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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1904)
TOE ILLUSTRATED BEH February 28, 1904. Tub Illustrated BU Published Weekly by The lies Publishing Company. Uce Hiilldlng, Omaha, Ntb. IJrke, fir per Copy Tor Tear, ? 00. Filtered nt the Omaha Postufilc-e as Second Class Mail Matter. For Advertising Kaics Address I'ubllHhf-rT Communications relating to photographs or articles for publication rhnnld be p.d drcssed, "Kdltor llliiHtruled Uce, Omuhu." Pen and Picture Pointers 2 OR the first time In eight years people bit bothering their heads as to the why and wherefore of leap year, and the added day of February. Its reason la of ths ib2 simplest, and yet one that la very It tip un derstood, probably for thp reason that peo ple, have liecouie accustomed to thp fact Hint every fourth year a clay la added to the second month, and thla la accepted as siifllitcnt. The condition grows out of the fac t that the two natural divisions of time, the day and the year, cannot be accurately adjusted, and that acme pro Islon moot be mndo for the slight overlap. The division of the day Into hours, minutes and seconds In easy onough, hut the grouping of days Into years la not so easily accomplished. Vnrloim peoples h,ve at different times adopted one or another method for rth uU tlc.ti. always with the result of a derange ment i.f dates, owing to the fact that the solar year and the calendar yenr clkl not match. The Romana and the Greeks, with all their Ik, anted clvlllsiitlon. allowed a lilatua of seven day a between the end of onr, year and the bt ginning of the next, and vni with thla were not able to keep their datea straight. The celebrated Jiillim cal endar, by which the first r.nl effort to take note of the difference and compensate for It waa made, did not exactly meet the re quirements, and finally the disturbance lie fame ao great that nam new arrangement had to he made. In MiO, under Pope Greg ory XIII, the calculations were wholly re vlroO and a ystra of Intercalation that il meat exactly enmpenaatea for the d'ffer enro between the calcndsr and tho so'ar year waa adopted. Owing to the fact tht thla year was arranged by a Catholic pontiff It waa at once adoited by Protec tant cejuntrlta, and for many yeora the confusion of the Julian calendar waa ag gravated by a further confusion with the tlregorhm. Oregory. for example, found that tho vernal equinox, which occurred on the !5th of March at the time of Caesar, had rotrogaded until In i:2 It fell on the 11th of the month. He tlxed the time at the llat. the day on which It fell In 1. the timet of the Nlcrne council. Thla made n difference of ten duya between the two calendars at that tltne. Ktiglsiul waa the laat of the Protectant nationa to adopt the new style, and when, two centuries after It wan promulgated, the ifngllnh began te tiee. the Gregorian system, they were cloven tlaya Itehlnd. Thua It happens thut George WaHhlngton waa born on the 11th of February, while hia birthday la Observed on the VM. Kusstu atlll adheres to tho Julian calcit.dar. and la consequently nearly twelve elaya lx-hind our datea. 1'nder the CJi erl:n ayatem, the year la divide! Into K05 daya of twenty-four houra each. Kvcry fourth year u day la added tc compensate for the odd quarter of a day hy which the aolar year exeeeela the cal endar year, with the exception of the centlHlnial years that ore not divisible by four after the ciphers are suppressed. For Uiln rcirori February, i:hh, will have twenty-nine days for the first lime since !. The Isat centlKlrnal leap yenr was Ji and the nest will Iw 3ik. 1'ncler thla arranKement. the mean length of the year la HSi riLt daya, or M6 days. 5 houra. At min utes and 12 aee-onda, Iteing Just 10 minutes ml is aecond short of StS1 daya. The dJfferene-e between thla meun year and the aolur year la but 25.95 aecotul. amounting to a day In J.MS years. More accurate sys tems of Intercalation have been devised, but none equally practical. Just whre tin) prctk- of allowing to women the privilege of choosing their mates during leap year had Ita origta U not defi nitely located, hut It la probjbly an out growth of the gallantry that had such vogue during the period at which the leap year waa Instituted. It la not Improbable that the men of that time felt Impelled te do something in the way of grunting to the women a poiuf.ion, at-d wsre of tho nUuJ that the light to aaWrt hunhand would tw us gear aa anything the swee t crvatarea could wish. If this were true, and some Of ths polite and deferential gentlemen of the alsternth century e-oald return to the Bocae vt thir earthly nctlvlty now nod eve with how little rvgird the women paa by the bona then granted them, and with what avidity they pursue ''rights" that are still elfnlceJ them, a elgh of anust:iueut would be Ute Waat aprein rxpectcj. At asy rate, tesp year Is still rstcemect a time wbeji a eaaia eaay -eeteot her hus band for hervelf and still not be open the arcuautioa t beinsl tinwomanly. ll.tw ofleg and under what rlrcu-nstance the privilege Is eserrlaed Is a point of Informa tion which has so far eluded the Investi gating statistician. (Copyrighted. 