The Syracuse Journal, Volume 4, Number 13, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 27 July 1911 — Page 6

Syracuse Journal W. G. CONNOLLY, Publisher. SYRACUSE. - - INDIANA. GUINEA FOWL GOOD ALARM Noisy Bird Formerly Found Useful to Warn Against Attack of Chicken Hawks. Abe Martin has called attention to the guinea fowl, ascribing to Tipton ? Bud the credit of having invented a muffler for the noisy bird patterned after the wire spring clothespin. Mr. Martin probably knows, as do others who have lived in the country, that the noisy guinea fowl was at one time a much more necessary adjunct to farm life than today, as the noise so freely given out by this bird served to sound the alarm against the attack of chicken hawks. The hawks themselves were afraid of the guineas and the shrill cry peculiar to them; and the farmyard that had a number of guineas was considered immune from the ravages of the dreaded birds of prey. The guinea fowl is now rarely to be met with on Indiana farms, and even many country folk have never seen one. It is a large bird allied to the pheasants and is of a ■ like gamey flavor. Its home was the west coast of Africa, but it was well known to the Romans, by whom it was domesticated for its flesh. Its plumage is slate colored and covered with rounded white spots whence it is sometimes called “pintado,” which is Spanish for spotted. The body is stout, the neck long and slender, the tail short and drooping, the legs bare with short slightly surved claws. The head is usually naked with the crown elevated into a kind of bony helmet. The eggs have a thick, hard shell which makes them objectionable- Indiana farmers are again becoming interested in the guineas, as the flesh furnishes an epicucean dish declared by many to equab'that of the prairie chicken and grouae, and for that reason Avill command a good price in the market to be served at hotels and restaurants as “pheasant.” Soft-Capped Projectiles. Many persons know that certain ar-mor-piercing shells have soft metal caps on the point, with the result of greater effectiveness over those not so provided; but thq way in which the cap acts is not generally well understood, says a writer in Harper’s .Weekly. A needle may be driven into a board . with a hammer when it is thrust through S' cork, whereas it would break off unsupported. Many have thought that the soft cap supports the hard point of the projectile in the same way. A British authority, who has given much study to the mutual action of projectile and armor, states, that a shell frequently fails because of the fact that a very small piece of the point is forced back into the mass, thus splitting it. A larger piece is then similarly forced back, and so on. The main advantage of the soft cap. in the opinion of the authority, is to pre- . vent such splitting. Adventurous American Woman. Mrs. Robey, wife of an American i brain specialist practicing in Japan, | has undertaken a trip in the wilds of i Africa without a white escort. She i likes adventure. Once she made a I trip through Australia as a nursemaid . for the purpose of studying the do- i mestic servant problem. During the ; Japanese-Russian war she disguised ’ herself as a boy and accompanied her husband to the front./ In her present trip she will folrow the course taken by the duke and (%chess of Connaught. An a former hunting trip in Africa she passed through 500 villages and shot Hons, leopards and hippopotami. Gave Up the Position. “Once I held court in a little village,” said Judge Steinbrenner of Cleveland, “w’here the bailiff was a little fellow, but very much experienced. During the session a drunken man got into the court room and made a noise that took from the dignity of the proceedings. I paused long enough to request the bailiff to remove the obstreperous party. In a few minutes the drunk got noisier than ever. I s again summoned the bailiff. ‘Why don’t you make an arrest ?\ I asked sharply. ‘Aren’t you an officer of this court?’ ‘I was, your honor,’ answered the bailiff, ‘but I resigned!”’ Habit of the Trade. -That man Smith that you sent down here last week is no good for my place,” said the tailor to the employment agent. “He has never worked anywhere except in a ladies’ tailoring establishment.” * “His references did not say so,” the agent said. “I don’t care a rap about what the references said,” retorted the tail(or. “Every time he puts a coat on a man he tells him it makes him ten (years younger, and that speaks louder than a book of references.” Ideal Summer Home. "Now, here’s the kind of place I ilike,” says the summer cottager, idly {looking over some kodak pictures. i*‘See this pretty porch-,with the vines i climbing over it, and that sweep of (lawn, with some trees and shrubs. I [wish we could find a place like that (instead of one of those ramshackle (summer cottages like we always rent." ' i “Why, John Flikkerman!" laughs his wife. “That’s a picture of our own house at home that Will took last week!”— Judge. *

