The Cedarville Herald, Volume 12, Numbers 27-52

q i V i ' i I W [Original.] j l S 8 SOPH IA N 10 JBOLS was & lady of great m o d * esty and of 4 ▼try retiring d isposition ; and as she had p as sed t h e a g e of “ fair, fat and forty,1' wasted few glances' on men. She had iately established herself In a" suite of rooms on the southeast corner of Laurel street, facing the lovely lit­ tle lieecii park. It was just the place for aquiet spinster who loved nature and retirement, and she enjoyed it withunalloyed pleasure for a few days /Opposite her new abode was a quaint i oldhouse with four immense windows, wherein were set tiny panes of glass, to each.room. The inhabitants seemed to ba very quiet persons, and she sel­ domsaw them except, in the evening. After she had been domiciled about a week in her new place her attention was attracted by a very queer action of an old gentleman who lived in the quaint house. After finishing her ope o’clock dinner she always established herself coztly with work or book at her front window, and the old gentleman would as regularly ap- 1pear in his yard, and drawing out of his pocket a red bandanna, raise it solemnly, high In air! He did not seem to wave it, but let it go at its own sweet will, or the wind’s will,. On moonlight nights always at about ten .o’clock he repeated this mysterious, rite, or whatever it was. His eyes were nearly always turned toward her'Swin- dow; and stared fixedly. Sometime^ he did; not use the handkerchief at all, but.gazed steadfastly at her window. This performance he kept up every day. until Miss .Sophia began to be fearfully nervous; shewas really afraid it would draw down the gossip of the neighborhood on her. So she tried in many mild, well-bred ways to let the old gentlemanunderstand that she did not like his very open attentions. She pulled down her blind, and, on peeping out to see what effect it had, found it had none; he still waved. ' Or she would retreat to the farthest corner of her room, out of his range of vision, and her mirror' told her he still gazed. Finally her nephew came to make her a week’a visit. Every spinster has a favorite niece or nephew, and Jack Brown was Miss Sophia’s She ad- J. % ’ ‘tier I PLEASE SPEAK louder !” LITTLK mired his youth (he was only twenty four), his oourage, his well-shaped body and even his impetuous (to put It mildly) temper. He was rather good- looking, too, although his hair was au­ burn, and hiamustaihe, snobas it was, undeniably rtd. The first day o f his visit Miss Sophia kept him engaged by showlngbim her photograph albums, of which she had half a dozen. Bnt she couldn’t keep this up a whole week, so the second day Jack remarked, as the bandanna and itsowner appeared; “Whata queer oldcbap! What’s he doing?” To which Miss Sophia tremulously replied; “ I don't know,” which Was literally true, for she had her back ■cirefdlly turned to the window. The next day Jack observed the same performance, and said; "Confound the old acoundralt Aunt -feophla-,-1 rea lly believe he’s trying ter flirt with you or else lie's a lunatic!” Jack was a senior at oollege and had taken his degree in the art o f flirting. The following day Jack's Ire reached a climax as the old gentleman appeared msusual, and not only waved tha of­ fending red rag (Jack was a fiery re­ publican) but actually gazed fixedly at Miss Sophia’s window for fully five minutes! He grabbed vp his hat, and said to his aunt, "I'll know the meaning o f hisconfoundedImpudence or my name’s not Jsek Brown!” * He dsshed downstairs, psyiug no at­ tention to his aunt's pleadings; "Don't Jack! don’t! you will only make mat­ ters worse!” She pulled down her ear- tain, and peeped from behind it to eee what Jeck would dp. He vru striding angrily across the treat, andin a few moments.was- at'. the old gentleman** side. Witha wrath­ ful face, and sternly determined mi li­ ner, lie said: - "Sir, what is the meaning of your infernal impudence? It is a nice thing that a quiet lady cannot sit at hoi- win­ dow without lasing insulted!" * The old gentleman clearedhis throat, wiped his mouth with the offending , handkerchief, smiled gently, raised his : hand to Ids car and said in a soft, mild voice. "Heyl Please speak a little louder. I’m quite deaf."’ Thereupon Jack, as is jusliwiary with people who arc unaccustomed to talking with the deaf,/roared loudly and rapidly, prefacing his former in­ quiry with; " I say—:” conscious that he was making a spectacle of himself, and that- in all probability the whole neighborhood heard him. Still the old gentleman sjiook Ida head despairingly, and said: "Come into the house, My daughter will make me understand; you talk too rapidly and loudly.” ' just as he said it a door «•pened soft­ ly and a girl’s voice, trembling wi th laughter, said: "What is it, father? Does the gentleman want something?” "1 think he does, Bertha, but 1can­ not understand what.” After one glance at the girl’s face Jack "sized himself up as an ass,” as ho would have expressed it, and ho knew she had overheard the whole in terview. He really had not the courage to tell her outright that her father was accused of flirting With his Aunt Sophia, or else he was a lunatic, and that neither he nor his aunt approved of his conduct, The girl let,him flounder and get red in the fpoe for about ten minutes, en­ joying the situation as only a mis­ chievous girl can, but he managed to convey his meaning. Then she said: " i understand you perfectly and can perhaps explain it satisfactorily to both you and your aunt. Father keeps a weather record, and has as long as I can remember. He takes observations three times a day, at two in the afternoon, at seven in the evening and early in the morn* mg, probably before your aunt gets up.” Here two irrepressible dimples broke out and tainted that laughter was not far behind. Jaek,. who had recov­ ered Ids equanimity, admired them im­ mensely, but was not to be diverted from his purpose, so he said, judicially: "But why does ho use a handker­ chief?” "For the very simple reason that if there is a light wind stirring he can­ not tell its direction any other way. ” "Well,.why does he stare so at my aunt as site sits at her window?” " I think it is not at her but”—here she paused long enough to make im­ pressive what should follow—"at the smoke-stack from the furnace. The smoke that comes from it makes first-rate weather vane.” This explanation was mode so de­ murely and witii snch evident enjoy­ ment at the ludicrousuess of the situa­ tion that Jack was slightly provoked at:her and said, rather sharply: "Well, you must admit that it looks queer to a fellow not accustomed to i t ” . "I've no doubt it does,” she replied, with a smile, "but we have always lived here and father has always taken observations just in this way, and everybody knows his peculiarity, so. o f course, it awakens no comment” As Jack had no reply ready she said; "Please make my apologies to your aunt for any annoyance she may liavo f e lt ” and as the comical side came up­ permost again she broke into a laugh and said: "Poor old father! The idea of him being accused of fllrtingl” Jack joined in the laugh, and the inno­ cent cause o f all the trouble and fun sat staring out the window as mild and placid as though no such chargo lay at hia door. As yet he did not even know the reason of the visit of the erstwhile angry but now smiling young man. Jack apologized humbly, but he had no idea of letting the story get., out on him, so he tried in an elegant manner, which turned out a flat failure, to in­ timate to the girl that it should be * secret between themselves, as he said; " I hope yon w ill not—I mean—ah—* er—bnt you won’t—" "Won’t tell it on yon,” she said, with unfeeling bluntneso. "Father would be avenged rsther more than the case cells for if the students should get hold of the story,” Then taking pity on him she said, sweetly: " I will never mention it again, o f course, and will not even tell father.” Jack asked her to call on his aunt, which she promised to do, and he took his departure, to explain to Miss Sophia that shehad only made the same. blunder that many another woman has done, jumped at a conclusion too read­ ily- Jack visited his aunt With great reg­ ularity* bnt spent the major portion of hia time at the weather prophet's across the wey, so that the reighbors con- eluded he was taking • postgraduate course in meteorology- or something! S tone ? K nox , —Mr. Wilde says he is a journalist, and modestly observes: ” 1am toldtbst my judgment as an art add dramatic critic ie considered fln*A" This is al­ most equal (say* the Albany Times) to Oscar’s remark to a London friend who visited him fn Paris. "Did yon drop In at my chambers before yon le ft Lon­ don?” inquired the msthste. " I did.” was the reply. "Did you observe whether my lily Was in flower?” The friend answered that it was.0 'How good o f it to bloom while 1 v t anay!” murmured Oscar, gently. OF GENERAL INTEREST. -—Mrs. Nancy Kennedy, of Halloway, Me., who it was supposed was 1X6years of age, is really only 08. She has al­ ways asserted that she was married to a soldier of the Revolution during that war, but Dr. Lapham, the Augusta his­ torian, who has laves igated the case, has learned that her husband was a soldier of 18J2, and that she was bora .in 1709. —In the center of a saw log thirty- two Indies In diameter that was found at Moore, Mich;, .was an Indian toma­ hawk. It is six inches in length, and has a blade of roughly forged Iron, about two and nhalf inches long, The solid timber over the head of the toma­ hawk was ten inches in thickness. It is estimated that it had .been in the tree two centuries. —Previous to 1628 the use of stoves, generally of the