Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 129, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1915 — Page 2

THE MERRY AND REW

By FLORENCE LILLIAN HENDERSON.

(Copyright. IMS. by W. O. Chapman.>

••Who is he. anyway’” “Dalzell—comedian, clown, what you like so that wit and humor and riotous fun play a part.” “Profaasional?” "Oh. yea—expert Merry-Andrew, you might put it He came here a week ago, prospecting to give a show. He happened to be on the spot when Mayor Worden’s team ran away. The two fiancees of the mayor’s two sons were in the carriage. Dalzell halted the team just in time to prevent a bad smash-up. That made him solid with the Worden family, you may assume.” “And he still lingers in the village." ••For a very good reason. His popularity on account of the runaway episode is nothing to the popularity h 6 has won with his quips and jokes at the little hotel here. Why. he keeps the crowd on a broad grin all the time! The lightest-hearted fellow in the world! Don’t believe he ever has a care on his mind. He's bottled up sunshine and mirth. I envy him his happy, contented disposition. “H’m —thanks,” observed the speaker, a young lawyer named Chester. “Sort of a queer fellow. I’m interested in him.”

He was, far more than he indicated. The fact was that Dick and Albert Worden had asked him to look up the actor-humorist. When they realized that the lively stranger had saved the lives of their future wives, they sought some way of rewarding Dalzell. They dared not offer him money. With all his jolly ways, there was a certain natural dignity about Bryce Dalzell that proclaimed him to be a gentleman. There was something, too, suggestive of mystery. They wished to be friendly and helpful to Dalzell and deputized Chester to find out how this could be brought About. Already the young lawyer had set the ball rolling in a plan that was meant to assist the actor. The latter had come to the town to arrange to give entertainments where a comedy he had written was to be the feature.

“A Mystery? Yes;” Reflected the Young Lawyer.

He had at call some cheap actors in the city who would assist him When Dalzell first suggested the proposition, the owner of the one public hall in the town laughed at him. It was not a theater-going community, Dalzell was told, and every dramatic combination that had come along had met with disaster. But now, after Dalzell's heroic det, his personal popularity as a fun maker, and the efforts of the agent of the two Wordens entirely changed the position of affairs. The owner of the hall entered heart and soul with Dalzell in advertising and preparing for the presentation of the comedy. The young lawyer unobtrusively hung around the reading room of the fyptpl, to find Dalzell in apparent high Spirits over his success. Chester was . z a studious, sedate young man, but he ‘ could not help but smile at some of the shrewd witticisms of the actor stranger who suggested an inexhaustible wave of jollity. There came a letter for Dalzell while he was in the midst of an uproariously comical recital of the woes of a stranded Thespian. Dalzell’s face grew instantly grave, but he finished his story, and then with a last gay remark excused himself and- went to a secluded corner of the lobby. Chester was fairly astonished as he secretly but intently observed Dalzell. The latter opened the letter. Across his expressive face there came a solemn change. It seemed as if he had thrown off an irksome mask. Care, anxiety, grief traversed his features in rapid and poignant succession. Tears coursed down his cheeks. "A mystery? Yes;” reflected the young lawyer. "Why, he looks ten years older than he did five minutes But Inside of an hour Dalzell bad rejoined the group which so admired him and enjoyed his ceaseless fund of merriment Only, ever and anon the watchful Chester noted that Dalzell nlaced his hand against the pocket

where he had deposited the letter, just as though underneath it there was a keen pain In his heart. The two performances took place. They were a grand success. The Wordens and all their friends worked like beavers to make it so. The entire county attended, and, after paying off his dramatic assistants and other expenses, Dalzell left the town the happy possessor of two hundred dollars.

Crowds waved him a friendly adieu as the train departed. No one noticed the young lawyer, closely enfolded in a huge coat, quietly take a place in a rear seat of the coach in which Dalzell was also a passenger. Faithfully following out instructions given by the Wordens, the attorney kept close track of Dalzell unsuspected on the train, and in the city all that day and well into the next morning. He followed Dalzell wherever he went. About noon he telegraphed to the mayor’s sons. They met him at a hotel three hours later. “I thought it best to have you come on," explained Chapter. “This strange man, Dalzell, is indeed a true man, and you can help him in a signal way.” “We will certainly be glad to do that ” spoke the brothers in sincere unison.

“When Dalzell came to the city I followed him to his home. It was pitiful. He occupies a cheap, bare apartment and eats at the poorest restaurants. Then he went to a bank and deposited a hundred dollars. Then to his wife.”

