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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1900)
8 THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT- July 1 9, 1900. 5 HIS RUNNING MATE. ADDRESS TO OLO SOLDIERS ilryaa t lma Oefc f L4rla Call Mi Arm tm Ife4 tit Cobb try The lirrtn Veteran club of this city. eorspod of union fiddlers of the civil war, Las issued an ddre to veteran ' throughout the country. The address U as fellow: "Comrade: The long roll has sounded and one nacre we are called to defend or country. The ait ancles artsy of grerd and imperiaiini u about to de al roy all that we fought to sustain. We are. many cf o, cloe to oar last roll cai! but there i tot one o poor in spirit that be Lam kt bis love of liberty, for which we fought and suffered in the GGs, and kit many wbo were near and dear lo xi Jj ir, ia their last sleep as proof of their devotion to our country il V oocaider this the tnoert trying: and deperae strcjfie that the toople of America ha to been called upon to meet, fci&ce the first hot of the revolution, in the cause of liberty and independence, and that we may hold that which we acd those before us fought to secure let us form in lic and follow, that great and coble leader cf the caue of liberty, W. J. bryan, on to victory. "Believing as we do, and as we had been taught f orderly by the advocates of the republican party before it was coctroiioa by the tram and the money power, that our constitutional money. both sold and fUTer, was essential to the bsutine interest of oar people, and that slavery cannot ezUt under our coo titciioa and flag, and that the rights of all men JLaJ be protected and the blas tings of liberty guaranteed to all with out regard to previous conditions or ser vitude or color, and that all oGcer from the president down shall be com pelled to gi? 2u repect to tha lws of mr country, ofceervucg as guide the declaration of independence, and the eor-ctstuUoa of these United States. Therefore we call a all comrade of this state to organize as a Bryan Vet eran cluo and co all in our power to rurtj&er tie interests of tne people, and efesd our riht frosa the menace of isieriius that now threatens our na tion- All soldiers and sailors la sympathy with the principles will meet and form crjraniiatkx in their respective counties. Any information in regard to the forma tion and by laws will be furnished by 1L iiryaa Veteran dub, Lincoln. Neb. h Uss Fcr It Th Ilacta-Payne hip subsidy bill. iMkrd by the ilaladeipbia platform, tud prsesv&biy worth a million or more to tLo republican campaign fend, re- ceiTea but cold oca fort from the recent rt part of the bureau of navigation. This rtpoe aLows last vessels aggregating ZtlJyCZ groM to&s have been built in ihi" coustry d unrig the past year. This recced has been surpassed only once in a half ectcry of nation progress. This was ia 17. when t17l2 gros tons were built ta this country. As &6 re cent, of the past year's record consis's i4 steaa veoeis tie addition to our br chant caarine is eai!y superior to t-st of any other year of our history 7 Lee vessels have been built in obedi etfcce to th law of supply and demand. Hhips can be built as cheaply here as abruad, but Jixnna does cot want them built in that way, says the New York Jcurr-aL lreideut Hill cf the Great Northern railway has contracted for a Cwt of steacukhip from I'aciiic coast builders, with which he propones to com it with foreigners in the Asiatic trade, i has cot asked cexgrass for any bounty or subsidy bill to enable him to build cr sail his fleet. Why should cot others ixitate tla? ZMte Centra! Ccsslttea The aew state central committee met at LascoSa, July IX 19.0. at tba Lincoln J lot:, at H p. rn.' " - v - A eusasaitte of three was appointed to invite the candidates into the meeting and that the eaadidat be given a rote. Mted that the candidates retire and iske a rcu&.tandatioa for chairman to this body. Carried. Xxxen as a substitute that J. IL Ed tsisto be elected by this committee as chairman of the state central committee. Substitute motion made that the com trill take an informal secret ballot for the purpose of bricgirg candidate for chairman before the oeeticg. Carried. Informal ballot gave Ed mi ten 40, Carry 11. Mower 2. " XvrL and seconded that the informal ballet be made formal and Mr.Edmistea L declared unanimous choice. Car ried Kranipously. Moved and carried that the chairman select hi own secretary. Hon. Hliuej J. Kent was elected treas urer. Moved to select taembers of the exec utive eemr&itte. from each con gressional district and the chairman, ertary aad treasurer be members of thi cosstsitt. Carried. Each dittrirt selected their commit j7'&: -?r2 -New York World. teemen as follows: 1st Dish A. II. Weir, Lincoln, 2nd Dust, C. A. Whitford, Arlington, 3rd PieL O. L. Gossard, Oakdale, 