Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1901 — Page 6

WAT DID THE DOG SEE?

Montaigne observes “things unknown are the principal and true subject of imposture, for •a much as in the first place their ■tnngeness lends to them credit, and, moreover, by not being subjected to our ordinary discourse they deprive us of the means to question and dispute them " The incident I am about to relate is strictly true In all save that I have appropriated a fictitious name for the parties involved In the narrative. In the summer of 1807 I was journeying leisurely through western Ohio on honeback, when, late one afternoon, I discovered my horse had suddenly lietome lame in one of his forelegs. Dismounting, I made an examination, with the purpose of discovering the precise location of the Injury, but, fallhag in this, I flung the reins over my arm, and led my poor beast toward a farmhouse which was near "at hand. I found the owner, Abel Shelly, seated on the porch, smoking his pipe, witli his wife sitting by engaged in knitting. Introducing myself and explaining my situation, 1 Inquired if he could accommodate me with a resting place until 1 could resume my journey. He acqulasced at once, assuring me that 1 was perfectly welcome, and, presenting me to his wife, laid down his pipe and began to examine the feet of my horse. “I can see nothing at present,” he remarked, “that indicates the seat of the fojury, but I’ll put him in the barn, and 8f he dot's not improve by to-morrow we’ll determine what is to be done.” ’ Leading the aniinaT a way, he returned to the house. In the meantime 1 had Entered Into conversation with Mrs. Shelly, who was a very well-in-formed person, but I judged by the remarkable pallor of her face that she was not in particularly good health. Mr. Shelly conducted me to a room, where, having deposited my saddlelags, and taken a refreshing wash, I returned to tin' porch, and was soon engaged in an interesting conversation about crops and the general topics of toe day. I discovered my host to be an unusually bright and well-read farmer, with a certain seriousness about him that forbade anything like unseemly familiarity, and which was sure to Inspire respect In a considerable degree. He was an Eastern man by birth, but had been settled In the West for twenty years. Beyond his wife he bad no fam fly. and it struck me ns being somewhat singular that I saw no hands about the place save an old negro, who was slowly performing some duty in toe cow-yard. After a hearty supper and a smoke with a corncob pipe I went with Mr. Shelly to the stable to take a look at ary horse. In turning an angle of the baUding he grasped me by the arm and palled me quickly aside. His action ■startled me, but the next moment I perceived his motive. Chained near the path was one of the most immense and ferocious-looking mastiffs I ever beheld. A magnificent creature to look upon, but a terror to meet if one were unprepared. “Down, Captain!” commanded my •Mnpanlon, as the dog was In the ai t •f springing to bls feet. The animal senmed his crouching attitude, and Mr. Shelly went on to say: “That dog M Invaluable to me as a guard. He is absolutely fearless, and will shrink from no danger, no matter how appal*ng it may appear. But his ferocious nature compels me to keep him chained darts g the day, for I verily believe he would kill a stranger if be encountered

Mm in the place.” “He Is certainly a splendid creature,” 1 remarked, looking back. “I would like to make friends with hhn, for I have as tanat* fondness for dogs.” Mr. Shelly shook his head. “Don’t try It,” lie said. “I wouldn’t lava you approach him under any consideration. That dog will throw an unruly steer, and hold him so securely feat he can't rise. An ordinary man would stand but a poor chance of getting away from him alive.” On our way from the stable we again passed Captain's kennel, and paused to took at him. Mr. Shelly patted his head, while the animal stretched the Itengtb of his chain toward me, regard ing me all the while with a look that seemed to be anything but unfriendly. There seemed to be so honest a purpose to the brute's eyes that 1 instinctively forth my band and laid It caressingly on his huge head, when to the amazement of his master the creator* actually licked my hand in token •C amity. I really laughed at the consternation depicted on Mr. Shelley's ssuntesance. “Well," he exclaimed, “if I had not witnessed the thing I never could have Believed It Why, that animal is a tiger to disposition, and I never believed hhn capable of friendship for any but my wife and self. Old Reuben, the negro, to terrifled when he comes In the vicinthat dog. His demeanor toward yen Is certainly very surprising.” It was the custom of Mr. Shelly to toes* Captain when they were about etaing the house and retiring, and to stela him up early In the morning, beta* it was likely there would be any sailers at the farm. The following morning I arose very early, having gassed a restless night, and finding It toapsMihle to take a morning nap 1 Jtessed and went downstairs, seating myself on the porch. I had entirely forgotten the fact that Captain was loose, jand** I sat Inhaling the fresh air from tte pines I was startled to behold the standing by my side, gazing fixedly «• my face. For a moment I was untaided how to act JXetreat was Im-

