marry any one she did not wish "to,” returned Mrs. Palmer with a low laugh. “My dear hoy, if you feel like that, pray go away until you come to your senses.” “I shall not go away until I have seen Helen,” he said doggedly. “Tom, I beg you to—’’ “Why are you two glowering at each other like Kilkenny cats?” cried a fresh young voice from the doorway. “How are you. Tommy?” and Helen Palmer, slender, dark-eyed, clad all in soft shipimerlng gray, entered the room and held out her hand ip smiling greeting. Now that the moment haß arrived, words failed him. Noting his hesitation, she smiled at him’ again. "Have you come to proffer yo«r fcongratulatfons in person?” she said shyly. “No, not quite/’ he sajd. “Still, I suppose one is bound to say something about the clever bargain you have made. That you of all people should prefer money to love.” “What a perfectly horrid thing to say,” she returned indignantly. “Do you suppose because you are a mem■her of the family you are privileged ;to be as disagreeable as you like?” "I suppose loving you is being disagrees hie,” he returned moodily. Mra.

Palmer had slipped from the room and they were goth too intent to hear other footsteps that came nearer up the gravel walfe-tup the steps—and were muffled by the heavy rugs on the porch outside. .. }i “Loving me! How perfectly absurd! Why didn’t you say so before? And not come here now-4” “I came to save you from sacrificing yourself from a loveless marriage,” he returned prandlloquently. “Ob; Tommy, you are too funny,” she laughed softly. She raised her eyes-and "looked steadily into his weak, good looking face. “Tommy,”” she said gently, “you must not think that I have any feeling but real honest liking for Mr. Corey. I respect him—l care for him ”

“Of course he is a very rich man. I understand.” ,

“He is, at all events, the very best man I have • ever met,” she returned indignantly. “Of course he has been awfully good about father’s troubles, but I should have loved him just the same,” she went on with quick conviction. “He Is so good—so kind -—so just ” : —'--V 4 —4"Why don’t you say that he has money and can shower that upon you?” “I wish you to understand,”, she said coldly, “that while I appreciate Mr. Corey’s money I love him for himself.” Suddenly her mouth quivered and two large tears strolled down her cheeks. “I am so worried about all this,” she said unsteadily. “Everyone thinks I care for h'is money—will no one believe me—”

The curtains at the long open window suddenly parted. “I believe it. Do I count?” said James Corey, as he entered the room.

After all, fate sometimes consents to interfere benignly, even in a mercenary affair.

LUCKY MEETING FOR YOUTH

Resulted in His Acquiring Handsome Wife and an Income of Some $20,000 a, Year.

A dozen years ago fresh from the Bchool at Versailles came a young under lieutenant of artillery, in his new uniform, returning from Normandy, where he had been to see his brother. On the train the young officer found himself seated beside an old man, who, like himself, was going to Paris. They entered into conversation. An amiable Intimacy was established between the two travelers. At the west station the old gentleman taking leave of the young officer, said: “I need a son-in-law like you." Three months later the officer returned to Normandy. He narrated the Incident of the journey to his brother, and questioned him about the strange companion. “I know this old fellow,” responded the brother. “Do you know that he offered yon a very pretty partner? His daughter possesses an income of a hundred thousand francs.”

“Where is she? I’ll go after her,” said the officer. r* — The .brother made a sorrowful gesture: “Alas, you are a little late." “Eh, what, is the young girl to be married?” “No, her father was buried eight days ago.” The lieutenant Was silent for a moment. -“I knew her father, a visit of condolence is imposed upon me.” Dressed in his best uniform he called upon the lady. He spoke In the most tender terms of the old gentleman. Without doubt the prestige of the uniform was not without effect on the young provincial, and the story, as in the pleasant dramas, ended with a marriage. The lieutenant is now a prominent member of the chamber of deputies.—Le Cri de Paris.

Squelched the Barber.

