The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, April 12, 1905, Image 7

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Mistress Rosemary Allyn
By MILLICENT E. MANN
Copyright. 1904. by
CHAPTER XVII.
The Affray at the Tabard.
The words. "The Kins s Blues will
he here." had hardly fallen from her
lips before Gil had turned and given
a command to Torralne. He found
the fellow (and he was not the only
one) staring in open-eyed and open
mouthed admiration at Lady Felton;
at her lovely shoulders and arms
gleaming; like ivory through the yel
low lace of" her gown. Her cloak had
slipped from off them. Small blame
to him; does not a strong man al
ways admire a beautiful woman?
It required a sharp kick, which Gil
meant to he secretly given, hut was
only too evident, to make him pull
himself together and drop his eyes
abashed before Gil's stern ones. His
consternation and loud "ouch!"
caused the men to laugh; even the
lady smiled. Upon which he heart
ened himself to another peek, but
Gil would have none of that. He
marshaled the men quickly and has
tened their exit from the room.
Gil was following, hut when he
heard the next words of Lady Felton's
he stopped.
"One of your men betrayed you,"
she s.tid.
"'Tis Jim Scrugs. the traitor!" Gil
cried, and he put himself through the
opening after Torraine and his men.
I felt pity stir within me for the
fellow, traitor though he was. I knew
what the reckoning would he when
he should meet Gil.
"You are wet. Lady Felton, come
nearer the lire," I said, and took her
hand in mine
"Did you not understand me?" she
queried with dilated eyes. "I said
the guards would be here in twenty
minutes or less."
"Twenty minutes is a long time," I
answered as I !r-w her before the
Hr' ami seated her.
"Was your prison then so enjoy
able you would court It again?" she
Hskcd.
"G il forbid!" I muttered. "I am
afraid you will take cold you are
wet." I touched her dress lightly with
my hand.
"Poof, no, only my cloak," she said;
Tin as dry as an empty glass."
She glanced at the array of empty
bottles and glasses still upon the
table.
"How stupid of me," I cried, and
rapping on the table I ordered wine
ami supper for the lady.
"No, no, only a glass of wine." she
said. "I am thirsty with the ride."
"I should think you well might he,"
said I.
I poured her a glass of wine which
the landlord immediately brought. As
I held her cloak before the flame to
dry it I devoured her sweet face with
eager eyes.
1 would have taken her hand again,
hut I saw that my proud lady would
I drew her before the
have no love making In a tavern. In
deed her eyes looked so coldly into
mine 1 wondered if perchance I had
dreamed dreams and seen visions
four nights agone in that old mansion
of Lord Felton's?
"I take it as a great honor, Lady
Felton, that you should have ridden
11 this distance to warn me," I saia
finally.
"Put not the credit upon my shoul
ders." she returned, and she shrugged
those adorable ones set about with
lace. "It was forced upon me. I
-ould scarce help but come when
o sweet an one as Nell Gvvyn sent
me word, and asked me to see that
you had warning. Indeed, I would
iot have come even for her she may
take care of her own lovers; I have
;ft told her that sitting upon so many
tools she'll e'en find herself upon
the floor some day but the night be
ing fine and I wanted a ride to hlow
away the megrims."
I was amused at my sweetheart.
She was piqued about something. At
my look of incredulity I glanced at
the window where the rain beat
against the pane with a clicking
round she instantly added:
"Oh, it has only been raining a
short time. Moreover Dream House
was so dreary; Aunt Elaine had gone
to bed, that I was like to die of
ennui, so I welcomed Nell's message."
"You need make no more excuses.
Lady Felton." I retorted. "Could you
not have sent some one?"
"There was no one," she replied.
"Nell would never have forgiven me
if word had not been gotten to you."
"Nell's a charming creature," said
I sttmg by my lady's way of putting IL
"Charming indeed." she admitted
loyally. Then: "I see, sir, that you,
too, follow the fashion set by the
King. Wouldst rival him? Have a
care."
"Rival the King?" I exclaimed.
"Not I."
"You would not be the only one.
Really she has enough lovtrs." she
said. with a shamed lilt in her voice.
"Amen to that." I said fervently.
"She and Lady Felton have between
them, 'tis said, scoured all London till
there is not a creature upon two legs
but swears fidelity to either one or
the other. London is agog with their
amours. In Nell's case it may be
true, but as for Rosemary Allyn,
Lady of Felton. I think she is too
proud to give her lips to be kissed
by any one but the man she loves."
I looked down deep Into her heart
through clear mirrors, and what I saw
made me tingle through all my being
responsive.
