I-— — '
Spider-Web.
A Blender filament Is yon
Bright bit of gossamer whereon
The sunlit spider swings—what If hs fallT
A couch of grass ts all.
i
A daring architect, he lays
His skilful courses on my ways—
But see how Idly! For with one light
blow
I lay his rafters low.
Tet he'll go building still, as I,
Whose castles oft In ruins He,
Begin and spin anew my fl'ament
By some vast Being rent.
Mayhap, because I cboose to lay
My daring rafters on His way,
Hs sweeps His vexed forehead with s
frown
And strikes my castles down!
—Atlantic Monthly.
--■-O
LIFE’S PUPPET’S.
By LOUIS STEI.LMAV.
(Copyright, 1302, by Daily Stoby Publishing Company)
It was past midnight—long past it,
though not yet dawn. But the two
men who sat In the wineroom of the
little all night cafe did not know It
and did not care.
One drank Incessantly and mechan
ically from a brown bottle, but hi3
eyes were bright and clear—and hard,
with the 6teely hardness of him who
laughs and hides a wound. The other
wreathed himself in great white
clouds of smoke, tilting his chin now
and then to blow a thin white stream
upwards through his teeth and half
closed lips, with an artistic precision,
os though the process Involved his
entire and concentrated thought.
“I wonder how long it will take,”
spoke the first, holding his glass aloft
to let the light shine through. “They
say it kills—this stuff I'm drinking.
Bah! It might—a fool. It doesn t
even dull my senses. They say a
drunken man is happy. He sings; he
cries or laughs—and then he sleeps,
like some besotted beast. I cannot do
these things. I can see nothing but
her dead face—and feel that she is
gone; that my heart is gone—my
soul—everything. And yet I live and
ache. I move about just as I used
to do. Men speak to me as usual.
They do not see the change.” He
laughed—you would have sworn It
was some merry Jibe. “It’s funny,
Gregory, Isn’t it.
His companion paused to flick the
ash from his cigar before replying.
"In a way it's funny, yes,” he an
swered. “There is a comical side to
everything, even this. A grim humor,
I’ll grant, but humor nevertheless.
Your wife is dead. You want her
back—and God won't let you have
her. You’ve always had your way
with your wealth and that magnifi
cent brain of yours, which whisky
cannot dull; with your magnetism,
your strength and that beauty a god
might envy. And now you’re thwart
ed for the first time—that’s what
hurts you, Edward. You have had all
things, always, and now one is taken
away. You think your heart is dead.
It isn't. It's sound and well and
capable of many loves. But a new
experience has come into your life—
defeat. You will never be quite the
same again, for resignation—surren
der—works a mighty change in such
as you. But the humor of it all lies
in your babbling of a broken heart.
Yes, it is funny.”
The other man sat motionless with
the glass still raised. Not a muscle
quivered, but his eyes were fixed on
the speaker with a strange intensity.
“My God!" broke out the one ad
dressed as Edward. “I w'onder if
you are right. I wonder why
I sat here quietly and let
you tell me this. It must be
true—something within me must
have told me that—or I’d have chok
ed the words down your throat.” He
hesitated a moment, bewildered.
“What can you know of human
hearts; of love or grief—you, to
whom all men and women are but so
much flesh and blood? You analyze
them as a chemist divides some sub
stance into elementary parts—or dis
sect them by a sort of mental sur
“They say It kills—this stuff I'm
drinking. Bah!”
gery. We have always been comrades
after a fashion, Gregory, but I never
understood you like other men.”
“No," said the other sadly, “that
has been my curse—to mask my real
self from all the world. I’ve been a
sort of emotional detective. I’ve pried
Into the hearts of men and women,
to see them beat for others—never
for myself. Since childhood I have
graved for love and understanding.
Never has It come. They said: 'He
Is a strange boy; so different from
3ha rest.’ I toit myself an outcast
; and began to shun my former play
mates—ashamed, 1 knew not why. I
tried to act like the others but was
too young to play a part. People saw
the trick and I felt it ever—like a
felon in disguise. Some were indif
ferent. I did not mind that. Some
disliked me, with the distrust of
ignorance for aught that is strange.
