Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 September 1919 — The WEEK'S DOINGS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The WEEK'S DOINGS

JACKSON TP., NEWTON COUNTY Corn is out of the way of frost. The drought was broken here last week by heavy rains. Mr. MoCray is going to give us a business administration, but so was Goodrich. David Miller —the one with variegated whl&kers —is building a large cattle and (horse barn, William Herron, it seems, Just can’t got enough Indiana dirt. His last and recent addition is an 80acre tract bought of Frank Kay. Another indoor sport which recently became extinct was that of exchanging baby’s shoes, on the part of dear oM father, for a morning’s drink. Farmers in this vicinity will have to buy about everything this winter In the way of eatables, with the exception of pork and beef. The failure of all kinds of truck and fruit this fall is about as complete as could be. Stock Is being removed from pastures unusually early this year. There is but little grass at the present time and, owing to the lateness of the season, t>ls condition is not likely to improve much, even though we get plenty of rain. There has been a brisk movement of poultry in this vicinity within the last two weeks. The good hausfrau, after the labor and worry incident to raising her chicks, has a natural hankering to beat the poultry thief to it, if possible, hence the brisk movement. Pfrlmmer Hopkins received a very painful injury the other day when a cow, which he was feeding, threw her head around and struck him on the side of the face with a force sufficelnt to fracture the cheek bone. He was taken to a Kankakee hospital for treatment. 1 Lewis Guthrie asserts that he • dug potatoes almost a whole aft- ’ ernoon and was in the act of hang--1 ing up the hoe, when -the good wife came out and requested him to continue the good work a little longer in order that she might have enough ipotatoes to set the yeast. The other morning we heard a voice up the road singing “Mahacwelton braes are bonny ai )d right away we knew that good old Johin) Mehary had resumed his job of driving the school hack. We sincerely hope that fortune will favor John again this winter In the matter of weather. Our old friend Skile Killlama now rides in a vehicle, the mechanism of which Indicates almost devilish ingenuity on the part of the irfvnntor. It resembles a cross between the ancient Hindoo Jugernaut and a mid-summer nightmare, and when in operation throws a smoke barrage that would cause old Hindenburg to roll on l the sward in an ecstacy of delight. Skile calls it an automobile. Also and finally, there is something wrong with a law that provides for the hauling of A’s childrem) to school, while B’s children have to walk about the same distance or be hauled by private conveyance. Justice and common sense, it would seem, would dictate that B’s children should be given transportation the same as A’s, or, failing in that, a school house within decent walking distance. A certain New York editor, in giving advice to young reporters, used to say: “If a dog bites a man, that isn’t news, but if the man bites the dog, then it is news.’’ Very good, very good but doesn’t our Illustrious Bill Wood furnish a still better object lesson with reference to this matter. F’rinstance if our illustrious Bill

