Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1916 — Page 3

ELLEN WHO DARED

By MARY PRIME.

"See here, Tom,” Mr. Plum Bald to me as I was going out to the outer offices, "no more wax dolls on this switchboard. We want someone built lor hard work this time.” I might have reminded him that the wax doll he referred to, that simpering ■Miss Rose we had before, who kept a mirror fastened on the switchboard, was his choice, not mine. I may not be any mind reader, but il could somehow tell that even if Ellen Dowd was only a mite of a girl II just naturally knew that she had it in her, although of course I didn’t dream that she had quite such a nerve. After I had told her the hours and ithe wage and put her wise as much as I could without saying anything ithat I oughtn’t to about the boss, she isaid she would take the Job. “Mr. Plum is a very busy man,” is ithe way I put it. “He’s more than •quick sometimes, and of course it is lup to the people who work for him ito make allowances. You see what I mean ?”

Ellen opened her blue eyes wide and looked at me without smiling. “I imagined he was that kind -of man when I heard his name. Perkins (Plum —could he be anything else?” I didn’t think at the time that it rwas a very fitting answer, but there 'was something about the honest way ishe leveled those eyes at me that made ime feel that she could handle almost any situation. So I told her to come around the next morning and the job would be hers. Plum had caught a glimpse of her going out of the door. 'He was not in one of his best moods, ibut I am used to that. As private secretary, I had always thought it was part of my Job to take his moods •as they came complacently. “You blockhead, you double block' head,” was what he called me. “Didn’t I tell you to get a girl that wasn’t a wax doll? She is only as big as a pint of beans. Why don’t you go to the day nursery and get a babe in arms to manage my switchboard?” I began to sharpen a pencil ready for his dictation. That made it easier not •to answer back, for, of course, it isn’t up to me to say anything when he is In a mood like that. “New, I suppose, you have hired her. •Can’t I trust anyone in this office? You would think you would want to save me and sometimes attend to these details for me. But, no. Just because the girl is pretty, or petite, or flirtatious, you forget all that I told you and tell her to come and take the job. How do you ever expect to get ahead in the business if you can’t even hire a telephone girl with horse sense?”

I went on sharpening the pencil, although I must say I was sore enough at having him_ mention my chance of advancement that way, for only two days before I had got my courage up to the point of asking him Jfor a chance of a better job. Still, I didn't say anything. I had an idea that when the boss saw how the girl would handle things he wouldn’t call her a wax doll. I knew just to look at her that she had It in her, but I never guessed a nerve she had. ——- Well, to begin with, Ellen just minded her business, and the boss seemed to want to make an impression on her. It’s often that way with big men like him —they are as anxious to make a good impression on their telephone operators and office boys as on a possible client. But about two days later the newness wore off and he started out on one of his regular rampages. We are all so used to them that aside from feeling nervous and not being able to get much work done while they last, we don’t really mind them. But Ellen was different. The boss called for three numbers all at once and then started to bawl at her because she didn’t get them all at once. She didn’t even get flustered, although I did notice that she got a little more color in her cheeks. Sometimes new girls got so rattled with Plum that they would cry. And I kndDv Ellen was young and hadn’t worked long, so I kept my eyes on her.

"Why In blazes don’t you get me that number?” yelled the boss through the door, without letting her know which of the three, numbers he wanted first. Well, Ellen got right up and Heft the switchboard and walked over to the boss’ room and went in. She iseemed as cool as a cucumber and I must say she looked pretty. Mad as he was, the boss must have noticed it. "Pardon me, Mr. Plum,” she said as coolly as a society queen.. “It is quite Impossible to get three numbers at once, and we lire only wasting time to <shoyr such impatience. Now if you will please tell me which of the numbers you wish first I will get it as soon as possible.” Well, no one had ever spoken to •the boss that way before. I think I gasped out aloud, I was so surprised. I thought at first he would eat her for jit or send for the patrol wagon for her he was so mad, and then the mad expression seemed to fade away and he llooked just natural. He told her which number he wanted and everything •went as smoothly as you please for ithe rest of the day. Ellen had charge of the office boys—(that was part of her job—and not long jafter that the hose went off on another Itirade. One of his clients had refused fio' rebew fils contract and so Tfe was {taking It out on us. I had never {thought before that it was unfair. Well, that day he had it in for the office boys and they were so scared that they icouldn’t even answer a question without stammering. I know how It was,

