BURNING THE DEAD.
A Custom That Can Be Traced Back
to the Earliest Ages.
Cremntiou has been . practiced by
most of the nations of the eurtli from
the earliest ages. und. although In pn
gan countries It may have taken tlx
form of tire worshiping, there c:in le
no doubt that Its adoption by the an
cients was for the most part prompt
ed by other than religions reasons.
Greeks ascribe Its introduction to Her
cules, who, having sworn to transmit
the - body of Argus to bis father,
thought this the most convenient way
of fulfilling his promise. According to
Homer, the burning of the dead was a
common practice among the Greeks
long before the Trojan war. but the
earliest record of It Is ammigtha
Scythians, who Inhabited the vast "re
gion knowu under the uame of Tar
tary. Slender accounts bauded down
concerning the manners of some of the
ancient natives of Hindustan also al
lude to the custom. The Idea of puri
fication by fire was In all ages univer
sal, and with good reason. Some le
lieved that the body was unclean after
tbe departure of the soul, and tt was
therefore deemed necessary that it
should Im purified by fire. Ovid ex
pressed the general opinion of his time
when he said that tbe soul was not
completely separated from the body
untH the latter was consumed on the
pyre. The Athenians Invariably after
battle burned tbe slain.
WHIPPED BY MACHINERY.
Automatic Floggers Used by Several
European Armies.
Automatic flogging machines are In
use among tbe military forces of sev
eral European uatlons. For many
years tbe whipplug was always done
by soldiers under the command of an
officer, and the punishment varied, ac
cording to tbe personal relations sub
sisting between the soldier and bis vlc
t tim. It was to correct this disadvan
tage that the flogging machine was in
vented. Tbe machine is automatic In actlou.
and as soon as the culprit la fastened
la position a spring Is tightened or
loosened to gauge the exact force of
the blow. A ioluter Is moved over a
dial to the requisite uuraber of strokes
and tbe mecliuulsra is started.
With perfect regularity the victim's
back is scourged by the throngs, the
handle of the whip being moved by a
screw device after each stroke so that
tbe lasb does not fall on the same spot
throughout the punishment.
Each blow la of uniform severity,
and aa soon as tbe required number
has been given the machine comos to
rest, and the. offender is released,
with the assurance that the exact pun
ishment ordered has been meted oat
to him. Harper's Weekly. ,
The Last of the Ruffs.
In 17G2 the rage for ruffs, such as nre
seen on many monumental effigies, be
gan to decline. A writer in the Lon
don Chronicle of that year says of gen
tlemen's dress. "Their cuffs entirely
cover their wrists, and only the edges
of tbelr ruffles are to be seen." It is
said that a distaste for ruffs was first
created so far back as 1013. when n
woman named Turner wore them on
her trial for the murder by poison of
Sir Thomas Overbury. The French
revolution of 1789 much influenced
British fashion, and the picturesque
cocked bat and ruffles then gave way
generally to round hats and small
cuffs. The period of tbelr final disuse
cannot be easily determined, as men
of old fashioued or eccentric habits
have worn ruffled shirt fronts within
quite recent memory similar to those
which, according to Planche's "His
tory of British Costume," originated
la the seventeenth century.
The Conductor's Baton.
According to the investigations of a
Freocbmuu, the credit of Inventing the
conductor's baton belongs to Lully. tbe
omposer, who eventually bad cause to
regret bis invention. Before be adopt
ed the baton conductors were in the
"habit of pounding on tbe floor with
their feet or clapping their hands to
mark the time. Lully found tt weari
some to keep his foot constantly in mo
tion and so used a stick to strike the
floor and beat time. He used a pole
six feet long. ' One day he brought
down the pule with such force that It
truck bis foot and made a deep
wound. lie paid no attention to the
matter. The wound grew worse and
ultimately caused his death. After
bis time conductors tried more uud
more to Improve the baton, and.lt was
ultimately brought to its present form.
Extra Cautious.
They were returning to America afv
er a European honeymoon.
"George." petulantly. "I really feel
hurt. Over on the other side you de
clared I was a Jewel, and you haven't
related it since , we have been
aboard."
"Hist!" cautioned George, holding up
a warning finger. "If I declared vou
a Jewel I might have to pay duty. You
know these customs men are terribly
Btrlct these days." Chicago News.
Quite Willing.
"Elartlon me, governor," began the
treet fceggar.
I "Certainly, dear fellow," answered
the gentleman from Tennessee. "What
are you guilty of V Buffalo Express.
In the Swim.
"Congratulations, old chap! You are
ween everywhere with Lord Bunk
ihurst."
i "Yes. I have rented him for the sea-
i son.1 Lou is v 11 1 e Cou r ier-Journ a 1.
