UNCLE SI, DIPLOMATIST
GOOD MAN'S METHOD OF DEAL
ING WITH HARD SITUATION.
Unusual Doing In Meeting Houu Yard
Turned to Financial Account by
Elder Who Waa Not Super
stltlous. "Wall," said Uncle SI. as he took
his accustomed place on the pickle
barrel, "we had a high-falutln, lawn
party up tew the meetln' house at
Lapham's Corners last night There
was sure a heap of folk thar, and the
way they carried on seemed to me
wasn't exactly in place In the meetln'
house yard," said Uncle SI, looking
pious and thoughtful.
"Tell us about It," said Hiram, help
ing himself to another cracker from
the open barrel near by.
"Wall, It was Jest this a-way. In
the fust place a party of city folks
come down from up the hill we could
see at once that they was goln' to
run things, to suit themselves. If they
hadn't a-bought a lot of peanuts. Ice
cream and lemonade, we'd have broke
up the Jamboree right thar and let 'em
go home. The fust thing they done
was to start a Virginia reelln', which
I reckon Is an imitation of how a per
son acts when he has got full of Vir
ginia corn Juice. Us country folks, we
gathered around In the corners of the
lawn and Bays nothln' at least, not so
as the city folks could hear. We
thought they'd gone far enough with
the Vlrglny trapsing, but we found we
was plum mistaken.
"Some female says, says she, 'Let's
chase the turkey around this lawn.'
Wall, there wasn't any turkey, but
there was some of the worst doin's
that waa ever seen In Lapham's Cor
ners. I beln' the elder, the members
of the meetln' house rlz up unanimous
and told me I'd got to stop them fire
works. After knocking a nearby table,
In order to bring silence, I spoke some
thing like thlB: 'Brethern and slstern,
this yer Is In the meetln' house yard.
Such goln's on as has happened here
tonight has disgraced us all, and to
make our consciences easy I shall
take all the money we've rize here
tonight and ralBe the insurance on the
moetln' bouse. I ain't superstitious,
but I don't believe no building could
stand to see what's went on here to
night without either burnin' up or get
tin" struck by llghtnin' or havln' coffee
split on the vestry carpet. I hope you-
wlll now all go home and come again
to the next lawn party we have and be
enthusiastic as ye was at this one.'
"Wall," said Si, "the crowd they
went home, and I guess they was
ashamed of theirselves."
"Wall," said Lem Beacher, who oc
cupied the only chair in the grocery
store, "I never did believe In them ex
cltln' ways to make money for the
meetln' house. It's much better to
take up collections now and then, get
along with the old meetln' house."
To that all the by sitters answered:
"You're right, Lem!" and Uncle SI
bought his groceries, consisting of a
package of tobacco, and went home to
do the chores. Judge.
Writing for Posterity.
A story about George Bernard Shaw
comes from London.
A prominent French critic, the story
runs, once said to the playwright;
" 'You are putting on a new comedy
Monday night Let me attend one of
the dreBB rehearsaU, won't you?'
" 'Impossible,' said Mr. Shaw. 'My
dress rehearsals are always private.
I have to refuse even the most distin
guished critics access to them.'
"'But,' said the other, "I want to
write a careful criticism. If I have to
write It and telegraph It in a few min
utes on Monday night. It will be very
hurriedly done, and I fear that it will
give a wrong Impression of your
comedy in Paris the next day.'
"'Have no anxiety on that score,'
Mr. Shaw replied. 'My comedies are
not written for the next day.' " .
Word Properly Condemned.
George Meredith, according to the
London Chronicle, "employs that
abominable contraction 'alright' It
can't be a Drinter's error for it iv.n
more than once. And he uses it as
early as 1163, so tnat the abusers of
our language may now claim Meredith,
of all men, as their prophet This is
' one of those things that baffle explan
ation, particularly' from a writer
whose use of "words was meticulous
and who always refused to delete the
first 'e' in 'Judgment,' always spelling
It 'Judgement' In his novels. Some ol
i us, however, will fight 'alright' to the
bitter end."
"Wise-Acre."
"Wise-acre" baa its origin In Ben
Jonson's retort to a countryman who
boasted interminably of his acres, till
' Ben said: "What signify to us your
dirt and your clods? Where you have
an acre of land I have ten acres of
wit" The countryman retorted by
calling Ben "Good Mr. Wiseacre."
This is a good story, but perhaps the
' term wiseacre comes from the corrup
tion of the German, wetssager, wise
aayer
OUR MOST destructive bird
Cooper's Hawk Is Strong Enough to
Carry Away Good-8lzed Chicken
or Cotton-Tall Rabbit.
(By W. L. M"ATEK.)
Cooper's hawk may be taken as a
type of the group of hawks whose
habits are responsible for the con
demnation of birds of prey as a whole.