"I believe you are right, sir." she
sid. Tv "T"t T have not told to
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how Nell found out that the inn was
to be surrounded and you recaptured,
and I must I.urry, the time will soon
be up. You must know first that there
are high doings at Whitehall to-night
a dance, and then the King dines
with Mistress Nell. Poor me is kept
at home. 'In sooth.' sayeth ma tante,
'it is not seeming in an Allyn to take
up with all the wild doings of a dis
solute court." She mimicked Lady
Dwight to a nicety. "So I am kept at
home as close as a babe in swaddling
clothes. Moreover she has heard ru-
i mors that the King has cast his eye
upon a new face which suits his
fancy. It was at the last hall that
the King commanded that I dance
with him, so she draws her inference
from this, that mine must be the face
he admires. Her eyes are ever upon
me and I am kept from court func
tions, lest I fall a victim to his Majes
ty's fascinations. She regards Mis
tress Nell with slight favor, and as
for Lady Castlemaine she is quite be
yond the pale. Well to continue, in
the early hours of the ball the room
was agog with a scandal. Lord Jef
freys had been halted in Epping
forest by a gang of men highway
men, and made to sign a paper it was
supposed for a large sum of money.
They left him tied and gagged in the
Forest Lodge, not a very dignified
manner for his lordship. A message
revealing this state of affairs some
how came to the King's ear. and he
sent to the lodge to find out if It were
true. They found my Iord Jeffreys
tied fast and madder than a baitea
bear. I assure you the tale lost none
in the telling and retelling as It ran
from mouth to mouth in the ball
room, provocative of much laughter
and merriment. It seems that it was
not for a sum of money hut the re
lease of a prisoner that he had signed
I the paper. His Lordship freed at
I once sent a constable to apprehend
the prisoner, and he himself hastened
to the King to explain the outrage to
him. His Majesty, being for the time
at outs with Ird Jeffreys, never
gave him the chance for explana
tions, but enjoyed the joke with the
rest. Now my lord, you know. Is
rightfully hated by many, so their
contempt was too much for him, and
with a face purple with rage he left
the room in a huff. His Majesty,
however, laughed another kind of
laugh when, later dining with Nell,
it was brought to -his notice what
Lord Jeffreys had signed the pardon
of a young man. Quentin Waters by
name, whom he himself had had con
fined in Ludlow. The way of this
was, a young man (it was no doubt
Jim Scrugs) importuned to see the
King. Now every one knows that
nothing puts the King in an ill-humor
so quickly as to be disturbed in his
amours. Hut the man insisted so
persistently upon an interview that
they at last took him to the King,
fire and seated her.
where he explained all. and that you
were to be caught napping here."
She stopped a moment. I did not
feel so much pity for the fellow as I
had. He had been taught to know at
Long Haut how summarily traitors
were dealt with.
"Nell tried to make the King still
see it in the light of a joke," she
continued. "She brought her most
daring mimicry into play; but cajole
she ever so much it was of no avail.
The gross insult to his Majesty must
be avenged. He gave the order for
your rearresL Nell, finding she could
not turn the King from his set pur-
I pose, sent me word by Mister Arnold,
who wished to come with me. but I
insisted upon his going back, for after
your escape some one might remem
ber that he had left the ball room and
that he was your friend." She had
finished.
"It is a rare delight to me to see
you, and I thank you." I said, "but
you should have let him conn? with
you: It was a dangerous thing to do."
"Twenty minutes, as you said, is
a long time." she merely observed,
"and it must be nearly up."
"Twenty minutes is all too short
for me." I returned. "I would have
it twenty times twenty, and times
that again and so as to stretch
those minutes somewhat I shall take
you home."
"Torraine can escort the lady back
and meet us at the marsh west of the
town," put in Gil as if he had settled
the question. "The horses are at the
south wall, by the old well. It lacks
a few minutes of the time."
"You have planned very well, Gil,"
said I, "save in one particular, I,
not Torraine, will take the lady back
to town."
"No, no," Rosemary cried; "Gil is
right. You might be captured on the
way."
I smiled .at her, nor was I to be
persuaded from my purpose. Gil
opened his mouth to argue the point,
but I cried:
"Quick, they are here to your
men. They are evidently sure of
their man, they come with so robust
a tread."
He rushed from the room.
I blew out the light. Taking both
the lady's cloak and my own, I
grasped her hand. Thus we followed
mine host of the Tabard through a
pantry door, down the kitchen garden
path to the south wall, where he im
mediately left us, hastening back.
Rosemary and I, Btanding hand in
hand, heard the clash of steel upon
steel as Torraine and his jolly boys
met the King's Blues. The voice of
Torraine rose above it all, growling
like a bear over a csrfjc ivit ",:
it was different. He never uttered
an unnecessary word a name called
sharply, a jesture or wave of his
K
.sword was enough to the men, whi
-new him. .
xl understood affairs. Gil was keep
ing the men from entering the inn
as Ivig as possible. Presently we
heard the crash of the heavy oaken
door, atcompanied by a shout The
Guards rtghed for the tap room.
I felt Rosemary's hand tremble In
mine. I pressed her fingers warmly
to reassure her, and now considered it
time to mountN our horses, which we
could barely discern in the gather
ing fog. The miizle had ceased.
What happened after the King's
Blues forced the tap room door, I
learned later from Gil. He chose
from among our men one about my
height, and had him in the tap room
almost as soon as I had left it. He
told him to stand where the firelight
would throw his shadow out upon the
wall, so that those outside might see
it. The Guards advancing saw and
immediately fell into the trap. They
shouted with loud cries of exultation,
as they rushed for the doors and win
dows. When the Blues entered, the man,
as if taken by surprise, made a daah.
for the kitchen. The crowd clattered
after him. He led them a lively dance
about the kitchen, knocking down
pots and pans. Being a fellow of re
sources, and minding Gil's instruc
tions that he should keep the crowd
at bay as long as possible, he slid
into the cellar, and banging down the
door after him clamped It.
