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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 1907)
TITTC OMATTA SUNDAY NEE: DECEMRETt 22. 1007. P MEW PREDICTS RECORD NEXT YEAR Omaha Man Sayi More Homes Than Ever Will Be Erected. .CENSOR OF ART IS WANTED 'Our . Ilallder Kaggesta Bareaa "aprrlntrad Arrbl tectaral Myle of Ilonaee la Badly; Aeeded la Amrrlna CH Ira. 'There will be more houses erected In Omaha during the coming; season than ever before," declared a man wha keeps an eye on the aituation and a finger on the building; pulae of the city and ' who baa the reputation of being; a good prophet in this line. "I base my prediction on natural conditlona and on a careful, aane analyals of the aituation,". he continued. "I am neither unduly eptlmlatic nor vision ary and would be willing to put up my money against the money of any peaalmlst who was bold enough to back up hla con viction with hla cash. "We broke a record In home bulldinir during the year which haa Just closed. We did this under the stimulus of great business growth. We expanded In all di rections; our trade grew; aur wholesale houses expanded; people flocked to the city; our. old established citizens grew wealthy and built new and finer homes. "All these conditions still obtain. They've had a panic In the east, where they had been building their financial and business houses on sand. Here we have had no panic except such rumblings from the one they experienced In the east. On the con trary wo have had Immense crops In the aurraunding country; the farmers have the grain that the- w-brld is demanding; the railroads have all they can-do; the whole sale houses are doing an undiminished business; people are coming to the city. Moreover, the recent collapse of the paper house of Wall street haa madn .our people anxious to keep their money In the west and they know that ft is perfectly safe In a house. Even those who fear the aolldest bank are not afraid of their money If they have It In a home. If the home Is paid for and Insured nothing can take It away from them. "These are a few of the reasons for which I believe the building record In Omaha la going to outdo anything yet aoen during the coming season. The re ports of architects,' builders and contractors bear me out In my prophesy, too." - Tbe artistic value of a properly built trellis haa been demonstrated on a new house Just completed on South Twenty fifth avenue. The house stands on rather a small lot and everything must be made use of. At the Bide Is a tiny porch hardly more than five feet square. On this the trellis la built. It la of ample height and surrounds the porch on three sides, with a graceful doorway left on one side The trellis la made of square sticks of wood running perpendicularly with; circular pieces at the top and a more complicated design Immediately under the eaves. The roof Is of concave shape and made of copper. The arrangement adds beauty to the house, while Its use Is evident. It affords shelter from the wind and a protection to persona atandlng at the door. Seats could be added on each side If desired. - There are several kinds of vines which can bo trained over the trallls In the summer. Climbing rose bushts are also valuable In such a place. "It la "really a queitlon in my mind whether It would not be an advisable thing to establish In American citlea a bureau of architecture and municipal beauty,'" said an Omaha property owner recently. "In - making thla suggestion I don't mean to criticise Omaha, for this city Is fully as beautiful as any other American city I was ever In. Nevertheless, the evil of In discriminate building Is verv evident nt n glance In going over any "American city. J T-V.-., . . i - i , . ...... A '""w" ifiK'iuornoon Dullt up with tasty houses and then some-person comes In with the most' outlandish taste Imagin able and erecta an atrocity that would drive a person with architectural taste to drink If not to suicide. Such a thing Is an Injustice to those people who are striving t maintain tone to their neighborhood. .Besides, the person who erects the atrocity doesn't do It deliberately. Hia Intentions are all right. In fact, I have seen some euctj houses of which the poor deluded owner and builder waa proud. He would point them out proudly to his friends, re mark upon the originality of the design and execution Bnd with modest pride in form you that the .Idea was his own. The neighbored regard that