4th Dist. S. II. Craig, Beatrice, 5th Diet. C. W. Jester. Clay Center, 6th Dish Andrew M. Morrisey, Val entine. Moved by Mr. Whitford that each county be assessed two dollars for each delegate to the state convention for the ue of the state committee, Moved to amend to make the amount five dollars. Seconded. Lost. Origi nal motion carriKl. On motion the "card plan" of raising money from the rank and file of the party was adopted and the matter left to the itate committee Adjourned. F. L. MAHY, Secretary. J. IL EDMISTEN, Chairman. The card plan has - proven successful in Iowa and other states. Something must be done in the populist party to raie funds aside from assessments of officeholders ' and candidates. If the county chairmen and committees will take hold of this matter and see to the distribution of the cards, not only will funds be raised but a party organization will be effected. The Markets Weekly market letter, furnished by IL IL Penny Jc Co, No. 131 South Eleventh street, Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln, Neb-, July 18. The wheat markets of the past week have been very erratic The market sold down 8c since the government report made its appear ance last week. The foreigners failed to follow our market as to the low estimates displayed by the govern men t, and north western authorities begin to raise their estimates of, and to talk cf the great im provement that has occurred with the light rains that fell there last week. The result being that bull sentiment has al most vanished from the market and in stead of tl wheat some traders are pre dicting 70c wheat. The best authorities have found that there is enough wheat to go around. The Chicago Daily Trtde Bulletin esti mates that there will bo a crop of 523 millions and tne reserve of lio millions, a total of C70 millions, which according to compilations leaves 270 million bu. for export and reserves. 1 f the exports of the next twelve months should be the same as the past twelve months, there would remain 80 millions in reserve, visi ble and invisible, a year from now. Such Xlgure naturally shake faith in higher prices. The Cincinnati-Price Current also es timates the crop at 500 millions, and II V. Jones, commercial editor of the Min neapolis Tribune, who has been estimat ing the crop for many years, calculates the yield of Minnesota and tho Dakotas at 11a) million, instead of 82 as indicated by the govern menh So many large esti mates cannot fail to have an effect on the speculative market. The fact remains, however, that the chances for another bull market have not entirely gone. The spring wheat receipts hare dropped to almost half what they were a year ago, and etocka in Duluth and Minneapolis will decrease rapidly for the next two months. The receipt at Kansas City and St. Louis will be large. Galveston will be glutted with Texas and Territory wheat, and Chicago may show up large with re ceipts from the southwest. The shortage of the central states will make a big demand for the Kansas crop and when the foreigners begin to buy again, as they must soon do, they will te lorcea to oia -prices up snarply in order to get the wheat they will require. Tne corn market , has been held on i strain for the past two weeks up til Monday with the expectation of getting a hot wind scare from Kansas or Ne braska, but the general rain which fel over the entire corn belt Sunday and Monday changed the aspect of things in corn considerable. --.The price for Sep tember corn in Chicago closed Saturday at 44J , and opened Monday- morning at i2tc and ran down tut, showing a de cline of 4c. Saturday's close and Tues day sold down to 3St . showing 2c more decline. ; , After all has been said the persisten enthusiastic bulls should feel that the market did well enough last week to hold even a fractional advance in face o the big decline in wheat This Morning Liverpool opening cable: Wheat 1 1-Sd lower; corn l l-4d lower. Chicago Hog. rects. 21,000. Market opened strong to shade higher. Mixed 5u0a320; heavy 50oaa20; rough 490a500, Light 500 and 520. Cattle strong. Kansas City Hogs 21,000. Cattle 5, 000. . Omaha Hogs 4,000. Cattle 1700. Education Wins - - Education must precede reform. . It is the first essential to success. The masses of the people are honest aad desire to do what is for the best. They lack in formation. There is no better method for furnishing the information and "edu cation than the circulation of a weekly newspaper. The weekly newspaper re cords the progress of the campaign, dis cusses all the issues and reviews all the important events as they occur. It is interesting and instructive and it is read with greater care and more consid eration ' than . iamphlets, circulars aad political documents issued by campaign committees duringthe heat of a cam paign. "The people when thoroughly ac