Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1916 — Page 2

LINCOLN'S LAST FEW WEEKS

FROM his 56th birthday on February 12 until the night of his assassination the “Great Emancipator” seemed happier than he had been in five years. Was there premonition?

NO man in American history has carried burdens as heavy as those which Abraham Lincoln bore on his great, patient shoulders. Despite his reputation as a teller of humorous stories and his keen appreciation of the ludicrous in persons and situations that bore the outward appearance of utmost dignity and funereal solemnity, the martyred president was a melancholy man The whole course of his life had made him so. In childhood he endured the most rigorous hardship in the wilds of southern Indiana and central Illinois. His father was a sort of ne’er-do-well who somehow couldn’t seem to gather any of this world’s goods together. His mother was a patient, God-fearing toiler who held no hope of reward in mortal life. This mother encouraged his efforts at learning when he was a little fellow, and just when mother and son were getting to be chummy and have their times of reading aloud together she died —after only a week’s illness. The son’s grief was lasting. When he was twepty-two, Lincoln fell in love with little Ann Rutledge, who was wearing her heart out in grief for a faithless lover. After a time, Lincoln won little Ann’s regard and they planned to marry—though he was desperately poor. Came a streak of good luck; he went to the legislature at Springfield and she went to Jacksonville, 111., to a young ladies’ academy. Presently Lincoln got word that she was ill. One week later she was dead. This sorrow Lincoln added to his early grief. Years later, the tall, awkward country lawyer was elected president of the United States—an honor unsurpassable. But with it came the ghastly tragedy of civil strife. And to his sorrow And his grief of old he added this load of sadness. Four years and more Lincoln plodded slowly along under th® burden, a national mourner. Then through the clouds came a ray of sunshine. The war was nearing an end. The president saw peace ahead. He planned to bind a nation's wounds —North and South alike. He became happier—rather, he became less unhappy, for his spirit was expanding. But once again the glittering lance of malignant fate shot out. This time it brought down the victim it had played with for half a century —-A. Lincoln! ■ ■ .. i The following telegram, one of, the many instances of his works of mercy and compassion, was-sent by Abraham Lincoln from the White House on his last birthday alive. It typifies the spirit of the man in the last days of his life and is exemplary of the attitude he took, not only towards individuals but toward the peoples and the states who were opposed in arms to the Union. ’’Major General Hooker, Cincinnati, Ohio: “Is it Lieut. Samuel D. Davis whose death sentence is commuted. If not done, let it be done. Is there not an associate of his also in trouble? Please answer. . A. LINCOLN.” The military rigors of the closing days of the war compelled harsh measures, not only in dealing with the ene,my but in dealing with those within the forces of the North who were guilty of desertion, neglect or treachery, and the columns of the daily papers of the time were replete with paragraphs headed, as a rule, "Execution of the Conspirators,” "The Spies Shot” or "Execution oL*—- —■* Deserters.” A perusal of his papers during the weeks preceding and following his

CONDENSATIONS

Admiral Jellico entered the British naty as a cadet before he was thirteen years of age, and now has been in the service for 43 years. A great system of wiadruills ia. being experimented with tn Kansas to pump the underground water to the surface for the purpose of irrigation. Concrete arches resting on bed rock have been built In a “New Hampshire cemetery to support gravestones in, land too soft to support Uiem itself. .