WK CJowxty

ww T is a trifle early perhaps you are saying to begin talking about the county fair. Maybe so, if you are Bra looking forward to the autumn event merely from the standpoint of a cold, calm, casually interested spectator. But just remember, please, that there are AA y\ thousands upon thousands of people all over the country for whQm the annuai Wall neighborhood fair means much more. They are the prospective exhibitors, and no wonder they bggin to plan and speculates and anticipate almost from the time the snow is off the ground. Indeed, if a person is ambitious for success in the competitions at the county fair, it is absolutely necessary to be forehanded in preparation. This applies with equal force whether it is a case of John seeking blue ribbons for his sheep and cattle or Mary seeking the grand prizes for her cakes and pies and preserves. And of course it is true in yet greater measure of Cousin Sue who has a plot to capture the diploma for the handsomest silk quilt or the most beautiful pillow top—tor, be it known no prize-winning piece of work, no more than Rome, was built in a day. It is a matter of congratulation that the oldfashioned county fair has remained unchanged, in its main features, since the days of our grandfathers. It is one of the most cherished memories of every man whose boyhood was spent within lure of its magic—one of the memories that after residence in the city he half fears to rekindle by renewed association, lest the twentieth century

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brand won’t be the least bit like the old-time event that was awaited with more anticipation than was bestowed even upon the Fourth of July or the annual visit of the “monster and mastodonic united shows.” Perhaps this cherished idol of youth may not have been a really and truly “county fair,” for not all county fairs can enjoy the prestige of location at the county seat, but after all, that is a minor matter in the eyes of the outsider and no man can ever be convinced that the world ever held a more important “agricultural exposition” than the one at which as a youngster he exhibited his chickpns or peddled peanuts or sold scorecards. That, as has been said, the old-fashioned county fair hasn’t been changed beyond recognition, even to this day, is all the more a matter of surprise when we take into account the revolutionary changes that have taken place in other phases of rural life. The Introduction of rural free delivery, for instance, has done away with the necessity and the opportunity for those friendly gatherings at the cross-roads store when the farmers who drove over for the mail stole a little leisure ■in which to swap stories. Similarly a phonograph in every farm house has somewhat dulled the appetite for those periodic concerts at the little red school house, even as the presence on the roads of those zipping, screeching automobiles has knocked all the romance out of those buggy rides in the moonlight when old Dobbin was allowed to find his own way and set his own pace. Not only has the county fair withstood the ravages of time and the onslaught es modern invention, but in sdme respects it- has benefited by a lapse of time. That is, many a fair of the present day is vastly bigger and better than was the corresponding event on the same grounds a score or more of years ago. It is not due solely to the natural increase of population, either, nor yet to that “back-to-the-soil” crusade which has swept over the land. The latter has helped, however, because it has added to the population of many a rural district men and women who are engaging in farming for pleasure as well as for profit and who enter their products at the nearby fairs as a matter of pride just as a breeder of fine dogs, will travel all over the country to display his blooded canines at the big dog shows, even though the prizes would not pay the express charges on the animals. The automobile, despised though it be Ip many quarters, has had a big influence in bringing greater prosperity to our latter-day county fairs. The advpnt of the horseless vehicles and the fad for touring, taken In conjunction with that improvement of country roads which has been going on this past decade or so, has made it possible for farmers to travel greater distances to the fairs. The tiller of the soil who in the old days was content to take his family to one fair—the one nearest home, may now, If he has one of those automobiles that are constructed especially

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for the use of farmers, “take in” anywhere from three to half a dozen fairs held within a radius of say twenty or thirty miles. Os course, this swells the gate receipts and it also results in the exhibit classes being better filled. On the other hand, the motor car has brought to the county fairs a certain patronage from city folk who almost never attended these rural exhibitions in the old days. Some of the city folks are those who have friends or relatives in the country, with whom they hold a reunion at the fair. Others are one-time rural residents who, having gone to town and “made their pile,” find that they can come back via the automobile when they Would not take the trouble if it meant getting up early in the morning to catch an excursion train. And finally there are the city folk who have neither kith nor kin nor the ties of old associations to draw them to the fair, but who motor to the autumn mecca as a sort of “lark” and who find it quite as novel an experience in its way as the rural resident does to journey to the city to inspect an exposition or a great amusement park. This latter portion of the Influx from the city may not add to the gaiety of the occasion, particularly, for the country people at the county fair, but their contributions at the ticket wondow are well worth having and generally appreciated, for, be it known, the average county fair is conducted by farmers and other members of the community who can’t wholly overlook the financial side. Yet another new influence that has helped the county fair in our time is the suppression of betting and the abandonment of racing at most of the race courses near the large cities. Racing of one kind or another goes on at almost all our country fairs and whereas it is not supposed to be accompanied by betting there are opportunities for quiet wagers, whereas the mere racing in itself is sufficient to attract horse owners and others who Jove the sport for itself. Just here, it may be added, that most fairs throughout the United States are now conducted on a clean, moral basis. Liquor selling on' the grounds or nearby has long been prohibited in most localities and out-and-out gambling devices have been barred from many fair grounds these many years, but latterly, in response to the moral awakening that has swept over the country, fair managers are showing a disposition to keep out most of those raffles and games of chance which, perhaps innocent in themselves, might have a bad influence on the youthful mind. This banishment of some of the old-time catchpenjjy schemes has not, however, so altered things that the man who has been out in the world cannot recognize the county fair of his youth when he comes back to it. He will see at the old stand all the weight-testing and lungtesting machines, the old-fashioned merry-go-round and the stands selling peanuts and«. sandwiches and red lemonade. He can test his skill, as of yore, in tossing rings over canes or trying to hit

