Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1902 — Page 2

THE VALENTINE MAN. Oa man who makes the valentines—the comic ones, 1 mean— Who bits us off in reason and In rhyme; Must be very, very merry In the month of February, For he's laughing at the whole world all the time! Perhaps he’s In a building halt a hundred stories high. Where steeple-bells monotonously chime; And he looks down on us mortals as we crawl beneath the sky, And he's laughing—laughing at us all the time! Bo has left the world forever, with Its wheat and with its chaff; And in colors—for a penny, or a dime, Bo roasts Its fads and follies till he holds his sides to luugh - In fact, he's laughlug at us all the time! Perhaps he was u toller in the musty, dusty ways Where poverty's accounted as a crime. And couldn’t pay the rent up on the billcollecting days. And the world was laughing at him all the time I Perhaps he loved—was slighted by a jeweled maiden fair Who heeded not his passion all sublime, And tossed her curls and told him that she really didn’t care. And laughed him from her presence all the time. And so, In desperation he departed from the scene. To mock the world In reason and In rhyme; And he's very mad aud merry In the month of February, And he’s laughing at the whole world all the time! —Atlanta Constitution.

Rastus Johnson’s Valentina

ST LENA ELINN LEWIS

oeSLLENTINE’B DAY came on Frilay, and Miss Gray, the teacher of *-» room No. 3, had consented to allow the scholars to celebrate. For a week there had been much suppressed excitement, and the improvised pcstoffice in the room was fast filling with envelopes. A nice program had bees and the mothers of the girls *nd hoy* were Invited to attend. llomer wag not a very large village, and so the Interest In the school entertainment was widespread, and quite a number of guests were present Rastus Brown was the only colored boy tn Homer, and everyone liked him because of his cheery face and his willingness to help anyone at any time. He Mved with his grandmother, and she did the most she could for him and managed to keep him in school. He was greatly Interested in the coming entertainment and had committed a poem to memory, hoping he would be asked to take part. Mammy had promised to go to the school that afternoon, and she, too, wished her little grandson would be invited to speak, but nothing waa said about it Rastus suggested that perhaps someone might forget his piece, and then he would be ready to fill in the empty place, so Mammy put on her black merino dress and her old straw bonnet and went along. Rastus was very proud of his grandmother, and his little black face was full of i«y when he led her to Miss Gray and said earnestly: “Mammy’s come, too.” Miss Gray welcomed the old lady warmly, but ahe felt sorry she had come, as she remembered that Rastus had not been invited to take part in the entertainment; she had entirely forgotten him, and she knew how sensitive he was, beta* the only colored boy in the school, but ahe thought of the valentines and that Rastus would be happy when his name was called to receive one, and she dismissed it from her mind. / The program went off nicely and no eno ■ forgot his part, as Rastus had thought possible; but as the largo box

"OH, CAESAR, I FEELS BAD.’’

of valentines was placed on Miss Gray's desk and she began to read off the names, ho forgot his disappointmen and watched each valentine eagerly, thinking the next one would be for him. He had spent the dime that Mammy gave him Christmas lor a valentine for Miss Gray, and ho saw her look at It earnestly and then look his way and amlle, and he knew that she was pleased. too, was watching and listening for llsstus’ name, and twice she whispered. “Your name will come next, honey;*' but it never earns, and before they were missed, Mammy and Rastus slipped quietly away and •nt Into the storm, where Caesar, the faithful old donkey, was waiting to carry them home. The snow waa coming down very rapidly, but Caesar trotted along at hia beat pace, wondering what had happened to make his master so quiet. Mummy sighed once or twice and Rastue blinked real hard, but neither aald a word until they reached the little house on the hill. Rastue opened the door for her to go in and then led Caesar to tho shed, which served as a barn; the cracks were stuffed with straw and the roof was covered with branches from the trees, and the donkey found it a comfortable home. Slowly Rastus took the harness off, and then he looked the old donkey in the face and put his arms around its neck and his head close to its ear and burst into tears. "Oh! Caesar, I feels awful bad; 1 wisht I hadn't gone to school; you know, Oaesar, this Is Valentine's day, and moo’ everybody got a valentine but me, I gusts" Oaesar looked very solemn In sympathy an he pricked up his long ears and rubbed his nose against tho dusky cheek. “Rastas! R-a-s-t-u-s!" called hfal grandmother. “Yes, I’se cornin’, mammy," and wiping the shining drops from bls sorrowful face he tried to look cheerful and .went

