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About Harrison press-journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1903)
KKE you are, Miss Clevenger;! this Is Just In your line," said he city editor of the Dally Blaze, as he bunded a clipping to a young woman reporter. "You certain ly can get something spicy out of that. Answer It, follow it up and get a good yarn. The stronger the hetter, and If there is a bit of lemon color In it it won't hurt anything." Norah Clevenger tool; the clipping from the cily editor's hand. It was an advertisement cut from a etmtcmpo rary daily. This is what she read: Wanted A wife, mil more than years old : must hi; loving disposition; cripple preferred. Address Lock ll( 07, Hoo.ilervllle, Indiana. "I think that's a bona lido 'ad,' Miss Clevenger," said the city ed itor, "and tin; fcl- ' WUOTK A I.KTTHt. low who stuck It lu wants u cripple, and that's ipieer In itself. Write to him, meet hi in and get your yarn. It ought to be a good one." Norah Clevenger had been writing 'spicy stories for the liaily Blaze some years. She knew how to make her pen scorch the paper, anil that's what -uie jia.e i.Kii.1. .-Mie was cauouseu and she took assignments that many a i'irl would have shrunk from, but then It was all lu the business, and Norah Jiad never been the cause of getting the Blaze into a libel suit, and on that fact sin? plumed herself. Xorah sal down and wrote a letter, addressing It to Lock Box 0", Iloosier vlile, Ind. She lied in ii, nothing less, lint then that, too. was a part of the business she had learned at the Blaze oillce. She said that she was a crip ple; that her right arm was paralyzed. 8he told the truth, .however, about her ippea ranee, and her age she was 2'.i and then asked that the lock box owner address hot' lit the general de livery window of the pottolllce, saying that she did not wish to give her jroper address until she knew posillve fNX that '1('r correspondent was a good I man and one who would not trille with a woman. She signed the letter Mary Anderson. .Norah Clevenger waited three days l......... .... ............. ......... ... ....... Vt - till i!lf-l Vtlltll- III lll-I I Ulll mimical inn. When one did come she found that it was written In a good hand and in good English. It was simple and straightforward. The wri ter said that he was a widower, .'!( years old. witli one child; had a large stock and fruit farm, which yielded a good Income, and he was laying up money. The letter gave no reason why the writer wished to marry a cripple, .Norah Clevenger wrote again. She Jed the writer on a little In the next letter, 1 and with an audacity charac teristic of the girl, inclosed her photo graph. Hi the third day she had an answer, which she shewed the city editor, saying. "I'm In for it, Mr. I!an kln. Ills name is Moore, and he reaches the city tonight, ami I'm j meet him at the Consolidated Depot at H o'clock. Some of the boys will have to tlx up my arm. We'll put a brace of some kind on It or otherwise I'll forge that It Is supposed to be paralyzed, and I'd be swinging It around and give the whole snap away. What In the world this countryman wants u cripple for Is more than I can Imagine, but there ought to be a crack ing good story lu It." Norah Clevenger was at the Consol idated Depot at S o'clock, with her right arm lu a surgeon's brace. Home girls would have felt u bit of trepida tion at the prospect of meeting the stranger, but years of rather seamy work had hardened this woman's na ture. She waited lu the passenger room. The train rolled In und in a min ute or two there came through t doorway a tall, well-built man, with crisp, curly hulr, sun-browned cheek and honest eyes, lie was leading a lit tle girl about 5 years old by Die band. Norah Clevenger felt that thin whs ' the man she was to meet, though a moment before she could have a worn that her correspondent was Home fool '"rot a fellow with a cast In bin eye, a painful limp oud so ugly generally that bis very iippearunce would give an swer to the ipiestlou why he hud not sought a bride lu the vicinity of l(oo lervllle. The man looked about the station. Ill eyes fell on Norah, and then went quickly to her arm. lie saw the surgeon's brace and walking forward raised bin but ami said: 'Mis Anderson, 1 believe. 