Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 247, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1916 — Page 2

Jasper’s Experiment

By HAROLD CARTER

(Copyright. 1916. by W. G. Chapman.) “What’s tho matter, father? Get a new craze?" inquired Mehitabel Balaam, as she handed her husband his third cup of coffee at-breakfast inthe farmhouse. “I have. Mehitabel,” answered Jasper Balsam, looking first at his wife and then at his son and daughter, Junius and Oetavia. “Well, don’t bottle it up longer than you have to, father,” said Junius, stlrrinp up his egg. “It’s this,” said Jasper. “Last Sunday in church the minister was saying that the '(vorld would be a better place if everybody said exactly what he was thinking. Now why can’t we start a movement that wIR revolutionize social life in this country? Why ain't we have done with hypocrisy and say just what we want to say?” “I’m willing.” announced his wife. “Lord, there’s a whole heap of things I’ve wanted to say for years and never had a chance to. I want a new silk dress.” “Don’t talk foolishness, Mehitabel,” said her husband severely. “I mean sensible things. For example, this egg’s cold. Now usually I wouldn’t say it was cold. I’d just eat it. But if we agreed to speak our minds, nobody could take offense.” “I’m willing,” replied his wife again. “When do we star! ?” “We start now,” said Jasper Balsam,

“Your Face Is Worse Than the Whiskers.”

and there followed a few minutes of ominous silence. “I have been thinking, Mehitabel,” continued Jasper presently, “that at your age—fifty-two, and you looking considerably older than that, that you /Might to have learned Jxt jnakfi-a~ple-by now. When a man sits down to breakfast, he expects a piece of pie that is pie, not cinders and dough.” “True, Jasper.” replied the wife. “I shall try to do better. But what a discouragement it is to sit down facing a man with scrubby black whiskers and to know I’ll have to go on seeing that face till I die. Not that I want you to shave, you understand, Jasper, my dear, because your face is worse than the whiskers.” “Well, say!” began the farmer, and then he checked himself. “I don't knovtf that I haven’t had as much to suffer seeing your face" so long, my dear,” he said. “You wasn’t a beauty when I married you, but I didn’t reckon your complexion would get so like a tortoise shell tabby cat’s.” “I was thinking, Octavia,” put in the son, “that since you haven’t any fiend’s temper which you inherit from pa, you might as well go out and work for yo\ir living.” “That’s odd, Juny,” answered his sister. “I was wondering why you don’t hustle a bit more, instead of going around like a dressed-up dude, that all the girls laugh at.” “What do you mean?” stuttered Junius. “Why, the girls say, if your face isn’t a cross between pa’s and the blue-nosed mandrill’s, it’s near enough.” “Come, children,” interposed their mother, rising, “let’s leave father to himself. We don’t have to see him all the day, so why should we?” Jasper experienced the sensation Ms latest reform was uniting the members of his family against him, likefds earlier ones. He resolved to persevere, however. Later in the day, as he was smoking in the parlor, he heard his daughter’s voice raised outside. “How long have Jim and.l got to wait, ma? Father won’t consent to our marrying, I know, and We’ve just got to wait till he drops off. He’s good for another thirty years, the old brute!” i “Well, what about me?” cried the son petulantly. “Don’t I want to get the farm, Instead of being hustled to death on n dog’s wages? Why can’t we get rid of the old man and enjoy lifer’ v. Ip*- .•*. - * .

