Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 October 1914 — GANDERBONE'S FORECAST. [ARTICLE]

GANDERBONE'S FORECAST.

OCTOBER. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I burrowed, growing weary, into many a thrilling story O f the battle of the kings; while I nodded, having read them till I think I could have said them, all at once I heard the rustle and the fluttering of wings, *”Tis some visitor,” I muttered, being good at guessing things. Ah, distinctly I remember it was early in September, and each separate dying ember of the city of Louvain seemed to glow upon the pages in the way a thing engages one’s attention when he rages and inclines to raising cain. When the savagery of ages sort of seizes on his brain—■ it was then I heard the rustling, now becoming very plain.

It was not at all uncertain, so I pulled aside the curtain, ano a dove in some disorder had alighted on the sill, where it rested very still, with a bullet through its bill, and its pinions singed to nothing but the unepibellished quill. ’Tis the peace dove,” I adventured, feeling something of a thrill. In that solitary haven I recalled the poet’s raven, and I knew the bird before me carried sorrow on its tongue—had a message on its tongue, which it sorrowfully sung, and I set about to find it, for the night was fdirly young. I remember even laughing with the thought that it was /‘Stung.”

1 hus it was I got to guessing, while continually pressing my requost for information on the symbol of the Hague: but his wit was very vague. It had somehow lost a leg, and its head, deprived of feathers, was as barren as an egg. It was pitiful with famine, it was desolate with plague. •Prophet. ' said I. "thing of fancy, alter Helgoland and Nancy, by what light of necromancy does your hobby set its store? Have you thought the matter o'er? Are you deaf to cannon roar? Has the house of arbitration closed its melancholy door? Or are you going onward just as bravely as before?" Said the peace bird. "Nevermore!”

"So you’ve come to it!" I thundered. "What illusions have been sundered! We have naturally wondered if Carnegie would despair. Has he chucked the whole affair? Do they talk peace anywhere on the seven seas of ocean or the unrepenting shore? Is the palace still kept open, with a» welcome at the door?" Said the peace bird. ‘‘Nevermore!" "We have quit that monkey business." said the singed and shaken bird. "There is nothing in it, truly; it is patently absurd. I reported back to Andy, and he said an awful word. But don’t feel badly for him—he is not sae sad the noo: he was making armor, too. in the old and palmy days, and it doesn't matter truly. He was playing it both ways.,"

The eager calf will sniff the ajr And show us what is new to dance, And in the offing everywhere The hosts of Autumn will advance. The wild goose down the sky Will signal ranges lo the frost: The dread mosquito, come to die, Will sell its life at awful cosf. The corn and other friends of man Will chase the tyrant Hunger past, The brave cove oyster in the can Will sound a military blast. The bitten will exceed the roar Of any cannon made by Krupp. And tins of soup, hurled through the door Will blow the soda fountain up.

Though October has always been' called the most beautiful month of tile year, it was strangely enough the cause of one of the great wars of history. It was called by the Slavs the Yellow Month, from the falling leaves, and by the Anglo-Saxons Winter Fyllith. meaning the approach of winter with, the full moon. This infuriated the Romans, who had named it October from the Latin octp (eight), and had subsequently made it the tenth month in order that there might be apples to bob on Halloween. The result of their indignation was a race war in which Latins under Numa Pompilius was arrayed against almost all the rest of Europe. The allies‘were defeated, and all their calendars were burned at a big celebration and bonfire on the Roman Compagna. It was on the 12th day of October that Columbus discovered America. Weary of w’ar and the quarrels of kings/this intrepid Italian manned three caravels and set out to discover a place where people could live in peace. The sea had never been crossed, and it contained a gyeat many perils; but every time he and his men thought of turning back their resolve was renewed by the rumble of canon in their rear, and so they came to San Salvador in this month of the year. Except for the probable necessity of killing the Indians who already inhabited the new land, it seemed satisfactory, and Columbus returned and so reported. The rush for Plymouth Rock and other promising fields for colonization set in at once, and it has never stopped.

Across the peaceful seas of night

the Hunter s Moon will sail serene, nor anyone shall dynamite that pretty cruiser from the scene. There is no war where man is not—it is original with him. All else except this bloody spot is fairer than the cherubim. The gentle art of shedding blood is not at home among the stars. One cannot even hear the thud of battle on the planet Mars. The days are filled with joy and peace; the nights are beautiful with song. There are no armies and police, nor is there any matter wrong. Our earth monopolizes that; they have to look to see it here. They never have a royal spat beyond our own forbidding sphere. We take the cake for acting so of all the worlds around the sun, and if the rest could make the throw they’d like to hit us with the bun.

, At r.ny rate, the verdant glade will turn a bright and cheery red, and wild duck dinners will parade above the eager hunter’s head. The mothball, driven from the fur, will rally round the summer shirt; the bullfrog, stopping to demur, will show us how to shovel dirt. The new school ma’am will make the bold, unconquered bully bawl for mush, the cow will shiver with the cold and don a thicker set of plush; the farmer, bringing in his hogs, will leave us in a limousine; the candidate in homely togs will tell what keeps us poor and lean: the haze of autumn will complete the filmy glory of the day; the quail will wake us with the sweet, shrill temper of his roundelay; the gold leaves, glowing as they turn, will render beautiful the air, and pickled pig’s feet wil 1 return to glorify the bill of fare.

There is no other season quite SO beautiful as that ahead, W hen all the world is frosty white As day comes bounding from his bed. The thought of cider is enough Io make a poet seize his lyre; The hickory, turned gold and buff, Is all that beauty could desire. The smell of cracklings on the breeze Will make a rosebush hide its face. The wistful beauty of the trees Will soothe and charm us for a space. The county fair will fill the sky With aviators and balloons. And night will know the hue and cry Of dogs and hunters after coons. Indian summer is so-called from the fact that it was then the Indians always went on the warpath, and this is almost equally true of white men. There will probably be very few quiet spots on the globe during

the month, and with Europe going ( it full tilt on one side of us, Mexico , raging along the south border and j the .laps scourging 'the Pacific, we j will do well to keep out of it ourselves. Congress will probably adjourn about the 15th, though one canhot tell about congress these days, when something breaks out almost i every minute. Some of the congressI men. now the rivers and harbors bill , has been zeppelined, don't much care to go home at all. The moon will be | full on the 4th. The 15th will be an . anxious day for all of the kings engaging in the European war, for it I was on that day in that Xapo- ' leon arrived at the Isle of St. Helena, there, to spend the rest of his

life. October's birthstone is the opal, a hicli means hope; bnt people born in October are very strong characters and do their own hoping. Theodore Roosevelt is a good example. He was born on the 27th, under the influence of Scorpio, the eighth sign of the zodiac. Scorpio people have great endurance and usually continue to run for office after people have quit paying any attention to them. The first 22 days of the month are under the influence of Libra, the seventh sign. Libra people are very conservative, and are not saying what they think of our Mexican policy yet. October 1 3th will be the anniversary of the birth of the United States navy, which looks as if it would have to be born again in the light of what is proving effective in sen fighting abroad. Hallowe en will recur on the 31st. Then sweet November will return* With Winter’s scouts beside her, And we shall turn from war’s concern To fixing apple cider.