for it wasn’t so many years ago thal I was in their shoes. Ellen stood it about as long as she could. And then, with a lot of dignity tucked away in her little person, she walked into his room. “Mr. Plum,” she said—l was taking his dictation at the time, so I heard her—“l wish to make a suggestion. When you Bpeak so abruptly to thooe boys you actually terrify them, with the result that they don't know whether they are telling you the truth or not, and it takes them twice as long to do what you want them to because you don’t take time to tell them. Will you please give me your orders and let me tell them? We would save a great deal of time that way.” What Ellen had said was as plain as the nose on Plum’s face and I guess it had occurred to everyone in the office but Plum loads of times before. -He looked as if he had been hit at first and then he just grumbled something that sounded like “All right,” and when he went back to the dictation hfe wasn’t half so snarly. I forgot to say that I had been going , home with Ellen for a week or so. She lived in the same end of the city and she was such a little mite, I hated to think of her fighting the half-past-five-o'clock crowds alone, so I began to go home with her. And sometimes she asked me to come and see her in the evening—she lived with her old father and married sister and brother, and such a nice, neat little home I had never seen, and one so full of simple happiness. But in office hours we had little to say to each other. That was Ellen’s way—not to let people know all her business at once. i it was one morning when she had been with us about three months and I was beginning to think of her as the most important thing about that office, even if she was only the telephone girl with only a few more dollars a week than the youngest girl. It was one of Plum’s nervous days. He wasn’t exactly raging, but snappy and curt. He was giving dictation at the rate of a couple of hundred words a minute, and I don’t know what got into me when I said, “Pardon me, Mr. Plum,” —just the way Ellen would have said it —“but when you give dictation so fast I am not able to get it complete. We would save time if you gave it a little slower."

Plum stopped short and looked at me in'surprise. I thought for a minute I was going to be fired. Then he said, “Boy, you are too valuable a man to waste in this work. I had thought you were merely a machine. I see you have brains besides. You can start in as office manager tomorrow. I’ll see about the raise.” Later, he called Ellen into his office. I admit that I went in the next room where I could hear through the partition. I got there just in time to hear him say: are the one woman in the world whohaait in her to make me even more of a success than I am. I have decided that I want to marry you.” I surely did almost fall over at that. Naturally my first feeling was one of pride and joy that the girl I had discovered should become Plum’s wife, but just as the little green demon of envy was creeping in I heard her answer: “I am very much honored, Mr. Plum, but I am not free. I am already pledged to another." With that answer humming in my brain I had to go through with the day’s work, and even the note that told me of a substantial raise didh’t much mend matters. Promptly at half past five, I started out with Ellen. I told her I had heard the conversation. “Who is it, Ellen?” I asked impatiently. “I am sure I ought to know.” She laughed delightfully. “Silly, you do know, don’t you? You hadn’t actually asked me, but I thought you knew as well as I that you are Mr. Plum’s only successful rival.” (Copyright, 1916, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

Rings on the Oyster.

A popular theory about rings on an oyster shell being an indication of its age is not supported by the careful investigation of Miss Ann L. Massy, who tested specimens from the oyster station at Ardfry, at the head of Galway bay.’ It has been supposed by many that each ring, or group, on the oyster’s deep valve stood for a year’s growth, but Miss Massy says that this deduction is not reliable. After a patient scrutiny of over six hundred samples of various ages, from eighteen months to six years, she says: “An oyster of eighteen months or two summers appears to possess at least two rings, but may have as many as five. “One of three summers has at least two rings and'may have six. A four-year-old oyster may hate only three rings or may possess seven or eight.”

Definition of “City.”

In England the term “city” from early times was usually (but not always) applied to a cathedral town, and for several centuries it was understood to have a half legal meaning of “an important town which is or has been an episcopal see.” This sense, however, never became fixed as a mat ter of law, and the title of city is now occasionally conferred by royal authority on important boroughs that are not episcopal Bees, such as Leeds. In Canada a city is supposed to be a municipality of the highest class, varying in character in the different provinces. In the United States the name denotes a municipality ranking higher in population, than a town, borough or village, but in many states, especially in the West, the name relates to the form of government, and often, also, the title is used in anticipation.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP.

