Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 35, Number 42, 19 December 1909 — Page 10

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THE RICHMOND PAIXADIU3I AND SUN-TELEGRAM, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1909.

SANTA SAY'S GET BUSY

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ONLY FIVE MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

TIE MflDflDSIEt SIWE

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IRICHIVaOIMD'S LEADING HOLIDAY BARGAIN STORE

Here you can get gift things for everyone for father, mother, sister, brother, for sweetheart or the boy. Come to the Hoosier.You can find just what you want, a gift for all, such as Ory Goods, Hosiery, Gloves, Neckwear, Clothing, Shoes, Slippers, Fancy Goods of all kinds, Men's Shirts, Collars, Suit Cases. Many other things, all priced at moderate prices. BARGAINS! CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS FOR SHOPPERS.

UMBRELLAS Gifts which men and women often need. Always appreciated. We have them in gold or silver handles at 98c, $1.25, $1.50, $1.98 and $2.50. SLIPPERS For men, women and children, in felt, kid and velvet at 50, 75, 98c & $1.25 PURS Buy Christmas Furs of us and save money. Ladies' full fur set, muff and collaret in a fine Coney fur at $3.98. Children's fur sets at $1.25, $1.50 & $2.50.

SHOES Of all kinds for ail kinds of people. Men's..Dress Shoes in all the new lasts and leathers at $1.25, $J 50 $1.98, $2.50 and $3.00. Ladies' fine Dress Shoes at $1.25, $1.50, $1.9? 1rf7? fTKLftDIES' RUBBERS AT 50c. BASKETS Just the thing any lady will appreciate at 38, 48 and 58c.

TTIHIE

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SIER

FORE

THE PEOPLE'S CHRISTMAS STORE

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Betty and Billikin A Christmas Tale Mrs. Percy Oliver Smith

As Betty looked up from ber embroidery a letter was thrown into her Jap. "Hurrah!" cried Billee, "here's a letter from mother. She is not a bit angry about our runaway match, and writes beautifully. She wants us to go down for a visit and stay over the Christmas season. Will you go, Betty?" "Of course, I will!" she cried delightedly; and then, a little wistfully, "Do you think your mother will like me, Billikin?" "She will adore you. How can she help it? And I am sure you will love her. She is the dearest but wait till you Bee her. She says she wants us to come at once, so the sooner we start the better, and it is quite a little Journey, Do you think we could start tomorrow ?" "Tomorrow? Well, I guess we could. We can pack at once. Let me see, what clothes shall I take? Are they very gay down there, or must I be terribly demure?" "Iet me know my role and I shall play it to the letter. I once took part in a Sunday school entertainment and was the hit of the piece. I think I was

somebody's spinster aunt, and said 'Land sakes every five minutes. I simply must get on with your mother." Billee smiled. "It isn't a case of land sakes exactly, though I'll admit mother is a little old-fashioned, and there isn't' much doing down there. The natives go to church, you know, and to nn occasional sociable, I believe they call it. I really forget the place; I've hardly been home, except for a day at a time, in five years, but you won't find it very up to date more of a neighing than a honking town." "Oh, I see," sighed Betty ruefully. "I could take my black tailored gown and my blue rajah, a couple of quiet blouses and skirts. Would I shock them if I came down some morning in this red kimono and perilous pumps?" "I think they wear nurse gingham and a white apron down there mornings; but I wonder if you could do your hair a little plainer, just for this once, Betty? Of course, I don't want to dictate to you, but you do use a lot of puffs and curls and things, and 1 was thinking mother isn't used to these new styles, and you might look too" "Too much like a snake charmer? Very well, I shall go down in' congress gaiters if you wish, but be it on your head, Billikin, if I do not suit your august parent!" It was almost tea time when' they arrived, cold and tired after their long journey. The old farm house

was a blaze of light, and there certainly was nothing lacking in the welcome or the embrace with which Billee's mother met them. When they were shown to their room Betty was delighted; it was so quaint and cozy, with its chintz hangings, old-fashioned furniture and huge grate piled high with blazing logs. "Oh, isn't this delightful, after a ten-by-twelve flat! And, Billee, I think your mother is a dear!" "I knew you would like her, and she will absolutely dote on you; I feel it in my bones!" But Betty was not so sure. During the first few days of their visit all went serenely; they formed an attractive trio, the devoted son, the solicitous mother and the very demure and self-effacing Betty. And yet more than once she felt her mother-in-law gazing at her in a sort of mild disapproval, which was both annoying and perplexing. "She does not like me. I am too boisterous, or something; and yet I thought I was doing so well, with my hair banded down so my best friend wouldn't know me, and these horrid dark clothes. If it lasts much longer I'll do something desperate! Here I am going around talking low and subdued, like a conspirator. I've a -notion to break out into a dreadful warwhoop just to see if I still have lungs." In the meantime Billee had noticed it, too, and cornered his mother on the first opportunity.