; Self respect is the cornerstone of all
"Tlrt aev-Hersc hel.
THE DEACON'S ,
SHEEPSKIN
Bv M. QUAD
Copyright. 1519. by Associated' Lit
erary Press
If you know anything at all about
farm life you know th;it tiow and tlieu
a farmer gets a hankering for minimi
and kills a sheep. In removing the
pelt he Is very careful. A cut in it
depreciates its value. I'elts are gen
erally purchased by tin peddlers, and
they are generally looked over very
carefully beforehand. If there are two
or three cuts in the pelt ' Is outy half
price. Deacon Strong lived on a farm
In the outskirts of the village of lluw
sonvllle. Tin peddlers had found him
a truthful man. When the deacon
warranted a slieepsUIn free from cuts
It was no use spending time to look
at it. On this particular morning wheti
a peddler called the deacon bad a pelt
all rolled up to trade for tin pans.
While he didn't exactly warrant It. lie
didn't acknowledge to any damage.
and it was three days later that the
peddler found he had been done for.
The H(ldler could have gone back
and talked about graft and all that
and raised a row, but he didn't. He
returned to the neighborhood after sev
eral weeks, but he didn't cull on the
deacon. Neither did he make any in
quiries about him. He just sawed
wood and listened to what people were
talking about, and what they were
talking about just then was the fact
that tbe deacon had decided to send
bis old mother to the poorbouse.
Deacon . Strong realized that he
would be criticised, and so be went
about telling what a beautiful poor-
bouse It was.
The tin ieddler got on to the talk
and tbe facts, and be was doing some
thinking as be drove from the neigh
borhood. He bad a brother in a town
twenty miles away, and tbe brother
was u lawyer.
Tbe day had been set for grandma
to go ,to the poorbouse when one of
tbe neighbors brought In a newspaper
to show the deacon an advertisement.
It called for Information concerning
one Anna Strong, widow, and strongly
hinted that It would be to her great
advantage to step out Into tbe lime
light. The poorbouse trip was can-
eled and a journey made to see a
lawyer. Anna Strong, widow, was
Deacon Strong's mother. He could
prove It by fifty people. The lawyer
replied that It was all right so far. but
did she have a cousin named Charles
Rixby. a rich man living In Boston, a
cousin wbo would be apt to remember
ber In his will to tbe extent of $25,000?
Tbe deacon's hair climbed up. He
said that be- hadn't tbe least doubt of
the couslnsblp and would ' take tbe
cash home to the old lady. He went
too fast. The Widow Strong must ap
pear and make an affidavit. What her
son knew or guessed wouldn't cover
the rase. The deacon didn't say site
had lost her voice. lie started for
Uome to see If be couldn't find it tor
her. Her fingers were so cramped
that she hadn't written a line for
years, and all depended on the recov
ery of the voice. Tbe old woniau had
been tucked a way In the poorest room
of the bouse. She was at once trans
ferred to the best. The scraps from
tbe table were thought good enough
for her. She was now fed on the best.
Instead of three regular meals per day
she was coaxed to eat much oftener.
The son bad hardly spoken to ber for
weeks, but now be sat with her and
even told her Jokes and hoped she
would live for twenty years yet. He
ulsn went among, tbe neighbors and
said that he bad beard the cellar of
the poorhnuse was damp after every
shower, and be couldn't think of tak
ing his dear mother there.
Mrs. Strong, widow, could hear very
well. She beard ber son ask tbe name
of all her ' male cousins. Including
Charles Bixby of Boston, and she beard
herself addressed as "dear mother,"
but she could make no intelligible re
plies. Not when the daughter-in-law
combed her hair for her and washed
ber face and said she was a saint if
there ever was one could she talk.
When she was lifted In and out of tbe
buggy for u ride she couldn't express
her gratitude In words. Once or twice
she happened to overhear her dutiful
sou say to his wife that he'd like to
build a Are under the old woman to
make her talk, but she didn't lay it up
against him. She went right on hav
ing the best in the house and wonder
ing why other old women didn't lose
their voices.
Once a month for two long years
Deacon Stroug called upon or wrote to
the lawyer. He offered all sorts of
terms and compromises, but it was no
use. lie wrote to Boston, but his let
ter was unanswered. He consulted
other lawyers, but they said that noth
ing could be done until that voice came
back. Raw eggs and wine, pies, cake
and puddings. fattened the old woman,
but the voice remained obdurate. She
winked and she smiled and she nodded,
bnt that wasn't enough to bring home
the Bixby legacy. Then at last she
died. She went to sleep in ber chair
one day and passed away without a
struggle. She was burled in a very de
cent manner, and next day the deacon
walked into the lawyer's office as next
of kin and heir to the Bixby legacy.
