Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1917 — Page 2

PRUDENCE of the PARSONAGE

Prudence and fairy entertain the good ladies of the congregation and the result is rather disastrous for Prudence. Mr. Starr, a widower Methodlet minister, has been assigned to the congregation at Mount Mark, lowa. He and his daughter Prudence—she is nineteen and the etdest of five girls—have come on ahead to get the new parsonage ready for the younger members of the family. The whole town, especially the Methodist element, is very curious about the strangers, and individually. member* of the church call at .the parsonage and “pump" the girls for all they’re worth. But the Starrs soon adjust themselves to their new surroundings—and after much preparation, Prudence and Fairy are going to entertain the Ladies’ Aid society. Some of the members are arriving now.

. CHAPTER lll—Continued. “Not on your life,” said Carol promptly and emphatically; “he’s worse than Prudence. Like as not he’d give me a good thrashing into the bargain. No —I’m sffohg for Prudence when it comes to punishment —in preference to father, I mean. I can’t seem to be fond of any kind Qf punishment from anybody.” For a while Carol was much depressed, but by nature she was a buoyant soul, and her spirits were presently soaring again. In the meantime, the Ladies of the Aid society continued to arrive. Prudence and Fairy, freshly gowned and smiling-faced, received them with cordiality and many merry words. It was not difficult for them; they had been reared in the hospitable atmosphere of Methodist where, if you have but two dishes of oatmeal, the outsider is welcome to one. That is Carol’s description of parsonage life. But Prudence was concerned to observe that a big easy chair placed well back In a secluded corner, seemed to be giving dissatisfaction. It was Mrs. Adams who sat there first. She qulte a little, and seemed to be gripping the arms of the chair with unnecessary fervor. Presently she stammered an excuse, and, rising, went into the other room. After that, Mrs. Miller, then Mrs. Jack, Mrs. Norey, and Mrs. Beed, in turn, sat there —and did not stay. Prudence was quite agonized. Had the awful twins filled it with needles for the reception of the poor Ladies? At first opportunity she hurried into the secluded corner, intent upon trying the chair for herself. She sat down anxiously. Then she gasped and clutched frantically at the arm of 5 the chalr. For she discovered at once to her dismay that the chair was bottomless, and that only by hanging on for her life could she keep from dropping through. Up rose Prudence, conscientiously pulling after her the thin cushion which had concealed the chair’s shortcoming. “Look, Fairy!” she cried. “Did you take the, bottom out of this chair? It must have: been horribly un-

comfortable for those who have satthere! Hbwever did it happen?” Fairy was frankly amazed, and a little inclined to be amused. “Ask the twins,” she said tersely; “I know nothing about it.” At that moment, the luckless Carol went running through the hall. Prudence lrnew it w r as she, without seeing, because she bad a peculiar skipping run that was quite characteristic and unmistakable^ I —“ Carol i” she called." And Carol paused. “Carol!” more imperatively. Then Carol slowly opened the door — she was a parsonage girl and rose to the occasion. She smiled winsomely— Carol was nearly always winsome. “How do you do?”-she said brightly. "Isn’t it a lovely day? Did you call me, Prudence? 1 ! - - “Yes. Do you know where the bottom of that chair has gone?” “Why no, Prudence — gracious ! That chair! —why, I didn’t know you were going to bring that chair in here. Why — oh, lam so sorry! Why in the world didn’t you tell us beforehand?” Rome of the-Padies^miledT-Dthers gifted their brows and shoulders in n mildly suggestive way, that Prudence, after nineteen years in the parsonage, bad learned to know and dread. “And where is the chair-bottom now?" shfe inquired. “And why did you take it?” “Why, we wanted to make^— ’’ . "You and Lark?” * r “Well, yea—but it was really all my fault, you know. We wanted to make a seat op high in the peach-tree,’and-the bottom off the chair was just fine, ,It'a a perfectly adorable aeat,” bright* ening, but sobering agaitFa* she realised* the gravity of the occasion. “And