possible—to show fear might induce the brute to fix bls fangs in my throat |n an instant. I was afraid to speak, lest a strange voice might alter his purpose If It was pacific. I therefore looked kindly at him and smiled. Majestically striding up to me, he laid his broad head upon my knee, and I cautiously began to caress him. During the operation Mr. Shelly fortunately appeared upon the scene. He gave a quick glance toward me, and, calling the dog, took him to his kennel and chained him. Then It was I explained to him the circumstance of my early rising, and the unexpected meeting of Captain on the porch. “I don’t quite comprehend your good luck with the dog,” he remarked, "but I would advise you In future to keep within doors until you have seen me about.” . “If you have no objection,” I replied, “I would very much like to feed the dog once -only once. I will be very careful, but I really will consider it a favor If you will consent to my request.” “All right,” he returned. “You know what I have said about his terrible nature; therefore be on your guard.” That day I carried Captain his dinner, and he devoured it while I stood by his side. From thenceforth I had not a misgiving as to his good.dispositlon toward me. I was detained at the farm for six days before the lameness of my horse allowed me to resume my journey. Dur Ing this period I became much attached to Mr. Shelly and his wife. Captain and myself had grown to be such good friends that we had taken several ■trolls together over the land. Notwithstanding my host and hostess appeared to be affectionately attached to each other, there was certainly something wrong at the farm, and it could not escape an observant eye. Once or twice I bad come upon Mr. Shelly and his wife unexpectedly, and I thought I detected traces of tears In her eyes, while her manner evidently betrayed fear. Still her husband was so kind all the while that I could not avoid pondering on the matter. I never Intruded my presence upon them if I could avoid it, but It sometimes would occur In spite of me. One afternoon I came Into the room abruptly, and found Mr. Shelly fanning his wife, and caught a remark he uttered with strong emphasis. “We must sell this place,” he said, “for It appears impossible for you to have a day’s happiness here, and I would sooner sacrifice it than see you die slowly before my eyes. O, ’tls too hard!” and he kissed her brow. Turning about, he saw me, and knew I had heard his expression. “I think I will lie down,” said Mrs. Shelly; and as she passed me I noticed that her face was as pale as the dead. When she bad gone upstairs Mr. Shelly turned to me and said: “I suppose you perceive there Is something amiss here. Y’ou see no hands about the place, and a general state of idleness reigns supreme. Of course there Is a reason for it, and I am going to tell you what It means. The only tiling I am afraid of is that you may consider me a madman or a fool, but I swear to you what I am about to relate is as true as holy writ. I am an honest man, sir, and a truthful one, consequently I do not He when I say we have an—apparition—in short, a ghost here. I pray you do not hastily Imagine that I am a weak and superstitious man; you shall be convinced, for you may see the whole matter with your own eyes, and then judge for yourself. My wife’s health has been falling ever since this thing came about, and It breaks my heart to witness her suffering. I can’t find a ready purchaser for the place, and old Reuben Is the only person who will regain with me; but, you see, he hides as much as possible Indoors. Look,” he continued, pointing across the road to a piece of woodland. “Do you observe yonder fallen tree?”

I gazed in the direction indicated, and saw the trunk of a large tree lying prone on the ground. It was, In fact a huge log, from which the bark had long been peeled. “Well,” he continued, "at irregular intervals the apparition appears on that fallen tree, arrayed in the traditional white drapery, and it walks up and down, swaying to and fro, and all the time waving its arms toward the bouse. A half hour ago It was visible, but it vanishes as quickly as it appears. I am not under any powerful hallucination. I am a rational, sane man, and what I tell you is the earnest truth.” ”1 have witnessed some strange affairs myself,” I rejoined; “but let me ask you if you are positvely sure there Is no trick in the thing?” He gave a hollow laugh. “Hanging in the house,” he said, “is my repeating rifle. Men will tell you that I am the best shot in the country, and that's saying a good deal. I can kill a sparrow, and perhaps a butterfly. You observe that log Is not more than fifty yards distant, and yet I swear to you I have repeatedly drawn a dead alm on the thing as it danced plainly in sight. I have fired, but still It always stood shaking its arms wildly in the air. I’ve shot dozens of times at it, but I can't kill It, for it Is not human.” “No one would try the prank for some motive or other?” I questioned. “For instance, suppose they wished to buy the place cheaply, perhaps this ghost story might indue* you to sell it at a sacrifice.” “Do you think.” he returned, quick