the venturesome colored boy who pokes his head through a hole in a sheet. The time-honored “side show” or carnival is there with its snake charmers and giants and dwarfs and the fortune tellers and popcorn venders have the old elusive way of inducing you to part with your coin. Even the fans and badges and tiny flags and “gold” meddls of yesteryear look and cost the same as they did as far back as memory can carry you. About the only new things at the county fair, in fact, are the moving picture shows in their somber black tents and the ice cream cones that have supplanted the one-time “five-cent dish with two spoons.” The men who have been conducting county fairs long enough to make comparisons will tell you that, all in all, it costs just about as much to hold a fair nowadays as it did a decade or two ago, presuming, that , is, that you “hang up” about as much in prizes for the show and speed classes. Some items have been cut over the expenses in the old days, w’hereas other outlays have increased, owing to the increased cost of living or some other new influence. For one thing, the fair managers save some money in heralding the fair. For the sentiment of the thing, they still have to make use of some of those gaudy posters in blue and red and yellow that from time out of mind have childish dreams every autumn, kut they don’t spend money to plaster these posters on every barn and fence and covered bridge in the county, as they were wont to do in the old days. As the number of country newspapers has increased they have provided a better and cheaper way of telling the people of the delights of the coming fair. On the other hand, the “star attractidn,” if the fair management wants to be right up to date and have an airship flight each day, will cost more than in the old days. A parachute jumper or an acrobat who did the thrilling “slide for Hfe” did not demand half as much money, usually, as the expert aeroplanist who wants a fee of SSOO and upward. A feature of the county fair that hasn’t changed with the lapse of time is the season for holding the event. The conclusion of the harvest, which leaves the farmer comparatively care-free and, let us hope, with money in his pocket, dictates the date of this annual festival. In some parts of the country September Is the favorite month for fairs, but elsewhere October has the call and quite a few of these agricultural shows and trotting meets are held in early November. Active preparations at the fair grounds begin a month or six weeks earlier for the up-to-date fair association repaints its buildings each summer and has everything spick and span for the three or four day attraction.

The Old Order Changeth

A critic declared that twentieth century people tell their private affairs much more readily than used to be the custom. If marriages turn out unfortunately the wrorld learns it from the parties chiefly concerned, and what the old-fashioned woman would have called the secrets of her inner life, not to be confessed even to herself, the new woman tells boldly in order to surround her personality with a halo of interest, for it seems certain, if you do not say you have troubles, nobody will notice them. The instinct of family loyalty is diminishing, that- clannish sentiment which caused relatives to hide their internal dissensions from others as carefully as they would bodily infirmities; children criticise their parents and vice versa; brothers and sisters quarrel in the street; t!he black sheep is openly discussed by his relations. No toleration is granted on the score of blood, and as all of us require as much toleration as we can get, (t seems a pity so fruitful a means of supply is cut off. Yet, if a man has a brother a blackguard, why should he not say so, just as much as if he were a stranger? There seems no real reason, except that it does not sound nice, and public opinion long age decided that a family disgrace must be shared by all the members.

