Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1917 — Page 3

Billy Shafer’s Deal

By ALICE E. IVES

(Copyright, 1917, by W. G. Chapman.) Billy Shafer breezed into town, and put up at the best hotel. It was easily the best- because there w’as but one other, and that was the tavern. If continued to be called the tavern, for being devoid of such frivolities as modern improvements, it preferred like an old decayed family to maintain the dignity of old traditions. Billy was a traveling salesman whose territory being restricted to small towns, and hence h<Jt productive of large pecuniary returns, wont to add to his incom’e by being also a book agent for a remarkable volume called “A Treasury of Unusual Knowledge.” He did* not find that the community at large was yearning for knowledge, still he sold a few copies in each town, and he did not get discouraged. That was one beautiful thing about Billy; no adverse fate or series of setbacks ever gave him a grouch or even dampened his spirits. This was of course his greatest, asset in the business of being a drummer. It was quite Impossible to rebuff Billy; he bounded back like a rubber ball. So it was that Billy's visits began ta be'looked forward to with something of the expectation of a traveling circus. The regular boarders (strolled out of the hotel dining room, and the u§ual outsiders drifted-into the lobby, and Billy was soon the center of a group ranging in variety all the way from Al Barkum. the village “cut up,” to Emery Bond, deacon of the Baptist church. “Still distributing that wonderful treasury of knowledge!” scoffed one of the group. “Yes,” answered Billy cheerfully. “I didn’t have time to get around mucic before; I expect to sell about fifty this time.” A chorus of laughter greeted his answer; but it made no perceptible im-

‘Yea, ’’ Answered Billy, Cheerfully.

presston on Billy except to cause him to smilingly join in with the general merriment. “Well, I’ve looked over that book—you know you got me to buy one,” remarked the deacon reproachfully, “and I didn’t find anything ‘unusual’ about it.” “There is' never,” said Billy oracularly, “anything ‘unusual’ about true knowledge.” “You bet there will be something ‘unusual’ about yoUr 'selling any more o’ -those books ‘round here,” added the drug clerk rather belligerently. - “Well now,” said Billy good naturedly, “because that kind of knowledge don’t exactly appeal to you is no sign that there are not others whose 1 ives and libraries would be incomplete without it.” The chaffing and laughter that followed was broken into by Al Barkum calling out: “O come on boys! what’s the use o’ knocking a fellow who’s trying to make his grub? It won’t do any o* you any harm to own a book, even if you never read it. Say Shafer, did you ever try Ann Peabody in Oak street?” Billy replied that he hadn’t combed that quarter. “It’s number eighteen, a little cottage pretty well back from the street. She’ll be sure to take a book.” A chorus of dissent and laughter followed. “Say now, Al, what are you giving him?" cried- one of the men. “You know w'hen that prim, little old maid once snaps her mouth or her purse shut it’s sort o’ dangerous to try to open ’em.” “Old maid!” sniffed Barkum. “Why ihercan’t, be a day over twenty-five. I can 1 remember when she was a kid ’ with her hair down her bask.” “You know.” cried the deacon. “Ann hasn’t any money to spend on books, and it ain’t just fair to go a pestering her.” “Pestering!” exclaimed Billy, “why, I consider I am conferring a great favor on anyone to whom I offer that Valuable book.”

