THE FOOL’S SEARCH
EPISODE IN JOSTLING THRONG
OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS.
Order for Purchase of a Fool’s Can
endar Brings Funny Experiences
— Men. Women and Children
All Are Mad.
HEY are all mad;
men, women, chil
dren, spinsters
and bachelors,
floorwalkers and
• lerks, drivers
and delivery boys,
it would seem
there (inil.1 be no
madder, merrier
time.
The funniest
things happen, if
one only had time
to dwell on them
and laugh over
them, l»ul such
i enjoyment is de
fy nied in these
' days of strain
and struggle.
in a moment of
thought less good
nature we prom
ised to do the
rnmlly shopping Among me mou
Band snd one commissions handed
over In Immediate response to the
thoughtless good-nature was the or
der for purchase of "The Fool's
Calendar." We set forth, a list
three-timps forty long In our groan
ing, much-abused hand-bag. and
entered the first shop come upon,
in our sub-consciousness feeling Hint
we, like the rest of the Jostlers,
fitted In pretty well with the title of
that calendar. Down the aisle came
a rattled looking, hair disturbed, gen
erally disturbed gentleman whose
province seemed the directing of Tren
ded fanciers to the respective de
partments of their fnney, but the
Christmas spirit so possessed him he
was not quite himself, not able to
place his "Madames" and "Sirs ." As
short-skirted, roRe-wreathed hatted, we
steered his way, ho glanced with
wrinkled brow and questlonlng worry
to what might be our demand. "Do
you sell calendars here?" We asked
In heat of hurry, to which he replied
glibly, “Yes, Sir," nnd never knew
he was not using the usual form of
address to a woman Ho led us then
with rapid step to the calendar
square, where spread out and uprose
floor, roof and pillars of calendars,
It would seem every time—chronicler
for every taste. And then feeling very
like a fool ourselves, we asked In a
low voice, “Have you 'The Fool's Cal
endar?’ ” "No,” says he, "But,'* und
s gleam of keen Intellect lights his
eye. "We have 'Saints nnd Sinners."'
We wanted to shriek with laughter,
we forgot all the hurry and not-monev
rnough or time-enough. It paid for
all the crowding and mobbing and
back-ache nnd heart-ache of the day.
Funny enough was the woman en
countered In mid afternoon entering
the mtich-advertlsed, much-crowded
hook-room of a department store In
haste to get nt the forty-eight centers
nnd thlrty-nlners; she was high and
broad and muscular, an Amazon that
need not have put on extra effort to
make her way but the spirit or
Christmas -the modern- was strong
upon her, and as we passed tier on
the way out Into bl .d out-of-doors
even In our hurry we could not but
notice her wild look, her panting
breath, tier elbows out on defensive
and offensive the "av In which she
marched on, unswervingly', unrelent
ingly, like nil avalanche, toward the
bargain book®
Overheard at Hie book counter
“Don't you think a nice little book
like this Is a good present to give?"
“A little book? What is the name?"
“Why 1 don’t know, but It’s a nice
little book In clean white binding. I
believe I’ll get a dozen A dozen,
please, and see that they're all fresh."
The calendar square again. Wom
en madly struggling; another Amazon,
this one brow-beating ft pale faced
girl afflicted with a cold and. wearing
a too-much Christmas air: "Can’t you
get me envelopes to put those calen
dars In?"—dimensions of calendars 1S
by 21 Inches- "It's so hard when you
get home to hunt around nnd pack
things. I wouldn't have bought the
calendars If I hadn't thought you
would pack ’em. Say. take that new
one out of that, nice box, hang It up
and give me the box. Not allowed to?
What’s the dif, they’ll never know."
And the pale-faced clerk bends to the
Amazon's will.
A large, canny, prosperous gentle
man at a candy store, carefully select
ing and considering purchase of 25
cents worth of Kindergarten mixed.
llrave, foolish, big-hearted shop
girls many spending their present
all, and drawing on the future, to
make a Christmas for the army at
home.
We do a generous deed one that
calls for large sacrifice. We have
gone down town all saddled, all
bridled, for the day’s work, three neat
long pencils neatly sharpened to long
points, when we become one of a mob
assailing the enclosure where blank
books. tissue-paper, holly-stickers and
all that are confirmed frm the greedy
hands of thousands hungry to get
their share for the urgent necessity
of doing up gifts with approved ornate
complexity. The clerks here all pale
and grippe-y looking; one, so wee and
pallid, has momentarily lost her rea
son because of the loss of her pencil.
