Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1915 — Page 2

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE

HERE is something in the tback recesses of our brains which makes us want to live. No man in his right mind wants to die, and only when the back part of his brain is impaired through grief, worry, sickness or some other profound cause, does he go about regardless* oi peril. One of these profound Influences is battle. It is said that men in battle will hug the bottom of the trenches because they are taught by military experts to do so, but after the baptism of fire they care for nothing, and will risk their lives to gain comfort. There are stories going the rounds of fighters in Europe who have left the trenches and walked through a hail of bullets and shells after an overcoat or after food. These men knew nothing about death. They did know a lot about discomfort. They knew when they were thirsty they were terribly uncomfortable. They knew when they were cold they suffered. When the German cruiser Koenigsberg was driven into a river on the African coast and bottled up there by si superior force of English ships, it is reported that the Germans threw up trenches in the vicinity of the Koenigeberg. from which they fought the British. Prom their place of security among the palm trees they kept landing force of marines from getting near them.

Although they were securely Intrenched they could not leave the trenches without great risk of life from the bullets of the British marines. Yet when the mosquitoes made night miserable in the trenches one cl the Germans left his trench and walked coolly through the hail of bullets to a neighboring trench, where'he gathered some pennyroyal, with which to fight the mosquitoes. Men under fire do not think of the consequences any more than men in the cities going to and,from work. A story is told of men high on the top of a skyscraper. One of the workmen felicitated with the other on his good luck in having a safe job on a girder several hundred feet above the street, while others had to risk their lives in Europe.

The majority of the soldiers Ip Europe would not have changed places with the man on the girder. Men working in the logging camps, where danger is constant, due to lack of inspection by state authorities, feel sorry for the men working in the steel mills amid the molten metal. Men on the sea are glad in time of hurricane that they are not on shore. For. on the sea, they are free to ride on the storm. The men on shore pity the poor devils of the sea.

| The recruit getting the baptism of lire is to be pitied. He is probably as brave as any of the other men, but he h»g not gotten accustomed to the situation, and in horror he hugs the bottom of the trench while the shells scream overhead. But the recruft in time learns not to fear. He becomes hardened to conditions, just as other men, and laughs with them as he fights.

There was a captain in a certain Northern army fighting in our Civil war who derided his company of.recruits for dodging the bullets. He explained it was too late to dodge after they had heard the bullets whizz over their heads, and besides they

Making Skylight Drip-Proof.

A Pennsylvania wire glass company lias evolved a new type of glass that solves a problem of much importance to many manufacturing plants—that of eliminating the drip from the underside of skylights. In many of the arts, in silk and cotton mills, paper factories or chocolate works, the falling of a aingio drop causes much damage. The new glass has ah under-surf-“the jEaeh. the webs being of such form aa tt give the greatest degree of capU*

might dodge their heads into itssecond bullet. Vv The men were hew to fighting, nowever, and they were not on the firing line. They had to sit idly back of the main firing line while the Southerners W'ere attacking their lines. Just then a big cannon shell burst above their heads. The captain dodged with the rest, bringing out a big laugh from the recruits, most of whom were not very well disciplined and had little respect for the greatness of their commahding officer. “Dodge the big ones," the captain shouted, as he admitted that even the seasoned men sometimes dodge an unexpected shot, it is the unexpectedness of the shooting that causes the men to dodge. When they become used to the noise of battle they can sleep riglit through a bombardment without being troubled. They fight and sleep in a sort of daze. Often they are on duty for so long that they cannot go to sleep when the fighting is over, but they sit in a stupor, not knowing what to do. Sometimes it requires more heroism to stand under fire than at other times. The real heroes are the recruits; for they stay at the front even though they get scared. The seasoned soldiers Jest as they fight Just as a gang of workmen jest and talk with each other. Fighting is occupation to them. It is told of a hero in the SpanishAmerican war who was commissioned a major in the American Volunteer army, although he had no previous military experience except at a military school, that as he was going into action at San Juan hill one of the regular army officers noticed the major’s white face and chattering teeth.

“Major, you are scared.” the regular said.

“I know it,” said the major. “If you were half as scared as I am you would be twenty miles from here.” It is not only the soldiers who showed heroism under fire in Europe. The civilians were heroes as well. In Belgium the farmers were in the midst of harvest when the uhlans crossed their frontier. The farmers continued harvesting their crops because they realized the armies would trample them under foot. Their only hope was in, completing the harvest before the armies crossed the country. They worked amid shot and shell without regard to the enemy. They were just as safe in the field at work as they were running and they bravely chose the wiser course.

