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Esthetic Essays on
About The Habits And Habitat
"Looming conspicuously up In (he
midst of a little group of dust-covered
buildings In tho center of a pros
porous farming community In central
Nebraska, stands a small weather-bcat-(n
edifice a structure celebrated In
song and legend. It Is a country store
and tbe opportunity to take a look
into It must not be allowed to pass,
Tbls Is tbe groat emporium tbat sells
everything from tacks and harness to
sugar and blueing-paddles, and sends
out through the channels of trade sus
tenance to ninny human beings. With
in sits tho proproltor, floor-walker and
head clerk, all cemented Into one soli
tary be-nlghted-looking individual upon
whose shoulders rest business cares
untold. He sits enjoying the pleas
ures and comfort afforded by a cob
plpo of uncertnin age and sanitary con
dition. From his settled posture if la
evident that he is not accustomed to
be disturbed by such intruders as a
customer.
His garb Is simple and glaringly un
pretentiousa shirt faded from black
to green, a pnir of tobocco-colored
Jeans, held up by one of what was for
merly a pair of suspenders, a couple of
substantial, If not, nrtlstic shoes, com
prising his attire. Thunder and light
ning! The red hnndkerchief tied in a
Knot about his neck must not be for
cotten. What visualization would be
complete without tho red handkerchief?'
His hair hangs In streaks nnd It Is
barely possible that he may have had
a shave within the last decade.
As two customers entdr. He stores
sadly and reproachfully a them, as 1
in rebuke for disturbing his ease. Then
with a martyred air and with a multi
plicity of complicated movements and
a creaking of unwilling joints, he rises
and attends to their order. With a
torturous effort he ties up tho articles
purchased, the final act of breaking
tho string Homing to cost him an ab
normal amount of interior suffering
perhaps In regret at parting with so
much precious cordage. Ho reluctant
ly shoves the aticlos toward tho cus
tomers, gripping them tightly, as If In
fear lost they might grab them up and
make off with them without stopping
to settle. Ho handles the money hand
ed to him with an air of curiosity as
if he wore unaccustomed to such a
sight. When Informed that nothing
else Is wanted he looks Insulted and
wronged and then shuffles back to hip
accustomed place, to reign undisturbed
In the midst of his possessions.
And his possessions are certainly a
furious lot The plies of soap boxes.
and of sugar, flour and salt barrels, the
assort nemt of harness ami hardware,
and the aiious other commodities
stacked wherever they can find a rest
ing place form the bulk of his staple
groceries. Parallel rows of shelves on
either side of the room contain the
precious burden of his imported and
fancy articles. From the nature of lib
stock it would appear that ho was
making a collection of curios, large In
varieties, but limited In duplicates.
Lamps, shoe-blacking, canned fruit,
etc., form an odd mixture on his
shelves a thousand and one articles
contributing to -make up an assortmont
as odd as it is wonderful. What may
be seen of tho show-cases through tlu
apertures left by the sheets of flypaper
containing victims of many years
cast irregularly about is certainly In
terestlng. Pipes, playing cards, clgarE
and candles and a hundred useless ar
rangements, that never sell, form a
wildly disordered chaos that nothing
can straighten out.
Having Investigated the stock, let
us return to the proprietor again. A
glance at his face leaves an impres
sion bound to be a lasting one. It le
the face of a man whose ideas have be
come narrowed through his isolation
and monotonous course of life. True,
he does have visitors occasionally, but
the subjects of conversation never
change and the sluggish channels c!
his mind are seldom stirred up by plea
sure or excitement of any kind.
Upon him seems to rest the seal of
fate. The days pasB by with practi
cally no Interruption in the monotony,
that governs the course of his life. His
profits are just sufficient to support
himself and family after a fashion, and
there 1b no progress possible for him,
Esthetic Sxtbjecte
Of The Country Store Keeper.
nor yet Is it sought. He grows neither
richer nor poorer, but continues on in
the same old routine. He Is simply
dragging out his allotted time, be
cause he has to live, and his life Is in
deed a journey to the grave and he
cares little when the goal may be
reached.
Filthy Lucre.
In the far east an American dollar
entered the world as pure In Its silver
gleam as the soul of a flower, for all
of the fact that it was an extra fine
which came Into the hands of the coin
er wrongfully, by a slight change In
tho scales. It went into the hands of
a baker, who obtained It by selling
smaller loaves that was usual "to hU
customers. It was several months be
fore ho obtained it, so it did not ap
pear out of place. He could not keep
it then, but was forced to pay It for
an extra five-gallon can of kerosene
oil. It had taken several years to
collect enough quarter-cents to make
this amount, but the fill magnate pock
eted it with a smile of content He had
occasion to find a certain ofllce and
took a cab. The cabman .drove him
six blocks out of his Way frnYT charged
him an extra dollar for the trip, tak
it with a feeling of satisfied Tovengc.
