1
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, POETLAND, NOVEMBER 20,
The Jap the Best Infantry Soldier in the World
So Says- George Lynch, War- Correspondent He Tells
Thrilling Stories to Prove the Statement
SITTING at ease in a New York club,
George Lynch, correspondent, en
route to London from the seat of war
In Manchuria, Interested a little group
of acquaintances mightily the other even
ing with a string of war anecdotes. They
go a long way to explain why the Jap
anese have "had the best of it most of the
time in the present war. and they
help explain why, in Mr. Lynch" a
opinion, the Jap is the most
efficient ' infantry soldier in the
world today. It may be said at the be
ginning, though, that Mr. Lynch consid
ers the Russian soldier not one whit be
hind the Jap in bravery".
f'It has been a war of clean-handed
honor on both sides from the beginning,"
eaid Mr. Lynch. "I saw so many in
stances of almost unbelievable personal
courage, self-sacrifice and self-restraint
that I hardly know where to begin.
1 was told of a charge at Nan Shan
by a Russian regiment, one incident of
which suggested the glorious old days
when most of the fighting was honest
hand-to-hand work. The Russians -advanced
with courage and determination,
their commander well in advance. He
was one of the bravest men ever seen,
and he had unbounded confidence in his
men. for he never looked back to see
iww closely they were following. "When
ihe- had almost reached the Japanese line
lie cast one look over his shoulder. His
Iforces, brave enough, but slow, were so
far in the rear that he was practically
alone in the very teeth of the enemy
Borne officers might have turned back,
but not this Russian; he Just stopped
coming and stood for a moment, motion'
less but defiant, before the Japanese.
They might have riddled him with bul
Jets, but they didn't; they don't fight that
.way.
Duel Between Commanders.
"They seemed fascinated by his valor,
and the Japanese commander, who, like
the Russian, was in advance of his men.
demanded unconditional Surrender. The
Russian's refusal was emphatic He pre
ferred certain death to surrender, and he
dared the Japanese officer to fight him
singly with the sword. By the time the
two were ready the Russian troops, who
had continued fo advance, were ranged
behind their commanding officer in front
of the Japs. A halt was called, and the
two officers began their strange duel.
"Both were good swordsmen, but there
was little doubt from the first as to
which would win. In less than three
minutes the Russian was dead. Until the
close of the fight the soldiers on both
sides stood motionless almost like stat
ues. There were no cries of encourage
roent or defiance; save for the somewhat
distant sounds of battle, to the right and
the left, the duel was fought In silence.
Immediately after the Russian officer had
fallen the opposing forces fell upon each
other tooth and nail. The Russians were
renulsed. after a show of desperate brav
ery, and when it was all over the ranks
had been frightfully depleted on both
sides.
"The Russian must have expected death
when he called out his challenge, for the
Japanese officers are known to have no
superiors as swordsmen. They are all
descendants of the old Samurai, or two
sworded men, and are trained in swords
manshlp from boyhood. Most of their
swords were owned by their forefathers.
centuries before, and have been handed
down, glorious heirlooms of the past.
They are slender, quivering blades, made
by the old-time swordmakers, each with
its own curve. They are as full of in
dlviduallty as their owners, instead of
being practically all alike, as are the
swords carried by the officers in every
"Western army, and are of even finer ten
per than the famous blades of Damascus.
They are carried in scabbards -of modern
make, and are sharpened to a razor edge
thus every officer In the Japanese army
is admirably armed for hand-to-hand
fighting.
"There Is no doubt In the mind of any
body that the splendid physical condl
tlon of the Japanese soldiers, next to
their personal valor, has been their larg
est asset in the present war.
How a Jap Trained.
"The Japanese servant of an English
officer of my acquaintance belonged to
the Imperial Guard. At the beginning of
the war he was recalled to the colors.
The officer asked him how he felt about
going out to fight the Russians; if he
had any regrets because he might soon
be in personal danger. 'Not sorry, glad
said the Jap in his odd English; 'this is
country business
"This Japanese servant had four days
in which to prepare to Join bis command.
"What do you think he did on those four
"TO
J
TJ7rr7Afr. 3?v?
days? He didn't spend them 'having a
good time,' as an English or an American
soldier would. I assure you. Hlswork as
my friend's servant had been light, and
his muscles were soft. He wanted to
harden them, and he concluded that a
course of mountain-climbing was about
the best thing he could engage in for that
purpose. The Sen Game Mountain not a
large one being near by, he attacked It.
