k DO YOUR LEVEL BEST. :
By E. E. Lewis, Sioux City, la,
—FOREWORD—
In our dally life we are like a man
/ who rarries a long ladder through a
crowded street. The slightest sway
ing of his shoulder registers Itself In
unexpectedly wide oscillations at either
«nd of the ladder. Of the largest ef
fects of our lives, either for good or
It, for evil, we are ourselves least con
ic' nrlous. Our social nature expresses
Itself In remote places and out of sight.
Each obscurest human spirit Is the
■center of a vast system of wireless
telegraphy. The whole universe Is like
a. spider's web of thinnest gossamer.
The movement of the tiniest wing is
tele at the remotest circumference. Pa
tient toll, unmindful of results, yields
a long and subtile lever of Influence.
The best work we accomplish we know
, nothing about; just as the great bum
ble bee flies from one gorgeous blos
«om to another, plunging his proboscis
among the fragrant petals In eager
sjuest of nectar, and is all unconscious
betimes that he is dislodging and dis
tributing the pollen requisite to cross
fertilization, and so promoting the pro
duction of new flowers, and making the
wilderness blossom like a rose garden.
Greatness Is achieved not by direct and
eager chase, but while we are looking
for something else. It is the little
things that we get by hot endeavor.
The great things come to us, as It were,
around a corner. We never become
beautiful or eloquent, or popular, or
bappy, or Intellectual, or even good,
by hard effort. Whatever we get of
auch things will come to us when we
are most seif-forgetful, and most ab
sorbed In the service of our kind, and
not when we are living the life of
Byron as described by William Wat
son:
“Too avid of earth’s bliss, be was
of those
Whom Delight flies because they
give her chase,
•Only the odour of her wild hair
blows
Back In their faces hungering for
her face.”
The value of life is determined not
by measure but by weight. The Mas
ter regards not the bulk of the work
done, but the spirit in which the serv
ice la rendered. Noble living consists
In doing our level best each day. We
are employed by our great Taskmaster
to work by the day. not by the piece.
•Let each day have Its system and
ritual. The event Is In the hand of
God. This Hlmple principle which calms
■life and which our passionate spirits
are so slow to learn Is set forth In this
little book of modern parables by my
old friend, Dr. Lewis, a fine rendering
fn prose of Lowell’s motto;
"In life’s small things be resolute
and great,
To keep thy muscle trained. Know
est thou when fate
Thy measure takes, or when she’ll
say to thee,
41 And thee worthy, do this deed for
me?"
Edward Judson,
S3 Washington Square,
New York.
DO YOUR LEVEL BE8T.
Standing at thp grave of General
Stark this morning a little incident re
lated I believe by Dr. Hale, came to my
anlnd which may still be useful to some
young man In shaping an earnest, pur
poseful life. General Rurgoyne had
■pent June and July of 1777 In organ
ising and equipping an army of 10,000
in Canada, Intending to descend upon
Albany, from a junction at New York
•with Howe and so Isolate the New
England states from tfce rest of the
country Tlconderoga, Mount Hope
and Fort Edward were captured, but
Bennigton was his Waterloo,
General Stark, with his hastily raised
■brigade, met the British forces at Ben
nington, having left orders for Col.
Seth Warner to bring up his little
force from Manchester as rapidly as
possible. During the early part of the
action, August 16, 1777, the British
were driven back, but some Hesslun
reinforcements arriving, the contest
was renewed. Stark pulled out hts
watch saying, "They ought to be here,"
and just at the moment Warner’s
strums were heard, and his men, though
few In number, had an extra supply
•of arms, and firing right and left they
•checked the Germans and carried the
day.
On his way over the hills. Colonel
Warner’s horse, a high-spirited animal,
had lost a shoe and it was absolutely
necessary In that rocky country to have
It replaced. Hastening down to a little
.hamlet of two or throe houses, a store
•and a blacksmith shop, they found the
smith’s shop closed and no one In the
village but some women and a lame
M-year-old boy. "All the men have
gone to the army," said he, "but I could
do nothing."
The boy saw the situation. ‘Tve
blown the bellows for Peter and some
times helped him a little, may be I can
■help' you.” ’’Try," said the horseman,
"do your level best, my boy. but don’t
hurt the horse."