"And you mother didn't regain her
voice?" asked the lawyer.
"Never spoke a word."
"She had the best of care?"
"The very best."
"I am glad to hear it. I have Just as
certained there was some mistake about
it She may have been a cousin of
Charles Blxby's, bu he left his money
to an old man's home."
THE BARGAIN CHASE.
American Women and the Shopping
Game Mania.
More money Is wasted every year by
women buying needless things under
the excitement of the bargain hunt
than is spent in all the gambling
houses and race tracks put together,
says Mary Heatou Vorse in Success
Magazine. When you say that I have,
no statistics to prove this I answer
that I have common sense and have
spent much time In city shops. I
know, too. what I am capable of. and
I am but a half hearted hunter. 1
know what my friends do. It Isn't for
uotulngthat I have seen earnest young
students of economics succumb to this
hunting InsMnct mid fare forth to buy
ulnety-eight cent undergarments.
It is uot only in the stores frequent
ed by poor or uneducated women that
I have seen the more brutal instincts
of tbe human race come to tbe sur
face. I have seen a charming looking
elderly woman In a high class store
snatch a dress length of gray voile
from the hands of another elderly wo
man, and tlie reason I happened to see
these sights was because I myself was
at the sale looking at garments I didn't
want and didn't need and buying them.
The bargain chase, tbe shopping
game passion or sport, life work or
recreatiou for it may be any one of
these, according to the temperament
of the woman has American women
well In its grip. Hardly one of us es
capes some one of the psychological
deviations from tbe normal which I
have mentioued.
READ HIS FACE.
The Youthful Amateurs Were Sure He
Was a Philanthropist.
They were youthful enthusiasts in
physiognomy. On tbe seat opposite In
tbe train was a man of commanding
figure, massive brow and serious ex
pression. "Splendid face!" one of them
explained. "What do you suppose bis
life work has been?"
"A' lawyer?" suggested the other.
"No-o; there's too much benevolence
in that face for a lawyer."
"Maybe a banker?"
"Ob. no! A man with an expression
like that couldn't have spent bis life In
merely turning over money."
"He might bean editor."
"An editor! Cutting and slushing his
enemies at every turn and even his
friends occasionally for tbe sake of a
smart paragraph? You can't read
faces. That man's a philanthropist or
engaged In some sort of public spirit
ed work. Wby. there isn't a line that
doesn't Indicate strength of purpose
and nobility! Look at that curve there
on the left!"
At the next station an old country
man took his seat beside the man with
massive brow and soon entered Into a
conversation with him. In the course of
which be asked tbe latter "what was
his line." : - :- ...
The two opposite held their breath
In the Intensity of their Interest.
"Oh. I've got a little tavern and
butcher shop back In the couutry a
bit!" was the proud reply. "My wife
tends to the meals and I do my own
killing." Youth's Companion.
Picture Forgeries.
There are three or four times, as
many Co rots in existence as tbe French
painter produced in his lifetime. He
lived to be nearly eighty, but at Mont
martre bis posthumous canvases are
still being turned out to meet tbe de
mands of tbe market. Tbe old mas
ters never die. Tbey are still working
overtime in the back rooms of Flor
ence and Rome. At Cologne tbe man
ufacture of genuine mediaeval metal
work and antique carving is a thriving
industry. These foreign forgers may
be scamps, but their tireless energy
also testifies to the reverence in which
posterity holds the great names of by
gone periods. If tbey are not so high
ly prized, what inducements would
there be for anybody to waste time,
paint and muscle in creating fraudu
lent copies and Imitations and pass
ing them off under false pretenses?
Our millionaire collectors are not con
stantly exposed to the risk of buying
high priced forgeries where the origi
nals have no value. New York World.
Mourning In Japan.
The Japanese code of mourning Is
very elaborate and complicated. As
followed by the well to do classes It
involves the wearing of special gar
ments and abstinence from animal
food. At the death of a husband or
real or adopted parents the custom de
mauds thirteen months of mourning
apparel and fifty days" abstinence
from meat. tJrandpa rents are honored
by 150 days if they are on the paternal
side: if only common, insignificant,
maternal grandparents, tbey have to
put up with ninety. The same rule
applies to maternal uncles and aunts.
It is one way of Introducing the orien
tal contempt for women.
Superior Wisdom.
"Why do you consider women supe
rior to men in intelligence?"
"A bald headed man buys hair re
storer by the quart, doesn't he?"
"Er yes."
"Well, a woman doesn't waste time
on a hair restorer. She buys hair."
Houston Post.
A Natural Causa.
"Do you notice that most dog storiea
are funny ones?"
"Why not? A dog story ought natu
rally to be something of a waggish
tale." New York Journal.