ly, “that any one who knows Abel Shelly would care to assume such desperate chances before his rifle? Oh, no. There is nobody who would take that risk. Besides, I should have killed it long ago if there was anything to kill. It always comes in the afternoon,” continued Shelly, “but never at night. You perceive it reverses the accepted time of nocturnal visitation.” “I do not consider myself more courageous than men generally,” I replied, “but I would be glad if you would notify me if this object appears again during my stay. Perhaps I may be able to investigate more satisfactorily than you have done.” “Very well,” he replied, “I will do so.” I had a sweet sleep that night, and no ghost haunted my dreams, and it was only when I awakened that I recalled the conversation of the previous day. T could not doubt that Mr. Shelly and his wife were both thoroughly honest In their convictions, still I could not bring myself to accept the thing as supernatural. I dressed, and, as was my custom, went out to the kennel to visit my friend Captain, for by this time there was a mutual attachment between us, and I would sooner have trusted the beast’s loyalty than I would most With Captain as an ally I should feel comparatively safe, for he was the very perfection of bravery. The day was pleasant, there was not a cloud in -the sky, and a gentle wind blew with delicious coolness. Dinner had been very late, for Mrs. Shelly was not well. It was drawing toward five o'clock when I took my accustomed seat on the porch with my pipe. Shelly joined me; his wife was sitting inside the window. My eyes were involuntarily turning toward the fallen tree. Shelly divined my thoughts, for he shook his head gravely, smoked on and said nothing. Suddenly there came a halfsuppressed cry from Mrs. Shelly, and at the same instant her husband exclaimed:

“There, don’t you see it! Look!” I gazed steadily at the spot, but could discern nothing unusual, and told him so. “And you don’t see it?” he cried. “Watch how It waves its arms toward us, and dances on the log.” I arose to my feet and went to the edge of the porch. Every foot of the tree trunk was visible, but nowhero could I discern a ghost. I absolutely could see nothing but the old weatherbeaten and decaying log. “Heavens!” exclaimed Shelly, “observe how wildly it tosses Its arms, and see how Its drapery trails.” I took a steady look at the speaker, for I could not reconcile the matter, and I said: “I will try and solve this thing.” “Don’t go there,” implored Mrs. Shelly, as I stepped on the ground. I made no reply, but walked straight to Captain's kenuel, and unchained him.

“Oid boy,” I said, patting his head, “you and I will try together. Come along.” The noble fellow appeared to comprehend me, for he looked up in my face, licked my hand, and walked gravely by my side. He didn’t frisk or gambol, but behaved with the seriousness becoming the occasion. I went straight down the road, mounted the fence and jumped over, Captain keeping a little in my advance. I had excited the creature by talking to him until the hair stood stiffly up on his neck, and his eyes glared like coals. To my utter consternation, when he was dashing ahead bravely, and about twenty feet from the tree, he gazed In a dazed manner for an instant, and, uttering a sharp cry, dropped his tall between his legs, and rushed back to the house with all his speed. I looked at his retreating form with a sort of bewilderment, and then at the tree. There was certainly nothing unusual visible, to my eyes at least. The bare, old tree trunk, that was all. I smiled as I mounted it, and took several turns up and down its length, and then I walked back leisurely to the house. Captain was lying by his master’s chair, trembling in every limb; the dog was surely terrified. “I saw nothing,” I remarked. “But we did,” returned Mrs. Shelly. “Every step you took the thing followed you, waving Its arms oyer your head. O, I am so sorry you went there! Something will surely happen to you if you are not careful. You were too rash. It was too perilous,” and she wrung her hands. “It has gone now,” said Shelly. , Seventeen years have elapsed since then, and I am not conscious of any particular evil having overtaken me; but there is one thing I would very much like to know—ls Shelly and his wife did not see a ghost, what did the dog see?—Waverley Magazine.

Change the Dictionaries.