“Shave yourself, sir, don’t you?” said a barber who was trimming the hair of a customer. “Yes,” replied the customer. “How did you know?” “Well,” rejoined the barber, “I know I have never shaved you, and I do sometimes trim your hair. Besides that, I think a hairdresser would do a little better job than you seem to do.” “Very likely.” “We’d have pretty hard work making a living if every man was like you,” pursued the barber, after clipping and 'snipping a few minutes in silence. “Perhaps.” “You’re in business, ain’t you?” “Yes.” “Well, 'spose no barbers ever bought anything of you, how would you like that?" “I don’t think It would make an%. difference In my case,” rejoined the customer. “My business is selling mouth-organs." ‘ And the barber finished the job in silence.

Father of Fox Hunting.

John Warde of Westerham is generally believed to have been the father of fox hunting. He was master of hounds for over half a century and then he sold his pack for the record price of 2,000 guineas. “This mighty hunter," writes Gibson Thompson, “died in 1838 at the ripd’ age of eigh-ty-six, at his house in Charles street, Berkeley square. One of the por traits of hizb at Squerries court, that by James Green, is in the dining-rfiom His favorite hounds were two, Glory and Beautjy; the picture shows ..him with but 6ne, and he is supposed to be soliloquizing: ‘My Beauty Eath departed. bilt my Glory remains.' **— London Cbrohida. <

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP.

INVENTORS. GET BUSY

BAFETY SUGGESTIONS THAT FOL LOW RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.

Seemingly Every Form of Crank Comes Forward With Ideas, Most of Them Laughable and All * Absolutely Impractical.

No sooner do we have a deplorable catastrophe on the line than scordi of Inventors —from all parts of the world —think out all kinds of schemes to prevent railroad accidents, said an English patent agent in the course of a recent conversation. One man came to me with a smiling face and stated that he had hit upon a scheme whereby railway collislfipSj.. the penalty we have to pay for the benefits of Steam locomotion and fast travel, would become a thing of the past. He suggested that huge magnets of immense power should be attached to the fronts of all locomtives. He was confident that the polarizing aetion of the magnets of two trains, dashing together?, would repel each other and prevent actual contact of the engines. )*'-'■ Another gentleman of an inventive turn of mind wanted to have all locomotives fitted with several immense clutching devices, built on the lines of the ice-clutch. These were to be worked by a lever in the cab of the engine. All the driver had to do when his locomotive became unmanageable and was careering up the line at break-neck speed was to pull down the lever. This would put the clutches into action. They would hold firm, and eventually bring the heavy mass of Iron and steel to a standstill. It never seemed to occur to him that the clutches would probably tear up the ties and the rails as well, and he had given no thought of the probable fate of the carriage behind the en-:-glne- - :

One member of the female persuasion thought it a happy inspiration to suspend large indiarubber air-cham-bers between the carriages to deaden the concussion; while a young girl who had been in a railway accident thought it would be a splendid idea if carriages, instead of being made of metal and wood, were constructed of hardened rubber or leather, but sufficiently pliable to “give” at a shock. At a railway company’s meeting some time ago a gentleman thought it would be a good thing If every locomotive carried an outlook man. This servant, he said, should be supplied with a pair of powerful binoculars, by means of which he could detect at a considerable distance any obstruction or defect on the Iron road, and, by signaling to the driver to shut off steam and apply the brikes, thus avoid an accident or a collision. But railroads do not always run in a straight line, and what would be the use of an outlook man and his glasses during the night or a day of dense fog?

Interrogation Point.

A Philadelphia reporter was questioning Treasurer Fahnestock overzealously about the mooted billioPdollar blanket mortgage of the Pennsylvania railroad. ‘Some of your questions,” Mr. Fahnestock said, with a smile, “remind me in their zeal of the new flagman. “A new flagman, the first week of his job, was much exercised on account of the delay of the Green Bulhfo the mile-a-minute flyer. “Finally, 40 minutes late, the Green Bullet came tearing along at 80 miles an hour.

“The flagman rushed out with a red flag. The Grene Bullet stopped with a grinding of brakes and a tearing up of ties and roadbed. The conductor leaped f down excitedly, and the new flagman said: “ ‘Yer late. What kept ye?’ ”

Careless Engineers in Peril of Jail.

