Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 155, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1918 — Page 2

The Pious Devil

By KATE JORDAN Of The Vigilantes

Since that June day In 1914 when the assassination at Sarajevo gave the German kaiser, and the cormorants who gutturaled with him over the council tables, the opportunity for the crime against mankind for which they had been preparing for fifty years, we have had him described, quoted, photographed by the highest men of many countries —men of honor, whose word cannot be questioned. His vanity is colossal —something to gibe at. Raymond Hitchcock described It when, as a reason for his having made the war, he explained that “the kaiser was all dressed up with nowhere to go.” He is always “dressed up,” either as an hussar, an admiral, as this, or that, and lately, even as a Turk. Yes, William Hohenzollern is “crazy about himself.” He likes the way he “carries the duds.” With vanity there is always arrogance; and he is arrogant. His mustache ends alone are damning evidence of that. The points point up at him. It is evident, too, in his addiction to posing bn a horse —he can look down, and ride over anything on foot. With vanity and arrogance, treachery makes a good third. In bls own mind. the first two traits set him apart, a glorified unit; a law unto himself. What is, therefore, just common decency to other men has no meaning for one who is.law. Because of -this he can break his word, lie, cheat, steal, murder at every turn of the game—as he has done from the first mdment: These three traits could not exist without breeding cruelty. The German Insensibility to suffering in others looms large in the “all-highest.” In sheer savagery he has outdone the most barbarous Turk that ever lived. He has directed the slaughter of millions of men. And not only of his enemies—make no mistake of that! He has .directed the slaughter of his own peasant and artisan armies with as untrembling a finger. It might be well for the Germans in this, country who secretly yearn over the fatherland to think of this: The German kaiser does not spare his people. He murders his own —as a cat eats its own —when the idea seems good for aristocratic and Hohenzollern reasons. Vanity, arrogance, treachery and cruelty! Surely these are enough of hell to exist in one man. But there is another, and it reeks from the brew—this is hypocrisy. Yes, this man of lies and torn treaties, whose armies were directed to treat the betrayed Belgians as hyenas treat the graves they pull to pieces for bones; this killer of babes; this murderer of the wounded —is pious! If one were to believe him, each of his horfors has had God’s auditing. During this last year he has grown very old and white of hair. Some late photographs of him that have reached this country show no arrogance at all. No, he is now markedly sanctimonious and very, very sad. No wonder. He —and God—have not had the easy time that he expected. You see he had the restaurant picked out and the date set for his triumphal dinner in Paris around Christmas, 1914. There was reason for his feeling so sure. When he started across Belgium, killing and burning all in his path, he was most hideously prepared forthe fight' he knew he would meet instance. Perhaps it is not generally known Just how prepared he was in a onesided infamy. From sure authority I have recently read of the tons of barbed wire, 15 years in the making, that went with those first troops; that every German soldier as he took his first step over the Belgian frontier with Paris as his goal, had in his kit tubes of liquid gas and a perfectly constructed gas mask, also years and years in the making. When the kaiser ruminated on the liquid gas that was to come as a surprise upon his defenseless enemies while his own men were supermen, immune, is it any wonder that the points of his mustache waggled in a sweet, slow smile? Any wonder that he saw himself in Paris by Christmas, eating sauerkraut prepared by a French chef? Well, in spite of all that he has brought to make solid his loathsome ambition, he is not in Paris. He is in Berlin, or near it, and glad to stay there. He hadn’t counted on England—and England’s navy bottled up his ports; her millions poured over the channel after him. He was sure Italy would hold to a feeble sort of promise to back him up if he were good. Italy thought hlnj rotten bad; and so she went after him. He wasn’t afraid of America. America was too busy making money, too happy in selfishness, and luxury, and indolence. America would never fight She was like an overfed cat Asleep in the sun. But from the time he sank the Lusitania America has really been at war with him in spirit, as she is now in reality. When she did wake up she put her head under the pump and the coia water made her vision so dear she could see nothing but the kaiser—ahd a gun. And so, tn spite of vanity and arrogance, and treachery ahd cruelty, and that cosy, comrady way he has with his God—not our God we say with full hearts!—though he has succeeded in bringing chaos upon the world, he has

