a-
Y
S
1
H 53 IIE G
overninent
a s completed
the expenditure
of 1000000 and
nine years work
in converting 235
acres of rolling
but barren Indi
ana land into a
city for men who participated in her
conflicts The work was to have been
-completed by the first of last year but
there were delays which set It back
In this delightful retreat over 2000
men in blue many without arms oth
ers without legs are huddled together
to let tthe sands of life run out
The Fifty first Congress passed the
1111 of Congressman George W Steel
-appropriating 200000 for a national
soldiers home to be built at Marlon
Tad This was approved Jan 23 1888
IA 235icre tract of land belonging to
a farmer named Unthink was selected
and the work of construction begun
Previous to this act of Congress there
nvere six national homes of soldiers
-and sailors and over twenty State
homes These institutions however
were crowded and there was urgent
necessity to either enlarge them ma
terially or erect a new national home
jThe same condition exists to day and
ihe Government while finishing the
Marion home was laying the founda
ton for an eighth at Danville 111
which in the course of seven or eight
years will also be completed
The death rate of participants in the
iate rebellion may by tlie time the Dan
ville borne is completed have reached
such a point that the present homes
will afford all of the facilities needed
by the Government to care for those
-who nurtured hex in the years of 12
48 Gl 65
Barring probabilities that another
war will again fill hospitals and wreck
lives as well as wrest them- the time is
cities which have and are now being
erected for the comfort of her unfor
tunates will be empty Still in her
building to meet their present require
ments and their comforts the Govern
ment is not erecting structures to stand
a day a year a decade or a century
but many centuries The permanence
of construction the completeness of
the work and the beauty and art work
ed into these homes strike one as prob
ably elaborate considering the fact that
Sn a few years they will not be needed
for what they are now used
The Marion home the seventh and
most modern is nothing short of an
architectural dream It lies near the
little town of Jonesboro though Mari
on is but three miles away Picturesque
Messissinawi Iliver girts one end and
neatly trimmed shrubs form the fence
which incloses the picturesque retreat
iViewed from the great entrance to the
west the city of brick buildings is seen
a quarter of a mile off across the drill
grounds On the drill grounds the
stars and stripes wave in all of their
glory and there is not a place where
they seem so thoroughly appropriate
and so well appreciated Under the
flagstaff is a row of brass cannon
In the space between the buildings
and the outer guardhouse lies a little
grove and under the spreading boughs
of the trees are modest little white
stones They seemingly form great
circles circles within circles Here lie
jthe men who have entered across the
gay drill ground have lived in the vil
lage of pretty residences walks and
flower gardens and at last joined the
great procession to enlist in the higher
urmy Here the stars and stripes float
over graves The little white stones
are used at Gettysburg to mark the
last resting places of those who died
in line and they are none the less
impressive when viewed nnder the
trees at Marion where after years of
joys of sorrows and of pains those
who missed the bullets at Gettysburg
have found their allotted six feet of
-earth and their little white stone on
which is but a simple inscription
John Smith Company A Seventh In
diana Volunteers Died Jan 22 189S
TJuildinss of the Home
Broad macadamized drives and pret
ty little walks properly and artistical
ly curbed and guttered with brick lead
to the city within Over the knoll to
the north is the home of the governor
a modern house of frame built in co
lonial style neither gorgeous nor com
mon Beyond the governors residence
is the treasurers house equally artis
tic nd comfortable There are pretty
flower beds and walks and drives lead
ing up to the residences Down the
slope and across the broad main drive
stretches the great central court
the band stand in which last year over
200 concerts were given Walks and
ilower gardens make this open space
very artistic and give gooct effect to the
buildings which surround it On the
east is the hospital undoubtedly the
finest in Indiana and one of the finest
in the country The building cost
75000
At the further end of the open court
facing the governors residence is the
new building where the Inner man is
looked after in a manner most artistic
and satisfactory This is one of the
newest and one of the prettiest build
ings in the list of thirty five It is of
pressed brick with clock tower and ar
tistic sloping eaves which come over
the verandas On the first floor is the
dining hall one of the most interesting
points in the city It is a pleasant re
treat one great room in which 1080
can dine at once with the ease and
style of the millionaire who sticks his
feet under the board at the Waldorf