This group . includes three species:
Cooper's hawk, the sharp-skinned
hawk and the gOBhawk. They are oft
en spoken of a blue darters, a name
which expresses a characteristic dif
ference In their manner of hunting
from that of other hawks. They
t
Cooper's Hawk.
course over the country at great speed
and capture their .prey by sudden
darts, seizing their victims while In
full flight
Cooper's hawk, which occurs
throughout the United States, is pre
eminently a "chicken hawk," and la
by far the most destructive species we
have to contend with, not because It
is individually worse than the gos
hawk, but because it Is so much more
numerous than the aggregate damage
done far exceeds that of all other
birds of prey.
It is strong enough to carry away
a good-sized chicken, grouse, or cot
tontail rabbit. It Is especially fond of
domesticated doves and when it finds
a cote easy of approach, it usually
takes a toll of one or two a day. Prac
tically every stomach of Cooper's hawk
examined in experiments have con
tained remains of wild birds or poul
try. Keeping Eggs Fresh.
In Germany eggs are kept fresh
for any length of time by simply im
mersing them In a ten per cent solu
tion of silicate of soda, commonly
called "liquid glass." This produces
the formation of a coating which ren
ders the eggs perfectly air-tight The
eggs so treated retain their fresh
taste for many months. The best
proof of the efficacy of this treatment
has been furnished by the fact that
such eggs, after having been kept for
a whole year, were hatched and the
chickens were strong and healthy. The
preserving solution is best prepared
by dissolving one pound of liquid glass
In four quarts of cold water. The eggs
are then Immersed in this solution,
which should be kept in a glazed
earthenware vessel, and the eggs are
kept In the solution for a short time.
It one of these preserved eggs Is tol
Eie uouea, me sneu musi db nrsi per
forated to prevent cracking.
Hens will not lay when permitted
to run about the farm in the wet and
cold.
A large part of the food for poul
try should be grains because they are
natural grain eaters.
Green food of Borne kind is neces
sary to make hens do their best In the
line of egg production.
All laying and growing chickens
must have some kind of meat food in
order to do their best.
Get in plenty of litter for the winter
scratching.
Careful breeding, proper feeding
and the right kind of care will pro
duce heavy laying in any breed.
Sudden fright and excitement at
once tells on the egg crop. Never al
low strange dogs about where the
hens are.
Light framed birds . that mature
quickly, such as Leghorns and Minor
cas, should not be kept with those ot
the heavier fowls.
Visit the chicken house at night
Note the quality of the air, and the
breathing of the birds. If the house is
stifling, it needs more air.
A laying flock of hens will drink
about seven quarts of water a day.
White of the egg is recommended
in cases of fracture in chickens, for
soaking the bandages, thus binding
them together and stiffening. '
BxercUe produces warmth, provides
pleasure and promotes health, there
fore It is well to let hens hunt In
a deep litter of straw for all their
grains.
There is little doubt that the Incu
bator has not always been given the
credit it deserves for having brought
the poultry Industry up to its pres
ent enviable position.
NOVELISTS AND CRIME
GREAT WRITERS HAVE INTEREST
ED THEMSELVES IN 8UBJECT.
At the Present Time Arthur Conan
Doyle Is to the Fore, Following
Course of Other Masters
of Literature.
The creator of Sherlock Holmes cer
tainly ought to be himself a compe
tent amateur detective, and his suc
cess In the famous Edaljl case proves
that his powers In that direction are
of no mean order. He has now un
dertaken another difficult case that
of proving the Innocence of Oscar Sla
ter, who is at present undergoing a
life sentence for murder.
Quite a number of novelists have in
terested themselves in crime and
criminals. Edgar Allan Poe used to
state that there was no problem
which a man could set which another
man could not solve, and he applied
the rule to crime. His greatest tri
umph in this method of unraveling ap
parently inexplicable mystery gave
the world that famous story, "The
Murders In the Rue Morgue." ,
Dickens was strangely drawn to
ward the alleviation of suffering of
all kinds, and his novels did much to
bring about the more humane treat
ment of prisoners. But Charles Reade
not only exposed harsh prison meth
ods Id his famous novel "It Is Never
Too Late to Mend," but actually, like
Conan Doyle, took up the . case of
what was known as the Penge mur
der. In spite of a magnificent and mov
ing speech for the defense by Sir Ed
ward Clarke, the Judge summed up
against the prisoners so decidedly that
the Jury found them guilty. It was
then that the novelist entered the
lists, with such telling force and con
vincing argument that the home sec
retary promptly commuted all the
sentences.
Probably the earliest Instance of
the intervention of a novelist to save
a man from the gallows was Dr. Sam
uel Johnson's herculean efforts to ob
tain mercy for the celebrated Doctor
Dodd, who waB executed In spite of
all that the sage of Fleet street could
do or say. Today, thanks to writers
like Reade and Dickens, no such ad
vocacy would be needed, for this fa
mous parson's crime was forgery, for
which death is no longer the penalty.