map as a pest and a nuisance and he regards hla neighbors aa unappreciatlve and ungrateful. Both are uncomfortable and the neighborhood Buffers. "Now,. If we could adept some such plan In American cities as they have In Europe all this would, be obviated, the city would be In nrclittoturul harmony and everybody would be satisfied. Walk through a city like Brussels and even though Vou are not naturally finicky In the matter of archi tectural lines you would be delighted with the beauty of It all. It is liMe a poem or 'a restful piece of music. There ure no Jarring angles, ne Incongruities. , "We have -n building Inspector, whose duty it Is to see thut the proper kind of . materials are put Into buildings. Why Should not We have a man skilled in home building architecture And iandscae who irould guide the activities of thoae whx "build, guide them Into the right channels ''We cannot ail be skilled In Buch science and am, yet we all want to aee the result of our efforta ylold the greatest beauty. Buch a rnult Is for the mutual benefit of the city and of the owners of the houses. The architectural manager, if r may , name him, would merely keep a guiding hand on the plana for houses. He would merely aee that they did not vary too milch from lines of architectural li.ui.. (Tha Interiors of the houses could be built (J entirely to suit the owners, for they alone i would aoe them, and If they were not aesthetic they alone would be the sufferers. I hop to see a atop taken toward this end before long." ; ' A handsome home being erected In tiie tWest Karrium district la unique In havlr.g a wall In front In placo of a ftuice On top "of tiu wall, which t.On'jout four feet high. ' la a small ornamental Iron fence. This is 1.1 tho lityie so uiitvet u!ly popular In Eng land ari a me of tho continental coun tries. It Is a gootl idea from the arclulec turtJ fctaj. J;J-''.t, as the walarUl ll.e pat tern of the tenia are each capable of al most Infini'.n variation te suit the Indi vidual taate. Koine beautiful dealgna are wrought out by builders In England. ,Xn'.Kee and vines are sometimes combined !t advantage with the wall end fence to rtuke a beautiful and useful 'partition of tto front yard of a house from the street. Way 1 Pays lit Oood Paint. Ownora of buildings should realize that it pays to t'.sa paint. A building or evea, a fence, coats money and repairs are expen sive The ouly way to preserve material . l hulldma is to protect It with paint. The neathe- end the sun -then exert- their the busy mm booms V The Nation's WASHINGTON. Dc. 21.-The governors of the several states have been Invited by President Roosevelt to meet In this city In May to discuss the nation's wastes, and extravagances. Its criminal prodigality with what have seemed to be Inexhaustible natural resources that are fast disappear ing, and (o devise means of lessening this appalling; destruction. Tills Is a splendid and most tlhiely move on the part of the president. While these gentlemen are assembled here It Is planned by Architect Fitzpatrlck, the executive of the Internatlnal Society of Building Commissioners, to submit for their consideration some facts and figures anent the fire waste that It la believed will Impel them to take the Initiative in proposing legislation to their several states looking to the betterment of building construction and the reduction of the fire tax. That authority points out that of all our waste fulness fire Is one of theyery costliest and the only one In which human lives are also sacrificed. Over 6,000 lives have been de stroyed by fire In a year's tlmey The tax In actual combustion of buildings. In the maintenance of fire departments, and In premiums to Insurance companies In. the hope ' of recouping some of the damage, amounts to over ISOO.OOO.OfK) a year. A sum that Is Just barely equaled by tte cost of new buildings erected lh our most pros perous year. No other nation on earth permits of any such waste. Fire has eaten up in twenty-five years' time over J3,500,0on, XX worth of property, a sum that exceeds the highest point ever reached by the Vnlted States debt. In Rurope fires seldom extend beyond the buildings In which they originate; in this country, whole city blocks of buildings and even entire sections of cftiea are wiped destructive influences only upoj the cheap, easily renewable Covering. As with the exterior, so with the Interior; paint la ckeap, clean, cheerful and easily