Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 249, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 October 1918 — Page 2

Cheating Catherine

By IMES MACDONALD

(Copyright, MIS, toy tha McClura Newspaper Syndicate.) The last of her line was Catherine Van Wye, who lived with two maiden aunts In the old colonial mansion that had been the home of the Van Wyes for a hundred and forty years. Stiff and prim had been her upbringing, and not for a single instant had she been permitted to forget that she was a Van Wye—something rarer, something fairer, something so much closer to heaven than any one of the “common people.” After a fashion Catherine was pretty, but a little too slim, a little too wan. Her blood may have been blue, but also it was thin. She was delicate, but Catherine had wealth, was cultured in the ignorance of life as her grandmother had been —this "showed in her shy, rather wondering eyes—but she did have one redeeming trait which might save her from a bai+en life of oldmaid gentility—and that trait was curiosity. • The only man Catherine knew who was anywhere near her own age was John, the chauffeur. She used to sit primly behind John in the car and study the |mck of his well-set head and sturdy shoulders, and wonder about men in general as represented by John. If it had ever occurred to him, John might ha VP encouraged Catherine to think about him in particular. He might have even done this so successfully that she would have eloped with him, for John was a good-looking boy, but he had never once given Catherine a thought. A certain* little maid in the stone front over in the next block completely filled John’s head and heart Poor Catherine could never have competed with Adele, the little maid, for Adele- had blood-red lips and daring eyes—she was all curves and dash and vitality—and John was mad about her. However, John's presence always set Catherine’s curious mind to wondering about men in general. It wasn’t nice, of course, for to wonder about men was quite vulgar, she knew that her aunts had said so. They had impressed upon Catherine that she was a Van Wye and a sacred thing, and she believed it The idea of a man’s even so much hs touching her gave her shivers of horror—especially an ordinary * man of the People—for the People were terribly common, and Catherine was patrician, very patrician, indeed. Then one afternoon it so happened that Adele had occupied so much of John’s time and thought that he had neglected his job and the car, so much so that that neglected piece of mechanism stalled right on a busy crossing on the avenue. It certainly was embarrassing, for the traffic policeman was as sore as a wounded rhinoceros. He called John a “mutt,” and would probably have said worse things than that if it hadn’t been for Catherine’s patrician presence. But the engine would not start and the traffic was piling up behind them while the traffic regulator became more and more angry. “Here!” he roared. “Swing her down the middle of the block next the curb!” And as he heaved his massive weight against the back corner of the heavy car one Jim Brand detached himself from the passing throng and joined In pushing the heavy car out of the way. “You oughta be on the force, with them shoulders.” The policeman grinned his thanks to Jim Brand as they rolled the big car up to the curb. But Jim only laughed and waved his hand in a half salute as the other went back to his job. “Thank you very much indeed,” said Catherine primly as Jim Brand turned to her with his hat In his hand, and her eyes as she sat in the car were almost on a level with his own. His first thought was that she would have been pretty If she had a little more life to her.

“Shell have to go to the garage, miss," offered John, meekly. “I’ll get yon a taxi,” smiled John Brand. He did so, and handed her Into It most naturally by taking firm hold of her arm. And no young man had ever before taken hold of Catherine’s arm. From the taxi she leaned out and thanked him again, smiling just a little excitedly, for this was an adventure. Then, summoning all her courage, she said: “Were you going downtown? Perhaps I could drop you somewhere.” So Jim Brand got in beside her and they rolled down the avenue, at length stopping in front of Catherine’s home. “I—l was really on my way uptown,” confessed Jim Brand, humorously, “but I —wanted Jo ride with you.” - Catherine didn’t know what to say to that, so she Just looked —and then looked away, wondering If either of her aunts was observing the tableau as she and the strange young man stood there on the walk. “You’re not offended, are you?” he asked. “I—l should be” —she entered the gate and turned to him for a fleeting instant—’’but I'm not!” And with a little laugh she ran up the steps. The very next Sunday morning quite early Catherine crossed the street to the park opposite the houses The aristocracy of the square only use the park during the early hours, before the rabble of the city fills the beiiehes, so she sat herself down in the early morning sunlight and wondered about Jim J ' • ■:■■■' -i-. -v 3