1 am (leorgo Moore. ' Thin is my little girl Fran ces " ; The little one held to Nornh uml lifted kissed. Thin writer touch of saffron lu out both hand her face to Iks of stories with tlieul felt noun- thing of a shock, but she bent over mid kissed the child" red lips. "Let us sit down for a moment, Ml AmlciMiu, 1 ow you an explanation. I sea you uie crippled. My wife, who ) died four years ago, was a cripple. I tell you frankly that I loved her, und the fact that she was dependent on me because of her crippled stute made me learn the delight that there Is in doing for others. I was a selfish man, but I learned unselllshness, and It made me happy. 1 don't know much of the world, and I feel that to advertise for a wife may not be considered right, but I say honestly that there was none near home whom 1 wished even could I have chosen." Norah Clevenger felt uncomfortable. She hardly liked to admit it to herself. She knew that this man was fair and above board, and that she bad been doing something that was unwomanly. Sh'i had done unwomanly things before In tlie Interest of a story, but this tiling cut. The little girl had slipped into her lap by this time, and was talking to her softly. Moore rose sud denly. "I forgot something," he said. "Stay with Miss Anderson a minute, Frances," and then he disappeared in the direction of the baggage-room. In a minute he was back with a huge basket on his arm, and, raising the cover. In- showed It 'to be full of black Hamburg grapes. These are for the Crippled Children's Home," he said; "I send fruit In every week because of my memories. I thought I would bring the grapes myself this time. I raise them In my hothouse. I'll give them to an expressman, and he can get them to the hospital, so that the tols can have them in the morning." Norah Clevenger rose from her seat. "Mr. Moore," she said, "I have met you as you asked. I must go now. I will write you to-morrow," and before Moore could say a word the girl had hurried away. "No story lu this for us, Mr. Han- kin," she said to the city editor an hour later, "or if there Is I won't write it." And Norah Clevenger left the of II ee find went home. Next day she wrote a letter, and sent it to George Moore, I ooslerville, Ind. l'rior to writ ing It she had Inquired at the Crippled Children's Home, and found out all about tin- man, his kindliness and his honesty, though she felt that she need cd no character assurance save that given her by the memory of his face. In tin; letter she told him the whole story. "When I wrote? you that I was a cripple," she said, "I thought I was lying, but I have found out since that 1 was a cripple of the worst kind, in short my conscience was crippled, but It certainly is healed now. und It Is active i nougli to smite me." Norah Clevenger still wrote for t lit Blaze, but they had to turn to other reporters when they wanted an orange streak lu a story. The months passed on, the boys saw many letters lying on Nnrah's desk before she came down in the morning, all bearing the Iloo Klervllle, Ind., postmark. They remem bered Norah's "cripple" assignment and wondered. One day she treated them to black Hamburg grapes that were selling at $1 a pound at Jung's. "Where did you get them, Norah?" asked City Editor Hankln. "They are samples of goods which I shortly shall offer for sale," she said. "I have been asked to take a life partnership ' In the business, and on Kaster Monday I shall become the Junior member of the firm." Chicago Itecord Herald. Ills Time Wa Not t'p. A man of a mercenary spirit had several sons, one of whom was on I he eve of bis twenty-first birthday. The father had always been a strict disci plinarian, keeping his boys well under parental charge, allowing them few lib erties and making them work hard. It was with a feeling of considera ble satisfaction that the young man rose on tiie morning of his birthday ami began to collect his personal be longings preparatory to starting out fu the world. The fanner, seeing his son packing his trunk, which he lightly Judged to be evidence of the early loss of a good farm-hand, Btopped at the door of the young man' room and linked what he was going to do. The boy very promptly remlndi-d hi father of the day of the month and the year, and declared his Intention of striking out In the world on his own account. "Not much you won't," shouted the old man, "at bust not for a while yetl You wasn't born until after 12 o'clock, so you can just take off them good clothes and fix to give me an other half-day's work down In the po tato patch." Pcirpnijr-nv Mile an flour. All electric road out of Huffs lo con template a schedule of seventy-live mile an hour. If that rate could be kept up. sny Munsey's, It would carry yon from New York to Han Fninelwo In less than two dilys. If a track were laid around the world ou the