In England, where the absolute block system is practically ufaiversal on railroads, engineers rarely run past a danger signal. Still, seme have been known to do it. As is well known, the engineer endangers hfs own life every time,he passes a stop signal, and he is well aware of what may be the consequences. The Engineering News remarks that what actually causes the engineer’s wrong act is “some slip of the attention or temporary failure of co-operation between the observing senses and the brain,” and adds that it Is now proposed to “apply a greater stimulant toward the prevention of such slips, or failures of co-ordination, by adding to the threat of death the further threat of jail.” In other words. It is proposed to make it a penal offense for an engineer to run past a tstop signal.

Railroad Supplies Toys.

Playthings are supplied free by the London & Northwestern railroad to all children who are traveling first class and have a long journey before them. These playthings consist of miniature locomotives, cars and other railroad equipment, which are delivered to the children without the making of any record, but with the understanding that they are to be left in the car at the end of the Journey.—Popular Magazine.

United States, as Usual, Leads.

Statistics issued by the bureau of railway news and statistics shows that the United States led in the matter of total amount of railroad construction during the year 1911, when the total amount of new railroads constructed In tie world was 17,161 miles, of which s,3Sfil miles were built in the United States. - J -

MOVE IN RIGHT DIRECTION

More Bafety, Even .at the Expense of Speed, Has Become Increasing / Aim of the Railroads.

i . ... 4 “Safety first” has been adopted as a slogan by another eastern railroad. This moves the Manchester (N. H.) Union to say: “It is an addition to current indications that the get-there-on-time-at-any-cost policy which has dashed out so many fives in recent years on American railroads is passing. . It is one of the signß which afford new promise of a general policy in roalroading whereby the safety of life and limb of passengers and employes shall be of prime consideration, even though it may involve some sacrifice of speed. • “The important thing now is that all train dispatchers, engineers, firemen, conductors, train crews and others directly or indirectly employed in the promotion of traffic shall be made to feel this shibboleth means precisely what it says, without equivocal string or mental reservation. Once let it be understod, or let there remain even a suspicion that the ‘safety first’ propaganda is adopted merely for advertising effect, and that dismissal or reprimand awaits those who sacrifice schedule time or mistaken economy for the sake of safety, and the entire force of the slogan would be lost.

AUTOMATIC AIR COUPLING

The object here is to provide, an aircoupling supported by the car trucks, and in position to be automatically engaged when the cars are coupled and automatically disengaged when the cars are uncoupled, and wherein means

Automatic Car Air Coupling.

are provided for insuring a correct connection, whether the cars be on straight, curved or uneven track, which, -when attached to a car, does not hinder the air-coupling of Buch xar with cars not so provided.—Scientific American.

Pioneer of Steel Cars.

“The demand for the substitution of steel for wood in the construction of railway cars, remind-3 me that some 25 years ago there came to Washington nn enthusiastic old gentleman from California with a model of a steel car,” observed Beach Taylor of Omaha, former secretary to the late John A. Logan, at Washington. “This old gentleman tried year after year to get recognition, and to induce congress to require that all passenger cars be built of steel. The model he had was a fine piece of mechanical work, and plainly showed, as proved by subsequent events, that he was 20 years ahead of his generation. It was his custom, to put up in a boarding house tn G street, between Thirteenth and fcmrteenth streets; and to invite senators and members of the house and other public officials to look over his invention.

“The steel car of today is practically identical with that of the old gentleman from California, whose name has escaped me. There were certain patents on his car that probably prevented the railroads from adopting 1L My information is that he is dead, and *that his patents died before he did? Today we know that the steel cars are used on one of the great railroad systems almost exclusively. The columns of the Post a few days ago, showed that steel cars were responsible for saving the lives of more than a score of persons who were injured, and who would probably not be alive today had it not been for the protection afforded by the steel cars.”

Cheap Traveling.