gained nothing. Instead he has lost much. And he will lose more. If necessary the whole w’orld will rise to put him down. Something in thexsoul of mau could not tolerate subjection to anything so visibly monstrous. What will Germany be when the wai is over? Industrially and commercially a cripple and a mendicant. And how inany centuries must pass before the German people by right living and fair' thinking can wipe away the stain this pious devil has put upon their name?

SLACKERS OLD AND NEW

By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY of the Vigilantes. The papers chronicle day by day the steady advance of the British soldiers northward through Palestine. Their lines extend from the Jordan to the sea and they are slowly but surely driving the Turks before them in this latest, greatest and most decisive crusade. If the followers of Mahomet can make any stand against the followers of Christ it will surely be in the plain of Esdrafelon, one of the natural battlefields of the world. It is singular how some places lend themselves inevitably to conflict. The plain of Jezreel, to give it another name, is one of these. It has been fought over continually since Thothmes there defeated the Hittites in the dawn of recorded history. Jew and Gentile; Canaanite, Assyrian, Babylonian, Scythian, Persian, Greek and Roman contested for its mastery in the East; English, French, Italian, German, Arabian, and Turk from Godfrey and Richard and Saladin to Napoleon drenched its fertile soil with blood in more modem times.. May the forthcoming be the last of its many battles, and Allenby the last of the long line of crusaders. One of the most decisive of the conflicts upon that plain occurred in 1296 B. C. when Barak, the Lightning, inspired by Deborah led ten thousand men down the slopes of Mount Tabor in a successful night onfall and surprise of the army of the oppressor. Jabin of Hazor, under the command of Slsera. The Hazorites were disastrously defeated, driven in panic terror down .the narrow pass cut by the Klshon, then in full flood, and killed or drowned in large numbers. Deborah made a great song about the triumph. One stanza runs this way: “Curse ye Meroz, said the Angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” No one knows where Meroz lay. No ruined vestiges remain to identify it. There is no other mention of it in the pages of history. There is no ground even for speculation about it. Yet for over thirty-two centuries it has been pilloried in its Infamy in that immortal song. Whatever its prosperity and its works, whatever its hopes and achievements, the loves and hates, the successes or failures, of its people—they are all forgotten in the blistering, withering condemnation of the singer. It stands as a place accursed forever. Perhaps its utter oblivion Is the result of the merited condemnation. Shall there be written against our city, against our land, the curse of Meroz? Shall we apply to these and to ourselves this slackers’ text? Or shall we come to the help of the Lord today, tomorrow and forever, in the great conflict now, and at all times, being waged in Europe and everywhere against sin and the devil? Curse ye Meroz? Non nobis, Domine —Not unto us, Oh Lord!

SOULS

By HAROLD CRAWFORD STEARNS

of the Vigilantes. I have a German neighbor Who has a son Twelve years old, Yesterday afternoon He was playing In the yard. Some other youngsters passed And called out: “Hey, Joey, you Germans are, going to get licked. How do you like being a German, Joey?" Joe’s cheeks flamed And his little fists clenched. “I ain’t a German, see!” he cried. And there t were tears In his voice And his soul? Were tears there, too? We and ours Must be very careful these days About the souls Of youth.