A line of people wait with feverish
impatience, scowls deepen, muttered
[growls are heard, the wee, pallid ghl
grows more pallid and grippe-y look
ing. With mighty effort of the will,
we hand forth one of those precious,
neat. long pointed pencils; the pale
face glows, the tension of the crowd
lessens, we feel ourselves both prl
vate and public benefactor.
Another pale-faced, grlppe-y look
ins clerk, this one standing looking
wistfully at cases where bright silver
gleams through the glass "(live me
a Spoon for a child, something cheap,”
And she herself needs a pair of
shpes!
Husband and wife shopping In un
Wonted personal partnership, always
the talk of what "It” will like. The
Child. And the sight of the deeply
interested faces of the many husband
and wife groups, sets us to believe,
after all, There Is method In the gen
eral madness, for who would not be
a fool for The Child’ll sake!
KATilKitINK l'OI’K
CLD STORIES OR CHRISTMAS
Some Have Interest, Freshness and
Beauty That Keep Them Al
ways New.
There are some so-called "old sto
ries” that are really not old, for they
have an Interest, a freshness and a
beauty that keep them always new.
Of such are the story of Christmas
and all the legends and talcs that he
long to the great festival.
There is a leg< nd In Germany that
when Kve plucked the fatal apple the
leaves of the tree Immediately shriv
eled Into needle points and its bright
green turned dark. The nature of
the tree changed and It became an
evergreen, In all seasons preaching
the story of man’s fall through that
llrst act of disobedience. Only on
Christmas does It bloom brightly with
lights and become beautiful with love
glfls. The curse Is turned into a
blessing by the coming of the Christ
child, and thus we have our Christmas
tree.
The visits of St. Nicholas to the
homes of the people on Christmas eve
as an annual custom grew out of a
festival In honor of llertha, a Norse
goddess. At this festival the house
was decorated with evergreens and an
altar of stone was set up at the end
of the hall, where the family assem
bled. Front Hertha's stone we get our
word “hearthstone.” On the stones
so set up were heaped fir branches,
which were set nflre, and through the
smoke and flame llertha was supposed
to descend ami Influence the direction
of the flames, from which were pre
dicted the fortunes of those present.
EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
Throw Forebodings to the Winds and
Let Christmas Season Be One
of Joy.
Let Joy reign! Let care go to (he
dogs. Throw forebodings to the
winds! Christmas comes hut once a
year. Let the young folks enjoy It
to the full! Let the old folks stop
their croaking about rheumatism for
that day at least, and remember the
time when they, too, were young and
could dance with the merriest
Ami let the little stockings be fill
ed, and let. us all bear with equa
nimity the blowing on toy trumpets,
and the tooting on mouth organs, and
the drumming on sixpenny-halfpenny
drums, which are sure to follow! The
boys can be boys but once, and what
Is a hoy It he cannot make a noise?
And so the years go on, and one
Christmas lollows another, and we eat
and drink and are merry; we greet
our friends, and we part with them,
and our lives march along, and
through tafth in the sacrifice which
our Christina day commemorates we
look forward to a more perfect Christ
mas when the guests shall gather in
the Father’s house.
Crippled.
Beggar (piteously)—Please help a
poor cripple at this festive season,
sir.
Kind Old Gent (handing hint some
money)—Bless me! Why. of course,
llow are you crippled, mv poor fel
low?
Beggar (pocketing (he money) —
Financially crippled, sir.
Christmas Giving.
There are a great many people in
the world whom we know more or
less, but to whom lor various reasons
we cannot very well seud a Christmas
gift. But there is hardly one, in all
the circles of our acquaintances, with
whom we may not exchange the touch
of Christmas life.
in the outer circles, cheerful greet
ings, courtesy, consideration; in the
inner circles, sympathetic interest,
hearty congtit illations, honest encour
agement; in the inmost circles, com
radeship, helpfulness, tenderness.
After all, Christmas-living is the
best kind of Christmas giving.—
Henry Van Dyke.
Just a Smart Boy.
There is nothing the matter with
the small hoy who p ents his moth
r with :• pair of !e!t slippers for
Christum !! is t a smart boy,
hnt is a!
