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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1903)
Ms E had four children and a baby arms. The names and ages the children were Respective ly Anna Maria, aged 7; Minnie Kate, ged 6; Albert, aged 4; Maud Har riet, aged 3, and the baby, Sarah Ellen, Just turned 1 year. He himself rejoiced In the name of Joseph Webber, and believed himself to be about 8, but his mother was nev er quite sure. They all lived at the top of a narrow, tumble down house, and Mrs. Webber always spoke of herself as a "wldder." Her first husband had died "In 'ole Hengland," the second here. ' Mrs. Webber got her living by char ing, and as long as she was sober al ways managed to secure enough work, hut she was an Improvident, thriftless woman, and any extra money she might secure either went for drink or was spent on Indigestible food, such as tinned salmon and pineapple or shell fish, which often made the poor baby 111 for weeks later. She took lit tle Interest In her family, save now and then for a fit of maudlin senti ment over her orphans, but on the other hand was seldom violent except after an extra heavy bout of drinking, when the children carefully kept out oi the way, being taken In and given shelter by kindly neighbors. Her one Idea of responsibility was to try to lock her family In before starting off for her work, "to keep 'em out of mischief," as she said, "for she wasn't goln' to have her Jimmy's chil dren, rest his sowl, brought up on the streets an' kapin' low company!" But Blnce Joe had been 5 years old he had nearly always evaded this ma ternal fort-thought, which was not dif ficult, as his mother slept heavily, and before she could open her eyes and struggle to her feet in the morning Illie Children were nil im nrwl nu-nv taking with them enough money from her purse to pay for their dinner. ; In vain she swore and thrashed them nt nights when she remembered.; it . was np use, and the same little scene was enacted every morning. The first thing Joe did on ushering his little irood into the open air was to take hem to a covered passage leading into i little blind alley; here they sat down ; md shared the bread and "scrape," I r sometimes the bread without the scrape, which he had prepared. The 1 aoy had its milk, and then they fin shed up their repast with a drink of suier aias, never a wash. 1 After this the rin.i. flay begau for Httl Mnthr to get the girls to school, nnrt with tha least amount of friction; that was al- ujb me puzzling question. When hey were vountrer thmnta niw, wved him, but now they were long egged and nimble and shrill, and he ad to resort to bribes and cunning. uigu yer time, ain't It, Minnl te.' he remarked hinnriw icular morning, as he wiped the ba- vo mourn with his sleeve, "and I now yer'll want to be punckshall and 'eat that riiu r .u,. . ... t. , -wim hit reg lar ftendance." Mlnnlkite , fut.ii UUU BlUUVU Ul I"! With lone wtMro.) i.- ..vtu ticcu eyes, uiiu "en she slowly put out her tongue. nppens to know," he continued, weary patience, and duBtlng the "y s head as he spoke, "that there's noo law pest 'bout nhiiriiw. t'?lnr"8BOn fr DOt Kin' t0 Bch001 AN hat nrlee. imnri i r- a. with her head on one side. tti R0 wLon 1 can" he replied, uing on the win . . I na you know I goes every time Mrs. fiei as no washln' and can mind the ,iyr 'Well, ma sea hn'ii ,.un loath nex' time the 'specter comes ar i er Dut you. So now." s " 'YER JEST TRUSJ JOE.' " Joe "Well, sadly, "there'll be no one to mind yer if she does." "Yah! oo wantsmindln? Go and put yer 'ead in a bag and keep it there! Come along, Annermirla, let's go fer a walk In the park. We'll 'ave a good ole time, won't we?" "Yer won't get a bit fer yer dinner if yer do. But don't upset yerselves; there'll be more for Albert an' Maudie, 'Arriet and me!" "Yah! bury yerself!" was the polite retort, as the young ladles disappeared round the corner. But Joe did not really feel uneasy, as he was con vinced they, had no real intention of stopping away from school. "I won't let ma beat you. I'll bite 'er legs if she do!" a little voice said by his side. He looked down grate fully. It was Mauuie Harriet. "Yer alius was a good little un," he said; then added, with precocious knowledge, "but, then, they gen'rally Is good when they's kiddles. It's when they gets older they gets so rough. I mind Mlnnlkite and Annermirla Jest like lambs." , "Like me?" asked Albert, looking up from his mud pies. " "Now, you're Jest a fat puddin' 'ead. Put yer cap on at once or I'll soon mike yer mind!" The baby began to whimper, and he folded her close In his arms and kissed the little shriveled face. "Shoo, go ter sleep, Salrey Ellen," he whispered softly, "It's a long time 'fore you'li grow up and git rough and saucy." Some hours later and the children sat shivering at the top of the drafty stairs for their mother to come home and unlock the