birthday, February 12, 1865, show that he was giving especial attention to these matters. In the month of February alone he sent at least ten telegrams su s pend in g or delayin g executions or asking for full reports of the trials for his personal examination. In some cases he upheld the decree of the military courts, in others he issued pardons, and it is said that in at least one case the man who had been convicted was in reality a government secret service agent unknown to the military authorities who had convicted him for the very acts he committed in the service of the Union. It has been asserted by some biographers of Lincoln that he felt premonitions of his death in the months following his second election and Jf this be true it is possible that the shadow over his soul may have caused him to be more clement than was his rule. All are agreed that he was always compassionate and slow to condemn, but he was sensible of the necessity for stern justice and was not given to mock mercy of the weakkneed, sentimental kind. The president’s birthday itself had no special significance in 1865. It is doubtful if many outside his immediate family realized when the day occurred. It would be a small percentage of Americans today who could state the date of*President Wilson’s birth and in the last stages of the Civil war the nation was too sorely beset by pressing, vital problems/ sorrow and anxiety to recognize the birthday of the man who himself was the vortex of all the maelstrom of political, military and executive activities. It is known, however, that Lincoln’s last birthday season saw the president more cheerful, more hopeful of a peace which should save the Union than he had been at any other time during the war. He had recently met commissioners of the Confederate government on a steamer at Hampton Roads and although the interview had led to nothing, the president felt that the dissension evident between the commissioners from the South meant a speedy conclusion of the conflict. Nicolay and Hay, writing of the president's general feeling in February, 1865, says: “His interview with the rebel commissioners doubtless strengthened his former convictions that the rebellion was waning in enthusiasm and resources, and that the Union cause must triumph at no distant day. Secure in his renewal of four years’ personal leadership and hopefully inspirited by every sign of early victory in the war, his only thought was to shorten by generous conciliation the period of dreadful conflict. His temper was not one of exultation, but of broad, patriotic charity and of. keen, sensitive personal sympathy for the whole country and all its people, South as well as North. His conversation with Stephens, Hunter and Campbell had probably revealed to him glimpses of the undercurrent of their anxiety that fraternal bloodshed and the destructive ravages of war might somehow come to an end.” Just before the president’s birthday the house of representatives passed a resolution requesting the president to communicate to it such Information as he might deem compatible with the public interest concerning his interview with the Confederate commissioners. The president sent to the house a message summarizing the transactions on board the steamer, which actually amounted to nothing

The Hohenzollern fortune, which totaled |5,Q00,000 when the great grandfather of the present kaiser died, is now estimated at seven times that figure. Eighteen months ago the kaiser paid a military tax of $965,000. There are many earlier...recprd.s of human affairs, but the first historian now recognized as such was Herodotus, the great Greek, who wrote in the fifth century B. C. The Old Testament and the Book of Kings are also, of course, among the most ancient of historical works.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

at all. This message was received February 10 and a short discussion occurred in the house. According to Nicolay and Hay : “It (the discussion) did not rise above the level of an ordinary party wrangle. The few Democrats who took part in it complained of the president for refusing an armistice, while the Republicans retorted with Jefferson Davis’ conditions about the ‘two countries’ and the more recent declarations of his Richmond harangue, announcing his Readiness to perish for independence. On the whole, both congress and the country were gratified that the incident had called out Mr. Lincoln's renewed declaration of an unalterable resolve to maintain the Union. Patriotic hope was quickened and public confidence strengthened by noting once more his singleness of purpose and steadfastness of faith. No act of his could have formed a more fitting prelude to his second inauguration, which was now rapidly approaching, and the preliminary steps of which were at this time consummated.” This feeling throughout the country and in congress was becoming evident to the president on his last birthday, so much so that he commented on it to his friends and advisers. It showed him that the nation was behind him, and that he would be supported to the completion of his work of cementing the Union. Almost in the nature of a birthday gift came the formal announcement to President Lincoln that he had beeh elected president of the United States. On the very day 6f Lincoln’s birthday the first of the cotton ships Sherman had sent from Savannah put into New York and Newport, R. I. The newspapers of February 13 featured the dispatches announcing the arrival of the vessels and commenting with favor on the prospects of getting great cargoes of cotton from the newly opened ports of the South. The dailies were also filled with dispatches telling of the progress of Grant’s campaign against Lee, which was beginning so to formulate itself that Appomattox should end the war, and that Sherman had completed his march to the sea. None viewed the approach of peace with greater gratification than did Lificoln, and it was with the spirit of this period of his last birthday upon him that he wrote his second inaugural address, which is fraught with human sympathy, so expressive of the character of the man. The sad story of the great president’s death is familiar to all. That it was to follow so closely on his last birthday, so lightened by hope and gratitude for the success of the Union cause, none could foresee, unless, as some writers declare, the president himself had forebodings of it. In all evepts, it is pleasant to contemplate that the closing months of Abraham Linepin’s life were gifted with a feeling of peace which for long he had not known. It was during these months that he conceived that closing paragraph of his second Inaugural address : ■With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Evening Up.