A CHRISTMAS HYMN
DONATION CAUSES CONSTERNA
TION IN CHURCH.
|
Little Ad Slipped Into Stat ly Anthem
by Charitable Summer Cottager
Breaks Up Christmas Day Serv
ices in Confusion.
T WAS it charita
ble summer cot
tager who put tip
the money for n
new church at ]
the summer re
tori of X—, down
oil the Atlantic
cor t The vil
la; parson wa< ;
,a i,it (fill beyond
Jsj words, for the old
ir strut tore had
\\ been an eyesore
to the folk who
desired of all
things to attract
wealthy hummer
t erorters.
I nt when the
s on was over
;nd the new
church was Un
it ht- d Ids rever
ence discovered
tnai no provision linn been made
for hymn books The congregation
was notably poor and not in the
habit of pinching ibclf for tho sake
of charity, so the outlook for a
supply of new hooks was very preca
rious. It was. a late summer man-—
a man of reputed wealth and Influence
In (he distant city whence he hailed—
who came to the relief of the devout
clergyman.
"I'll buy hymn books for the
church," said he, "and send them down
to you —on one condition- that you let
me Insert a small ad. that will really
not be noticeable, it's an ad. lhat I
assure you will bring great comfort
to your flock.”
The simple country divine ponder
ed the ofTer carefully, and finally, aft
er a vestry meeting, it was decided
lhat there could be no possible sin In
accepting such an ofTer. The donor
was a man of such Integrity and char
acter that the rest was assured.
"Well, the hooks came down from
the city, 100 of them, liner than any
thing the people had dreamed of.
They were still very new at Christ
mas—in fact, had never been In use
uniil that day. In great pride, the
parson called out the number of the
good old favorite Christmas hymn:
"Hark, the Herald Angels Sing."
The congregation, equipped with
their new hooks, turned the pages rap
idly and were ready. The organ
struck up the tune that everybody
knew. And lustily sang the people,
gazed sleadfastly ou the written
words:
Hark the herald angels sing,
Faker’s pills are Just the thing.”
The parson listened, looked, brush
ed his hand over his eyes, and a mo
ment's panic passed over the church.
Hut It passed. Then on Into another
verse they plunged:
"Peace on earth and mercy mild
Two lor a man, and one for a child.”
rang the impious words. The parson
coughed, closed his hook, and the serv
ice broke up in confusion. Every
body had forgot that the generous
hymn book man was interested in a
patent medicine,
Christmas Superstitions.
The United States is almost poverty
stricken In so far as Its collection of
superstitions is concerned, our early
settlers having failed to Import many
from Europe, and not adopting those
of the Indians. Of course some of
ns don't like to see the new moon
over the left shoulder, or start on a
journey on Friday, and the like, hut
few of us take even these very serious
ly. We must go to "the old coun
tries" to get superstitions with any
genuine thrill in them. There are a
number which have to do with Christ
mas.
in North Germany, where the prac
tical yet poetic spinning wheel still
hums in (he cottages, one must not
spin during the 12 nights of Christ
mas lest he or she walkafter death. (To
the American reader it may occur that
this would probably be more disturb
ing to others than to one's self.) If
the spinning Is done after sunset on
Saturday, mice will eat the work. If
one wishes to have money and good
luck all the year, one should not fall
to cat herring on New Year's day.
"
Rustling of Leaves.
Fntil a few years ago Hampshire
rustics used to sit up till 12 o’clock
on old Christmas night, and as soon
as they heard the leaves rustling they
went to the nearest comstall to watch
the animals get up and lie down on
the other side. The idea of watching
the animals arose from the belief that
at 12 o’clock on the night of the Na
tiviy oxen knelt in their stalls in honor
of the event; that the rustling of the
leaves refers to the tradition that
thorn trees blossom at midnight to
commemorate the Saviour’s birth.
Cornish folk believe that sheep turn
to the east and bow their heads on
old Christmas night in memory of the
sheep belonging to the shepherds at
Hethlehem, and in Yorkshire bees
hum in their hives on the same occa
sion.
A Christmas Absent.
Father—Sammy, what 13 your teach
er going to give you for a Christmas
present?
Sammy—A holiday.
Father—I should call that an ab
sent Instead of a present
Sell Land, Town Property, Stock of
Merchandise, Hotels, Livery Barns,
Mills, etc.
Write Insurance of all kinds.
Rent property, collect rents and pay
taxes for non-residents.
Loan money on real estate.
Do Notary Public work, write deeds
mortgages, leases, contracts, etc.