CONQUEST

By HENRI CHAPELLE.

of the Vigilantes. The broad, beloved life es a peace* ful, home-keeping nation, is a product, not an ordinance to be proclaimed. Why, then, do we talk of negotiating peace, when it has been destroyed by violence? The forces that make peace must first be reestablished. One might as well talk of peace to a man struggling in the hands of a murderous highwayman. One might as well talk of a peace settlement with the thief, to a man who has been, robbed. Wherever moral I—ace are involved, the Instinct of mankind demands a clean-cut conquest of evlh Wherever there is a definite attempt to injure another person, the one assailed knows he must win a decided ponquest to be safe. Wherever there is a man who Ilves justly, he is entitled to conquest over those who attacked him. Hight, safety, and justice all demand conquest over wrong, danger and brutality. Let conquest be the word we use in speaking of the disposition at tills war."’ '

THE Riy(S3ELAER DAILY REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

Our Part in Feeding the Nation

(Special Information Service, United States Department of Agriculture.) PLANT DISEASES AT MARKETS

This Excellent Food Has Been Converted Into Waste by Disease Germs Whose Ravages Could Have Been Prevented.

MEASURES TAKEN TO PREVENT LOSS

Inspectors Detect Diseased Vegetables and Fruit Arriving at Destination. COUNTY AGENT IS NOTIFIED Belling Value of Inferior Product Is Decreased When Arriving on Market—Steps Taken to Combat Various Disorders. To check the loss from plant diseases in shipments—which also means a loss of time, labor, material, and transportation—the food products inspectors of the bureau of markets stationed in most of the large receiving centers now keep close watch for plant diseases on fruits and vegetables arriving on the markets. Bad Product Not Wanted. Diseased fruits and vegetables are not wanted in the markets any more than on the farm, and when carlot shipments arrive showing evidence of plant diseases their selling value is decreased even if none of the produce must be thrown away. Sometimes, in the case of very perishable crops, like berries or lettuce, there are serious losses of food because the shipments carried plant diseases when loaded. While no shipper would knowingly load badly infected fruits or vegetables, such produce may reach the markets in poor condition because the disease was present when loaded and developed in transit. This is especially true where shipments are made without providing proper ventilation or refrigeration. Steps to Combat Disease. Whenever shipments of produce suffering from plant diseases arrive the Inspectors immediately notify the shipper, and through the pathologists of the department of agriculture the county agent in the locality where the diseased shipment originated is instructed to take steps to combat the disease. Although the inspection service has been in operation only a few months as a part of the general inspection work of the department in certifying to shippers the condition of carlot shipments as they arrive at markets, already it has resulted in the detection of diseases In many shipments, and has aided growers and plant pathologists of the department in controlling the outbreaks of diseases and preventing their spreading to other sections of the country.

Shortage of Harvest Labor.

Of all th<» agricultural labor problems confronting the farmers of the country at this time, probably the most serious is that of getting enough help to harvest the wheat crop. In normal times there was a shifting population of from 30,000 to 50,000 men who followed the harvest season from the South to the North of the wheat belt. Floating labor is no longer available to any such great extent, and the matter Of harvest labor, always a problem, Is now a more serious one. Mr. E. E. Frlzell, the department of agriculture’s farm help specialist for Kansas, recently wrote: “After full and complete investigation, I am free to say ♦hat the farmers of Kansas will not be able to save the wheat crop unless they can get help from some of the surrounding states.” What is true of Kansas is probably true of most of the other wheat states. The department of agriculture and the department of labor, with fairly adequate funds available, are using their best efforts to solve the problem, which they undoubtedly will do. But the city people of the states Involved, by proper organisation and co-operation, can help a great deal. If they care at all for more wheat bread and less war bread

during the next 12 months, they will help a great deal. If their patriotism is at all manifest, not to say militant, they will help a great deal. For the nation to mature a wheat crop and then fail to harvest it would be exactly as 'bad policy as for the government to mobilize and train an army and then poison it