War correspondents tell how they found French women knitting while the fighting was going on. There was nothing for them to do but knit. Then why run? As they knitted they commented on the shots which dropped around them. In Reims It is told how women near the cathedral counted the shells as they struck that edifice. There is a tale of a soldier in the

lary attraction. The result Is that even when pitched as low as ten degrees above the horizontal, all condensation is held and carried down to the gutter at the foot of each sheet.

In the Shade.

“Where did you spend the summer?*’ “Where I lost my Identity.” “Eh?” . “Among, my. wife's , relatlveA-.Khera. I’m simply known as ‘Mary’s husband.’” —Fan*

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

trenches who was known to every* body as a coward. He always would hug the bottom of the trench. It seemed he never could get over It. But he was passionately fond of cigarettes. One day while the bullets were whistling above his trench a soldier in a neighboring trench held up cigarettes to him. He jumped up, raced to the other trench and came back triumphantly with the cigarettes. He was unhurt. More officers are killed in battle in proportion to their numbers than any other class of men. That is due to the risks they insist on taking. That is particularly true in the English army, where the officers risk their lives needlessly. The Germans would be court-martialed for risking-their lives as much as the English officers do. The English say they do it tb steady their men and show they are " not afraid.

The same is true to a considerable extent in the American • army. The lqsses of officers in the Spanish-Ameri-can war was surprisingly great Of course the Spanish-American war was not on the proportions of this war and the sharpshooters figured extensively. An officer in our regular army who saw fighting in the Spanish war, pointed out the other day that most persons had a very wrong conception of how soldiers fight in modern battles. “Skirmish drills in times of peace have taught the troops how to act together, and it is amazing to see how quickly the men adapt themselves to thb conditions of actual battle. It is the corporals and sergeants who are the real steadying influences in a fight. They know the characteristics of the individual privates in a way that the commissioned officers can never know them and are prepared to give a calming word to this or that one when the emergency arises. In my own experience I have known a private who had served three enlistments to take charge of a company In a charge, and the officers and non-coms were very glad to leave it to him. After the scrap was over he became a private once more, but while that row was on, so far as actual influence with the men was concerned, he was of a great deal more importance than his captain. The way that man would wriggle Into cover was a revelation and he went ,through three campaigns without a ; scratch. His example ih the regiment was a big asset. ‘ * “There has been much discussion of bravery in battle since the war Started. According to my experience It is very much a matter of temperament. Some men,are carried along by & sort of ecstasy, others hold themselves to the work by sheer force of will, while others, and those are the best, go through a fight with a sort erf grim interest as if it was a highly amusing though somewhat dangerous sport they were engaged in, like polo or football."

Scared the Scare.

Through a moving day accident little Tim had been left all day in a locked and lonely house. “Weren’t yon scared?” he was asked, when his absence from the reunited family' had been discovered and his rescue effected. “Didn’t it frighten yon to stay there so long all alone?” “I was awful scared at first,” wrfs Tim’s naive confession, “hat this afternoon I was just sortT-o’ sleepy. I guess I got *so scared this morning that it scared the scare right out of my bones!”

KNIT BABY’S BONNET

PRETTY HEAD COVERING THAT I# EASY TO MAKE. Best, Perhaps, In Rabbit Yarn or Saxony—Buccess Will Be Bure If One Will Follow the Directions Given Here. How cunning the little baby bonnets are knitted in rabbit yarn or saxony, and so easy to make! Indeed, anyone who can do the plain knitting stitch can make a bonnet by following directions:

First, it is necessary to find the face size. This will'be 12, 14 or 16 inches, according to the age of the child to wear it. Four skeins of two-fold saxony wool will be required, white or pink, as preferred. To make the bonnet cast on 82 stitches, using No. 2 bone needles. Knit in ridges for 14 Inches, or 107 ridges, and bind off. To make the band round the neck of the crown, with a steel needle pick up one stitch from the 107 ridges. Start on the right side and decrease to 54 stitches by knitting two stitches together to end of row. Knit 13 ridges on these 54 stitches, then bind off. If the bonnet is white, make the turnback flap of white satin or corded silk —a strip of ribbon about 3% or 4 inches wide will answer. Decorate with embroidered rosebuds, or, if this is beyond the knitter's skill, bought embroidery could be applied. The outer edge should be trimmed with a frill of narrow val lace and the flap lined with a bit of pink india or other soft silk. —- The knitting is laid in three plaits at the ears to shape the bonnet, the stitches to be concealed under rosettes of pink ribbon, i The raw edge of the flap is turned under the knitted edge and a cap lining of soft white silk fitted in. Then a ruching of lace is sewed in around the face, and lastly the ties of white or pink ribbon are added. Of course, one may keep the bonnet all white, all one color, or a combina-