Brand, who at that very moment came strolling toward her. “I hoped Td find you—-aren’t you go* ing to ask me to sit down*” Then he sat down anyway. It was qnite startling and very exciting. He questioned her and teased her, treated her just as if rite weren’t a Van Wye and sacred—just as if she were a girl whom he liked. ‘"Let's walk,” he finally said, rising and catching her by the hands to draw her to her feet. He was "like that—just sudden and abruptly.insistent —It took Catherine’s breath completely away. And the color came into her cheeks and lips, and animation to her eyes. She fairly sparkled in response to his vital presence, and she completely forgot herself and her aunts and tradition. So it went She met him many times. Apparently by accident, but really by arrangement, although Catherine herself never fully realized this. And suddenly her aunts noticed a change in her. She grew rounder, color became pronounced, her lips were red always and her eyes danced on the slightest pretext. The aunts were perplexed until one evening Catherine was late to dinner. She had been out all afternoon In the car. Jim Brand had riven John $5, and they had left John to his own devices while Jim took the wheel, with Catherine in the seat beside him. Together all afternoon they had breezed along through the country recklessly happy. Hence Catherine’s lateness to dinner. At the Van Wye table that night there was less conversation than usual.** The aunts were uneasy. Catherine’s father had been a "little wild in his youth, and the aunts wondered vaguely until Catherine arose from the table with a little smile. “Aunt Belinda, were you ever grabbed suddenly by a nice young man and hugged close up to his heart and kissed ever so many times right on the mouth before you realized what was happening?” "Whatever put such notions into your head, Catherine Van Wye? Certainly not IV said Aunt Belinda, severely. “Then I reel very sorry for you, Aunt Belinda,”, said Catherine, demurely, “for you have missed something.” “Catherine!” chorused the horrified aunts in despair, but their terrible niece had danced toward the telephone. And an hour later Jim Brand was playing ragtime on Catherine’s piano while that young woman stood behind him and patted the syncopated time on his broad shoulders, occasionally leaning down to rub her smooth cheek against his, while In the room above those maiden ladies, her aunts, communed in solemn conference. “And he’s just a common country boy who happens to go to college!” said Aunt Melvina. “I don’t see what we can do about it,” said Aunt Belinda helplessly; "she’s twenty-one and has the Van Wye willfulness!’’ And every now and then Catherine Van Wye unexpectedly launches her agile young body like a catapult upon her surprised husband and hugs his head savagely to her breast, murmuring: “And they would h»ve me out of this! Cheated me out of life, and love, and you—you common person!” But Jim Brand only grins and gives his ardent wife a proper kissing, which vulgar practice, I regret to say, seems to agree with the last of the patrician Van Wyes.

WORDSWORTH’S EARLY HOME

House in English Village of Cockermouth, Where Poet Was Born, Is Still Standing. Cockermouth is ope of those English villages of the lake region where you feel that you would like to spetad your declining years in a cottage with the inevitable English ivy and a garden decorated with borders of periwinkle and other old-fashioned flowers. A river following a twisted course through Cockermouth completes the peaceful, back-to-nature atmosphere of the village. You might easily spend some. time in Cockermouth before you discovered that It was Wordsworth’s birthplace. The historic home is still standing, the same stolid, substantial British residence where the poet spent the greater part of his boyhood. The house is decidedly a home for a student of books and not at all the sort which Wordsworth, the nature devotee, would have chosen in which to grow up. The yard and garden, however, make up for the unpoetic gray stone walls. It is a shady yard, surrounded by a low stone fence. The Wordsworth house is not a shrine for the literati to inspect and write verses of appreciation on the wails, or sign their names in a ledger along with the autographs of famous visitors and tourists. It is a quiet home, as in the poet’s day, a home which you would pass a dozen times without suspecting it had been the birthplace of such a famous person.— Chicago Daily News. , ■

Forgotten the Driver.

Mrs. Manager was about to start on a picnic with her family. “Let me see, here are the wraps, here’s the lunch basket, here’s the field glass, and here’s the bundle of umbrellas. I think we ; ve got everything, and yet— Children we haven’t forgotten anything, have we?” “Shall J. get in now, my dear” said her husband, pulling on his driving gloves. “Why, yes, of course 1” beamed Mrs. Manager. “Get in I I knew there was something else I”

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. OTP.