Astoria On the second floor is the
Grand Army chapel and a library of
5000 volumes On the shelves are
twenty four daily newspapers and
many weekly publications and the
leading magazines The number of
books is rapidly increasing
In the rear of this building Is the
most complete and probably the most
thoroughly scientific and up-to-date big
kitchen in the Central or Western
States It is by long odds the pride of
the home The kitchen cost something
like 150000 It is two stories and a
half artistically built and perfectly
equipped Natural gas is utilized for
the cooking but if it ever gives out pro
visions have been made whereby elec
tricity can be brought into use
Back of this couplet of buildings
which together cost almost 100000
and across a prettily laid out lawn is
the new theater building In rear of
this across another stretch of lawn
lies the club provided with billiard
and pool tables and other contrivances
for pleasure There are several pool
and billiard sharks among the old
9
-
TH iHEflXhZ
fast approaching when the great army Llfe I
which now numbers about 150000 will tt3PMfe
have passed away when the great gggSSfflggja
boys Ever thing is free Back of
the club lies the woods To the right is
the commissary department to the left
the waterworks and the fire engine
house The water used is taken from
wells diilled o00 feet There is a lire
company and ample fire protection
There are administration buildings
headquarters special hospitals green
houses a postoffice a home store and
fourteen barracks making a total of
thirty five buildings in all
These barrracks are the homes of the
soldiers the sleeping apartments Big
verandas encircle them and afford am
ple lounging place There is a captain
in charge of each and he has a neat
office and a sergeant as an attendant
Each barracks is fitted for four com
panies of fifty men each and each com
pany has a separate room In these re
treats the old soldiers of the wars of
48 and 60 G5 pass the winter at cards
and in the summer stroll among the
flower gardens on the drill grounds by
along the Black road one of the most
delightful evenues in the State which
runs through the center of a sixty acre
forest
To maintain this institution the Gov
ernment makes an annual appropria
tion of 85000 for food a general ap
propriation of 100000 for general
fund and at present 51000 in pen
sions per annum No man receiving
more than 16 per month can be admit
ted to the home The enrollment at
Marlon and other national homes on
Jan 1 was
Central home Dayton 0 5033
Southern Home Hampton Va 4638
National home Leavenworth Kan 3205
Northern home Milwaukee Wis 279S
Eastern home Togus Me 251S
Marion home Marion Ind 2272
Pacific home Los Angeles Cal 20S3
Total 22546
JIauy State Homes
In addition to these national homes
there are now twenty four State
homes to which the Government pays
100 per annum for each inmate It is
thought that these twenty four homes
have a population of about 22000 also
which makes 45000 soldiers now being
cared for by the Government Few
realize what a home the nation pro
vides for her worthy soldiery
There is an overwhelming opposition
among the inmates of soldiers homes
against the proposition urged by the
regular army to place the control of
the homes nnder the regular army
ably 1000 feet square In the center is j management Such a proposition has
no chance of passing Congress if the
protests of the soldiers are heeded At
present the management rests with the
President the Chief Justice the Secre
tary of War and a board of ten promi
nent veterans Congressman Steel is
manager of the Marion home General
J C Black the local manager and J
H Chapman governor
HUSTLES FOR HERSELF
An Ohio Young Woman Who Carries
Mail for a Living
Not many girls would enter into a
contract and furnish a good bond for
the faithful and prompt performance
for four years of a duty to cover thirty
two miles a day rain snow or shine in
delivering Uncle Sams mail Yet this
is what Miss Sadie Webb the 20-year-old
daughter of Aaron Webb a wealthy
and prominent farmer of Porter town
ship Ohio has done Miss Webb lives
with her parents on their 200 acre
farm and while the two sisters stay
at home and help their mother and her
father till the soil she discharges her
duty as contractor on mail route No
31277 and probably does more driving
than any other girl in Ohio She covers
192 miles per week 99S4 miles per
month and 39730 miles in the four
years of her contract a distance equal
to that around the entire globe
Early in the day Miss Webb leaves
her home one and a half miles north of
East Liberty and passing through
three more towns she gathers up the
mail aud leaves what is to be left at
that place Besides carrying mails for
four postoffices she buys all of the
goods for four general stores located in
the villages along the route that she
has to travel every day of her life She
has bought articles for her customers
ranging in size from a needle to a cook
ing range She makes a specialty of
the necessities of life and the residents
along her route contribute liberally to