The first day he climbed to its top only
twice, but, having limbered himself up,
he made three ascents on each of the re
maining three, or 11 ascents in the four
days. I don't know an Englishman or an
American who would willingly undertake
to o as much for any reason. In fact, I
kite few Occidentals who could have
done as much under any circumstances.
"At Hal Cheng, where I wa3 when the
Japanese army came up after a long and
severe "march which would have left the
soldiers of any "Western nation in an ex
hausted condition, I looked to see all
hands take a good loaf, Inasmuch as
there was no fighting to be done Just
then. But the next morning I learned
that loafing was the last thing they had
in their minds. Soon after I awoke I saw
a Japanese officer standing on a little
mound of earth waving his arms, bending,
first this way and then that, and doing all
sorts of queer stunts. At first I thought
that perhaps he was signalling by some
new method. But I looked a little farther
and then saw that the men of his com
mand were drawn up before him without
arms and on a little lower level, where
they tiould all" see .him plainly, and that
they were Imitating every motion he
made.
"Then I understood. They wore going
through a series of severe physical culture
exercises. Jest to harden themselves and
to limber up, so that they would be In the
pink of condition when the time came for
them to fight. They lay at Hal Cheng ten
days, and they trained themselves every
day of the ten. There was no loafing
about, no idleness; they were getting
themselves into shape all the time, though.
of course, there were brief periods of
necessary rest. Every Jap soldier is ex
actly like a prizefighter, who would never
think of resting on the last day before a
flstio battle: they would be the very ones
which he would devote to hl3 hardest
training.
Physical Culture by Boys.
The Japanese of every rank begins
physical culture of the severest sort when
mere boy. In Toklo, at the public
gymnasia in the parks, you may see Just
how the average Jap boy does it, and the
sight is an interesting one. There are all
sorts of apparati to answer to the parallel
bars, tho trapeze, etc, but there are other
apparati, the like of which are never seen
in an Occidental gymnasium.
"One of them is a sort of suspended
swinging bar, as big as a tree trunk. Two
boys climb upon this bar. Standing and
facing each other, they engage In. a
wrestling match, the object of each being
to force the other off the bar to the
ground. They grapple and turn and twist
and struggle fiercely, sometimes for many
minutes, before victory Is won and lost.
There 13 nothing compulsory about this
sort of thing, but practically every Jap
anese boy does it, and it is likely that one
who shirked it would not stand well with
his fellows.
"The bodily hardness and indifference to
discomfort which constant striving from
youth up for physical perfection produces
has a good deal to do with the making of
the Jap the best soldier in the world.
World's Best Infantry Soldier.
"Perhaps I should say that I mean the
best infantry soldier, since the Jap la not
yet a good cavalryman. Ho will be.
though, and the only reason he is not now
is that he has never ha1 the chance, xne
few horses in Japan are inferior animals.
The Japanese have begun to breed horses,
however, and though it will take some
time to build up a good breed, they will do
it. They do everything they set out to do.
"Colonel Hoad, the first Australian mili
tary attache, told me of having noticed a
man on horseback one day. whom he s.et
down instantly as the best horseman he
had ever seen. Hoad Inquired and found
that the rider was the Japanese Prince
Kanln, who had learned to ride in the
French cavalry school. Other Japanese
have bean trained there, too, and it will
r.ot be very long after the close of th
present war before the Japanese will add
as efficient a cavalry branch to their
army as any to be found in the "Western
world. There is no reason in the world
to prevent the Jap from being as good
horseman as anybody .else.
"I have said that the Japanese were
learning their horsemanship In France.
They learned how to handle artillery from
the French, as they learned how to han
die ships from the English, and as they
learned tactics from the Germans. But
they have practically destroyed all the
books of tactics. The Japanese have
poetical phrase about valor, which they
say is like 'cherry blossoms shaken In the
wind.' "Well, they hare torn up all the
war textbooks, and scattered the leaves
to tho four winds.
