Our Washington Letter
Story of Secretary Taft, Who Will Enter the Presidential Race—
Comptroller to Rigidly Enforce National Banking Laws—Other
Notes of Interest
WASHINGTON.—The rumor of Secretary
Taft's presidential ambitions is again broad. Al
though no authorized statement making known
his candidacy has ever been given out by the
ponderous head of the war department, the story
that he will seek the Republican nomination at
the next convention is circulated with great regu
larity.
The present rumor says the secretary is
about to decline the offer of a seat on the su
preme bench, made to him some time ago, and
that he will then enter the field for the nomina
tion.
Speaking of the big war the secretary recalls
the following story: A certain colonel in the
army, within two years of the retiring age, was
ordered to the Philippines. He didn't want to go.
He thought it ungracious on the part of the war
department to send him so far away when he
was almost ready to drop out.
His protests availed nothing, and as a last resort he had a few of his
friends call on Secretary Taft and suggest to the secretary that it would be
a very nice thing to allow the colonel, who had served the country well for
so many years, to remain at home instead of shoving him off to the tropics.
Secretary Taft listened patiently. His friends made all the arguments
about long and faithful service.
Then, as a clincher, one of them said:
“And, Mr. Secretary, you have lived in the Philipipnes and yoitkaow about
the climate there. To be frank with you, the colonel is not well. He is get
ting very fat and we are afraid he can't live over there.”
Taft took a slow survey of his own l.OO pounds. Then he asked gravely:
“Did Taft live?”
BLEW UP HIS OWN HOUSE.
The late Lianiel V. Colclazier, whose death oc
curred the other day, was a conspicuous figure
during the confederate attacks on Washington
during the civil war. Mr. Colclazier and his fam
ily then lived on his farm not far from Fort
Stevens. On the advance of the confederates he
hastily brought his family to the city, and then
immediately returned to the fort. By that time
the guns of the fort were in action and the enemy
was approaching. Mr. Colclazier, noticing a con
federate ammunition wagon near his house and
observing that one of the union guns was idle
went to the commanding officer and volunteered
to work it, saying that he had had experience in
that line as a militiaman. His ofTer was accepted
and he trained the gun on his own house, which
with a few shots was demolished.
•• - .ww.«v,uv uiiKuiu v-wiiiic *ipuu nit- sctne i 1
Colclazier being the only man not uniformed at
r!^fv"nS' thefa^te,nli0? °,f the President was engaged and he. learning the cir
!lr!fCeSf° Colclazier s presence, the president directed him to call on the
ot "'ar the following morning. This Mr. Colclazier did and he was
Cen. C- C- fiaker, who appointed him on his force of secret service
men and one of the bodyguard of the president. Mr. Colclazier was made a
sergeant.
. On one occasion when Mr. Colclaizier was in this bodyguard, a week or
ten days before the assassination of the president, he had an exciting time
near the soldiers home. Mr. Lincoln had just alighted in front of his sum
mer residence and had scarcely taken two steps on the tvalk when a sharp
report was heard. The mounted men with all haste rode in the direction
whence came the report, but failed to come up with the party of would-be as
sassins. who rode down Seventh street into the city. The secret service men
learned that four or five men were in the party and that at Boundary avenue
they scattered in different directions. The bullet fired grazed one sleeve of
the president s coat.
BANK LAW TO BE RIGIDLY ENFORCED.
national bank.
Si
uueciors oi national DanKs who, hy constant
ly ignoring the lav/, threaten the solvency of the
banks with which they are connected, are to be
made examples of by the treasury department.
Hereafter the law regulating the making of loans
by national banks is to be rigidly enforced and the
first bank that willfully and flagrantly violates it
will have its charter forfeited. This statement
was made by a treasury official the other day
while discussing the failure of a Massachusetts
national bank.
The downfall of this bank was due to an ag
gravated trouble of which a surprisingly large
number of other banks are guilty—excessive
loans to bank directors end officers.
The admission was made at the treasury de
partment that two-thirds of the banks habitually
disregarded the limitations of the law in regard
to the amounts of loans that may be made. What
U more, the department Is regularly informed of these violations of law.
which are duly reported to the controller of the currency by bank examiners.