It costs an Englishman more in the matter of fares when taking a Journey in England than anywhere on the continent. For instance, the railway fares in England are nearly twice as much as those obtaining in Belgium, Mr the latter is accounted the cheapest country in Europe in which to travel, both speed and accommodation considered. The charges in Russia are a trifle lower than those in Belgium. But because the trains there go at such a slow rate, and the third-clasß carriages are scarcely habitable, the fareß in the czar’s domain may be said to be more expensive. Cheaper again than England is* Germany, where luxurious accommodation can be obtained at low rates. But even less expensive is traveling in France, after which comes Italy.

Austrian Railroad Lines.

The Provincial Engineer reports that during the last year the railways of Nova Scotia carried nearly 500,000 passengers and over 5,600,000 ‘ tons of freight. Revenue ’ increased $387,489, both net and gross receipts advancing.

Large Order for Locomotives.

The government of New South WBles has placed orders for 80 ne« locomotive* for the state railways.

NIGHT IN LONDON

EMERGING from a west end theater in London a companion /remarked to the writer: “This makes me glad to be a provin- . cial. It’s lost on Londoners.” I knew his meaning. The Londoner may be proud of London in his negligent, unenthusiastic way; he may love London, perhaps be sentimental about London, and (not inconceivably) exaggerate London’S cosmic importance. But he seldom is thrilled by London. That sensation is reßdrved for the provincial. Whether it is a sensation to boast of depends on one’s point of view. Those who count romance as a. poisoner of clear judgment might perhaps regard the provincial’s thrill with scorn, for the thrill is the tribute of an incorrigible romantic.- In the north especially, even in the huge towns, London is a name which calls forth the liveliest anticipations of adventure. There Is something ingenuous In the awe with which the young northerner will speak of the goal of London. But, as compensation for his extravagant notion of the wonders of the metropolis, he extracts more joy from it, when he does visit it for a week, than the cockney can feel in a lifetime. Emotion Romantic. This emotion is, as has been said, largely romantic. It is also, however,’ appreciative in the artlstic sense. The provincial sees London as a series of pictures. Doubtless the intelligent Londoner .sees them too, but he is usually far less conscious of them than is the provincial, even the provincial who has lived In London for years. My companion at that theater, standing on the curb and watching the packed traffic slide past In the sheen of the electrics, was acutely aware of his own delight in the spectacle. Having myself had the good fortune (I may as well divulge it) to be born a provincial, I could gauge both his awareness and his delight, and had often marveled at the manner in which Londoners seemed to miss them. The provinces, as far as I know, do not Impress the Londoner as London impresses the provincial; and though this naive reflection may arouse an ironical smile, It Is less trite than It. sounds. Our enthusiasm for the glamor of London reaches Its height after dark, when the lamps are lit. Some of London's most fafoouh thoroughfares are a shade disappointing to us by daylight. The Strand —that Meecfi' of the Bohemianism celebrated in music-hall ditties —has commonplace architecture, an unremarkable vista, and is narrowish as important streets go. Regent street, during the day, is only really fine in sunshine. Leicester square is ugly. But at dusk the more vulgar details vanish, concealed behind the glitter of a dazzling jewellery of lights. A dim cobalt skyline is still visible, but the crudeness of the roofs and chimney-pots has gong. Down below, each shop window Is a sparkling cave of multicolored treasures; and the pavements, thronged with promenaders, furnish focth a spectacle of animation on a scale which only great capitals—Berlin, Paris, New York —can match. When the plays are due to begin we have another entertainment: the rußh of vehicles to the theater portico*. Wealth suddenly floods out from its homes and from the restaurants. Every automobile, as It moves noiselessly past on bulging tires, gives us a dainty peep-show glimpse of its lit Ulterior. Exquisite toilettes 101 l against the rich upholstery. The corner of Long Acre and Bow street, on an opera night, almost suffices to persuade us that the world’s money is concentrated in London. Car rafter car, in a slowly advancing line, marshaled by police, creeps round the curve and down to Covent Garden’s blazing entrance-doors. Each car contains its intimate group, exquisitely dressed, and (to that gaping provincial of ours) sublimely unperceptlve of the moment’s true splendor: Within the opera house the pageant of luxury Is even more amazing. And the same gdrgeouß dlvertisement, on a smaller scale, Is seen simultaneously, every night. In 30 or 40 west end theaters; can be seen, night' l after night, without repetition! While out- * side In the street there is a carnival. Impromptu and by its own »ntlc3, scarce!; less enthralling, ‘gem-