box pattern and very rude, was confined to shops and offices, school houses,' court houses and .churches in the cities and larger vil­ lages. In the country the churches were not usually warmed, but the matrons nod older women carried their foot stoves, and the menprotected their feet from the cold by stout leather overshoes, technically known as "boxes.” —A; missionary on the Middle Zam­ besi, who has traveled over all that re­ gion, says the best maps of the country are very' inaccurate; that rivers are laid down where they do not exist, and that numerous villages appear where there is not a trace of a human habita­ tion. He says the maps we simply an annoyance to travelers, who are often put to inconvenience by relying on in­ formation which they find later to be inaccurate. —Hartley, the sculptor, has modeled a beautiful bas-relief which is placed over the mantelpiece of the Montelaire (New Jersey) athletic club house. It represents running athletes racing far fun. Health is suggested by the per­ fectly developed human figures; action, by the variety of forms expressing the different positions; and beauty, by the grace, not alone in the sculptured humanity, but in the space left be-, tween the men and their friendly rivals. —The first attempts to introduce silk culture into America were made very early. James I., having,been foiled ia his efforts to e&tabUsh the rearing of silkworms- in England, and having learned that the climate of Virginia was favorable for silk culture, sent' over, in 1622, silkworm eggs, white mulberry trees , and printed instruc­ tions. He also gave special directio ns to the Earl of Southampton to nrge the cultivation of silk In the American col­ onics in preference to tobacco, to which bis majesty had a strong aversion. —The highest priced postage stamp in existence is the famous Dundee stamp, worth £500 sterling, and not purchasable at that price. James Chalmers,*of Dundee, was the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp in 1824 The stamp is in the possession of Slg- mnnd Fried), an extensive postage stamp merchant of Untor-Dolberg, Vienna. It was exhibited at the Vienna jubilee stamp exhibition of last year. The postage stamp museum, held on May 25,1801, at Vienna, displayed, this gem *a the greatest attraction among three million stamps and other objects exhibited there. ’ —Notable specimens of game con­ tinue to bo takfen in Maine. W. K. Mayo, Jr„ of New York city, recently shot a. moose at Moosehead lake, the head and antlers of which weighed 188 pounds. In Kingsbury township Sam­ uel Foss trapped a bear which had feasted so well that it weighed, when dressed, 600 pounds. The postmaster <of West Southport dug a clam which measured 0x14 inches and weighed fourteen ounces. The Washington codnty hunters are all looking for a jet black deer which lias been seen near Wesley. It will be worth about $500 to the hunter. White dear which were once very rare, are now quite plentiful in eastern Maine. —On the old Boston and New Haven turnpike in the southern part of New London county, Conn,, is an old mile­ stone, notched and moss grown, that was set there by Benjamin Franklin. When the highway was laid out Frank­ lin got the job of setting the mile­ stones, and he did it in an originat way. He set out from Boston in a comfortable chaise that he had built, and a gang of men followed him with a team that conveyed the stones. Franklin’s vehielp had a peculiar ma­ chine that marked the miles according to the revolutions of one of its wheels. He drove all the way between Boston and the Elm.city. This' historic stone is alongside of the John Champion farm in Lyme. —William Hamilton Gibson, who is a trained observer of plants and animals, satisfied himself some time ago that a rooster makes the flapping noise that acooiUpanics hia crowing by striking his wings together over his back. The popular notion is that the bird pro­ duces the noise by striking his wings against his hard, fat thighs. Mr. Gib­ son discussed the subjectwith a farmer onoe, And the latter laughed at the art­ ist's idea and said: " I ’ve beenbrought up among chickens, and I guess I know how a rooster flaps his wings.” "Very good,” said Mr. Gibson, "bnt just watch your own fowls for a week, and toll me what yon think, than.” The scornful farmer promised, and retuired at the end o f the week with the humble confession that Mr. Gibson was right. TEMPERANCE NOTES. HOW CARL SAVED HIS FATHER. TI ib Kcpry of a■Drunken Father’s Ilefor- ■nation. , I t .was a week-day afternoon meeting of the children. Co l Hartwell was one of those present lie seemed to listen with his eyes as well as his ears, for h.a leaned on the back of the bench before him, and stared with big, eager eyes at the speaker. The latter was telling about the thirst of a drunkard. It was like a furnace, lie said, heated red-hot, and it was