“He is married, then?’’ inquired the elder of the brothers. "Yes. It is a sad story. A year ago Dalzell wedded a lovely, sprightly young girl who had acted with him on the stage. from the house of the officiating clergyman straight to their duties on the stage. Alas! in the second act of the play in which they took part a heavy stage platform fell upon the bride of an hour, crippling her for life and partly paralyzing her. She has since lain helpless.” “Not in the squalid home you describe?" exclaimed the other of the brothers.

“No, and there is demonstrated the true nobility of the man. He has placed her under the care of a trained nurse in comfortable, almost luxurious quarters. He has made her believe that he has Important dramatic engagements out of the qlty which employ all his time and bring in large money retuns. She suffers for nothing. while he at times has barely enough to eat. I had a stolen glimpse of the pair—she fairly worshiping him, he devoting his life to her happiness.” A tear came into the eye of the prae-tical-minded lawyer. Then he resumed: “It seems that a noted specialist claims he can restore her to health, but only through an expensive operation. He requires a thousand dollars in advance for the same. Dalzell has two hundred dollars of the amount at bank and is working to get the balance.” “Take us to Mr. Dalzell and his wife at once," directed one of the brothers. It was with sheer amazement that Bryce Dalzell greeted his unexpected visitors. - “I have come to tell Mrs. Dalzell a story,” announced the lawyer, and then, despite the protestations of Dalzell, he narrated the details of his heroic self-sacrifice. “And here is the money to at once urge on the effort to cure this dear, devoted woman," spoke the elder of the brothers touchingly, and he placed a package of banknotes on the table. The wife was crying in the arms of the man whose self-sacrifice she knew for the first time. In her lovely face there was a mute adoration. And the Merry-Andrew—he broke down at last, but beyond his happy tears a grateful, gladsome smile illuminated his weary face.

Wholesome Garlic.

The odorous garlic usually frowned down upon by polite circles in this country Is not such a bad sort after all. Indeed, it seems to possess the faculty common to other strong natures of making with itself friends of the stanchest “garlic gourmets,” who have been led by easy stages first to “endure, then pity, then embrace.” From the earliest times garlic has been used as a valuable article of diet It formed no inconsiderable part of the food of the Israelites in Egypt and during their wanderings in the wilderness they wept, saying: "We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely: the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.” The medical properties pf the gallic were regarded by those old people of the East as especially valuable as a stimulant and for stomach troubles, while to this day it is used as a remedy. As a seasoning herb, garlic is considered invaluable. *

Nagged Him by Gaslight

Without uttering a single word during the entire proceedings, Carl F. Scheel and his wife, Minnie, told Judge Fritz today the story of their matrimonial infelicity. An interpreter in sign language transmitted the woman's explanation that she desired a dissolution of the marriage bond because her husband is jealous. Scheel declared his wife was constantly nagging him. “Nagging?" exclaimed the court • “Yes,” the interpreter replied. “He says she gets up in the middle of the night and lights the gas so she can nag him. He says he has to put his hands to his eyes when she begins to nag, and this makes her angry.”—Milwaukee Dispatch to Philadelphia Beo ord.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

FEDERAL LEAGUE DEVELOPING STARS

(By IRWIN N. HOWE, Statistician for the Federal League.) Figures show that the Federal league is developing a set of youthful stars who bid fair to rival in prowess, the most famous of its bestknown veterans and who already are the equals of youths their own age in the two older major leagues. Around a nucleus of experienced ball players, there has been formed a corps of brilliant youngsters, their talent trained to a degree approaching perfection, whom the scouts of the new league have drawn from! minor leagues and colleges in numbers easily equaling that drafted by the National and American. Ed Zwllling of the Chicago Whales, has developed wonderfully as an outfielder. He covers an immense amount of ground and gathers in seemingly impossible drives. Recent figures show Zwilling’s batting at a .325 clip. For comparison, as indicating that his work with the stick is not due to poor pitching, the average of Konetchy, one of the best batters who ever swung a club in the National league, may be noted .260 for the season. The batting of Westerzill, third baseman for the Brooklyn Federals, has been of a sensational nature. He