It has long been the custom of the controller’s office to condone these un
lawful acts, and beyond calling the offending banks' attention to the excess
loans and perhaps an admonition to avoid a repetition of the offense, noth
ing is done.
In other words, the treasury department winks at violations of the law
which every now and then wreck a bank. The only punishment that can be
meted out to directors who imperil the safety of banks by lending amounts
of money in excess of the lawful allowances, is to secure the forfeiture of
their charters. This is a step which controllers of recent years considered
too drastic to be taken, with the result that not a single bank has been sub
jected to anything more severe* than a reprimand.
A new policy has been decided upon by Controller of the Currency Ridge
ly. Hereafter he will require banks to live strictly up to the law, and in order
to convince the banking world that he is in earnest the controller will in
flict the full penalty—forfeiture of charter—on the first bank whose directors
willfully violate the law limiting the making of loans. A new law was passed
at the recent session of congress, giving to the banks greater latitude in lend
ing money. Prior to this enactment individual loans were restricted to ten
per cent, of the capital of the banks. The new law permits loans of ten per
cent, of the capital and ten per cent, of the surplus, but in no case shall they
exceed 30 per cent, of the capital. These provisions are to be rigidly en
forced.
6TRANGE OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN.
Someone with a talent for figures and an
earnest interest in the sex has been raking over
the last government census and extracting there
from a bundle of statistics showing some of the
strange occupations in which the women of our
country are engaged.
A brief glance at this interesting list is
enough to reform any mere man who might have
thought that woman is a “frail critter,” only fit
for fancy feather stitching and similar dainty
-pursuits, and so entitled to the gentle considera
tion of the sterner sex.
The sex has surely “arrived” and no longer
stands in need of protection when it is stated
that about one-third of the adult women in the
United States are earning their own living, not
counting those who are surely earning a living
after the good old orthodox fashion, in cooking.
tor husbandsi6S hlCident *° raiSlng b’r°°ds of chiidre“ ana maintaintog hTme!
'* j® *e'' kno"n b>’ this tlme that women have invaded the business
*® stenographers bookkeepers, confidential secretaries and what not;
tbey become doctors, lawyers and ministers without number, and
branche^^^usinesl ach|eved proprietorship in many lucrative
,r. ait!Kbei>?C,a,.lls.t of occupy,ons in which thousands of others
Totr>.S a livelihood is calculated to scare the breath out of sturdy man
for ‘“Stance would imagine that there are feminine fishermen
and oystermen to the number of 1.805 in the United States? That is the num
ber according to the census schedule, and further than that, there are 1 947
stock raisers and drovers and 1,320 women are listed as "guides, trappers
hunters and scouts. ^ ’
These are some of the leading occupations, but there are others without
n^mb^iandi,When^i,St,°lt,hls sort contains 213 lumbermen and woodchop
pers, 154 sailors, 43 hack drivers, 196 blacksmiths, 31 brakemen, 26 switch
men, six ship carpenters, 167 masons, 126 plumbers and 879 policemen and
sphere is in any way re
watchmen, who will dare to say that woman's
stricted?
• Ju6 censu! jgurf,s heIp exP‘aln- perhaps, why it is that a man out of
a^ob has so hard a time .trying to land another one that will give him a liv
RU-LES TO REGULATE ROODS.
a syuabus has been prepared by the commis
sion appointed by the secretary of the treasury
the secretary of commerce and labor and the sec
retary of agriculture to formulate rules and regu
lations for the foods and drugs act, commonly
known as the pure food law. In order that the
suggestions interested parties may have to otter
may be presented in a systematic and compact
manner. These suggestions will be offered at a
hearing to be held In New York between Septem
ber 17 and September 28. The syllabus divides
the questions of ruling into 12 groups.
They deal with the original package &b pre
pared for export, the collection of samples, hear
ings and publications, the use of colors, flavors
and preservatives, misbranding of foods and
drugs, mixtures, compounds, imitations and
blends, proprietary foods, drug adulteration and
misbranding confectionery, the establishment of
the government guarantee ana tne inspection of imported goods.
, . Circulars announcing the field to be covered are being sent out to all the
food manufacturers interested and those who wish to appear either in per
son or by proxy or who wish to file briefs, are directed to make their request
tD Or. Wiley, of the department of agriculture.