(To be continued.)
BE ON WATCH FOR CHANCES.
Writer Points Out Danger of Oppor
tunities Being Invisible.
It is a dangerous thing to wait for
opportunities until it becomes a habit.
Energy and inclination for hard work
ooze out in the waiting. Opportunity
becomes invisible to those who are
doing nothing, or looking somewhere
else for it. It is the great worker,
the man who is alert for chances that
sees them.
Some people become so opportunity-blind
that they cannot see chances
anywhere they would pass through
a gold mine without noticing any
thing precious while others will find
opportunities in the. most barren and
out-of-the- way places. Bunyan found
opportunity in Bedford jail to write
the greatest allegory in the world on
the untwisted1 paper that had been
used to cork his bottles of milk. A
Theodore Parker or a Lucy Stone
sees an opportunity to go to college
in a chance to pick berries. One boy
sees an opening to his ambition in a
chance to chop wood, wait on table,
or run errands, where another sees
no chance at all. One sees an oppor
tunity to get an. education in the odds
and ends of time, evenings and half
holidays, which another throws away.
O. S. Marden in Success Magazine.
MIKADO'S ADVICE TO BOYS.
Wise Precepts Laid Down By Seem
ingly Enlightened Ruler.
In view of the astounding progress
of Japan it is interesting to recall the
following rescript whicn was issued
by the emperor to the Japanese
schools some fifteen years ago: "Be
filial to your parents and affectionate
to your brothers; be loving friends;
conduct yourselves with modesty and
be benevolent to all. Develop your
intellectual faculties and perfect youi
moral powers by gaining knowledge
and acquiring a profession. Promote
public interests and advance public
affairs. Ever respect the national con
stitution and obey the laws of the
country, and, in case of necessity,
courageously sacrifice yourselves to
the public good." Recent events have
proved that the last injunction at
least was taken to heart by the youth
of Japan. The Graphic.
Record-Breaking.
A comparatively young man was re
lating his experiences in the late Civil
War to an attentive crowd. With en
tertaining detail bo described numer
ous engagements in which he had par
ticipated, laying particular stress up
on those in which hand-to-hand en
counters were most evident The con
versation drifted to other topies, when
an old man present suddenly asked
him:
"In what year were you born?"
"I was born in 1859."
"Strange." commented the elderly
party. "You were born in 1859, and
could not have been over 5 years of
age at the time you served in the
army. How can you explain that?"
Without a moment's hesitation and
without even the tremor of an eyelid,
he answered:
"My father carried me on his shoul
der." The Main Thing.
"A village client of mine had been
trying through me for seven years to
collect a claim against the govern
ment." said the lawyer, "and at last
the claim was allowed and I received
a check for $8,000.
"As the man was poor I knew that
this would be a great windfall for
him and it was with considerable ex
ultation that I put the check in my
pocket and started for the house. The
man himself was away somewhere,
but as his wife answered my knock
I showed her the check and called
out:
"'At last, Mrs. Davis at last!
"What is it?' she asked.
"'The claim has been allowed and
here is a check for 18,000.'
'"Yes, I see, she answered, 'but
please don't talk quite so loud or you
will wake the baby up!'"
An Anglo-American Incident.
This story ,is told by J. P. Carter,
of the American embassy in London.
It was a fashionable function, and the
orchestra had been playing somewhat
loudly. A well known Englishman
was discussing the friendly relations
of England and America with a very
attractive American woman. The
music stopped suddenly, and in the
silence which followed the English
man was heard to remark in heartfelt 1
accents: "And the more we know
one another the more dearly we must
leve one another." Both hastened to
offer explanations as to the entirely
political character of their remarks,
but nothing could top the laughter of
the delighted audience.
A Financier.
Bismarck had to confer with the
Iron Cross on a hero in the ranks one
day and, thinking to try his humor,
which was of the elephantine order,
on the man, he said:
"I am authorized to offer you, in
stead of the cross, a hundred thalers.
What do you say?"
"What is the cross worth?" quietly
asked the man.
"About three thalers."
"Very well, then, your Highness,
I'll take the cross and ninety-seen
Am
Mr. Wragg Invites contributions ot
anv now ideas Unit readers of this de
partment may wtsti to present, ana
would be pleased to answer correspond
ents desiring information on s,"l,Jecl'
discussed. Address M. J. Wragg. 300 Uood
Iilock. Des Moines. Iown.1
A subscriber asks how to graft ap
ple trees after they have had consid
erable growth, also a recipe for graft
ing wax.
If a fruit tree is a healthy grower,
but a poor hearer, or if the quality or
season of its fruit is unsatisfactory, 1t
can be reformed by top grafting. This
work is best done after the buds swell
and before they burst into growth in
the spring. The cions should have
been cut in early winter, packed in
damp leaves, and kept in a tempera
ture only a degree or two above freez
ing, and their buds should be dormant
at grafting time. The cions are best
taken trom bearing trees, as one may
then know the exact habit of the
variety grafted.