door. "She's lite to-night," Anna Maria said, leaning over the broken down rail. But even as she spoke a heavy step came up the stairs. The children listened anxiously, and Joe at last ob served: "She 'asn't 'ed much. Guess we'll be 'er orphans to-night." In a few moments a woman's heavy, bloated face appeared, followed by an unwie.ay body. "Lite yter-night," she said, rather thickly, feeling for her key. "O, well, turn over noo leaf ter-morrer' When she had lit a lamp on the ta ble, she sat down on the one sound chair and began to cry. "Gimme me blby," she said at last; "me little orphan biby me Jimmy's chile." .1 She fell to kissing it, and it woke with a feeble, peevish cry. With an oath she pushed it from her, and Joe Just caught It as it al most fell from her lap. "Take it," she said, "there'll be bet ter company ter-morrer." He walked up and down until -the child slept again with its tiny head against his neck, while the woman Snored heavily in her chair. The early winter light was Just filtering through the unshuttered window when Joe awoke and sat up. His mother had not slept in the bed. He blinked his eyes and looked towards the chair, but It was empty. With a little cry he sprang out of bed and rushed towards the door, but she had oulwitted him this time, and it was locked. That morning went slowly by, while the children fought and wrangled and the baby wailed and would not be comforted. Towards evening Joe was leaning out of the window showing the baby some sparrows fighting on an opposite roof, when there was a shrill scream behind him. He turned, and, to his horror, saw Albert stand ing shrieking, with a lighted newspa per in his hand. "Let go, yer fool!" he" shouted. The child let go his hold, and the lighted paper fluttered against some rotten clothing hanging against the wall, and the next moment the whole room seemed full of smoke and flames. Joe sprang to the door and kicked with all -.8 might, but it would not yield to his puny efforts, and the smoke stifled him. There was no water in the room, and the woodwork had already caught and begun to crackle. He ran to the window and gazed out. By the side of the window on one side there was about four feet of broken stone ledge about a foot and a half wide; on the other side It had crumbled away. "Git out of the winder on to this!" he shouted to Mlnnlkite. She climbed on to the stone work as, best she could and clung to the side like a little rat Anna Maria followed, and Albert hold ing Maudie between them. There was no room for more. A crowd had gathered below, and a man waa trying frantically to kick down the stout oak door, which old Ell Mathews, the only other then in mate of the house, always locked when he went out Joe watched him with a sickening fear in his heart and mois tened his Hps. The heat of the fire inside was scorching him, and black smoke came belching out above his head. I'm fallln'!" shouted Mlnnlkite. shrill with agony. "I'm fallln'. O, Joe! Joe!" The crowd heard her, and. yelled hoarsely: "Hold on! The ladders are coming! Don't move! Hold the little one up!" Albert and Maudie crouched huddled up tdgether on the ledge, and kept their eyes fixed in almost despairing trust on Joe's face. Their breath came and went in quick, convulsive sobs. "O, Joe! O Joe!" "It's all right" he said steadily. He had the baby in his arms, with a shawl well wrapped oveR its head to keep out the smoke. Next moment there was a yell from the crowd be low. "The hook an ladaer! Here It comes!" "O, Gawd!" said Joe, between his closed teeth, "0, Gawd!" ' But even as he spoke there came a blinding burst of smoke and flame, fol lowed by one shrill scream of agony, when he could see distinctly again the whole ledge had broken away, and disappeared Into the crowd below. He drew In his breath. The baby's shawl was already ablaze, and one of his legs had been scorched black in the fire. He clambered on to the sill while the crowd shrieked to him in despair. "O, Gawd." said Joe. "If yer can, will yer ketch us? O, Gawd! O, Gawd!" and he hugged the baby closer. whispered, and Jumped, But he with whom not "a sparrow falls to the- ground without their father," had given his angels charge over them to keep them in all their ways, and they brought them to him. Chicago Tribune. LIFE IN THE SEA. The Cnrione Things that Thrive in an Aquarium. Mr. Spencer, the superintendent of the New Yorkj Aquarium, a few days ago was busying himself by picking a lot of sand fleas from a dipper and dropping them into a Jar of anemones. As they fell Into the water they straightened themselves out and then slowly dropped to the bottom, kicking as they fell. A few of them alighted on the body of, an anemone, which promptly closed up. One, unfortun ately, found himself, when he had set tled, on the tentacles of one of the anemones. These began to serve the purpose for which they were bestow ed upon the anemone, and the flea, or