The Automobile of 76 Years Ago.
Inquiry into the earliest forms of the automobile has brought to light Church’s steam coach, which ran
between London and Birmingham, England, as early as 1S30. It was something like a double stage coach and
was constructed to carry twenty-eight inside passengers and twenty-two outside. The chauffeur wore a great
coat with many capes, as was the style with old-time coachmen.
A committee of the House of Commons was appointed in 1831 to report on the growing automobile move
ment, and found its practicability fully established. Popular prejudice, however, it was pointed out, was strong
and led to the imposition of heavy tolls, fees and licenses, so the motor fiend would seem to have had a rocky
road even in those early days.
The railroads, then coming into general use, secured the passage of a law requiring each automobile to
keep a man one hundred yards in advance with a red flag by day and a red lantern by night.
SPENT HALF HI’S LIFE IN JAIL.!
BIG BILL" MASON, NOTED CRIMI
NAL, AGAIN BEHIND BARS.
Was Well Known in Chicago Gambling
Circles—Arrested in Wisconsin,
Sent to Waupun, But
Made Kis Escape.
Laporte, ind.—The doors of the In
diana state prison have opened again
to one of the most noted criminals in
the country. His real name is Richard
Keegan, but he is best known as "Big
Bill” Mason.
Mason as W. T. Wright was sent
up under the old law to serve seven
years. After about three years he
escaped and was finally located at
Cherry Hill, Pa. He was given no pos
sible chance, after and went out only
at the expiration of his term.
“Big Bill" Mason is particularly
well known in Chicago, where was the
scene of many of his exploits. Around
‘Mike” McDonald's and George Han
kins' gambling houses he was known
is the high “roller of faro.”
He has pursued all the branches of
crime, and while he has been success
ful in them all he lias spent nearly 25
years in prison. So that in the bal
ance he strikes in his fifty-fifth year
the account is heavily against him.
In the Northfield bank raid, in whicn
he participated with the Younger and
James toys, he was “the kid.” In all
of Mason's arrests he was well pro
vided with “bail money” and was able
to get the best of criminal talent at
the bar to fight his cases, 't cas his
boast that he never pleaded guilty.
After a './ild spectacular career Ma
son appeared in Chicago and made his
headquarters at Dave Thornton's
House of David” in Cl^.rk street. He
was always well provided with money
and ostensibly his business was to
make a show of i'. by buying drinks
for anybody and everybody.
Meanwhile he was playing faro in
McDonald’s place, and occasionally in
Hankins' place across the street. He
was gon rally a winner and was accus
tomed to leave a sum of mcney in
Thornton’s to the credit of fellows who
were down and ou\ Usually it was,
he said, 10 per cent, of his winnings.
If he lost he put a $10 bill there any
way for the same purpose, saying that
the Lord and the gambler alike loved
a cheerful giver and he wouidn t have
luck if he were not ready to divide.
Mason at this time was about 25 or
26 years old. In appearance he was
a striking ngure, six fret tall, straight
as a dart, broad shoulders and with
j the easy movement and grace of a
panther. Hut his face was against
him. It was hard and cruel of ex- j
pression.
Ilefore he left Chicago, however, he |
determined to make one big play, and
he broke Hankins’ hank. A short time
before that the house of H. F. Whit
cen, president of the Wisconsin Cen
tral railroad, in Milwaukee, had been
entered and robbed. The spoil was
traced to a "fence” in Chicago about
the time Mason made his big play at
Hankins' faro bank.
The "fence” gave Mason away, j
While the Milwaukee police were ar- 1
ranging to arrest him at Thornton’s
place the hangers on at the gambling
heuse planned to rob him. Four of
them attacKed him, but he beat them j
all and escaped to the street just as
the police came up and took him. He
was taken to Milwaukee and there in
duced two detectives to enter his cell
on the pretense of giving up. He
seized them both and threw them vio
lently against the rear wall of the ceU.
J’TV’TV1?””"" *T”*1TV,¥”,tV
Some Queer Family Names.
“CHUMPS,"
“OGS” AND “CUB
BUMS" IN OLD KENTUCKY.
Odd Cognomens of the “Quarter”
Heirs—Remarkable Collection
Gathered Within a Radius
of 20 MileV of Ford.