"Blocb, who has been considered
standard authority, says in his book that
after an advancing army has lost 15 or 20
per cent of Its number It Is no longer
expected to go on. But. bless you, the
Japanese have made some of their most
brilliant advances when only 15 or 20 per
cent of their forces have been left to go
on with, over and over again. Poor Bloch
died before he knew how frightfully his
L dicta were to be discredited by the Jap
anese In thi3 war. The Russian defenses
at Nan Shan were Ideal, and every mill
tary expert in the world has them posi
tively impregnable but the Japs took
them. Had they been entrenched behind
those defenses no army in existence could
have taken them.
"I mentioned artillery a moment ago,
don't suppose it is known generally
America how inferior to the Russian guns
are tho guns of the Japanese. I have
actual knowledge that whereas the caliber
of the heavy field pieces of the Russians
Is 1SS4 kilos, that of the Japanese is only
1300. The muzzle velocity of the Jap
anese projectiles is 100 feet a second less
than that of the Russian projectiles, and
the Russian guns carry 1000 yards farther
more than half a mile Into the bargain
yet tho Japs do better with their field
artillery than the Russians, though
must be added that there Is one advan
tage in their lighter guns, Inasmuch as
they allow of greater mobility on the
field.
"You have heard of the Jap's coolness.
It Is superb. He has all the elan of the
French; yet he is not carried away with
emotion when displaying his greatest
valor. He knows what he Is about all the
time, and he gives his life, when neces
sary, from pure patriotism. He takes-caro
of his life, even In the moments of great
est emergency, though, but not because
ho is afraid to lose it. It is that he may
fight for the Emperor and Japan that he
tries to save It.
"At Llao Tang one day I wished to see
a Japanese Lieutenant while the big
fight there was going on. He was sta
tioned at General Oyama's headquarters,
which were established In the midst of a
beautiful Chinese garden. Stepping to the
open door I saw a man, clad in an im
maculate white. suit, sitting quietly at a
table,' reading a Japanese newspaper,
which completely hid his face. "When I
spoke he put the newspaper down and
then I saw that I was before Oyama
himself. In the house and in the garden
outside all was as peaceful as if the world
had never known war. .
"Oyama was courteous: he asked me in
and offered whisky and soda and a good
cigar, for both of which I was duly grate
ful I had not had a drink in three days
and waved me- to an inner room where
Kodama and other officers were sitting.
The talk was Jolly and cheerful, almost
flippant. I asked about some detail of the
fighting. Kodama laughed. "You know
too much now,' he said, with a smile and
gesture which said as plainly as. words:
could say: Drink your whisky and soda,
smoke your cigar and be comfortable. "We
will attend the fighting. Tour dispatches
can wait.'
"And, even while the two Generals were
Joking and laughing with me, they were
attending to the fighting. At intervals
orderlies, sometimes covered with the
grime of the battle, would come In. salute,
and deliver verbal messages, brief and
terse, from some officer in the field. Oya
ma would suspend his talk, listen, give
his directions and then return with ani
mation to the perfectly commonplace topic
under discussion, precisely as if nothing
special were afoot.
Ho received many telephone and tele
graph messages, too, in the same matter-
of-fact way, and dictated his replies- to
his secretary, never losing the fire in his
cigar and contentedly sipping his whisky
and soda all the while.
"The pretty peaceful Chinese garden in
which Oyama's headquarters was hidden
away was the center of a veritable spider
web of .wires through which the commander-in-chief
could get instant com
munication with any part of his forces.
The Japs lead the world In field teleg
raphy, unlike western warriors, they
string the wires on the ground, and not
on posts, thus saving time and money.
They have the art of securing insulation
worked out to perfection, though' they
cannot .always prevent the Chinese from
meddling with the wires.
"I saw one Chinaman cut off a piece
of Japanese telephone wire to make a
necklace of it. In three minutes he had
been beheaded in full sight of dozens of
his countrymen, no lighter punishment be
ing thought sufficiently terrifying to teach
them the lesson they so plainiy needed."
George Lynch, despite his youth, for
he is not much above 20, is a veteran
among war correspondents. His first cam
paign was in Cuba, and he was one of
the first sorrespondents at the front. He
went to South Africa when the Boer "War
broke out. and got to Ladysmlth in time
to -be shut up with Sir George white, the
commander, and his forces, when be
sieged by the Boers.
Lynch managed to escape when the
siege was about half-way over. He hoped
to reach Buller, but was captured by a
solitary, long-bearded Boer a little south
of Ladysmlth. and kept In prison a month,
narrowly escaping execution as a spy.