scud, suddenly found himself Inside the capacious maw of the anemone, and the life was soon squeezed out of him. . "All Is grist that comes to our mill," quoted Mr. Spencer. "These were on a lot of mussels which came in a little while agoI thought I would save them. There Is life everywhere in the water. Look at this!" He held up a dozen mussels, held together by what appeared to be a vegetable growth. "That is an animal growth, known as serturlaria," saftl he. "In this bunch you will find all sorts of animal life There are scuds, or sand fleas, and rock crabs. Look!" He held up one of the valves of a mussel shell. On It was a sea anemone. "No tice that reddish coating, part of which has flaked off. Look at it closely. Doesn't It look like lace work? That Is the bryoza coral, the lowest form of mollusk coral. You will find life on nearly everything that comes from the sea. Here's one of the rock crabs." He took out of the nest of mussels a little crab, about the size of one's finger nail, and drop ped It into a Jar of water. New York Tribune. . "LOST MONDAY." Popular Fete in Belgium the Origin oi Which la a Myaterjr. The first Monday after Epiphany is a fete day throughout Belgium? "Lost Monday" it is called here; exactly why no one seems able to explain. The origin of the fete . is lost In the le gends of the middle ages, but the mod em acceptation of the day Is certainly lost to no one here. Like Mardl Graft, Lost Monday Is a day of general merrymaking; every cafe and restau rant In Brussels keeps "open house," and free fare . is on hand for all pa trons of the establishment and as a matter of fact for many others as well who are not regular patrons. On Black Monday, then, as it Is Iron ically called by some of King Leo pold's subjects not bverenchanted with the day, the streets of Brussels are given over to the people, and the ad venturous foreigner who, Ignorant of the country's customs, ventures out Is apt to find that the Belgian populace is no respecter of persons. On this day the shopkeepers, sighing behind their counters, find themselves com pelled to hand over to their custom ers' servants a forced contribution, amounting to a certain percentage of the year's purchases, while the bak ers, too, have a contribution to offer In the shape of cakes specially made for the occasion, and offered as glfu to their 'clientele. In this manner, says the Brussels correspondent, of the New York Times, the unique fete Is perpetuated, though the calendar does not note In any particular manner the first Mon day after Epiphany. MAP OF SCANDINAVIA AND FINLAND. ADED PORTION SHOWS THE Wooden Menagerie Of an Ohio Man. "Menagerie Farm," near Columbus, O., looks like a scene out of "Alice In Wonderland." ' Hugh E. Jones is the owner and ope rator of the farm, and for years he has been hard at work with jackknlfe, saw and plane fashioning strange and wonderful creatures. Snakes that can not crawl, giraffes that have never looked behind them, wild boars with legs they can not bend and tails Jthey dare not move, elephants with no taste for peanuts such are the animals to been seen at Menagerie Farm. Mr. Jones frankly admits he Is re sponsible, but has no apologies to of fer. Although he has come within speaking distance of 80 years, he keeps right on whittling, sawing and plan ing, always adding animals to his menageries. When he wants an ele phant he does not correspond with his agents over seas. He hunts up a good thick stick for a body, a shapely root for a trunk, a smaller one for a tail, small straight sticks for tusks and legs, some broad pieces for ears, and, going into his "studio" in the woodshed, soon turns out an elephant that cannot be bribed with a barrel of peanuts. To turn out a good, respec table looking snake requires a little more research, for roots shaped in snake fashion are not found every day. But once in band, Mr. Jones can turn out of such a root a snake with more real characteristics than would be supposed. Mr. Jones read ily makes wild boars when he has the material. A body with no frills about It, 'a coal-scuttle-shaped snout, legs like a saw.-horse, a pair of fanlike ears, a brace of wooden tusks and an apology for a tall and there it is. Giraffes are not hard, either; a little more root and patience, and there the beast is, more or less life-like. But Mr. Jones has not confined him self entirely to animals in his so-called artistic career. Occasionally he carves a man, and although he cannot be said to have improved on the original de sign, he has developed some points that mlght(be desirable In the real ar ticle. One of his men is "Oom Paul," mounted over the entrance; to Menag erie Farm. He Is associated with the American eagle and a plebian rooster on lookout duty at the farm. t The gate is plainly labeled with the' distance to Columbus and Lockbourne, in ad dition to other Information about the postal service in that