“Heaven knows Tve wished it long enough,” said their mother. “Hilt what’s the use of wishing? If I hqd the 'nerVe I’d put poison in his coffee, but I haven’t—so there." Jasper Balsam turned white with rage. lie had always been a kind father to his children, he had thought his wife loved him. And now his daughter wanted to marry Jim, a a shiftless sort of fellow who seemed the Inst person on earth for any decent girl. He had never suspected that! And his wife wanted to poison him, and all three longed for his death! He Jumped out of his chair. “Lheard you!" he bellowed. “Now I kruyw your hearts, thanks to my new plan. You witnt me dead and out of the way, so that you can handle tho old man's money, do you? I suppose you’d, like to--geL.married again too, Mehitabel?” •"I would,” nnswered his wife promptly. "I’d like to marry a man without scrubby black whiskers, who didn’t chew tobacco.” “And I wish —I wish I were rid of ye all r snorted’ cue farmer, turning away. He went back into the parlor, filling it with a cloud of smoke as he puffed ■frrorosely at his pij»e.’ That had always been his privilege; unlike many women, Mehitabel had never raised objections to his smoking anywhere in the house. She had been a good wife to him, and he had never guessed the feelings which she had harbored in her heart. His children, too —what vipers he had been nourishing! He had offered to send the boy to college, hut Junius had declined. And Oetavia had been- promised a new piano and music lessons only the day before. He stalked angrily upstairs at length and shut himself up in the spare room. His mind was filled with turbulent and vindictive thoughts. If they did not want him around he would go away, but he would no longer support them. Suddenly he heard low voices in the hall outside his room. At first he could not distinguish what they were saying, but then he own son speaking. “Of course father means well, if he wouldn’t take up with those crank ideas,” he was saying. “I think you were too mean for anything, Juny," protested Oetavia. “Saying that you wanted to get rid of him so as to have the farm instead of being hustled to death on a dog’s wages!” “And what about you, calling him an old brute and wishing him to drop off so that you could marry Jim Griggs?” demanded Junius. “You knew I didn’t mean that!” cried the girl. “When I marry I’m going to try to find a man as good as father. I was just pretending in order to teach him a lesson. But you—you let the thoughts out of your heart!” “No I didn’t either, Tabby, because he to college any time I wanted to. And it was nia who started the gamersaying she wanted to get married once more, and talking about pa’s whiskers.” “My dears, I wag trying to teach him a lesson,” answered their mother. “I’ll tell you a secret. It was your father’s whiskers that made me fall in love with him. There!” But Jasper Balsam was outside his door, smiling a little sheepishly, and fingering his whiskers as he spoke. “I guess you fooled the old man all right," he said v - “But the system ain’t a had Only I forgot to say, we must only speak when we’re thinking of pleasant things.”

Electro-Chemistry.

It is remarkable how the conception of the scope of chemistry has recently .grown in! the general public’s mind, after chemistry had been synonymous with drug stores so long to so many people. Everyone is now acquainted with at least one other field of chemical endeavor —dyestuff s—and thus chemistry has made a clear advance of lOC per cent in popular estlhiadon. Among technical men, however, it is electro-chemistry that is now attracting greatest attention. Of coui-se, as Long as P’araday’s law has beer, taught in schools those who had to learn it knew of electro-chemistry. But for many its scope was restricted to bat- ■ t erM-sf antFphttiflg. Natoraßy-eleetr leak engineers knew better, as they had to buy their copper from the electrolytic copper refinery, and the generating capacity of an electrolytic refinery is sufficiently impressive to gain the respect of any engineer. No wonder that many a man who had been interested in lighting and traction systems is now attracted by electro-chemistry, which has no such sources of trouble as a public service commission.—Metallurgical and Chemical engineering.

Hot Weather Hike by Japanese.

Under a scorching sun that at times drove the mercury up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit?2,ooo soldiers of the Japanese army, Formosa and the Pescadores, made a 12-day march in Formosa between July 1 and July 12. Only three cases of sunstroke are reported. The first nine days were spent in marching, and the troops actually covered more than one hundred miles. The last three days were spent in maneuvers. With a view to finding the best clothing to protect Soldiers from the heat, the soldiers* were allowed to wear any costume they pleased. Sopie wore helmets, some straw hats; some wore an ordinary uniform with a hole on either side, or a knitted undershirt, or a thin kimono ; some wore their heavy boots; some tabi. Besides their clothing, the best food and drink for soldiers under these conditions were also studied.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

One of the great guns now being used by the French on the Somme front. This gigantic rifle is mounted on a specially constructed gun caisson, which rests on steeT trucks and is easily moved from point to point. The gun is one of the many made In America and shipped to Europe for use against the Teuton pov\ era.