Made of Rabbit Yam.

tion of white and a color. For instance, if the baby is a boy the knitting and silk flap might be white and the ribbons blue. The embroidery could be forget-me-nots, or the entire bonnet, with the exception of the lace frill and the ruching, which would be white, of course, might .be blue. In that case pink rosebuds would be more effective than forget-me-ncts upon a blue background.

A “V” Bare Neck.

Perhaps the most interesting thing of all is the. odd way in which the new stocks are worn. In days gone by their use was limited largely to a closed neck shirt or a severe tailored blouse. Now, however, they are worn with various V-neck waists, simply fastened around the neck, leaving the “V" portion bare. Thus the stock is rendered equally adaptable either for a low or for a closed neck waist.

FIRST TEST THE CRETONNE

Cheaper Grade Not Always a Good Investment —Makes Excellent Furniture Coyer, A cheap cretonne is not always a good Investment, as it often becomes thin after a few weeks’ wear and looks more like a coarse muslin than a good cretonne, so before investing in a lowpriced material it should be tested. To do this take a small piece and rub it thoroughly as if washing. If the threads separate and it becomes thin, it will wear badly, and is not really economical, no matter how cheap the price, but if it passes this ordeal it will probably last as long and wear as well as a much highei>priced one. A cretonne with a dark background is fAr more serviceable than one of lighter coloring, and need not make the room appear dark if some cheerful tones are introduced into the floral design. „ To cover furniture is not really such a difficult task as many would imagine, provided a reliable pattern can be obtained, and it is first carefully pinned to the sofa or chair and fitted so that .any parts which are too large or too small can be altered and arranged. Cretonne is generally 30 inches wide, and a full-sized sofa requires six years. - When cutting the cover for the sofa the pieces for covering the arms most be laid, before cutting, with their right sides together, or when cut it may be found that they are both for the right or left, and this would involve an enormous waste of material. Also the .patfern should be planned in encE a way that the design will ran np the seat

FOR THE GIRL WHO SKATES

Appropriate and Attractive Costume of Biscuit Tan Cloth Is Latest leea of Fashion. One sees young women In velvet and even silk skating frocks at the rinks in the city, but the real out-of-door girl wears a proper skating rig of which an attractive example is Il-

lustrated here. Severely tailored coat and skirt are of biscuit tan cloth and the snug little skating hat is red brown beaver with a band to match. White woolen gloves and a warm scarf, which may be tied over the ears if needed, complete the costume.

KEEP HANDS FROM CHAPPING

Or If They Are Now In Bad Condition Here Are Remedies That Will Help. The first chilly day is the day one should begin to wage a war against chapped hands. If you can keep your hands from becoming chapped in the transitional weather between hot and cold, you will have little difficulty with them later on, for it is in the first cold days that they are especially sensitive to cold. Still, it is never'too late. Chapped hands are almost always caused by Insufficient drying after washing, or perhaps the water was Icy cold and very hard, or used too hot. Both extremes are bad for the skin. To preserve the hands in good condition In cool weather, they should, whenever possible, be washed in tepid water, and if this is softened by a t.eaepoonful of borax so much the better, Be sure to use a soap of good quality, and when drying the hands take the precaution of rubbing each finger separately. If the hands are rubbed over once a day with a slice of lemon and a little cold cream, or if mutton tallow is rubbed into them thoroughly before going to »bed at night, there will be little danger of the skin becoming chapped or rough.

Wide Braid Belts.

Wide siik braid is much used in the new models of walking suits. Some?, times it forms pockets, sometimes it is used to band a long tunic, sometimes it is used as a belt, run through straps of the fabric of the frock it adorns. Needless to say, the braid belt is loose and placed low at the hips.

and back of the sofa, and over the sides, or arms, and the pattern must be carefully matched in the center, where the material will be joined.