(Bobbs-Merrlll, Copyright, 1916)

we put tlie cushion iu the chair so that it wouldn’t be noticed. We never use that chair, you know. I’m so sorry about it.” Carol was really quite crushed, but true to her parsonage training, she struggled valiantly and presently brought forth a crumpled and sickly smile. But Prudence smiled at her kindly. “That wasn’t very naughty, Carol,” she said frankly. “It’s true that we seldom use that chair. And we ought to have looked.” She glanced reproachfully at Fairy. “It is strange that in dusting it, Fairy—but never mind. You may go now, Carol. It is all right.” Then she apologized gently to the Ladies, and the conversation went on, but Prudence was uncomfortably conscious- of -keen and quizzical eyes turned her way. Evidently they thought she was too lenient. “"Well, it wasn’t very naughty,” she thought wretchedly. “How can I pretend it was terribly bad, when I feel in my heart that it wasn’t!” The meeting progressed, and the business was presently disposed of. So far, things w r ere not' too seriously bad, and Prudence sighed in great relief. Then the Ladies took out their sewing, and began industriously working, at..uiauy articles, designed-for the clothing of a lot of young Methodists confined in an orphans’ home in Chicago. And they talked together pleasantly and gayly. And Prudence and Fairy felt that the cloud was lifted. But soon it settled again, dark and lowering. Prudence heard Lark running through the hall and her soul misgave her. Why was Lark going upstairs? To be sure, her mission might be innocent, but Prudence dared not run the risk. Fortunately she was sitting near the door. “Lark!” she called softly. Lark stopped nhmptly,.nnd.-Sometfaing-fell-to the floor. “Lark!” The Ladles smiled, and Miss Carr, laughing lightly, said, “She is an attentive creature. Isn’t she?” Prudence would gladly have flown out into the hall to settle this matter, but she realized that she was on exhi-

“Isn’t That a Handsome Venus?”

bition. Had she done so, the Ladies would have set her down forever after as thoroughly incompetent—she could not go! But Lark must come to her. “Lark!” This was Prjidence’s most awful voice, and Lark was bound to heed. : . “Oh, Prue,” she said plaintively, “I’ll be there in a minute. Can't you wait just five minutes? Let me run upstairs first, won't you? Then I’ll come gladly ! Won’t that do?”

Her voice was hopeful. But Prudence replied with dangerous calm: “Come at once, Lark.” "All right, then.” and added tbreateningly, "but you'll wish 1 hadn’t.” Then Lark opened-the door—a woefql figure! -lu oue hand-ehe-eaTriethan: empty shoe box. And her face was streaked with good rich lowa mud. Her clothes were plastered with it. One shoe was caked from the sole to the very top button, and a great gash in her stocking revealed a generous portion of round, white leg. Poor Prudence! At that moment she wmtM have exchanged the whole parsonage. bathroom, electric lights and all, for a tinyi log cabin in the heart of a- great forest, where .she and Lark might be alone together. , And Fairy laughed. Prudence looked ■et her with tears in her ey'es, and then turned to the wretched girl. “What have you been doing, Lark?” The heartbreak expressed in the face of Lark would have made the angels weep. Beneath the smudges of mud_ ■warherrheeks she WfcS -pHWdrancl, try" as she would, she could not keep her chin from trembling ominously. . Her voice, when she was able to speak, was barely recognizable. *

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP.