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THERE are few Americans who will deny to Abraham Lincoln the highest tribute that the citizen of a democracy may bestow upon a fellow citizen. Abraham Lincoln was the greatest of America’s citizens. Not alone was his greatness manifest in his Of circumstance and grasp of tremendous event, but he was great in the ndbllTty of character that lifts men to greatness among their fellow men in spite of circumstance. Abraham Lincoln was bona great. A sentimental patriotism has erected Washington upon the pedestal df a deity In the national pantheon and Lt is not so long since that a jury of his countrymen voted him the greatest of Americans. But Washington was not greater than Lincoln. He has been called the Father of his Country and he deserved the title; but Lincoln has been called the Savior of his country, and his memory is revered by the posterity for whom he preserved this national heritage. The perspective in which the character of Washington is viewed by this generation is far removed, and the mists of a century lie between. There la a glamour upon the actual presence and our estimate of the man is influenced by a patriotic prejudice acquired in the schools of our youth. We do not see Washington the man—we worship at the shrine of Washington the hero. There is no deception in our view of Lincoln. He stands close to us. His rugged, serious face is familiar to living men as one that looked upon them but yesterday. Lin? coin is still with us, human like ourselves, subject to human passions, oppressed as we are by human sorrows, beset by human vicissitudes and disturbed by human doubts. Washington was one sort of gentleman; Lincoln was a gentleman of quite another sort. It was the boast of Lincoln that he was of the people, and so true was this that to-day the memory of Lincoln is paramount in the hearts of the American people. Washington was a man o's the time—Lincoln was a man of the people and of all time. What Washington accomplished might have been accomplished by any great man; that which Lincoln accomplished could only have been accomplished by Lincoln. It the circumstance had not been fit there would have been no Washington; there would have been a Lincoln in spite of circumstance. History is already beginning to parallel and compare these two men—the greatest in American history; and the historian of the future will be called upon to decide between them upon the distinctive merit attaching to a greatness that created a nation and a greatness that has saved a nation. Lincoln was a typical American. He was an American of the stock that conquered the wilderness in the second generation succeeding the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers; ho was the strain that fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill and planted the flag of the young republic on the outworks of Yorktown; he was a lineal product of the sturdy American backwoodsmen who followed Boone and Cruckett into the pathless West to found a mighty empire. The country is steadily outgrowing the conditions that served to produce Lincoln. The energy that wrestled with nature in the forest and on the broad prairies is now concentrating in a struggle with kindred energy for supremacy in the market places of great cities and within the forums of States more densely populated than was New England when Abraham Lincoln was born. And the American of the distant future will think of Lincoln the man more Intently than he will think of Lincoln the statesman and President of the A merles w republic. Our history will record the careers of men more brilliant mentally than was Honest Old Abe, but the historian wHI concern himself only with the public acts of these men, whereas he will dwell upon the virtues, the splendid manly qualities and the good sense of Lincoln. He will set down the traits of kindly disposition and the homely utterance of this immortal commoner because it will be necessary to do so if the generations of Americans for whom ho writes would thoroughly understand the motives and purposes of the man who saved the nation from the greatest peril by which it has been or ever will bo menaced. And the final verdict of history will be in the record that shall pronounce Abraham Lincoln the greatest of Americans.