quainted with the facts will not support or endorse, the -course, of the j reseat na tional administration in its policy of im perialism, . militarism and favoritism. They will not endorse or support wars of conquest, or the """benevolent" assimila tion" of the Filipinos, the 'plain duty" discrimination against the Porto Ricans, the disgraceful management of the army and the defalcations and frauds perpe trated in Cuba; the gold standard and special legislation - by which the issue and control of the currency of the coun try was placed with the national bankers; the .subsidies give.n.jto.the Standard Oil Co., and the fostering care of other trusts and monopolies. To these may be added the repudiation of the Monroe doctrine," the abandonment of the decla ration of independence and many other indictments for the usurpation . of the rights of the people.- Such a policy can not but meet with the condemnation of every loyal and patriotic citizen conver sant with the facts-. Will you do your part in the struggle to restore the gov ernment to the people by helping to in crease the.circulation .of the Independ ent? Tho special rate of 15 cents for the campaign puts it within the reach of everyone. Are there not half -a dozen doubtful voters in your precinct to whom you can send the Independent? How can you invest 90 cents to a better ad vantage? Where can you get so -much valuable literature for so little expense? The Independent every week from now until the close ..of. the -campaign, to six different addresses, anywhere in the United States, for 90 cants. Think of it hardly the cost of white paper make up your list and send it today. AECOLA IS EXCITED. Illinois Town Has an Order of Youth ful White Caps. Orcnnlid to Punish Those Who In terfere In Their Lore Affairs Want to Monopolise All the Girls of the Village. According to an Areola (111.) corre spondent of the Chicago Record, what appears to be an organization of white caps is operating in mat city, ice cciillar. thing about the organization s the motive behind it for the protec tion of its members againet the intru sion 6f outsiders in the affairs of love. The band, so far as can be learned, is composed of young men ranging in age from 18 to 20 years, who are sworn to protect each other, even unto death, if necessary, in order to keep young men who are not members of the band from infringing upon their rights and paying attention to the girl friends of any of the members. The violation of any of the rules laid down in the by laws of the organization means severe punishment to the offender, and swift justice is meted out to the young man who dares to mingle in the love af fairs of any member of the band. Not long ago a young man from the outside called upon one of the young woman friends of a member, of . the band, and was passing the evening ir her company. A knock at the door brought the hostess, "and the leader of the band, who had approached, asked in a pleasant manner if the young man were present. .Receiving an answer in the affirmative, he requested to Bee the gentleman on business. As the young man stepped out into the darkness he was seized by the white crjs and given a sound whipping and told to leave the place at once, which he did. Another case has just developed in which the punishment was more se vere. The younsr man, who was called from the presence of. the girl on the sec ond occasion, was' subjected to the most brutal treatment possible. A coffee sack was throwti over his head, his GKCT LARGE KNIFE. hands were tied behind him, and he was marched to the cemetery, fully a mile from the city, at the point of re DISEASES CURED To all sufTerinir from anv of thn diseases BORE A Monthly treatment, including examination. serTices and all medicines necessary, from $5.00 to $25.00 per month. Our extensive experience with glandular substances enables us to state posi tively that they will prove beneficial to the following diseases: Thyroid starvation. Stunted Growth, Nervous Prostration, Idiocy, Paralysis, Glandular Enlargements, Goitre, General De bility Myxoedma, Locomotor Ataxia, Rheumatism. Scrofula, Skin Diseases, Eczema, Dyspep- ncumn-m, vuuiiupiiivu, npupiaxy, utupuTe vision, ierecuvo Hearing, i'oor uircuiatton. Insanity, Nervous Debility, Disease of the Brain, Tuberculosis, Varicose Veins, rysipelas, Epi lepsy, Suppurating Glauds, Lymphadenities, Orchitis, Fat Starvation, Ovarian Diseases, Sup pressed Menstration, Nervousness from ovaritis, Pyosalpinx, Leucorrhoea, Loss of Memory, De mentia. Paronia. Melancholia. Loss of Vital Power. Anemia. Rlnnd Pnior.iv Srnhilis. Clhni lncUOlia. lOSS Or Vital Skin Diseases, Presenility, Jaundice. Falling of urtcnt s uisease, woesity, uropsy, consumption, j.uui3 position io .exertion, ucuuneuucss, uorpoine naon, jaasturoation. Monthly Treatment Coat from $5.00 to $95.00 per month with all -Medical Ad-rice including all Medicines. Booklet sent Free, Sanitarium ?43 S 13th St. Offices 94-5-6 liurr Uloclc Telephone 3 for Sanitarium, 937 for office. - ... , . AIRS. A. J. XIILL, Manager. vblvers, wlriie Hie members 7o!fowe3 with threats of violence In case he ut tered an outcry.