“I’ll bet you don’t sell her one!" snorted the drug .clerk. “Put up your money 1” shouted Billy. “I bet I do." “You’ll have a run fqt your money if you do.” laughed another. “Say,” inquired Billy, “is It bull dogs or rolling pins?” y “Neither one.” answered the deacon. “It’s the way Ann Peabody says ‘no.’" It was true Ann Peabody wasn’t many days over twenty-five; but the loss of both parents leaving her with very little besides the small cottage, and at the age of fifteen, a baby brother to ‘mother,’-had seemed to age her before her time. Her* youth had been cut off and dwarfed in the bud. She had to eke Out her small means by sewing, she could dress only very plainly, and her pride and sensitiveness, kept her from trying to push her way Into the yotfng society of the town. Jimmy was now a freckle-faced boy of twelve, and an ever Increasing expense to Ann. When Billy appeared with the book he was met with a negative that would have caused even the most hardened of book agents to beat a hasty retreat. But Billy espied the small brother looking curiously at the volume, so he opened at a picture, and smiled : “Here son, it won’t cost you anything to look.” Jimmy took advantage of the invitation, and his highly amusing descriptions, and breezy talk holding the boy’s attention, and incidentally. Ann’s, his call was considerably prolonged. “I’ll be along this way tomorrow," he said on leaving. ‘lt won’t be any trouble to call, and perhaps you will change your mind.” “No, I shant,” said Ann firmly. “It wont be any use.” But Billy aided and abetted by the “freckle-faced kid” was the next day let into the cottage, and smilingly confronted it’s mistress. He did not at flrst:speakoftheboojkbutranpp,as only Billy could, about current happenings. Ann was being entertained by a kind of man so new and delightful to her shut-in life that even against her wish she let him stay. But as he was leaving she let him know she had not changed her mind about the book. He answered he would call again the next day to see, and oddly enough she made no objection. f Billy did not intend to lose his bet, and he turned up promptly at the appointed time. — Jimmy also appeared and importuned his sister for a cookey. “Now Jimmy,” temporized Ann, “it’s almost time for supper—and we’re going to have waffles and sirup!” “Um!” cried Jimmy, “I guess I’ll save up till then.” “I would if I were you, son. I think I’d save up a good deal for waffles and sirup." There was such a lonesome, homeless ring to the young man’s words that Ann at the unthought of proceeding flushed a bit as she asked him to stay. Billy accepted the Invitation with alacrity, did full justice to the waffles, and told her she was the most wonderful cook he had found since his J mother died. He also evolved a scheme by which Jimmy could pay for the book by helping him carry some samples. Jimmy being exceedingly eager i for the job, his sister consented. Billy 1 won his bet. A shorter time than the usual interval elapsed when Billy again came to town. He had the unblushing affrontery to call on Ann to ask how she liked the book. The next day he came to take Jimmy to the "movies;” the following day he came without any excuse. It was during about the third or fourth visit that Jimmy rushed in, and blurted out: “Say sis, Al Barkum ast me'lf you hnnght that honk, cause he. said he wouldn’t, an’— - Billy turned and reached for Jimmy, JBuFhe had fled. “So it was just a bet,” she said in a dull forlorn way, as though suddenly stricken. “Yes. But I didn’t keep on coming bn a bet,” said Billy. “And I didn’t bet I’d marry you.” “It’s well you didn’t,” she said. Pride had now come to the rescue, and her eyes were flashing. “You w’ould have lost.” “What makes you think so?" asked Billy. _l‘What 'makes me think so?” she echoed blankly. “What do you mean?” It seemed that she must have understood what he meant, for the next instant he was holding her so tightly she did not even hear Jimmy exclaim: "Geel"

Women In Heaven.

The Rev. Dr. David Winters, without disclosing the source of his infor« mation, tells the Presbyterian Ministers’ association that the proportion wonfen to men in heaven is about three to one, possibly five to one. “If popular elections were, held-in heaven,” he adds, “and if there were woman suffrage, I am sure the women would win In the elections.” The preponderance of women is undoubtedly the reason why it is heaven. If they had their way on earth, it might be more like heaven. Their political ambitions have been frustrated because “most men are as lazy as they dare to be,” and it is easier to accept the social scheme and the governmental system as they, are than to reform them. Most salutary changes come because women grow restive under Imperfect living conditions for their families. They want a place for the baby to play and to breathe fresh air. They want a little room for flowers to grow. They want to get rid of needless noises and smells, of rubbish, of strong drink, of disreputable idleness., The modern woman- of the right sort is not satisfied to be a mere picture of prettiness; she wants to make her life count for its full valuer— Philadelphia Public Ledger.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN; RENSSELAER, IND.

RUSSIAN HEADQUARTERS FIRED BY SHELLS

Russian field headquarters in Poland after the Germans determined the correct range. This is an actual war photograph showing plenty of action. The Germans after getting the range poured their big explosive shells into the headquarters camp and set the place afire. The soldiers are shown packing up preparing for a hurried evacuation.

