Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 190, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1917 — Page 3

Winning a Prize

By George Elmer Cobb

(Copyright, by W. G. Chapman.) “To lie resilient,” pronounced Sidney Morse saplently, “receptive and expan-sive—-that is my rule of life. I’m an India rubber man, so to speak. There are two classes In the world: the man ■of iron and the gutta percha man. Tm the latter. Come up cross-grained against the Iron kind and brrr-rr! he anchors himself and crack, rattle, bang! the hard blows hammer and dent him. When fate bunts me I give in elastically. There is a graceful yielding, which buffets the blow and breaks its force, soothes the irascibility of the assailant, In fact. Then out I come restored and no harm done. “Bah 1” commented the law partner of Morse scornfully—“lack of force, shows weakness. Drive ahead, domineer, take the lead. Smash your way through difficulties!” “See here, Black,” purred Morse in his soft persuasive way, “I’ll call your attention to the last case we had. You threatened and tried to scare and played the third degree on the fellow we wanted to compromise on a risky suit. He just laughed and yawned at you. I tried. I was soft as butter, persuasive and fatherly, and the re-

"Now I’m in Love."

suit: I won him over. Big fee, everybody satisfied.” “H’m ! that was a last resource,” began Black. “Which it is generally policy to play first,” retorted Morse. “Now I’m in “Aha!” snorted Black, pricking up his ears. t “Fact. Its that handsome widow, Mrs. Nellie Briscoe. She has a fortune, but I’m not after that. Why, what’s the matter?” The matter was that Black, muttering and scowling, summarily banged his way out of the office, crushed his hat down over his head and made a bee line for the street. “Hello!” breathed Morse, big-eyed and enlightened, “I begin'to see the light.” Suddenly it occurred to him that ■on two occasions when he had called on the pretty widow, his law partner had happened in. Of course, that was natural, for the firm had charge of Mrs. Briscoe’s business affairs. For the first time, probably, Morse was aware that every Monday evening Black made a call upon the fascinating widow. Black had learned that Morse spent each Sunday afternoon-at the comfortable residence of their mutual client. Hard as nails, as his more flexible, good-natured partner had indicated, Black sought to make an impression upon Mrs. Briscoe along his usual lines of decisiveness and superior intelligence. He talked law and business until the widow was fairly bored. He sought ,to convince the fair lady that- to have a man like himself about the house would conserve every penny of her handsome fortune, would be to have a husband, a sentinel, a systematlzer of no ordinary caliber, all In one. Offhanded, ingenious Morse, on the contrary, could not belle his suture. He was jolly, just rotund enough to look boyish and appealing. He petted the canary bird, he made a rare friend of the house dog, he captivated completely all the servants about the place, he made his charming hostess smile at his artless simplicity as to the rougher ways of the world. Someibow he Impressed her with the suggesitlen that he would be a heedless, hap-py-go-lucky, sunshiny sort of a fellow -alii his days, chasing away the shadows and, indeed, in need of a guardian who could hold his heart’s affection by coddling him. Mrs. Briscoe was a practical sort of a woman, but her first husband had been a wise, solemn college professor, and always abstracted in subjects far ■beyond her mental grasp. Black had common sense, that was sure, and land would be a credit to any wife as to dignity and the manner in ..which he always comported himself. Somehow, though, he reminded the fair

