Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1919 — Page 3

MUCH LIKE PICNIC

How Royalty Engaged in Peace Conference; — i—_ —.—_—_ Gathering of a Century Ago Hgd Little Thought of the Welfare of the “Common People"—GeneralRound of Jollity. A French writer. M. Adolphe Aderer, remarks in the Temps that with the kaiser safely stowed away in Amerongen castle there is little likelihood of any disturbance at the Versailles conference comparable to that at Vienna when Napoleon escaped from Elba. Npr is .the atmosphere of the two conferences the same. The congress of Vienna in 1815 was a perpetual round of dances, dinners and amusements, whereas “the kaiser’s crimes have cast a pall “over Versailles. The delegates of the democratic nations are counting the victims of the kaiser. There is ho dancing, out of respect for the dead.” It was not like that a hundred and four years ago at the Austrian capital. “It was an endless series of fetes, banquets, routs, drives and hunting parties. Noteworthy among others was a general ‘picnic’ what Americans would call a ‘Dutch’ dinner —followed by a ball. The price of the dinner tickets was three Holland ducats, while it cost ten florins to get into the ball. The proceeds had first been assigned to buying an immense silver lamp for the holy sepulcher at Jerusalem. Afterwards it was decided to use them fpr ransoming the Christian slaves in Barbary. ; “The dinner was served at the Ausgarten, with the famous caterer, Yann, in charge. One hundred and fifty celebrities, including all the kings and emperors present, sat down at a huge table shaped like a horseshoe. Never had so many crowned heads assembled before a single board. At dessert a page, carrying a vermilion platter, went around and collected from each guest the three gold ducats. The giant king of Wurttemberg vainly rummaged through his pockets. To the delight of everybody he could not ‘raise the price.’ The emperor of Russia, lent him enough to pay the bill. “Some time afterward the question of restricting royal prerogatives came up before the conference. The king of- Wurttemberg flew into a rage and jumped to his feet. But his enormous paunch caught under the table, which upset, with books, papers, inkwells and all. There was an uproar of laughter. The king called for his escort and left in a fret for Stuttgart. But the loss of one king was hardly hoticeable in such a gathering. The conference lost none of its splendor thereby. “One evening, in March, 1813, the empress gave a great ball. Tallyrand, always so punctual, was not im evidence. Wellington was absent. So was Metternich. What could have happened? At last the marschall of Schwartzenburg came out of the imperial chambers. He spoke a few words to the few intimates who dared question him. Napoleon had escaped from Elba and was entering Lyons. “The doors swung open and the empress entered on the arm of Emperor Alexander. Then came the king of Prussia with the Empress Elizabeth. In spite of the general emotion, the program was carried out. The conference was over, but the kings danced on.”

Aluminum Plating.

An aluminum plating for airplane propellers has been devised for the purpose of protecting the Wood from the Influence of the weather, which has been a serious problem heretofore. The plating is a thin leaf which is incorporated in the finish of the propellers, and the idea was developed by the forest products laboratory at Madison, Wis., and placed in production by the war department. The process Is practically 100 per cent effective in preventing absorption of water, particularly in the storage stage. -A French authority states that 80 per cent of the French propellers produced are rejected by the pilots mainly because they are out of balance. This difficulty is due largely to unequal absorption or distribution of moisture and can be greatly reduced by an effective waterproofing coating.

“The Gang’s All Here.”

Is there anyone who hasn’t sung “Hail, Hall, the Gang’s All Here?” Of course we are all certain that it is an American song with an American tune. But it is not. Upon the recent occasion of the president’s visit to France a chorus of Breton children, led by an American soldier, sang this “classic.” Then attention was called to the fact that Gilbert and Sullivan, who wrote so many comic operas a few years ago, had composed it. The melody was composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan for the “Pirates of Penzance,” and W. S- Gilbert wrote not these words but others beginning “Come, Friends Who Plough the Sea.”

Wanted a Little Help.

The young wife gazed sweetly In her husband’s eyes. “James” she began, “you know how I have Veen scraping and saving all the winter for my new summer costume?” x “Yes,” said the man, “I know.” > “Well,” she yent on, “I’ve decided on it now. It is to be made of pale green broadcloth, and it will cost SBO., I want you to help me a little.” "How much flo you need?” tfce husband inquired warily. “Tve got it all but $78.60.”