Boswell, in his "Life of Johnson," de
votes a large amount of space to this
characteristic example of his hero's
kindliness and humanity.
Many years later the famous French
playwright Balzac made an effort to
save the life of a man named Peytel,
who had been convicted of the mur
der of his wife and servant, but equal
ly without success.
Volcanic Dust In Atmosphere.
From many points In America and
Europe come reports of an unusual
turbidity of the atmosphere, which be
gan early last summer and still con
tinues. This is manifested In a
marked diminution of the Intensity ot
solar radiation, as .measured with the
pyrhellometer, abnormal displace
ment of the neutral points of atmos
pheric polarization, a hazy appear
ance of the sky, and the presences of
Bishop's ring around the sun. From
Dublin Sir John Moore wrote last Au
gust: "The sky is constantly covered
with a thin film ot uniform cloud In
which no balos develop, and through
which the sun, moon and stars shine
with a subdued, sickly brightness."
Observers In Russia, Switzerland,
Sweden and Germany, as well as
America, report an unusual lack ot
blueness In the sky. There seems to
be every reason to attribute these phe
nomena to the presence in the upper
atmosphere of an immense pall of
duBt arising from the explosive erup
tion of Katmai volcano in Alaska last
June. Similar effects were observed
after the eruptions of Kratatoa and
Mont. Pele,
One Dry In the Ward.
In SU Louis there Is one ward that
Is full ot breweries and Germans. In
a recent election a local option ques
tion came up. After the election conn
Germans were counting the votes.
One German waB calling off and an
other taking down the option vote.
The first German, running rapidly
through the ballots, said:
"Vet, vet. vet. . . ." Suddenly
he stopped. "Mein Gott!" he cried:
"Dry!"
Then he went on "Vet, vet, vet,
vet" Presently he stopped again --1
mopped his brow. "Hlmmel!" he said.
"Der son of a gun repeated!"
Had an Alibi.
While the talesmen were being ex
amined for a murder trial in the west
one was asked if he knew what an
alibi was.
"I think I do; yes, sir."
"What do you understand by It'?"
The talesman reflected for a mo
ment and then, with a hesitancy in
dicative of graveness, replied: "An
alibi Is when the fellow who did it
wasn't there."
SEES CHINA A GREAT NATION
Their Wonderful Physique, Aided by
Modern Sanitary Methods, Must
Have Its Effect.
The Vitalttv anil AnHiiranpA nf the
average Chinaman are remarkable.
i aouot It there exists a nation any-
wnere better qualified to illustrate the
"survival of th flttt From a
physical point of view the body ot the
vuinese coolie Is a perfect specimen
of human anatomy. I have seen this
class of natives work like pack horses
carrying heavy loads upon their
shoulders, and like horses pulling
heavy loads along the thnrnuehfarea
of the city and countryside. They
even cane tne place of horses at the
plow. Among no class of people have
I ever Observed an AlhlhMInn nf mora
wonderful powers of endurance, writes
wyae witmer In the Kansas City
Journal.
The native Can llvn In lha tnrrlri
zone, In the temperate zone or In
frigid northern Manchvrla. He can
bear hunger, thirst or AxhaiifiMnn.
Yet there seems to be a cold-blooded
paradox about the Chinese who are
Blck and ailing. Little can be learned
in a statistical way regarding this
phase of Chinese health. The medi-
uiupensanes and hospitals which
I visited revealed tha n.Moat
diseases, both medical and surgical
cases, which had been turned over in
despair to the medical skill of the
ioreign devils."
Infant mortality is enormously hJrh
and while the average native birth
rate Is unknown, yet the Chinese
women are very prolific. In many In
stances the Chinaman possesses sev
eral wives. Frequently I have ob
served Old DeODln enenreil In hoavv
labor either in the fields or trans
porting freight and baggage in the
Chinese cities. Eventuallv. with anon
a Strong and Vleoroua hnroHltv haolr
of the present generation of Mongol
ians, ana with the advanced sanitary
methods of modern science nimhine in
among the native people, the Chinese
race will become an Increasingly won-
aerrui, strong and vigorous nation.
Japan's Sudden Rise.
An Idea of how Janan has leaned
Into the forefront of nations since her
victory over Russia was fumhihori th
other day by a man who had traveled
extensively in Java and other parts
of the Far East
"The Dutch in Java." he Bald. "mnkA
a point of treating people of all the
eastern nations well, but there Is al
ways a certain dUTerpnoA hpin
how an Oriental and how a European
is treated. Europeans are always
looked upon as belonging to the dom
inant races In the Far East, and are
treated accordingly in commercial
and other dealings. On the other
hand, the Chinese, for lnatanrA.
though they may be the richest and
most influential citizens in a com
munity, are always made to feel that
they are not quite on a oar with
Europeans.