I grew accustomed to this in time.
Still others pitied, and it cut me like
a knife. I writhed a while and then
grew strong enough to bear it with
out a sign. But always I searched
and studied and peered into the cran
nies of the human heart to find
“Go on,” said Edward, “read it
through.”
wherein the difference lay between
me and my fellows. All about me
were the things for which I craved—
human love and the sympathy of
understanding. They were beautiful
to me—the sun, the wine, the music
of my life. They grew within my
soul and made me glad—only to sea
them—but they only added to the
hunger which I dared not show.
Sometimes, Edward, when no one else
is by, every fibre of my being cries
aloud for the touch of a woman’s
hand, the look of trust, the tender
message, the many little things
which other men possess, but which
have never come to me. No one but
you will ever know this. You at least
have tried to understand me—you
and Margaret, who is dead. I tell you
this because I loved her—perhaps
you ought to know although she
never guessed it. I loved her better
than the soul within me—than God
himself. Not with the passion which
drives men mad, but with that deeper
feeling which is repressed and throbs
in mighty silence through every
thought and purpose while life lasts.”
“Yes, you hid it from us both,” said
Edward, dimly, vaguely,—“and I
think I understand.” He arose and
began to pace the room. His face was
working now with some unfathomed
conflict—the calm was gone. Alter
a time he stopped before the other’s
I chair and regarded him intently.
“I’ll have to ten you now,” he
said, hoarsely. “You have the right
to know. You thought that Margaret
died of heart disease. All the world
thinks so. It does not know the
truth—but you shall. Read this.”
Gregory took the letter from the
other’s hand and spread it out before
him. He started as the first line met
his glance and turned to his com
panion. “Go on,” said Edward, “read
it through,” and Gregory, with a
white and silent face, turned to the
page again. It ran as follows:
“My Husband—It is not for you
or other men to Judge me for the
deed I am about to do. That is for
God, who knows the frailties of wo
men’s hearts. Nor is mine the fault
that I have not the strength longer
to fight the passion I have hid from
you thus far. You are so strong, so
indopeudent of a life like mine; you
w'ill not miss me as a weaker man
might do—nor will you blame me
when you know the truth. I am cast
ing away my life, in a little phial,
now within my hand, there rests a
sure and rapid cure for earthly ills—
and one which gives no sign. It
draws no lines of agony upon the face
—one merely sleeps, and it is over.
My father was a chemist—he taught
me somewhat of his craft, and of this
berry, which, steeped in wine, gives
peace to weary hearts.
“And now the secret which causes
in a to take this step; it is a thing
which came into my life unasked.
Something stronger than myself—the
love of another man; your friend. It
was destiny that made you bring him
to our home one night. Do you re
I
member? The quiet man, whose face
was placid and whose heart was full
of unshad tears. He talked of com
monplace events and tried to hide his
real nature from me with light words
—a nature so grand, so beautiful, so
rich in finer things, it thrilled my
being with celestial melodies. You
did not know. And he—he thought
me but a foolish girl, who could not
understand.
“Thank God, my husband, that he
wau honorable—or that he did not
see. For, had he bidden me I should
have fallen at his feet. I should, may
hap, have brought dishonor to your
name, for love like this is greater
than the things of earth. You brought
him nsany times to me, and, after he
had gone, I tossed about and grappled
with my duty and my soul, lest I
should follow him and beg that he
might take me in his arms for one
brief moment and then to let me die.
“They were terrible, those battles
in the night. They sapped my
strength until you thought mo ill. If
you could ever know the struggle that
it cost to greet him then, again, with
smiling face—to still the beating of
my heart and pla^ the friend as 1
have done with other men; if you
could only guess the fierce, wild
agony of that unspoken love—you
would not blame me for this deed, nor
for unfaithfulness in thought to you.
And, for my sake, you must not
blame him, either. He did not know
it, and it is no fault of his that wo
men love him. God made it so. Try
to understand him better, Edward.