renewable, and when soiled can be washed; and when, after long service, renewal Is desired, a fresh coating makes It new, sweet and blight. Imltatioarsf of Hardwoods. Perhaps no Bet of men appreciate i the seriousness of pthe timber supply question more than those engaged in the manufac ture of furniture. They have reallxed for some years that a pinch to the hardwood market Is sure to come, and they have suc ceeded In coping with the situation by the economical use of material by the 'practice of veneering, and the Imitation of the high est priced hardwoods. During the last two years the great In crease In the price of hardwoods has cre ated a strong demand for wood which can be used In Imitation. The two woods that are most successfully liiiltt ed are mahog any and oak, particularly the quartered oak In the golden and darker finishes. Almost without exception, the manufacturer mar kets these Imitations either as Imitations or under some registered trade name, and doca not pretend to deceive hla customers. For Imitating mahogany, cherry was formerly used almost entirely, but the di minished supply and the Increased price of this wood have led manufacturers to seek a substitute, which would lend Itself more readily to the stain than cherry, and, at the same time, show the grain and hold the gloss. For these reasons birch, especially curly birch, maple, beech and gum are ex tensively used for all parts of furniture. Even In the better grades of mahogany fur niture, birch and maple stained to a, mahog any finish are often used for posts and frames, while genuine mahogany, In the form of veneer, Is used for panels, tops. and rolls. In making Imitation quartered oak, al most any wood can be' used, blnce in this case, the original grain pf the wood Is first covered with a "flller"ynd then the quar tering Is printed In In dark Ink by the Im pression of actual quartered oak rolls, or by a transfer from quarter oak prepared by speoial processes. Elrch, maple, poplar, and plain sawed oak are commonly used for, this work. After the woodxhas been finished and polished, the Imitation appears so real that only an expert can detect the difference. . Certain woods used In furniture construc tion are extremely expensive, owing to the difficulty .of obtaining pieces with a good grain of sufficient sice for wording. Such, for instance, is Circassian walnut. This, which cornea from the Ural mountalna, is largely used in the form of veneers for chair backs, panels and tops In bedroom suites, table tops, etc., the balance of the piece of furniture being composed either of American or black walnut (natural fin ish), or of satin walnut, commonly known as red gum. The latter, while it doea not often Bhow the . beautiful grain of the panel, la so near the color of plain Circas sian walnut that only close scrutiny can detect the difference. New York Evening Post. Building New Douglas County Extravagances out In one conflagration. Boston will aver age $l,600.ono In Are a year, while the aver age of five Kuropfiun cities of equal slxe Is but a trllle over $150,000. Our fire tax here, the cost of combustion only, exclusive of the cost of fire departments, tc. Is over K per capita; In Europe It la leq than 33 cents. In forty-three citlea of Europe there are but .88 flreB per 1,000 people; in the t'plted States there are 4.05 pr WOO. Here In Washington, a city of 30d,000 people, there were 818" fires last year, with a loss f $28,744, and the cost of maintaining Its most excellent fire de partment was 433.920. And Washington stands well toward the head or the list of American cities for low firv losses and economical management of department. In Berlin, 'during the same, period, a city of 2,100,000 people, there were 2,009 fires, but Involving a Ipsa of only 169,2n5, and its Are department cost !12.000. Rome, a city of 500,000 people, had a loss of but $06,000, and Its Are department cost $r0,000. Figures and comparisons that may well make the governors stop and think upon the waste fulness of their people. Mr. Fitzpatrlck will also point out to them the cure that Is proposed. He main tains that If adequate legislation Is en acted, compelling that all new buildings be at least moderately well built and that the old ones have such Improvements made In them, Involving little cost, but rendering them less vulnerable to fire, this terrific tax will be reduced more than one-half In side of five yeara, and that