The operation is simple, but to be
successful must be skillfully done.
The tools required are a saw, chisel
and mallet for heading in the branches
to be grafted, a sharp knife for shap
ing the cions, and for covering the
wounds. The branches of the trees
are from one to two inches in diam
eter, the general symmetry of the
head being kept In mind. Each
stump is then split in its diameter
with the chisel, the cleft being kept
open with a wedge about an inch long,
varying with the diameter of the cion.
Qut the cion three or four buds long.
In the smaller limbs one cion is
placed, and in the larger two, care
being taken that the cion shall rest in
the line of the inner bark of the limb,
or between its wood and bark. The
sides of the cion wedge should be com
pletely covered by the limb when the
cions are in place: the grip of the
limb will hold the cions securely.
The entire wound and ends of the
cion are then completely covered with
grafting wax. When the cions have
made one year's growth all the side
branches below them should be
pruned off, and the tree thus becomes
changed to the grafted variety. If too
many shoots appear below the graft
the first year they should be thinned
out.
There are many waxes. Either of
the following is satisfactory:
1. Resin, 4 parts by weight; bees
wax, 2 parts; tallow, 1 part. Melt
together and pour into a pail of cold
water. Then grease the hands and
pull the wax until it is nearly white.
One of the best waxes, either for in
door or outdoor use.
2. Melt 0 parts white resin with 1
part beeswax, remove from stove and
partially cool by stirring, then add
gradually with continued stirring
enough alcohol to make the mixture
when cool of the consistency of por
ridge. TALK UP YOUR BUSINESS.
I met a man on the train the other
nay who set me to thinking. He was
agent for a firm handling agricultural
implements, and every minute of the
time we were together he was talking
about those machines. He was sure
that no other house in the world made
implements anywhere near as fine as
those he was selling. He was certain
ly a most inspiring speaker on a sub
ject that might not prove really in
teresting. You have met such men sometimes.
They tell of a man who talked fruit
trees and fruit culture all the way
from Buffalo to Rochester one time.
He had been attending a horticultural
meeting and was chock-full of the sub
ject. Everybody sitting near him went
home feeling that he must set out
trees and take care of them, or die.
Now I have met lots of farmers
who never seemed to have much to
say about farming. You meet them
and they fall to kicking against the
administration or finding fault with
the weather, or some such thing; but
if they say anything about their own
occupation you have to draw it out of
them and then they will seem to be
almost ashamed that they are in any
way connected with the soil, as if it
were a disgrace to be a farmer.
Of course you could not get up any
kind of an argument with me on the
subject of the success of the man who
never has anything to say about his
business. We all know that he stands
far down the line. No first places for
him anywhere. The man who wins in
anything in life must think about his
work, talk about, dream about it and
be so in earnest about it that to him
there is no other occupation in all the
world in any way to be compared to
his. C. J. K.
Don't forget that little memorandum
book. At no time will it be found so
handy as now. Keep it in the pocket
and put down everything that needs
attention, and then one can look it
over occasionally and do that which
needs being done the worst without
delay. Much loss is prevented in this
manner. I have sorted potatoes when
I should have been sowing grass seed,
and a sudden shower came and some
other work had to be hunted up. The
little "want book" revealed what
should be done.
MONEY FROM FARMING
Says Bret Harte, is "the cleanest
fortune; of all ways of making money
it's the squarest and most level; no
body is the poorer for it; our luck
brings no misfortune to others. The
gold was put there ages and ages ago,
for anybody to find; we found it. It
hasn't been tarnished by man's touch
before. I don't know how it strikes
you, boys, but it seems to me that of
all gifts that are going it is the
straightest. For whether we deserve
it or not, it comes to us first-hand
from God!"
The three cardinal points for the
farmer and gardener to observe are:
One, keeping down the weeds; two,
thinning out the growing plants;
three, keeping the ground mellow by
frequent cultivation.
A farmer's character is easily read
by the kind of farm hands he keeps
around him; and his disposition told
by his horses' ribs.
Rake some white clover seed into
bare spots on the lawn.
CARE OF TREES WHEN RECEIVED
FROM THE NURSERY.
Whether purchased direct from the
growers or ordered through agents,
care should be taken that the roots of
the trees are not exposed to the ac
tion of the sun and dry winds, says
a recent Michigan bulletin. The prac
tice of many farmers of placing the
bundles in their wagons and driving
home without taking any pains to cov
er them to prevent the drying of the
roots has undoubtedly caused the loss
of thousands of nursery, trees. Wet
straw and blankets should always be
provided when notice has been re
ceived that the agent from whom the
trees have been ordered is to make a
delivery, and, as soon as possible, the
trees should be either planted or heel
ed in. When received in the fall, un
less one has a cellar, where the tem
perature can be kept just above the
freezing point, in which they may be
placed with their roots in the soil, it
will be desirable to heel in the trees in
some well drained spot, where there
will be no danger from standing water.