HOW SUBMARINE DOES ITS WORK OF DESTRUCTION

Torpedoing of Ship Described From View Point of Attacker and Attacked. FREIGHTERS ARE EASY PREY Ingenious Instruments Make the Pointing of the Torpedo Very SimpleMissiles Usually Launched From ' Distance of Two Miles. New York. —Early in the great war the world was astounded by the “London, Official,” that three British scout cruisers —Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy —had been sunk by torpedoes. Later, a wave of wonder spread over the civilized world when Berlin announced that all three sinkings were the work of one submarine, the U-9, From that period of the war right up to the present time the operations ,of undersea fighters have held tlie interest of every follower of the gigantic events. Where will they lead? How does Germany keep it up? Why doesn’t England get after the Germans? These are questions asked continually. Others, which show the keen interest in submarines, are for information regarding them. What actually happens when -a submarine fires a torpedo? What is the usual distance between the subsea boat and its intended victim? Is she on the surface when making the attack ? •

A succession of events has made it possible for statements to be obtained of men and women on torpedoed steamships, and at least one officer on a German U-boat has been able to tell his story regarding such attacks. Every navy guards with great care 'lfs~submKnne “secrefs?" Um present war the United States navy department issued orders forbidding anyone to board its little fighters unless they be in navy or armed-with navy permits. The same situation obtained in foreign navies. Few books can be procured with the data that are of most interest. A reporter for the New York World, however, has obtained from the highest authority the facts that follow. Launched Two Miles Away. In the first place, no submarine gan launch Its torpedo with any hope of hitting the target unless the latter is «een by the man at the periscope. Therefore, it must be near the surface, so that observations can be made. Torpedoes have a range of 7,000 yards—about four land miles. As a general rule the German U-boats used in attacking merchant vessels launch their torpedoes from a distance of two miles. At that distance it is very difficult for anyone on the doomed vessel to observetheir periscope. - 151 -=■ Torpedoes rush through the water at a rate of from 28 to 40 knots an hour. The average speed figured in land miles is about 30 miles an hour: As the torpedo speeds through the water it makes a wake like a huge fish. In addition is the telltale wake of bubbles —caused by the exhaust from the compressed air chambers that give it momentum. Once the submarine is clear of her Harbor and on the high sea, where she is destined to operate, her commander must keep a keen watch for enemy craft. He remains on the surface as much as he can. his conning tower and small deck being jiist above water and bls periscope sticking up 15 or 20 feet further. This Is the normal cruising position. . When submerged the gasoline engines, must bq stopped and the submarine run by its electric batteries. No submarine can cruise under water for more t than about eight hours at a time withmit coming up 6r more air. If it be desired to rest on the bottom it may remain under a little longer without endangering the men on board. There are no submarines built that

can descend to a depth greater than 150 feet. Consequently there is very little resting on the bottom once they start on a cruise far out to sea. A submarine that wishes to dodge vessels afloat may sink and remain beneath the water until It figures that all dangeb is past. Her commander will know when fie has descended about eighty feet and he will remain there. He has delicate instruments aboard —sounding bells some call them —that convey to him the throb of a propeller. He can then cruise by compass to some other portion of the sea and there'take his chances Of being discovered when coming up. When rising to the surface for air and observation those on submarines in war time take chances. They have no way of learning the presence of some drifting trawler armed with a light gun that can destroy them. Nor can they know a torpedo-boat destroyer is waiting, ready with her sharp prow to ram them. Aviation has proved of great assistance in the hunt for submerged submarines. Observers in hydroplanes can “spot” the submarine even when submerged and warn torpedo boats of its presence. When the submarine has poked her periscope above water and those on board have noted the sea is clear she can rise. She remains at the cruising depth while searching for her prey or w’atching for the appearance of fighting ships, from which she will flee. She is defenseless and must be careful lest she be destroyed while trying to launch her torpedo. Therefore she is used principally as a commerce raider. If at the cruisingdepth HieJookout sights the smoke of some vessel the course Is changed, and when at the proper distance the submarine is sunk beneath the surface, only the periscope sticking up. - - “Noiselessly we slip- closer' nnrt closer in our exciting chase,” the commander of one of the U-bqats has related. “The main thing was that our periscope should not be observed so that the steamer would not change her course at the last moment and escape us. Very cautiously I stick just the tip of the periscope above the surface at intervals of a few minutes, take the position of the steamer in a second, and, like a flash, pull it down again. ‘This second was sufficient for me to see what I wanted to see. The steamer was to starboard and was heading at a good speed across our bows. To judge from the foaming waves which were thrown off from the bows I calculated that her spefed must be about sixteen knots.