-At the cemetery a rope was tied .about his neck and the end thrown over the limb at a tree. At this juncture the coffee I sack wa re moved and a ghost, bearing a large knife ,1a" its han5s sprang out of the darkness and came toward the crowd. The masked members "of the band, at sight of the ghostly specter, broke and ran,-and the young man became so frightened that he swooned and fell to the ground. The ghost, who was one of the white- cans, disrobed, and. call- inc to the crowd, told them the young roan had fainted. The limp form of the bbywaa carried -back, to the city and laid , out upon the sidewalk, where he remained until passers-by chanced to find himC etill In an. unconscious condi tion, some hours afterward. So far the identity of the members has been kept a secret, and, though an effort has been put forth to locate the leaders, it has-been to no avail. The last occurrence has created consider able excitement. Hotr 'Dati Catch 'Inveeta.' In a recent number of the Zoologist is to be found. au interesting-paper on. the "method used by bate in capturing insects. This animal when walking car ries its curved tail downward and in ward, so that the 'membrane joining it to the hind legs forms a pouch or bag, JntoJ which a large insect can be pushed after it is snatched. This is done by slightly spreading the folded wings, bringing the feet forward to increase the capacity of the tail pouch, and then beuding the neck and thrusting the head beneath the body. In spite of violent struggles, the insect rarely es capes, and a somewhat similar method is employed by the, bat when on the wing, as it has been noticed to always bend up its tail so aa to form a recep tacle for its prey. Rata Feed on Human Body. An old workman. .living at Hue Courat, Paris, failed to pay his rent at the regu lar term to the proprietor. When the landlord went to collect the doors were locked. He brought the commissary of police, who burst the doors open and found the man dead, the body being cov ered with, swarms of huge rats. The body was partially devoured. So fierce were the rodents that they bit the un dertaker's assistant. - It is supposed the . man died suddenly from natural causes. . , . . . , Sou Startling Instances. Last week, reports the Finley (S. D.) Slope, a delinquent subscriber said he would pay up if he lived. He died. An other said: tl will see -you to-morrow. He's blind: Still another said: "I'll pay youcthls"week or go to the devil. HeVgone. There aTe hun dreds who Ought to take warning of these procraatinators and pay up now. I -. l.J i) J' n i If you are indebted to this paper, re member and rmit at once. BTJTTED EVERYWHERE. The 'Mnch-rJepea Goat Has Been " KnoWsince (he Dcatanlng 4 oil Htetory. The common or domestic goat was originally a native of the highlands of Asia. Naturalists generally regard it as having descended from an animal found in' the' Caucausus mountains and the hill country of Persia, called in the Persian .language the pesang. Its legs are , longer than those of the common goat, aad its horns are very much logger. ; The eommon goat has existed as . a, domestic animal in oriental countries from the very ear liest times. From there it spread all over the world, manifesting a remark able adaptability to climate aud cir cumstances. In this diversity of sur roundings . great . diversity of breeds has appeared,,. such-as the . Angora goat, the Syrian goat, ,the Cashmere goat, the Guinea goat of Africa, and many others. 'A No quadruped, except the dog-, has shown such susceptibil ity of variation. These differences show most markedly in the quality and quantity of the hair arid ia the relative abundance of the two coats, the long silky outer covering and the softer woolly hair beneath it. Among the flreeks and Romans, the goat whs sacrificed to - Bacchus be cause of its tendency to injure grape vines by eatiug the young tendrils and leaves. Ail the species of goats are natives of the old world. The Rocky Mountain , goat, so-called, of North America really belongs to the antelope family. : . : ." Soldier In a Panic. All armies are liable to night scares, which, at times, almost amount to a panic On one occasion a British regi ment in India, marching over tl ghauts on it return from maneuver at Chinch wud . was thrown into tern nnrnrv wnfnR?i?vn Vv the boltincr Of & couple of pack oxen laden with cooking pots, - ?. -.