Lighting the fire, the boy hunted up
three nails, made the other five, fitted
a shoo to the delicate footed beast—a
■oldler blowing the bellows meanwhllo
—nailed It on and dropped with sheer
. exhaustion and excitement as he drove
the last nail. “That’s splendid," said
the officer, as he slipped some money
Into the boy’s hand, and mounted.
But a soldier stayed behind a min
ute and said to the boy: "Perhaps
you don’t know what you have done
today. Your work has been worth that
■of a dozen soldiers. That man whose
taorse you shod Is Colonel Warner."
Possibly the boy did not grasp then
the full Importance of what he had
done, but when he afterwards learned
that Warner arrived Just In time to
aave the battle of Bennington where a
detachment of Burgoyne’s army was al
most annihilated—that Burgoysie hlm
aeif was thunderstruck—all Ills plans
tor dividing the American army
ruined—that in less than 30 days more
be was hemmed In at Saratoga by
Gates, and In another 80 days obliged
to capitulate and surrender his army,
now reduced to 6,000 prisoners of war,
that this released the American troops
bar service elsewhye. opened the way
tor the treaty which brought the assist
ance of France, raised the hopes of the
aatlon, assured Europe of our ulti
mate Independence, and was really the
•rat link la the chain which ended In
Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown—
the boy could truly think that, lame
and useless as he thought he was, he
bad a hand In shaping the destiny of
the revolution.
Bennington was the harbinger of
Saratoga and Creasy gives Saratoga
aa one of the “fifteen decisive battles
off the world.” ^
8AMUEL JOHNSON.
We are creatures of custom—bundles
■r habit.
Milton sayB in "Comus:”
"He that has light within his own clear
breast.
May sit tn the center and enjoy bright
■Mt he ^hat hides a dark soul and fohl
thoughts.
Benighted walks under the midday
sun;
Hfmself In his own dungeon.”
Hy encouragement and cultivation
the darkness grows darker, while the
same process makes the light become
lighter.
The persistent determination to ex
press the best there is in you, whether
by word or deed, upon every occasion
becomes familiar, and you will find
yourself continually entertaining good
thoughts, uttering generous sentiments,
doing kind acts and using choice lan
guage. This Is finely exemplified in the
life of Dr. Samuel Johnson. From 1749
to 1752 he Issued a little semi-weekly
pamphlet entitled "The Rambler." The
numbers were afterwards gathered to
gether and published In book form,
making six volumes, which ran through
many editions. It is a rare work now,
but any young man who can lay hands
upon it and read it carefully will get a
liberal education from it alone. The
uniformly elevated strain, the high
moral and religions character, the deep
knowledge of human nature, the mag
niftcent sweep of language marching
along with a dignity and grandeur like
the procession of the equinoxes en
nobles the mind and fills the reader
with an earnest desire to do his ‘‘level
best."
His biographer- Roswell—tells us
that these papers raised the whole level
of English literature and writers hav
ing neither the mentality nor morality
of Johnson used to Imitate his majestic
style. But during the whole of the
time that he was publishing these pa
pers he was strenuously engaged in
other literary work, especially In tile
preparation of his great dictionary,
having six amanuenses *o be constantly
supplied with "copy." and the
“Ramblers" were frequently Written off
In oddtmoments and sent to the printer
without being even read over by their
author. How did he do this?
Sir Joshua Reynolds once asked him
by what means he had attained his ex
traordinary accuracy and flow of lan
guage, Johnson replied that he had
early laid it down as a fixed rule to da
his best on every occasion and in every
company—to Impart whatever he knew
in the most forcible language he could
put it In and that by constant practice
—never allowing any careless ex
pression to escape him nor permitting
himself to deliver Ills thoughts until ha
hnd clearly arranged them, it became
habitual to him.
—4—
JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH.
John Sebastian Bach was born In
Thuringia. Ills father was a musician
of some eminence but died, as also did
his mother, before he was 10 years old,
and he was left to the tender mercies
of an elder brother.
This brother was an organiBt at
Ohrdruf and was Jealous of Sebas
tian's musical talent and rapid develop
ment. When was was 14 years old his
brother died and our hero was thrown
entirely upon his own resources.