The cabman went to the saloon that
night and sneixLJL forUo.u.or, In that
way it bee ome blood-money ami was
paid into tho city treasury as part of
the tax Weu-jjieaeacliers f the Ph
lle schools wore "pain" It fell to the lot
of ,a young woman who was not a true
teacher, but who, had a relative on
the school board,' and who, therefore,
was permitted to teach and draw a sal
ary. One day she went to a dressmaker to
order tho making of some article of
wearing apparel. The price charged
was agreeable so tbe work was done
Hut when she went for it there was an
extra dollar to pay. She paid It and
went her way.
Tho dressmaker put it into some
shares oT a mine in which her brother-in-law
was interested. The mining
slock decreased in value and she lost
her money. The brother-in-law did
not. however. Ho put the dollar along
with nine hundred and ninety-nine oth
ers and bought the mine, which was
worth twice as much, so that three or
four hundred other people just like tho
dressmaker lost their shares. The
man from whom he bought the mine
obtained a small amount of stock in it
for more than it .was worth so tbe sil
er dollar caihe" back 'into Hands of
the new owner of the mine, who by
the way, was the same one who, long
before, bad done the coining of the
dollar In this way it came back to
its original possession, now a mine
magnate, and a "bloated bond holder."
It had been tarnished and blackened
by contact with the many hands
through which it had passed
There was a Home In the city where
a child waa being trained while its
parents were abroad. All things nec
essary for its development were provid
ed except toys and games, so tho child
worked and worried, bolng dwarfed in
one respect by lack of pleasures. The
mine raagname came and offered it the
extra silver dollar -for somo games
When the parents heard the news they
telegraphed the keeper of the Homo
not to touch the vile dollar for it
was blood-money. Now tho child
wanted the toys, so It wept and asked:
"But where can you get a dollar tint
Is not blood money?" This tho parents
did not answer, so the child pined away
and finally died. The mine owner took
the dollar and bought a Havana cigar
made in Chicago. It was worthy 25
conts, and the dollar was no better
Uian it had been In tho first place.
Our price is 15 cents, and we give Ifi
cent shaves.
The R. &. C. aYid Palace Barber
Shops.
Wright Drug
"phono 313.
Co., 117 No. 11th,
Earl B. Woodward, M. D., treats dis
eases of the eye, ear and throat.
Rooms 207-08 Richards block, 'Phone
666.
Woman's Home Companion
f 100 A YEAR
IOC A COPY
I int. CHOWCU.K HJRKM.TRICK COMTANY. PUBLISHERS
sationahsm nor provincialism.
It already has 340,000 subscribers, and this number is constantly increasing.
A Live Agent Wanted in Every Community. Most Liberal Terms.
Subscription Price $1.00 Year. Ten Cents a Copy.
Sfilld Xfifl Cdlte or a sarnP'e copy anc" we will send you an elegant
j&uu ft cil vcillo engraving, 20 by 25 inches in size, of Landseer's
famous painting "Defiance, or Stag at Bay." Mention this offer when you write.
Address WOMAN'S HOME 'COMPANION, Springfield, Ohio
LOST A tartoon of the Rockefeller
Temple Fund, drawn by Mr. Butler,
and the property of The Nebraskan.
Finder return to The Nebraskan ofllce
DAKLTvDITD5.
LNCKAVING CO.
If ILLUSTRATORS l
M) ENGRAVERS QJ
O-nN plantin the west" (?jk
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Take case of the books you have. A good begining is
one or two sections of our Elastic Book Crse, $2.75
$3.00, $3.50 per unite, finished in Golden Oak. Flemish.
Weathered Mahogany and Waxed Oak. Come ana
see them, and by the way we would be pleased to have
you inspect our new store, 1033-1043 O Street.
RUDGE & GUENZEL COMPANY
Hardware, Carpet, Queensware, Furniture
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THE IDEAL HOWE
MAGAZINE
Is in its twenty-eighth year; is
printed on-fine paper and pro
tusely illustrated. It gives 40 to
54 pages a month, each page 11
by 16 inches, and a new and
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issue. Its editors and contrib
utors are the most popular
American writers ; in snort, it
is the ideal family magazine,
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departments are edited by ex
perts and are full of interest
As a home magazine it has no su
periors, and few, if any, equals,
600 Pages 1,200 Pictures
EACH PAQE IS EQUAL TO POUR
ORDINARY MAOAZINE PAOES...
Hundreds of thousands con
sider it a family necessity. It
is clean, pure and inspiring.
Its contents, while varied, are
entertaining and of the highest
I CAN QUICKLY SELL
for cash, without loeal publicity, your
Husiness. Real Estate or Partnership
no matter where located. Send me full
particulars, prices, etc. Address
CHAS. E. POWELL
19 W. Mohawk St Buffalo N Y
We wish all our stndents friend to
know that the
Best Ice Cream
1 OOMES FROM
Franklin Ice Cream
and Dairy Co.
IBS So. 12th St.
Phone. F 201
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