we will be able to compare favorably with European citlea within flfteeen'ytars. The one and only thing to do now, since we have In sisted for so long In building shoddlly, la to add no more flretraps and to replace them, as fast as they are destroyed, with mod ern, well bui't structures. TIMELY REAL ESTATE GOSSIP Sales of Property Hold Up Well, with Total of $60,000. i FARMERS INVESTING INT LANDS Several Latra-e Sales Indicate They Are Converting; Their Bumper . ' Cropa Into Real Prop- - arty. As a start for the predicted period of ac tivity In real estate, the week closed with salea amounting; to $60,000 of city property, bought either for Investment or as homes by those who will come to Omaha to live. The larger tales consisted In a home at 1908 Corby atieet, sold by Hastings Jfc Hey den to D. Fitzgerald, a Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad contractor, who comes to Omaha to live. Mr. Fitzgerald paid $4,600 caRh for the residence. J. P. and Milton Atklsson, who have been doing railroad contract work In South Dakota, bought the double brick flat at 2207 and 2209 Dav enport street for $10,000, paying Hastings & Heyden cash for the property. Sanford Peck of Chicago invested $11,000 In Cass street and Spencer street residences, mak ing $41,000 which the Chicagoan has In vested In Omaha within thirty days. Oar ret Brange bought a lot and two-thirds In the wholesaling district on Ninth and Do u ar ias streets for $15,000, while George .-Bren ner, proprietor of the Leavenwortn street market, sold his home at 720 North Twenty third street to George Richardson for $i,S00. Frequent predictions are made of the se vere pull necessary for the country to get back to lta normal condition. 'There is, however, one class of business In Omaha which has little to fear during the coming twelve months. If thr. actual inquiries of intended purchasers signify the 'extent of the real estate business to be cared for In the futurte. .Not only In city property, but In farm lands, the people will pour in their fnoney, and reports from local dealers Indicate that there is a greater Interest In the farm loan as an Investment than at any other time in years. Similar Inquiry is made for good mortgages on city prop erty, and as soon as payments to the sav ings and loan associations become normal, the Institutions will be again able to put out thousands of dollars on city real es tate. "The farmers have the money and are putting It Into lands," said J. 11. Osborn of the Oaborn-Hanson Real Estate com pany. "They believe the wheels have slipped a little and the financial system Is a little to the bad, but lundu alwaya look good To the farmers, and not a few are buying city property for the same" reason. The farmers have the actual cash and when they see what they want they pay for It. One of our customers went to the safety deposit vaults, of an Omaha bank this week and secured the gold for a strip of Sarpy county land, and not Infrequently - v. ( DAILY SCENE ON THU Gi'.EAT-X)NCA "1 GIvo thi whole ' v family a Merry Christmas 'V' I ' Buy a x beautiful fJ Art j -'v Canopy Jf for the , f dining 1.1 room If i. Ask about II ' this one - There's . If -a special If price on g N It's a fl dandy, too, I g 6 lights J 24-inch H spread f t Maaja1aBBBjaBja mnmm",m - " ' - ! i.IMBlT- ' i we have had a big pile placed on the desk to close a deal." As evidence that the farmers are con verting their bumper and high-priced crops Into real estate Mr. Osborn produced the papers for several farms which he has sold, some not far from Omaha.' Henry Jewell of Lyons bought 126 acres tiear LaPluUe during the week, paying $3,200 cash; C. P. Culver of Macedonia, la., bought a tract of seventy-six acres near LaPlatte for $75 per acre; Claude Anderson of Red Oak, lu.; arrived In Omaha a week ago to look up a large tract of western land. The Oaborn-Hanson company sold htm 800 acres In Box Butte county for $10 per acre, while J. V. Anderson of Forest City, Mo., .paid $00 per acre, for a tract In western Nebraska: A South Dakota farm of 320 acres, In Edmonds county, waa sold to Gus and Ed Hedgreen, Iowa farmers, for $35 per acre. One hundred persons have bought during the last year, through the land department (of the Burlington, ' thousands of acres of land In western Nebraska and Wyoming. The land haa brought from $7 per acre for arid tracts to $50 for those under the irrigation ditches, the toal value of the lands sold