“Excuse me, suh,” said Mr. Erastus Pinkley, “but did you know dat de quarter you done persented ■me wif was counterfeit?” "Certainly not. Let me see it.” \ sired to say is dat if you’s got any mo’ of ’em to pass out sum time to time I would be mos’ appreciative to be remembered. De men I shoots crap wlf has been so lucky dar aln’ no sense o’ me stayin’ In de game unless dey carries some handicap.” •<* T

MADE WITH APPLES

DELICACIES PREPARED FROM THE HEALTHFUL FRUIT. Punch Has Long Been a Favorite, but May Be New to Some—Recipe for Raised Biscuit—Apple Schmarren Excellent. Apple Punch.—Cut six tart apples in quarters; core, but do not pare; put into a preserving kettle and add one cup of raisins, two bay leaves, a small piece of stick cinnamon, the grated rind of three lemons and two quarts of cold water; let come to a boll and add two quarts more of cold water, cover and let boil for thirty minutes; drain through a muslin bag. When cold add the juice of three lemons and two pounds of sugar; stir until the sugar is dissolved. When ready to serve, add a little shaved ice. Raised Apple Biscuit. —Scald one cup of milk, add one tablespoonful of sugar and one tablespoonful of butter; let cool. Add one-half cake of yeast dissolved in warm water, one teaspoonful of salt and one cupful of flour. Let rise; add cupful of apple, pared and grated, and one cupful of flour sifted with one-half teaspoonful of soda. Let rise for one hour. Shape into two flat cakes, let them double their bulk, bake in hot oven, split while hot and butter. Serve hot with sugar and butter. Apples and Rice.—Pare and core apples, place in a baking dish and fill the holes in the apples with chopped raisins and sugar; fill the spaces between the apples Vlth rice that has been boiled for fifteen minutes. Cover and bake for fifteen minutes, remove cover and bake for fifteen minutes longer. Serve hot with cream. Apples In Rice Cups.— Boil rice in salted water until tender. Half fill coffee cups and let stand until cold. Stand in a pan of hot water until they will slip from the cup easily. Scoop out a small place and lay a quarter of an apple that has been cooked in a rich sirup in the cavity. Serve with the apple sirup or cream. Apple Relish.—Three pounds of apples diced with the skins on. Take three pounds sugar, one pound raisins, one pound pecans, two oranges; remove peeling and grind it in meat grinder; then cut the orange into small pieces. Cook for one hour, adding the nuts five minutes before removing from the stove.'' Apple Schmarren. —Make a batter of one tablespoonful of pastry flour, two tablespoonfuls of milk, a pinch of salt and a well-beaten egg. Slice into this batter one good sized apple. Put into a frying pan one teaspoonful of clear lard, heat |t and pour in the batter, fry a nice brown and serve with powdered sugar.

Steak Supreme.

Select a sirloin steak at least an inch thick; have ready cooked in brown stock until tender balls or dice cut from carrots and turnips, half a dozen of each for each service, also for each service two small onions. For a steak weighing about two pounds, melt and brown three tablespoonfuls of butter, in it stir and cook five tablespoonfuls of flour until flour is well browned, then add one-half teaspoonful salt and one and one-half cupfuls rich, dark brown broth; stir sauce constantly until it bolls, then add cooked vegetables and About a dozen canned mushrooms; let the whole stand over hot water while steak is being cooked; cook steak about six: minutes; set steak in hot dish, turn vegetables and sauce over it and set all in hot oven, to stand about four minutes; steak with a teaspoonful or more of fine chopped parsley and serve at once.

Veal Cutlets in Gravy.

One slice veal steak. Remove bone and cut in size you wish to serve. Place in frying pan with one cupful water, cover and allow -to simmer. Add seasoning and good piece of butter. Turn and let cook slowly about one hour, and Just before removing add one-half cupful of milk or cream. Easy to cook and tastes like chicken. For those who like the flavor add one small onion when the seasoning is added.

For the Farmer’s Wife.

Steel knives and forks should not be wrapped in woolen. Good, strong paper is better, as steel is injured by lying in woolen. Woodenware should be scalded often and tinware should be kept dry.' A dress shield cut in two pieces and tucked under a baby’s fancy bib will Absorb the moisture and keep the/ittle dress from becoming damp and soiled.

To Save Toil.

Clean your bathtubs with whiting and kerosene oil. Little rubbing is required, as the oil removes the "high tide” line readily and it will not injure the enamel of tub, which cannot be said of all cleaning powders. Lastly, wash with warm suds and polish with dry cloth. “ 7’.7~

Radish Garnishes.

Radishes are a pretty garnish for all cold meats, and the better in that they are eatable—parsley is not eaten by many., Always leave on the two inner leaves gnd cut oft the tip or make the radish tulips. " '* '- .

Rusty Flat Irons.