At Durban he was laid up with enteric
fever (typhoid) for -three months;1 bufgot'"'
away In time to go with the forces sent
to relieve the Legations at Peking, so that
he knew something of the people and the
country when the Russo-Japanese "War
broke out. Last year he was sent to
Macedonia, when there seemed some like
lihood of a general uprising there. After
that, there being no fighting in sight, he
took time to get married and made his
wedding journey a trip around the world
his fifth.
"While in Japan, on this' trip he heard and
saw enough to convince him that war
between Japan and Russia was inevitable.
On his way home- across Siberia and Rus
sia he changed his mind, for the Russians
told him that they would never push con
clusions to the fighting point they would
bluff as long as feasible and then make
the best terms they could. The only war
like note he heard from the Russians was
the remark of a Russian Prince, his fellow
traveler on the Trans-Siberian road, as
the train was rolling over some of Sibe-
ria's richest territory:
" 'God!' said tie Russian, looking out
of the window, "but this country 13 worth
fighting for.' "
DEXTER MARSHALL.
"A Bachelor's Thanksgiving"
By -Hugh Herd man
ATTERSLET thought himself In
.great good luck. Fortune is not
thought -to be especially fond of
newspaper men, who earn their bread by.
the wrinkles of their brow. Indeed, she
has been more than once suspected by
these same men of being in league with
the public to make their way uncommonly
rough and stoimy.. When it Is considered
that they must forego holidays, dinners,
theaters, balls and other social amenities,
for the -sake of visiting the police sta
tion, ferreting out the facts of the latest
murder or suicide, gathering real estate,
marriage, divorce, birth and death data,
writing editorials, getting up the "funny
column," interviewing politicians, come
dians and prize-fighters In short, doing
the thousand and one things that must
be done to cover the dally news and sup
ply copy for the next day's Issue when
this is considered, perhaps Fortune does
teem to bestow her favors on less deserv
ing mortals.
But on this day Battcrsley had no quar
rel with the dame. She had decreed that
Thiirsdav should be his day off. and by
Knme hanDv chance had brought it about
that Thanksgiving should fall upon that
adv. Hence, with the day and evenln
tnr hi own. he considered himself in luck
and meant to take advantage of the op
rvrttmitv to enioy himself. Not a lino
ronuld he write.
Nflw. Battersley was no common, cub
reporter, no callow, sophomoric youth Just
learning the a-b-c's of the profession. He
had held responsible positions an some of
the big dallies, and among newspaper men
was well known. The public, of course.
Know him not. although he had on many
an occasion molded the public's fiacld
mind Into some sort of form and then
vitalised it with an idea, for which the
nubile took the credit. But he made no
quarrel over that that was his business
he merely smiled at tho egotism of it- At
present his occupation was of this sort
that Is to say. he was an editorial writer
on a naoer which exerted great influence.
But this was his day off; it was Thanks-
el viiw. too.
The morning, or what was left of it
niter he had hi fill of cat-naps and half
dreams, he would spend In writing letters.
He had been altogether too careless about
his correspondence, he told himself, but
he would atone for it now. His .brother,
his only living relative, came first.
Months bad gone by without a letter.
True, Jack had married years ago, set
tled down, and now had a family, hut
that did not Imply that Jack would not
like to hear from him. Ho would like a
letter from Jack, too; dear, old, happy
Jack but. oh,' well, Jack was busy; he
had more than himself to look out for
now. By Jove! he would wager It would
be great to have a family of your own,
people who were dependent on you, and
took an Interest In you, looked for your
coming home, soft little arms about your
neck, rosy faces against yours, sweet,
childish voices calling to you "Hold on
here. Ham, old boy," he muttered, break
ing out of his reverie. "None of that sen
timental twaddle, you old fooL Childish
voices calling to you! TJ-m, yes, I can
hear 'cm now at about 2 A. M., Just when
I'm getting to sleep after turning out a
column of copy. All the same, it must oe
fine to have a home of your own, es
pecially on Thanksgiving."