being more than $1,500,000. S. I Wiley, former general manager f the Omaha Electric company, Is In the land business, and has disposed of thou sands of acres In the. Big Horn Ibusin. He has sold within a short time 10,000 acres at an average of $30 per acre. Large tracts near the town of Oermanla have been grabbed by the eastern farmers. . The O'Keefo Real Estate company of Omaha have also aold large tractr of western land along the Burlington southeast of Chey enne v John O. Stromer bought the residence at 4237 Lake street, Clifton Hill, during the week of the O'Keefe agency, paying $1,000. James H. Goodman bought a new homo on Orchard Hill from Byron Hastings for $3,300 and Mrs. Golda McCulloh bought the Harney street iiome of Ernest Sweet for $5,500. To enlarge the campus of Crelghton -university permission has been secured to close Twenty-fifth avenue, and the college has been buying Small lota which are needed to complete the plan. Joaeph Pelll can sold a lot 36x150 to the university for $650 during the week. With aa great deliberation aa though' the Highways lllt - U - -'-- Lamp Designs Time does not fade the beauty of the truly artistio'long association with an object which possess this characteristic brings a fuller appreciation of its perfection. And we love instinctively the article which shews the master touch''that at' tribute in which lie individuality and charm. In the great Eastern shops" factories which we represent exclusively" ."artist workmen have fashioned into entrancing forms their beautiful conceptions for the Evening Lamp. Every 'one is a realization in metal of an ar tistic life thought, and the story is told but oncc'there are no duplicates. The sentiment of the evening lamp"" best illus- trated in eur display of these distinctive forms?" will' afford interest for those who value exclusiveness and individuality in selections for the Christmas Gift - By Xmas Gifts not soon but NOW The stocks are cempleto Buy suitable gifts from a reliable firm, buy of 313 So. " T Ml I action of the exchange would establish postal savings banks or put the question on the shelf for .some years to corr"!, the Omaha Real Estate exchange la "figntlng" over a Bet of resolutions, to be forwarded. if passed, .to Nebraska congressmen and senators, asking their co-operation In secur ing the necessary legislation to establish the postal savings banks.. For four weeks the exchange has dis cussed the postal savings bank queatlon. Ex-Congressman J: L. Kennedy spoke In favor of the banks, as did also Postmaster Palmer, G. G. Wallace and others. Fred Shotwell, former private secretary to Mr. Kennedy prepared a paper on the subject and It was read by Mr. Payne of the firm of Payne & Bostwlck. ' But all the time the argument was being presented favor able to the system, one sentence of Henry W. Yiltes', who spoke against the system, disturbed the real estate dealers. Mr. Yates Bald, "It would hurt the, real estate dealers first. The savings deposited with the government could not be loaned on city real estate, and where would you get your loans?" Since Mr. Tatea made his address It has been Impossible to pass the resolution. Captain Palmer said the savings deposited In the postal savings banks would be placed at once In the national banks, and put back Into circulation again, but that did not appear to help the real estate dealers, as national banks cannot loun money oh the city property, which con stitutes a large share of the business of the private savings banks. , Opposed to the'' resolution of the Real Estate exchange are the heads of the build ing" and loan associations and the savings banks, whose business would undoubtedly be injured by the postal savings banks. John F. Flack, G. M. Nattinger, A. P. Tukey- and others "lined up" at the last meeting of the exchange to defeat the reso lutions or see that ho action waa taken. Before Mr. Flack could apeak or a motion offered on the reaolution, the meeting ad journed, and another "br.ttle"' will result at the meeting Wednesday. The discus sion serves to bring out a large number to the meetings each week, and standing room la about the best which can be of fered at an exchange meeting. Much speculation aa to the demand for vacant lands and mortgages on vacant lands Is Indulged by Omaha real estate dealers, who believe that the failure of some stocks to pay large dividends Janu ary 1 means Increased Interest In real es tate and real