"But it is otherwise with the Jap
anese. In Java and elsewhere they
are treated exactly as If they were
Europeans. It was not so before the
Russian-Japanese war, either, but it
certainly is now, and it makes the
Chinese and other Orientals mighty
Jealous."
Capable of Wider Application.
A clever scheme for checking the
discreditable practice of "Joy-riding"
is credited by the Boston Herald to
Commissioner Rourke of the public
works department.
According to officials of the depart
ment a certain chauffeur went out Joy
riding with his chief's machine, and
had a collision. His chief then sus
pended him for a month. '
When Commissioner Rourke waa In
formed of the accident and the sus
pension, he said that If the young man
wished to be reinstated in the city's
employ at the end of the month, he
must start as a laborer with pick and
shovel.
"He can't go Joy-riding with those,"
the commissioner dryly added.
Triangular Smile.
No lady Is suitably equipped now
for any big function unless she has
contorted ber face into what is known
as the "triangular smile." This "ex
pression" Is supposed to represent
simplicity and Innocence! It Is formed
by lifting the center part of the top Up
to form an apex ot the triangle, the
Women and Congress.
The question as to woman's eligibil
ity to congress has never been raised
and, of course, not decided, but if the
people ot a district in a state where
woman suffrage existed and where
women were eligible to any office
should elect a woman to congress she
would probably be admitted.
On the Contrary.
"People In very cold climates need
a heavy diet" "No, they don't they
have light diet Don't the EBklmo
eat candles ?" Baltimore American.
Love Altered.
4ome women's love Is like arfftdi
man's livery slightly alteretf to lit
and handed on to the new man. The
Tattler.
POULTRY
HARM IN CROWDING THE HEM
Results Given of Interesting Experi
ments Made at Maine Station
Must Have Room.
The Maine experiment station re
cently finished a test to ascertain the
number of hens most profitable tc
keep In pens. All the pens were 10 by
16 feet giving 160 square feet The
hens were Brabmas and Plymouth
Rocks, and these tests continued six
months.
The hens were fifteen, twenty,
twenty-five and thirty to a pen. The
conditions and hens were as much
alike as possible to make the test
conclusive one.
The pen with fifteen hens made s
profit of 80 cents per hen, and the
eggs laid numbered 976.
The pen with twenty hens made a
showing of 1,208 eggs for the pen and
a profit of 71 cents per hen.
The pen with twenty-five bens made
a laying record of 1,328 eggs and a
profit of 35 cents, per hen.
The pen with thirty hens had an egg
production of 1,200 and a profit of 30
cents for ecah hen.
The experiment shows distinctly
that hens can be bo crowded as to re
duce the profit of an egg farm. The
Barred Plymouth Rocks.
difference of twenty-five eggs per
hen for six months is great On the
basis of fifteen to the pen the profits
of the total ninety hens were $72: on
a basis of thirty to the pen the profits .
were $36. In each case the actual cost
of feed was deducted.
Windows In Poultry Houses.
Put the windows In the poultry
houses low down to the floor, so that
the hens will get the benefit of the
light and sunshine when scratching
tor their feed. The trouble with win
dows set high up Is that they let the
sunshine In on the perches when the
hens are on the floor scratching, and
when they are on the roost the
sun doesn't shine, so there Is no equi
librium in such plans.
Discarding the Mongrels.
Mongrel fowls should not be kept
for egg production because the eggs
will be uniform In neither color nor
size. This factor of itself is ot enough
importance to Induce one to select a
pure breed, even though the mongrels
might possibly lay as well as the pure
bred fowls, but this is very doubtful.
Cold Storage.
Cold storage Is increasing and be
coming more appreciated, according
to a French writer. Dr. Bordas, who
says: "From a hygienic point of view
it were desirable that all eras n.ort
In baking were preserved by cold."
Nest for the Hen.
Everything from a nail keg to a
grocery box may take a hen's nest
The hen is not a pinHmnti
and does not care for fancy frills and
contraptions, uive ber a box or a bar
rel, filled with the right nesting ma
terial, soft bruised straw, and the
whole properly darkened, and she will
do ber share In trying; to kenn it inn.
piled with eggs.
' Pekln Ducks.
The best all 'round duck is the
Pekln. They mature quicker, feather
out sooner, and put on meat more
readily than any other vnrW.
ducks.
Improving the Flock.
The welfare of the flock Is In no
way Improved by irremi
ferent breeding. Regularity Is to the
liking of the busineHa h pn m wall " "
of the business man.
The-ttiale bird Is H,
tant individual In a breeding . om
through which to raise the egg laying
qualities, of young fowls.
i