-": ; Carefnllr' Trained Horse. The Boer depends entirely on his horse, which is often beautifully trained, and stands unwatched behind him while he fires. Honey and Money. The bee industry employes 300,000 persons, and the revenue from it ia a ' about $20,000,000 a year. BY THYROIN V. V. bnlow. f1 rAnflnt nf Koinir ihl in o-i rKr Fower. Anemia. KInnd Pnisrtn. Svnhilis. the Womb. Gout, Kidney Disease, Diabetes, Bronchitis. Asthma, lasiituae, ixms of f lesn. A REMARKABLE CASE. It Will Always Muster In tho Mei iay - of the Sura-eon. ; Who Had Charst f It." ' - "What was the strangest case I ever had? said one of the erurgeon in, at tendance at the late convention, repeati ng the question of a New Orleans Times-Democrat reporter with whom he was chatting. "Well, let me see. I believe the oddest incident - of inv career occurred ; in but hold! on. sec ond thought Is dont care to give any names or dates. The facts, if you like, were these: . I was called by messen ger to a cheap boarding house one even ing to attend a man who was said to have been hurt in a fight. I found a young fellow of 23 or thereabouts, half . DRESSING THE , WOUND. dfesed, with a bloody contusion on one of his cheeks and a badly 'smashed nose, lr-.e bricfre was smashed almost fiat with the face, and I saw at once that the case would need very careful handling- to prevent great disfigure ment. Not to bother you with technical details, t confined myself that nig-ht to a superficial dressing, and deferred fur ther proceedings until next day? .When called the following morning v the young man had quite recovered his senses, and although, his clothes were shabby and all his surroundings poor and mean.it was evident from hishands. talk and bearing, that he had never don any-hard work, and was a per son cf education and - refinement. I took him for the black sheep of some good family, but made no comments, and explained briefly that I would try to restore his nose as far as possible by performing a alight operation and in serting an artificial support." To my astonishment, he objected natly, and insisted on letting it heal exactly as it waai 'Bat you will be frightfully dis figured, I protested; 'I doubt if your best, friends would recognize you. Strange to say,' that assurance seemed to rfnder-him, only the firmer, and I was compelled to let him have his way. It was nearly three weeks before he was well, and, as I anticipated, he looked exactly like . some. battered bruiser of the prize ring. Ineversaw the man again, but six months later I we shown the photograph of a hand some young chap who was badly want ed for a big embezzlement. I put my finger over the nose and recognized my late patient. lie had. walked aboard ship right under, the eyes of the detec tives and sailed for the Argentine Re public. They had his photo, but never dreamed of conecting it with the caved-ln countenance of that particular passenger' "ind he get somebody to break his nose on purpose?' asked tho reporter.. "I never ascertained, said the surgeon. VICTIM OF A JOKE. Wliy the Englishman Didn't Sar Good-Dy to HI American Fellow Paiteneer, Two passengers on the New England on her last trio, one an American and the other an Englishman, did not ex change the farewell courtesies, when the steamer reached her pier, usual be tween voyagers who have occupied ad- SLAPPING H7AI ON THE BACK. joining staterooms and hobnobbed dur ing an ocean voyage, says the Boston Post. A plausible explanation was vouchsafed by the American. During the voyage the ' Englishman persisted ' in fraternizing with the American in a most obtrusive and an noying manner. Within two days of Boston the Englishman one morning hunted up the American and found him in apparent despondency, gazing sea ward from the hurricane deck. "Confounded blue this morning, old chap. What's the matter?" And the Britisher slapped his.companion on the back. . ..... . - "Matter enough, growled the Ameri can. ; "Ship's lost; captain don't know which way to steer. Forgot to wind the compass last night. The Englishman listened with mouth agape, then rushed off to tell hi6 friends of the consequential mishap.- Evident ly gullible Britisher was "pushed along for some time until: he found everybody guying him. THE TIN-CLAD SKUNK Victim of an Accident Caused Sen sation In a Maine Town. Catlra Population Tnraed Oat to Sea tho Strange Slarht Woman at Last Restored Confldeaoo In tho Community. "Of-the funny things that come up now and then in the rural towns on my route, I think the funniest in my expe rience was the way a skunk made the people of Lake View, in Maine, hustle themselves a year or two ago,' said a commercial traveler to a New York Sun reporter. "Lake View is a little settle ment in the woods on the mainline of the Bangor & Aroostook railroad, and I i waa waiting over a train there on the chance of selling a bill of goods. I was in the biggest store and had the store keeper pretty well in hand; five min utes more and he would have been hyp