to the woodpile for an armful of sticks, making a poor attempt at whistling. • e e e e • Miss Gray had noticed that Rastus had received no valentine, and she blamed herself greatly, although she had left that part of the program entirely to the pupils; but she felt amends must be made in some way, so she gathered together as many of the boys and girls as she could to talk the matter over. She reminded them that In olden times a valentine was a gift of love, not only a pretty or a funny picture, and she suggested that they all together give Rastus an old-fashion-ed valentine. “Hie face is black, but bis heart la just as tender and sensitive as our own; wo were all very thoughtless and I am sure will not feed happy until we do our best to make Rastus forget our slight." “He Is always ready to do for others," said Mildred Hale; “he often sharpens my pencils for me." “And mine, too,” added Nellie Smith, and all tho rest agreed that Rastus was the nlceot kind ot * boy, and they felt very sorry that they had neglected him. Miss Gray had a plan to propose. “I think it would bo nice to surprise him to-morrow evening and take him a new set of books. I know his slate is cracked and hia geography is all to pieces; It is one I found in tho cupboard and gave to him. Hie reader has no cover at all, and ho has no spelling book." The next evening they were all gathered at Miss Gray's, ready to start for tho little house on the hill. The show had piled high in drifts and everything seemed fairly buried from sight. Rastus had worked hard to shovel a path from the house to the road, saying: “It don’ seem so lonesomellke when der’s a path out to de road." Ho sat by tho Are that evening reciting his geography reason to Mammy, as she darned his mittens. There was a loud rap on the door and they were startled, for it was seldom anyone came to see them at night. When the boy cautiously opened tho door ho was met with a loud “Hurrah for Rastas Johnson!" and the boys and girls poared into the little kitchen and deposited their bags of nats, candy and popcorn on tho table, and the box containing tho valentln* was left in tho shadow behind tho door. Rastus hurriedly built a firs In the front room and they were soon» all having a merry time, while Mies Gray

helped Mammy prepare some nice hot coffee to servo with the rolls she had brought. At 11 o’clock the young folks all went home, leaving a very happy hoy and a mysterious box behind them. When Bantus opened it he saw written on a beautiful new slate, "A. Valentine,” and as he unpacked the books and everything a boy could use in school, he said softly to Mammy: “I guess Saint Valentine touched der hearts, and dey hab touched mine.”

One of the Marvels of History.

Abraham Lincoln is assuredly one of the jnarvela of history. No land but America has produced his like. Thia destined chief of a nation In Its most perilous hour was the son of a thriftloss and wandering settler, bred in the most sordid poverty. Ho had received only the rudiments of education, and though he afterward read eagerly such works as were within his reach it Is wonderful that he should hare attained as a speaket and writer a mastery of language and a pure as well as effective style. He could look back smiling on the day whpn his long shanks appeared bare below ths shrunken leather breeches* which wars his only nether garment. Ills frame waa gaunt and grotesque, but mighty. He had a strong and eminently fair understanding, with great powers of p» tlent thought, which hs cultivated by the study of Euelld. In all his views there was a simplicity which had its source in the simplicity of his character. His local popularity was due largely te his humor. At the same time he was melancholy, touched with the pathos of human life, fond of mobrnful poetry, religious, though not orthodox, with s strong sense of aiuoverruling providence, which when he was out of spirits sometimes took the shape of fatalism. His melancholy was probably deepened by his gloomy surroundings and by misadventures in love.r-Goldwin Smith.

Lincoln’s Laugh.

Lincoln had a great laugh—a high, musical tenor—and when he had listened to or told a story which particularly pleased him he would walk up and down the room, with one hand on the small o! his baek and the other rubbing his halt In all directions, and make things ring with laughter.—D. W. Voorhees,