Look beneath the surface and you
will love him, too.
“Goodbye, my husband. Do not
sorrow for this little life of mine—
so frail and full of faults that It was
but a burden to your own. Seek out
some other woman, more worthy and
more grateful than myself, and think
of me sometimes as one who tried
to do her duty, but failed because she
was weak. Good bye, God bless and
make you happy always.
"MARGARET.’*
Science in Business.
In a recent issue of the journal of
the British Society of Arts some strik
ing examples of the effect of the use
of science in German factories are
given. In 1840 154,000 tons of beet
root were crushed, from which 8,
000 tons of raw sugar were produced
—about 5 1-2 per cent. In 1860 1,500,
000 tons were treated, and produced
128,000 tons of sugar—8 per cent.
Last year 12,000,000 tons were crush
ed and yielded 1,500,000 tons of raw
sugar—13 per cent. This Increase of
quantity, as well as percentage of
product is due entirely to scientific
treatment. The production of dry
colors, chemicals and dyes in Ger
many shows a corresponding increase
in production and dividend-paying ca
pacity, which is due to the constant
maintenance of laboratories or trained
scientists, whose only purpose is to
improve and cheapen processes.
Ne* York Women’s Clubs.
The New York Ladies’ Club, now
nonexistent, was the most exclusive
in the metropolis. Its initiation fee
was but $20, and the annual dues
amounted to $30. It costs $25 to join
Sorosis, while something like $33 will
pay the dues and for the various
breakfasts and dinners, says Ainsiee's
Magazine. You can become a patron
ess of a fashionable hospital or a
life member of almost any old thing
for $100. At the newly quartered
Woman’s Club in New York, dining
and writing rooms, dressing rooms
and attendant maids, sleeping rooms,
where for $1 you may put up for the
night; lockers, where a change of
clothing may be kept; telephone, tele
graph and messenger service, Turkish
and Russian baths, with a trained
nurse—all these are obtainable with
annual dues cf but $15.
A Dreamer.
I keep a-Bayin’ to myself—when sum
mer's sizzfcs' so:
"I'd like to down yonder, where the
honeysuckle grow!
I’d like to lind the meadows, with the
daisies, cool sn’ deep;
An' have the w'nds an' whippoorwills
to sing my Soul to sleep!"
An' yet, when I was with ’em—in the
shadows of t*ie pines,
Where the humm'n' bird was browsin'
In the momlt*’ glory vines,
I was evermore *-sayIn', In the lone
some day and night;
"I'd like to be up J under, where the city
shines so brigt't!”
It's still the same old feelln'—the rest
lessness that seems
To keep the soul a-movln’ for to realize
Its dreams!
An' when we realize 'em, an' reach the
highest hill.
We’re longin' for th% valley, an’ we're
old-time dreamers still.
Frank L. Stanton ie Atlanta Constitu
tion.
Compliment to Beaconsfield.
In connection with the action of Sec
retary Hay in the matter of the Jews
of Roumania, it may be pointed out
that it was mainly owing to the influ
ence of Lord Beaconsfield that the
treaty of Berlin was made to Include
stipulations in their favor. It was
Beaconsfield s skillful diplomacy in
favor of the Jews which was upper
most in the mind of Bismarck when,
at one of his "parliamentary soirees,’’
he was asked by one or his guests
whom he deemed to be the ablest plen
ipotentiary at the congress of Berlin
"Well,” replied the chancellor, “I
don't care to say who was the ablest,
but I am quite certain that the second
ablest was laird Beaconsfield.”
Books Economically Circulated.
At the Philadelphia free library
books are circulated more economical
ly than in any othw library in the
world, it is said. The cost is 7 cents
a volume.
It taken “rocks” to make a man
solid
People who waste their awn time
always want to waste everybody
•lee’s.
Storekeepers report that the extra
quantity, together with the superior
quality, of Defiance Starch makes It
next to impossible to sell any other
brand.
Don't cry over spilled milk. Ice
cream is just as good this season.