notized to the point of a $500 order, at least, when a fellow loafing on the plat form outside the door sung out: - " 'Jerusalem crickets I What's that( that's come ter town? Then he stuck his frowsy head inside the door and called: 'Jess look here, fellers. Ev erybody cornel I want ter show you a sight ter beat a circus 1 "Every lounger in the store and the clerks started for the door, and the owner was not long behind them. , The spell that I had been weaving about him went to pieces like a 6oap bubble, and there was nothing better for me to do than accompany him to see what the excitement was. It was a skunk that had raised the commotion. Now, it is nothing unusual for a skunk, or even larger animals from the woods, to stray into a Maine village; but this one, be fore he showed himself, had been nosing around the houses and had got his head fast in an empty condensed milk can. His head was completely ex tinguished to a point back of his ears, bat he had found his way into the street and now was wandering about, mad all through, and wholly unable to get his bearings. All hands kept out of his way, and every man chut his WOMAN SOLVED PROBLEM. doors and tied up his dog, for they know all about skunks in Lake View. "It was the tin can over the skunk's head that made the trouble. But for that over his eyes he could have been 'shooed out of the town asd thus have been got rid of on the easiest terms. To kill him within "the village limits was not to be thought of, for, like blind Samson among the Philistines, he would in his dying have worked a re venge that would be remembered in Lake View for many a day. As it was, he stopped all business in the town for half an hour or more while he mean dered around, with everybody making way for him. His steps took him at last to the schoolhouse, and, the door being open, he walked in. The school was in session and the fact of his arrival was announced by the appearance of the teacher, a comely young woman, who ran screaming out of the door, followed by several of her pupils, while the oth ers left the building by way of the win dows. The skunk bumped round among the desks for awhile, and at last found his way back into the street. "All this performance was interest ing, and to an outsider, with nothing at risk, was very funny in its episodes. But the next train was due within the hour, and it was plain that so long as that skunk was at large a man could not have bought a jackknif e or a pound of tea in the town with the cash in his hand, to say nothing of getting an order for goods; so I prayed with the rest for deliverance. There was. advice enough on tap of ways and means for dealing with the skunk; , I think everybody present, myself included, proposed some plan, but the trouble was that no proposer would volunteer to put his idea into execution. It was a woman who at last solved the problem and re stored confidence in the community. She appeared upon the scene with an empty flour barrel, and, laying it upon the ground in front of the skunk, he walked into the open end. Then, tilt ing the barrel upright, the open end upward, she held him a safe and harm less prisoner. Two young men took the barrel down, to the lake and drowned the skunk, and Lake View was saved. I missed my order, but the ob ject lesson I gained in woman's courage and resource, in emergency was well worth the commission I lost through the affair. Sow's Milk for Babies. A novel petition has just been sub mitted to the French chamber of depu ties by a woman resident in the Finis tere department. She proposes that steps be taken to test the quality of sow's milk as a form of nourishment for babies. Donkeys milk, as is well known, is superior to cows' for the purpose, but. the, employment of the domestic pig has the merit of novelty. Several doctors have . already pro nounced in favor of the innovation, however. O m "Send me down bride in full dress for Friday evening. II. Smith, "WalkJey Sta tion. - v. ;; Thai was the teaor. of the telegram, Miss Betsej Blythe knew, because she read it over 40 times if she read it once. She picked it up on the step of the tele graph office, where the lucky recipient thereof mnst have dropped it, and, un luckily, the address was torn off the northeast corner of the folded paper. "There!" she said. "Didn't I tell you Harold Smith was going to be married on the sly?" "Goodness me!" said Arethusa. "It can't be possible," piped Pamela. "But who can the brids be?" "Walkley Station is only three-quarters of an hour from New York," said Betsey. "Let's go to the wedding!" "And," added Miss Pamela in a chuc kle, "let's notify all our friends to go!" "Do you suppose Bhe'll go out in the cart?" asked Arethusa. "In full dress? What nonsense!" re torted Pamel. "She'll drive, ot course, in a carriage n "She'll get her death of cold," said Miss