Image provided by: Monmouth Public Library; Monmouth, OR
About The Monmouth herald. (Monmouth, Or.) 1908-1969 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 1909)
HUMAN .SCARECROWS. They Are Quit Common In tha Vil lagei of England. Human beings as scarecrows? Whv not? It may seem queer and brutal to an American, but in Eng land the humun scarecrow is com xion. As lie Aanila out there in the middle of the Hat Suffolk field there is little to show he is not the or dinary inanimate scarecrow. Ho stands motionless for five minutes ot a time, and only wlien a bird is tempted by the fresh corn just ap pearing above the ground does ho show any sign of life. From the road outside the field Ho looks exactly like the conven tional collection of old clothes propped upon a stick. Even the crows are contemptuous of the fig ure, and every now and then a num ber of then appear leisurely above the hedge and settle on the field. Rut then it is that the scarecrow moves. Ho hits an old tin can with the rusty handle of a shovel and frightens the birds and makes them fly quickly out of sight. So he spends his day, this old, bent man, and at the end ho is paid 3G cents. He is the village scare crow. Whatever the weather may be, he is expected to be there. In rain he may shelter under the nearest hedge, but he must watch his fields, and if the birds take advantage of his absence he must go out into the open and scare them from the corn. For this old man knows well that ho is competing for his living against the clothes propped upon a stick or the dead crows scattered about the field, and it is necessary that he should take a certain pride in his profession. Unless he can show the farmer that he is more effective than the conventional scarecrows ho cannot make a living in the few months between the sowing of the seed and the appearance of the corn. While the boys of the village are in school he can earn enough in those few months of the year to keep him from the workhouse. He is still capable of scaring birds. His very clothes are a qualifica tion, lie looks exactly like a scare crow, and ho has the advantage of being able to hit an old tin can with the rusty handle of a shovel. At 1 o'clock he has his dinner of bread and cheese by the side of the hedge, but every now and then he gets up and looks around to seo that the fields are free from birds. Sometimes when the dav is cold er than usual his granddaughter from the cottage a mile away brings him a hot dinner in a basin covered with a cloth, and while he cats she talks to him about her school and if a bird appears runs carefully on to tho field and claps her hunds and frightens it And then the old man this shabby guardian of the fields is left alone. The only suggestion of life is a collection of old clothes propped upon a stick in the field a mile away. And when the old man looks at. this silent competitor of his he is filled with new energy and strides off to the field, making n great noise with his old tin can. Balti more Sun. Tit' i es, cieanc; you are mamma s little lad!" 'Then, mamma," concluded Thomas, "1 suppose I must be my step-papa 8 little stepladder. Just a Slip of th Pan. Summer Hoarder You wrote me that mosquitoes were nowhere tn this neighborhood. Farmer I reck'n there's some mistake, pardncr. I must o' writ that, mosquitoes were now here in the neigh borhood.-Jutige. . THE 60VERKM AM THE NORMALS At the convening of the legis lature Tuesday afternoon, Gov ernor Chamberlain had the following to say on the Normal school question. 'Under an act of the last leg islature the Normal Schools of the state were placed under one Board of Regents and their re port has been filed with the Gov- rnT. It will be found that tht re is a greater uniformity in the course of study, and better system in vogue in these schools, under one Board of Regents, than was possible under a board for the control of each. There is no question but that there is a necessity fur training schools for teachers for the public schools of the state, and if these training schools are to be maintained they ought to be placed on the basis of the highest efficiency. A ma jority of the Board of Regents has recommended the continuance of the Normal schools at Mon mouth, Ashland and Weston, and have called attention to their needs, if they are to be continu ed. The appropriations suggest 1 i i . , i eu are large, dui tney are no larger than will be necessary to thoroughly equip and maintain the schools so as to attain the best results. It is folly to under take to educate and train teachers for the public schools by any starvation policy. In order to have a good public school system it is necessary to have well train ed teachers, and they cannot be obtained except from properly equipped Normal schools. I trust that the legislature will once for all settle the Normal school question, and probably the best way to do it is to act upon the recommendation of the regents and make provision for maintaining three schools in the state." hi mi mmsm WW WW to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition at Seattle With side trips to Tacoma and Victoria, B. C. One week of Supreme pleasure and sightseeing All expenses paid from your nearest railroad point in Polk county. Ex cursion under management of a thoroughly experienced gentleman and in charge of experienced lady chaperons. The Herald has made arrangements to send a number of young people to the Fair as its guests. This is not a scheme where you have to work hard for two or three months and then