,To remove ru.it from flatirons saturate a piece of flannel with ammonia, then rub the irons. Dry with a cloth sprinkled with powdered bath brick.

Old Missions of California

EVERYONE who thinks of California conceives a mental picture of its old missions and its big trees. The Franciscan Fathers built 21 missions In California, extending from San Diego, at the extreme southern limit of the state, to Solano, 30 miles north of San Francisco bay, a distance of almost 600 miles. Ten of these missions were placed in central California, extending from Monterey county to Sonoma county, a distance of about 150 miles. Of the ten in the central counties, five were established around San Francisco bay and the remaining five in Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties. The Franciscan pioneers, knowing California, selected with great care the fruitful valleys and the spots where the climate is mild and equable the year round. Of the five missions around San Francisco bay, the one at

San Rafael, Just across the bay from San Francisco, and the one at Santa Cruz on Monterey bay have entirely disappeared. Mission Dolores in the heart of San Francisco, Mission San Jose at the little town of the same name on the main motor boulevard from Oakland to San Jose, and Mission Santa Clara in the town of Santa Clara, four miles from San Jose, are kept in fairly good repair, and are visited annually by many tourists. In Midst of Great City. Mission Dolores, built in 1776 and now in the midst of the residence district of San Francisco, is the only one of the old missions which is surrounded by a large city. Mission Santa Clara, has been incorporated into the buildings of the University of Santa Clara, one of the large educational institutions of California. Many interesting and valuable mission relics are carefully preserved at the university in a room set aside for the purpose. Solano mission, in the town of Sonoma, some thirty miles north of the Bay of San Franeisco, was built in 1823. It was the last and the farthest north of the chain of old missions. It is located in a most attractive section of central .California at a town which has played a considerable part in California’s early history. Sonoma is in the “Valley of the Moon,” made famous by Jack London’s novel of the same name. London’s thousand acre ranch is a few miles north of Sonoma. No more beautiful country can be found in California than the immediate surroundings of Mission San Jose, which lies 28 miles from the city of Oakland on the state highway. Al! around the long, low adobe structure are orchards and vineyards. Immedlately back of the mission are the beautiful foothills of a branch of the coast range of mountains and to the westward is the incomparably rich and beautiful Santa Clara valley. A wonderful grove of palms, olive and fig trees planted by the padres in 1797 lies across the highway from the

MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA

mission. It is now a part of probably the most attractive country home in California, known as Palmdale. Monterey the Mission County. Monterey county is called the mission county of California, because it has within its boundaries three of the old missions, namely: Mission Carmel at Carmel-by the Sea, Mission San Antonio and Mission Soledad. The former is maintained in excellent repair and many thousands visit the old building annually. Here Padre Junipero Serra lived and is buried. San Antonio and Soledad missions are fast failing into ruins. One of the most beautiful of the old missions is San Juan Bautista at the little town of the same name in San Benito county, 100 miles south of San Francisco. The original highway, or rather the pathway connecting the old missions from one end of the state to the other,

MISSION DOLORES

was called El Camino Real or the King’s Highway. The state of California in laying out its $18,000,000 motor highway, which is largely completed, followed the road of the Franciscans stretching from mission to mission. The visitor to California, particularly the motorist, can thus make a tour of the old missions over a wonderfully fine boulevard through picturesque valleys and mountains. The California Landmark league and the Native Sons of the Golden West are making a strong campaign to restore all the old missions about which so much of the romantic, history of the state is built, and to maintain them for all time.

The commerce reports state greatly exaggerated ideas prevail concerning the total number of textbooks sold in the United States each year and the annual profits resulting from such sales. Data obtained by the United States bureau of education from 43 textbook publishers in tne United States show that their aggregate total sales of textbooks for use tn public and private schools In 1913 amounted to $17,274,030. The aggregate for public school, elementary and high, amounted to $14,261,768. The total enrollment in public elementary and high schools for the year was approximately 18,609,040. Excluding the elementary school enrollment of California, since California prints its own elementary books, the number becomes 18,213,786. For each child enrolled in the public schools in the United States, therefore, the total annual sale of textbooks is 78.3 cents.

Textbooks Sold Each Year.

Bird Law Has Worked Well.

Those; who were instrumental in passing the federal migratory bird law in 1913 may well feel proud of themselves, bird census data indicating an increase of from 10 to 100 per cent .in the water fowl breeding in a number of specially examined localities