estate ' mortgages. It has frequently been found difficult even In Omaha to dispose of property which has no earning power, or to secure loans on va cant lots, with no earning power. "The fai t that such land has no earning power doea not signify that It has no mortgage, able vtlue," said a real eftate dealer.' "if I had a lar amount of money to loan, 1 would make no other kind of mortgage loans except those on vacant lots. I would Insist on busing the transactions on my own knowledge of the value, and would b4 generous, but If I was compelled to foreclose, I would have some valuable real e lata at a low figure. have (a ken note of the fact that the corporationa which have notes and mort gages us securities have hot been disturbed about the sickly appear.-ice which their securities made, when listed at the "market value." Even the moat aristocratic and respectable bonds have had a crack under the ribs, but the good old substantial real extate mortgatc- just smllu and attends a'.rlclly to business." A committee of the Omaha Real Estate exihane will lie appointed to Investigate the Loup river power project, endorsed last week by the Commercial club of Omaha, as entirely practical and some thing wl:l ii means mirt h for Omaha. A I number of real estate dealers opposed such an endorsement, among them W. L. St lby, as an enterprise which would rou e Into competition with tue iower companies fur nishing power from fleam plants In Omaha, but the exchange decided to investigate the p'.an and "if tt Is good enough for the Commercial club to endorse. It ought to be K'jod enough for us," was the comment of President W. T. Graham. TooUipIrk In llndy Five Weeks. For five weeks before hla death at the Samaritan hospital in Philadelphia, on Thursday, Kugene Hersch, who will be bur ied from the home of Ma parenta, carried a toothpick, which he had swallowed. In hia body. During that time the wooden splinter penetrated hia throat, paaaed down ward through hla lung, finally penetrating Exclusive urgess- Granden Co, i ' Whaleaal and Retail Gaa and . Elactrie Light Fixtures 15th Street - Omaha " ""' ' -ST" hla liver. He died In extreme aguiiy. According to friends Hersch waa walking the atreeta during the latter part of October with a toothpick In his mouth, when a violent sneezing lit selxed him. When the sneeze had passed he found that he had swallowed the toothpick. He tried to dis lodge it, but failed, and then, feeling no immediate pain, paid no further attention 'to it except to jokingly speak about It. On November 26, however, he went to the hos pital where an examination was made, anc", with the aid of X-rays, the course of the toothpick traced, at that time It waa too late for an operation to savo him. NEW ROAD BUILDING METHOD How . the Concrete oa , Poaca la Manaared by the Con. tractor. Hill Daily hauling lta load of thlrty-flve tons of crushed rock up Ponca hill Is a huge traction engine, which is doing the work of half a hundred horses, for small, in deed, would be the load a team of horses could lift up that steep grade. G. Craig & Co. has the contract from the county for macadamizing the Calhoun road, and the crushed rock and other "ma terial for thla road must be lilted up the hill, which is one of the longest and steep est In Douglas county. Mr. Craig met the difficulty of the high hill country by buy ing a traction engine of twenty-two-horso-power, which dally does the work without complaint. The engine Is In appearance above the wheels much similar to a rail road locomotive, and It drags behind It aix and seven large wagons filled with crushed rock, the total load of rock averaging about thirty-five tons. The engine carries in Its own tank and tender a ton of coal and about twelve bar rels of water. It has double-speed gear, the low gear being used in climbing the hill. IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS? If Two Are In tue Doubting; riaaa, i lleud V.'hut This Believer Suva. Why, land'a sake, child, of course they Is. I reckon I've taw Mm nigh onto a hundred tirnfs mysflf and he'll be hfre Urerktly, too. lie's .leal a wheopir' down across them Icebergs on the wuy here, licketty split, on" you betchy he'll be here on time, too. Nevr knowed him to fall yit, an' I reckon they ain't nobody's had more ex-per-lence In theae mutters than me. No, course you ain't saw him your aelf, but you got a purr-r-ty fnlr Idee how he looks, now hain't youT Sure! I kioweit you