region. Mr. Jones gets almost as much fun out of his "farm" as do his visitors. In shirt sleeves and overalls the old man welcomes the visitors to Mon igerie Farm and points out the differ ent animals scattered about, over the lawn, relating the peculiarities and history of each. He allows tho little, ones to ride the wild boar, but draws the line at lotting them climb the neck of the giraffe. Older persons are al lowed to sit on the baby elephant's back and fan themselves In the shade of the trees. Mr. JoneH was born on board his father's -ship when about three miles off Alexandria, Egypt, and ho had an adventurous youth In the Holy Land. That may not be responsible for Me nagorta Farm, but the stories Mr. Jones tall of those days are interest ing. It Is forty years since he came to America and set up his "farm" in Ohio.-New York Tribune. STATE CHURCH OF RUSSIA. Obtaining a Strong Foothold in Vari ous Part ot the Continent. Russian orthodox churches In the United States are not as scarce as many people suppose. A new and handsome edifice for the use of the. subjects of the Czar who have taken up their abodes here was dedicated in New York recently, a fact which Indicates SH. AREA AFFECTED BY FAMINE. the Importance of Russian church mis sions in the East, an importance which has arisen in comparatively recent years and which has led to the provi sion of a residence of the Russian Bishop TIkhon In New York for a large part of the ear. When Alaska was a Russian possession the seat of the bishop was at Sitka, but with the sale of the territory to the United States the Russian garlson and officials went away and the orthodox church was left with but a handful of native adherents. The bishop moved his residence to San Francisco, visiting from there the mis sions along the coast and occasionally coming to the east. Russian emigration to this country, while not large in members of the Rus sian church, has, nevertheless, brought to this country enough of them to form churches in a number of eastern manu facturing centers. These are in charge of missionary priests sent out from Russia, and Bishop Tikhori finds it nec essary to spend as much time in the east as the west. The church in New York was therefore built, money being subscribed In Rufesla for the purpose, in order that the church might have eastern headquarters. I The building is of a distinctively Rus sian style and of a character different from any other in New York. The audi torium Is almost square and very high, extending Into a central dome 100 feet or more above the floor. A sanctuary screen from Russia is to be placed be tween nave and chancel. The building adjoining the church is, the residence of the priest in charge and contains apartments for the bishop. MODESTY AND TITLES OF HONOR. Few Entitled to Use "Esquire" En- ' glish View of Practice. Can we not come to some working agreement on the use of the sufllx "esquire?" From dictionaries you may make up a list of the people who are entitled to It the eldest sous of knights, and their eldest sons in per- petual succession and so on to Justices l of the peace and bachelors of law. But j in modern practice it may be said that ! every one who wears a collar is ad dressed as "esquire." Yet there Js a curious modesty among Englishmen. Scores of stamped and addressed en velopes He upon our table every day (in case of rejection), says the London Chronicle. 'The superscription is in variably plain John Smith or George Robinson. There are two coursesopen to us. We must write "esquire" after John Smith's naked name, or we must accept the hint and suppress a suffix which current misuse has made value less. v ' A correspondent writes: "I am one of those persons who occasionally send you contributions with an addressed cover lu case of rejection; and though I am legally entitled to one of the min or titles of honor, I always address to my 'naked name' and do not expect you to add anything. I do this be cause it Is unbecoming to brandish one's self titles that others properly give one, Thus I talk of the lord chan cellor, but that dignitary signs him self merely 'Ilalsbury,' C A barris ter is by convention always 'learned' as na officer is 'gallant;' but neither would so describe himself on his enrdw. I once tried to persuade a lord mayor of London that he sliould not himself use the word 'Lord,' though others should so style him, and ) quoted tlm example of the lord chancellor. I was unsuccessful, but he was a little slink en when I pointed out that his official decrees were headed simply 'Jones, mayor.' I have always doubted the propriety of a clergyman styling him self 'reverend;' and have been sure of its impropriety ever since the court's decided (In the case of the noncon formist minister's tombstone) that 'reverend was not a title of honor, but merely a laudatory epithet." Some men find it easier to ralsi whiskers thrn the price of a shave