THE ST. PAUL CALENDAR
FOR 1903
rlx sheets 10x15 inches, of beautiful
reproductions, In colors, of pastel
drawings by Bryson, Is now ready for
distribution and will be mailed on re
ceipt of twenty-five (25) cents—coin
or stamps. Address F. A. Miller, Gen
eral Passenger Agent, Chicago.
The best woman on earth Is the
combination of "perfect lady” and
"perfect gentleman.”
CITC Permanently curea. No fltrnr nermann cm attar
• I I O flint day', une of Hr. Kllna'aOreat Narac Kentop.
er. Send for KKKK •‘j.OO trial bottlr anil treatl-o.
Da. R. H Kuna, Ltd.. Ml Arch Street. I'bilaUalubta.* —
Most women-haters are floor-walk
ers In department stores.
PUTNAM FADELESS DYES do not
stain the hands or spot the kettle, ex
cept green and purple.
There are few faces that can afford
not to smile occasionally.
ALU UP-TO-DATE HOUSEKEEPERS
Use Red Cross Ball Blue. It makes clothe*
clean and sweet as when new. All grocers.
Equality Is a pipe-dream. Fig-leaf
costumes have had their day.
Some people’s lack of sense is more
conspicuous than their lack of dollars.
Years of suffering relioved In a night.
Itching plies yield at once to tho curative
properties of 1 loan's Ointment. Never falls.
At any drug store, 60 cents.
A man may gush over a woman, or
vice versa, but the gushing is seldom
mutual.
WHEN YOU lilY STARCH
buy Defiance and eret the best. 16 os. for
10 cents. Once used, always used.
Some men spend half their lives in
making a reputation and the other
half in trying to live it down.
Iowa Farms $4 Per Acre Cash,
balance Vs crop till paid. MULII ALL, Sioux City, la.
It sometimes happens that a mar
ried man dislikes to visit people who
try to make him feel at home.
WHAT TO SEc IN NEW YORK.
The New York Press on the New
Show Places in New York.
What are New York's show places?
It would be right l ard to enumerate
them on short notice. Perhaps the
following question and answer may
appeal to some: Resident, to New
Arrival—"Now tell me what you
would especially like to see.’’ New
Arrival—"Oh, just show me New
York.” I think that very good. But
it is no easy matter to show' New
York. To our list of show places,
whatever they may be, we must add
the new waiting room at the Grand
Central Station. When strangers go
there they cry "Enchanting!”
"Grand!” “Palatial!” "Purtiest thing
I ever saw!” “Finest thing in the
world!’’ “Ain’t it splendid!” etc. Mr.
Daniels has reason for the new elas
ticity in his step.—"On the Tip of the
Tongue" in the New York Press.
Many women never turn to piety
until after they have exhausted "the
world, the flesh and the devil.”
g. . -- ■ ■■ ■- .
Tired
A nervous, irritable mother, often on the verge of hysterics, ia
unfit to can* for children; it ruins a child’s disposition and reacts
upon herself. The trouble between children and their mothers -
too often is due to the fact that the mother has some femal9
weakness, and she is entirely unfit to bear the strain upon her nerves
that governing a child involves; it is impossible for her to do anything
calmly. She cannot help it, as her condition is due to suffering anti
shattered nerves caused by some derangement of the uterine system
with backache, headache, and all kinds of pain, and she is on the verge
of nervous prostration.
When a mother finds that slio cannot be calm and quiet with her
children, she may lie sure that her condition needs attention, and she can
not do lietter than to take Lydia E. Pinkliam’s Vegetable Com pound.
This medicine mil build up her system, strengthen her nerves, and
enable her to calmly handlo a disobedient child without a scene. Tho
children will soon realize the difference, and seeing their mother quiet
wili themselves become quiet.