DIAMOND NOTES

Jack Fournier is making good as a pinch hitter. Ban Johnson has pledged the American league clubs to play faster baseball. « • • Ed Walsh, the Big Moose, is "coming back,” according to information from the Pacific coast? • • • Grover Alexander, like his great-great-grandpaw, seems to long lor more worlds to conquer. Lefty Leifield, formerly a Cub pitcher, has joined the St. Paul team of the American association. • • « When one victory is hailed as a “w’inning streak,” one gets a fair idea of the fans' estimate of the club. * * * Ty Cobb favors woman’s suffrage. It’s now up to Mrs. Pankhurst to observe that baseball is glorified rounders. • * * Joe Jackson has been starring all winter with “Joe Jackson’s Winning Girls.” This summer he may star with the Losing Boys. • • • Goro Mikanie, the Jap, who was recently elected captain of the baseball nine at Knox college, is one of the most popular men in the school. • • • ♦ Jawn McGraw evidently realizes at last that while three hunks of Roquefort may beat a brick of Camembert, it takes porterhouse steak to win. • * * * Marty Kavanagh, • who is playing first base for Detroit, holds the championship of the American league for being the homeliest man in the circuit. • • • Pitcher McConnell, now with the Chicago Feds, learned the art of poker while with the Cubs on the spring training trip, and is a regular at the evening sessions. i • Eddie Collins is growing in favor with the fans every day. He pulls a wonderful stunt every afternoon and ofentimes his clever work turns the tide in the right way. • • • The Brooklyns are slow on the bases. If manager Wilbert-Robinson wants his team to occupy a respectable position in the pennant race he will have to develop more speed in his men while on the paths.

has hit a .476 ’average so far, while Hal Chase of the Buffalo Feds has hit for only a .258 average. Brooklyn has another hard hitter in Cooper, who, in fifteen games, has clouted at a rate of .370.

Fielder Jones, one of the wizards of the national pastime, has developed a powerful batter in young Tobin, whose extra-base hits make him a terror to pitchers. His batting percentage so far this year is .289, while Rebel Oakes, a star batter in the National league, is credited with .255 against Federal league pitching this season. Hanford and Flack of Chicago, little heard of before, joining the new circuit, have earned as much praise for their fielding as for their hitting. Charles Deal and Leslie Mann, who left the “world champion” Braves for St. Louis and Chicago teams of the Federal league respectively, startle fans with the fanciest sort of fielding, and in Kenworthy, Rawlings and Chadbourne, practically newcomers in big league baseball, Kansas City has found three exceptionally clever defensive players. In his first fifty-six chances, Rawlings, holding down the difficult position of shortstop, made but one error, while Chadbourne takes care of acres of territory in center field.

IDEA DOESN’T PLEASE HERZOG

Manager of Cincinnati Reds Peeved at Suggestion of Well-Meaning “Bug’-’ to Avoid Injury. “It seems to me,” bleated a wellmeaning bug, “that the ideas of colorings adopted in uniforms for the European war might be quite valuable for baseball.” “And how so?” queried Manager Herzog of the Cincinnati Reds with a puzzled face. “Why, that’s easy to understand,” explained the bug. “Khaki or greenish gray or bluish gray is a far harder target for the marksman than the brighter colors, while men dressed In white uniforms —like those all clubs

Manager Buck Herzog.

wear on the home grounds—are the easiest marks of all. Now, then, isn’t it only fair to assume that ball players, uniformed in some such color as khaki, would be far harder for the pitcher to hit? Quite a protection from injury, I should think.” “Hard to hit?” squawked Manager Buck. “Make ’em harder to hit? Say, man, what we want is something that’ll make ’em easier to hit —let me have three or four men hit by pitched halls in one game and I’m likely to have enougn runs forced in to win an ordinary game! Make 'em harder to hit, huh? Depart from here by the process of placing one foot before the other, in regular alternation, before you make another suggestion.”

TIGERS’ STAR HURLER

Willing to Play Any Position Manager May Request * * I s •** Jean Dubuc, French-Canadian, Has Willing Dispoeltiont-Flelds Position as Fsw Other Pitchers in League Can. Jean Dubuc stands head and shoulders above the ordinary pitcher when it comes to hitting. -Jean can hit when he can’t do anything else. Dubuc depends principally upon a change of pace and a crossfire. His slow ball is thrown identically the same motion as his fast one, and the batter who divines the Tiger’s intentions is considerable of a mind reader.

The first impression of Dubuc is not usually a favorable one. To the uninitiated it seems as though the pitcher is throwing himself off balance when he pitches and that the batters, when connecting, would have little difficulty driving balls through the box. But after watching Dubuc field his position any doubtful impressions are soon dispelled. Dubuc fields as few other pitchers in the American league can. There is seldom a game but that he has three and four assists and he handles them all cleanly. Jean is modest. He attributes his success to the fielding work behind him. Talk of pitching and Jean will tell of fielding plays that jerked him from ticklish situations. Insist on talking pitching and he will tell of wtyit the other Tigers have done. He keeps himself in the background. There are young pitchers who would “lose their head” were they to

Jean Dubuc.

be smiled upon by success as has been tbls French-Canadian. But not so with Dubuc. He keeps himself in condition. He is willing to pitch any time he is called upon. He is willing to act as a pinch hitter. And, if asked by Jennings, would play any position in the infield or outfield without a murmur. Dubuc is not only a rarity as a pitcher, but he is a rarity as an allaround player and a rarity so far as disposition is concerned.