widow of her sedate first husband. She respected Black, but he chilled her. “Hello!” bolted out Morse with his usual expansiveness, just at dusk. “Hello!” retorted Black In a species of irascible snarl. “Why don’t you run into a fellow?” “Me?" challenged Morse, with a great, jolly grin. “Oh, no. Black, you thin, rushing beings, all energy, may run; I never do. I sort of balloon along, free add easy. Anybody can see me coming. They have to guess at you in the dark. Where are you going?” “I was just taking a stroll.” “So was I,” echoed Morse. “It’s a long spell since Monclay, eh?” and he poked Black in the ribs, who glowered sourly. “And it’s a long spell till Sunday,” he supplemented, candid and grimacing. “Ha! ha ! Caught one another sneaking around the block where the sweet, fair and rich and rare widow lives. Ho! ho!” *T don’t like your familiarity one bit!” muttered Black“Nonsense! You and I cannot deceive one another. See here, I’ve a proposition to make. Let us each send a declaration of love to Mrs. Briscoe, and wait and see whom she picks. Zounds!” They were not a hundred yards away from the Briscoe home when a vivid scream alarmed them. Down the front steps there came rushing the housemaid, wild-eyed, frenzied, fAntically crying out: “A lamp exploded—the house is on fire and Mrs. Briscoe is hemmed in upstairs! Call the fire department. Oh, dear!. Oh, dear!” and the speaker dashed on madly. Both men made a rush for the widow’s home. Both realized that the situation was truly serious, as they noted that the entire lower floor was in a vivid blaze. The front door was open, but one glance at the broad staircase, a mass of flames, daunted them. A faint scream directed them to the side of the house. They traced its cause. “Save me!” uttered the plaintive and affrightened tone of Mrs. Briscoe. There she was, standing, wringing her hands at the window, wreaths of smoke framing her pale and perturbed face. “Walt!” shouted Black. “A ladder —l’ll get you down,” and dashed away. “Ladder nothing!” called Morse soothingly. “Don’t get rattled, Mrs. Briscoe. Just gee over the balustrade and hang. I’ll catch you,” and planting his feet firmly, he stretched out his arms Invitingly. “Jump!” Alas! The widow had obediently followed his directions. For a moment she clung to the rail of the little balcony. Just as she let go Morse changed his footing to steadily anchor himself. His foot slipped. Thump! The graceful form of the fair widow landed directly upon him! “Ha!” He exuded a desperate breath, for the contact was not light. “Soft as velvet, eh?” he chirped, “bounding as the yielding willow. Oh, you dear —safe! You landed like a feather. Oh, come, now—” but the widow had languished, had fainted in his arms as he got to his feet to support her. “Bah!” uttered Morse, ns Black came puffing and panting around the corner of the house, dragging a ladder. “She’d have been burned up, waiting for your clumsy fire-escape. Look here —and I’ll do it to her face when she recovers,” and the daring fellow kissed the charming widow squarely on the lips.

ON THE “DUSTY” MISSOURI

Humorist of Other Days Told Many Yarns About Navigation of River When Water Was Low. There are times when the Missouri river spreads thinly over a bed that Is miles wide. Then it is that its navigation is difficult, between pools. The humorists of other days used to say that the deckhands of* stern wheelers were frequently sent ahead with garden sprinkling pots to moisten the channel, so that the boat could float through it. Once, it was said, the ciiptaln of a steamboat made the trip from Omaha to Kansas City fey taking advantage of rainy days. A story of great popularity in the sixties ran somewhat in this fashion: An upward-bound boat had been grounded for some days when the captain noticed a passenger, who had displayed impatience, carrying an empty bucket forward. “What are you going to do with that?” Inquired the captain. “I'm going to fill it with water from the side and throw it in front to give the boat a start,” replied the passenger. “You’ll do nothing of the kind,” commanded the captain, “we need all the water there is in this river to cook with.”

Uncertain aa to the Ending.

A Bratenahl youngster was writing a letter to Santa Claus. He had completed his list of requests, with infinite pains and many corrections, and had come to the closing sentence. Then he appealed to his mother. “Mother,” he said, “can you tell me about the proper way to end up this letter?” “Why sign your name, dear,and give your address.” “Yes, I know. But shall I say, •with lots Of love from Harold,’ like I do to papa, or ‘Amen,’ like I do to God?” —Cleveland Plain. Dealer.

Not in Stock.

Black —The modern drug store keeps about everything, doesn’t it? White—Yes, except something for the breath of scandaL—Town Topics.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER. IND.