Mrs. May Brown, of Chicaeo, III., savs:
“Bear Mrs. Piniuiam : — ‘Honor to whom
honor is due,’ and you deserve both the thanks
and honor of the mothers of America whom you
k have so blessedly helped and benefited. I have
I used Lydia E. Pink ham's Vegetable Com
h pound when 1 would feel run-down, nervous
r and irritable, or have any of the aches and pains
' which but few women escape, and I have found
that it relieved mo at once and gave me new
strength. Several ladies, members of our Lit
erary Union, speak in the highest praise of your
Vegetable Compound, as they- have been cured
from serious female troubles. One lady,
\ who thought she must submit to an oper’a
f-*/YA tion, was cured without using anything in
a VJ the world but Lydia E.Pinkliam's Vege
V table Compound and Sanative Wash.
Sm »» Tfci s iht ’— -xi* i uu uii.o nubis oi incnas in cmcago, ana
v- . — if you came to visit onr city we would delight to do
you honor. Gratefully yours,— Mas. Mat Brows, 57 Grant Place, Chicago, 111.
How Mrs. Pinkham Helped Mrs. McKinny.
“ Dear Mr3. Fixktiam : — I feel it my duty to write and let you know the
good you and your Vegetable Compound are doing. 1 had been sick ever since
my first baby was born, and at the birth of my second, my doctor, as well as
myself thought I should never live through it. After that menstruation never
came regular, and when it came I suffered terribly. I also had womb and
ovarian trouble. A friend of my husband’s advised him to get Lydia E.
Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound for me. At first I had no faith in it,
but now nothing could induce mo to lie without it. Menstruation has become
regular, and I feci like a new woman. Your medicine is a God-send to suffer- A
ing women. I hope this letter will lead others to try Lydia E. Pink ban's h
Vegetable Compound. Yours truly, Mbs. Mildred McKlany, 28 Pearl
St., San Francisco, Cal.” (March 10, l'JOl).
FREE MEDICAL ADVICE TO WOMEN. v
If there is anything in your case about which you would like
special advice, write freely to Mrs. Pinkham. Address is Lynn,
Mass. Her advice is free, and her advice is always helpful.
FORFEIT we cannot forthwith rrodtioo the original letters and signatures of
above testimonials, wbick will prove thoir absoluto gemitneness
Kgrdia L. rinklium Aludlciue Co., Korun, Mia,
.... m, .ini, m uti., Hi' ■« — .^. r mt^ r n^^.,.,.,. ■- ■ •*• -
THE CHILDREN ENJOY
Life out of doors and out of the games which they play and the enjoy
ment which they receive and the efforts which they make, comes the
greater part of that healthful development which is so essential to their
happiness when grown. When a laxative is needed the remedy which is
given to them to cleanse and sweeten and strengthen the internal organs
on which it acts, should be such as physicians would sanction, because its
component parts are known to be wholesome and the remedy itself free from
every objectionable quality. The one remedy which physicians and parents,
well-informed, approve and recommend and which the little ones enjoy,
because of its pleasant flavor, its gentle action and its beneficial effects, is—
Syrup of Figs and for the same reason it is the only laxative which should
be used by fathers and mothers.
Syrup of Figs is the only remedy which acts gently, pleasantly and
naturally without griping, irritating, or nauseating and which cleanses the
system effectually, without producing that constipated habit which results
from the use of the old-time cathartics aud modern imitations, and against
which the children should be so carefully guarded. If you would have them
grow to manhord and womanhood, strong, healthy and happy, do not give
them medicines, when medicines are not needed, and when nature needs
assistance in the way of a laxative, give them only the simple, pleasant and
gentle—Syrup of Figs. '
Its quality is due not only to the excellence of the combination of the
laxative principles of plants with pleasant aromatic syrups and juices, but
also to our original method of manufacture and as you value the health of
the little ones, do not accept any of the substitutes which unscrupulous deal
ers sometimes offer to increase their profits. The genuine article may be i
bought any where of all reliable druggists at fifty cents per bottle. Please
to remember, the full name of the Company —
CALIFORNIA FIG SYR-UP CO. - is printed on
the front of every pack
age. In order to get its
beneficial effects it is al- A £T'.:tw
ways necessary to buy "-J
the genuine only.