A trench should be dug a foot or so
in depth and about three feet wide, in
which the trees should be placed
with the tops inclined towards the
south at an angle of about twenty
five or thirty degrees from the hori
zontal. The bundles should be open
ed and the sbil thoroughly worked
among the roots and pressed about
them. It is always advisable to have
the trunk and greater part of the
branches covered, especially in the
case of peach and other tender fruits
and whenever fruits have not been
thoroughly ripened. Care should be
taken to have no straw or rubbish
about the trees, but it is a good plan
to use evergreen boughs to break the
sun's rays and prevent the alternate
freezing and thawing, as well as the
rapid thawing of the trees after a se
vere cold spell. A trench should al
ways be dug to carry off any surface
water about the trees.
Remember it pays to look after a
colony of bees, even though it may
seem to have only a few bees in it.
A pint of healthy bees now, with a
good active queen, means a strong
colony by the time clover is in bloom,
if they have plenty of stores. If you
are compelled to feed earl', do it as
quickly as you can, for it is not a good
idea to disturb bees any more than
you can help when it is not warm
enough for them to fly out in the day
time and break the cluster, and go
anywhere they wish in the hive at
night without getting chilled. One bee
alone chills very easily, but when they
are clustered, as they are in the win
ter, they can go through an intensely
cold spell and take no harm, if they
are where they can keep dry. Bees
should never be fed liquid or be en
couraged to fly out when the wind is
raw and cold.
SWINE NOTES.
Twenty-four hours after the pigs
are born give the sow a slop of wheat
middlings or bran. A little warm wa
ter or milk will do no harm at any
time.
A small handful of oil meal will
have a good effect on the system.
Charcoal given to the sow will cor
rect scours in the pigs.
When the pigs begin to smell around
the trough give them some milk and
oats or middlings in a small trough,
in a pen not accessible to the sow.
Get the pigs out on the ground as
early as possible, as they become crip
pled if kept on board floors.
If the April farrowing sows are well
fed after farrowing they will have a
second litter in August or September.
The sows should be well supplied
with water and salt, and ashes and
charcoal should always be within
reach.
Young sows that do well with their
first litters may be considered good
brood sows.
Watch the hogs and be sure that
they are not lousy. If lice are found
spray the hogs with some good dip or
kerosene emulsion.
Drain off the filthy wallowing holes
and give them a bath of clean water
to plunge in.
The hog pastures must have shade,
or shelters, and abundant water.
In castrating, make the incision at
the lowest possible point, so that the
puss will drain out. You thus prevent
"puss sack" and hasten the healing
process.
Should a gopher get to digging too
uncomfortably close to newly set
cherry or apple trees he should be
met half way and given a shot of
bisulphide of carbon. In all probabil
ity nothing has been made with a
more disagreeable smell than this
substance. It kills while you wait
and while you sleep. No gopher will
turn up a second mound after having
breathed the fumes of this drug. Dig
down to the open burrow, saturate a
piece of cotton or cloth with the drug,
place it in the open burrow and cover
it up so the cotton will not be covered.
The evaporation of the drug will fill
every portion of the burrow with a
deadly gas which produces death.
If any one wants a beautiful hedge
for lawn they should plant Berberis
Thunbergi. The plants should be
set about eighteen inches apart. They
can be purchased cheaply of any of
the leading nurserymen.
When a man starts out on a bright,
breezy April morning to sow oats or
grass seed by hand he feels confident
that March did not succeed in using
up the visible supply of breeze. In
my early days I have set out a fire to
burn the "fire break," when there was
not a particle of breeze apparent, and
before the fire had started a good
breeze would appear on the scene.
Have you made any bird houses for
your wild pets yet? Nail them high
and strongly, roof well and paint a
dull color and do not meddle with the
renters.
This is grafting season in the coun
try. The politicians have been "graft
ing" the entire year in the city.
Vim. vigor and virtue are just as
good graces as any fanner need
"covet.
HEN
"?-- Twtsan
CLOVER AS A FERTILIZER.
The beneficent influence of clover
on land where other crops are grown
has never been sufficiently under
stood, especially throughout the north
west. We do not mean to say that
some farmers have not grasped the
importance of the thought and that
they have not utilized it to as great
an extent as is practicable. The fact
remains, nevertheless, that the splen
did influence which clover exerts on
soils is but imperfectly understood.
Those who read agricultural papers
nowadays must be more or less con
versant with the fact that clover en
riches soils by bringing nitrogen to
them which it has extracted from the
air. It is probable, however, that;
many lose sight of the mechanical ef
fects which clover has upon the soils.
When a clover field is broken up.
the plants fill the soil with roots and
rootlets; hence, they keep it in what
may be termed a friable condition;
that Is, a condition in which it is eas
ily cultivated and in which the roots
of young plants can readily push
through between the interstices in the
soil. The presence of so much plant
food in the soil in a form which read
ily decays provides abundant food for
crops grown on overturned clover sod.
The humus thus provided is most help
ful in the retention of moisture. Con
sequently, when clover sod is broken
up, no matter what the kind of crop
that is sown or planted above it, in
an ordinary season it may naturally
be expected to grow with much vigor.