stand no chance to go, but there is every prob ability that if you make the attempt you will surely go. If you would like to make this trip fill out the blank below and mail it at once to The Herald, Mon mouth, Oregon. EDITOR HERALD Dear Sir:- I would like to spend a week at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Fair as the guest of the Monmouth Herald. Please send me full particulars of how I may do so. Name Postoffice A. B. WESTFALL Fainter and Paper Hanger Monmouth Oregon Hotel Monmouth Arrivals. R. II. Alexander, Salem. Leila Spencer, Antelope. Ivah Ilixon, " Hazel Donahoo, Moro. C. P. Ireland, Portland. C. S. Graham, Salem. J no. G. Murphy. Portland. II. B. Hall. L E. Bedwell, Book Nam Blunder. A London publishing house for a 1. ...... : t i ... ... Z "T, T. . l00k " wlrh' Sarah A. Lucas, Rickreall -v.,. iii.ivu mi.- lumuis oiuiuiers made by those who asked for books. ore testers Diseases of the f inn. dcr" was asked for. "The Worces ter Diocesan Calendar" was what was required. "Kiver Frozen. Silent Gold and Unstepped lands'' was demanded. The lnok wanted was Hew Frazer's "Silent Gods and Sun Steeped Lands." "Flay Actress," by Crockett, Pseudonym Library, was turned into "Flay" Actress and Cricket In the Pandemonium libra ry." "The Roy Hero," by WaUham How, was wanted, but the collector asked for "The Hoy Hero of Wal thamstow," and tlie Mine genius turned "Frondes Agrestes" into "Bounders and Heretics." II. R. Nehrbas and wife, Oregon I City. A New Relationship. Tommy's mother had married again, and. though Tommy didn't in the least object to his "new fa ther, he was somewhat puzzled as to their relationship. "Mamma," he said, "is this man my step-pa jm?" "Yes, dear; he is your step-papa." "Well, mamma," p'unsued thought ful Thomas, "vou call me vour little lail don't you?" Hit Naw Coat. They had Wen chums for so Ion? that when the one gave a chafing 1 dish party to some of his more inti mate feminine acquaintances the other made a point of returning I early from the theater in order to ! be present Chum No. 2 had hardlv made Ins appearance before chum No. 1, in his anxiety to chatter non sense with the prettiest girl in the room, managed to upset a basin of beaten eg? yolks down the front of his new tuxedo. Chum No. 1 was much distressed apparently, and chum No. 2 hastened to his" assist ance. "Go into my room and take mine," he adjured his friend gener ously. "I've a brand new one; just came home today." Chum No. 1 "smiled queerly. "I know it, old boy," was what he said, grinning in a rather forced fashion. "Fact is well, my own looked a little shabby this evening, and Ie got yours on." A Famout Poison Mystery. England bad a famous poison mys tery In the last century. Two mem bers of a great club la Manchester, both men of position and keen politi cians, each received, apparently as a New Year's gift, small boxes contain ing a few cigars of the very highest quality apparently. Both were takeu fearfully 111 after smoking, and oue of them subsequently died. The cigars were found to be loaded with poison, and It was said that the man who recovered ouly did so because he used a clpir holder. The facts were at first hushed up, because, as was said, the suspected sender, whose motive was revenge on account of a lady, was a man of wealth and power. But this subject was cleared, and the mystery was deepened by the following cir cumstances: A rich Manchester mer chant, traveling one day In a railway car about the time of the Incident re lated, got into conversation with a most agreeably and highly cultivated stranger, who finally offered his cigar case. The Manchester man was found at Leeds almost unconscious and the only occupant of the carriage. Fie grasped In one of his convulsed hands the cigar he had been smoking, and aft er analysis showed It to be Identical with the others. He recovered, but the strnnger was never discovered. Polk County Realty Company Transacts a general Real Estate business and attends to collecting rent for out of town owners. We have buyers If you have any land for sale list it with us. Monmouth Oregon Prize Peach Pride of Oregon FLOUR Made in Polk County Lindsay & Co., Sole Agents Patronize home manufactured goods and help build up your home industries Easy Way to Ba Generous. In a church of a New England vl' lage was au old man who had all the Christian graces save one. and that was the grace of lllienility. lie would do anything lu the world for the cause of religion but give up his money. At the close of the financial year 1S03 the church found Itself $400 In debt A church meeting was called, and It was voted to circulate a subscription paper on the spot and endeavor to thus raise the sum needed. This was done. and the old gentleman did not put his name on the paper. The result was rather disheartening, $X) on!y having been pledged. Silence reigned for a moment, when one of the most gen erous meu lu the church moved that we double our subscriptions." In stantly the old gvntleman was on his feet and with extraordinary fervor cried. "I second the motion." lie evidently felt that he was thus doing his part iu hastening a most de sirable result The Monmouth Real Estate Company Office at Monmouth Normal Bookstore Farms; Fruit, Dairy and Grain. City property or stock farms. List your property with us and we'll do our best to sell for you at reasonable rates GROVE A. PETERSON, Manager Monmouth Livery and Feed Barn Graham & Son, Proprietors. General Transfer and Delivery Business. Horses Boarded by the Day, Week or Month