The Flag

By EDWARD B. CLARK

The Flag is the commander-in-chief of America’s Army and Navy. When it passes the president of the United States must bare his head, for it is The Flag only which ranhs him in authority. The Service reveres The Flag. * The men are taught that it represents all that there is in duty, loyalty and patriotism. It is their first thought in battle as it is in peace. E.very day in the year is Flag Day in the Army and Navy. A soldier quicKly learns to love The Flag. It becomes to him the sign of all things worthy. The spirit of the Army is against everything that is not American. Patriotism is taught in the service as it is not taught elsewhere) and there is no preaching done. No man, no matter where he comes from, can go on day after day with the Stars and Stripes as the center of all things without getting devotion into his being. The Flag represents the ideals of a people. When standards are debased The Flag suffers. An inglorious nation cannot have a glorious flag.

TRAINED MEN TO COMMAND ARMY

Regular Officers to Be in Higher Ranks in Uncle Sam’s New Forces. MEN ASSURED OF GOOD CARE Provost Marshal General Crowder Likely to Be Given Command of Division of Men He Helped Call to the Service. By EDWARD B. CLARK. Washington. —It is assured that the higher ranks of command in the new national army, the army of the men selected for service, will bfe commanded by regular army officers promoted to temporary command for the period of the war. The case is exactly parallel to that of officers promoted to command volunteers In the old days. It is probable that the young soldiers of the new service can consider themselves lucky that officers already trained will be in the places of high command over them. A major general sees to it that his brigadier general looks after his brigade, and a brigadier general sees to it that a colonel looks after his regiment, and a colonel sees to It that the officers down the line of rank looks after their battalions, and companies, and if the “looking after” starts right it generally ends right > The process of raising the new army was Initiated by the military authorities, with Brigadier General Enoch H. Crowder, the provost marshal general, in charge of the work. After the drawing the machinery largely passed into the hands of civilians and thereby, as the war department viewed it, “the people were kept close to their army.” It is believed in Washington that General Crowder, who planned the registration and the draft, will be made a major general and given the command of a division of the young men whom he brought into the service by a process lacking the sting which usually attaches to conscription. Crowder Sees Much Service. Enoch H. Crowder, while he t has been judge advocate general of the army for some time, has seen long and active field service. He was for 15 years an officer of cavalry, and for over a year he was on the field of the fighting between Russia and Japan as a military observer for the United States with the forces of the Japanese. It has been said that by the process used the smart was taken out of conscription. It might also be said that it has been taken out of the service which will result from the process. Young men who joined the new national army under the selective service act need not fear that any officer of regulars or any noncommissioned officer of regulars in posts _of major and minor commands will treat the men under their charge In a spirit different in any way from that which animates the command of volunteers. There will be in the junior commissioned ranks of the new army some thousands of young Americans who have been trained in the reserve corps camps at Fort Sheridan, Plattsburg, Camp Ben Harrison, and in other places. Fear has been expressed that these young men, comparatively few of whom ever have seen service in the regular army, will have a sneer manifest in the method and manner of their command for the soldier who let the days of volunteering go by to wait for selection. '

Such a thing is not to be credited, but it is easy enough to picture some old regular officer in his wrath if a real case of this kind should be brought to his attention. The young fellow who went through Plattsburg to get a commission In three months and who takes on a manner of sneering superiority to the selected service man in his platoon, will get his, and get it quick. Regarded as Volunteers. The president of the United States is the commander in chief of the military forces. The president has said that the men of the new army will be regarded as a part of a nation of men who have volunteered. Not only orders but hints are taken from superior officers. The president ranks the major general, major general ranks the brigadier general, and there are several more who rank the first and second lieutenants. If any Fort Sheridan or Plattsburg rookie lieutenant sneers at the selected service man as a “conscript” he will not be able to dodge quick enough to get away from what will be dropped on him from the ranks above. They won’t sneer, however, for they are made of good stuff. Doubb-has been expressed here and there in the press of the country as to whether or not a man drafted into the service ever can make as good a soldier as the man who has volunteered. In a month’s time no one will know how a man got into the army. Every man of them will be “all for the colors and all for the service.” There never yet was a man worthy the name who did not learn to love the service when battle things were doing. The soldier life is an appealing one. It gets a grip on a man’s affections. He may have been doubtful, he may have been antagonistic at the beginning, but long before the end of the service comes, doubts and antagonisms go down the wind with the smoke of the sunset gun.