By ETHEL HUESTON

“We —we —we are making—mud images, Prudence. It —it was awfully messy, I know, but —they say—it is such a good—and useful thing to do. We—we didn’t expect —the —the Ladies to see us.” “Mud images I” gasped Prudence, and even Fairy stared incredulously. “Where in the world did you get hold of an idea like that?” “It —it was in that —that Mother’s Home Friend paper you take. Prudence.” Prudence blushed guiltily. “It was modeling in clay, but —we haven’t any clay, and —the mud is very nice, but—oh, I know I look just —horrible. I —I —Connie pushed me in the —puddle —for fun.” Another appealing glance into her sister’s face, and Lark plunged on, bent on smoothing matters if she could. "Carol is—is just fine at it, really. She —she’s making a Venus de Milo, and it’s good. But we can’t remember whether her arm is off at the elbow or" below the shoulder —” An enormous gulp, and by furious blinking Lark managed to crowd back the tears that would slip to the edge of her lashes. “5 —I’m very sorry, Prudence.” “Very well, Lark, you may go. Ido not really object to your modeling in mud, lam Sure. I am sorry you look so disreputable. You must change your shoes and stockings at once, and* then you can go on with your modeling. But there must be no more pushing and chasing, fll see Connie about that tonight. Now go.” And Lark was swift tb avail herself of the permission. —Followed a quiet hour, aud then llig~ Ladies put aside their sewing and walked about the room, chatting in little groups. With a significant glance to Fairy, Prudence w r alked calmly to the double doors between the dining room and the sitting room. The eyes of the Ladies followed her with interest, and even enthusiasm. They were hitnpy Prnrtoncit. slowly- opened wide the doors, and —stood amazed! The Ladies clustered about- her, and stood amazed also. The dining room was there, and the table! But the appearoftheplaee was vastlydifferentt The snowy cloth was draped artistically over a picture on the wall, the lowest edges well above the floor. The plates and trays, napkin-covered, were safely stowed away on the floor in distant corners. The kitchen scrub bucket had been brought in and turned upside down, to afford a fitting resting place for the borrowed punch bowl, full to overflowing with fragrant lemonaae.

j And at the table were three dirty, disheveled little figures, bending seriously over piles of mud. A not-unrec-ognizable Venus de Milo occupied the center of the table. Connie was painstakingly at work on some animal, a dog perhaps, or possibly an elephant. And — The three young modelers looked up In exclamatory consternation as the doors opened. “Oh, are you ready?” cried Carol. “How time has flown-! We had no idea you’d be ready so soon. Oh, we are sorry, Prudence. We intended to have everything fixed properly for you again. We needed a flat place for our modeling. It’s a shame, that’s what it is. Isn’t that a handsome Venus? I did that ! —lf you’ll just shut the door one minute, Prudence, we’ll have everything exactly as you left it. And we’re as sorry as we can be. You can have my Venus for a centerpiece, if you like.” .... Prudence silently closed the doors, and the Ladies, laughing significantly, drew away. “Don’t you think, my dear,” began Mrs. Prentjiss too sweetly, “that they are a little more than you edn manage? Don’t you really think an older woman is needed?” “I do not think so,” cried Fairy, before her sister could speak, “no older woman could be kinder, or sweeter, or more patient and helpful than True.” "Undoubtedly true! But something more is needed, lam afraid! It appears that girls are a little more disorderly than in my own young days I Perhaps I do not judge advisedly, but it seems to me they are a little—-un-manageable.1 ’ ’ ,

Don’t you think that Mr. Starr would save Prudence much worry and responsibility rs he jjave a little less time to his peri sonal duties and a little more to helping her manage the youngsters? """"""TtOBECONTINUED.)

Out of the Calculation.

“Do you think there are people OP In Mars?” “What difference does it make?” rejoined Senator Sorghum. “Even if there are They are too distant to vote or even drag tis Into diplomatic controversy.” ‘ >

Grasping Opportuaity.

"~'‘**Jane, there is a friend olf mine who is very anxious to know If yon wp matry him.” “Tell hf& of course DwUL Wbsts her ■ • ~

Conquering Might of Weakness

Some of the noblest Jives which have been lived on .earth .have-been those of chronic invalids—None of us desire to be sick, and it would be wrong to get into such a mood that we are not anxious to fight disease wherever we find it. Preventable evils ought to be prevented. Yet we know that if the records of the world’s great sufferers should be,.destroyed we should lose some of the brightest pages in all the history of life upon the planet. The entire conception of heroism haa been raised and raised for all time and for all the race by those poor things” who have made the sickbed a mount of transfiguration. Where amongst the young giants of tfie gymnasium and the football field, “feeling their biceps and thanking God there is not a morbid fiber in their bodies,” will you find the lives of blended sweetness and splendor which the annals of sickness show? Weak men and women, the nerves raw with suffering, the days full of pain, the nights heavy with the sleepless hours, men and women in the home, the office, the store, the schoolroom, work righteousness, and find that power is made perfect in weakness. God be praised for the heroic sufferer. The world would be a poor, place without the like of you. Is comfort something soothing, inducing a placid, sweet content, an anodyne for the soul? No, it is fortitude. Pain and weakness are hard to bear. They take from us of life. But the half that remains is greater than the whole.