HISTORY SHOWN BY FENCES

Various Kinds That Have Been in Use at Different Times Mark the Gauntry’s Progress. The progress and condition of our settlements can be traced Id our fences, writes Alice Morse Earle, tn “Home Life in Colonial Days.” As Indians disappeared or succumbed, the solid row of bales (stockade) gave place to a log fence, wfiich served well to keep out depredatory animals. The dangers from Indians or wild animals entirely disappeared, boards were still not over-plenty, and the strength of the owner could not be overspent on unnecessary fencing. Then (Sime the double-rail fence; two rails, held In place, one above the other, at each joining, by four crossed sticks. It was a boundary, and would keep in cattle. It was said that every fence should be horse-high, bull-proof and pig-tight. Then came stone walls, showing a thorough clearing and taming of the land. The succeeding “halfhigh'’ stone wall —a foot or two high,’ with a single rail on top—showed that stones were not as plentiful in the fields as in early days. The “snakefence,” or “Virginia fence,” so common in the southern states, utilized the second growth of forest trees. The split-rail fence, four or five rails In height, was set at intervals with posts, pierced with holes to hold the ends of the tails. These were *used to some extent in the East: but our western states were fenced throughout with rails split by sturdy pioneer railsplitters. among them young Abraham Lincoln. Board fences showed the day of the sawmill and its plentiful supply; the wire fences of todaj’ equally prove the decrease of our forests and our wood, and the growth of our mineral supplies and manufactures of metals. Thus even our fences might be called historical monuments.

DOES NOT LIKE NEW YORK

Fact That Would Seem Evident From Comments Macft by San Francisco Writer. New York was made by and for New Yorkers, and those that love |t deserve no better fate than to live In it, writes Bailey Millard in the San Francisco Bulletin. That babel of self-assured greatness is a terrible place to me. Carlyle called London a wen on nature’s face; but what would he have said of New York, with its fervent money worship, its “society” folk with their inane and perpetual discussion of stocks, its thousands of other idle gamblers in drawing-room and den, its thousands of lackeys in an<i out of livery, Its other thousands of make believes who would have you think they were somebody, and while buying $lO dinners, are letting their washwomen go unpaid; its blinded slaves of trade In their whirling strife, so complex, multifaced, confused! • And then its “dandiacal body” in their exclusive clothes, exclusive hats, ties and shoes who belong to exclusive sets, wholly exclusive of brains! And then its millions of half-clothed, half-starved “people of the abyss,” living in dark, effluviated hells Instead of homes, suffering the cold, un-Chris-tian contempt of their “betters!"

Lucky and Unlucky Accidents.

General Grant used to contend that it was because his mother happened on one occasion to be short of butter that Jie eventually became president, observes London Tit-Bits. It was while procuring the butter that the lad heard read a letter concerning a possible vacancy at West Point He applied, obtained the vacancy and from that time never looted back, . A simple incident observed in a little country tavern resulted in no less a measure than the introduction of the penny post. The observer of the Incident happened to be Rowland Hill. Only a missing marriage certificate prevented the hodcarrier of Hugh Miller establishing his claim to the earldom of Crawford, Just as the absence of a comma in a bill which passed through congress on one occasion cost the American government -a million dollars.

Moral Courage.

If there is any one quality of the mind in which the really great have conspired, as it were, to surpass other men, it is moral courage. In private life what daily deceit would be avoided, what evils would b£ remedied if we did but possess more moral courage—not that false image of it which proceeds from a blind and inconsiderate rashness, from an absence both of forethought and imagination; but that calm reliance on the decisions of reason, that carelessness of the undeserved applause of our neighbors which will induce the great man to act according to his own informed judgment and not according to the opinions of those who will not r know, and who could never appreciate his motives. '

Why Lawn la Called Lawn.

Years ago the Dutch excelled all other peoples in the bleached linens they sent forth. That was in a time, of K course, when bleached linen was considered- a luxury. The Dutch gained their fame for this excellence because they had a wonderful system of treating the muslin to make it white. To begin with, they treated it to bleaches and acids of various.-sorts; and then they placed it on bleaching lawns, or greens, where it lay at intervals from March to , September. The white material thus produced took the name of the lawns whereon ft was bleached—at least, so goes the story.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER INDIANA.