“FIGHTING PARSON” LEAVES FOR FRANCE

New York. —The Rev. Mercer Green Johnston, fighting parson of the Episcopal church, who quit as rector of Trinity parish, Newark, and scored its millionaire vestry when they interfered with his plans for helping organized "labor, is on his way to France with the Paris section of the American ambulance field service. . It Is understood that he goes as chaplain, although he is trained in all the duties of the service. Those who know him would not be surprised to hear of his giving full scope to an exceedingly vigorous temperament. Mrs. Johnston, who, among other accomplishments, is a graduate nurse of Johns Hopkins hospital, Baltimore, will accompany him. t

Bad Toe Bars Him.

Hayward, Wis.—Walter Blakey, aged twenty-seven, left Dr. J. A. Ballard’s office the other day dejected because his toe had assumed a semicircle form, barring him from enlisting in the local company of National Guards which is being organized. Blakey, a farmer, other than this one defect, was a perfect Specimen of manhood. ,

COUNTRY NEEDS MANY MARINERS

Census of Navigators Begun by Recruiting Service of the Shipping Board. NEED DATA FOR EMERGENCY _ ___ — 7 More Than 40,000 Said to Hold Government Licensee to Officer Ships of Ail Kinds—Many Have Left the Sea. Boston, Mass. —The United States shipplpg board recruiting service, of which Henry Howard is director, has started taking a country-wide census of licensed mariners, in order to deal intelligently with the present emergency. The board Is urging all licensed mariners who are engaged in shore occupations to come back to the sea, for the new merchant marine will need great numbers .of competent men. Data covering the numbers of licensed officers, together with the grades of ocean and coastwise licenses which they hold, have been prepared here for the recruiting service by the United States steamboat Inspection service. There are about 40.000 licensed officers. Many are not now engaged In the seafaring profession. These are all men of considerable sea experience, and it is to this class that the call to the sea that the board is now preparing will appeal. Draft for License Holder. gome leading authorities believe that all men who hold licenses should be drafted and forced to assist the government in the present ethergency. Others believe that unless the men come forward and serve willingly their licenses should be taken away. A letter has been sent by Henry Howard to every person in the country holding a license as officer of an ocean or coastwise steam or sail vessel and says In part: “The recruiting service of the United States shipping board is at present engaged in compiling detailed - statistics as to the number of persons holding United States licenses as officers of ocean or coastwise steam or sail vessels, their present address and occupation. _ —i—“This information is desired In order that this service may have a ready reference list of all officers available for service In the large number of vessels that will be placed In coastwise and overseas service. • “Opportunities for the advancement of licensed officers were never so promising as at the present time; and salaries are on a higher plane than ever before. “It has been said that to win this war the United States must provide ships in large numbers to offset the activities of the enemy submarines. These ships are required for the maintenance of our military forces on the battlefield and also to supply food and supplies to our allies.

Ship* Being Built. ‘‘Ships are now being built as rapidly as the facilities of our shipyards will allow. There are now under construction about 1,500,000 tons for private order for service in the coastwise or overseas trade; and in addition there are 1,900,000 tons building for government order for overseas service. Stupendous as these figures may appear, as compared to previous records of shipbuilding tn this country, even this output will be materially Increased as additional shipyards are completed. As soon as these ships are completed work will be commenced on others, contracts for . which have already been let.

“With the ships assured, the problem is presented of securing a sufficient number of licensed officers to man the vessels as they are made ready for service. “These pre days of self-sacrificft for every liberty-loving American. The I world must and shall be made free • that future generations may enjoy the i blessing of liberty, and you of course I realize the important part the officers and seamen of our merchant marine must take to bring success to the cans* of democracy. “The American seaman has never been a slacker, and history records that in every case of danger to our nation he has come valiantly to his country’M* aid without thought of personal comfort or advantage; and there Is every reason .to believe that the seamen of the present day Will be just as patriotic as their predecessors. Are I you willing to do your part to preserve the glorious traditions of our merchant sailor? “The United States shipping board, through its recruiting service, is now engaged in educating both deck and engineer officers free of charge, having established school? in cities along the seaboard and Great Lakes. “In addition, the recruiting service Is taking a census of the officers at present holding license in order that It may ipteUigentiy deal with the situation at hand. You are therefore requested to fill out the inclosed card and return it as soon as possib]#. To insure accurate records you should W careful to see that all blanks are properly filled in and contain the correct information. “Your country desires your service.’*