1901, by M. Walter Dunne.) . .K WKRK chatting In the miking Lf I room after a dinner at wh'.ch talked about unexpected legaclea, strange Inheritances, Then M. Is Um merit, who wa: aometlmea railed '"the lllustrloea master" and at other tiroos thj "Jlluatrlous ad via ate," came and s.ooj with hts back to the fire. "I havci," he aaid. "Just now to sarci for an heir who disappeared under pecul iarly terrible cJrcamstanerea. It Is one of those alznplu and ferocious dramas of or dinary life, a thing which pwsibJy happens every day ami which la nevertheless one of the most dreadful things I know. Here are ths facta: "Nearly six months ago I got a message to come to the side of a dying woman. She said to me: " 'Monsieur, I want to Intrust to you the moat delicate, the meist dlfncult and tho meat wearisome mlardnn than can be con ceived. He good enough to take cognisance of my will, which la there on the table. A sum of 6.C0 francs la left to you as a fee If you do not aucced and of a 100.000 francs If you do auoceed. I want to have my sn found after my death.' "Hhe asked me to assist her to lt up In the bed In order that she might be able to apeak with greater cane, for her td-e, broken and gapping, was gurgling in her throat. "I saw that 1 was in the house of a very rich person. The luxurluu uitartmcnt, with a' certain simplicity In Ita luxury, was up holHtercd with materials eo id us the walla, and their soft surfaces Imparted a caress ing ecimtion, ao that exery word uttered seemed to penetrate their silent depths and to disappear and to die there. "The dying womm went on: " 'You are the first to hear my ho-rible story. 1 will try to have strength nugh to go on to the end of It. You must know everything so that you, whom I know to be a klnd-hearteel man, aa well aa a man of the world, should have a sincere desire to akl me with all your power. " 'IJste-n to me. "'Itefore my marriage I loved n young man, whose suit waa rejected by my family Ix-oauae ha was not rie h enough. Not long afterward I married a man of great wealth. I married him through Ignorance, through obedience, through Indifference, as young girls do marry. " 'I had a child, a hoy. My husband died In the cours of a few years. " 'He whom I bad loved had got mar ried. In his turn. When he saw that I waa a widow he was crushed by horrible grief at knowing that he was not free. He came to see me; he wept and aobhed no bitterly before my eyes that It was enough to break my heart. He at Ural came to ao me as a frivnd. Terhaps I ought not to have aeon him. What could I do? I waa alone, ao Bad. bo solitary, so hopeletta! And I loved Mm still. What sutTrringa we women have sometimes te endure ! " 1 had only him In the world my pa rents atoo being- dead, lie eatae frequently; lie MtMHti whole evenmga with met. I should not have let him come so often, seeing that ho was married. Hut 1 had not enough will imwcr to prevent him from coming. "'How am I to tell you what next hap pened? He, became, my lover. How did thla Come about? Can I explain It? fan anyone explain such thlnge? IHi you think it could lie otherwise when two human bei.iKa are drawn toward each other by the TrrtshttlUe force of paaedon hy which each of them Is poaaeastd? Do you be. LWvs, XlueuOvur, Uiat U Is always la ejur power to-reaiat. that we can keep up ths struggle forever and refuse to yield to the prayers. the Biipplle-atieua. the tears, the fpenafred wwrrta. the transports of ptisalnn with which we are pursued by the man we adore, whom we want to gratify even In his allghtest wiahea, whim we desire to crown with every pos sible hatHaeea and whom, if we are to be guided by a worldly code of honor we must drive to despair? What strength would It not require? What a renunciation of happiness, what self denial, and even wliat vir tuous selflfshrtesa. " 'In sort, Monslrure, I was his mistress, And I Was happy. For twelve years 1 was happy. I be came and this was my greatest weakness snd my greatest piece of cowardice I be came his wife's friend. M We brought up my son together; we made a man of him, a thorough man, In telligent, full of sense and resolution, of large and generous Ideas. The boy reached the age of 17. " "He, the young man, was fond of my my lover, almost aa fond of him as I was myself, for he had been equally cherished and csred for by both of us. He used to call him his 'dear friend,' and respected Mm Immensely, having never received from him anything but wise counsels and a good example of ree'titude, honor nnd probity. He looked upon him as an old, loyal and devoted comrade of his mother, as a sort of moral father, tutor, protector how am I to describe it? " 'Perhaps the reason why he never asked any questions was that he had been accus tomed from his earliest years to see this msn In the house, by his side, and by my side, always concerned about us both. " 'One evening the three of us were to dine together Uhese were my principal fes tive occasions), and I waited for the two of them, asking myself which of them wntild be the first to arrive. The door opened; It was my old friend. I went to ward him with outstretched arms; and he drew his lips toward mine In a long, deli cious kias. " 'All of a sudden, a sound, a rustling which was barely audible, that mysterious sensation which indicates tho presence of another person, made us start and turn round with a quick movement. Jean, my aon, stood there, livid, staring at us. " 'There was a moment of atrocious con fuelem. I drew buck, holding out my hands toward my son as If In supplication; but I could see him no longer. He had gone. " 'We remained facing eac h other my lover end l--eriiHhed, unable to utter a word. I sank down on an armchair and I fe?lt a desire, a vague, powerful denlre to fly, to go out Into the night and to disap pear forever. Then convulsive soba rose up In ray throat and I wept, shaken