Is the auto come to stay, or is It a
fad, a craze, like the old bicycle craze?
The horse has been with us thousands
of years, getting bettqr all the time;
we all love him. Who can love a
noisy, bad smelling, madly rushing
road machine, guided by what appears
to he a goblin-eyed monster? The
source of power required for the ma
chine is in the mine and oil well; is
this likely to be as cheap and as per
manent as the source from which the
horse derives his power the soil ':
Corn and hay and oats against coal
and kerosene which have the greatei
staying power?
WITH THE POULTRY.
The other day a man was complain
ing that his hens had not laid a dozen
eggs this winter, while another man
said his wife had sold $15 worth of
eggs since the first of December. Man
No. 1 kept 125 hens and they roosted
all winter in a couple of walnut trees,
eating with his hogs. Man No. 2 had
a 12x20 henhouse that cost $20, win
tered 90 hens on wheat, corn and
oats, and at less cost than those of
Man No. 1.
Can you build a 12x20 henhouse for
$20? Yes, sir, if you can get lumber
at $1.25 per hundred feet. Build it
box fashion, gable roof, 5 feet to the
square, 2x4 stuff for frame and raft
ers, rough stock boards for siding and
shingle roof. Any carpenter can help
you put it up in two days, root in
cluded. We don't like a floor in a henhouse;
in fact, would not have a floor, ex
cepting of cement, put in free of cost.
Grade up the spot you want to build
on until no water can soak in; then
wheel in earth, clay is best, and with
a rammer tamp it solid. Rats seldom
or never trouble in an earth floor
house, while one with a board floor of
ten becomes a perfect rat harbor.
A planter of any kind which does
poor work will be a most expensive
machine. Many planters will be the
means of obtaining a poor stand, foi
the reason that the seed fails to drop,
or it may be dropped irregularly and
at uneven depths and thus create a
loss. I would not take a planter as a
gift that will not do good work,
could not afford it.
BLACK PRAIRIE SOILS AND
CLOVER.
It cannot be denied that many of
the light loose-lying black soils of the
prairie are not as well adapted to the
growing of good crops of clover. From
what has been said, there are reasons
for expecting that there will be im
provement in this in the future, but
they do not seem to be stored as
well with food such as clover require?
as the soils on which hardwood tim
ber has grown. This view finds furth
er confirmation in the fact that if the
loose lying humus soils are removed
from the surface and the subsoil is
broken up, clover seems to grow with
a good deal of vigor on the subsoil.
This would seem to point to the fact
that food supplies in the loose surface
soil were not exactly such as clover
wanted most, and to the further fact
that the mechanical condition of these
was not exactly right for clover.
Eighteen inches is not deep enough
to set a fence post. It should be set
at least twenty-four and thirty inches
will be better. Tramp the first two
shovelfuls hard and firm and tamp all
subsequent dirt until it is firm to the
top. Some people make a mistake by
putting in too much dirt before tamp
ing.
EARLY POTATOES.
It will soon be time to plant early
potatoes and therefore it is important
that we make some preparation now
in planning for the crop. In the first
place I want to select land that is ir
a good state of fertility, and one that
has good drainage and contains a con
siderable amount of humus, as then it
will retain moisture and will not pad
so from a heavy rain. I prepare m
land by plowing deep, taking care that
it is not done when ground is too wet
harrow it well and thus prepare s
good seed bed.
Some folks do not like to be tickle
in the ribs. Not so old Mother Earth
And she enjoys It best of all when i
is dong with a good hoe or a we?
made harrow.
The farmer whose head is stnm
enough to hold his tongue and keer
lut of his neighbors affairs Is alwa;
he most successful and mos. -
spectcd.
Eighteen inches is not deep eno.r;!
!or a fence oost: make it two '
?,
i
?
War.
Long haunted by a guilty giant dream.
He sought the storied Holds of bloody
strlfe.
And many places of the skulls ho found
Many Golgothas wbere the llesh was rent.
These he repeopled with his restless
dream.
And ns he watched the phantom violence.
He fiercely loused to take the victors
place
And. leaplns in the Tast. strike living
men.
Another, looking on those troubled tields.
Saw children weeping in their mothers
arms.
With only tears to wash their tears
away:
Saw. widows, mothers, grieving for their
own.
With only crape to cover o'er their grief:
Heard oft the elden death cry of the faith
Of heaven's children in their mortal
strength
"Father, why hast thou so forsaken me
And shall we serve the man of guilty
dream.
Or children of the kingdom? Save us.
God!
'Twere better every throat that speaks
for war
Went strangling to the sea's abysmal
base
Than that we spit upon the Innocent
And stain their heaven with our lustful
blood
Yea. better that the pride of empires
break
Than break the hearts and slay the faith
of these!
raul W. Marlty.
As They Fought at Lookout.
Stories of losses in battle in Man
churia may be received with reserva
tion. A perspective of fifty years Is
really required through which to view
what actually happens on momentous
dates.