At Hamburg—a hundred miles away
—was a great organ and a great or
ganist. The boy determined to go there.
Begging his way he reached Hamburg
upon a dusty Sunday afternoon and at
once made for the cathedral, hiding
his tow-head behind one of the great
pillars. Only a few persona were pres
ent and they seemed mostly asleep.
According to time-honored custom,
the whole service upon a warm, sleepy,
dusty Sunday afternoon, should par
take largely of the character of the
scattered audience and be equally dull
and Insipid. But this was not the
Idea of the grand old German organist.
He sent hts music rolling and billowing
through the cathedral aisles as mag
nificently as if Frederick the Great and
all his royal court had heen present.
The boy, weary, homeless, hungry,
foot-sore, forgot all his troubles, was
Inspired, fed, filled and comforted with
the heavenly strains—his musical as
pirations confirmed and his course
fixed by and from that service forever
—and the old organist had the satis
faction afterwards of knowing that the
faithful performance of his service at a
time when he might reasonably have
supposed that there was no one to ap
preciate and no listening audience to
applnud, had been largely the means
of giving mankind one of the greatest
musicians that the world has ever
known—John Sebastian Bach.
“Give to the world the best you have
and the best shall come back to you.”
In Passing.
"Oh. well. I don't care. I didn’t make
any fool bet. That’s where we women are
ahead of the men. We're too cautious to
bet unless It's a sure thing.”
"Mlml what T say: Tou wanta keep
away from that fellow. He don't mean
any harm, bat he's the sort that would
unconsciously hang his motherinlaw or
kill his wife, under the Impression that
he was doing them a favor.”
"No one believes he was deliberately
dishonest, but sometimes a well-meaning
fool can do more mischief than a thief."
_
"No, you don't understand In the least;
but then, I'd probably resent It if you
did."
— «
"Sometimes a man needs a friend more
than ho needs a wife, and If a woman can
only understand that being a man’s wife
and being his friend are one and the
same Job, he at least stands a fair chance
of happiness."
"I think a man often wonders In ht«
most secret heart why he Is such an uU
ter brulte to his wife; but he keeps right
on being a brute."
“He looked like a dreamy-eyed poet. bu(.
I found out afterwards that he was d
shipping clerk.''
"It's getting so nowadays that a novel
ist can't get along without a giggling
stenographer tucked Into the scenery
sontewheres."
Weather Signs.
From the New York Stm.
There are a great many signs whicl
are well known to the so-called weath
er prophets, and If you live In the
country you may amuse yourself by
verifying some of them. Here are a
few of the old reliables for signs of
rain:
Ants become very lively and seem to
be In a hurry about something.
Roosters are always flapping their
wings, and the hens seem restless.
Dogs and cats do not look as lively
as usual, and prefer to He around the
house, keeping near the fire.
Files come indoors and seem to be
unusually sticky and troublesome.
The cattle like to get Into corners
and usually stand with their tails to
ward the wind.
The Welsbaeh mantles on the gas
Jets are not as bright as usual.
Swallows and other birds that feed
on the wing fly very low.
“Thank-ye-ma'ams," otherwise known
as wa'terbreaks. consisting of ridges
of earth built across roads on steep
grades, are to be abolished In Pennsyl
vania as a part of Its road Improve
ment measures. These waterbreaks
were once a familiar Institution
throughout New England and other
parts of the country, and are still sur
viving In many places.
♦+++++++++++++++++++
♦ T
♦ COUNT UP. ♦
♦ ■ ♦
♦ If you count up the sunny and ♦
♦ cloudy days In a complete year, ♦
♦ you will find that the fine day ♦
has i;ome mure often.—Ovid. ♦
♦ ♦
♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ +++♦♦ f♦♦♦♦♦
HEARTS
HOML
fcZ-VBr BXIIZA&KCK
TH0WP5ON
Dear Mrs. Thompson: (1)—I am a girl of
19 and engaged to a man 12 years my sen
ior. whom 1 love. Is there too much dif
ference In our ages? (2) He respects me
in every way and seems to love me and
wants to have a home ready for me when
we are married, so we set the day about a
year from now. Is our engagement too
long? (3) I am staying at home. Papa’s
father is there too. He insists on kissing
me and that is not all. HO also insists on
fooling around. Shall I tell my parents or
what shall I do?