Modern Armies Can No More Carry on War Without Wood Than They Can Without Food

“We might as well be without food as without wood.” This from the German socialist organ tells the story of how valuable from all its points of developmentthe, free is so the army of a nation at war. One of the mysteries of the present war is the source from which Germany obtains the nitrocellulose necessary in the manufacture of smokeless powder and ordinarily made Jrom A well defined belief exists in England that at least part of the nitrocellulose needed by German powder factories is being made from wood, the Manufacturers’ Record states. Ordinary black powders contain about 15 parts charcoal, with special prbpertTes,“ah : d are made largely from dogwood, willow and alder. In spite of the advent of smokeless powder, enormous quantities of black powder are still used. It is employed In shrapnel, also to fill the rings of the time fuses with which shells are equipped, for which purpose no satisfactory.-sub-stitute lias yet been found. Furthermore, It is used in most armor piercIng shells, which, nliould attain great "penetration hefore'they go off, and for which the majority of high explosives would be unsuitable because of their explosiveness on contact. Another product of the forest, rosin, is employed for filling the spaces between bujlets in shrapnel, so that on explosion the missiles will be evenly distributed in all directions. Millions of gunstocks are qyide from American walnut. A new rifle is, required monthly for every man at (he front. Thedevelopmentof trench warfare, when vast armies of men dig themselves in on fronts hundreds of -nrties tofig, tails xor an amount of timber for trench walls, floors and braces that it is difficult to estimate. Germany, fully prepared for England’s embargo, makes a soft, absorbent surgical cotton from wood cellulose. Two factories in Sweden also are making this substitute. Methyl alcohol, the other product besides acetic acid obtained from the destructive distillation of hard a ihultitude of uses. It is essential in the manufacture of many medical preparations.’ It is employed in the making of aniline dyes. It is also the ground of formaldehyde, for the manufacture of which large quantities of wood alcohol are exported to Europe.

Lot of Professor Is Hard, College Survey Discloses.

One of the more prominent eastern colleges has been Conducting a survey of itself. It finds the students living in magnificent dormitories and palatial fraternity houses, some of which are heavily endowed, going to in and posftegsinflmore changes of raiment than Samson lost by his ill-advised bet to the Phil? Lsiino youths. The survey was pleasant until it looked Into the homes of the professors. There It found Scholars of Greek and Latin, profound teachers of physics, cranking up clothes wringers and putting bluing in the family waslitubs. The average pay of professors in this particular college is considered high, but it is less than a good bartender can command. The unctuous head waiter at a fashionable restaurant makes considerably more. The professor is another “man with ■a. white collar.”

Wise and Otherwise.

It Is the heartfelt welcome of the dog’s tail that counts. Women are seldom what they seem, and we ought to be glad of it. A weak back doesn’t necessarily im‘plyTthat a man Is behind the times. « The question of precedence in this country is merely a Question of bustle.

By REV. CHARLES F.

Famous Minister and Peace Advocate ,i . . j -jr.

AKED

Gathered Smiles

Mysterious. “Oh, dear!" sighed—the mart whose wife was away, “I can’t find a pin in the house. I wonder where they are all gone, anyway?” “That’s a difficult question to answer,” replied his,, mother, “because they are always pointed in one,direction and headed in another.” ' •*». - _ Knew the Species. ■

Revised Version. “What is that old adage about ‘A penny saved,’ etc.?” queried the youth. “A penny saved by the old man means a dollar burned by the .Son in after years,” answered the wise guy. Merely a Conjecture. Myer—l wonder what causes concussion of the brain? Gyer—A collision between two trains of thought, I suppose. a J*oSlble. Rfcason. ' “Why is that sign ‘please do not talk to the motorman’ placed in eveiy ear?” “To keep the women from trying to tell him how to drive, I presilme.”—Detroit Free Press. One of the Symptoms. “But,” queried the sweet girl gradu-

FAVORITE OF FILMDOM

Tom Moore.