JUNIORS OF THE NAVY LEAGUE DRILLING

The members of the Junior section of the Navy league in New York are as enthusiastic over preparedness as are their elders, and daily, when the weather permits, the youngsters may be seen engaged in their outdoor drill, which includes the regulation army drill and wall-scaliqg contests.

QUICK THINKING SAVES SOLDIER

British Sergeant Tells of Daring Exploit in Letter to Rector. HURLS HAND BOMB AND RUNS Wins Promotion and the DistinguishedConduct Medal for Sensational Escape From German Patrolling Squad—Saved From Prison by Bomb. London. —Capjtured by a German patrolling squad, escaping through the use of a hand bomb which was overlooked when he waß searched and narrowly escaping with his life in a rain of shell fire are some of the experiences which won promotion for Sergt. Arthur James Brooke and also the dis-tinguished-conduct medal. In a letter to the rector of the church at his home in Manchester, which was printed recently in an English newspaper, Sergeant Brooke gives the details of his daring escape: “I can hardly tell how thankful I am in being able to write you this day after the troubled experiences of Sunday night last. I have had many exciting times previous to this occasion, but nothing to be compared with this last one. I took out my party of scouts at half-past six in the evening and arranged them in various positions across the marshes. Having done this I remained with one small party. “Everything seemed all right, so ofT I went myself to push farther on. But before doing so I intended seeing another small party in another position on my way. I got as far as my men should be, bilt could not find them anywhere. Something was wrong somewhere, I thought. Suddenly I heard someone coming and, it being a very dark night, I could not see who it was. They passed me toward our position. I looked around to see if anybody else was coming and I saw another man. “Up went my rifle at ready and I said, ‘Who are you?’ “ ‘Working party,’ was the reply in good English. Dropped Patrol With Shot.

" 'Come here, working party,’ I said. He came until I saw he was a German, and then he dropped at a shot from my best friend, my rifle.. I then turned to do those who had passed me something also and did succeed in damaging one or two. However, they came from all directions for me and soon had me a prisoner. They took away my best pal, the rifle, and my ammunition. Next went my cap. Following this the beautiful scarf which you sent was taken from me, also my letters. “After they had got enough souvenirs half a dozen of them commenced to drag me toward their village. While I was being taken away a terrible struggle was taking place between one other scout and other Germans in a wood. This half dozen took me about two hundred yards toward the village and then left only one tall man, over Six feet, with me. Now was a chance for me, I thought. I said a short prayer asking him to help me get back to my comrades safely. “Then I suddenly thought of a bomb which I had carried with me. It was not in a pocket where I had put my other things, but was in a slit in my leather jacket. I suppose that is the reason they overlooked it,, for It was still there. I then managed to get it Out, but found I could not pull out the safety pin with only my right arm. However, I did the trick by hitting him on his temple with it, dropping him without a word. Off I made as fast as my legs would carry me, and at once out came another lot to get me. “Still the bomb'was left. I stopped, pulled out the pin and threw the bomb among them. It put more of them out of the fight, but still they kept after ihe. They were only a few yards from retaking me When our machine gun opened fire on them. I was safe from them then, but was in danger of being ■hot down by our own gun which had

balked them. I got within a short distance of our position when a German gun commenced to shell all around. “I was blown from place to place and in the early hours of the morning I found myself in a large shell hole half buried with dirt, where I must have lain a long time. I got home again later, safe and sound, suffering only from a bad head. My watch was lost, as the Germans took that and smashed it before my eyes. Our officers were very pleased with me for getting away and doing what I did. At the same time I was told I had been given the distinguished conduct medal for my work. * I had a fine reception from our men and have since been made a sergeant as a result of it.”

SUNFLOWERS A PAYING CROP

Raised by Farmers in Southeast Missouri on as Large a Scale as Corn. Kansas City, Mo. —In southeast Missouri farmers raise sunflowers to feed chickens. Many farmers in New Madrid county, Missouri, are growing sunflowers for seed on as large a scale as they grow corn. The seed is high in oil and protein and makes an excellent feed. It is used chiefly as a feed for parrots and as a part of the commercial poultry feeds. The seed is purchased each fall by general seed buyers from SL Louis. The soils in which sunflowers are grown are the once swampy lands and range from sandy loams to clays. The average production Is about 8,000 to 15,000 pounds of seed to the acre. The usual selling price is from 2% to 4 cents a pound. The average return is about S4O for each acre. Some of the farmers are growing the sunflowers in place of corn. The crop Is planted about the same as com. In the labor required in handling and cultivation, the two crops are alike. When the crop matures, a wagon is taken into the field and the heads are cut off and thrown into the wagon. The seeds are then threshed out with a threshing machine.