"Now, mother, what it is you don't like about Betty? I am sure you do not approve of her in some way." "Why, Billee," cried the old lady.

much distressed, "do you think I would criticise your wife? I don't know what you mean. I am very fond of her." "No, I don't mean that you are criticising her, only I can't help noticing the way you look at her, as if you disapproved of her in some way; so out with it, mother what's the row?" "The idea!" faltered the old lady. "Why, nothing at all. I did feel a little disappointed that you, being so young and lively, had chosen a girl of her age and with so little life and spirit. That's all but she is a lovely girl, and, of course, they say opposites attract." "Of herage!" exclaimed the astonished fellow. 'Why, Betty is only nineteen and I am twenty-four. Did you want me to rob a kindergarten? And Jiyely? Why, Betty is the most spirited girl you ever saw. She just keeps me In a whirl all the time. She is perfectly hilarious. I never heard of such a thing!" The bewildered old lady looked at him as though he had just lost his senses. "Well," she said finally, "if that is the way she appears to you, I am very glad for your sake; but she seems very different to me. Why, she really depresses me. It may be that she is shy and Isn't quite her natural self, or that the way she wears her hair and dresses

makes her seem older and more staid than she really is." 'Oh:- exclaimed her son in a tone that spoke volumes. "Mother. I thought that you did not care for fo!derols and vanities." "Well. I am an old lady." she an

swered with n tot-s of her head, "but when I was young ! wore my share of vanities with the best of them. You see how it is. Billee: I had told all our friends here that you had married such a society belle, and that she was so stylish and pretty, and" "And she doesn't look the part!" With a peal of laughter he rushed out of the room and up the stairs at a bound. "Come out of it, Betty; its all a mistake. Get on your war-paint. You did bring a few things with you, didn't you';" "What do you mean?" demanded an

astonished Betty. "Is there going to be a what-do-you-call-it quilting bee or has the sewing society broken loose'?" "Betty," he began gravely, but ended in another peal of laughter, "we're on the wrong track. The mater says you depress her. You lack youth and gai3ty. It's all my fault, wretch that I am; she isn't old-fashioned at all. Now, Betty-kins, do get to work with the curling tongs; and say darling, did you smuggle in just a few glaring garments?" "I did. Here they are." exclaimed a

giggling Betty, grabbing handfuls of I clothes out of the trunk and throwing

them here and there in a mad rush. I I put in that rose moyen age dress that J you rave over, and the slippers with jthe awfullest high heels you ever saw! I "Hook me up, Billikin, quick and

look in that top drawer and get me the puffs and that jet barrette. I shall be ready in a minute. Oh, this is too delicious." "When they burst into the sitting

room a few minutes later the old lady looked up in amazement. For a whole minute she surveyed them, then laughed till the tears ran down her pink cheeks. "So you were masquerading?" she asked. "And, Billee, I suppose, put you up to it?" "Yes. he did." exclaimed Betty, darting an indignant look at the culprit. "He said you wouldn't like folderols, and curls, and puffs and such vanities." "You poor child! And to think that you went to all that trouble to gain my regard'." "Ye, and I've been positively suffering for a good laugh, and afraid to be my natural self, for fear you would be shocked," added Betty dolefully. "The idea! The very idea! And I've been suffering for a little life and gaiety, and had looked to Billee and his wife to bring mirth into this lone-

i ly old home, and to" her voice broke.

Instantly their arms were around her. "Shall we have a jolly Christmas, Billikin? Shall we make the rafters ring?" comes a gay challenge from Betty. "Leave it to us!" said Billikin.

Pet MORE

A Western Conversation

?IVIIAS (SHIFTS Our line consists of a fine assortment of Watches, Clocks, Cut Glass, China and newest things carried in a First Class Jewelry Store. We are not here to knock the other fellow or to make extravagant claims. This is simply sn announcement to those who do not know us and our methods. Quality as good as the best. Prices as low as the lowest. Correct representation. Considerate treatment, and if anything more is desired to make a transaction a satisfactory and square deal to all. we are here to do It

41 N. 81b SI., Ric irerd. Id

A Christmas Gift given with every purchase of $2.00 or more.

