Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 March 1914 — Page 2

SISTER HANNAH’S VISIT

By C. B. LEWIS.

Miss Dorothy Spencer, spinster and forty years old, lived in the outskirts of the village of Grafton. She kept a servant and a cow. had a cat and lived in a comfortable way on her income. She was neither homely nor good-look-ing. She had a widowed sister living in lowa, and one day that sister arrived on a visit. Her name was Hannah, and, like most other widows, she was full of business. There were things she wanted to know about almost before she had taken her bonnet off, and there was one thing in particular that she lost no time in bringing forward. 1 “Now. then," she said, as she got seated in the big rocking chair, “I want to know why you haven’t mar Tied. It’s nothing less than a burning shame that you have lived to your age without catching a husband." “I—l haven’t been asked,” was the embarrassed reply of the .sister, "But why not?” “I—l don't know.” “Then we'll find out. Haven’t you kept company with anyone?” “Y-e-s.” “For how long?” “Please let’s not talk about it, sister. Were the Perkins family well when you left home?” ~. “Never you mind the Perkins family, but pay attention to this other matter. What’s the name of the man you’ve been keeping company with?” “It’s Henry Goodheart. I don’t know whether you’d call it keeping company or not. He comes Sunday and Wednesday evenings and talks for awhile.” "Tvrice a week, eh? And how long has he kept this tip?" “N-nine years.” “Dorothy Spencer!” exclaimed Sister Hannah, as she almost sprang out of her chair. “Do you mean to tell me that a manhas been dawdling around here for nine years and never said a word about marriage?” » “But he's one of the most bashful men you ever saw,” protested Dorothy, ‘•and I— I—” “You are going to say you couldn’t ask him to marry you. Of course you couldn’t, but you could have brought him to time years ago.” “He’s a very nice man, and everybody thinks so. I guess he thinks I don’t want to get married to anyone.” “What business has he to think that? Of course you want to get married. Every woman does. All widows and single women are just dying to be asked. Nine long years and he has not asked for your hand! I thought there was a nigger in the fence somewhere, and have come on to see about it. I have been married three times in eighteen years, and I’m expecting the fourth man to come along any day. I didn’t keep company with any of my kusbands-over.six mjoaths: Afterthat time had passed 1 just wanted to know what they were hanging around for. Dorothy, something has got to be done. That Goodheart, or Goodliver, or whatever his name is, has got to come to time.” “Please, Sister Hannah. If you should go to mixing in I'd be so 'shamed that I’d feel like running away.” “Ybu leave it to me, and don’t worry. I’m older than you are. I’ve had three husbands and know how I got ’em. They w.ere all bashful men. I shan’t do anything to shame you.” It was a conspiracy of one. Neither Dorothy nor Mr. Goodheart was taken into the widow’s confidence. She had heen in the house three days when Sunday evening came and he _ showed up on his bi-weekly tour. The widow liked him. He was slow, but sturdy and honesty He didn’t look nor talk love. He talked more of sunflowers and onions than he did of love. Dorothy ill at ease, as she did not know what was coming, and her heart beat like a trip-hammer as the widow* finally said: “Mr. Goodheart, 1 think I shall take Dorothy back to lowa with me when I go.” He gave a start of alarm and the red came to his face. He made no reply, however, and soon took his departure. “How could you!” exclaimed Dorothy, with a glance of reproach, as the gate was heard •to latch behind the man. “I wanted to jar him," replied the widow. “He’ll be over here within a day or two and ask you to make him happy.” “But it will look as if we were dragging him in by the hair of Ji he head." “Never you mind the looks. The great object is to get married.” Mr. Goodheart didn’t show tip till his usual Wednesday evening, however. About the time he was expected the widow was at the gate to meet him. vf’hen they had saluted each other she said: “Mr. Goodheart. 1 want to ask you a question in confidence.” “Yes?” “I understand that a sewing machine agent who comes through these parts Is very much smitten on Dorothy. Is his occupation an honorable one? Do you think him the man to love and care for her? As her elder sister 1 feel like a guardian toward her." Mr. Goodheart gave a start, and his hand on the gate trembled. He had to wait a minute before he could trust ‘.his voice, and then he answered that ;he didn't go much on sewing machine agents Tire widow Sighed and said it was a cold world, and the two went iinto the house together. Her object JUd been to arouse the spark of jeal-