Ford, Ky.—It is doubtful if any oth
er county in this state or in any other j
state can show such a remarkable col- j
lection of given names and surnames ;
as are to be found within a radius of
20 miles from this town. We have
Able Chump, Little Chump, Chumppv
Chump and Skittles Chump. To this
must be added the family of Chicken,
with the eldest son christened Old
Chicken and the youngest daughter1
Pullet Chicken. Then there is the Og J
family, with Barabbas Og at the head
of it. One of his boys is named John !
L. Sullivan Og, and the youngest girl ;
in the bunch 13 Snippy Og.
But that is not a circumstance to
the way Philias Quarter has named
bis children. He seemed to take a de
light in the oddity of his own name
and to perpetuate it in the christening
of his four boys. The first one, born
about 19 years ago, is well known
throughout the county as First Quar
ter. The next heir is Second Quarter.
The third is called “No" Quarter, tha
fourth Bad Quarter.
The mother never had any say in
the selection of the names of her chil
dren. Old Philias decided on what ha
intended to call them the day aftei
they were born, and what he said hag
to be accepted in thfe Quarter house
hold. Not one of these sons has ever
been 20 miles away from home. Nc
member of the family is able to read
or write and they have no conception
of the outside wrorld.
About seven miles from the Phidias
Quarter farm lives the Bennett family,
whose hired man is named Angel Cub
bum. He is proud of his name and
boasts that his brothers and sisters,
who live in the same county, are just
as oddly named as he. One sister is
Sizzley Cubbum. another Homino, a
brother Calico and the youngest in the
outfit Measles Cubbum.
Almost Swallowed $1,000.
Utica, N. V.—Eugene Smaltz, em
ployed at Ilion, went to a clambake a
few days ago and found a rare pearl
in a clam which he was about to de
vour. The pearl is said to be worth
about $1,000. It is different from most
pearls, as it is very dark, and shows
purple, blue and black. It weighs
four and one-eighth carats, and is
without a flaw.
In a moment he was out in the corri
dor and running toward the main en
trance. One of the detectives shot
him. but he got away. A few nights
afterward a badly wounded man
dragged himself to the door of the
house of J. I. Case, in Racine, owner
of Jay-Eye-See, the trotting horse. He
was delivered up to the police and
sent to Waupun state prison for eight
years.
Waupun is regarded as cr.e of the
safe prisons of the United_ States, but
Mason rawed his cell door, sawed the
bars from a window out of the cell
house, a task that under the circum
stances must have taken some weeks,
scaled a wall and was free. The prison
authorities had previously learned
that “Big Bill” had escaped from the
Los Angeles prison and kept a close
watch on him. Early one morning in
1898 there was a police fight in New
York which ended in Mason, Thomas
Reilly and James Coffey being cap
tured. That battle is a tradition of
real glory to the New York police
force. Since then Mason has spent
nearly all his time in prison.
NECK BROKEN NINETEEN YEARS.
Railway Engineer Mangled in Wreck
Survives Injuries.
Albuquerque, N. M. — Barney Bald
win, known the world over as the
“man with the broken neck.” was here
the other day renewing acquaintances
made In 1880-83, when he was an en
gineer. Baldwin's neck was broken
In a railway accident at Birmingham,
Aja., In 1887. He wears his neck and
head in harness continually. When
he lays down the vertebrae slips out
BIIIHIIIW
of place, and his bones wobble and
often come unjointed. If he raises
his right hand, the left also bobs up. \
In the wreck he had his right arm, 1
five ribs and both legs fractured, his ‘
watch crushed out of sight in his j
bowels, and an iron bolt driven into I
him with force enough to break his
collar bone. Doctors here, as every
where, pronounce him the most puz
zling case ever dealt with, because a
man could be so torn and broken
and still live. Baldwin, who is mar
ried and lives at San Bernardino, Cal.,
claims the railroad on wjiich he was
hurt, pays him a handsome monthly
m n*mi
■m
stipend. Baldwin was the man who
pulled the special train that brought
the famous New Mexican murderer,
Milton Yarberry, to this city to be
hanged.
Man Reforms at Age of 95.