GOOD NEWS TRAVELS FAR

San Francisco recently observed the tenth anniversary of its destruction by earthquake and fire by striving to outclass any other city in the United States in its per capita membership in the American Red Cross. It has 11,000 members now and Is aiming at the 25,000 mark in a vigorous campaign. This special effort is inspired by its gratitude for the aid rendered by the Red CreSs in San Francisco’s disaster ten years ago. The picture shows Miss Mabel Boardman of the American Red Cross in Washington receiving a telephone message from San Francisco telling of the opening of the campaign.

Jealous of "Mourning” Husband.

New York.—Mrs. Elizabeth Sherwood has instituted proceedings in divorce against her husband, Peter V. Sherwood of New York city. She alleges he “went in mourning” for the death of another woman and refused to tell her the woman’s name.

SUFFER THE MOST BEFORE A BATTLE

German Soldier Gives Psychology of War as It Affects the Men. FEAR IS ROUTED BY SONG Doubt and Expectancy Prove* Unnerving to Many—Fighter* As•ailed by Thousands of Thought*. Say* Former Schoolteacher. Berlin.—The following interesting article giving the psychological study of a battle, was written by a German schoolteacher, who since has been killed on the west front. The article which appears in the German papers, has caused considerable comment: “To describe the sensations, the emotions and the innermost feelings of the soul of a soldier in battle is an unusually interesting but difficult task. While the battle rages a soldier is beset and agitated by thousands of thoughts that flash like lightning through his brain, but it is only during the remarkable calm that comes after a battle that he is enabled to analyze them. As I have participated in thirty-six engagements and battles, both on the eastern and western fronts, I have been in a position to make a study of the soul of the soldier. It is a great subject for the psychologist and one that opens a mine of valuable information.

"Is This Real?" “The troops receive orders at night to prepare for a charge the next morning. The first thought is, is this real? Somehow, it seems like a dream. It is the same thought that stirs the soul in any great event in life, be it one of joy or one of sorrow. It does not seem real. “However, whefa the soldier does realize that it is no nightmare, he begins to thin* of the likelihood of death claiming him in that battle. A strange, indescribable fear begins to agitate the soul. The awful thought pesters him that he will go to his death and leave home and loved ones and everything that is dear in a moment of time. He ponders over the subject of immortality and wonders if death comes whether it will mean eternal darkness and annihilation. "To one who is in the prime of life, who has everything to live for, hell itself cannot offer torture to equal the terrorizing doubts that assail the soul in those dreadful moments before a battle. “Then, too, the thoughts come that we have not made the most of life; that there is so much which we would still like to do; that if only given the opportunity how different we would shape our life in the future, i “All night long the troops move to the front, and all night long we think of God and the uncertainty that lies directly before us. Song Routs Fear. “Morning comes. It is it most beautiful morning; the sun shining warm and bright. The notes of a German song are wafted on the still air. It is a song of the fatherland and all join in the chorus. It Is then that we forget all our doubts and fears. A new life seems to be born within us. All fear has vanished and we are ready to go down to the gates of death unafraid.

“And then the battle. The bullets begin to whistle. In those first moments every soldier naturally looks for some sheltered place for protection. Nevertheless, the soul is remarkably calm. Though comrades are falling on all sides we never for a moment think of being hit by a bullet ourselves. We keep on j running, running toward the enemy. All feeling, all thought, all emotion, all sensation is obliterated, we go on, fearing nothing. Occasionally we hear a voice uttering a curse or a threat, due to the hate against the enemy, born anew in the thick of battle. That feeling of hate becomes uppermost. We are seized with a frenzy of rage, and our one thought is to meet the enemy face to face and annihilate him. As this hate is mingled with a certain feeling of patriotism and love for the fatherland, the lust of battle is developed in such a manner as to quiet our nerves and forget all about danger and death. “The battle has bpen fought and Won. The soul experiences an indescribable peace, but when we begin to see our broken ranks and make count of our fallen comrades, painful sensations follow. Then only do we realize what danger we so callously faced, and a wave of thoughtfulness warms our blood and body. “The feelings and sensations on emerging from a battle are like those of convalescence from a serious illness. The tired soul longs for peace and rest, and the soldier falls into a deep, sound, dreamless sleep, in which all the fear and stress and storm of the time are forgotten."