eighty' fifth parallel of latitude, a car going at that velocity from east to west would keep up with the earth's rotation, and beat Joshua's miracle by holding the sun Id one place all summer. A spinster's Ideal tuau hi one who will' say the word. BARTER AT THE CROSS ROADS. Two of the NUt Talk Two Days to Make a Ileal. At Carter's cross roads 1 came upon two native Tentiesseeans who sat ou a logand whittled while they talked. One of t hem had an old silver watch and the other owned the poor old mule bitched to a post. They had come to gether to make a trade and had been talking for an hour uud as 1 rode off one of them said: "I'll trade yo' even up. Jim, and If that don't hit yo' It's no use to talk furder." "I can't do it, Tom," replied the otuerr-Tbat-tbere taewfr-U-wutb two slch watches." ' It was dark when I returned and there sat the same two men and there stood the same old mule. They were talking trade a vigorously as ever and as I rode away the mau with the watch was saying: "It's even up or nothiu', Jim; Jlst as I told yo' before." "Tom, I can't do It can't possibly do it," replied the other. Along toward night next day I rode over to the same store on an errand for Mrs. Williams and there sat the very same two men. I couldn't see that they had moved an inch. They weren't 'faying a word, however. On the contrary, both had their legs swinging over the edge of the plat form, their chins In their hands and Were looking dowu on the ground. I saw the old mule lying dead on the ground and between the two men lay the watch. It had stopped dead still and both hands were oil' the face. "Do you know that your mule is dead?" I asked the owner of the ani mal. "Of co'se," he replied. "And your old watch has gone to wreck?" I said to the other. "Yea. sab." "Did you sit here all night?" "We did," they answered in chorus. "But if the mule is dead and the watch busted you can't trade." "Oh. that trade was off at midnight," said the owner of the watch, "and what we are dickerin' about now is that yere saddle again my dawg." 'DIXIE" CHEERED EVERYWHERE. North No Lens F.iithuslaatlc Thau the South on Henrlnic It. "A singular thing about the tune of 'Dixie,'" said a Washington, mau who does a good deal of traveling, "is that it arouses quite us much enthusiasm when it Is played above Mason and Dixon's Hue far above that line, in many Instances-as It does when It is played down South. I have often no ticed ibis and wondered over it. lu the Southern towns and cities, or even In Washington, where Southern sen timent predominates, it is the natural tiling for the cheers and the hand dapping to begin when, for example, a theater orchestra or musical per formers ou a stage strike up the tune of "Dixie,' but precisely the same thing happens in the Northern cities. An or chestra never gets Into the swing of 'Dixie' In a New York theater that tlie audience doesn't almost Come to Its feet. They cheer 'Dixie' vociferously every time it Is played In San Fran cisco. They yell in approval of it lu Detroit, and St. Paul, and Cincinnati, and In Chicago 'bey hum It along with the bund or orchestra. Even in chilly Boston they wake up and give a hand to 'Dixie.' It's a lively and Inspiring tune, of course, but I don't think that fact exactly explains why it is that It arouses enthusiasm in ciiniiiiiinltles in ibe North, where a Southerner would scarcely even expect to hear It played, much less cheered. Maybe It's because there's a lingering love all over the country for the old South, ami maybe it Is because there Is a pretty general and wholesome sentiment all over tlie land for the section that came out of the big tight a good deal like the under dog; but, nt any rate, 'Dixie's' the tune lhat gets the biggest hand and the wildest ac claim, no matter where It's played, from Michigan to the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Paelile."-Washington I'ost. Forgot NothinK. Walter Hem er haven't you for gotteti something? Fanner Burns Oh, no, I guess not. I've et everything clean up. One lJnt or View. "I am very much afraid that you do not appreciate the spirit of a free coun try." "oli, yea I do." answered the man who had recently lambd In New York, lu a dialect whU 'i It Is needless to re produce. "What do you understand by a free country?" 'it Is h place where you are free to do as you choose If you can manage to get ou the police force." Washington Star, Cotton Mill at V""). ' A cotton mill to be built nt Quito, the capita! of Ecuador, must be cur ried on the hacks of mules through the Ati'lc. pusslng a point PJ.OOO feet III altitude. Fitness of hr putt mutter little to the up-to-date actp-sii If (tie lit of her gowns Is pcrfitt, -V."'::" One ef a Few, 'Say," queried the Inquisitive per son as ihe stranger paused to light a cigar, "may I ask what your business Is?" 