asking for liquor to feed it all the time. Carl did not seem to notied anything else but the minister, who was talking to the boys and girls of his congrega­ tion. Carl thought of his father, Abram Hartwell, known to be a drunkard, known to have this hot thirst. "How canyon cool off such a thirst?” . asked the minister. " I saw.a grew"! river pf Ice once—a glacier—oh, so cold! Would that take put the heat from a drunkard’s thirst? I know what will take away his thirst Do you want •to know? Prayer to God will do i t And whatever you do, whatever remedy yon try, whatever medicine, don’t leave out prayer. Add that to it.” ' Carl went away in deep thought That thirst the awful thirst of a drunkard, and to think his father had it, this hot furnace! Oh, if he could,do anything! He wanted to do so much for liis home, where the mot her had such an anxious face, the home that was so poor and needy and empty. The baby there was nuch a pining little thing, the pantry sometimes had no food in it, the hod ever seemed to lack coal, the stove was so often without any fire. OU, 60 much needed to be done in that drunkard’s home! Well, he coulddo one thing which the minister had mentioned; yes, he could pray, ne would pray, too,, that very day, that very moment. A white little face was turned up to the sky in its mate supplication, like a white flower asking for rain on<a'hot day, God sends rain to the flowers; would lie not hear the plea of this boy-face and send a blessing? Hark! When Carl opened his eyes lie heard arumblibg. It was no* the sound of thunder accompanying rain, but it was the jarring noise of a heavy ice cart coming down the hot, dusty street' . . . ■ “ And it is stopping at Stokell'st” thought Carl. Stokeli was the keeper of the rum- hole at the corner. "And ob, there is father!,r thought Carl. Abram Hartwell was standing on the sidewalk, looking very sad and dis­ contented. He was saying to himself; "What a nobody I am! Don’t do any­ thing, don't amount to anything, don’t care for- anything, except—to drink! Oh dear!” Yes, he did seem to be a very useless being. "What am 1 good for?" ho muttered. He looked up to the sky. How he wished he could be good! His face -was coarse and red. There are flowers coarse and homely, very unlike the white ones. D och not God send min on those homely ones also? While Abram Hartwell was thinking About his useless life and raising his hopeless face toward the sky, Carl was thinking about that hot thing, the drunkard's thirst; and oh, if ice would, only cool it and subdue it and stop it! That ice cart, what an attractive ob­ ject it was to all the children in the neighborhood! Out of the close, hot, poor homes, they rushed when they heard the sound of the heavy, jarring, rumbling wheels. "The ice cart! the ice cart!' they shouted. How they gathered about the cart when It halt­ ed! When Sol Stevens, the ice man, with the brown arms and iron ice pick, broke up the white sparkling blocks of crystal, what a rush was made for any of the cool chips flying over the side­ walk! "Hurrah!” they shouted. And Sol grinned and let his ice pick fall clum­ sily at times on the ice that there might be a shower of nice, cool hits for the hot. thirsty children. All this time Carl eyed first his father and then the tempting ice shower. He wanted to pick up a cooling crystal and iisnd it to his father that the awful thirst within might be slaked, and hia father not go into Stokell's saloon. " I don’t dare to,” Carl muttered more than once. Sol had finished his delivery of ice for the neighborhood, cried: "Good-bye, youngsters," and mounted the driver's seat, aud was turning his team away from the side­ walk when Carl saw a piece of ice still ungathered add also saw his father turning toward the saloon. Crying: flfwl tin a -Ip irt, »pg»lr to twy ifkthenf” he quickly mustered courage to seize that last piece. Then, strangely, he slipped, and oh, so near those awful, heavy wheels! He did not think of that. He only thought of his father go­ ing into the saloon,-and cried: "Don’t go; ob, this ice, father—take it!” It wasatl Carl eonld do to offer hia ice and think of God In just a swift lit­ tle prayer! The father turned. He saw some­ thing terrible—a big wheel rumbling and grinding round, and so near his boyl "Whoa!” the driver suddenly shouted to his horses, fiercely’ pulling ■them back from a big express team coming round a corner. He did not see Carl, but that halt put a little spaco.between the child and the great threatening wheels approaching. "God help mo!” murmured Abram Hartwell. Does not God send rain, I said, on the Coarse, homely flowers? Abram seemed to reach Carl in on* single, immense leap. He took several leaps actually, but he wasnot in a con­ dition to appreciate time or distance. Those dreadful wheels were turning again toward Carl! Only an inch be­ tween lum and .death