FURS PROMISE TO BE IN EVIDENCE

New York.—Once upon a time the Roman warriors pulled over their heads the shaggy hides of animals as they advanced on the enemy. They bad the primitive, childlike belief that the sight of the animals would frighten the opposing side. Such Is the history of the grenadier caps worn by the British army, and such is probably the inspiration of the new warlike clothes invented in these times of war. These-are worn in Paris, or rather they weie worn at the Paris openings, says a fashion writer. They have arrived in this country, and their acceptance Is debatable. There are women who will wear anything new, regardless of its effect on their appearance, and these women may make the new fabrics fashionable. At first glance, they are rather terrifying. One has a slight creeping of feeling for the opposing side” to the legions of Caesar. Even a stouthearted warrior would hate to face ,a great rush of animal skins moving toward him with rapidity. That will be the situation that must be faced by every stout-hearted man this winter, if these shaggy materials take first place in fashion. To the observer they are the leading phase of the season’s output. They are pure-

On the left is a severe coat suit for autumn street usage, made of, black and gray oxford cloth. The coat is the accepted length, has pockets on the hips, shows a surplice vest of white linen, and has a belt of Itself run through an enamel harness buckle. On the right is a cape coat for rough weather, of midnight blue velours with black and white shepherd's plaid velours. There is a deep border of the checks at tho hem, a wide collar of it, and bindings at the armholes.

ly a French invention, and it they are not accepted In their entirety of shagginess, they will undoubtedly pave the way for an immediate output of silky materials with rough surfaces. The firsts of these materials was called “Lionceau,” and was invented late last winter, I think, and then used as a substitute for fur. Magnificent as Well as Shaggy. . The majority of those who dip deeply into the sources of fashions and fabrics' that the entire output of these animalistic materials is due to the recrudescence of monkey fur. That, however, would not explain the other fabrics which are used In the new French gowns that are arriving in this country, and which have hunting scenes, magnificently ornamental, on a dark background. Jenny uses this material for panels and 51 for large pieces of evening frocks. Then there are other fabrics which show birds and birds’ plumage as the ornamental design, but these are of minor brilliancy as against the animal fabrics, which not only toss about the red and burnt-orange hair of monkeys and orang-outangs, but also the manes of animals such as never existed on land or sea; these are made from fiver and six-inch strands of curled silky floss interwoven with metaL The bird fabrics are called “Olsella” and the burnt-orange hides are called “Orang-outang.” In other gowns, especially one from Bulloz, there is used a new material called “Toison d’Or,” which means “The Golden Fleece.” Still another material —and the loveliest of all because it is the most practical for American usage—ls the Imitation of a medieval coat of mail. This fabric, alongside the shaggy ones, seems to be cultured and modern. I anr dwelling in detail on all these fabrics"* of the hour because I believe that the great masses of women over this continent are going Into the shops very soon to buy materials for their new clothes. Every woman does not have an expensive dressmaker or a great department store to furnish her costumes for the season. Such tricks of fortune faVor only the few. The war has brought abput an immense amount of home dressmaking, for all the seamstresses in the world cannot go into munition factories and earn _*rge wages. Some of them must

Qttck to their trade, and thoae who do can reap a harvest. Questions That Worhen Ask. It is to the fabrics, therefore, that the great majority of women will turn. Is it serge, they ask, or Jersey? Smooth fabrics or tough ones? Does midnight-blue “hold Its own? Is Oxford gray again in fashion? evening gowns light, brilliant or somber in coloring? Does taffeta continue? Will satin be good? These are quotations, not imaginations. They, are asked by the swirling tide of women who are trying to make every dollar realize its full value today. They have taken to heart the twin doctrines of conservation and economy. “Non-essential” is over the doorway of every home and in the heart of every worker. Wo must buy, for we must be clothed, ani we wish to keep in service those Who have served us; but we must not buy idly, nor foolishly, nor with an eye to our selfish comforts, rather than the good of the majority. To buy the material that Is out of fashion is wasting money. There are those who will cry aloud in protest against such a statement, but It la quite true. We gain nothing by giving ourselves a new cause for discontent. When it is as easy to be in tha

fashion as out of it, It shows efficiency good Judgment and a level head to walk in the right path.* The Right Path. To those who Inquire as to what is the fight path, therefore, it is wise to say that there is an undoubted tendency toward the Imitation of animal hides in fabrics, but that one should go warily among such novelties. The main truth is that very smooth materials have lost their savor and that Increasing roughness is prophesied. It Is quite possible that these new fashions In fabrics will keep serge out of first place. One finds it offered by the best tailors and dressmakers, but already women look a bit askance at it when they see piled up against it the new fabrics that represent a different epoch in weaving. As for taffeta, It seems to be left In the cold. It is used by such artists as Mme. Paquln of Paris and her followers in this country for young girls, but not for women; and for evening, not for the day hours. It is in rich light blue that It is most frequently employed, and it is then trimmed with silver flowers and white monkey fur. There Is a dearth of datin. It Is too early to say whether it will be entirely abandoned in this country, but at the moment it is not represented in the new French frocks in the generous manner of other days. All the designers are lavish with velvet, as in the medieval days, and it is used in the picturesque Italian fashion, ornamented with superb embroideries of metal and silk. So far, these richly decorated vel* vets, as well as the plain weave, are kept for the evening, but there are many tobacco brown and leather shades, and dark blue ones, used for the afternoon. There are also leather shades, by the kray, in a heavy quality of satin, which looks like cloth and is trimmed with wool embroidery. These leather tones are harkening back to medieval days, and to those centuries when Spain led the world in dress, as France does today. It was then that Spain made her Cordova and Morocco leather famous. (Copyright, 1918. by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

Irregular Around the Bottom.