Lookout Mountain. Gettysburg. An
tietam. the Wilderness, may now be
seen through the light of the truth
prejudice, false colors have disap
peared. It is a reasonable belief, even
with the truth of Port Arthur's de
fense and fall, gradually coming out.
that as yet the Tartar-Russ and the
Manchu-Jap have not met each other
in the same fury of hand-to-hand grip
as characterized Lookout Mountain in
our own civil war of '63 -or the death
clasp at Gettysburg.
In Hongkong there is a saying:
"The Russ is a charming liar; the Jap
lies charmingly."
This being true ore may feel that as
to actual number of men engaged in
the fighting from the Ya.u to Mukden
and at Port Arthur, and the losses
on both sides, much has been grossly
exaggerated for purposes best known
to that antithesis of the western mind
the oriental.
It does not appear, so far as the fig
ures funished by the cables can be
conservatively sifted, that in any of
the great battles in the Orient during
the last thirteen ntonths a greater loss
has been inflicted upon either army
than 6 per cent of the whole force en
gaged on either side.
One reason for this is that the fight
ing, with the exception of the last
charges and assaults at Port Arthur,
has been at long range, and M. Bloch
demonstrated long ago that far-range
fighting meant a large diminution in
the actual number of men put out of
service, temporarily or permanently.
Those who take much comfort in
peace and who disbelieve in war may,
therefore, have comfort in the thought
that with modern guns, modern am
munition and modern tactics earlier
and notable battle scenes could not be
repeated in this war of peoples who
really in the beginning came practi
cally out of the same womb.
Taking Harpers' Book of Facts for
authority in the famous Fredericks
burg or "Mud" campaign of the civil
war, the total number of men engaged
on both sides, was 207,000 and the
total losses about 26 per cent. There
men fought shoulder to shoulder, jaw
against jaw, hand upon throat. One or
the othef must die in short-range fight
ing. At Gettysburg about 66 per cent of
all the men engaged. North and South,
were killed and wounded, a record not
paralleled by any engagement be
tween the fanatical "Japs" and the
stolid Russians.
In the battles which immediately led
to the capture of Lookout Mountain,
30 per cent of the total forces engaged
were killed and wounded, a record
not even to be measured by Port Ar
thur's attack or defense. And when
you think of Port Arthur made by
man, turn back to Lookout Mountain,
made by God, and read the old story:
"Away to your left is a shining el
bow of the Tennessee. At your right
you have wooded undulations. Three
fourths of a mile distant rises Or
chard Knob, a conical mound, perhaps
a hundred feet high. Then ledges of
rock and narrow breadths of timber
and rolling sweeps of ground for two
miles more, until the whole rough and
stormy landscape seems to dash
against Missionary Ridge, three miles
distant, that lifts like a sea wall 500
feet high, wooded, rocky, precipitous,
wrinkled with ravines.
"On the top of that wall are rebels
and batteries; below the first pitch.
300 feet down, are more rebels and
batteries, and still below are their
camps and rifle pits sweeping five
miles.
"The assault on Lookout began.
The federal troops stood 'twixt heav
en and Chattanooga. But above
them lifted a precipice, grand and sul
len; and they were men, not eagles.
The way wa3 strewn with natural for
tifications, and from behind rocks and
trees the enemy delivered Its fire.
"On the shorn side of the moun
tain suddenly appeared the head of
the federal column. And there it
held, as if riveted to the rock, and
the line of blue, a half a mile long,
swung slowly around from the left,
like the index of a mighty dial, and
swept up the brown face of the moun
tain." Five hundred feet of sheer ascent
in the face of the fire of at least 65.
000 brave men above; roots and
shrubs to cling to, rocks to hold by,
officers down, orders forgotten, noth
ing ahead but the rim of the confed
erate fire and the flag of the Union
still held in the advance.
The flash of the guns fairly burned
through the clouds. One tree stood
in the way in which twenty-eight bul
lets were found afterward. The ene
my rolled rocks down that gashed the
bodies beneath. No fanatics, these
men in the fight of Lookout the men
above defending and the men below
attacking each believed in the same
God.
No temples or sacred tombs to be
overturned or desecrated only man
of the West, man of the East and
man of the South meeting in marvel
ous test of courage for a principle of
government and the freedom of a man
of another color.
This was war where the highest In
telligence of the western world wash
ed its linen in its own blood and on
its own ground no Tartar trait
there; no ages of superstition making
battle color in the clouds, just the
highest form of man meeting its
equal. And oae triumphed over the
M
WW
A i sW Ir
ui yinnmms
, f z
mM
m&
other the battle flags of the Union
floated at sunset over Bragg's head
quarters and the men who had wo
gave necessities to the men who had
lost and been taken.
And one-third of those who fought
above and those who charged front
the mountain's base to the peaks were
put out of the running. We have yet
to hear truthfully from the dead Maa
churian plains that the backward
Russ. without Hope, and the dissiara
lating Jap, with Hope to be master of
the white man some time and some
where, have matched such valor, suck
giving of blood, as were heaped aad
sprinkled upon the altars of Lookoat-
May it not be that men who believe
in a one God fight closer, deadlier,
than those with whom the ghosts eff
the Past are always; who have al
ways a phantom by their side? H. L
C. in Chicago Post.
Veteran's Fondness for Trees.