(Philadelphia North American.') With the general level commodity prices moving steadily and progressively upward, the cost of living is getting higher each month. Industrial activity and prosperity grow apace, but the purchasing power of the dollar shrinks as prices advance, and labor demands and is getting better pay. All this was specifically predicted and fully accounted for upon the basis of economic conditions, in a specially prepared article published in the North American of June 14 last. What was causing the advance In prices and why prices would go higher was clearly set forth. The same forces continue to work to the same ends. President Taft felt called upon to speak of the high cost of living in his recent message to congress, and he correctly pointed to the great increase in the money supply of gold as the prime cause. But conditions, not theories, are knocking at the door of every household and making men and women feel the necessity for higher wages and salaries if they are to maintain the same standard of living. Dealing with wholesale prices, Bradstreet's shows that on December 1 the average price for ninety-six com

modities stood at $9.1262, against $S.2133 on the same date last year. Here is a price advance of a little

over 11 percent. Illustrating the price advance, Bradstreet's says: "Getting to another point of vant

age, we find that the present index .number ($9.1262) is 18 percent higher ' than it was on June 1. 1908, that being the low-water mark of the recent depression, and incidentally the current index number is 60 percent higher than on July 1, 1896, when the num

ber was $5.7019. "Theoretically, a man going to the wholesale marketplace to purchase a

, pound of each of ninety-six articles j would have had to pay for the same on December 1 this year about $9.12. On March 1 last, like goods might have been purchased for nearly 91 .cents less; while on December 1, 190$, (they were cheaper by 91.35 cents. At the low level in June, 190S, similar

goods could have been obtained for $1.40 under the present level. "The market was 60 cents lower ou

December 1, 1907, than it was on the ,same date this year, but the differ- ' ence between now and December 1, 1906, is only a little over 22 cents. Nine years ago, or on December 1, 1900, pricts, in a collective sense, were nearly $1.43 under the current level, and the change from the low point touched on July 1, 1896, amounts to more than $3.42. No one wants to see a return of the prices of that ab

normally depressed period." Notable advances in the last year hate taken place in breadstuffs, provisions, livestock, hides and leather and textiles. The situation bears heavily upon many and is obviously driving forward the army of wageearners to demand more pay. At the same time the price advance, while directly benefiting manufacturers and all engaged in productive enterprises, is making anything but easy the position of railroads, whose cost of living has also grown largely and which are now beset with demands for higher wages to trainmen and other employes.

(Collier's.) Three men were dining the other day in Mr. Davenport's famous restaurant in Spokane. One was an oldish gentleman with a long beard, one a Spokane "booster," an J the third a man from New York. The latter had Just come from Seattle and finally ventured to speak enthusiastically of the life and animation to be seen in that bustling town. The Spokane man at once looked as if he had lost his entire family in a railway accident. "Life," said he wearily, "of course it looks lively. Every mn, woman and child in that town has been waiting years for this

chance. You wait till the exposition j

is over and they haven't got anybody to show off to and then go back. Just you take a look at Seattle six months from now!" And the citizen of tho rival town then went on to prove to his own satisfaction the superiority of Spokane to most places on the civilized earth and the general and nearly

complete cussed ness and uselessness of Seattle. In the midst of his oration the old gentleman with the long beard slowly looked up from his tea and toast, fixed the Spokane man with a calm and penetrating eye and with aa accent that still unmistakably re

called his native Virginia although he had lived la Yakima for twenty years proceeded to read him the riot act. It was an admonition gravely and courteously given, but with a certain au

thoritative air before which the Spokane "booster' withered visibly. The drift of the old gentleman's remark was that Western boomer conldnt expect to have their own towns taken seriously when they invariably "knocked" everybody eles's town. The result is." concluded the old gentleman, "that nobody believe you and you end

In driving away more people than yon .

bring In."

Extras. -I say. satt the n tngtt boy. "that nearsighted man in 49tl Just fell over a broom nod spilled a pail of water on himself." Take him op a towel," amid the hotel manager, rand charge him for one bath.

DEUCE'S '

CC4-CC3 tlsSn UL

The (Gircaitt CDnirMinnisis . Stoop For IHII1ti djunallilfly Cell Glass anndl CMiniaiwaire

The Finest Crockery on the Market Today Undoubtedly We Are Showing the Most Complete Line of Genuine Holiday Goods Ever At-, tempted in This Vicinity. Odd Piece China," Jars, Vases, Bread Plates, Cups and Saucers, Butter Dishes, Berry Sets, Etc

0fldl pieces inn (Cnntt (Glass

A Most Brilliant Cut Glass Selection the Line Is Large and Varied-See Our Great Display in the East Room

Electricity. Simply because Benjamin Franklin associated electricity with lightning

; and that most people are more or less afraid of lightning electricity is believed to be a dangerous factor in fire hazards. This is not true, for It has i been proved time and again that electricky causes fewer fires than a cum- ) ber of the other things about the bouse

or oniee.

MERCHANTS' DELIVERY. Harry C. WesseL Headquarters Birck harness store. 500 Main street. , Phone 195&. Res. Phone 2337. 19-7t

Tfiie Toy Store

Deuker's is the mecca for the little tots during the Christmas season. There you can find everything to make the Tots' Christ mas a merry one. Dolls for the girls; pretty books, regular railroad trains for the boys, and many other appropriate gift articles. (EEdDo w. mmm G04-G08 Main Street

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