Betsey, with a shiver. "Driving 15 miles in 'full dress!' ' "The idea of Harold Smith ordering her around in that majestic fashion!" cried Arethusa. "But. girls, I'll tell you what we will do we'll go and call on the Mordaunts." Mrs. Mordaunt, a pretty, full blown rose style of matron, was doing crewel work. Jessie, her daughter, -who corre sponded with the rosebud in the family, was painting a vase of purple pansies in water colors. They did not appear in the least like custodians of an important se cret looked, surprised, when Miss Betsey alluded to the subject of Impending mar riage and said they had heard of no wedding in the. neighborhood, and they stared when Miss Arethusa asked if they hadn't had a dressmaker in the house lately. , . "We always do our own sewing," said Mrs. Mordaunt. "Jessie can fit a dress as well as Mme. Mondini herself." "But for such a very, very important occasion as this," smirked Miss Arethusa. "We never have any important occa sions," laughed . Jessie. "Look, Miss Blythe. Do you think my pansy is as deep a purple as "the original?" And when the three old maids had at last taken their departure Jessie looked at her mother in amazement, mingled with mirth. "Mamma," said Bhe, ; "what do those old women mean?" "I think, dear," said Mrs. Mordaunt, "that they are the least bit unsettled in their minds just a little . crazy, you know." ... And the Misses Blythe went away ex changing . mysterious glances and whis pering to each other: . "They cannot deceive us!" The Misses Blythe told everybody they could think of always in strict confi dence, of course. Everybody repeated it to everybody else, and by Friday evening the train to Walkley Station was full. To Miss Betsy Blythe's infinite disap pointment, the Smith house, a pretty, old fashioned mansion with a pillared fronii a garden full of clipped box moiistros ties, was not lighted up after an extraor dinary fashion. Mrs. Smith, Harold's mother, , a dimpled old -lady in a white lace cap and gleaming gold spectacle glasses, was knitting, half asleep, when the three Misses Blythe were ushered in, followed by a crowd of other acquaint ances. "Oh," said she, rubbing her eyes to make sure that it was not a dream, "this is a surprise party, is it? I'm sure I'm delighted to see you! Only it-'-a a pity Harry isn't at home!" . "My good soul," said Miss Arethusa Blythe, shaking her finger, "it's no us trying to deceive us. We know all about It!" "All about what?" said Mrs. Smith. "About the wedding!" cried out the company in chorus. "Whose wedding?" demanded Mrs. Smith. . ."Why, Harold's, to be sure!" they re sponded. : ' "But Harold isn't going to be mar ried!" said Mrs. Smith. "He Isn't even engaged! Good gracious, what can have put such a thing into people's heads?" "It's the telegram," said Miss Pamela. "I don't know what you are talking about," said Mrs. Smith in despair. "Well, if you won't believe me you will perhaps believe your own eyes," said Miss Betsy Blythe, with dignity,, as she drew the telegram from her pocket and, carefully straightening out its creases, held it before Mrs. Smith's, spectacle glasses. "Dear me!" cried Mrs. Smith, at last comprehending a little of this curious net work of cross purposes. "It's Bella Smith's big dell!" "What!" cried Miss .Arethusa, Miss Pamela and Miss Betsy in chorus. . " What !', more wildly echoed the re3V of the assemblage, crowding eagerly around. . , "Mrs. Helena Smith's little daughter across the street," explained Mrs. Smith. L "It's her birthnizht party, and an im mense doll dressed as a bride was for warded by express this afternoon. I saw it myself a perfect beauty, with veil and wreath, white satin boots, buttoned by knobs of pearl, and long wristed white kid gloves, entirely complete! . And you thought you really imagined that my Harold was going to be married secretly and had telegraphed to New York for his bride!" . The old lady broke out into a fit of soft, sweet sounding laughter which shook het as if she had been a mold of jelly. Ev erybody else lauffhed. except the three Misses Blythe. They only looked blank. "But, now that you're here," added hospitable Mrs. Smith, "you'll stay to tea, all of you? But you must! The down train don't leave until 10, and you'll be half starved now that there ia no wed ding feast for you. Oh, I insist upon you staying to tea!" Waverley Magazine. Pnlplt Diplomacy. Jones That new preacher knows his business. -.. , . Mrs. Jones Wnat makes yon think so? Jones He waited until Bobby got whip ped before he tried to convince him that fighting was wrong. Kansas City Inde pendent. ' His Humility. "Barker humbly says he is but an in strument in the hands of destiny." - "I know he talks that way, but, all the same, he thinks destiny has its hands4 full when it is using him." Indianapolis' Journal. I MRS. SMITH'S BRNQUET. 2