Execute, Judicial, Contract, Fidelity,
Official, Bank, Fraternal Order and
Internal Revenue Bonds.
We have the strongest Insurance
agency in Southeastern Nebraska.
We represent sixteen old line com
panies as follows, towit: Aetna of
Hartford; Delaware of Philadelphia;
Hanover of New York; Pennsylvania
Fire of Philadelphia; Liverpool & Lon
don & Globe of New York; Philadel
phia Underwriters; St. Paul F. & M.
of St. Paul; London & Lancashir of
Liverpool, Central Union Fire of Kan
sas City; Indiana <£. Ohio Live Stock
Ins. Co. of Crawfordville, Ind.: New
Jersey Plate Glass Ins. Co of Newark;
United States Fidelity & Guaranty
Co. of Baltimore; Kansas City Life;
and Prudential Life of Newark, the
combined assets of which amount to
the enormous sum of Two Hundred
and Fifty Million dollars.
The Burning Question Is-Are You Insured?
When the fire bell rings be sure
that your property is insured in one
of the above named companies.
Have you read your policy issued by
other companies? Do you know any
thing of their financial strength. Is
your policy properly endorsed? Do
you know that you have ample pro
tection? Have you paid the proper
rate?
The Insurance Department of our
office is in charge of H. B. Willard,
an Insurance Expert, who has had
twenty years experience in the bus
iness and has made insurance in all
its branches a life study. If you will
hand your policy to him he will
carefully examine the same and give
you valuable advice.
In all business lines we are well
equipped and qualified to do your
work and we will do it right.
Our business will be to attend to
YOUR business, if you will consent.
Give us a trial.
When you call at our office make
known your business to the Office
Manager and your wants will be
attended to promptly.
Yours for Business,
Whitaker Bros.
H. B. Willard, Office Manager
A POLICE CHIEF IN EXILE
Lupoukhine, Former Court Favorite,
Is Now a Broken Down Wreck
in Siberia.
Two Germans who have been trav
eling In Siberia gave an account of
the life of exile led by M, Lupoukhine,
formerly chief of police in Russia.
For many years M Lupoukhine wa-.
one of the most influential men in th
Russian empire, a favorite at court,
the confidant of cabinet ministers a n!
a favorite of St. Petersburg socle L.
While at the height of his popularity
he was suddenly exposed as a treach
erous servant of the czar, dismissed
from the government service and sen
tenced to lifelong banishment to Si
beria.
It was alleged against him that he
organized plots against the czar In or
der that he as chief of police, might
have the glory of discovering them
and saving his imperial master’s life.
He was also guilty of many other Irre
gularities.
The two travelers found M. Lupouk
hine living In Danilovka, a small vil
lage some 500 miles front the nearest
railway, which can only be reached
by a carriage journey of 17 days
through a desolate region The ex
polioe chief, who formerly occupied a
palatial official residence in the Rus
sian capital, now lives in a little log
hut consisting of four rooms, badly
lighted, insufficiently ventilated and
too loosely built to afford adequate
protection against the rigors of the
Siberian winter.
The exile himself Is now a broken
down. feeble, unhappy man, a wreck
of Ills former self. He has done Ills
best to make one of his rooms resem
ble in some degree a study, and on
the wall he has hung in large printed
letters “Thy Will Be Done.” Nearly all
the Inhabitants of Danilovka are po
litical exiles, and M. Lupoukhine en
joys a privileged position among them
by reason of the fact that the gover
nor of the province when making his
occasional rounds shakes hands with
him.
WONDERFUL BIRDS' HOTEL
An Ingenious American Spends Over
Four Years In Making
Edifice.
Arthur E. Dunning, one of the staff
of the American embassy at Berlin,
has devoted his spare time since 190S
to building a wonderful hird house.
The Hotel Canary, as he calls It. con
tains 22 rooms, and has a window gar
den with a fountain, also two con
servatories.
It Is 75 inches long, by 15 inches
wide, and Including a tower Is 51
Inches high, All the rooms have the
modern Improvements, such as elec
trics light and running water. They
are equipped with automatic feeding
dishes. In the winter garden are two
elevators running to the second floor
and with four sliding doors giving
access to the surrounding rooms.