Many friends there were whom he
would like to hear from, but to whom
he owed letters. There was Charlie
Hunter, on tho Sun;. Ned Owenby, on
the Herald; two rollicking, whole-
souled, brilliant fellows, and sour.
crabbed Pete Hall, who did the "fun
ny stuff" for the Record, and genial
Owen Long and "Red" Small, on the
Times, and a score more with whom he
had worked, and.whd were his friends
through thick and thin. He couldn't
write to all of them, he mused, not now
at least, but he would soon. Leaning
back in his chair, with his hands be
hind his head, he tried to pick one or
two. But his thoughts wandered away
from tho question, and dwelt on the
days . and nights he bad spent with
them. Incidents that he bad not
thought of for years Tecurred to him.
and all but forgotten memories came
trooping back, and all were pleasant
Once only he thought of a man who
had intentionally injured Mm. but he
swore unctuously at the unlaid ghost.
and turned again quickly to his friends.
This was no time for such memories
as that to TrowL
An hour he sat thus, dreaming of
davu crone by. and smiling at .the
dreams. "Why was it a fellow didn't
make frlendshlna like those all the
time? he asked himself. Perhaps be
cause he doesn't have time. No, that
couldn't be the reason, for It -doesn't
take leisure. It must be because when
a fellow ia young he Is full of en
thusiasm and trustfulness, his heart is
soft and demonstrative, and he wears
his likes and dislikes upon his sleeve
and when ho grows older and learns
more about the .world. Us wickedness,
its deceltfulness and its gross selfish
ness, he loses his enthusiasm and his
confidence, his heart becomes hard and
self-repressed, and he covers his feel
ings with a cloak of reserve. Anyhow,
ho concluded, old friends are the best,
.and a man is an egregious idiot who
lets anything loosen the bonds that
bind them to him.
'.'Pete," he exclaimed aloud, "you're
the ono I'll write to! Tou dellclously
pessimistic old pencil pusher, you!
You're soured on the world, you are
forever affirming that life is a snare'
and a delusion, that there is no truth
in man though you mean woman, be
cause there was one once, but never
mind that the whole game is not
worth the candle, and that you'll be
hanged if you ever lift a finger to help
it along; and yet there isn t a warm
cr-hearted chap in the world than you.
or one who docs more to kick the
rocks out of other people's way. Tou
are always doing a sneaking, under
handed good turn for some poor, down
hearted fellow, as you did for me when
I was ready to head for the river, and
then getting as mad as a wet hen if
he finds it out and thanks you for it.
Yes, I'll write to you.
The afternoon found Battcrsley start
ing out to Indulge himself the pleas
ure of making calls on the few young
ladlea he knew. This he found less of
a pleasure than ho anticipated. At Miss
Hampton's he found the family and
guests at dinner. Ha excused himself
as best he could In his embarrassment.
and left. As the door closed behind him
he cursed himself for a blundering
blockhead. "You Ignoramus, you have
lived so long at grubpiles and hash-
foundries that you have forgotten when
mealtime is with intelligent people. A
queer time to have dinner, however, the
middle of the afternoon!" He almost
gave up his attempt for fear of a slmi
lar experience elsewhere, but decided
to try again.
At Colonel Howards he was more
fortunate. Here, however, he encoun
tered three or four young men who
were calling on Miss Howard. He -would
not have objected to that, had the conver
sation touched on subjects that he knew
the least thing about. They were .all
college men, and their every thought
seemed centered in the relative merits
of the college football teams; the de
tails of the Yale-Princeton and Harvard
Yale games were as familiar to them as
they were unfamiliar to him. He- re
membered that this was the football sea
son, and bad a faint Idea about who had
won, but he saw that to venture a re
mark In the presence of such experts as
tbess, was to court discomfiture.' But he
disliked to appear disinterested; so he
asked one of them who he thought would
win the Tale-"West Point game, and was
Informed with an air of pitying conde
scension that the game had been played
long ago. He subsided. "When this sort
of talk ceased for a moment, he interposed
subject of National current interest.
Miss Howard frankly pleaded ignorance.
The men replied that they paid little at
tention to news of that kind, and, besides,
one could never believe newspaper reports,
anyhow. "When his next opportunity came
he made some formal remark and rose to
leave. Miss Howard was so glad 'he
called, and the men were glad to. have met
him. Outside he drew a long breath.
shook himself and muttered "butterflies!"
Resolved to try Just once more, he rang
the bell and asked for Miss Young. She
was at home and received him graciously.
She thought it would be much more cozy
to sit In the library before the fireplace,
and he felt assured of a pleasant, chat.