There Is a teacher in the Brooklyn public schools who has an Item of information she thinks may be of Interest to lexicographers. This young woman has just been drilling a class of young hopefuls on the variations of the masculine and feminine forms of nouns. “Now,” said she, “who can give me the feminine of horseman?” Up went the hand of an 11-ycar-old lad. "Well, what Is It, Johnnie?” “Please, ma’am,” he answered, "marelady.”—Mail and Express.

Necessities Come First in Texas.

On account of a scarcity of bricks In a Texas town the congregation of the local church allowed their new edifies to remain unfinished while a saloon was being erected. New Kansas City Factories. Kansas City, Mo., claims to have c» tabllsbed fifty new factories la 1000.

OFF TO THE COUNTRY.

Some Little Ones Who Really Preferred the City. From stifling city streets to green fields and whispering woods is a change one cannot imagine other than welcome, especially to a child. Indeed, it is a great thing for the happy hundreds of poor children w ho are now enabled every season to enjoy the blessed country week, or even a country day. Yet sometimes the hostesses of these city children, at the very time they gather from their careless chatter how much Is lacking in their lives, learn also of unexpected compensations. There is so* much for the poor in the daily drama of the streets, the intimate neighborliness of the crowded tenement! “It’s so awful quiet here,” wailed one little girl, on a rainy day, “and I can’t bear them frogs at night! Nobody told me the. country was going to be sad.” Another child, sickly and pining from bad food and worse air, was yet so homesick in a charming seaside cottage that it had been almost decided to send her home, when the mistress bethought her to take the child into her own room at night. Even then she wanted her cot pulled so close to the lady’s bed that the two touched, but that concession permitted, she became contented, and soon flourished like a flower. She admitted that she “just couldn't stand the lonesomeness” of being by herself at night, although she was uelther frightened nor nervous. At home, she explained, there were three bods in the room with three children apiece in two of them, and four in the third—and she missed the company. Still another child, picnicking for the day in the wild grounds of a beautiful villa, fell into confidential < hat with her hostess before leaving. She had never seen so lovely a place, and she had had a splendid time. “But,” she asked, wonderingly. “do you really like to live here all summer? .lust trees—and trees—and trees—and no folks?” “I don’t like fields without any paths in ’em and fences without any gates,” sniffed a little boy with a scraped knee, disgustedly; but he was happily unique in his opinion, “I say, gimme parks!” Beautiful our parks may be and loved deservedly of the children; but it is hard not to feel that a child has lost one of Its natural rights that does not at some time have the “real country” to run wild In, grow brown In. and learn to love.—Youth’s Companion.

HOW FLIES ARE MULTIPLIED.

Siasle Season Meant Millions of Descendants to One Family. Flies multiply at a prodigious rate. Given a temperature sufficiently high to hatch the eggs, their numbers are only limited by the amount of food available for them. Linnaeus is credited with the saying that three meat flies, by reason of their rapid multiplication, would consume a dead horse quicker than would a lion, and the fact that certain dlptera having some outward resemblance to the honey bee lay their eggs in the dead carcasses of animals probably led Samson and Virgil to make erroneous statements with regard to the genesis of honey and the manufacture of bees. The breeding of “gentles” for ground bait is an industry the practicers of which could probably give much information as to the nicety of choice exercised by flies in selecting material for feeding and egg-laying. According to Packard, the house fly female lays about 120 eggs, and the cycle of changes from egg to fly Is completed in less than three weeks, it seems probable that a female fly might have some 25,000,000 descendants in the course of a hot summer. Other varieties of flies multiply, I believe, still more rapidly. As flies multiply upon and in organic refuse of every kind, it is obvious that the sooner such refuse is placed where it cannot serve for the feeding and hatching of flies the more likely is the plague of flies to be lesened. The most commonly available method for the bestowal of organic refuse Is burial. The egg-laying of flies In dead carcasses commenced nt the very instant of death, or even before death In the case of enfeebled animals.—The Lancet.

A Diplomat’s Tribute to Lincoln.

Like a beacon burning through all the nights is the memory of Abraham Lincoln's personality. “Of all the great men I have known,” says Sir Edward Malet, the English diplomatist, in his just published volume of reminiscences, “President Lincoln is one who lias left upon me the impression of a sterling son of God. Straightforward, unflinching, not loving the work he had to do, but facing it with a bold and true heart; mild whenever he had a chance; stern as iron when the public weal required It, following a bee-line to the goal which duty set before him. I can still feel the grip of his massive hand and the searching look of his kindly eye.”