Invalid Cremated in His Chair.

Philadelphia.—-Unable to make his feeble voice heard, James B. Yerkes, a sixty-nine-year old invalid, was burned to death in his chair in his home in Philadelphia. It is supposed Yerkes dropped a lighted pipe among his clothing.

Questions of Man Replies by God

By REV. B. B. SUTCLIFFE

Extension Department Moody Bible -- Institute of Chicago

TEXT—Only believe.—Mark 5:36. Suppose a minister is preaching on the word “believe.” A member of the

nor the minister, nor any company! of men the sinner is to believe, bntl it is God himself as be speaks con-i cerning his son. There might possibly l be Borne hesitation in believing what! man would say, but there can be no hesitancy in accepting the testimony! of such a credible witness as God.| The sinner is asked to believe none' except the God of the Scriptures. Then! another question is immediately; asked, viz: What Am I to Believe? God’s own answer to this la "be that believeth not God hath made hlm> k liar; because he believeth not the ( record that God gave his son. And; this i* the record that God hath given j to us eternal life, and this life is in, his Bon,” I John 5:10, 11. That record is the gospel concerning God’s son,, Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offenses, who died for our sinoi according to the Scriptures, who his; own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, and who was raised from I the dead the third day according to thei Scriptures. This is what God declares; concerning his son, and this is what' the sinner must believe in order to* have God’s gift of eternal life. I am, to believe, on the authority of God’si own testimony, that Christ died sor 1 my sins and that he rose from the dead and ever liveth to make interces. slon for me. The questioner asks a third ques» tion, viz: . Why Am I to Believe? Because God commands it "AnA this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of bis son, Jesus Christ,” I John 3:23. Again, because a refusal to believe is the same< as calling God a liar —“he that believeth not God hath made him a liar,” I John 5:10. Again because it is the 1 only way to please God —“for without faith it is impossible to please him,” Heb. 11:6. Again because the refusal to believe seals one’s own doom. “He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned,” Mk. 16:16.

Still another question is asked, viz: God’s answer to this question is* very direct, for he says, “Now is the accepted time, behold today is the day of salvation,” II Cor. 6:2. Again, be says, “Today if ye will hear his voice harden not your heart,” Heb. 3:7. We are continually warned not to procrastinate, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth,” Prov. 27:1. "Not today” has brought many a soul to cry “To late.” “Many will seek to enter in and shall not be able when once the master of the house has risen up and hath shut to the door,” Mk. 13:24, 25. Not tomorrow, but today is your day of salvation. Another question is then asked, viz: May I Believe aa I am? God answers this by saying, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out,” John 6:37. “To him that worketh not but belleveth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness,” Rom. 4:5. Again he says, “Whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely,” Rev. 22:17. The only class who can be saved is sinners. If one waits to become good before believing that, one will never be saved. The sinner is to believe just as he is—good, bad or indifferent. But another question is asked: Can I Be Saved If I Don’t Believe? As we listen God replies, “Without faith it is impossible to please him,” Heb. 11:6. When Peter stood before the leaders in Jerusalem they suggested practically the same question and the reply was then and still is, “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12. “He that believeth not shall be damned,” Mk. 16:16. There Is none saved except through faith for “By grace are y« saved through faith,” Eph. 2:8. One last question is asked, viz: Can I Be Lost if I Do Believe? And to this God answers, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou phalt be saved,” Acts 16:3L “He that believeth on the son is not cohdamned,” John 3:18. “He that beiteveth hath everlasting life and shall not come into Judgment, but is passed from death unto life," John 6:24. If any believing soul is lost God’s word will be found to be untrue and God olmself a false witness. 4 ?

audience suddenly begins to ask question and the minister answers in words from the Scripture. Tie., first question is: Whom Am i to Believe? "If we receive the witness of man the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of Godi which he hath testified of his son,” I John 5:6. It isj not the church.