Blue Eyed Marion.
(1) If you love each other sincerely, you
ought to be happy in spite of the years
between you. (2) You will be at a better
age for marriage a year from now. But
don’t wait any longer.
(2) Keep out of his way. He is probably
just a childish old man. But if he Is too
troublesome or becomes dangerous, tell
your father it will be best for you to live
somewhere else until you are married,
unless he can put the man in some other
place.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: I am a young
man of pleasing appearance, age 23, and
am engaged to a woman of 58. She Is
worth $450,000, and while I have told her
I care for her a great deal, she knows I
am after the “coin.” I am very popular
with the girls and always have been, but
I wish to travel and I don't believe there
Is any such thing as marrying for love.
Do you? , Samuel.
Neither you nor your fiance would feel
flattered if I should tell you what I think.
You are exercising neither common sense
nor love in this marriage, and no mar
riage can be a success without either.
What you want is a mother, Samuel. Ask
your fiance to adopt you as her son. Then
you can keep on being popular with the
girls.
—
Dear Mrs. Thompson: I am a young
man of 21 and deeply in love with a girl
of the same ago whom I met three months
ago. She said she likes me very much
and lets me see her whenever I want to,
but 1 do not know whether she Is joking
or not.
She is going home shortly and asked me
to come and see her. I regret to see her
go and do not know what to do to pre
vent her going. Would she marry me on
such short acquaintance if I proposed to
her and would it he a good step to take
for our future happiness? It would break
my heart if I would lose her. Is It proper
for a girl to kiss a fellow?
Ask her permission for you to write to
her, and make It a point to accept her
invitation to visit her. Let her see that
you like her a great deal, but don’t pro
pose until you are better acquainted. No;
I don’t think it proper for a girl to kiss
a fellow unless she is engaged to marry
him.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: (1) I am a girl
of 16 and have Just returned from a visit
to a large town where I met several nice
boys. Would it be right for me to write
to any of them? (2) Is half past two late
for me to be out with a perfectly good
boy, at night? Bright Eyes.
(1) If a boy wants you to write to him,
he will write to you first and ask you to
answer his letter. There Is no harm in a
friendly correspondence If you discuss the
letters with your mother. (2) My dear! I
am surprised that you ask such a ques
tion. A little girl of your age should be
at home and In bed by 10 p. m. at the
latest. You will be a homely old woman
at 20 If you keep such late hours now.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: I am a mar
ried W'omen and I love another man.
He used to be my schoolmate. My
husband is a very busy man and
doesn’t stay home much, while my old
schoolmate calls often. Shall I let him
continue his attentions? I cannot live
without him. I dread the thought of
going into court for a divorce. Would
it be proper to elope w'ith him and live
abroad the rest of my life?
IN DOUBT.
You cannot get a divorce from your
husband and If you elope you will end
Just like several thousand other mar
ried wqmen who think they can’t live
without some certain man, who isn’t
married to them. You’ll find you will
have to keep on living after he has de
cided he can get along very well with
out you, and it will be a living death
for you.
Do your duty to your husband. Ask
him to let you help him, to make his
work easier, if possible. Interest your
self in something wholesome and show
this man that he ought to hide his
head in shame for tempting a respec
table married woman.
~4>—
Dear Mrs. Thompson—0) I am a girl of
19 and have lately become acquainted with
a man five years my senior. We are of
different nationalities and religion. Should
this make any difference to a happy mar
riage? (2) He has taken me to several
places of amusement, driving, dancing
etc., on week days and seems to be hon
orable In hi3 attentions to me at all
times. Is he in love with me?
(3) He has asked me several times on
Sundays to go driving or walking with
him, but I have refuses. Ought I to when
he e*ks me? (4) Recently he asked what
my feelings were tow’ard him. I told him
I thought they were in favor of him. Was
I foolish to say them? As I told him this,
would It be wrong for me to turn him
down now'? Or refuse to go out with him
next time he calls me up?