Britain's Symbol of Civilization.

Foreigners sneer nt the Englishman who dresses for dinner on board a steamer or In a hotel; yet they might as well laugh at the Briton's respect for and pride in the Union Jack, says a writer In an English niagazlne. The clean white shirt at 8 o'clock is equally a sign and symbol of Anglo-Saxon civilization.

Ingenious Convicts.

With a piece of string and a little sand and grease some Hindoo convicts recently sawed through an iron bar two Inches in diameter In five hours and escaped from jail. You are lucky if you can pick tw* good cantaloupes In succession.

POLITICS OF THE DAY

An Impossible Doctrine. The National Economist, the national organ of high protection, which has recently been demanding the defeat of Speaker Henderson for re-election for the reason that he has refused to agree not to reappoint Congressman Babcock of Wisconsin on the Ways and Means Committee, contains the following from George L. Reis, superintendent of the Illinois Steel Company: “I believe in a tariff whether we need It or not. Even if it does no good, what harm docs it do? No profit has been made on the iron and steel goods that have been sold abroad. They have been sold at cost to get rid of a surplus and to win a foothold in the foreign market. England had the trade all to herself and she charged higher profits than we did here. Now she has been obliged to sell below cost to keep her market. She cannot stand the pace. When customers abroad learn to like our goods, they will buy them at fair prices, and we can sell at a profit. We can make iron and steel products cheaper than they can. But I believe in a tariff just the same. It insures us a home market under all conditions. If the manufacturers cannot sell their goods, the workmen suffer. ’Trusts give .better wages and cheaper goods. No one is disappointed but the politicians, and they want votes.” Mr. Reis says that American steel makers can manufacture steel goods cheaper than the foreigners. He also admits the American-made steel has been sold abroad cheaper than at home. Yet he favors the continuance of the prohibitory tariff on steel. Why does he favor it? Because It “insures us.a home market in all conditions.” And of what good is this to the steel manufacturer? He is able to charge more at home than abroad because the tariff prevents the corrective of importation—the manufacturer is able to collect from American consumers the §0 to 80 per cent of the steel tariff plus the cost of his goods and a fair profit. One almost loses patience when it is thus boldly asserted that such an organization as the United States Steel corporation, with its billion dollars of inflated capital, on which dividends are regularly paid, has a right to penalize the people of this country because they live on this side of the water rather than the other. It would seem as if, granting as Mr. Reis says, that the American steelmaker can manufacture more cheaply than his foreign competitor, that our people, living closer to the cheapest source of production, should get steel goods cheaper than those who live 3,000 miles away. What would be thought if an organization of farmers, favored by law in some way, should arise, and it should become the accepted thing to charge the people in the growing state $1 per bushel for corn, while the same identical corn was sold in London for 50 cents? Would it not be denounced as an unspeakable outrage, and would not there be an Immediate demand for the repeal of the legislation which permitted and fostered such a condition?

Clay, Morrill, Blaine, even McKinley, never justified the continuance of a protective tariff when it should appear that an Industry In America was able to produce more cheaply than any foreign rival. At first it was said protection was merely to promote infant industries—to give them a chance to get started; then it was said that only such amount of duty was justifiable as would equalize the difference between the American and foreign wages—the American manufacturer not being able to produce as cheaply as the foreigner unless be paid lower wages; now we have admission that the industries are not infant and that the cost of production is less in America, and yet there is a defiant demand to continue a prohibitory tariff on the express ground that- the American consumer shall be fleeced. It is not conrended that the additional price charged in America goes to the workingmen in the form of higher wages. It is admitted that it goes to the manufacturer or else to the foreigner who is able to buy things below cost. We used to be told that the foreigner paid the tariff tax; Mr. Reis practically admits that, as to steel, the extra price collected in this country is given to the foreign buyer. We pay the tariff for him. It Is not conceivable that this latest expression of protection rapacity will find favor with the American people—even with the strictest of the old school protectionists, who talked America for the Americans.