WIFE ONCE BOUGHT

Proceeding Many Centuries Ago Was Universal. P resent-ay “Marriage Portion" May Be Regarded as a Symbol of Old Custom—Some Curious Wedding' Ceremonies. Among far older civilizations than that of the Anglo-Saxon the system of wife-purchase had ceased before Britain was*a real country. The Indian. law-giver, Manu, strictly forbade it, and said: “A man who, through avarice, takes a gratuity, is a seller of his offspring.” In the historical times of the Greeks they no longer bought wives. In Rome “coemptio” was only a symbol of the ancient custom. In the Jewish Taljnud the purchase is also symbolic, as is frequently the Mohammedan “mahr.”- Withal, tte bride price, “foster leans” and marriage gifts, when returned, were converted Into dowry and became at first the bride’s property. Thus marriage portions chiefly derived their origin from the habit of -purchase, and dowry often became, as with the Hebrews, a religious duty. lsot less than the tenth of the father's property was considered a Just dowry. In Aristotle’s time nearly two-flfths of all Sparta belonged from this cause to the women. Sir Henry Maine considers that the amazing thrift of the French is also owing to this custom, which probably descended to them from the marriage law of Augustus Caesar. It was only by an anachronism that Euripides made Medea lament that women were obliged to purchase husbands at a great price. And it is often as true today as when the Latin poet sang. When marriage ceremonies first did arise it was by degrees and in many ways, and customs such as capture when superseded became by symbolism a part of the succeeding legal form or contract. To eat maize pudding from the same plate or to eat in any way together is a widely distributed marriage ceremony. In Brazil a couple may be married by drinking brandy together; in Japan by so many cups of . wine ; in Russia and Scandinavia it used to be one cup for both. The joining of hands among Romans and Hindus is common |n many parts of the world. ? In Scotland it is called “hand fasting,” and couples live together after. To sit on one seat while receiving friends or to have the hands of each tied together with grass, or to smear with each other's blood, or for the woman to tie a cord of her own twisting around the naked waist of the man constitutes marriage in one place or another. In Australia a woman carries Are to her lover’s hut and makes a fire for him. A Loango negress cooks two dishes for him in his own htrt. In Croatia the bridegroom boxes the bride’s ears, and to Russia the father formerly struck his daughter gently with a new whip—for the last time —and then gave the weapon to her husband.

A very dignified matron, the wife of one of the city’s clergymen, went into a downtown store the other day to take advantage of a sale. She bought the books for which she had come and started out of the store. But a counter piled high with men’s hose attracted her to a crowd of more fastidious shoppers, most of whom were examining the varicolored silk stockings on the racks above the counter. The modest parsonage woman almost blushed over their open interest. Finally the socks were bought, several other counters visited, and then the minister’s wife started to leave. At the door she met one of the parishioners. They exchanged greetings and, then, with a “Please allow me,” the parishioner reached up to the hat of the minister’s wife and lifted from its wide brim a pair of gaudy rose silk stockings. The racks above the bargain counter were, of course, the cause. "But nd ooe knew it,” moaned the parson’s wife. “Just think how many people saw me wearing those decorations, and actually I was embarrassed Over the other women just looking at them. And I—well, I was wearing them very prominently."—lndianapolis News.

One day I was watching a new company drill. The officer gave the command, “Cover off in the rear rank,” meaning that every man in the rear rank had to stand directly back of the man In front of him. Instead the whole rear rank took, off their hats. —Exchange.

First Surgeon —Here's a chap Just brought in for an operation on his head. Second Ditto —Anything serious? First Surgeon—Serious? Should say not; he’s one of these newspaper nut column artists. ~

Van Joans —I understand your daughter received military training., , DeSmythe—lhdeed, she did. There were two lieutenants, a captain, a sergeant and private calling on her pretty frequently.

"The baseban player y<fr pointed Mrt to me is an ugly mug.” ’ “He isn’t a mug at all; he’s a

Hat Decoration.

Hats Off.

Not Likely.

Add Rigors of War.

Almost the Same.