He had always liked her. She seemed
frank and sincere in such contrast with
other girls of his acquaintance. She had
learned when they first met that he was
an editorial writer, and pleased him by
praising one she had read In the paper
that morning, and then asking who wrote
It, He had acknowledged the authorship,
and she had declared that she should try
to select those he wrote. He had called
frequently that Is, for him and she bad
shown Interest in his work. Indeed, she bad
vowed that she could always tell Just
which he wrote. Several weeks had
passed, however, since his last calL Her
first question took the Joy out of his
fancy. "Why hadn't he been writing late
ly? Had he been away on a vacation?
No? Oh, perhaps he had changed to some
other paper. That was strange; sun, sne
hadn't had much time to read the papers
of late, and no doubt that was thg reason
6he had not recognized his work.
"Wouldn't he have some of these delicious
bonbons? She had been . to church in
the morning and on the way home simply
couldn't pass that perfectly dear, little
candy 'store on the corner. Their candles
were so dellclously tempting. Did he1 go
to the theater often? "What, have to work
at night! Oh, how perfectly horrid! Had
he read Marie Correlll's latest nove!7 it
was awfully sweet. "What did he do with
all his time, then, if he didn't go to the
theater, make calls or read novels?
And so It went for an' hour. "When, he
did escape, it was with his stomach sur
feited with bonbons and his head buzzing
with adjectives. There were yet two
hours befbre dinner time, when he pur
posed to treat himself to a royal good
dinner. He could have a. good time alone.
anyhow. He wondered how he could ever
have thought that Kir! sincere.
Two hsKrs in the Mriotir Teetered XI
equanimity, sad eve him. a heerty ap
petite for dinner. "While dresslnsr he de- I about the came than tha fcovs did! The
bated whether he should not call up some I all-but-forgotten "puppy loves" came
friend and ask him to dine; but he finally
decided that his own thoughts would be
the best company. Ho knew.no one who
would be likely to fall In with his present
mood; and he had had enough of conver
sation for conversation's sake during the
afternoon. If he bored himself, he could
upbraid himself and give no offense.
Before he had finished his soup, he
wished that he had Invited someone to
dine with him. The thoughts that came
to him as he ate alone were not so pleas
ant as he had anticipated. He had ex
pected to find the dining-room filled with
a happy crowd; Instead, it was almost de
serted. As he sat there, toying Idly with
fork, his mind reverted to another
Thanksgiving dinner which he and Pete
Hall and Owen Long had eaten at a lit
tle Bohemian restaurant in New Tork;
No solitude then, no unpleasant memo
ries, nothing but the present hour, the
dinner, good cheer, and each other,
"Where were Pete and Owen tonight? he
wondered. Not eating alone, he wagered,
in some big empty place like this, gloom
ing over the past and making themselves
miserable. "What a fool he was making
of himself by thus living eq much apart
from human, companionship! The other
men of the city, where were they to
night? Either at "home enjoying- the best
dinner of the year with their families, or
invited out to share the hospitality of
friends. But he well, here ha was alone,
not from necessity, but from choice.
Under the 'Influence of good food and
excellent wine, his spirits became lighter.
ne ceased 10 rail at nimseu aiier prom
ising not to be .so diffident and exclusive,
Suddenly something which he tasted, the
pickled peaches maybe, took him clear
back to his boyhood days. He saw the lit
tle country town where he was born and
reared, the queer cottages and large
yards, the one long street, the general
store and postoffice, the depot and the
simple, open-hearted people. He remem
bered all the boys he played "blackraan"
and baseball and "run-sheep-run" with,
and went swimming and coasting and
skating with, and all those he- had
"scrapped" with and "busted, 'playin
keeps." And the little old schoolhouse,
he would never forget that, where he
used to think he led a dog's life, but
where he now saw he was pretty close to
paradise. And the "ilckin's" he and the
other kids used to get for "playln'
hookey" or swearin' or shootin' pape:
wads. And the girl3. too he rcmera
bered them all; the ones he wrote to, and
sicked up courage enough to skate with,
or set 'em up to ice cream at a churchy
"sociaDie." ljora, wnac a gawjt ie was.
and bow the old folks used to Jvadge each
other and laugh at, the youaaeUral.. And
how much more the girls a c email to know
trooping back and made him smile,' es
pecially the all-consuming passion he had
for one of his teachers. The apples and
hickory nuts and black-eyed daisies he
used to leave on her deskl But, by Jove!
didn't she show herself unworthy of his
love when she humiliated him by mak
ing him sit on her lap, right before the
whole school, too! That showed her in
her true light. He never could love her
after that.