GARDEN AND FARM

THE DISPOSITION OF THE HORSE. The disposition of a horse largely influences its value. The education of the horse should begin when it is a colt. A noted breeder of horses, who had been successful, stated that the breed of the man was as important as the breed of the colt, as colts have varied in disposition according to the disposition of the men handling them t( EARLY LAYERS. The breed that evinces a tendency to early maturity gives its indications both in the male and female. The cockerel will show the red comb and wattles early, and he crows as soon as he can. In selecting young cocks, if we wish to increase the desire for early laying, we have this rule to guide us; take the pullet that lays first, and the cock that crows the youngest and watch them. If they both develop early and push forward rapidly they should be retained, provided they are not akin. Endeavor to do the same the succeeding year. After a few seasons the propensity to lay will begin early in all the progeny, and by continued selection the habit will become permanently settled- and the breed Improved.—Poultry Keeper. THE DAY’S WORK ON THE FARM. There is no method for deterifiining the value of a day’s work on a farm. Farm laborers in some sections are paid certain sums, according to custom or usage, but there is much difference In the amount of work by different individuals. The supposition that anybody can work on a farm is known to be erroneous by farmers, for while there are certain duties that may be performed by strong and ablebodied men, yet skill is necessary in some departments. The best farm hands are those who know what to do and consequently relieve the farmer of muck of the care and responsibility. FEEDING FOR EGG PRODUCTION. The most difficult work performed by hens that produce eggs is the manfacture of the albumen, or white, of the eggs. The yolk is composed mostly of the elements of food that produce fat, being known as the carbonaceous elements. In wheat and corn the carbonaceous materials are very abundant, but the substances from which the albumen is derived is lacking, in proportion to the yolk producing materials. Forthls reason the feeding of fowls on nothing but grain Is not conducive to egg production. The food should therefore, be varied, lean meat, linseed meal, cut bone and finely cut clover hay (scalded) to be given in addition to grain. WONDERFUL RESISTENCE OF SEEDS TO COLD. Fanners have had varied experience with seeds. Certainly with imperfectly matured and poorly dried seed corn there is danger. As the following facts show, properly dried, mature seeds resist very low temperature without risk. These temperatures may be so low indeed that they seem startling. The facta are offered here to show that it is seed quality to start with and not the relative winter temperatures, be they ever so unusual, that causes the trouble. I supplied seeds last winter for immersion in liquid air, and therefore for subjection to extremely low temperatures. These seeds included corn, flax, wheat, rye, cucumber, castor bean, Russian sunflower, mimosa, yellow lupine, sainfoin and pine. At first these lots were immersed directly from room temperature in the liquid air and allowed to remain six and twelve hours. Other lots of the same sort were immersed twenty-four and forty-eight hours respectively. The seeds were then germinated, together with control lots from the original packages. There was essentially no difference in the proportion of the seeds germinated from the original lots and from those treated or immersed. The corn was not of a high grade and the starchy portion cracked badly from the extreme cold, yet the germintlon was about all that could be expected. With flax and rye the extreme cold was rather favorable than 1 otherwise to the prompt germination of the seeds. These facts are stated to show that properly matured dried seeds are practically unaffected even at the extreme low temperature of liquid air equivalent to 310 degrees below zero. No fear need be entertained from outdoor temperatures if seeds are what we know as air-dry. By these facts we learn how admirably seeds are by nature prepared to withstand cold, provided they are in a proper condition of dryness.—A. D. Seiby of the Ohio Experiment Station. BEES A BRANCH OF FARMING. Beekeeping on a small scale has become a branch of farming, and is very much on the increase. Farmers have found that it pays well to keep a few colonies of bees on scientific principles, and are receiving encouraging returns from ifiem. Ordinarily, a few colonies will do so much better in a locality than where large numbers are kept, for any locality may become overstocked. A few hives on every farm is the way to get the beet possible returns from them, and all the honey required for home use is easily secured. Bees are valuable on the farm besides the honey they produce, and fruit growers especially are taking a great interest in bees now, having become convinced by well authenticated experiments that good fruit