MUCH LIKE THEIR FELLOWS

Average Persons Behind Bars Would Compare Favorably With 'those Who Have Liberty. “Some people, ’.Bud,” said Leonard V. Whenne, according to Glenn M. Farley in the Seattle Post-Intelligen-cer,“seem to think the jails are filled with very dangerous anil very wild people. I suppo.se th- average' iHan or woman would no more think of mingling with these persons behind the bars than going Into the bear pit at Woodland park. As a matter of fact, there are about the same grades of society In Jail as out of it. Man and woman prisoners, go about their daily tasks quietly; they are as soft spoken and trivial In conversation as are the people outside. I have seen some mighty pleasant people in jail; men that could sit down and talk courteously and intelligently with you on any topic. And in general appearance they will line up with the average street exhibit. They don’t look dangerous, they don’t look wild. Not one in forty is a confirmed criminal. Most of them were caught off guard; they made a little slip when the judgment was asleep, and there they are. We ought not to be sentimental with these prisoners, nor should we hold them in horror. They are just a piece of the community, split off temporarily, mostly through their own carelessness. “We are all living over powder magazines; a man or woman may live for fifty years before an explosion comes, and it might never come. Many a man has been a model citizen, sober, decent, upright, fair and square with hie nelghbors r and in an unguarded moment lias destroyed it all. One little word will sometimes move a good citizen to shoot and kill. The human equation is a mighty complicated Instrument, set on a hair trigger, and some fool Is always fingering It, or examining It to see If it is loaded; we live in a succession of tragedies, though never expecting them. Even now the loom of time is weaving tragedies to come, with the sun shining and the birds singing and spring in the air; tomorrow, perhaps, a blow, a lapse from moral consciousness for a moment, and another respectable person will go wrong. “Bud, never be thankful you are not as other men; be thankful that nobody ever happened to set off an explosion under you, and If you pray, Bud, pray for strength to go puckered for ambushes until your time is up, and you lie down to sleep with your fathers. And, Bud, that’s about the only time you will be wholly safe.”

Squirrels and Their Nests.

The gray squirrel makes a nest of leaves. He is more or less busily engaged in leaf construction during the entire year, writes Dr. Edward F. Bigelow in Boys’ Life. 1 Even in the summer he cuts off thejgreen leaves and' skillfully packs them among the branches or in the fork of a tree, so that they shed the rain and roof a cavity big enough to shelter two or three squlirrels. Until within a few years .1 supposed. that these leafy homes were for rearing the young only, but in a small grove near my own home I find a number of leaf nests occupied by the squirrels at various times. ... I recall vividly the bending down of a white birch tree, that contained a leaf nest, and having four young gray squirrels drop out of it as the nest fell to pieces. I still feel a keen regret for having destroyed a squirrel 'home, but I am glad to add that, when J placed the young in the nest, reconstructed on the ground to the best Of my ability, the mother squirrel came and carried them to a hollow tree, as a cat will carry a kitten, or a mouse will carry the young, though by a somewhat different method.

Lost Art.

A. H. Powell tells a good story in that Interesting little volume called “Handicrafts and Reconstruction,” recently published, anent the disappearance of the fine wheelwrighting of a generation ago. “The difference between the -old an(t~ new atmospheres of work came out vividly between two wheelwrights, one old good, the other bad modern. The last was filling in a mistake with putty, and must fall to praising it—‘A fine thing is this putty’—to hide his shame. Says old good. ‘Why deant ye meak the halll thing o’ putty then?* and walked away!" It is only the genuine craftsman who can find the real contentment in his work, and it is equally only the monotony and sameness of mechanical work that makes a man weary of it.

New Harbor on the Baltic.

It is reported from Copenhagen that a new harbor is to be constructed at Korsor, which is a Danish seaport 60 miles west-southwest of Copenhagen. The cost of this work is estimated at 30,000,000 kronen' and it is stated that American capital has been Interested. The harbor will have a depth of ten meters as against nine meters In Copenhagen and large quays will be built with ample facilities for handling merchandise.

Big Demand for Watches.

Watches are not being turned out fast enough by American manufacturers to supply a demand, which, according to the representative of one Jarge producing concern, is greater today than ever before. Leading.’factories fell behind in their regular Output last year, when their plants were busy filling war orders.