Hnnna and Morgan, Senator Hanna says he Is not trying to settle the steel strike. It is the Senator’s duty to try, all the same. Much is expected of him, and as a matter of good faith he should put bls shoulder to the wheel What if Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan does tell him to keep out—that hts Interference is not required? Can Mr. (anna afford to be obedient to Mr. Morgan merely because be is a billionaire, or something of that sort? Can the leading candidate for the Republican nomination fdr President of the United States—the man wbc has only to say she word and all other candidates will subside—afford to “lay down” to a man who has “nothing but motey?” Mr. Morgan probably doesn’t care If there is a general strike. H will not Interfere with his personal comfort for • minute. He Is not a politician In the

sense of being a candidate for office. He merely wants the power of wealth. To be the richest man in the United States, controlling products and transportation and handling many millions of money and directing the material destinies of milions of men, would no doubt be a prouder position to him than that of Chief Executive of the greatest republic of all time. If this were a monarchy it might be different, but it is even possible that Mr. Morgan would rather be a financial and railroad magnate than a King or an Emperor. It would probably not be putting too fine a point on the subject to say that he has more real, practical power to-day than either Edward VII. or William IL; and it is due to hlfii to say also that he probably has more braius. speaking generally and specifically, than both of these monarchs together. Mr. Morgan uo doubt thinks a great strike now to be the best thing for his ultimate purposes. There was a time, very recently, when the differences between the strikers and the capitalists seemed on the point of adjustment; but when the workingmen’s representatives asked for a modification of the terms of settlement Mr. Morgan peremptorily declined to treat further, and now an army of the employed have been ordered out The great financier knew this would in all probability be the result. His idea was that it would be better for him and the Interests he represented to go into the battle for all It was worth, confident that capital would win In the end, and that the winning would be worth more than years of patched-up peace. He may have expected a hard and protracted struggle, but was serene in the belief that the victory for capital would be signal, and the working people finally so demoralized, humiliated and poverty-stricken that they would not have the heart to make another fight during the remainder of Mr. Morgan’s life. Of course, the distinguished financier may be mistaken about this; but he would not be as rich a man as he is, and the undisputed head of so many enterprises that he Is, if he were not a long-headed man. capable of looking Into the future with approximate accuracy, and willing to take a considerable risk for a tremendous final winning. He is for “business.” He cares for politics and government only as they can be of service to the mighty enterprises In which he is engaged. When he has use for them, especially If matters should come to the crisis of calling out troops, he will let Mr. Hanna know. Can the distinguished Ohio Senator afford to be placed In this position? He Is also a business man, but the world knows more of him as a politician and a commanding factor in the government of the United States as It is now constituted. He regards the rains of heaven, abundant crops, activity in manufacturing, prosperity In business and the steady and certain employment of the working masses at fair compensation as the essential incentives to victory for the party to which he belongs. In which he has so masterfully conducted the avoidance of strikes has been looked upon as a necessity. When the settlement of another former great strike In the teeth of a political campaign was ascribed to Mr. Hanna he did not deny that he was instrumental. Indeed, it was one of the best achievements of his political career. There is greater reason for Mr. Hanna interfering now, because this is a greater strike. Is Mr. Hanna satisfied to quit because Mr. Morgan tells him to? Who’s running things, anyhow?— Cincinnati Enquirer.

Reciprocity and the Tariff. If all the proposed reciprocity treaties were put through the abuses which Mr. Babcock attacks would still remain. Confirm all the Kasson agreements and we shall still have gigantic combinations paying dividends on hundreds of millions of fiction because the tariff enables them to exact oppressive prices from domestic consumers. Perhaps it is because the Kasson treaties do not menace the big combines that those agreements find favor in certain influential quarters.—Washington Post.

Why Was He Reprimands!? Honor has been satisfied. The department has censured Rear Admiral Evans for publishing his strictures upon ex-Secretary Chandler, and the Incident is presumably closed. But the Interesting question ns to whether fighting Bob is reprimanded for telling the truth is left an open one. It Is really understood at this crisis bow the whole truth, or even a grain too much of It, might disrupt the aristocratic branch of the service.—Detroit Free Press. Are Orooniing the Wrong Man. The grooming of Governor Odell for the Presidency is said to be still going on, but so far no distinguished trainer acknowledges to being in charge of the preparation. There Is a widespread belief that If the next President comes from the State of New York bo will not be Odell—or any other Republican.— Cincinnati Enquirer. Cost of Being a World Power. If we must increase our naval power at the ratq of 125,000,000 a yoar we must erect coast defenses and add te our military strength in like proportion, and the question of whether we can afford the outlay becomes at one* a serious one.—Philadelphia Record.