(5) He often remarks that I act as
though I don’t care for his company,
though I always make believe I do. Do
I know my own mind? (6) Please give me
a remedy for shiny skin. English.
(1) Such a marriage Is seldom happy.
(2) He must like you pretty well or he
would not want so much of your com
pany. (3) Not unless you wish to go. (4)
You have the privilege of changing your
mind and you are not engaged to him.
(5) I really don't think you love him. my
dear girl, or you would be more certain of
your own feelings. (6) Pat it with a little
pure alcohol two or three times a day.
—4—
Dear Mrs. Thompson—(1) I am 6 ft. 9 in.
tall and weigh 140 pounds. Am I well pro
portioned or am I too tall? (2) How can
one recall wedding invitations? (8) In a
strange community, is tt proper for the
teacher to call first on the parents? (5)
Arc willow' plumes in style this winter?
Perplexed.
(1) You are a bit slender for your height.
Tall women arc fash^nable now. (2) Send
notes ti/the effect that the wedding cere
mony has been indefinitely postponed. (3)
The teacher, something like the minister,
does most of the calling. (4) Yes.
Dear Mrs. Thompson—(1) I am a girl of
IS and have been keeping company with a
gentleman of 21. A few weeks ago he met
my cousin. He was supposed to have ac
companied me to u theater one Tuesday
evening, but. having made a date with
her, he did not show up. He promised me
faithfully on Tuesday afternoon he would
be there and I was very disappointed
whf*n he did not come for me. What do
you think of him? On this account I
dropped him. Did I do right?
I
(2) Is It proper to exchange rings be
fore your engagement and if not, why
not? (3) How late should a girl stay out
with a gentleman? (4) Should she let
him kiss her goodnight? (£) Is it a good
plan for a fellow to let a girl have her
own way too much? Harrlette.
(1) He was very Inconsiderate. Lou did
quite right to drop him after that. (2) No,
It gives people a false Impression. (3) Un
less they are at an entertainment or the
ater which keeps them until 10 or 11 p.
m., she should be home before 10. (4) Not
unless she Is engaged to marry him. (5)
Not If she Is always unreasonable. It Is
only courteous for a girl to comply with
a man’s wishes once in a while, if they
do not conflict with what she knows la
right.
—
Dear Mrs. Thompson: How can I
prevent mother’s marriage when I don’t
like the man she is going to marry?
(2)—What would be a nice Christmas
present for a girl friend? (3)—Is It
any business of a neighbor if I wear
my hair over my ears? (4)—Is serge
to be worn this winter? (6)—Is my
writing fair? Blue Eyes.
(1) —Your mother Is older and wiser
than your are, dear girl, and she Is
the one to be suited In the matter of
her husband—not you. The best thing
for you to do Is to make friends with
the man and help along your mother’s
happiness.
(2) —The stores are full of pretty
things now. You can’t fail to find
something both suitable and reason
able in price. (3)—No. (4)—Yes. (6)
—Yes.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: (1)—I am a
boy of six foot five Inches tall. There
Is a nice looking girl I would like to
go with, with the Intention of getting
married. How can I win her love?
(2)—Should a girl wear a man’s Jew
elry? (3)—Can a girl spoil a boy?
(4)—I am a Luxemburger. Would It
be all right for me to marry a girl
that the boys make fun of by call
ing her “Mine Idle?” She Is a nice
girl and I like her very well. B.
(1) —Visit her as often as you can.
Tell her how much you think of her.
Give her nice presents—nothing ex
pensive, but things that will show her
you are thinking of her. Take her out
to some nice place of entertainment
once in a while. Then, as soon as she
seems to like you, tell her you love her
and want to marry her.
(2) —It Is very bad taste. (3)—Not
the right kind of a boy. (4)—What
do you care, as long as you know the
girl Is all right?
Dear Mrs. Thompson: (1)—I am 17
and go with a young man three years
my senior. Would it be all right to
have our pictures taken together on a
postcard? 12)-(3)—Should you
let a boy put his arm around you the
first time you have ever been out with
him? (4)—Should a girl of 17 marry
a man of 45? Mary.