USE NO BANDAGES IN NEW SURGERY

Latest Method of Healing Obstinate Wounds Proves Great Success. ARE SPRAYED WITH OZONE Stream of Gaseous Substance Flows Into Deepest Recesses, Killing Ail Microbes —Horrors of Dressing Wounds Eliminated. London— Bandages are eliminated in the latest methods of healing obstinate wounds here. This is one of the marvelous developments of surgery to which the war has given impetus. One of the horrors of hospitals is dressing wounds. Strong, brave men scream involuntarily with pain every day when the bandages are removed and the wounds treated. At Queen Alexandra’s military hospital today several patients were exhibited undergoing the new treatment. Two of these men were most severely wounded in September of last year, and for ten months had been treated in the customary vay without any sign of healing. On August 2Jhey wefe were flung away, the wounds were subjected to repeated applications of a stream of ozone, being lightly covered with a loose layer of lint in the Intervals, aDd in four days healing was in rapid progress. This treatment is simplicity itself. Oxygen passes -from a reservoir into an electrical machine which converts it into ozone; the ozone flows out through a fine metal tube. The machine is wheeled close to the patient’s bed, the wound uncovered, and a stream of the microbe-killing ozone Hows into the deepest recesses. No painful dragging off of bandages, no rebandaging of the limb to hurt and exhaust the -patient— New Treatment a Success. Here was seen a isoldier who had lost his right foot, with a stump covered with skin so healthy and hard that he could walk upon it, a surgical marveL What might he called the open-air treatment of wounds has come to stay. At the Herbert hospital is a soldier with a bad compound fracture of the leg. The limb is not swathed in many, yards of bandages as was the custom, hut lies between sandbags to secure immobility and is covered only with a single layer of lint. The lint is kept constantly wet with peroxide of hydrogen. Surrounding the leg is u large cage covered with a sheet of thin butter muslin, so that the wound is conair. Extremely rapid healing'- and freedom from the agony of manipulation are the great gains from this mode of treatment. The whirlpool bath is entirely a war Invention, from which excellent results in cases of stiff joints have been obtained in France. It consists of a small oblong bath, filled with water which is kept in continuous movement by a miniature propeller revolved at a very high speed! by medns of an electric motor. A stiff arm or leg, hand or foot, placed in the bath and kept there for some time is much improved by the stimulus of the running water. Marvelous examples of bone carpentry are to be seen, such as the transference of a large fciece of bone from the leg to fill a gap in the arm bone or Jaw. Trench foot is being more or less successfully treated by massage, operation, and other methods. After the Surgeon the Masseur. All sorts of joint Injuries go to Hammersmith hospital, and there, as well as at other hospitals, is to be seen s collection of ingenious exercises for restoring mobility. When the surgeon has done all that he can th& patient goes to the masseurs and the exercisers. If his wrist is stiff he twists a bar with graduated resistance; if he cannot fully close his hand he grasps a thick bar and turns it, passing on to thinner and' thinner bars as the hand

FRENCH USE MONSTER AMERICAN RIFLE

Improves; the pnrTent with a stiff knee is put to exercise on r. stationary bicycle; others, according to the nature and situation of the defect, practice roping, climbing ladders, pulling on weighted ropes; and with these curative exercises is combined massage, with electrie treatment, and other remedies. J - In the laboratories of the Royal Army medical college vaccines are made to secure the men against typhoid fever, which. used to be more fatal in war than the bayonet and the bullet combined; paratyphoid fever, so rare formerly, so common now in France; the cholera of Saloniki and Egypt; and pneumonia, one of the sol-