ousy, but after the man had stayed his usual hour and departed she could not tell whether it was a success or not. He had talked about as usual. “Did you say anything to him out at the gate?” asked Dorothy. “None o' ybur business whether I did or not. He’s the woodenest man in four states, but I’ll bring him to the mark. He has either got to show his hand or dust along and make room for somebody else.—l imagine he’ll be around tomorrow night.” .“It’s awful, sister—positively awful,” said Dorothy, as the tears filled her eyes. Mr. Goodheart did not make his appearance at the time expected. He was in no hurry to get up a feeling of jealousy. The widow was provoked. On Sunday evening she met him a quarter of a mile down the toad and gave him more of her confidence. She confided to him the fact that Dorothy was one of the best housekeepers for a hundred miles around. She was also economical. Also loving anfl clinging in her disposition. Mr. Goodheart agreed to all this, but during his hour he sat and talked of chickenpox and measles and went away as placid and serene as usual. The widow had no remarks to make, but she did a heap of thinking. She knew that Mr. Goodheart would be hoeing potatoes in a certain field next morning, and at nine o’clock she was there. She didn’t have any time to waste. “Mr. Goodheart,” she began, “at the time I spoke to you about the sewing machine man I didn’t know that you and sister were engaged. You really must excuse me. When talking with you last night I did not know that the marriage day had been set for the fourteenth of next month. I congratulate you. You will have one of the best wives in the state. I shall stay to the wedding and tender you my heartiest wishes.” The man stammered and blushed and looked around for a way to escape. There was none. The widow had run him to earth. “Yes —just so,” was all he could say, but a month later he was on hand for the wedding. , ”^TleiTWyTW^weekgr = and == what I have done!” said sister Hannah after the knot had been tied hard and fast. “I tell you, Dorothy, the way to get married is —to get married. I’ve tried it three times and ought to know.”

WAS AN IMPORTED EXOTIC

John Endicott Credited With Introduction of Well-Known WhiteWeed or Daisy. Tradition has it that from the early garden of Gov. John Endicott in Salem, Mass., came what is now perhaps the commonest field flower in the United States. Few persons, writes Grace Tabor in “Old-Fashioned Gardening,” know that the pestiferous white-weed, the jubilant, smiling daisy, is an imported exotic. From this old dooryard garden it has danced to the music of the east wind straight across the land; up and down the meadows, through the long grass and the short grass, along every highway and every byway. Wherever man has gone it has followed gaily; often it has driven him completely out of the fields he has made. That Endicott valued the daisy enough to bring it with him to the new England from the old marks him as a man of taste, for this flower had in ancient days “found its way into the trimmest gardens; the» greenswards and arbors were ‘powdered’ with daisies,” and Chaucer wrote of it in superlatives. It is not native to England, either, however, but came from the continent, or perhaps by way of the continent from an original home still farther east, in northern Asia.—Youth’s Companion.

Some Scope.

Dr. Charles 13. Colmore, the new bishop of Porto Rico, said of divorce in America: “Oh, ours is not the only country with a rampant divorce spirit. I was talking one day to a Roumanian priest and he said that the Greek church only allowed three divorces. “ Only,’ mind you—those were his very words —’only!’ ‘‘H p- said he married a couple onee and the bride having already been divorced twice, he said to her in a whisper at the altar: “ ‘You’d better be careful this time. Remember, by the law of the church, this is your last chance. This time it’s for keeps.’ “ ‘Oh, no,’ said the bride, with a toss of the head; ’oh, no. My first husband was my cousin, so that marriage was illegal, and consequently I have still some scope.' ”

Filial.

Violet found herself the other day in the company>of an old schoolmate —one she hadn’t seen for quite a year. There were many questions to ask. "And, oh Daphne,” said Violet, “what’s become of that jolly girl that used to come to see you at Miss Prism's—the awfully young and pretty one. you know?" “Oh. that frisky minx!” was the startling answer. "Hadn't you heard? She's my mother now."

Apprehensions Aroused.

“All the Christmas presents I want are a few things for the table,” said she. "What, for instance?” asked her husband. "Well, some oyster forks and some egg cups and a fish set and a game set and —” '1 don't mind —getting - you-- the dishes. But what’s the use? We’ll never be able to buy the food to fit ’em.”