'You may," replied the stranger. 'Well," said the rubber-necker after a pause, "what in it?" "Minding It," said the stranger. "Minding what?" asked the aston ished party of the preface. "My business," wua the significant reply. Charitable Sex. Hess -So you are really going to mar ry young Softlelgb, are you? -NeUThaCs what Bess-Well, it will save you the trouble of hunting one when you get ready to begin housekeeping. Nell-Hunting what? Bess Why, a flat. Unite Sufficient. Mrs. Wederly Oh, John, I've mis laid our marriage certitlcate and can't find it! ' Wederly Oh, don't let that worry you. I've got a document down at the ollice that furnishes ample proof of our union. Mrs. Wederly-What Is It, dear? Wederly-r A receipted bill from your dressmaker. i'roof Positive. She-is it really true that the blind can determine color by the sense of touch? He Sure. I once knew a blind man who was able to tell a red hot stove by merely putting his finger on it. Her Heart's Desire. She There Is Just one little bit of millinery that I desire inust. He (crossly) You needn't say any more. I won't buy it. for yon. She Don't lie afraid. You'll never get. the bill for It. It's a widow's bonnet. -- riiiladelphla I'ress. Iille Tulent. The pn fessor's education Is Bacon -wasted. Egbert "Why, How Is that? he can speak live languages, but since he married he's hardly been allowed to use any of them." Yonltors Statesman. C.oiiiy: ari-l Coining. "You don't mean to say he's got a job? Well, well. I never expected him to go to work." "Well, lie didn't expect to go to work, either; he just found he had to come to It." Philadelphia Press. Hint That Failed. "Do you believe that two enn live its cheap as one?" asked Miss Willing. "Yes," replied young Wlserly. "Hut t prefer icace at any price." Scales Make the Weight. "Only a (lime, kind sir; I'm starv ing!" "Why, I gave you a quarter only ten minutes ago." "Yes, but that's to tip the waiter with." Why He Prayed. Kodrick Yes, our minister prayed for rain. Ynn Albert Was there a drought? Kodrick--No, but lie knew if It rain ed Sunday people would not play golf. Me likes a big congregation. Reliever in Siirnn. "Say, paw," queried Tommy Tod dles, "Is a ring around the moon a sign of rain?" 'That's what," replied the old man, with u sigh long drawn out. "And a ring around a woman's third linger is 'i sign of more reign." Juit Po. "She's quite nn expert In her line." "Hot her business at. her lingers' ends, eh?" "No, at the ends of other people's lingers; she's a manicurist. Phila delphia Press. Her Rpeclalty. He (at the reception)--And you neith er sing nor play? She - No. He-Then I suppose you either read or paint? She -No; my specialty Is giving Imi tations of the society young man. He-How's that? She-1 merely sit around and try to look intelligent. An F.nthuaiaatic Parent. Bobby-Ma Ma-What's It. Bobby? Bobby-Pa hollers so loud at base ball 'at he makes my headache. Woman's War. She Time will heal the wound I've made In your heart. He Yes; but you'll be mad at me If It does. Both to Hlanie. John You are always busy when I come In! Charles Well, you alwya come In when I'm busy. Injudicious Intellectuality. Victoria Our club papers are too long. Virginia I think so; Iwlce, now, I've ittd to come home before refreshments. Her Little Joke, They stopped nt Silver Spring. "I think this water lnte like hops," remarked the young man lu the soft hut. "Nothing unsiial," laughed his fair companion, "when there is a frog lu It. The Southern States know but little of labor strikes in any line. ( Twelve hotels in New York City have aioid than 300 telephones each. Safety pins are peculiarly American. We use 144,000,000 of them each year. Canada's export trade per capita is just two and a half times as much as ours. Albania. hasa-population of a million and a half, who are nearly all Moham medans. North Carolina and Mississippi have State schools for the study of textile fabrics. Mexico raises 50,000 bales of the 100,000 bales of cotton used each year In that country. The Salvation Army Journal, the War Cry, appears weekly in thirty dif ferent languages. Many makers are now building gas engines of 2,iio0 horse power, and are ready to double this efficiency. An engine driver working from Crewe to London and back has to no tice no fewer than 570 signals. Texas