THE BREAD OF LIFE

Eating the Flesh and Drinking the Blood of the Son of Man. Jesus said: “I am the bread of life." “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; yea, and the bread which I will give Is my flesh, for the life of the world.* “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life In yourselves.” “He that eateth my flesh, and drlnkeyi my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Jews stumbled at this eating and drinking, as did Nicodemus at being “born again.” It may be that some of us, too, are stumbling, for thia very remarkable way in which the Master stated a very great truth has caused not little confusion in the religious world, some of it even In our own day. Whatever strangeness may have been fastened to these wonderful sayings of our Lord by those who would mystify his statements, or who would hide from the less Intelligent the great ideas the Master had in mind, nothing in all his teachings is more practical or more Important than the very thing, he is here saying, and he certainly intended them to be understood. He is saying some very intelligent things to a very materialistic people, and divine wisdom prompted him to clothe his Ideas In this very striking language.' It is necessary for us, also, to think, if we shall grasp the spiritual truths the Master intended to teach. And so, first of all, let us think of eating. But we must not confine our thinking simply to taking food into the stomach. While this is the literal, it is the limited idea; Much more is involved, else eating falls the purpose of eating. We must think of it in the more comprehensive sense as the process of appropriating the life element In physical food to the building up of the physical body; utilising the vital energy inherent in physical food in the construction of physical manhood. This process, in its entirety, is a wonderful thing, absolutely necessary to physical existence, whether at low or high cost of living. We may think of eating, and not think of all that is involved, but eating must mean the process in its entirety, or its purpose falls. - What is true of eating is equally true of drinking, and the same things may be said concerning It. It is the same principle of utilization or appropriation, the only difference being that In .eating we supply one requirement of the physical body, while in drinking we supply another. Different elements enter into the process of body-bulldlng, and these are appropriated, in part, by eating and drinking. Now, if we carry thlq idea of eating over into the realm of redemption, and if we will consider that the spiritual man must have food as well as the physical man, and then, if we understand that this Is just what Jesus was talking about, and will allow him to use the familiar form of the physical to express the spiritual, we will at once see the logic of his statements. We will readily understand how we are to “eat his flesh and drink his blood” in just the way in which Jesus used this language. Let us see how reasonable and how important his thought. He said: "No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” There is no solution of the problem without him. Then, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin,” and his blood cleanseth from all sin.” Jesus and his blood are the absolute first essentials. He, therefore, musl make the sacrifice necessary unto the remission of sin. And when that sacrifice is made for us, it must be utilized by us, if its benefits are to ba realized in us. Or, to state It otherwise, we must appropriate unto our salvation the sacrifice which was esential in his broken body and shed blood. To “eat his flesh and drink his blood" is a logical form of statement, if we give to eating its full meaning—that of appropriating his sacrifice unto our redemption, or to our spiritual life. And this must be actual or real, and just as practical, as to appropriate physical food to the use of our physical bodies. , It was after this manner the Savior was speaking. He simply used the form of statement familiar In the physical to’ express the less familiar truth concerning the spiritual. If we will do our thinking after the manner of his speaking, we will find that he was not saying such a strange thing, nor saying that thing In such strange way, after aIL ! The difficulty thrown around these statements has been in trying to make our Lord say what he was not trying to say, and not trying to understand what he was clearly saying.—A. L. Orcott, in Christian Standard- - .

Life a Pilgrimage.

| An old story tells of an Indian fakir who entered an Indian palace and spread his bed in one of its ante: chambers, pretending he had mistaken the building for a caravanserai. Taken before the prince for explanation, he Inquired what an Inn was. “A place where travelers rest before proceeding on their journey.” “Who dwelt here before you Y’ “My father." “Did he remain here?” “No, he died, and went away.” “And his ancestors?” “They also died and went away.” “Then,” replied the fakir, PI have made no mistake; ybor palace la an •nn after all.” ■ : ' - ■ •