PLANT FOOD DISEASES

• You know something of how • the United States department of » Agriculture protects America’s > 100,000,000 consumers against > diseased animal products. • Do you know that the depart- • ment is just as vigilant in pro- > tectlng the same consumers > against diseased vegetable ,prod- • nets? > That, anyhow, is true. £ But do not be too conceited > over what the department is do- • ing for you. » The department is Interested » in the consumer as an individ- > ual —in his personal welfare, in • seeing that he has good, whole- • some foods. » But it is also Interested in the J population en masse—in seeing > that everybody gets ENOUGH ? food. • Diseased vegetable products, of £ course, ate not good for the ln- > dividual. But there is another • element. When vegetables are • allowed to become diseased, in » transit or otherwise, and have > to be thrown away, the total sup- • ply of available food is reduced • by just that much, and some- > body has to do some more > scrimping. > Those are the two reasons a why United States depart- • ment of agriculture devotes a > good deal of attention to pro- > tectlng vegetable foods against • diseases found at markets.

To Aid Man Power.

Prof. G. I. Christie, assistant to Secretary of Agriculture Houston, recently pointed out some striking illustrations of how the available labor supply could be used to much better advantage if supplemented by machinery ; of how some labor is not fully utilized because machinery is not used. On one farm in the corn belt he saw two strong men, each with a team of horses and a single moldboard plow, following each other around, the field. On an adjoining farm a seven-teen-year-old boy, driving four horses to a two-furrow plow, was doing as much and better work. On one farm two men with two horses to a wagon were spreading manure with forks. On an adjoining farm one man with three horses to a manure spreader was accomplishing a larger amount of work in a more efficient way. For lack of proper machinery the labor of one of the men plowing and one of the men scattering manure was thrown away. Professor Christie points out that during the rest of the season farmers can handle their work with a materially .reduced number of men if they %vail themselves of such things as the double cutaway harrow, wide cutter bar of mower and binder, sheaf carrier on the grain harvester, tractor, haying tools, milking machine.

Your County Agent.

Do not forget that there is a sort of deputy secretary of agriculture who is always ready to help you with your poultry problems. He is the farm demonstrator for the United States department of agriculture. He is commonly known as “the county agent.” If there are young people in your household he would no doubt like to enroll them in the clubs for poultry raising which are carried on in most of the states. He is a good man to get in touch with—and to keep in touch with.

Thorough cultivation in the garden is of much greater value than artificial watering. £

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

JACK OF ALL TRADES.

“I like men who do things.’’ “Well, I have done as many different things as anybody you know.” Ever Notice It? Phe man that wails that times are hard You will observe full oft, Is looking for a berth in life Particularly soft. ' —Boston Transcript. Truth About Premonition. “Once in a while an error turns out to be the truth,” said the editor. “How is that?” asked the caller. “Why,” replied the editor, “in writing about the death of Mrs. Rounder I referred to Mr. Rounder as ‘the bereaved widower,’ but the compositor made it ‘the relieved widower,’ ind it got into the paper that way, and Rounder never even called up to demand a correction.” —London Ht-Blts. At a Disadvantage. “My friend,” said the philosopher, 4 my motto is, ‘Stay on the sunny side if the street.’ ” “I’ve tried that," replied the pessimist, “but it won’t work.” “Why not?" “The minute I brighten up people who know me as a man under a cloud :hink that’s an opportune time to strike me for a loan." His Mistake. Jack —Is it poverty that stands between us? Marion —Yes. Jack —I admit that I’m poor, but I have an aged uncle who is very rich ind a bachelor. He is an invalid and ;annot live much' longer. Marion—How kind and thoughtful )f you. Will you introduce me to him? At Grips. Singleton —You and your good wife have led a happy life, treading the path pf wedded bliss hand in hand. Benedict —Not hand in hand —hand to hand. Greased. “The trouble with you is that you flon’t seize your opportunities.” “Oh, I grab at ’em fast enough, but jarn ’em, they’re greased.” right in it.