Skirts continue to be irregular around the bottom.

SIGNIFICANCE OF ARMY RANK

Explanation Concerning the Insignia of Various Officers That lo Mora or Less Romantic. Because gold is a move precious metal than silver, not a few civilians confess ignorance of the reason for gold bars on a second lieutenant’s shoulder straps and silver bars on those of a first lieutenant. Throughout the rank of army insignias gold appears to be subordinated. Moss’ Officers’ Manual explains the significance : “The second lieutenant stahds on the level ground, looking up to his superiors at varying altitudes above Mm. He begins to climb toward the top, his first step being the lower bar of the fence, which position is typified by the one bar of the first lieutenant. Upon reaching the top of the fence the .officer wears two bars, which represent the bottom and top bars of the fence, from which point he can now as captain survey the field. Prom the fence, the officer must climb to the branches of-the oak, the of might and It is a long climb and symbolizes the marked difference that exists between the company and tha field officer. The leaf on the major’s shoulder strap symbolizes tbi# position. The next step is to the tall* ’est tree of the forest, the straight, towering, silver poplar, with no branches for many feet from the ground. Although this point of vantage is somewhat higher than that of the oak, it is not materially so, and the duties and responsibilities 6f the position are about the same. The officer is now among the silver leaves of the poplar, which fact is typified by the silver leaf of the lieutenant colonel. The silver eagle of the colonel symbolizes the bird that soars over the top of the towering poplar. The next step is the greatest of all: To the stars up In the firmament, far, far above the eagle’s flight, which position is typified by the star 01. the general officer’s shoulder strap.” This description of the significance of our insignia of rank, is, of course, merely a romantic explanation.

Four Women and a Bear.

Discovering a big black bear at the mouth of a cave while on a fishing trip with their husbands, Mrs. O. Hartman, Mrs. Guy Henderson, Mrs. A. Bassett and Mrs. George Chadwick threw rocks at the animal until it retired into the cave, and the remaining three then" kept guard while the fourth summoned the men. The party was without a gun, but after several hours an ancient musket was borrowed at a ranch several miles away. Meanwhile the women continued on guard, and whenever the bear attempted to emerge from the cave they drove him back witli showers of stones. Armed with the musket, Bassett crawled to the mouth of the cave and, aiming at the bear’s right eye, fired. The musket burst without damage to Bassett and the bullet struck the bear in the left flank, inflicting a wound which caused death. The bear is one of the largest of the black variety ever killed in this region. —Jackson (Wyo.) Dispatch in Cheyenne Leader.

Where Turgenev Did Early Work.

The estate of thfe Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenev, which is reported to have been sacked by peasants, lies in the low, marshy country of the government state of Toula. Some of the writer’s early work was produced there though toward the end of his life Turgenev spent the greater part of his time in Baden-Baden or Paris and scarcely visited Russia. The influence of his home, with its beautiful, prosperous estates and hard-driven peasantry, was never quite forgotten by him, and toward the muzhiks especially—the parents, probably, of those who have Just wrecked his property —he had always« an active sympathy. The neighboring capital town of Toula, set In the midst of agricultural lands, was constituted a gun factory by the Czar Boris Godunov, and still devotes itself to the making of army rifles.

Resurrection of Old Roman Port.

Ostia, the harbor of ancient Rome, is once more, by decision of the Italian government, to become a. port, and Rome therefore once more a maritime city. To the harbor at Ostia, when Rome was mistress of the world, came the com from Sicily and Sardinia, which, after Tibet silt and national indolence had let Ostia perish, was stored at Portus, the rival harbor, which also afterward fell Into desuetude. It was the seizure of Rome’s granary which enabled Alaric to impose his will on the Eternal city. Ostia began its existence in 640 B. C., and she seems about to add another chapter to her history.

American Flyers.