"Do you know," said tho Sergeant,
"that I often spot one of the old boys
by his maneuvers in a restaurant. I
am given myself to looking for a seat
near a post or pillar. I didn't know
I was addicted to this habit until my
daughter asked me why I liked a seat
near a post at a theater or in a din
ing room. I had to say something. so
I explained that in sleeping without
shelter soldiers felt more at home If
their heads were near a tree or a
stump.
"In the course of time going to bedi
in a temporary camp was a very sim
ple affair. Tho soldier put his head
against a tree, milled his overcoat
cape over his head, folded his arms
over his rifle, and was off to dream
land without fidgeting. .If there wero
no trees or stumps going to bed was
more of a ceremony, the men having
an unsettled feeling. like a horso
away from his hitching post.
"As I was making this explanation
I saw a very dignified individual como
toward us with a quick step, and then
with a disappointed look on his faco
wheel to the right and settle down
close to another post. I wagered my
daughter a pair of gloves that he was
i an old soldier, although he looked like
a banker, and I went over to him. Ho
admitted that he had been in the ser
vice, and that he liked to sit with his
back to a post. Ho indorsed my
theory and amplified it. He said a
I tree was a stand by in time of battle.
a fortress for the riflemen on tho sklr
mish line, and a shelter in a bivouac,
and he told of an adventure in which
a limb had fallen from a tree and
pinned him to the earth without hurt
ing him. A man had rescued him
with the remark that tho accident
ought to cure him of the tree habiL
"Then I placed my man. because I
was the fellow that made that remark.
We had lived in Chicago since 1873
without seeing each other, and met
at last through the evolution of tho
old tree habit into the post habit. Tho
accident did not cure him. and I never
heard of an accident or any experi
ence that turned an old soldier from
the disposition to sit near a post or
a pillar." Chicago Inter Ocean.
Grand Army Ranks Thinning.
According to tho annual report of
Department Commander Robert Mann
Woods of Illinois, death is rapid
ly thinning the ranks of tho Grand
Army of the Republic. In fifteen
years tho death rate has increased
from 1 per cent to 3.6 per cent. Tho
Illinois posts last year lost 737 mem
bers by death, while 1.150 were drop
ped for nonpayment of dues.
The report shows that Jan. 1, 1904,
there were 513 posts in Illinois, with
20,519 members. "There were added
during the year from different sources
1,360 members. The total losses for
the year were twelve posts and 2,330
members. The total remaining in
good standing Dec. 31. 1904, were 531
posts, with 19,549 members.
There was expended for charity $5,-
970.66. The total disbursements were
' $49,396.33, and the total cash on hand
and the value of real property Is $154.-
505.02.
Honor Legion Commander Dead.
Gen. Lewellyn Garrish Estes, com
mander of the Medal of Honor Legion.
died suddenly in Washington, of
pneumonia Feb. 21. Gen. Estes en
tered the service of the United States
as first sergeant of Company A, First
Maine cavalry. October 19. 1861. He
was promoted first lieutenant March
24, 1862. and captain August 1, 18C3.
He was appointed captain and A. A.
G. volunteers September 4. 1863. and
major and A. A. G. volunteers Feb
ruary 2, 1865. Ho was brevetted
lieutenant colonel and colonel volun
teers March 13. 1865, for gallant and
meritorious service durintc the cam
paign in Georgia and the Carolinas
and brigadier general volunteers for
faithful and meritorious service. Ho
was honorably mustered out Sept. 29.
1SG5. Gen. Estes was awarded a
medal of honor August 2S. 1894. for
, having voluntarily led troops in a
charge over a burning bridge at Flint
River, Ga.. Aug. 30. 1S64.
Women In Soldiers Homes.
The thirty-eighth annual encamp
ment of the Department of Minnesota.
G. A. R.. appointed a committee to con
sider the matter of admitting wives.
widows and mothers of soldiers to tho
Minnesota Soldiers' Home. This
committee carefully InvesX'gated tho
subject by visiting the soldiers' homes
in Iowa and Wisconsin. were the
women are admitted, and they have
renorted to the department command-
I er that the plan adopted by these
i states is most satisfactory In its work-
ing. They recommend the adoption
of similar plans Tor the Minnesota
State Home.
Old Military Order.
Among some papers in the posses
sion of Alice V. Langdon of New
Haven. Vermont, was found a war
rant from Elias Post, captain, to
Moses Stowe, corporal, commanding;
him to warn all officers and soldiers
belonging to that company to appear
in the east parish of Rutland, com
plete in arms in order for exercise. It
was dated Rutland. April 26, 1792. at 3
o'clock In the morning.
Pension Plan Delayed.
With the adjournment of the Fifty
eighth Congress all hopes of the pass
age of a service pension bill for tho
relief of the aged and helpless veter
ans of the civil war is postponed for
the present year. The justice of tho
proposed measure was everywhere
conceded, but the plea of deficit in
the national revenues was urged
against any present action in that di
rection.