Batteries for the electric lights are
in the machine room, which also con
tains ihe apparatus for running
the elevators, a reservoir for wa
ter with a capacity of one gal
lon and a wwitchboard for t He
lights on the third floor. The
lower room, which Is not occu
pied by guests, is fitted with an elec
tric chandelier and Loll and is reach
ed by means of a spiral staircase from
the third storm. It also contains the
means of controlling ihe water in the
reservoir.
At the back of the structure is the
food supply 'cox. from which differen'
mixtures of seeds are distributed to
the fortunate inmates of (Ills birds'
hotel, while immediately to the rlghi
and left are the places into which thej
seed Is poured for the rooms. It may
be added that sonic of the rooms are j
provided with balconies and that thej
flags bear the initials II. C. The whole
building is a marvel of ingenuity and
constructive skill.
_
Luxury of French Prisons.
Last week I spoke of the intelligent |
deputy who is hoping to introduce thej
cat o’ nine tails into France. Today •
comes to light facts showing the lux- j
ury in which French apaches live I
when they are the guests of the state.
The French criminal is taken to n
prison called Fresnes palace, and here
he is housed far better than any com
mon French soldier, though the lat
ter may have served his country ever
so valiantly, while-the former lias sup
posedly done the reverse.
The cells are steam heated at an
always level temperature, and stalls
tics show us that in a garrison and a
prison each holding the same number
of inmates, where in 1909 the con
sumption of coal for the garrison was
IS wagonloads, the prison consumed
30u wagons full. So, to quote Clement
Vautel, our brave French soldiers
"shiver around a fire meagerly fed
with a few pieces of coal from time to
time, while our criminals stretch them
selves in lazy luxury before a cozy
hot steam pipe."—London Court Jour
nal.
Rice and Curry.
Rice and curry is the national dish
of India. Just barely enough curry to
flavor, and each grain when cooked is
puffed up all by itself of snowy light
ness. Small quantities of meat, or
dried fish, are served with the curry
sauce, freshly made of cocoanut wa
ter, peppers, turmeric, etc. The west
African and West Indian do not use
curry, but season by boiling it with a
piece of salt fish, salt pork or chick
en. Polished rice is a cheat, and
eaten exclusively is deadly, so should
by right and law be kept out of New
York.
Ashland, the home of Augusta
Evans Wilson, the author of “St. El
mo,” and other books, combines the
salient features of the Greek revival
In Its later phases with West Indian
ideas, it well illustrates the class of
work executed some ten or twenty
years before the Civil war when the
white columns of t lie classic revival
and the double-deck veranda from
Jlcrmuda had so adapted themselves
to one another ns to produce some
thing similar, yet different, something
typically American -a type and a pro .
totype.
One can blit wond( r, however. In re
viewing the matter, what the south
ern planter would have built had not
Greek ideas been dominantly the
architecture of the day. Certainly noth
ing could have more perfectly suited
the climate, and th large, yet simple
purposes of his life, or his tastes,
which were as a rule ire or less
grandiose. One must veranda
in the south, so why ’ave it ex
tend all around the and h«
done with it? One i rive post*
to support the roof of randa,
why not have Greek o as instead,
since they were the fashion? Tho
proposition was beautifully simple, rv
simple indeed that once introduced,
this style spread with remarkable
rapidity. The grandeur of its effect
and the simplicity with which it was
obtained were both in its favor. The
more columns the southern planter
used, the better he liked It, and since
one was copying Greek temples why
not copy the greatest temples of all,
the temple of Theseus or the Parthen
on and be done ’with it? Hence the
popularity of the peristyle.
SUMMONED BACK TO EARTH
Imaginative Man Is Just Beginning to
Feel Like a God When His
Wife CaP
The imaginative nei Coed on
his front steps and dis I learned
ly with the man across ireet, and
his subject was the c opment of
aviation.
“They’ll work it out all right in
time," said the man over the way.
“Of course they will," replied the
man on the steps. “I believe the time
Is coming when an aviator will rise
up through the air envelope that sur
rounds our globe, and get up so high
above It that he can hang there in
space and watch the earth and its air
whirl around beneath him, and when
he gets ready to descend he can ulight
wherever he blamed pleases."
“That’s magnificent!" said the man
across the street.
“You bet it Is," the neighbor on
the steps replied. “It makes a man
feel like a god!” ,
Just thne the door behind him wa^
thrown open and a commanding fe
male figure appeared in the doorway
“If you got through your fool talk.
Henry,” said a shrill voice, "you’d bet
ter come In to your dinner.”