making purchases through her com
mission
Last winter when the tnermometer
registered 22 degrees below zero she
was prompt in all of her appointments
along the route That day she wore a
heavy coat and felt boots reaching to
the knee Her hands were covered
with a pair of elbow gloves while she
drove through the distance none the
worse for the cold Her work although
arduous is enjoyable to her and very
remunerative as well She has made as
high as 535 in a single day from
sources extra from her stipulated con
tract with the government
Not only wis Miss Webb a success in
commercial circles but she is well
liked in social circles as well Her
home is an ever welcome place for
those who desire to visit it She is a
handsome young woman and took tho
contract when she was just IS years of
age She is an entertaining conversa
tionalist has a pretty round face and
under two dark eyebrows are set two
hazel eyes that know their keepers
EXERCISES FOR THE FINGERS
Some Feats in Finger Gymnastics that
Are Difficult to Perform
For example place both hands to
gether in such a manner as to have the
backs of the two middle fingers joined
Now try to spread out the thumbs and
the other fingers from the tips This
will be found easy enough with the
thumbs the index and the little fingers
but try it with the ring fingers and this
kind of gymnastics becomes decidedly
interesting Exercise No 2 is not so
difficult aud some can do it after the
first trial but there are others who can
never perform the apparently easy feat
This may also be said of the third exer
cise Here the condition is not to per
mit the least bend in the two lower
parts of the index finger In exercise
No 4 it is imperative that the fingers
remain stretched out straight Try
CAN YOU PERFORM THESE FEATS
some of these experiments when you
have an idle ten minutes and -you will
be surprised to find them not half so
easy as they appear in the picture
Bidden to the Feast
Fortune smiles upon the man who is
master of the homely art of cooking
There is in London a celebrated cook
who is said to have an income of over
ten thousand dollars a year He is at
tached to no house but in his own
brougham sets out toward evening for
the home of some rich man who is go
ing to have a dinner at which every
dish must be above criticism Here he
alights and making for the kitchen
goes through the process of tasting all
the soups sauces and made dishes
advising when his palate suggests a
little more salt here a pinch of herbs
there a dash of sugar or a suspicion of
onion This done he pockets his fee of
twenty five dollars and drives on to the
next dinner giving patron who has bid
den him to his feast in this strange
fashion His nightly list comprises
many houses all through the London
season
The man who boots a dog and the
woman who shoes a hen are not al
ways cobblers
SHEARING THE SHEEP
Hachine Does It at the Rate of One
Kvery Two 3Iinutes
When Dick Marquies takes a sheep
by the hind leg tosses the struggling
animal into position and reaches for
the steam power clippers hich hang
near at hand it takes just two minutes
for that sheep to emerge from his pro
fessional care clean and white and
minus about six pounds of first quality
wool That is the way they shear
sheep nowadays in the big plant of the
Chicago Burlington and Quincy Rail
road near Aurora 111 About three
weeks ago the steam power plant was
started and twenty men have been
steadily bending over the lambs and
sheep ever since sending the buzzing
clippers scurrying through the matted
wool and making 1500 sheep every
day look as if they had been shaved by
a barber Until now this work was
done by hand and the process while
exceptionally rapid did not yield such
results in many ways as does the
steam shearing
Although steam shearing plants have
been in operation in Australia for
many years this country has been
strangely backward about adopting
the system and sheep raisers have
largely clung to the old hand shearing
although power plants are in operation
at Casper Wjo and in certain parts
of Montana The system is simple
The clippers work on the familiar prin
ciple of the hand clippers used on
small boj s heads in barber shops a
comb with very sharp triangular teeth
and a moving set of teeth passing
back and forth under it Shafting is
put in and each clipper is attached to
a flexible standard which allows the
cutter to be moved in any direction by
the operator Behind each operator is
a small pen into which about a dozen
sheep at a time are driven from the
runway The men wear overalls and
caps and work very steadily When
the operator is ready to begin he opens
the door of the pen which causes a
great scurrrying among the heavily
fleeced lambs and sheep Selecting an
animal at random the man seizes it by
one of its hind legs and with a quick
jerk throws it to the floor Then it is
dragged out of the pen and the door is
closed With a deft move the sheep is
made to sit up on its haunches as
though sitting in a chair and when its
head and forequarters are pressed be
tween the knees of the operator it is
helpless After a few ineffectual strug