Winthrop, Me.—Ellis M. Clark has
decided to quit chewing tobacco after
SI years of the habit. He was 95 years
of age the other day, and to celebrate
the event called together his friends
with the announcement that he in
tended to sign a pledge. The pledge
proved to be his declaration that he
will no longer use tobacco.
mm
Long Life Due'to Lemons.
Philadelphia. — “Uncle” Richard
Toomes, who has been a resident of
the Odd Felloes’ home, Seventeenth
and Tiogv streets, since July 15, 1898,
cAlebr»t-cd his ninety-eighth birthday
the other day, and, as has been his
custom for several years, he spent
most of the day at the home of his
nephew, Thomas Toomes, Falls of
Schuylkill, where a family reunion
was held. In company with William
Fryer, a fellow resident of the home,
and R. R. Shrank Uncle Richard was
given a 60-mile ride by Dr. Sweaney,
in his large touring automobile, before
being dropped at the home of his
nephew. The run was through Fair
mont park, West Philadelphia, Dela
ware and Montgomery counties.
“Uncle” Richard was born in Eng
land, August 11, 1807, came to this
country in 1822, and followed his
trade as a cloth weaver near Darby
until 1878, when he retired. Despite
his yea * he is well preserved, and
has nev used spectacles, being able
to read me print without the aid of
glasses. He thinks his long life is due
to the fact that lemons have been his
chief medicine.
Qn April 14, 1848, he was made a
member of KIngsesaing lodge. Na 309,
I. O. O. F., and is one of the oldest
members of the order in Pennsylvania.
Comfort for German Railroad Man.
On some Prussian railway lines hot
and cold drinks are sold to employes
at the price of two pfennigs (one-half
cent) per portion of coffee or tea or
for a bottle of mineral water. On
some of the lines in Germany the em
ployes have been forbidden to take
any alcoholic drinks while on duty.
Want New Charter.
A supplementary royal charter Is
being sought by the University of New
Zealand to enable It to confer degrees
of a novel character. Among them art
bachelor, master and doctor of com
merce, pubHc health, agriculture, en
gineering, dental surgery and veteri
nary science.
r» 'w *v T *T'T«
CAMERA FIEND HOLD UP 8TAGE
Girl and Accomplice Play Bandit to
Get Realistic Photo.
Can Francisco.—Eighteen passen
gers on the stage froth Harbin
springs to Calistoga were given a bad
fright the other day when the stage
was held up by masked highwaymen,
who commanded them ia dismount
and line up on the side of the road.
One of the passengers named Silver
stein was forced to search the vic
tims. After all the money had been
secured Silverstein was ordered to re
turn the plunder and saw the robber
disappear in the Undergrowth. A mo
ment. later Miss Hayes, daughter of
the proprietor of Harbin Springs, ap
peared with a camera and explained
that the hold-up had been a Joke. The
passengers were little inclined to re
gard it as such. Especially angry was
Silverstein.
It goes without saying that some
folk travel so far in search of Hap
piness they never find the way back
to it—Atlanta Constitution.
The Death Chamber.
By Stephen Crane.
u wmvuBMraw
A sergeant, a corporal and 14 men of
the Twelfth regiment of the line had
been sent out to occupy a house on the
main highway. They would be at
least a half of a mile in advance of any
other picket of their own people.
Sergeant Morton was deeply angry
at being sent on this duty. He said
that he was overworked. There were
at least two sergeants, he claimed fu
riously, whose turn it should have
been to go on this arduous mission.
He was treated unfairly; he was abused
by his superiors; why did any fool ever
join the army; as for him he would
get out of it as soon as possible; he
was sick of it; the life of a dog. All
this he said to the corporal, who lis
tened attentively, giving grunts of re
spectful assent.
On the way to this post, two privates
took occasion to drop casually to the
rear and pilfer in the orchard of a de
serted plantation. When the se-geant
discovered this absence, he grew black
with a rage which was an accumula
tion of ail his irritations.
■‘Run, you!” he howled. "Bring them
here! I’ll show them—” A private
ran swiftly to the rear. The remainder
of the squad began to shout nervously :
at the two delinquents, whose figures
they could see in the deep shade of the
orchard, hurriedly picking fruit from
the ground and cramming it within
their shirts, next to their skins. The
beseeching cries of their comrades
stirred ihe criminals more than did the
barking of the sergeant. They ran to
rejoin the squad, while holding tneir
loaded bosoms and with their mouths
open with aggrieved explanations.