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

SAILORS’ GREAT FEAR

FLOATING DERELICT ONE OF WORST PERH-S OF THE SEA. ;. ‘" 1 - Forsaken Ships, Practically Unsinkable, Can Rarely Be Perceived Until Too Late to Avoid the Fatal Collision. The dismasted, battered hulk of a derelict, floating so low in the water as to be almost level with the waves, is, of course, a very great danger to navigation, especially in foggy weather. The majority of derelicts are sailing ships laden with timber. They may have been dismasted and rendered absolutely helpless in storms, partly demolished by fire, by collision with an iceberg, or by the mere force of the waves themselves. The crew, unable to make their shijF -seffwOTthy. may have abandoned it in the boats, or have been rescued by some passing vessel, but, whatever their fate, their forsaken ship, if laden with wood, remains practically unsinkable and is driven hither and thither over the ocean, at the mercy of the winds and* currents. In course of time the swelling of the wood cargo may burst the hull asunder, but until this happens, or until the vessel is driven ashore and broken into matchwood against some ironshod coast, it will remain a terror to passing ships. Now and again a steamer may be rendered helpless owing to its machinery becoming disabled by shortage of coal, by fire or by the loss of its rudder or propeller in heavy weather. Its crew may decide to abandon it and take to the boats, but if they neglect to open the seacocks on their departure their ship may float for many a long day. The erratic movements of some derelicts are almost uncanny. Not so very long ago a Norwegian sailing ship called the Crown left Nova Scotia for a South American port. It was laden with timber, and while still in the North Atlantic ocean was overtaken by a terrible storm, which dismasted and left it a battered wreck.

The crew, realizing it was useless to remain on board, abandoned it and took to the boats, never to be heard of again, but their ship, although it vanished completely for no less than three months, was sighted at the end of this time on the edge of the Sargasso sea, a good 700 miles away from where disaster overtook it. Soon aftterward it was sighted off Bermuda, but then disappeared again, and may still be drifting about the ocean. Another sailing ship was abandoned off Cape May. The crew endeavored to destroy it by fire on their departure, but, although it blazed furiously, the sodden, waterlogged cargo eventually extinguished the flames. A few weeks later the hulk was off the English coast and it was thought it would be dashed to pieces on the shore, but, altering its course, it proceeded to the southward along the French coast and was next seen near the Azores. Having got thus far, it proceeded to cross the Atlantic, and after covering fully 6,000 miles in its wanderings, finally drifted ashore near Panama.' Derelicts are sometimes salved and bring in a large sum in salvage money to the crews of the ships who tow them into port. On one occasion an American steamer bound for Liverpool with a cargo of cotton ran out of coal off the north coast of Ireland. The sea was running high, signals of distress. were made to a passing steamer, which passed a tow rope to the helpless ship. But the towing wire snapped and the crew were accordingly taken on board the newcomer, while the disabled vessel was left to drift.. Over pool tug heard of the affair, and being doubtless aware of the great value of the cotton cargo, determined Io find the derelict and to tow it into harbor. After a protracted search it came upon it and eventually took it into Belfast, little worse for its buffeting. The enterprising tug netted no less than £7,960 for its share in the proceedings. By an act of parliament, passed in 1896, the master of any British ship sighting a derelict is bound to report the fact to the nearest Lloyds agent, so that if the abandoned ship Is in the track of ships a man-of- v war may be sent out to destroy or bring it into port.

Home Made Floor Polisher.

Take a wooden box, such as starch or cocoa is shipped in, and stretch several thicknesses of carpet or flannel over the bottom, allowing it to come well up on the sides and tack smoothly. Make a handle of two stout pieces of wood, thirty-six Inches long, and join their upper end to a shorter piece of’wood as a cross piece and nail all to the box. Place three paving bricks inside of the box and it will weigh sixteen pounds, just the weight sold for use by women. Rub always with the grain of the wood. This, with the addition of housewife muscle and elbow grease, makes the work perfectly simple.

Rare English Coin.

A unique gold coin has just been purchased for the nation by the trustees of the British museum, with the assistance of private subscribers. It is the only known example of the gold coinage of the Anglo-Saxon King Offa (A. D. 757-796), the most celebrated of all the Mercian princes, the friend of Charlebagne, and the recipient of many present from that emperor. It is the earliest gold coin'that can be definitely ascribed to any English king. Although struck by a Christian king, it bears a Mahommedan inscrip tion in Arabic.

CLEANED THE DOC’S BUGGY

Which Was Not What Boy* Intended to Do, but That Waa the End of the Adventure. “I remember,” said Uncle Josh, who had just finished a hearty dinner and was in the humor for telling a yarn, "I remember one balmy day in July when the other boys and I decided to steal old Doc Hoffum’s horse and buggy and drive to the river to go swimming. Doc was visiting at our house that day, and it looked easy to us to drive two miles over to the river and get cooled off and then bring the horse and buggy back before the old man missed them. “There were a good many of us and we were not Pressed very fine. Slim, for example, was attired in a long linen duster that flopped out behind. The springs allowed us to bump pretty hard, there being so many passengers, but we got to the river safely. ———-—— “We had a bully swim, but Slick said he thought we ought to wash the buggy while we were there. The way to do it, he said was to run the buggy into the river.