FAMOUSST.PAUL’S

Historic Edifice Beloved by All Londoners*, hr Its 1 Architecturei the Building, the Largest Protestant Church in the World,' Embodies Ideas of Many Periods. "Even the war could not stop work on St. Paul’s cathedral In London. The famous church, like the English constitution, represents a growth of centuries and not a definite period of construction.” < This statement is made In a bulletin of the National Geographic society in connection with a London dispatch, which notes, a request for additional funds to complete repair work on St. Paul’s. “England’s esteem for the historic edifice is shown by the continuation of the restoration work throughout the war, despite the Interruption to practically all other building,” the bulletin says. “Still fresh in public memory is the notable service of consecration, attended by royalty and distinguished Americans then in London, held in St. Paid’s April 20, 1917, to commemorate the entry of the United States into the war. “St. Paul’s is the largest Protestant church In the world. Its dome Is one of the most beautiful. The church embodies architectural ideas of many periods, because it is not the produet of a generation, or even a century. True, Sir Christopher Wren is credited with the structure as it stands today, but he embodied many features of the famous ‘Old St. Paul’s,’ razed in the great London fire, 1666. Wren did not wish the restoration to be after the ‘Gothick Rudeness of the Old Design.* But he was compelled to modify his own plans |o a considerable extent. Said he, of the balustrade added over his veto: ’Ladles think nothing well without an edging.’ "To this famous mathematician, astronomer and architect the London fire blew much good. He had commissions to draw plans for rebuilding half a hundred churches. From these were modeled many of the American churches of colonial days. For his masterpiece, St. Paul’s, Sir Christopher is said to have received less than the equivalent of SI,OOO a year, an amount which might engage the attention of a modern architect of his standing far an afternoon’s consultation. The building was paid for by a tax on sea-borne coal to London. “The motto was appropriate. Some historians believe the cramped Ludgate Hill site originally was that of a Roman shrine of Diana. A. Christian church is known to have been built there in the early seventh century. It was burned two decades after William the Oonquerer come to England. Prom the ruins emerged ‘Old St Paul’s.’ Fire destroyed that building, too, but it was restored on an even more pretentious scale. “At the ‘Old St. Paul’s’ John Wycliffe faced the charge of heresy, Tyndale’s New Testament was burned, Wolsey heard the reading of the papal condemnation of Luther and, under ‘Powle’s cross,’ now marked by a memorial, heretics were forced to recant and witches to confess. “Even before the great fire ‘Old St. Paul’s’ was crumpling, partly from a succession of lightning strokes and partly from neglect. Wine cellars and workshops were to be found beneath Its lengthy corridors. The old building was nearly as long as the union station at yVashington. The nave became ‘Paul's Walk,’ a promenade. “Two towers, as well as the dome, make the new St. Paul’s conspicuous. In one tower ‘Great Paul,’ a 17-ton bell, booms out dally at 1 p. m. A smaller bell tolls when there is a death in the royal family. “Tombs of Wellington and Nelson, Turner and Reynolds and of other famous men are to be found in St. Paul's. Over Wren's grave is a plain tablet bearing a Latin inscription counseling the visitor to look about him if he would find the architect’s monument “Blr Christopher should have become renowned as a city planner as well as a church builder. After the fire he prepared a plan that would have made London a city of wide streets and radiating avenues. But Londoners had becojme reluctant to relinquish property in family tenure for years, unlike citizens of such newer cities as Baltimore and Chicago. St Paul’s itself has owned a farm in Essex since the seventh century.”

How to Tame Hubby.

Modern wives, here are a few tips on how to keep that husband of yours from becoming a wild man. Mrs. Gene Holmes of Evanston, named by Mrs. George Remus as the other woman in Chicago’s latest triangle, is sponsor for the tips. Need we explain Mrs. Remus is seeking a divorce from her husband? Here are the tipe: Give the rfßsbend all the rope he wants —he’ll never hang himself. Never, never try t® curb his liberty; make him happy; keep the,home cozy and attractive; always appear cheerful and pretty—always; feed him well, pet him, humor him —these three things alone will keep him from causing you any trouble; never look upon him as a mere provider— they should be treated like pets. “If,” says Mrs. Holmes, “after doing all these things the husband does not want to stay at home—be hurt hnmaa, that's alb", ” ■ ■ ■ ■ " ■— l —•***“ . L