One of the younger mep who have won success by their good workbefore the moving pitture camera.

“S ay, pa w,” queried little Benny Bumpem, “what kind of fish is an angel fish ?” “An angel fish, son,” replied the fond, parent, who had ouce pinned his faith to a comic opera star, “is a sucker who backs an actress who things she owns a. shape she can travel on.”

Some Recipes for Success Given by a Successful Man

Judge Gary gives his recipe for success. He says about a young man: “1 He should be honest, truthful, . sincere and serious. y “2. He should believe in and preach and practice the Golden Rule. “.3. He should he strong and healthy, physically and morally. "4. His habits and mode of living should be temperate and clean and his companions selected with regard to -their character and reputation. “5. He- should possess good natural ability and a determination ■ constantly to improve his mind and memory. “6. He Bhould possess a good education, including particularly the fundamentals, such as mathematics, grammar, spelling, writing, geography and history; and also a technical education concerning the lines he proposes to follow. “7. He“ should be studious and thoughtful, keepingJiUuniacl. upon a _&ubject-«»ti44t-4s~mastered: “8. He should be conscientious, modest but courageous, energetic, persistent,* even-tempered, economical, faithful and loyal to his friends and the interests 'he represents.”—American Magazine.

Tree With 3,000 Trunks.

The gigantic banyan under which Alexander is said to have camped with 7,000 men, now measures nearly 1,000 feet across the head, contains about 3,000 trunks, and forms a dense canopy through which sunshine never penetrates. Several other species also propagate In like manner.

ate, “how can I tell when I am In—iuveT'V “ " ~ “Oh,” replied the fair grass widow, “when you think you think as much of a young man as you think of yourself —that is love.” Those Loving Girls. Hazel —How shall I have my winter hat trimmed so that it w r ill correspond with my nnimicxlun? Almee —Well, if you want it to match your face I’d advise you to have it plain. ~ Of Course Not. “Still trying to cut down expenses, Jibway?” “No. I’ve given up in disgust.” * “Why so?” “I noticed the other day where a mill hand in New England lives on 80 cents a week. There is no use of an oxdinary human l>eing trying to equul ~ a record that.” t I. ' *""■ , - Human Refrigerators. Hoax cremn- 7

tion Is a thing of the past in the classical precincts of- Boston. Soax Because why. Hoax Because pf the expense. It requires too much beat to reduce a Bosto ni a u to ashes.

Change of Feeling. “It was a stirring sight to see our soldier boys -marching away to serve disetr^oßßEry^" “So it was, but it’s heart-rending just now to hear the loud lamentations being sent up from the border." Some Help. • Flatbush —My wife thinks you dress your wife very well indeed. . ; Bensonhurst—-Goodness! ■ I don’t dress her. All Idois to button her up the back. Judicial Wisdom. Judge (to lady witness) —What i» your age, madame? Lady—Twenty-seven, sir. Judge (to clerk of court) —Mr. Hapgood, you may now swear the lady to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. i Sure Sign. “They had a large but very unfashionable house at the opera last night.” “You don't say so?” “Yes; everybody was listening to the music.”

Evolution of Envelope.

There are many persons now living who. cun remember the days when letters went through the mails in the form of a folded sheet of paper sealed at one edge, for envelopes were not in common use until about 1855. In that year a machine was pattmtcd for producing these now indispensable covers for epistolary correspondence—a machine which, as compared with hand labor, did the work of five girls. A better machine was produced in 1862, which performed the work of seven girls. Three years later came the machine with a device for gumming the flap of the envelope, which did the work of ted girls, ;Next carat* another machine of American device, which did the work of 20 girls, and still largely used. This has a rival in an invention which gums, prints, folds and counts the envelopes, and binds them with a Raper bind In packets o| 25. This machine supplants the la hor of 30 girls-