now produces more cotton than Georgia and Alabama, the next two largest cotton States, combinid. During the last year California pro duced twice as much gold as Alaska, and Colorado produced more than three times as much. There are at the preseait moment in France 200,000 houses which have no windows, because incredible as it may seem there is still a French win dow and door tax. Artificial camphor is now made in Germany for the trade, as chlorhy drate of terebinth. It bus a peculiar value in lessening tlie dangers of nitro glycerin and milking gelatin dynamite more effective. , Prof. ISabinet has proved that com ets, Instead of having a solid body with a gaseous tail, are much lighter In weight than our air. Even if a comet were to slrike the earth it would hardly penetrate its atmosphere. Municipal developments ot water, gas, electricity, street railways, mar kets, baths and cemeteries in Notting ham, England, has showed nn average annual net profit of $l.rS.0o0 for the last four years. The money is applied to the reduction of taxes. Four great coal stations are about to be exploited in South Africa. Tlie most southerly Held lies between I.ady smlth and the northern boundary of Natal. These n gions will In the near future supply a large part of the world's demand for coal. Natal ex ported 204,000 tons in HHU. Figures have been published which the Canadian press claims as nn Indi cation of the military spirit which ani mates young Canada. The State of New York has a population of nearly 2,000,000 more, than the entire Domin ion of Canada, yet Its national guard has un enrollment of only 14,408 men. Canada, on the other hand, has 35,000 men in its active militia, and thou sands of others who have gone through miitia training and are now ou tlie retired list. Ccolge Yanderliilt's estate, Biltmore, Is already the largest body of contigu ous land under one ownership in North Carolina. Nevertheless, he is still add ing to it. He has Just secured a large tract on the upper Davidson Kiver, which will become a part f biltmore. On his new purchase are several water powers. In order to carry out his scheme of improvements, Mr. Vnnder bllt finds, it necessary to excuvat a part of the bed of the Swanniinoa Riv er to prevent overflows. The chief defect of the box kite, of which Dr. I.augley's aerodrome Is an elaboration, is that the weight In creases willi the cube as rapidly us the lifting power does wllli the square, so that the larger the kite the less it will lift In proportion. Prof. Graham Bill's kites lire equal-sidiHl triangleti so that they need, no bracing, and It is found that the lifting power increased at a greater rate than the Increase In weight. A flock of these kites recently lifted a 200-pound weight. Hearing of the efficacy of the Roent gen rays for the removal of hairs from the upper lip, a lady in Hanover, aged nn, applied to Dr. Karl Bruno Scjitir mayer, a properly qualified doctor and Roentgen ray specialist, for treatment. He operated twice, but Instead of re moving the superfluous hairs the opera tion resulted In the skin of the face be coming red and the lips swollen. The lady theri'Oii brought an action against the doctor and was awarded $00 dam ages, against which he appealed, but the decision bus been been upheld. CHARACTERISTICS OF CLAMS. Queer Method by Which Tliey Supply Themeelves with Food. Among the exhibits at the New York aquarium are a number of soft-shelled clams. They are kept In u round glass Jar In the laboratory. It Is probable that some' who have seen soft-shell clams only as they lay In the pan lu the kitchen preparatory to being cook ed would not recognize them as elnins seeing them lying on the sand with which the bottom of the Jar Is cov ered. Most persons who have seen clams, says the New York Tribune, know that they have "necks," but n large proportion of these persons doubtless do not know the purpose and charac teristics of this attachment. They would learn one or two Interesting and possibly astonishing things about them by seeing the clams at Ihe aquarium, As they lis on the sand they are far from being close mouthed. In fao' they are seldom to be seen with tlul shell closed. From one end project. the "neck." In case it is extended the wonder is how so much "neck" can be contracted Into so small a shell and how much there is left In the shell after the "neck" has been thrown out. The "neck" may be three times as long as the shell when fully extend ed. This hi the astonishing cliaracv teristlc of the soft shell clam and the one which would make him'.un recognizable