SAYS “CHARMERS” ARE FAKES

Writer Describes Method by Which East Indians Play on Ignorance of Their Follows. • - J- —' , . A method by wfiich snake charmers dupe Ignofant pedpie In India Is thus described: One.of them puts a harmless snake, in a stupefied condition, into a house, and his companion then tells the women of the house that he has noticed a poisonous snake there. The people are alarmed and offer a reward to the snake charmer to remove the snake. He declares it to be a deadly poisonous one and asks a good sum of money for the exploit, which, be says, may cost him his life. The reward Is fixed and the money paid. The snake charmer; wearing only a loin cloth, commences to play on his bagpipe. The snake, previously rendered harmless, crawls Into the middle of the room, and the snake chariher In catching it says that he has been bitten and falls. senseless. His companion comes forward and puts a snake stone on an incision previously made for the purpose on the man’s finger. The snake charmer at once recovers and gets up. His audience Is much astonished and gives a big present to the cured snake charmer, who departs with the snake and the profit he has made.

NURSE HAD INGENIOUS IDEA

Surely If Use of Makeup Was Ever Justified, It Could Be Defended In This Case. A laugh Is going the rounds over the stunt pulled by one of the attendants at th» orphanage who had waxed enthusiastic tn the work of finding parents for her little charges. On this particular occasion she had interested a young couple in a three-months-old baby and they had promised to call the following day with a view to taking the Infant if she was the dainty dimpled cherub the attendant said she was. And in the meantime the baby contracted a cold, which, on the day she was to be Inspected, had left her thin and pallid. The nurse knew that the child’s chances for being adopted were very slim. Suddenly she hit on an idea. AUp stick and a box of rouge. The very things to make the pallid Nancy into a rose-faced cherub. And so the fairy godmother, being a sophisticated person, painted the lily, and Nancy, with a complexion like roses and cream, charmed her prospective parents and everyone was happy.—Los Angeles Times. Z

Greatest Bliss Is Congenial Work.

There is no greater happiness in life than doing the work you love. It matters not what the work is—to some women it is embroidery, or writing a book, or baby tending, or studying chemistry, or cooking, or keeping a house polished. It does not always happen that we have great abiUty In the thing we enjoy doing—although the chances are that this is so. For nothing stimulates you to continued effort in a piece of work more than the consciousness that you do it weU. And so if you are unhappy—genuinely unhappy—in the work you’re doing, try to find out what it is that you’d prefer to do. If there is nothing else In your mind, then perhaps your discontent is only temporary. But if you sincerely wish to do some other definite piece of work, you have a legitimate grievance and you owe it to yourself to pave the way for a new shot at -a new occupation.

The Open Window.

Mr. Walter Winans, writing In the Saturday Review on the open window, says: The Russian peasants, in whose huts I have lived in very severe winters, seal up the windows hermetically during the whole winter (double windows), and they have warm water to wash in, and do nqt break the ice to wash as people fond of open windows have to do. In Petrograd some years ago twelve Englishmen started a bathing society to break holes in the ice of the Neva and have a cold plunge every morning. Before the spring they were all dead, and I have never heard of a case of a foreigner (the Russians, of course, never do so) who lived through a Russian winter and slept with his bedroom window open.

Family Life.

Not for nothing have we been grouped in families, neighborhoods, nations; and he vyho- will not. recognize the divinely appointed nearness to himself of some over others, who thinks himself to be a cosmopolite without being a patriot, a philanthropist without owning a distinguishing love for them that are peculiarly bis own, who would thua have a circumference without having a center, deceives his own heart, and affirming all men to be equally dear to him is indeed affirming them to be equally indifferent.

Dog Birds.

Dog-birds are small, brownish denisens of the New South Wales southeastern tablelands, between Lake George and the Snowy mountains. They derive their name from the manner of their language. Theymay easily be mistaken for a family terriers having an early in barking. A ragged stick nest « '2., lateral entrance, not readily distinguishable from any old bundle of twigs suspended in the fork of a tree, fonna the kennel of the feathered poodle, and there he rears broods of pupbtrfc year after year unmolested.