(1)—It is said that people who have
their pictures taken together will sure
ly quarrel. Anyway, you will certainly
be sorry for it some day, if you do it.
(2) —You perhaps do not know that
your second question is not very decent.
It would be decided wrong for you to
take such advice. (3)—No. Nor any
other time, unless you are engaged to
marry him. (4)—Decidedly not.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: My girl
friend works in a hotel and when X
go after her I always help her with
her work so we can go to the show,
but if I am not ready soon as she is,
she will not wait for me. When X
meet any friend of mine and stop to
speak, she walks on ahead. When I
call to her to wait till I catch up she
will not. But I would wait till the
last minute for her. Shall I go with
her or not? A True Pal.
You should not stop to speak to a
friend on the street unless you intro
duce your companion. If you do not
introduce her, she does right to walk
on. She might be a little more pa
tient with you if you are not ready
to go out as soon as she is, but if
I were you I would manage to be
prompt. Perhaps she is busier than
you.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: I work at a place
where I have to mark a blackboard all
day and as I wipe the board very fre
quently a lot of chalk dust is raised which
I Inhale. Some of my fellow workmen
say the dust will do me harm and sooner
or later I will die of consumption. Others
say it will do me some good as it will
cleanse my stomach. Please advise me.
Anxious Reader.
It is always better not to breathe dust
continuously. Can you not keep a large
handkerchief or towel slightly dampened,
which you can hold before your face un
til the dust subsides?
Dear Mrs. Thompson: (1) Pleaoe give
me a recipe for Devil’s Food cake. (2)
What color will match with gray? (3) How
can I clean white fur? (4) My brother Is
knock-kneed. How can it be cured?
Reader.
(1) Devil’s Food—Half cup sweet milk
and half cup grated chocolate or cocoa;
boil, let cool; add one teaspoon soda, two
heaping cups flour, yolks three eggs. Bake
in layers and put together with white
frosting.
(2) Pink with light gray; red with dark
shades. Blue can be used the same way.
(3) Take soft flannel to clean white furs.
Rub fur against the grain .then dip flan
nel into flour and rub into fur until clean;
shake, rub with another piece of soft
flannel until flour Js out. (4) If he is very
young, braces and massage may cure. Get
your doctor's advice.
Dear Mrs. Thompson: Please give
me a good recipe to quit loving the
boys. (2) Is it possible to love more
than one boy at once? (3) Which is
the best friend for a girl to have: A
true girl friend or a true boy friend?
(4. Is a girl of 16 too young to go a
long distance with a boy of 20?
LOVESICK.
(1) —Well, this is certainly a new
question? Common sense is the only
thing I know of. If you haven’t that,
my dear, ask your mother, or your
aunt, or some steady old person, to
stay with you all the time. Never go
out without taking along somebody like
that and never see any of the boys un
less you have the safe companionship
of a staid elderly person. That will
keep you from demonstrating your
love, anyway.
(2) —But It’s puppy love. (3)—Both
and many of them. (4)—Yes, indeed.
Never Again.
From London Opinion.
“This portrait doesn’t resemble me at
all."
"Pardon me, madam, but I once made
a portrait of a lady that resembled
her!”
SHE WILL ENTERTAIN
ESTHER CLEVELAND
V V
MISS LUCY HOKE SMITH.
Miss Lucy Hoke Smith, elder daugh
ter of the senator from Georgia, will
be one of the most prominent girls in
Washington during the winter season.
She will be a leader in the younger
set and will entertain Miss Esther
Cleveland when the latter visits Wash
ington early In January.
ACROBATS POPULAR IN INDIA.
Rajahs Always Hire These Performers
to Amuse Their Guests.
From the Wide World Magazine.
The wandering acrobats of India are re
cruited from a low caste of people called
"Dombaranoa," who live by this profes
sion alone. The children are trained from
their earliest childhood, and do not re
ceive any education in schools. They trav
el from village to town, and give their
performances, which are really wonderful,
in the open air, before crowds of onlook
ers. Their tricks are quaint and some
times astonishingly clever. Supported by
one another, these men will balance
themselves in a crazy kind of pyramid ris
ing 15 or 30 feet from the ground, and
one of their number will then climb this
living pyramid with a heavy weight in his
teeth. Babies not yet able to walk are
often seen being made use of in the most
dangerous manner in these performances.