to many persons. One of the clams in the jar is three inches long. His "neck" when extended is possible eight or nine inches long and as pig around as a man s middle lin ger. As every one knows, the clam when In his native haunts is to be found several inches below the surface lu the sand. He has to be dug up when discovered by the little spurts of wa ter which tlie clams beneath throw up when disturbed and suddenly con tracting the telescope "necks." This "neck" connects tlie clam with his food supply In the water above. In It are parallel tubes, which may readily lie seen in tlie "neck" of tho large clams at the aquarium. Through one tube the clam sucks In a quantity of water. From the wuter he absorbs whatever nourishment it may contain, and then he expels the water through the other lube. One may wonder how the clam gets down into the sand or mud. At the end opposite the "neck" may be seen an appendage resembling a turtle's tail )n shape, called a foot. It is with this foot that he digs his way downward. Tho' sand in the jars at the aquarium is not deep enough for the large clams to bury themselves, so they remain on the surface, where their operations may readily be watched. LOOKING FOR "PERRYGORIC. " Wife Forot to Tell Him Where Medi cine Was Kept. "We have had a colored woman come to the house to do the washing for several years," said a resident of Hancock avenue to a Detroit Free Press man, "and she has stayed over night occasionally to do some extra work next day., I never knew till last night whether she was married or single-bad a home of her own or a room with some family and then I discovered it in a way to leave me weak in tlie knees. I woke up at midnight with a longing for a glass of water and I crept out of bed and went, dowu to the kitchen. I had no light and the first thing I saw was a mau looking into one of the kitchen windows. I watched him for a few minutes and then hustled upstairs af'cr my gun. When I returned ha was softly trying the door and I made up my mind to teach him a lesson. I quietly Uinied the key and of a sud den threw open the door and found the prowler right at the muzzle or tna revolver. He was a big fellow and black as the ace of spades and I was pulling the trigger when be called out: "Say, white man, is my old woman here?" "Who Is your old woman?" I asked "Why, she's dun washed fur yo' fur do last seben years. She didn't come home, and so I reckoned she stayed here." "And what do you want of ber?" "Deed, sah, but de baby's got a turn wid de colic, nn' I wanted to ask her what she done wld de bottle of perry gorle. I can't find it nowhars 'bout da house." "I called his old woman, and she went, homo with him," concluded tho citizen, "but even if baby's colic kent up I guess they got more sleep than I did. I had come within a hair's breadth of putting a bullet Into him and I didn't get over shaking for the next two hours. I tried to make him understand what a narrow escape he had but his reply was: "Yes, sah jess so, sah, but yo' see I couldn't dun find dat perrygoric." A LONG-LIVED WOOD. Peculiar Preservation of a Fallen Tree In Washington. In the forest near Acme, Wash., an employe of the Bureau of Forestry, Washington D. C, recently came upon a curious example of the powers pos sessed by some woods for resisting de cay. A Western hemlock was found growing astride a fallen giant cedar with Its roots In the ground on both sides of the prostrate tree. i The hemlock was cut down and found to be 130 years old. One hua dred and thirty years before a hem lock seed had lodged on the moist bark of the fallen giant cedar, germi nated, and pushed Its roots around the trunk and Into the ground. Tho age of the hemlock, disclosed by tho number of Its annual rings, was there fore at least a partial record of ths time the cedar had lain on the damp m'fitifut At nouAil in Ihn Attnavtntr Inlln. enee of fungi and bacteria. And yet the giant cedar was with out sign of decay. So sound was it that lumbermen afterward took It up and made It Into shingles. ; It Is even known that wood. If kept dry, will, unless attacked by Insects, remain sound for a very long time, sometimes for several conttSrlcR, and that wood kept Immersed In water, where oxygen cannot reach It, prob ably never will rot Recently soui cypress stumps were dug out of the water and mud In the delta of the Mis sissippi, where, according to geologist s, they must have lain for 10,000 jrni's. The wood was perfectly sound. Chi cago Tribune. Education Is a good thing, provide) It does not unlit a man for uonii lubor.