criticises every act of President Wilson-, that isn’t news, but —excuse this stretch of the imagination —should be neglect an opportunity for such criticism, then it would be news and putry dumd hot stuff at that. It has been reported on pretty good authority that a certain agriculturist (?) not a day’s journey from here, was heard to remark recently that the farmer who refused to join the proposed league of farmers would be taking chances of being "burned out” some night, if he escaped even a worse fate. This poor fellow evidently is laboring under the delusion that the movement in question is intended as a sort of annex to the I. W. W., and the soonter he and his kind are set right in the matter the better it will be for all concerned. If there is a place on earth where the I. W. W., the Bolshevik and the scum of hell generally would meet with a cold reception it would, be <in an organization of farmers. Just so long ae union labor proceeds upon the theory that ' the boss has no nights which labor is bound* to respect, just so long will this country be the scene of strikes, riots and hungry women and children. Does it ever occur to union labor that the boss also may have Mb Httlh troubles? Does union labor ever stop to think that it is the boss who is expected to come down with the long green, in the form of wages, every Saturday might, whether business, as our Swede brother would say, "bane goofi or bad”—whether this or that venture was a success or a failure. When business is good and profits large union labor, as a rule, is not at all averse to sharing in such profits. But let profits decline to the vanishing point—let business be conducted at an actual loss for a time, as is sometimes the case, and about how often will you see union labor come forward and plead for the privilege of bearing even a small part of that loss? The writer once owned and operated a newspaper plant. At times business would be good, at other times, for weeks, the plant would be otperated at an actual loss. During the prosperous periods the printer —a full brother to "Gloomy Gus’* —would talk incessantly about the Inequality of wealth and demand an extra dollar a 'week, but, in the midst of one of the lean periods, if we so much as hinted at a slight reduction in wages the fel--1 low would discharge a volume of profanity into the type case that would haye,shocked anyone not in the newspaper business, and would Inquire in a loud tobacco voice if we were "made of adamant and did we want to see him and his family starve or go to the poorhouse; What, is needed in these unsettled tiniis^—and this applies to all classes —is more and still more of the saving of common 1 sense. A careless housekeeper leaves, matches scattered around here and there. Li’l mousie playfully nibbles one of these luclfers —a flash, an odor of sulphur—the insurance man mails a large, strawberry-roan check to father, the old Mississippi resumes its journey to the sea and the incident is closed until the next time. Matches, by the way, for some Inexplicable reason, have a wonderful attraction for certain animals. Last evening, while the writer was seated out in the yard, smoking the calumet hnd mentally i disposing of the tenth article of the league of nations, an evil-faced tramp cat stole up out of the twilight and began investigating the outlook for something to masticate. Now, it so happened that some matches had fallen into a pan of spoiled grease had been placed out otni the well curb and these the fei line approached and began to lick, gnaw and nose around with an J eagerness which plainly said “Room ,to let. Inquire within.” We should like very much to tell the

reader that "Tom” absorbed that grease and returned to bls several places of abode without any untoward happening, but truth la our j lotto. That’s why we are a poor man today. In his haste to finish the job before an alien enemy appeared upon the scene Thomas C. Inadvertently bit upon the head of one of the ir.atcnes and the usual thing happened. We efliall always contend that that particular match was made by a Bolshevik, with murderous Intent. It exploded with a force that must have loosened every tooth in Tom’s head and with a splendor. that lit up the surrowridlngs for several rods and caused pup to seek the hole under the barn with a fleetness born of a mighty dread. It is extremely difficult for a 10-pound cat to negotiate the web of a woven wire fence that was intended to turn young chickens, but Tqm turned the trick, after overturning a beehive and destroying four promising peach trees. Moral —Be careful with matches.

MILROY Dessie Johnson is assisting Mrs. Roy Oulp with housework. Mrs. Fred Saltwell and Mrs. Lillie Mitchell went to Rensselaer Tuesday. Mrs. Frank May and Mrs. Howard Stewart spent Wednesday with Mrs. W. B. Fisher. Mrs. FiCher and daughter Lillian and son Woodward were in Monon Tuesday evening. 'Mrs. Lillie Mitchell assisted her sister, Mrs. Thomas Lear, Thursday with her papering. Mirs. Earl Foulks and sons and Mrs. George Foulks spent Monday with Mrs. Frank May. Mr. and Mirs. Charles Wood, Lud Clark and family and Mrs. Frank and Mrs. John Sutton were in Monon Tuesday evening. Mrs. Frank Sutton and Mrs. John Sutton and little son of Lebanon, Mo., are visiting their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Saltwell, and other relatives and friends. . Mr. Samsel was gcco'mpanied STmday by Mrs. Samsel and baby and Mr. Rice, a neighbor. They returned to their homes Sunday night after church services. . Sunday being so rainy the program could only be carried out-in part at Black Oak. A few of our Sunday school were present, and in the afternoon Mr. Samsel preached. The Black Oak Sunday school served ice cream to all. A very pleasant time was enjoyed by those present. Mrs. Elsie Clark has received word from her daughter Edith, who went to her uncle’s, Alva Clark’s, near Gardner, Kan., a few weeks ago, that she is not feeling so well. Mrs, Clark Is planning to go and take her to Idaho soon in the hope that the change will be beneficial to Edith’s health.