and plenty of it, depends largely on honey bees, fertilizing the bloom. It is not only confined to the orchard, but If you will take the trouble to look into the matter further, you will find the bees on the blossoms of wheat, rye, corn, clovers, and many other staple cereals grown. Would any one say they do not to some extent fill the same mission on this as they do on fruit? Look at the cucumber vines, and a thousand other vatjeties of flowers, we scarcely, think of, that are visited by the bees during the flowering season. Perhaps at the lowest rate of speed a bee will travel on the wing when they are swarming, which is about twenty miles an hour, but when hunting for honey and visiting the flowers, the speed is increased to nearly double; then think of the number of miles a bee travels during each day visiting blossoms in search for honey. The bee is surely one of our best friends, and no one should blame them for defending their hive even if they should inflict stings upon us occasionally when we are meddling with their business, for they never do it otherwise. Farmers should not go into the bee business, but all farmers should keep bees enough to supply their table with honey, and learn all about scientific beekeeping.—A. H. Duff, in Farm, Feld and Fireside. DAIRYING ON THE FARM. The dairy has become such a distinct specialty in farming that many old-time farmers have abandoned it practically to those who do nothing else. Yet farm dairying on the ordinary farm is without question a profitable work, that can be carried on with other lines of work. We have not yet abandoned general farming for specialties with the great majority of farmers still raise miscellaneous crops, doing a little dairying, corn raising, cattle raising and fruit and vegetable growing. The fact is the day will never come wtien the majority will not diversify the farming sufficient to raise a great variety ofi crops. The dairy cow, the beef cow, both have their place on the ordinary farm. Grass is at the foundation of all crops and all good farming, and no man can raise good crops of grass without being tempted to raise dairy cows tod. The dairying part of the business brings in constant and all-the-year-round profits, which is a great convenience to the farmer. Then when pigs do so well on clover and skimmilk one cannot help feeling that dairying is essential to make success of raising hogs. And, indeed, it is. The man who raises a few pigs and omits the cows makes a mistake in planning. With a half dozen or more good dairy cows on the place there will be ample food for raising a dozen pigs for market If the cream can be sold direct to consumers there will be-sufficient skimmllk left to fatten the hogs profitably. Corn, clover and peas make the ideal combination of crops for the dairy cows, and they also prove pretty good feeding for pigs. From this same crop one gets sufficient to feed several colonies of good laying hens. Thus with returns coming in continually from the dairy cows and the hens, one can then look forward contentedly to the bigger returns from the grain crops, fruits, cattle or hay. These latter return profits only once a year, and it is sometimes a long and discouraging wait between times. It Is far more satisfactory to have the side issues, which will keep up the supply' of pocket money. Then if the main crop proves a failure one is not left entirely stranded. Diversified farming is the surest thing today in agriculture, and in that dairying is one of the most important of all —W. H. Manton, in American Cultivator.

An Airship Prophecy.

A correspondent of the Westminster Gazette calls attention to an Eighteenth Century prophecy of the airship. It occurs in the verses of Erasmus Darwin —that distinguished grandfather of a more distinguished grandson. The passage is in “The Botanic Garden,” published in 1791, when the possibilities of steam were becoming recognized, and It seems to contain the first suggestion of a steamdriven airship. That the author contemplated warlike as well as peaceful uses for such a contrivance is evident from the lines themselves: Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or, on wide-waving wings expanded bear Thy flying chariot through the fields of air. Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above. Shall wave their fluttering ’kerchiefs as they move; Or warrior bands akjrm the- gaping crowd. And armies shrink beneath the shad owy cloud.

The Sort of Courage That Wins.

The courage that wins is of the kind that never wavers, that holds out in spite of the most adverse conditions. The men who have made their mark in the world have been noted for their “hanging-on" qualities, their “sticking” ability. It is a comparatively easy matter to be courageous when everything goes your way. when the sun shines, and when you have plenty of friends who believe in you, but it takes superior character and great grit to maintain a steady "poise when you feel everything slipping out from under you.—Success. A lawyer's brief may be pretty long, winded.