“We unhitched the horse and proceeded to back the buggy into the water. But the buggy got away from us, and away it went, much further than we expected. We couldn’t hold It and so it disappeared entirely. A couple of bubbles came up and that was all! “While we were diving to locate the buggy the horse got away, and we all took after him. We chased him around a clump of trees, half of us on one side and half on the other to head him off. Both parties rounded the clump of trees at the same time and ran plump into a camp meeting, mostly women! “We let the horse go then and by that time we had forgotten where we left the buggy.” “I suppose some one stole all your clothes while you were gone,” suggested the man from Topeka. “No,” said Uncle Josh, “we found our clothes, and from their position on the bank we figured out where the buggy ought to be. One of the camp meeting people brought the horse back and we got a rope from him and dived around until we got the rope tied to the buggy. Then we got it out on the bank. That is the only time Doc Hoffum’s buggy was ever clean!.” ■> “Didn’t it hurt the buggy?” asked the man from Topeka. “Didn’t harm a thing but the squeak. The bath utterly destroyed that. Old Doc Hoffum often wondered what had become of the squeak, for he missed it badly. The horse Blissed it, too. It was a good, soothing sound that the two of them were accustomed to doze by as they jogged over the road.”

Even Thing.

“Sir,” began the man with the newspaper in his hand, as he turned to the man on his right, “this is an age of deception.” "I quite agree with you,” was the reply. “Nothing is what it seems to be.” “No, nothing.” “For instance, you have been try- ; Ing for the last ten minutes to get hold of my watch. I wear a chain, and the natural inference is that there Is a watch on the end of it.” “But there is no watch.” “No. sir! I wear the chain for an ornament. You have simply thrown away your time.” “And on your part,” said the man who had failed, “you took this scarf pin for a real diamond, and have made no less than three trials to secure it.” J'And it is not a diamond?” “No, sir—only a dry goods store rhinestone, but I wear It for an ornament, and it serves my purposes. You have wasted your energies. It’s an even thing, however, and let’s go for that old duffer as he gets off the car and whack up on the boodle.” ,

What! Against Veils in Girlington?

The vicar of Girlington, Bradford. Rev. George Pedley, deals in his parish magazine with the wearing by women of motor veils and shawls in church. “Many years ago,” he writes, “we forbade the us© of shawls in church. Much was said at the time, but the rule is observed. Too often a shawl is a convenient cover for an untidy head and dirty appearance. There is, however, a respectable makeshift springing up in the form of a motor veil. “There are all the signs of respectability otherwise, and therefore assurance that the person possesses hat or bonnet. “Twice lately this ‘get-up’ has been seen at the service of holy baptism. We object to it . . . because it shows a sad want of reverence.” —London Globe.

May Have Meant the Clown.

State senators are placed in a new classification by an Italian who was desirious of becoming a citizen of the United States. He was being examined for admission before Justice Crane in the Queens county supreme court, at Long Island City. Justice Crane came to the question: “What is a state senator?” -*-r“I don't knoW,” was the reply. “Did you ever see one?” asked Justice Crane. “Oh, yes, I see them,’* said the applicant. “Where?” asked Justice Crane. After considerable thought the man replied: “They keep them in circuses, I see them there.” He was advised to devote further time to study. —New York Sun.