• ■ Estimating Speed. “The hunter knows how important it# is to have a knowledge of the speed at which his prey is moving. He can Hie.-spee< v£loser when it is a wounded hare than when it is one which in flight at high speed rushes past. It was only necessary for me, therefore, to calculate the speed of the ship, for which a sailor has an experienced eye. I then plotted the exact angle we needed. 1 measured this by a scale which had been placed above the sights of the* periscope. Now I only had to let the steamer come along until it had reached the zero point on the ; periscope and fire the torpedo, which then must strike its mark. “You see, it is very simple. I estimate the speed of the boat, aim with the periscope, and fire at the right moment.” ..... Submarine commanders must calculate well the speed of the vessel at which they intend firing and figure exactly where it will be when the torpedo shall hit It. They have instruments for measuring the speed of the vessel. The commander who will be successful' In a surprise attack must prove correct tn his presumption that he has not been observed. The vessel must continue at Its usual speed. Then it Is merely' a mathematical problem, worked out with a $4,0U0

KANSAS FARMER IS REAL STAY-AT-HOME

Smith Center. Kan. —Bay Conaway, a farmer of this county, surely Is entitled to the title of champion stay-at-home. Born four miles from this city, Conaway has never been more than 27 miles from his birthplace, and when he made that trip he enjoyed his first and only ride on a passenger train. He Is thirty years old. married and has several children.

torpedo that goes through the ocbati just a few feet below the surface. Masters of merchantmen can escape torpedoes if they are seen soon enough to change their course. Speed and a quick answer to the helm are necessary for the successful submarine dodger. Constant lookout must be maintained for the submarines Submarines have greater speed than the average freighters. That Is why the latter are so easily overhauled and attacked by the deck guns with which the larger U-lmats are equipped. When Lusitania Was Torpedoed. When the Lusitania was torpedoed, just off of the Old Head of Kinsale, on the south coast of Ireland, on May 7, 1915, this Is what was observed by one of the passengers, J. H. Brooks of Bridgeport, Conn., when interviewed by the London correspondent of the World two days later: “At about-ten o’clock, ship's time, the fog lifted and our speed increased to about seventeen knots. At two o’clock I finished a light lunch and passed up on the boat deck and up the little stairway which leads to the hurricane deck. “As I reached the comer pf the Marconi house I looked out over the sea. It was calm as a lake and the sun was shining. Suddenly I saw the wake of a torpedo coming toward us, and then the torpedo itself. It was traveling, I estimate, about thirtyfive miles an hour. The torpedo, plainly visible about three feet below the surface, was, I should say, about twelve feet Jong. “I rushed to the side of the ship, leaned over the railing and looked to see it strike us. I realized at once the aim was perfect. My impressions, as I analyze them now, were most peculiar. My chief thought w*as how beautiful the deadly Instrument was as it skimmed along. “The torpedo was fired after the ship had passed the submarine. It struck us at an oblique angle just below where I- -was standing, directly opposite the forward funnel. “My first thought was that the funnel might fall; to escape this I jumped to the shelter of the Marconi house. I had taken three steps when the deluge of water hurled up by the explosive knocked me down and then there was A rain of debris which seemed to have been forced up through the decks.” The California. When the California was torpedoed on February 7 last, while off the north coast of Ireland, with a loss of 41 persons, two of whom were children born in Philadelphia, the bubbles in the wake of the torpedo were noticed by Captain Henderson just before the vessel was struck. ‘Tire on that spot!” he called through the speaking tube to the crew manning the 4.7-inch gun mounted aft. The steamship was struck before the gun could be trained, however. “It seemed fairly to lift the ship out of the water,” said one of the survivors. “Many of the passengers and crew were thrown from their feet, and, besides the five killed instantly, more than a score were injured by..fiying. splinters.”

WINS RANK AS COLONEL

Colonel Girard-Mangin is the only woman doctor in France who has been called into service at the front. For two years she has complete charge of a great hospital at Verdun, and so successful has she been that she has been gazetted to the rank of colonel.