SUITABLE FOR FLESHY MAID

Many Fabrics Especially Adapted to Her, and Some She Should Be Careful to Avoid. The girl who is too fleshy should never wear shiny stuffs such as satin. They catch the light on the curve of yotir figure and make you look much stouter than you really are. Soft dull stuffs are the right things for you. Never wear a blouse of one stuff and the skirt of another, but always have whole dresses or costumes. A contrasting vest collar or front on a dark dress is quite allowable. Wear stripes or plain stuffs rather than checks or' flowered patterns. Don’t have a contrasting belt —it cuts you in two and, by taking away your height, increases your apparent width. Wear becoming collars. High ones are very unbecoming to a thick throat and, besides, you are nearly sure to - a pretty neck —most stout people have —so you may as well show it. Let your indoor skirts touch the ground always. Have them made cleee-fltting on the hips with a good flare out at the foot. A skirt which draws in round the feet always in* creases the apparent size of the hips.

White Enamel for Bedroom. The prettiest bedroom woodwork is white enamel. It has a light, airy look whicH-ie pleasant to the-eye and harmonizes with almost any furniture or decorations. f

Home Town Helps

SEES ADVANTAGE OF TREES Alabama City la Going About the Work of Beautifying In a Scientific Manner. One of the attractive features of Birmingham is found in its trees. Many years ago arboriculture received the attention of the authorities in certain of the northern cities. Ornamental trees for parks aqd streets were planted and nurtured under men trained both in arboriculture and landscape engineering. The results have been manifold, and the outlay of money was nothing when compared with the benefits obtained. But in the South arboriculture has been appraised at its true value only in recent years. Some of the old southern cities were famed for their wide-sweeping oaks and elms, but nature had been bountiful in providing those things that were beautiful. Nevertheless, the man who has made a study of trees in relation to the city beautiful idea has work to do in the umbrageous avenues even of stately old towns like Tuscaloosa and Savannah. In the larger cities and especially those without trees of primeval growth the arboriculturist has become a necessity. Before science was so generally In vogue Birmingham was fortunate in making a good start in tree planting, but we can now do better. The city commission has turned over the arboricultural side of Birmingham’s activities to the engineering department. Maury Nicholson, chief assistant to Engineer Kendrick, acts as the superintendent of parks and playgrounds and that position brings him directly in charge of tree planting. Mr. Nicholson 1b not only thoroughly equipped for this work, but he is an enthusiast. Every man and every woman in Birmingham who desires to add to the attractiveness of the city by planting trees will always have a patient and a sympathetic hearing from him.—Birmingham Age-Herald.

PUSH SCHOOL GARDEN IDEA

Manifold Advantages Are ApparentDevelopment of Horticultural Talent Is of Moment. It must be quite evident to all that not every child is fitted, either by nature, Inclination or education for clerical or professional work at the close of his school years. Therefore, the ordinary course of “words, words, words,” only concerning every phase of study will but do for the skeleton upon which to build one's lifework. School gardens should, and prahably do, discover many having undoubted talents in the line of horticulture w£o will follow some phase of it for life, yet would not have received the necessary introduction to the work except for the garden work during school years. Hence the necessity for productive and attractive school gardens should he apparent to all.

Adapting the Porch Box.

There is a growing fancy for bringing the porch boxes indoors in winter, and planting gay flowers that make the window charming both inside and out. Plant closely enough to cover the soil, and oh! be careful to have a harmony of color. Keep to one or two colors rather than an inartistic Jumble. How often we see scarlet geraniums and purple-red petunias in the same box, sometimes with still a third angry color. Use all petunias, or grow Scarlet and white geraniums. Pink and white geraniums with trailing ivy (Knickerbocker or German) make a charming bit of gay color. —Philadelphia Press.

Why Darts Penetrate.

The steel darts which are being dropped from hostile aeroplanes are, capable, it is said, of penetrating a piece of teak one ibch thick, the Pall Mall Gazette remarks. In all probability this is understating their effectiveness, for the acceleration due solqly to the action of the earth’s gravity would cause the dart to arrive on the ground 1 at a high rate of speed. Assuming It to be released 5,000 feet | above the earth —lower than which the aviator runs the risk of being brought down —it would be traveling at nearly six hundred feet a second at the earth’s surfach, or at more than a quarter of the speed at which a bullet leaves the British service rifle.

Children Do Good Work.

One million flowering plants have been planted along the curbs of streets In Oakland,. Cal., by the school children of the city this year under an organized movement directed by their elders. One thousand or more American municipalities have made radical changes In their charters in the last four or five years, to make their laws and organization conform to present ideas of municipal service to the public.

Trees Need Space.

In earlier days a mistake was made in planting trees too ckme together. One of the first principles of arboriculture j* to plant at proper distances, or, AS Mr. Nicholson, tree expert of Birmingham, Ala:, calls It, the spacing of trees.