A moment later the squad moved on
toward its station. Behind the ser
geant’s back Jones and Patterson were
slyly passing apples and pears to their
friends, while the sergeant expounded i
eloquently to the corporal. "You see [
w-hat kind of men are in the army
now! Why, when I joined the regiment
it was a very different thing, I cau tell
you. Then, a sergeant had some au-1
thority, and if a man disobeyed orders
he had a very small chance of escaping
something extremely serious. But
now! Good God! If I report these men,
the captain will look over a lot of
beastly order sheets and say” (here
“We Can Beat Them Off.”
the sergeant wrathfully imitated the
voice of his'captain): "‘Haw, eh, well.
Sergeant Morton, these men seem to
have very good records; very good rec
ords, indeed. I can’t be too hard on
them; nc; not too hard,’" continued
the sergeant; “I tell you, Flagler, the
army is no place for a decent man.”
Flagler, the corporal, answered with
a sincerity of appreciation which with
him had become a science. "I think
you are right, sergeant,” he answered.
Behind them the privates mumbled
discreetly. "This sergeant of ours, he
thinks we are made of wood. I don't
see any teason for all this strictness
when we are on active service, it »sn't
like being at home in barracks. 1 his
Is very different. He hammers us now
worse than he did in barracks. There
is no groat harm in a couple of men
dropping out to raid an orchard of the
enemy when all the world knows that
we haven't had a decent meal In 20
days.”
The reddened face of Sergeant Mor
ton suddenly showed to the rear. “A
little more marching and much less
talking,” he said.
When he came to the house he had
been ordered to occupy, the sergeant
sniffed with disdain. "These people
must have lived like cattle!” he said,
angrily.
lo be sure, the place was not allur-I
lng. The ground-floor had been used :
for the horsing of cattle, and it was
dark and terrible. A flight of steps led
to the lofty first floor, which was de
nuded, but respectable. The se-geant’s
visage lightened when he saw the
strong wads of stone and cement. "Un
less they turn guns on us, they will
never get us out of here,” he said
cheerfully to the squad. The men,
anxious to keep him in an amiable
mood, al! hurriedly grinned and
seemed very appreciative and pleased.
•'I’ll make this Into a fortress," he
announced. He sent Jones and Patter
Bon, the two orchard thieves, oat on
sentry duty. He worked the others
then until he could think of no more
things ta tell them to do. Afterward
he went forth, with a major general's
serious scowl and examined the ground
in front of his position. In recurnlng
he came to a sentry, Jones, munching
an apple. He sternly commanded him
to throw It away.
The men spread their blankets on
the floors of the bare rooms, and put
ting their packs under their heads and
lighting their pipes, they lived in lazy
peace. Bees hummed in the garaen and
a scent of flowers came through the
open window.
There was a sudden little spatter of
shooting. A cry from Jones rang out
With no little Intermediate scrambling,
the sergeent leaped straight to his feet
**Now,” he cried, ’let us see what you
are made of! If,” he added bitterly,
“you are made of anything.”
A man yelled: "Good God, can't you
see you’re all tangled up in my cart
ridge belt?’.’
Another man yelled: “Keep oft my
legs! Can’t you walk on the Stor?"
To the windows there was a blind
'lull of slumberous men, who orishec
**r *roni their eyes even as they made
ready their rifles. Jones and Patter
son came stumbling up the steps, cry
ing dreadful information. Already th<
enemy’s bullets were spilling md sing-,
ing over the house.
The sergeant suddenly was stiff amt
cold with a sense of the importance ol
the thing.
There was a howl. “There they are!
There they come!” The rifles crackled
A light smoke drifted* idly through the
rooms. There was a strong odor ai
from burnt paper and the powder of
firecrackers.
“Now,” said the sergeant, ambitious
ly, “we can beat them off easily if you
men are good enough.”
There was a fusillade against an
other side of the house. The sergeant
dashed into the room which command
ed that situation. Ho found a deac
soldier on the floor.