Bajahs and rich Indians are very fond of
the acrobatic displays, and engage the
best of the men to perform before their
guests at entertainments.
Keeping Eyes Ahead.
From the Washington Times.
There's a virtue in downright discontent;
a noble quality in the protest against
things as they are; the salt of continuity
for the worth of human endeavor in the
mere spirit of unorthodoxy. That day
when Adam was fired from the garden the
hat of progress was thrown into the ring
and over it men will fight against blind
circumstances until the sun diminishes to
a red ball of dying fire and the last, lone
heir of all the ages has raised his glass
on a lonely planet to the memory of the
mighty dead.
To talk of peace and progress is to plead
ignorance of the elementary law; for
progress ever was the pledged foe of con
tentment, Just as that man merely fat
tens and becomes obese who smirks at
life and grunts complacently. It is our
fate and our good penalty that we must
ever be breaking down tomorrow the thing
that plumes our vanity today; and the
only fire that lasts and grows in the heart
of man on earth 1b to realize—as how
few of us do—the kind of love which
Dante said it was that “moved the sun
and other stars.”
In every other wise it is our sorrow
and salvation to greet the sun with eyes
bent westward and our backs on our yes
terdays.
JUMPING A THOUSAND HURDLES.
From Strand's Magazine.
The craze for strange records began
a great many years ago. There was
an elderly London omnibus driver
named Priestly who, at Hull, in 1863,
pumped 1,000 hurdles each three feet
six inches high, in 61% minutes. It la
said that this record has never since
been equalled. Priestly began omnibus
driving in the same year, 1863, and dur
ing his 46 years in the service of the
London General Omnibus company, he
drove buses a distance of about 850,
000 miles.
Pure saccharin Is 550 times as sweet
as sugar. A sweet taste may be im
parted to 70,000 parts of water.
PRACTICAL FROCK
.GOOD FOR SATIN
Practical frock good for satin or
light woolen trimmed with narrow
folds of velvet or mHn. You- of
plaited tails Is laid over <>
bands of lace. Flat rosettes tr'.n. ..
draped girdle and the skirt. Punt
Ings of net trim the short sleevsfc
lea arllax. — '
e----- - ---i
Care of Milk |
In the Home
Bulletin of the Iowa State Dairy and
Food Commission.
The medical milk commission of thfl
city of New York recently visited 4,3011
homes in that city and found 4,100
homes where the milk was improperly
cared for. This statement though
startling is not an exaggeration of con
ditions the country over and with the
hope of lessening the enormous infant
mortality, this circular of information
is issued. When you consider that 41
cables out of every 100 die that are fed
other than by the breast, it is criminal
not to heed a warning in regard to tha
selection and care of the food of our
children.
Do not purchase milk that is sold in
bulk. Insist upon having your milk
bottled at the farm (not in the Wagon)
and delivered to you seale.d from all
dust and flies. The unsanitary method
of carrying milk cans and measures
through the dusty streets with flies
alighting on the milk receptacles after
alighting on garbage wagons, sputum,
manure, etc., should not be tolerated.
Have the milk man place the bottled
milk out of reach of dogs and cats and
in a cool, shady place. When the milk
is delivered, note whether or not it is
cold. If the temperature Is above 60
degrees, F., the milk man has been
careless in his transportation meth
ods. The bottle of milk should be
held under the cold water faucet and
washed thoroughly with as little agi
tation of the milk as possible. Then
note whether there is any dirty sedi
ment in the bottom of the battle
The caps used on milk bottles are
of two varieties, the waxed paper cap
which is fitted into the recessed rim
of the bottle, and the paper lined metal
cap which fits over the top of the bot
tle. The waxed paper cap is imper
vious to moisture and dirt yet can not
compare with the paper lined metal cap
in regard to cleanliness as there is al- i y
ways some dirt which collects around. ^(
the edges of the cap that is difficult
to remove while the milk is in the bot
tle.