One Red Rose, Consideration.

New York.—A single ■ red rose To be paid every June to Evans Dick, New York broker, is the consideration for a piece of property just transferred to Mrs. Celyna Fitzgerald, widow, here.

WELCOME FOR ALL

What the Crdss Proclaims to All Who Will Heed the Message That It Conveys.

What does the cross stand for in our thinking? First of all it stands for the utmost effort on the part of God to bridge a chasm between himself and errant man. What mote could the prodigal’s father have dotle than he did when he ran to meet the ragged, footsore wanderer, before he reached the gate of home. The cross Is where God meets the penitent long before he reaches home. The attitude of God toward the sinner, the temper of God toward the man who has fallen and failed, is revealed in the cross as nowhere else. That there is welcome for the sinner, and that the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind, the cross proclaims as nothing else. There Is the story of the king many of whose subjects rebelled against him. He might have crushed them, but he was a magnanimous monarch, who preferred to win them. So he appointed an envoy to confer with them, offering amnesty to such as conformed to reasonable requirements, and appointed a day and a place for them to come to him, relate the story of their wrongs* as they conceived them, promising that if their complaints were well founded their wrongs should be redressed. The meeting place was at a distance from the king’s palace and under the spreading broadcast of an ancient oak. The rebels came and were received by the king himself. They stated their grievances, which the king himself guaranteed should he redressed; and each rebel, putting his hands between the king’s hands, swore to be his faithful man thereafter.

The Cross for Mankind. “The parallel is not no complaints against God. He has not wronged us nor oppressed us. Yet we are rebels, and he invites us to return and be reconciled to him. Now what is the cross? The cross is the spreading tree under which the king of heaven meets his rebel subjects and receives them with open arms and pitying heart There once came to me a yonng mau who had run away from home. He was too proud to ask to be taken back. His father was too proud to ask him to come back. The boy said, “I would be glad to go back if only the way were open.” Well, the way was opened presently to personal intercession, and the runaway boy w’as restored to his father’s arms and his mother’s heart Does anyone of us say, “I would be glad to go back home to God, if only the way were open?” _ The cross is the way home! . - Lives Again in His Followers. Jesus laid down his life at the cross, but he finds his life again in the lives of all who follow him. Whatever we sacrifice when we enter his discipleship, we find again on earth and in heaven. There came into a country district not long ago a demonstrator of a remarkable machine. In the martet place of a village where the country people gathered on a holiday, he set up his machine and asked for common metal objects, articles of iron or brass, or even tin. He took them and Immersed them in the silver bath and presently restored them to their own-' ers transfigured at least exteriorly, changed as to their nature. At the cross of Christ by faith we who yield our lives as common Instruments of Christian service discover a similar metamorphosis, yet not confined to the surface., for IL penetrates throughout. We give him clay and get back iron. We give him iron and get back brass. We give him brass and get back silver. We give him silver, and -gald- ls our reward. Gold, we offef, and lo! eternal life is burs. —Rev. Charles C. Albertson, D. D.

PRAYER AND HOW TO PRAY

Firm in the Belief That God Loves Him la How the Christian Should Approach the Throne. But you say: “God la omniscient and needeth not that I should tell you my need.” Why do you hot also say: “God is omnipotent and needeth not that I should sow my field”? He chooses to use means, and prayer is one of them. If my little boy can influence his father, then ! can influence mine. Do you suppose that the only being in the universe who cannot answer prayer is the one who made the universe —the one who alonehas all power at his command? No! No! I tell you that I am not going to live without a God, and: a God who is better to me than l am to mychildren. He has told me to call him my Father, and so I will. And when I cannot see him because of the dark, I will trust him in the dark, and pray just the same. I do not believe that it wttl do anybody any harm to feel that God loves us, that his ear is always open to our cry, and that, while he would have us use all the agencies within our power, he is ready to help us our need. And though he may not always grant my prayer he will always answer it; though sometimes because he loves me, he may answer “No.” “My Will, not thine, be dona!” That is not prayer. That is dictation, not supplication. That is the demand of the rebel; “Thy will, not mine, be done!” That is the breathing of Jesus. And that is prayer—Rev. George Live with men aS if God saw you; converse with God as if men heard' you.—Seneca.