CROCODILES FOE, AFTER GERMANS

Irish Aviator, Shot Down in Africa, Tells of Remarkable Adventures. THREE DAYS IN THE JUNGLE Escapes From a Lion by Climbing a Tree—Three of His Ribs Broken When Machine Is Brought Down. London—Tales of adventure from the jungles of South Africa, where General Smuts is operating against the Germans, are not uncommon, but it is seldom that the wild events encountered by Capt. A. T. O’Brien of the Royal Flying corps, told here, have been equaled. The details of his adventures were contained in a letter from his wife to relatives in England and have just become public. It is probable that O’Brien will be decorated for his services to the British government and in iug an ordeal that would have meant death to the average soldier. He reported to General Smuts last April far down in German Africa below Ivonnoa Iraugi. His work as an aerial scout ahead of the British troops operating against Germans won him fame. Flying over the jungles and tangled brush country during the rainy season is difficult. When an army of vigilant enemies is added, the task becomes more than dangerous. The- Intrepid Irishman finaily engaged on the losing side of an argument with enemy anti-aircraft guns. His Machine Brought Down. He was flying over jungle country when German guns located him. One of his wings collapsed and the machinlT side slipped into the trees, which partially broke the fall, then crashed to the ground. Had it not been for the trees both driver and machine would have been smashed to bits. As it was, three of O’Brien’s ribs were crushed and for several hours he lay in a swamp unconscious.' Slowly he recovered his senses and took an inventory of his injuries. He could walk without difficulty, but when he swung his arms, the broken ribs hurt cruglly. 5 Holding hts arms tight to his sides, he scouted through the neighboring jungles, where he discovered unmistakable signs of the enemy. Later, he heard a column of infantry approaching, and fearing capture he set fire to the aeroplane and dashed off through the underbrush. Hour afjter hour he maintained jl fast pace grith the pain In his side Increasing with every step. When night fell he crawled high into a vine-cov-ered tree. Sound sleep was Impossible, but at intervals between fighting insects aqd making way for jungle creepers he managed to rest and In a rough way bandage up his Injured side. With dawn he started out again, and before noon had forded two rivers and swam a third. Toward nightfall of the second day he came to a river of considerable width, with a swift current and signs of crocodiles. By this time his hunger and thirst were beginning to sap his strength, but without thought of his| condition or the danger he faced, he plunged Into" the brackish water. _

dier’s worst treneh enemies in cold weather. About ten million doses of these vaccines have been sent out from Milwall since the war began. Among them is a most valuable mixed vaecirife which gives protection from both typhoid and the two forms of paratyphoid fever. —This ha» been in use since January last. Quite new, since the war began, are the measures taken for discovering _ whether anyone who comes in contact with soldiers is carrying the infection of spotted fever at the back of his nose, for, although himself quite free from the disease, such a carrier' might create an epidemic in a camp.

At the first splash a score of huge “crocs” on a pointU>f land down stream made for him. There followed a race between the maneaters and the quarry that nearly ended disastrously for the Irishman. The last few yards were heartbreaking, for as he glanced back over his shoulder he could see the yawning mouths and ridges of jagged teeth straining to reach him. As he scrambled tip the muddy bank he heard a dozen vicious snaps. * Almost exhausted, he trudged through the tangled brush near the river. Gaining a point on some higher ground, he looked back at the scene of his escape. To his horror, he saw the shaggy mane of a lion, which was coming toward him with nose glued to his trail. The nearest place of saf*ty was a tall tree, which he climbed, monkey fashion. The king of the forest nosed about the tree for some time, meal, but eventually he went his way. By this time O’Brien was well-nigh exhausted. His clothes were torn and his flesh lacerated by the brush. The pain of his wounds produced a high fever, and the brackish water which he was forced to drink made him ill. All night long he staggered on, but he remembers little after sundown of the second day. Toward noon of the third day after his disappearance a sentry far out ahead of the British lines saw a movement in the brush and thought an ahlmaThacT strayed near. He raised his gun to fire, when a human hand was raised above a cluster of brush. Amazed, the sentry went forward, and there found O’Brien half crazed with thirst, soaked with mud and covered with blood from scores of slight cuts. His wife, to whom he had been married but a few weeks before he left for South Africa, had left England to join him before he was reported missing. When he recovered from the fever and opened his eyes for his first conscious look at his surroundings his wife was sitting by his side, having arrived in the meantime, and nursed him through the critical Illness.

ONE BEETLE A GAS FIGHTER

It Seems Nature Discovered Value of Poison Fumes in War Before the London. —The discovery of poisonous gas seems to have been anticipated in nature’s laboratory. A little British beetle hqs been employing poison gas to defend itself for untold ages. One of the strongholds of the Bombardier beetle (Brachinus crepitans) is along the shores of the Thames in the Gravesend district. Here it > finds a home under the flat stones that are scattered by thW river’s bank. The Bombardier beetle is very liable to be attacked by some of the fierce ground beetles, ot Carabidae, as they are properly called. As soon as the pursuer draw* close a very remarkable thing happens. First of all the Bombardier beetle ejects a peculiar liquid which, when It comes into contact with the atmosphere “bursts Into a sort of a pale blue-green flame, followed by a klpd of smoke.” tKTs Is seen to have an astonishing effect upon the pursuing beetle. Instantly It seems to be overwhelmed and quite stupefied by the suddenness! of the attack. The smoke appears to have a blinding and suffocating tendency, and the effect lasts for a mi nut* or so. During this time the Bombardier beetle is able to make good Its escape. . -