when a fierce, strong grasp was fastened upon lilm, and he was snatched away, " Then Abram fell down sensoloss on the sidewalk, so intense had been liis excitement and the reaction was so great. When he came out of the darkness, people in a big cloud stood.' about him. Carl too was fanning hia father, witii liis ragged straw hat, for he had got Abram’s head in his lap, and he was holding to the drunkard’s lips that piece of ice. "A hero!” somebody was saying. "That mail is a saint!" gasped a woman, all rugged and dirty. What praise! It, was like cold water to Abram’s thirsty, despairing soul; just like, the touch of the ice to his hot {Hips. He was not past the doing of a noble thing. "Here's a drink for ye!” said a rough voice. “ You’ve earned it! ■Take that • ice' away !" It was Stokeli offering a gloss of brandy. “ Take it! Costs nothin’,",ha said. "Don’t take it, father,” whispered Carl, pressing the ice harder to his hot lips. "Here, Abram!” insisted StokelL Abram’s head was shaking, “ No! no!” he murmured, all tlio while looking up into the sky bending in pity over the great city. Abram Hartwell’ s soul was taking hold of God- There was a great hope,, a grand purpose, a new. life beckoning to his soul. It was like a hand motioniug to him out of the sky. >.. He had through God’s strength saved his boy. Why, through the same abounding help, could not Abram Hartwell save his own life and not die . a drunkard? Success in one exploit aroused a daring’purpose to attempt another, and when he got np from the sidewalk and slowly and feebly crawled away there was a triumphant, happy light in his eyes, and Carl, who clung to his hand, was so happy also! Be assured that Carl’s after happiness was not clouded by the shadows hover­ ing ovCr a drunkard’s home.—Rev. EL A. Randy, in N. Y. Observer. NOTES BY THE WAY. T ub Missourian’s "care for the drink habit” was entirely successful—"Quit yer drlnkin’." Wic have a great horror for arsenic, and fifty other tilings; the fact is; all these things are a mere bagatelle in re- ' lation to the most direct, absolute, immoiiate aud certain poisonings which are caused by alcohol. llKt.oit.'M is the paradise of saloon­ keepers. Although the enactment of a license law two years ago compelled about twenty-five thousand keepers to close their saloons, yet about one hun­ dred and sixty thousand remain, or one for every forty souls in tho population. T he committee of the British Med­ ical association on legislation for tha inebriate has reported in favor of en­ dowing proper authorities with power to compel inebriates to be placed in re­ treats where they -will be treated by physicians employing tyio most ap­ proved methods. B efore the British began to rule in Burmah there Was practically no use of intoxicants. Since their advent what a change! One distillery in Mandalay, licensed by the government, turns out .five hundred gallons of liquor every day, and there are now one hundred and thirty-nine licensed liquor shops. TnxRF. is one thing vastly more im­ portant than the cure of every drunk­ ard in the country, and that is tho ces­ sation of drunkard-making by legisla­ ting against the liquor traffic, and by each person's own abstinence. I f we could have emphatic testimony against the drinking habit, it is the welcome that ia given by thousands to the news that a drpg has been discovered that will deliver them from the curse of rum. One need not go any farther than this fact for a pretty cogent tem­ perance lecture. T ub cause of prohibition is making1 great headway in Sweden. Already many parishes or communities enjoy absolute prohibition. Total absti­ nence societies are numerous and strong. Clergymen take an active in­ terest in the work; altogether the out- l look for prohibition is encouraging. At a recent parliamentary election, six candidates of the prohibition party were elected. The cause of temper­ ance has long received official recogni­ tion and support Last year twenty- five.thousand crowns were appropria­ ted toward this cause. Of this appro­ priation a certain sum is set apart as prizes for the best essays on the best' method of dealing with the traffic. Tho remainder of the money is to bn employed in printing and distributing the essays. ___ _ Slum Children. What a pathetic text for a temper­ ance lecture is there in the following! Every day some email children get lost in London. The bewildered little one* burst into tears, a crowd collects, some stare, some question, Some pity, a few help. The friendly policeman is brought to the rescue, and when all other efforts to find the little one’s home fail, the man in blue inquires: "Where does your mother get her gin?” Most of the slum children know too well this hannt of tha parent, and in not a few cases, it is said, has the po­ liceman in this way been able to trace tha home of the lost child.—-N.Y. Press,