REJECT PEACE TERMS

BRITISH DECLINE GOOD OFFICES OF HOLLAND. Will Brook No Mediation of a European Power—Are Ready to Treat for Peace With Boers in the Field and Only in South Africa. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the British government, has rejected the overtures for peace in South Africa made by the Netherlands. The full text of the correspondence between the Secretary and the Dutch minister in Log-on was given to the press of Britain and Holland simultaneously. Lord Lansdowne’s reply to the communication of the Dutch minister makes it conspicuously plain that no mediation on the part of any European power will be brooked. The British government will only enter into negotiations for peace with the Boers in the field and only in South Africa. It is now said that the retirement of Lord Salisbury from office will be coincident with the end of the South African war. The St. James’ Gazette claims to have the highest authority for saying “the premier has fixed the restoration of peace in South Africa as the appropriate moment to resign office. If the war is ended Lord Salisbury will retire at the conclusion of the present parliamentary session, but it is his present intention to retain his post until peace is accomplished. The British press is unanimous in applauding Lord Lansdowne's dignified and courteous rejection of what is regarded as a rather ingenious attempt on the part of the Dutch government to draw Great Britain into making peace overtures to the Boers. The London Daily News, representing the pro-Boers, while regretting that the offer of the Netherlands government was rejected, is fain to admit that the reply of Lord Lansdowne is irreproachable in style and temper. Opinions in The Hague differ concerning the action of Dr. Kuyper. Many persons think the Dutch premier was ill advised in making the proposal feeling his ground. The papers recognize the courtesy of Lord Lansdowne’s reply and indicate that efforts toward mediation will be renewed at a more favorable period. Mr. Fiseher, Dr. Leyds and the other Boer delegates attended a conference at the residence of Mr. Kruger in Utrecht. The British pursuit of Gen. Dewet has been successful to the extent that his last gun has been captured and Commandant Wessels, one of his principal lieutenants, has been routed. Lord Kitchener sent the news in a dispatch from Pretoria.

MANY FIREMEN KILLED.

Crushed by the Falling Walls of a Burning Building in St. Louis. By the collapse of a building in St. Louis during a tire Tuesday night six firemen are dead and many are injured. The walls of the structure fell without warning, for it was believed the fire fighters'had the blaze under control. Men were at work on all five floors of the building when the accident occurred. The fire broke out in the upper floors of the five-story building at 314 Chestnut street. A general alarm was sent in and the department hurried to the scene, as the district is considered a dangerous one, being just opposite the Merchants’ Exchange. The flames seemed to be pretty well under control when suddenly the entire building collapsed, crumbling away from the first story. The roof, floors and walls fell inward, carrying down with them the fire fighters who were on the different floors. Chief Swingley, who was in front of the building directing his men, had a miraculous escape from death. As the front wall fell outward he scurried across the street and fell under the aerial truck. The truck was covered with debris and partially wrecked, and it was owing to its sheltering protection the chief owes his life. The building was one of the oldest business houses in the city, having been occupied by the McLean Medical Company twenty years ago, but of late has been occupied by the American Tent and Awning Company. Two years ago it was badly damaged by a fire which broke out in the fifth story. The loss will not exceed SIOO,OOO. The laboratory and office building of the Leslie E. Keeley Company at Dwight. 111., together with the Livingstone Hotel, owned by the same corporation, were destroyed by fire Tuesday morning. The estimated loss is $175,000 on the laboratory and $25,000 on the hotel, both of which are partially covered by $50,000 insurance. The Keeley buildings were commenced in the winter of 1891 and were completed in 1893. In these buildings all of the supplies were manufactured. There was no loss of life, and only two persons were injured—a woman and a colored porter.

WANTS KRUGER AS VISITOR.

Representative Cochran Introduces I Resolution in Congress. Representative Cochran of Missouri introduced in the House of Congress the following resolution: “Resolved, By the Senate and th.»

House, That Paul Kruger, president of South African Republic, is hereby invited to visit the United Stater, as the guest of' fit. country at such * time as may suit hi s convenience.

PAUL KRUGER.

For the defrayment of the expenses incurred in his entertainment while in this country the sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any mopey in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.”

Shoots Railway Detective.

Roy Gilbert was arrested at Sparta, Tenn., because he shot and fatally wounded Benjamin Ramsay, a railroad detective. The shooting occurred at the scene of a recent serious railroad wreck caused by the throwing of a switch. Gilbert was suspected and Ramsay was working up the case. Engineers have arrived at Muskogee, I. T„ to survey the Missouri, Kansas and Texas extension from Wybark up the Arkansas valley to Guthrie and will begin work at once.