TRIP IN BOLIVIA'S WILDS

THE strident blasts of automobile horns and the buzz of six cylinder engines will soon be heard in the heart of Bolivia, it the concession sought by Leroy S. Cutting of Darlington, Wis., is granted by the Bolivian government, whose attitude so far has been favorable. An automobile stage line for passengers and freight over 90 miles of road now traveled only by plodding Indians and balky mules is the idea of Mr. Cutting. This tvould bring the produce of the interior city of Sorata to La Paz, a railroad terminus and the chief commercial city of the country. From there it must be taken by train to Chile, Peru, Brazil or the Argentine. Mr. Cutting was at the Hotel Astor the other day on his way home after two years in Bolivia, according to the New YOrk Times. There he had found, he said, such modernities as street cars, sewers and electric lights in La Paz and a few other cities, but the great majority of the population—-three-quarters Indian and one-quarter Spanish by descent—knew nothing of these things. Yet the country has ' vast possibilities for development, but | with the present poor transportation facilities is unable to throw its proI duce into the markets of the world. Sought Gold in Bolivia. "I first went to Bolivia,” said Mr. Cutting, “lured by stories of an El Dorado. I had been told that gold could be picked up by the bucketful in the interior, and I set out with two companions to find it. For three weeks we journeyed to the last low range of hills before the Amazon basin; yye traveled on muleback, by foot and in reed canoes on the rivers, but we found no gold.” - —— His two companions turned back, but Mr. Cutting went on alone, carrying only his rifle and a few cartridges, through a country of savages into which no white man had ever penetrated. He came out alive and well, but only after he had passed through many dangers and hardships. “My first thrilling experience,” said Mr. Cutting, “was shooting the Retama rapids in the Tipuani river. I was in a small boat with a crew of balseros or native I could see the rapids I heard their roar. I noticed the tense attitude of the balseros —the eyes of the stern pilot studying the water and the si- , lence of all. “Then, as the stem of the boat touched the edge of the rapids, came the quick, fierce orders of the stern pilot to the bow pilot, and in a moment we were in the center of the maelstrom. There were more sharp commands, a misunderstanding of orders, powerful strokes of pilots and balseros just in time to save us from being dashed upon immense rocks — and we were once more in quiet water. Only seconds elapsed as we passed the danger point, but every Indian gave a joyous shout as we reached safety and all of us felt as If we had faced death for hours.” In shooting the river rapidq, Mr. Cutting said, tbe Indians let the boat fly forward in the grip of the current straight at the rocks rising sheer from the water, and then, just as a crash was imminent, with powerful strokes of their oars sharply turned the boat at a right angle. s “I suppose it’s the only way to get by safely Mr. Cutting said, “but, believe pie, It is full of thrills at first. (The first time I shot the rapids in Bolivia I absolutely gave up all hope. “But we went through so many rapids that at last I could sit In the boat smoking a pipe and scarcely feel a qualm.” . * Mr. Cutting began his journey into the wilds of Bolivia by floating down

AN INCA BRIDGE

the Madidi river alone on a balsa or small raft made of seven cabbage wood logs from four to six inches in diameter. The river had never been traveled by a w hite man before and, narrating his experiences, Mr. Cutting said: “I camped one night on a sandbar and was awakened early in the mornJng by a.terrific noise in the woods. A tapir, which had come to the river for a drink, was frightened by my fire and was running away. When anything frightens these animals they run in a straight line at a tremendous speed and pay no attention to email trees or brushwood. The noise they make breaking off branches and tearing up trees is simply indescribable. Their skin is at least a quarter of an inch thick and nothing seems to injure them.” Of the uncivilized Indians in the interior Mr. Cutting said: “They count only to six and then "add one for each thing in excess of that number. For example, seven beads they will speak of as ‘six and one.’ Thirteen would be two sixes and one. They sleep in the sand without any covering, build houses woven from palm leaves, that are mosquito proof and wear no clothes except on special occasions. They bury their dead, adorned with feathers, on the sandbars in the rivers. Natives See a White Man. “They take names for themselves from trees, fruits, animals and other things of naturer and their vocabulary is very limited. They use very few words in conversation, but make themselves understood to 'each other by gestures ahd motions of th eir eyes, mouths, hands and feet. I was treated v< rv well by them. They called me. ‘papa’ and wanted to feed hie on and ripe bananas, their delicacies, all the time. They seemed to think Lwas some sort of superman, for they had never seen a white map before.” One of the staples of Mr? Cutting’s food in the wilderness was monkey stew with rice. He said that at first he did not relish the idea of eating monkeys, but that in time he came to enjoy the meat. Mr. Cutting saw “chicha," the national beverage of the country, in all stages of manufacture. “It is made from corn,” said Mr. Cutting, “by a process not pleasant to think of, but it is very palatable, with a sharp taste not unlike sweet cider. In making it the Indians take corn meal, previously ground between stones, and chew as much as their mouths will hold for 15 or 20 minutes. After a bowlful has been ejected from their mouths they add water and allow the substance to ferment, after which it is boiled for several hours and allowed to ferment again. It requires eight days to make the drink and when it is finished it is very strong.”

To a lover of roses there could be no more delightful gift than a box of roses consisting of one or two of each of the new varieties, and accompanying them an equal number of the new glass holders for a single rose. These are shaped like a long slender pipe on a stand. Imagine the pleasure this gift would give when would be placed in its own holder and stood on a table or mantel shelf rather than a dozen or two roses of one variety. Among the best new introductions are Aaron Ward, Lady Hillington Melody. Chatenay, Maryland, Killarney, white. Killarney, Richmond and Fireflame.

“Kate says she intends to marry Mr. Plunks to reform him.” ' “What is his vice?” “He's a good deal of a miser."

Gift for Lover of Roses.

His Finish.