“Patterson!” cried Sergeant Mo-ton
“Yes,” said Patterson, his face se!
with some deep-rooted quality of de
termination. Still, he was a mere tarn
boy. *
“Go in to Knowles' window and shoot
at those people,” said the sergeant
hoarsely. Afterwards he coughed
Some of the fumes of the fight had
made way to his lungs.
Patterson looked at the door Into
this other room. He looked at it as if
he suspected it was to be his death
chamber. Then he entered and stood
across the body of Knowles and fired
vigorously into a group of cha-ming
plum trees.
tney cant take this nouse. de
clared the sergeant in a contemptuous
and argumentative tone. He was ap
parently replying to somebody. A
man who had been shot in the throat
looked up at him. Eight men were
firing from the windows. The sergeant
detected in a corner three wounded
men. talking together feebly.
“Don't you think there is anything
to do?” he bawled. "Go and ret
Knowles’ cartridges and give iuem to
somebody that can use them! 'lake
Simpson's, too.” The man who tad
been shot in the throat looted at him.
Of the three wounded men who had
been talking, one said apologetically:
“My leg is all doubled up under me."
Meantime the sergeant was reload
ing his rifle. His foot slipped in the
blood of the man who had been shot
in the throat.
“Why, we can hold this place!”
shouted the sergeant jubilantly.
Corporal Flagler suddenly spun trom
his window and fell in a heap.
“Sergeant," murmured a man, as he
dropped to a seat on the floor out of
danger, T can’t stand this. I swear 1
can’t. I think we should run away.”
Morton, with the kindly eyes of a
good shepherd, looked at the man.
“You are afraid, Johnston; vou ere
afraid,” be said softly. The man strug
gled to his feet, cast upon the sereeant
a gaze full of admiration, reproach and
despair, and returned to his post. A
moment later he pitched forward, and
thereafter his body hung limply out of
the window.
The sergeant laid his rifle against
the stonework of the window frame
and shot with care until his magazine
was empty Behind him, a man sim
ply grazed on the elbow was wildly
jobbing like a girl.
“Shut up,” said Morton, wi hout
turning his head. Before him was a
vista of fields, clumps of trees, woods,
populated with little, stealthy, fleeting
figures.
He grow furious. "Why didn’t he
tend me orders?” he cried aloud. The
emphasis on the word “he” was im
pressive.
The man who had been grazed on
the elbow still set up his bleat. Mor
ton's fury veered to this soldier. "Can't
you shut up? Can’t you shut up?
Can’t you shut up? Fight! That’s the
thing to do! Fight!”
A bullet struck Morton and he fell
upon the man who had been shot in
the throat There was a sieger ing
moment. Then the sergeant ro!l~d off
to a position upon the bloody Hoor. He
turned himself with a last effort until
he could look at the wounded whc
were able to look at him.
His arms weakened and he dropped
on his face.
After an Interval, a young subaltern
of the enemy’s infantry, followed by
his eager men, burst into this -eeklng
death chamber. But just over tne
threshold he halted, and remarked,
with a shrug to his sergeant: “I «hould
have estimated them as at least IOC
strong.”
(Copyright. 19f6. by Joseph R. Bowles.)
GENTLE REMINDER FOR PAPA,
Robbie Uneasy Over Time It Took to
Make Printing Press.
One day papa took Robbie down to
see the presses print the books and
[ papers and pictures, and the little
boy was much interested.
“Papa,” sadi he, “let me come down
every day and run the presses.”
“O, I couldn’t do that,” said his
papa, "but maybe I’ll have a little
printing press made for you, just your
size.”
The weeks and months passed away
and papa forgot all about his prom
ise, but Robbie didn’t. It was fully
a year later that he came home from
Sunday school and said: "Papa, teach
er said that God made the world in
six days. Is that so?”
“I guess it is,” said papa.
“The water and the dirt and the
trees, and the dogs and birds’ nests,
and everything?"
“Yen.”
“Gee, whiz!” said Robbie, “that wan
quick work. Six days to make all the
world, and you’ve been a year and
ain’t got that printin’ press done yet!"
—The American Boy.
Explained.
“Say paw.”
“Well son?’
“What is meant by running gear?”
“A woman’s tongue, my ton.”—Mil*
waukee Sentinel.