gles the animal becomes resigned to
man and Into this the wool is tossed
and thus transported to the end of the
room where it is satked The sacks
are abot2 twenlve feet long and are
rigged up In a framework The pack
ages of wool are tossed Into the sack
from the car until the sack is nearly
full and then a heavy man jumps into
the sack and tramps down the wool
into a compact mass More is thrown
in and tramped upon until the sack is
packed full when it is tied and piled
in a corner awaiting the orders of tho
owner of the sheep from which it was
taken
SOAP BUBBLES
Mysterious Dancing Figures Inside of
the Glistening Spheres
A most Interesting trick Is the soap
bubble one To perform this two cork
figures must be made They can be
colored with bright paint Fasten them
with wire to a small cork stand
The soap bubble mixture is important
to prepare For it you must have a
A SOAP RUBBLE QUADRILLE
quantity of castlle soap perhaps half
a teacup and add to it a fourth of the
quantity of glycerine Melt the soap in
warm water before adding the glycer
ine This should make perhaps a pint
of heavy soapy water Test the bub
bles and if you cannot blow them as
large as the moon the mixture is not
properly mixed Soap bubble exhibi
tors often blow bubbles as large as
three and four feet in diameter by the
use of this mixture
Take a short strip of wood a foot
rule will do and drive a small nail into
each end Then stretch a thin string
or better still a piece of wire from
one nail to the other and place a bridge
under it so as to form a primitive mu
sical instrument Next nail to one end
of the strip of wood the lid of a tin in
such a manner that it touches the
string or wire and place the figure in-
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CLirPIXG TnE WOOL
the situation and with the left arm of
the operator encircling its neck and his
hand clutching its horn or face it has
no chance to escape
The clipper swings on its flexible
support close to the operator and when
he has the sheep in the correct position
he reaches for the machine and passes
It through the wool on the breast be
tween the forelegs A broad streak of
white shows as the clipper rapidly
mows a swath through the fleece and
thewool falls off in a great curl to the
floor All over the belly of the surprised
sheep the buzzing little machine is
passed revealing the pink flush of the
skin under the wool Tho sheeps posi
tion is shifted slightly and the ma
chine with a few sweeps whisks the
wool from its legs and then the heavy
fleece on its back goes to swell the pile
on the floor When every part of the
body has been touched by the buzzer
the door of the pen is pushed open by
the operator and the sheep white and
dazzled is released and pushed back
into the pen while another is dragged
out to be clipped
Two minutes is record time for the
completion of this process although of
course all of the operators are not so
expert as to make this mark Some
work slowly and carefully removing
every vestige of wool in a neat system
atical way and leaving the lambs as
clean as a freshly shaved cheek If
an operator shears 100 sheep a day he
is making a good average and some
fall below this number When the
sheep is returned to the pen the oper
ator gathers the wool in a little pile
and binds it up with a cord hanging
beside him Down the center of the
marrow shed between the two rows of
machines runs a little track on which
a hg car is pushed by a sJout young
A sfiv m sp53L
side the lid after moistening it well
with soap and water Now take a
straw and blow a bubble in the lid and
then touch the string gently The vi
bration of the latter wil Ithen be com
municated to the lid and the figures
will dance inside the bubble A beau
tiful optical effect is thus obtained
and the delight of the audience is such
that the bubble performer is kept busy
all the evening with fresh creations
There are many variations of the soap
bubble trick possible and which will
readily suggest themselves
The Emperors Playing Cards r
The Emperor Williams faithful sub-
jects are interested just now in an ac
count of his playing cards It appears
that the royal table does not admit the
usual French designs His Majestys
packs are printed in an Altenberg man-
ufactory and exhibit old German pat-
terns The backs are devoted to a
symbolical exposition of the triple al
liance The Prussian eagle the double
eagle of Austria and the silver cross of
the house of Savoy appear on a red
field surrounded with ivy and sur
mounted by the imperial crown Simi-
lar designs are introduced at the cor
ners and the four colors are strewn
over the card The picture cards are
executed in corresponding style The
king of diamonds ds said to have a fam
ily likeness with the great Kurfurst
The queen of hearts appears as a sim
ple gretchen and the knave of diamonds
as a knight of St John History does
not relate whether the Emperor is a
whist player or confines himself to the
national game of skat London Post
Too Much for Him
I like modesty said the old doctor
but theres such a thing as overdoing
it
Hows that his assistant asked