Unless you are familiar with the con
ditions, at the dairy, such as the health
of the cows and the cleanly manner of
milking and caring for the product,
the milk should be pasteurized ih the
home. Do not depend upon commer
cial pasteurization. The pasteuri
zation as it is carried on today in a
commercial way kills lactic acid
baterla and very few, if any, of the
tubercular and typhoid germs. Pas
teurization In the home may be per
formed without any apparatus other
than is found, in the common cooking
utensils. Sele'ct a pall somewhat larger
than the bottle or bottles of milk and
place an inverted, perforated pie tin
in the bottom to prevent bumping. Set
the bottles of milk on the pie tin and
fill the pail with water to the level of
he milk in the bottles. Punch a hole
through the cap, or in case nursing
bottles are used, plug the necks with
absorbent cotton. Heat on the stove
or over a gas burner until the water
Just begins to boll, thefuremove, from
the fire and allow to Btand for 20 min
utes. Replace the W'ater in the pail
gradually with colder water until the
bottles have been cooled to the tem
perature of the ^tap water, then place
on ice until ready for use. By, the
process of pasteurization, the milk
should be heated to a temperature of
not less than 145 degrees F. and not
more than 150 degrees F. The milk
should be allowed to stand at this
temperature for from 20 to 30 minutes, *
then quickly cooled and kept on ice > •
until used. After pasteurization, it is
always well to remove the cap3 from
the ordinary milk bottles and invert a
glass tumbler over the bottle as a pro
tection against dust. During the pro- "
cess of pasteurization, it is preferable
to have a thermometer in the bottle of
milk so that the temperature may be
accurately controlled.
Another source of contamination is
the condition of the refrigerator which
should always be sweet and clean. Milk
absorbs odors very rapidly so that
care must be taken not to place the
milk in foul smelling refrigerators or
near odorous food products. As stated
above, milk should be placed in direct
contact with the ice.
A Word Regarding Evaporated Milk.
Upon the market are two products,
one known as evaporated milk which is
cows' milk avaporated in a vacuum pan
so that 100 pounds of whole milk yields
about 45 pounds of evaporated milk.
This product is sterilized in the can
with heat. The other product is known
as sweetened condensed milk. This is
very similar to the evaporated whole
milk, but contains about 40 per cent of
cane sugar. This product is preserved
by the added sugar. Some people are
diluting the unsweetened evaporated
milk and feeding the same to babies.
The directions which appear upon the
can for the dilution of the milk in many
cases are such that the diluted prod
uct would starve a child if, this were
his only food. If, to the sampe of
evaporated milk aibout 1 1-4 times its
volume of water is added and the prod
uct thoroughly mixed, you will secure
a milk very closely approximating its
original composition.
IN PASSING. „
"Don’t preach. Hand ’im' a line of
Jolly. He’s Just a regular husband."
• * *
"He married a city girl and now they
have napkins at every menl.”
• * *
"Sometimes f think I'm tired when
all I need is to wash my face."
• • •
“Before marriage a girl is always
talking about ’his’ opinions. After
marriage she mentions only his appe
tite.”
• • •
“A whole lot of ‘friendly interest’
ought to bo spelled c-u-r-i-o-s-i-t-y.”
t • * •
“The way some husbands complain
about marriage you’d think it was an
infliction Instead of a responsibility.”
• • *
"W
men
have headaches next day and take it
out on the others in the office.’'
• • •
‘‘A man’s ideal of a wife is a com
bination saint, valet, siren and cook."
• • •
“The neighbors are gossiping because
she runs a sewing machine according
to tho printed directions. And she
cooks out of a book, too. But her hus
band seems to be a real nice man.”
$1,400 Verdict for Tears.
From the New York World.
Mrs. Dora Lattey, of 295 Pacific
Street, Brooklyn, who fell down stairs
in the bijou theater, that borough, on
October 30, 1911, and so injured her
eyes that she is now perpetually in
tears, recovered a verdict of 31,400
against Corse Payton Stock company
Saturday. The case was tried before
Supreme Court Justice •Van Siclen.
Mrs. Lattey said she caught her foot
in a rent in the rubber covering of the
stairs and fell to the bottom. She
struck her head in such a way that
the tear ducts of both eyes were af
fected.
Los Angeles expects to capture In
1913 about 30 conventions of national
important:*.