hart. Why, I ree-colh-ct jest as well's 'twas yevtlddy the first time I a" Mm. Uei'a uv, what year waa tha l'm-m. ISrotlier Jim was born In well. If I hain't clean forgotten. Well, well, well, 'pears like my niem'ry's kind ' fallln" me on l!ttle things like that, but' when It comes to Santy Claus you betchy I don't forget anything about him. I l:in dee-acribe old Santy with' my ey shet. Tall? No, not exactly tall. Kind of a little squally roly poly feller, If I re-n'"-iber rbjht, with the funniest little eyes y - ever aee. Reg'lar little weasel eyes, but so full o' fun that they Jest plum brim over and spill out on his cheeks. Not what you'd call a rear handsome man but, O, powerful good aatured. Jest do anythln' fer you If he takes a ahlne to you. , IT you're real good aa' How? How do I know he's comin' Well, well, well, jest listen to the child. How do I know! Why, bless ye, I know I & . i sourer l iris $ I r I Ask Clr , ' About I 1 I this beautiful j ' 1 1 I electric lamp. j colonial, brass if or Romanesque Murano shade, I j - Ivory art glass I f $ i top, irreen and x if vM ti Pal ,iani1 n l 1 Ap4i6&i v vr ... ' 1 EVERYTHING IN YOUR HOME SHOULD LOOK BRIGHT AND NEW FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON . We Repair and Replate Table Ware, Re finish Statues, Electric Light y Fixtures, Lamps, Etc. HAVE THIS DQJfS It will help to make your entertainments a success. Omaha Silver Company Thone Doug. 1773. ,314 South 13th St. Betweea Farnam and Harney ' Gold and Silver Plating Table Ware, Craa Fixtures, Brass Beds and Jewelry Beplated aa Hew OMAHA r&ATZSTO CO. Sellable Cold and silver Flatsra Established 1B9S 1320 Harney St. the signs as well as I know beans. You know bow a new Nooy'a ark BTnells. don't ye? Well, that's one of the signs. When ever you go down to the store and ketch a whiff o" new Noey'e arks, you c'n make up your mind that old Santy's powerful Immi nent. And another thing, too. Alona: In the late fall when th' year's gettln' kinda old an' .decrepld like, Jost bobblln' along to'rd December, you c'n jest taste the Santy Claus feelln' In th' air. "You better begin jfettln' ready," aez he, and off he goes, an' along cojnes a whole bunch of 'em, each gettm' more an" more ex-us-perated. I' tell ye the excitement Is jest about near the bustln' point by the twenty fourth of December. If Chrls'maa had came two daya later the strain would he too much. Old Nature would Jest throw up both hands an' call in th' doctor, lint you Bee they figgered 'n. thla',' so Chrla'niaa cornea two days earlier' than It would ,lf It come two daya later, an' bo everybody manages to live through It safely. Talk about excitement! Why, the buzz o' chll. dren talkln' an' the thumpin' of little hearta on the night afore Chrls'maa la enough t plum druwn'd out the aound o' aleighbells, to say nothln' o' th' crunch o fur boots on the housetops. John L. McCutcheon In Appleton's. SIZE OF A SQUARE MEAL Hungry Hobo Calls a Blaff stows A war Considerable Grab. aad "John Mendel "panhandled" a man on Main ctreet, Des Moines, and the man ap proached thought he amelled whisky cu the tramp's breath, so he said: "I will buy you allthe food you can eat, but will give you no money." "Iead me to it," replied the trarrp, and the pair entered a nearby lunchroom. "C'un I order all I can eat?" aakrd the tramp, skeptically. "Eat all you can and I'll pay for It," was tho reply. Then begun a gastronomic feat. "Six jchlckrn pies, half a dozn egga on bread, three orders of beans, and a cup of coffe,-' raid the tramp. In ten mlnutci. the first order was gone and theramp Inquired hungrily: "Can 1 order more?" "Kut all you can," replied the host. "JVur soft boiled eggs, three cup of cus tard, and a coupl- more chicken pies, ann a glasH of milk." callefl hn tram ). "And some tnaitt, well buttered," he said as an aftiTthoi'ght. It took a quarter of an hour more for the hunrry man to dispose of thla ordtr, and then came another. , "Gimme a whole pumpkin pie, and a lot of eheeHu, rd some of those appl. fritters, about half a dozen will be enough." Hy the time he had finished with this tho lunchroom was crowded with spectators. Then he stowed away a big plate of ban rnaa and cream, two plecea of apple pie and another cup tf coffee, "la that all yoa want?" asked theyaamar Itan, who had bogun to count hla money. "Juht one more piece of that pumpkin pie," -said the tramp. The bill amounted to J3.SG- tea Moines Capital