The smile of pleasure that these rem
iniscences brought to his lips gave way
to one' of sadness as he thought of him
self a few years later, when he had Just
about reached his majority and was
striking out. for himself. The clearest
memory he had of that, time was of a
piquant face that seemed to look at him
through the wreaths of smoke from his
cigar. Nearer and nearer it came, the
broad, smooth brow crowned with fair,
wavy hair, the smiling eyes heedless of
ma saoness, ana tno iuu rea. lips paxtea
In a smile of amusement at his dejection
or so he thought. "Good God!" he ex
claimed, drawinsr his hand hastilv across
his brow, "I thought I had forgotten, but
love her yet. I have tried to forget,
but I can't, I can't."
Suddenly he wrested his mind out of
this reverie, sighed heavily and looked
about the room. He was alone. "This
reminds me of that drawing of Gibson's
called 'Fame,' " he remarked, forcing
weak smile, "only I have neither fame
nor a family. "Whew, but I am down In
the dumps! I think about the best thing
I can do is to go up to the office and
turn out some copy. I'm sure I can.
write, same thing- to the point en The
Folly of Idleness or 'Thanksgiving a3 It
Should Not be Spent' "
POKES AKD PRAYER MEETING
probable that none participated in the
game, or, if they did, that, as presuma
bly inexperienced In such exercise. . they
quit losers," and, to recover anything
from them, like shearing a Thanksgiving
pig, would cost more than It would come
to.
In all, a sufficient number of defendants
are named to compose a pretty fair-sized
prayer meeting, and this goes to show the
wide prevalence of the game, not only In
the Ohio town referred to, but elsewhere,
and nearly everywhere in the country
where there Is enough local prosperity or
credit to qualify "sitters in" for the con
test. The action of the lady in this case
is an evidence that the best asset a poor
player and sure loser can have Is a wife
courageous enough to take a hand In the
game after it is played and come in with
her legal action of reprisal. But If her
course were to find many imitators,. It
might involve a reconstruction of the in
stitutes of the game, making provision
that all married players should bring with
them something In the nature or a guar
antee that their wives would not go to law
afterward to get back the spousal losses.
Without some such protection tne game is
likely to lose a good "share of Its popu
larity,, at least in tho town of Akron, O.
Byron in Chinook.
The following- parody appeared in the column
of tho Victoria (B. C) Colonist some 30 veais
ago:
Tho light kanlm o'er. Frasers waves
May hyack coolie still;
And breasft tho foam the base that laves
Of every pine-clad hill;
Qulnetum still may travel thers.
And hunt the znowltch and the "Dear.
But ankatty a barque an light ' ' '
Hath Praser witnessed there; '. ' "?
Her crew arrayed in blaakets bright;'
Manned by' our kJootchman fair:
The willow weeps on Fraser'a shore, s
Our charming maiden charms no mare..
An Ohio Wife's Suit Making Trouble
for Some of the Truly Good.
New Tork Times.
An Ohio wife has sued a largo collec
tion of the leading citizens of her home
town to recover sums of money alleged to
have been won by them from her husband
at tho game of poker. This sporting group
of high rollers includes most of the polit
ical and official and publican society of
the commune; the health .officer Is In It
and the City Engineer: the Clerk also,
and the Superintendent of Canals. The
fiwgers of Couacilmen and candidates for
Councilman are numerous in the pie, and
the president of the Men's Society of the
Methodist church shows up as a sport of
the, first water. No clergyman being,
ve&tiooed la the. Bet of defendants,., it is
Mosquitoes still upon the banks
Their airy windings trace.
Millions on millions In their ranks,
A meat mesatchie race;
To drink qulnetum's blood they wait.
They cannot live across the Strait;
But we must chaco hya sick,
And tenaa leelle die.,
And with our father's copa stick
When raamaloose must He;
For where we were the lords of yore
Our native land knows mm bo mors.
"I suppose," said the admirer, .'.'that ye
have devoted enormoas effort, bA study to act
ing." "No," answered Xr. Stormleete
Barnes; "the acting is cosaperetlvely r.
Getting front one. town to tas Heat I whet
require the eCsrt aae atsir.'V