with spasms, with my heart torn asunder, all my nerves writ hi rg with the horrible aen sstion of an Irremediable misfortune, and with that dreadful sense of shame which. In such momctit8 as this, falls on a mother's heart. " 'He looked at me In a scared fashion, not venturing to approach me or to atieak to roe or to toueJi me. for fear of the boy's return. At laat he said: " 'I am going to follow him to talk to bim to explain matters to him. In short, I must see him snd let him know' " 'And he hurried sway. " 'I waited I waited in a distracted frame of mind, trembling at the leeat sound, con vu'sed with terror and filled with some unutterably strange and Intolerable emotion by every alight crackling of the lire In the grate. " 'I waited for an hour, for two hours, feeling my heart swell with a dread 1 bad never before experienced, with such as anguish as I would not wish the greutest of criminals to experience. Waeie aaa my son? What was he doing? " 'About lalduitfut a uuMeutr brought me a note from my lover. I atlll know its contents by heart: Has yonr son returned? I did not find him. I am down here. I k not want to go up at this lrfur." " "I wrote In pencil on the same slip of paper: " ' "Jean has not returned. You must go and find him." " "And 1 remained all night In the arin Wir, wailing for him. " 'I felt aa :f 1 ware going mad. I longed to run wildly about, to roll myn'lf on the floor. And yet I did not even atir, trot kept waiting hour after hour. What waa going to huppen? I trle.l to Imagine, to gueas. Hut I could form no concep tion. In sj'lte of my efforts. In .p;te of tlte tortures of my roul! " 'And now my appreltenaion was lest they might meet. What would they do In that case? What would my son do? My mind was lacerated hy fearful doubts, by terrible suppositions. " 'You understand what I mean, do you not, Monsieur? " 'My chambermaid, who knew nothing, who understood nothing, was coming in every moment, believing, naturally, that I had lost my reason. 1 sent her away with a word or n movement of the ho nil. She went for the doctor, who found me in the throes of a nervous tit. " 'I was put to lied. Then came nn at tack of brain fever. When I regained con sciousness, after a long illiiexx, I saw be side my bed my lover alone. I ex claimed: My son? Where Is my son?" " 'He replied: I assure yo.t evory effort has been made by me to find him. but I have failed." " 'Then, becoming suddenly exasperated and even inelignant for women are aubject to such outbursts of unaccountable and un reasoning anger I said: " ' "I forbid you to come near me or to see me again unless you find hlra. Go awsy!" " 'He did go away. " 'I have never seen one or the other of them since. Monsieur, and thus I have lived for the last twenty years. " 'Can you imagine what all this meant to me? Can you understand this monstrous punishment, this slow perpetual laceration of a mother's heart, this abominable, end less waiting? Kndlcss, did I say? No; It is alut to end, for I am dying. I am dying without ever again seeing either of them either one or the other! " 'He the man I loved has written to me every day for the last twenty years; and I I have never consented to see him, even for one second; for I had a strsnge feeling that if he came back here It would be nt that very moment my son would again make his appearance! Ah! my son! my aon! Is lie dead? Is he living? Where Is he hiding? Over there perhaps, nt the other side of the ocean. In some country so far away that even Its very nsm Is unknown to roe! Does he ever think of me? Ah! If he only know! How cruel children are! Did he understand to what friphtful suffering he condprnned me, Into what depths of despair, Into what tortures he cast me while I was still in the prime of life, leaving me to suffer like this even to this moment when I am going to die me, his mother, who loved him with ell the violence of a mother's love! Oh! Isn't It cruel, cruel! " 'Yon w ill tell him all this. Monsieur will you not? You will repeat for him my last words: " ' "My child, my dear, dar child, T.e less harsh owurd poor women! Life is already brutal and savage enough In its dealings with them. My dear son, think of what the existence of your poor mother has been ever since the day when you left her. My dear child, forgive her and love her now that she is dead, for she has had to en dure the most frightful penance ever In flicted on a woman.' " "She gaaped for breath, shuddering as If she had addrersed the last wer.ls to her son and aa If he stood by her bedside. "Then she added: " 'You will tell him also. Monsieur, that I never again saw the other.' "Once more she censed speaking, then, in a hmken voice, she Bald: " 'lxave me now. I beg of yotj. T want to lte all alone, since they are out with me.' " Wait re 1 Bruunt added: "I left the house. Meseteurs, crying like a fool, so vehemently, Indeed, that my coach man tnmed a rerun d to stare at me. "And to think that every day heaps of dramaa like tbls are being enacted all around us! "I have not found the son -that sonwell say what you like about him. hut T call him that criminal son!"From the nrst complete edition In Kngllsh of the work of (luy do Maupassant. Publiahod by W. Walter Dunne, New York. Money No Object "That iuatrument," said the music dealer who was trying to sell a violin, "is 200 years old." "It s In a wonderful state of preserva tion." replied the customer, who felt that he ought to be complimentary, "but I can afford to pay for something thafg really modern." Chicago Post.