ACROSS TRAFALGAR SQUARE

med and tinseled and decorated nd less lavishly. . . Through Central London. The wise stranger reserves a nighs free from theater-going for a stroll through central London's streets. Of course he must see the where a noble curve of lights trails its reflection, like a flung-dowu neck' lace, in the water from Blackfriara to Big Ben. The monstrous tram* cars, not very impressive by day, are "glass caskets of effulgence, Bptntttßf^ along their polished rails below thd cliffs of the Cecil and the Savoy, The more squalid south side of the Thames displays an illuminated advertisement or two, exasperations to the aesthete. Westward, St. Stephen’s lifts a fine silhouette athwart a vague - flush of radiance beyond. The light in the clocktower shows that parliament is sitting; and a “late extra,” bought in Northumberland avenue, will tell us what the talk has been about. We have forgotten it by the time we enter Trafalgar square, where the silhouette of lions and Nelson’s Pillar are clear-cut against a flare of gold at the Coliseum in St. Martin’s lane. Those spots of extremer dazzlement always mark a theater —though thfe picturepalaces are now nearly as blatant Up by Charing Cross road and round Into Coventry street or Shaftesbury avenue we get the Impression that the whole of London Is given over to the pursuit of pleasure. This is theater-land: the vortex ol gaiety’s whirlpool, only ejccelled, per haps only equaled, by our American friends’ fabled half-mile of Broadway. Why go inside any theater when this tableau is to be seen free outside! Why bother with burlesque and ballet when the evolutions of London’s million pedestrians roll and unroll, tangle and untangle here?, Why seek comedy and tragedy behind footlights? A hundred yards of Piccadilly circus exhibit enough comedy and tragedy to last for many an evening. That, I think, or something like it, Is how our provincial often feels after hli walk through London at night. Should he be temperamentally a countryman, fond of the fields and the fresh air ol heaven, he may he glad enough to se« the last of this exhausting and garish wilderness of houses and lights find hectic activity; but, even so, he can not fail to derive some amusement from just those aspects of it whicl leave the Londoner cold. The Lon doner buys all his pleasures too dl rectly. A theater is to him a placi wherein to see a play, a case is i plape wherein to obtain meat ani drink. To a stranger a theater Is a plac» wherein not only to see the play, bul —this la a gift supplied without charge—to see the playgoers; a cafl Is a place wherein to get refreshment for the body with the addition of" i still more stimulating refreshment for the mind. Pictures! —London at nighl - is a bewildering and kaleidoscopic gal lery of pictures; and even when thi streets have emptied and no sound li heard but the hoot of a late taxical or the trundling of an early market cart, fresh compositions present them —■ selves at every turning; mysteriour and endless perspectives of lamps strange, pale facades with blank windows rising like precipices from th< canyon of the roadway, or colorlesi trees, in some deserted square, throw ing the pattern of their motionlesi leaf-shadows upon the pavement bo side the sooty railings.

Japan to Fight Tuberculosis.

Consumption is said to claim mors victims in Japan than in any othei civilized country and the government Ife about to take decisive steps to combat its spread. The department ol home affairs has decided to establish sanatoria In the cities having a population of more than 300,000, namely Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Yokohama and Nagoya. „ Those for Tokyo and Osaka will be constructed to accommodate 500 patients, that Sf Kyoto 400 and for the remaining cities 300. \

Her Thought.

Myrtle—l Bee according to a Gen man biologist, man made a mistake when, centuries ago, he changed him self from a quadruped-to a biped. Maude—Nonsense. How In the world ~ could a man ait in a hammock with s girl if he a quadruped?