I was called this morning to see a
Boston girl who is visiting friends
here and when I asked her to let me
see her tongue she flared up and in
sisted that I had insulted her
The needle always has an eye out
for business and feeldom fails to carry
its point
There is usually more talk than
money in fe politicians barrel
What Was It
Guess what he had in his pocket
Marbles and tops and worn out toys
Such as always belong to boys
An old jews harp and a rubber balI2
Not at all
What did he hnve in his pocket
A soap bubble pipe and a rusty screw
A piece of watch key broken in two
A lirfh hook in a tangle of string
No such thing
What did he have in his pocket
f
I
1
Gingerbread crumbs a whistle hed made
Buttons a knife with a broken blade
A nnil or two and a piece of gum
Neither one
What did he have in his pocket
Before he knew it slyly crept
Under the treasures carefully kept
And away they all of them quickly stole 4
Twas a hole
EducationnI News
1
Mistaken in Schoolroom
A boy suspected will never do hi
best Believe in hi in trust him and
let him see that you believe and trust
him Can you not recall some teacher
who never drew forth your best work
who never developed the best in youri
character Again do you not
ber the teacher who believed in your
motive and in your abilities You did
your best for her Why Because shej
knew you were capable of being ai
man in the truest noblest sense of tho
word Human nature changes little
as the generations come and go Treati
your pupils as you once liked to be
treated j
Can jou remember the teacher who
was always finding fault She com
plained because you did not speak
up or laughed too loud made too
much noise pushed the other boy ini
front of 3 ou tripped a boy up as he
passed down the aisle and were alto
gether a lazy boy yes a very lazy boyj
What effect upon you had her constant
fault finding What a lean poor con
tracted little soul she thought you She
made you feel it too You felt it would
be of no use to try to be better
ing ever suited her
Do not remind dull pupils of their
failings Rather say Here is a boy
who has done so well lately They all
try Here is some of Master Blanks
language work Good isnt it Here
is one of his history papers it is a
great improvement over this one is it
not or Here is a boy who is govern
ing himself so well I never have to
speak to him now and he helps me so
much
If a boy bo dull in arithmetic geog t
raphy and grammar possibly he mayj
draw well Let him draw some de
sign upon the board praise it to the
pupils call your visitors attention to
it by words similar to Jamcs fciunth
talenFTor drawing lanes wnr youi
stand 13 your desk so that Mr r
may know our artist Perhaps Mr
may say Good work my boy
Will not such honest praise be quite an
incentive to Tames It will not be dis
couraging at least
Find something in a pupil that is
commendable Many a boy avIio sits
before you hears little praise and kind j
ness at his home and the teacher o
tact can put into his nature a higher
purer feeling for something better than
he has yet known The habit of seek
ing for and speaking of the good quali
ties of pupils will bring a sure reward
Catherine Livingston
Real Factor in the School
The longer I teach the more forcibly
am I impressed with the fact that As
the teacher so is the school Beauti
i fill buildings costly apparatus decora
itions flowers and the best of school
books good homes from which come
intelligent well behaved children are
iall very much to be desired but unlesH
the teacher is enthusiastic and really
in earnest all will count for naught
For weeks and months there has been
ringing in my ears that saying of
Goethe We resemble the spirit we
icomprehend We blame children so
often for not accomplishing just what
we expect of them and we are ready
jto condemn the child the course of
jstudy and everything in general ex
cept our own dear selves We have
failed to study the child and as a result
teach over his head Our explanations
do not explain and his last state is
worse than the first A course of study
is a necessary thing and especially in
a great system of schools It does not
n the sense that most people imagine
rush out the individuality of the teach
2r He is asked to secure results and
that in his own way Of course one
an make a course of study a dry heart
less skeleton and so can a cook maka
a very dry thing of a plum pudding
The live teacher will so know each in
aividual pupil and his subject that like
the expert joiner he will exactly fit
sach to each We cannot work with
out books but let us keep in mind al
ways that saying of Edward E Hale
AH poor teachers let the book come
between them and the pupil great
teachers never M T Andrew
ILearnins and Teaching
Children in public schools have not
eally so much more to learn than for
merly but they have much more to
study They can learn only about so
much anyway no matter how much
they study Milwaukee Journal
Masiira
The just man will flourish in spite of
envy
An ungrateful man is a tub full ofi
holes
Better a dollar earned than ten in
herited
Nothing is impossible to pains and
i patience