PLANK IS SOUTHPAW’S JINX

Fielder Jones Is Much Pleased With Presence of the Former Athletic Star on His Team. Fielder Jones recently remarked that Eddie Plank looked just the same to him as he did eight years ago, and added that he was mighty glad he was with the St. Louis Feds instead of some other team in the same league. “{’lank was the toughest man I ever faced,” said Jones. ■“I could not hit him with a board fence, and I don’t think any other left-hander can. I would hate to see him working against my club. He looks every bit as good as I ever saw him look and he is even better because he knows more. It

Eddie Plank.

will be fine for me to bat against Plank in practice and try to discover just why I never could hit him. Every time I think of what he used to do with Danny Green, Frank Isbell and myself I feel like swearing, because he certainly had us right. Believe me, I got a bargain. Eddie Plank is good for several years of star performing. Remember that and see if I am not right”

Klem Praises Yanks.

Bill Klem, the National league umpire, says that Donovan’s New Yorks look 50 per cent stronger than , a year ago.

HOME TOWN HELPS

WAR ON PUBLIC NUISANCES American Civic Association Condemns Smoke, Poles and Wires, and Bill- - boards as Among Them. From its very institution, the American Civic association has devoted itself to the protection of the public against three great nuisances —smoke, poles and wires and billboards. At the annual convention of the association in Washington one of the important subjects discussed was billboards, with a principal address, entitled "The Passing of the Signboard,’’ by Jesse Lee Bennett of Baltimore, in which he recounted the steps that had been taken for the legal control of the billboard in all parts of the United States. Concerning the sentiment against the billboard, Mr. Bennett said “The feeling against the signboard has become nation-wide, and in the last few years the agitation of civic organization has been so successful as to awaken resentment against it -so widespread that from coast to coast, and in almost every state and city, there are now, or have been, vigorous movements seeking the abolition or regulation of these unnecessary and disfiguring objects. “There has been much agitation, and from it there has been distilled one thing—the recognition of the fact that what is called the signboard problem is a question more complex than the mere removal of the signs. The signboard has been found to be inextricably intertwined with two questions of even greater importance —the awakening of civic sentiment and the recognition by legislators and judges of the validity of arguments based upon esthetic considerations.” Commenting on what ought to be the attitude of the law and the courts toward the billboard he added: “It would take our psychologist but a few minutes to show that it is not a question of ear or nose or eye, but a question of the brain and of the very consciousness that is life itself. No law should permit any man to intrude or force himself or his business into another man’s consciousness to the extent that outdoor advertising has come to permit, an intrusion itnmediately increased by the fact that it is Impossible to avoid seeing signboards.”

NEW WAY TO WATER TREES

German City Official Seems to Have Hit Upon Method That Should Be Effective. A very ingenious and practical device for assuring the trees on city sidewalks a suflicient supply of water, no matter how dry the season and how hard baked the earth, has been put in operation in Strassburg by . Mr. Sauer, the city tree inspector. It consists of a tube of iron or lead bent into the form of a ring large enough to encircle the stem of the tree. The earth is removed so that this ring may be placed just above the roots, and is then filled in again, leaving the end dt a pipe connecting with the ring projecting above the surface of the ground. The top of the ring is pierced with a large number of small holes, and a tin cover or shield prevents these from becoming stopped up with earthy By means of a funnel in the protruding end of the pipe any desired amount of water may be supplied to the roots without waste or loss of time. A further advantage, according to Prometheus, is the ventilation thus secured of the earth in the vicinity of the roots.

Flower City of Germany.

The marked industrial developments in Erfurt are of comparatively recent date, and in spite of the increasing Importance of its manufacturing establishments the city is still best known for the immense horticultural establishments found there. Erfurt is appropriately called the “Blumenstadt” or Flower City of Germany. AK most 3 per cent of the population is engaged in commercial horticulture. While vegetables and flowers for sale are grown ofi a large scale, of much vaster proportions is the business in flower and vegetable seed. The larger Erfurt seed firms ship to almost all parts of the world, the United States importing larger quantities of Erfurt horticultural products than from any other city in Europe.

Baltimore Sets Good Example.

About a year ago certain owners of real estate in Baltimore decided to create small parks ip the rear of their houses by tearing down division fences, and laying out the lots on each side of the midway alley, on a definitely arranged and uniform scheme of landscape gardening. In many blocks the fences were replaced by a continuous flower garden. Hundreds of house owners have co-operated in thi§ interesting effort to beautify what were formerly bare and forbidding wastes, and the city forester has given them every assistance. Many other cities might well emulate this example. Youth’s Companion.