Few things, are necessary for the
wants of this life, but It takes an In
finite number to satisfy the demands
of opinion.
HIS ASSISTANT
A Story 'of a Professor -
" And a Girl Graduate
By BERTHA D ALSOP
Copyright. 1910. by Aknerlcan Press
Association
Professor Ersklne was a very old
young man.. He was thirty-two and
looked 'feu or fifteen years older.
"What can you expect." said one of
the young women students, referring
to his antique appearance, "of a man
whose sole diet is Greek roots?"
Luella Greenfield led her class from
start to finish and took every prize she
competed for . She was a great favor
ite with 'PYofessor Erskiue.'who the
day after her graduation said to ber: !
"Your career piust uot be that of wo
men who are tied down to the care of
children. Choose rather to devote
yourself to intellectual pursuits, lean
give yon a' fine opportunity for a be
ginning 1 am writing a history of
the barbarian kings wbo changed the
influence, of Kome in European civili
zation during the fourth and fifth cen
turies. . I need an assistant to aid me
in my researches. Will you Join me?"
"And giye up nil thoughts of a home
life with .dear little children to' com
fort me wben 1 am old?"
"You will be interested in your work,
a far nobler duty than mending chil
dren's clothes and washing their dirty
faces."
Luella. whether or no .she was con
vinced, was at last Induced to accept
tbe professor's invitation. She dived
Into books on the Goths, while the pro
fessor bored into the past of tbe Huns.
He found her extremely useful. . In
deed, he soon learned tbat It would
have been next to Impossible to get
on without her. She worked so bard
that at the end of a few months she
needed a rest and went away from
him. Professor 'Ersklne was not sur
prised that be found bis work very dif
ficult ' without her, but be was Bur
prised that during her absence he had
no heart In his work. - Genseric. Alaric,
Attlta, all the barbarian kings, ceased
suddenly to interest him. The libra
ries In which be delved had become
musty. In bis study there were Luel
la's chair and desk, but without Luella
tbe room Was unbearable. Instead of
working be went out and walked back
and forth ou the campus.
"There's old Ersklne," said a co-ed
on tier way to lecture, "stalking' back
and forth as. If moonstruck. - He's
been doing that ever since Luella
Greenfield went away. I wonder If
he's dreaming of the barbarian kings
or of 'her."
"He persuaded her," said another.
"to devote her life to wormy books.
He' certainly wouldn't permit himself
to think about her except as a means
to dig up the past of tbe people be
writes about"
One day a letter came to the profes
sor from bis assistant stating that he
must get some one to take her place.
In order to fit herself physically for
the plans he bad laid down for ber in
an intellectual field she needed a year
of out of door life. ;
The professor's heart fell like a ba
rometer before a sudden storm.., Tbe
Goths, tbe Visigoths, the Huns, were
forgotten in tbe depth of his despair
at being condemned to work without
Luella. As to having any one else sit
ting at her desk, tbe tbougbt was un
bearable. '
The next morning tbe college bulle
tin announced that Professor Ersklne,
having been suddenly called away,
would not lecture that day. A male
student, reading tbe notice, remarked
"Good! 1 can practice pitching all
day. I'll bet he's got on to a headless
Jupiter and gone to buy it for the mu
seum." A girl student followed and.
with her sex's keener intuition, said
"H'm! Gone ufter Luella Greenfield.
I knew she'd get him."
'. "1 have come." said the professor
to his assistant, "to learn If It is ab
solutely essential that you should give
up your work for so long a period."
"So my . physician advises me that
Is. If I am to do sedentary work. And
you know how interested 1 am in fol
lowing an intellectual life. It was you
who directed me."
"H'm! Unfortunate very unfortu
nate for me. It will be impossible for
me to continue my present work with
out your assistance." i
"There's Miss Pringle who was grad
uated last June. She's very bright.
She would love the work."
, "1 shall give it up."
"Oh, professor, don't talk that way.
It will give you a great reputation."
"1 can't go ou with it."
"Not with an able assistant?"'
"No."
"Why not?"
"Unless I see you at your accustom
ed place 1 have no heart in it, and
literary work done without heart is
worthless."
Luella turned away, but said nothing.
"Perhaps." the prof espr went on. red
dening, "if I knew when I went home
at night that you would be there-
I mean as my wife it might make a
difference."
There was a prolonged silence, at the
end of which Luella said: ,
"Tbat would mean an abandonment
of an intellectual career for me."
The professor hung bis bead like a
boy who bad been caught robbing the
sugar bowl, a -
"You remember what you said to me
a few months ago as to tbe preference
for an Intellectual lifer'
He remembered very well that it was
better than "mending children's clothes
and washing their dirty faces," but
still be said nothing.
Suddenly she threw her arms about
his neck.
Named for Lincoln
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