This from Gen. William L. Kenly, United States director of military aeronautics: "There Is no higher type of the aviator in the world, than the American. The courage and the ability of the American flyer have won full recognition, and we ma£ expect him to play a.more and more prominent part in the war as it continues, because, after four years of fighting, the man power resources of our allies have been largely, drawn on.”

How He Found War.

Willis—This morning yon told me you had just returned from the war, and this afternoon I heard you admit that you had never smelled powder. Glllls—That’s right. I fought tha Germans. All we ever smelled was chlorine gas, fluorine fumes and poisoo tpray. —Town Topics.

HERO OF FRONTIER

\ > ' Good and Bad Qualities Mixed b» Western Pioneer. Mike Fink Long Known on the Border as “The Snapping Turtle” and on the Mississippi River as “The Snag." i It is characteristic of the records of (he early age on the river that they almost as a whole make some reference to a character known as Mike Fink., Mike was not an outlaw, says the Louisville Courier-Journal, but he bordered rather closely to that state of being ; he was considered more in the light of a rowdy. Mike secured his education In the hard and dangerous life in the country around Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where he,was engaged as one of the leaders in redskin warfare. He was, It is said, the envy of comrades for his bushwhacking and ranger qualities. It was also during his young days that Mike learned to use the rifle with unerring skill and was accredited with being the surest shot in the Ohio valley. It has been said that so sure of shot was he that he was frequently offered a large share of the prizes to be won at shooting matches if he would stay out. There was no successful Competition against him. In the Ohio valley Mike was known as the “Snapping Turtle,” "and on the Mississippi as “The Snag.” He was easily king of the valley. * There is related of Fink an incident which serves to detract from the good. qualities which he is supposed to have had. Known as a tender-hearted man normally, it is strange that such a man would at times give way to the darkest and most wicked passions. At one time Mike made an attempt to burn his wife alive; or if that was not his actual object, he played a good and realistic part, It so happened that Mike and his wife were of a party on a number of barges floating down the Ohio river. By what follows it is assumed Mrs. Fink, who went by the bame of Peg, was imbued with the instincts of a woman of her sort.

When the barges landed against the ( shore for the night Mike Immediately got his rifle and ordered his wife to follow him up the bank of the river to a point where he piled a heap of brushwood. Mike ordered the woman, who readily saw that Mike was in no good mood, to crawl into the brushwood. The good woman objected, but Mike threatened to shoot her and In the end she obeyed. Mike covered her completely over with the brushwood. He then deliberately set fire to the pile and In a moment the whole thing was blazing. Through fear of Mike’s rifle the wife stood the heat of the flames as long as she could, then she kicked the brushwood from her and ran for the river, her clothing already ia flames. Mike then Informed his better half that her punishment was the result of her “winking at them fellers on the other boat.” Such were the men who made history through the valley of the Ohio In those days when Louisville stood on the edge of a dense wilderness, and when the town could have had but a small population. While these men were not as important to the building of the great empire of the west as men like Boone, Kenton, Clark and others, they were nevertheless necessary evils and did their part in thrusting the Indians back that the landmight be broken. At any rate they are recorded in the historical annals of the state.

It Didn't Fit.

Tommy Gray, Broadway humorist, who went to France recently to help entertain the soldiers, writes from Paris to %J 1 a little story about Lois Meredith, dramatic actress and movie star, who went over on a like mission. “The second day out, coming over,” writes Gray, “a notice was posted on the bingo deck Instructing the passengers to report with their life preservers on for life boat drill. The little Pittsburgh girl appeared at her boat, but she had left her life preserver behind. ‘Madam,’ said the officer in charge, *why didn’t you put on your life belt?’ T tried it on,’ replied Miss Meredith, *but it was so loose and looked so horrid I gave it to the stewardess so she might alter it to fit me.’ New York Tribune.

“Rifle and Pick."

Few regimental badges are so significant as the “Rifle and Pick” of the pioneer battalions. Unlike the labor battalions, which work behind the line, the pioneers are right up at the front, and are often digging trenches or wiring in No Man’s Land. They are also regarded as a reserve of infantry for their division, are .put through Intensive training prior to a “push,” and are often called upon to “take over” from an infantry battalion in the front line. It is, Indeed, difficult to say which is their chief weapon—the rifle or the pick.

Demoted.

"Quite a come down.” “What Is?” “I see where a motion picture actor who was always the general in military photoplays has been drafted into the army and is now a buck private.” —Birmingham Age-Herald.

Couldn't.

General—When I passed yon a little while ago Why didn’t you salute? Lieutenant—l haVe officer’s cramp, General—What Is that? Lieutenant just came from a re* viewing stand. \ • » ’