"Virginia is consistent in everytning, isn’t she?” “What now?” ■— —r _ “Why, her new mermaid gown ii to,be made of watered silk.” Less Trouble. “My wife hates to answer the doorbell Sunday afternoon when she’s com sortable in a kimono.” “Mine, too. But she says she’d rather take the trouble to dress that to wear herself out guessing arounc the circle of her friends trying to fig are out who rang.” In These Days. “It’s as useless as the fifth wheel ts a wagon." , “That adage is out of date. All automobiles carry an extra tire."

DADDYS EVENING FAIRY TALE

by MARY GRAHAM BONNER

THE PINE NEEDLES. “I must thread my needle before I begin my work,” said a. little girl as she sat Under the big pine trees, with another little girl. “What’s that I hear?” asked one of the pine needles. “She speaks about threading her needle? Am I her needle, or are you her needle, or who in the word is her needle? And what is thread?” The poor needles were very nervous. And the other little girl spoke next: “I like to knit better than I do to sew because then I can use four needles.” “Oh, dear, oh dear,” said the pine needled. “There’s a child who needs four needles. Do you suppose she threads us too?” They watched for a long time, trying to move away from the children so they would not be used. They whispered to the pl nd tree saying: Blow about and move us away. Sway, swing, swing and sway. For we’ve just this minute heard it said. That into needles they will put thread. And the pine tree whispered to the breeze: Blow, blow, make me sway, So I can move the needles away. Please, Mr. Wind, would you mind Doing this act so very kind? And the wind said: I love you, pine tree. Tou are my delight. In the winter to see. . And in summer you’re right, just right. “Tm glad I please you,” said the pine tree. So the wind blew the pine tree and the pine tree’s branches swayed and blew about the little pine needles. But. no sooner had all this happened than they saw that the children had other things called needles. They hadn’t wanted pine needles at all. “It’s a good thing though,” said one of the pine needles, “that we’re not used for sewing. I’d hate to go into a sewing basket.” “rd hate to go Into that great big knitting bag,” said another pine needle. “Goodness only knows ail that may be in that bag. I’ve never seen such a big one. Oh, I’d be frightened if ever I were put in a bag like that.” “But in a sewing basket,” said the first pine needle, “it would be far worse. I saw scissors there with which she cut all sorts of things—and suppose I were cut in little pieces! I might bump straight into that pair of scissors in the dark and Instead of saying, ‘How-do-you-do,’ the scissors would probably cut off my head, or some part of me. I have no special head of course.” “Oh, that knitting bag would be so dreadful because it could hide so many

“I Must Thread My Needle."

things- Gracious! it might even hide a small furnace or an open fire-place — or anything.” “I don’t believe it could hold a fireplace,” said the first pine needle. “It would be dangerous, for the bag Itself might catch afire.” “I wouldn’t be any too sure of that bag," said the second pine needle. “I don’t like the looks of it. lam sure I wouldn’t trust it for a moment. It might be made like a grate so it couldn’t catch on fire, but would make everything else catch on was put in it.” “There .are no flames coming from it now?’ “It might not be lighted.” “Oh well, we’re not going in those bags because we’re not sewing and knitting needles,” said the first pine needle. “I’m very, very glad,” said the second pine needle. “I like the wild and free life, the pine trees and the wind, the snow and the rain and the sunshine and the beautiful out-of-doors world, but I would never like to live a life in a knitting bag or a sewing basket. I can Imagine nothing more dull in all the world. Nothing, absolutely nothing could be more dull.” “To be surrounded by half-made pieces of work,” said the first pine needle, “and pin-cushions and thread and a thimble. I feel sorry for those other needles.” “So do I,” said the second pine needle, “but we need not be ashamed of them, for most assuredly, they are not any relatives of ours!”

Important.

A teacher was trying to impress upon her pupils recently the fact that history repeats Itself and that many things which happen today are the counterpart of similar things that happened years and years ago. “Now, will anyone tell me of anything new of importance that has happened during the , last 25 years?” inquired the teacher. “Me," answered one of the pupils.