Alabama ranks first unonif Uni Southern states as a producer of mia* Orals. '

HOME TOWN HELPS

BAD HOUSING CAUSES MISERY New York Tenement Expert Describe* _ Evil Conditions —Living in Small Place Best After All. fy-'* The three great scourges of mankind, disease, poverty and crime, are largely due to bad housing, according to John J. Murphy, New York’s Tlfiglsent house commissioner, whoso ofticiul task it Is to' study and remedy as far as possible improper housingconditions York city. Mr. Murphy, who Ts the only tenement house commissioner in the United States, recently hnd published an article on housing conditions, based on his investigations in large centers of population, in which he said: “There can be no question that the three great scourges of mankind, disease. poverty and crime, are In a large measure due to bad housing, in Its broadest sense. Intemperance In many of its most repugnant forms may be traced to the fact that so many citizens are obliged to live in homes in which they can take neither pride nor comfort and which make the saloon . seem desirable by contrast. _ “Bad housing is especially detrimental in its consequences to the childred reared under its influence. In many cases the evil influences of environment can never be eradicated. The need for the erection of institutions for the blind and hospitals for the child victims of tuberculosis, spinal meningitis and other diseases of like character is greatly intensified by bad home conditions. The employee living in a house inadequately lighted and ventilated is unable to perforin his task with proper energy and intelligence. Women compelled to live in such houses develop tendencies to irritability, which frequently lead to family disruption. “Bud housing tends to Increase tho tax burdens of a community by requiring larger expenditures for remedial service, which might otherwise be eliminated. The lack of proper cleanliness and decency in the exterior and interior of houses tends to reduce the selfrespect of the occupants. Note how eagerly the family which has even slightly improved its financial standing seeks buildings with more attractive exteriors and better decorated rooms. It will also be found that as families descend In the social scale one of the pangs most keenly felt Is the necessity for the occupancy of in buildings whose general appearance Indicates that they are occupied by the miserably poor.”

WATCH THE PAINTER AT WORK

Poor Economy in Using Shoddy Material and Cheap Labor Where Looks of Home Are Concerned. „ In no branch of the building game Is poor material and workmanship so common as in exterior painting, says a writer in Popular Mechanics Magazine, The architects’ specifications for painflng gcneraTTy " set forth that] the painting contractor must provlde all the materials of every descriptlon, Including ladders, scaffolding,ropes, brushes, etc., for the proper performance of the work in a substantial and workmanlike manner; all the materials to be of the best of their respective kinds, and all woodwork to be thoroughly cleaned before being painted; all nail holes, joints, crucks and defects in materials to be filled with putty; all jointed work to be sanded smooth before applying the second coat. The specifications then Itemize what work is to be done, and how, as follows : All outside woodwork to be given a certuln number of coats of good white lead and linseed oil paint, mixed to correspond with the color selected by the owner on outside blinds or shutters, exterior of sash, window acrcena, d nf>r aert/ena, eutsidedoos’s, tin and galvanized ironwork, Ironwork, roofs and cement work. The homebuilder should know whether his specifications are rightly drawn and whether they are being followed by the painting contractor. Undoubtedly the best wuy of knowing if the work Is being rightly done. Is <tO know how to do It.

Wordless Traffic Signs.

Unlettered road signs are being used to regulate motor-car traffic on the driveways of a Fargo, N. D., park. Although they do not give a motorist a single word of instruction or warning, they have served their purposes efficiently. At best, road signs detract more or less from the appearance of a parkway or boulevard, especially when they are literally signboards. While those used in Fargo are only a small Improvement in this respect, they hold a good suggestion. One of these signs was recently erected to direct traffic into a. new artery branching from ah old and much-traveled one. It consists of a white post, at the top of which are two arms, the right one pointing in the direction to be pursued, while the other hangs down v Although this means a reversal of the accustomed direction of travel, from the beginning motorists. turned in to the new road without hesitation. —Popular Mechanics Magazine.