Hmm | GIRL WITH BUSINESS IDEAS Beautiful Creature Was Not Satisfied That Proposal Made on Sunday Was Binding. “George,” said the beautiful girl, as she nestled close to him, “the last time you called you proposed.” "I did, sweet one.” “And I accepted you.” “You did, love.” “I presume, George,” she went on, in her most fascinating manner, “that you look upon me merely as a foolish, thoughtless girl, but —but—” “How can you think so, pet?” he interrupted. “But,” she went on, in a more businesslike way, “I have something of the business instinct of the New Woman in me, and —and—l shall have to ask you to repeat the proposal again tonight. ’ The last time you called it was Sunday, and contracts made on that day, I learn, are not legally binding.” Almost Lost. ,# l’m xafraid,” said the publisher, “your novel won't have much of a sale.” “I can’t see why it shouldn’t,” replied the author. “Well, if you insist on having the truth, it is too long drawn out. The interest isn’t .sustained and it is, very poorly written.” “But my wife is going to sue me for divorce in a week or two, and there’s likely to be quite a scandal.” “Wait! I’ll have a contract ready for you. to sign in just a minute.” News to Her. “Are you not glad to set foot on terra firma?” asked a lady of an old friend who had just landed from an American liner. "Terra firma?” was the response. “Dear me! I thought this was Queenstown!" —Tit-Bits. TWO VIEWS. nn ivn] & 4 I \ ~ j i 7-/ u “ } L £—LzJ The Deacon —Parson, we’ve come to the conclusion that you’re too liberal, The Pardon —Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that the congregation is too economical. Almost Unbearable. Mrs. Flynn (at Casey’s funeral)— Isn’t it tumble? Mrs. Dolin —Ut is! There they have me wreath shtuck way over in wan corner, wid big Tim Kelly’s gates ajar on top av ut, an’ Mike Sheedy’s broken column hiding ut intoSrely!— Puck. > Utilizing the Tyrant. “Is your master at home?” “I’ll ask me mistress.” 1 “What do you mean by that?” “Mistress Is dictatin’ a speech fer ■her club on ’Centuries of Masculine Tyranny,’ an’ master is doin’ her typewritin’.” Result of Practice. “I don’t like Mr. Jobbs; he is a very pushing fellow.” “Don.’t blame him for it. It comes from the way his wifj makes him work the lawn mower.” Many of Them. “Do you know why a dishonest grocer’s scales are like the poet’s Arabs?” ( “I suppose it is because they silently steal a weigh.” Natural Desire. “Why Is that man so rabid against Shakespeare in the discussion of the authorship of the plays?” “Because, naturally, he wants to save his bacon.” At the Milliner’s. “And you told her that that hat looked perfectly stunning on her!” ' “Well, I near fainted.”

MILKMAN CHANGED HIS MIND ' Thought Bulldog Was Eating Hia Calf In Earnest Until Owner Slipped Him Silver Piece. If there was one thing Dodo the bulldog disliked it was a tradesman. Wherefore the old milkman was: wary, and never ventured in without first tapping on the kitchen window to find out for certain that all was; safe. But the new milkmar. didn’t know about Dodo. When Dodo was eventually detached from the fleshiest part of the new milkman’s calf by the master of the house, the victim of the onslaught began to express his mind with considerable freedom. < “Keepin’ a deg like that!” he exclaimed, indignantly. “He’s only playful, that’s all!” insisted the fond master, and pressed something silver into the new milkman’s hand. The milkmaA glanced at it, bit it, spat on it, and then deposited it in a safe pocket. “I think I can take a bit o’ fun s.s well as anybody,” he said, "But, do you know,' till you explained it I had a notion that that dog was eating my calf in real earnest!” NOT TO BE MOVED. M/r IlwW "I r . f Ji Passenger—Conductor, where does this car leave this street? Conductor —Right where you see it, sir. We have orders from the company not to change thq thoroughfares. > Facts and Conclusions. Church—When tapped eight feet from the ground a rubber tree fifteen inches in diameter yields three pints of sap. Gotham—But when you see a man over in Brooklyn dodging around a corner with a pail, with foam running over the edges, don’t conclude that he’s been stabbing a rubber tree. — Yonkers Statesman. Second Fiddle. The Vicar—Certainly, I will call upon your daughter if she is so very ill. But which church do you attend? The Caller —We don’t go to no church —we’re chapel people. The Vicar —Then why didn’t you send for your minister? The Caller —Lor! W’e wouldn’t risk ’im! Why, it’s scarlet fever! —The Sketch. The Usual Affection. “What a very affecting piece, my dear,” remarked the husband as they returned from the suburban theater the other night. “I suppose there wasn’t a dry eye in the house." “I observed, however,” said the wife, "that there seemed to be the usual number of dry throats." —Tit Bits. The Advanced Child. > Grandmother—And now you would like me to tell you a story, dears? Advanced child —Oh, no, granny not a story, please! They’re so stod gy and unconvincing and as out oi date as tunes in music. We would much prefer an impressionist word picture dr a s subtle character sketch —Punch. A Practical View. “More worry for us women. Th< scientists say that women’s feet wil get larger with each succeeding gen eration.” “That may be true. But I do no> see why those who are already pro vided with feet need worry.”—Har per’s Weekly. Logical. “Your acquaintance has been dis covered in a questionable transac tion.” “Then he should be made to answer.” A Lady Humorist. “Who says there are no woman humorists?” “I don’t know. Why?” ’ “My typewriter spells as funny as Artemus Ward in his palmiest days.” The Wrong End. “He is very absent-minded. Dozens of times I have seen him trying to Scratch a match on the wrong end.” “Gee! Is that how he wore his hair off?” Nonsense. “Ernest Thompson Seton says It Is wrong to feed cheese to skunks.” “What nonsense some of our learned men do talk. Won’t you try some more of this Roquefort?” Common Experience. “Did yoti ever hear of piano practice being fatal?” “I’ve heard of its murdering time.”