The Athena press., November 13, 1908, Image 2

Incident In HcKinler's Lite.
The Rev. Dr. James Chalmers of El
fin, 111., tells the following story of
President McKlnley's boyhood days,
which will Illustrate his characteristic
honesty:
John Robinson's circus was coming to
town, and William wanted to go, but
the money was not forthcoming to pay
his r.dmlsslon. The McKlnleys kept
heiis ; so did their neighbors. The bens
were hiding their nests. William's moth
er told him that by finding a hen's nest
and bringing her the eggs day by day
be could get together enough money to
pay his own way Into the circus.
And the boy did find a hidden nest
Just Inside the line fence. Day by day
he gathered the eggs. But the day
before the circus was to come, being
overanxious and going to collect his
treasures too early In the morning, he
startled and drove from the nest the
hen that was laying for him the golden
eggs, when, lo and behold 1 she crossed
the line fence and rejoined the neigh
bor's flock of hens where she belonged.
Poor William, downcast and crest
fallen, hastened to his mother and with
out a moment's hesitation, but with
tears In his eyes, said, "Mother, I can
not go to the circus." And then be
told her of his discovery that the eggs
iwere not their own, but must be return
d to their neighbors.
But when the boy came back after
delivering to the neighbor the eggs he
bad collected, his mother, with a swell
ing pride which she had never before
experienced, quietly said to him: "You
have proved once more, my son, that
honesty Is the best policy, and you shall
go to the circus, William, besides."
This Incident, related by his mother,
I repeated to Mr. McKlnley one day
at my own dinner table In my Columbus
home when he was Governor of Ohio,
and asked him If it was authentic.
"Yes," he said, "and It was the lesson
of my life. From that day I made It
the motto of my life never to approprt
ate my neighbor's eggs; and" he add
ed, with a twinkle In his eye "It has
never kept me from going to the cir
cus, either."
ft
ve
in
my
y! tl hope. H eT
home
(?ove U'm
on ihe
Lightning and Feathers.
There Is a woman up lu the Adlron
dacks who used to believe in the old
notion that a feather-bed is a protec
tion agulnst lightning, but she believes
so no longer, and this Is how she lost
her faith: It seems that a party of
tourists, being overtaken by a storm,
ought shelter lu tho woman's cabin.
Among them was a woman from New
York, who was extremely 'nervous
about the lightning, and when she ut
tered a little shriek and covered her
face with a handkerchief, after a bril
liant flash, the woman of the cabin
asked her if she'd have a feather pil
low to put on her head.
"No," answered the visitor; "I think
that would not do any good."
"I guess It wouldn't," said the wom
an ; "I used to believe in feathers and
things, but after what happened last
week, I don't believe in 'em any
more."
"What was that)" asked one of the
men.
"Why, two o' my ducks got hit by a
streak o' lightning, an stripped as
clean o feathers as pop's head, and
pop ain't bed a sign o' hair on his head
for fifteen years. So feathers ain't no
good, an' yer, might es well sit still and
ake it es it conies."
A Cnrlons Incident.
Horses will form 'strong attachments
for dogs, but It does not often happen
that a horse derives any real benefit
from having a canine frleud. The fol
lowing case will show that a dog may
sometimes return a horse's affection in
a very practical manuer. A man living
In the country had a horse which hap-
pened to be turned out Just as his car
rots were ready for pulling. He also
bad a dog that was on the best of terms
with the horse: One day . he noticed
that his carrots were disappearing very
fast, but he was almost certain that no
one had gotten In and stolen them. Still
he determined to watch and see who
was robbing him. His vigilance was re
warded, for he caught the thief in the
very act of pulling up the carrots. Then
he cautiously followed him from the
garden and found that he went off In
the direction of the field where the
horse was. Arrived there, the owner of
the carrots saw that bis horse was the
receiver of bis stolen goods. The thief
was his dog. In some way the dog bod
discovered that the horse had a par
tiality for carrots, and was unable to
gratify its taste; but. with a sagacity
that is almost incredible, the dog found
the means of obtaining the succulent
morsels for his friend, and this he did
without scruple at his master's expense.
There was something more than instinct
in this dog's head. But any one who
takes real notice of the habits and curi
ous doings of animals must inevitably
come to the conclusion that the theory
Is not tenable which maintains that ani
mals can not think and reason.
New Neighbors.
"I see they are building a two-story
house in our back yard," said papa.
"O papa, that won't be nice!" said
Marjorie. "People will look into our
windows 1"
"Yes," said papa; "one of the build
ers was sitting on my window-sill this
morning; but when he saw me he flew
away."
"Oh, you mean a bird!" cried Nan
Nan.
"A pair of the prettiest little yellow
birds you ever saw," said papa.
"But what made you call their nest
a two-story house?" asked Tom.
"Because It Is one," answered papa.
"You see, there is a great, selfish cow
bird, who Is too lazy to build a nest
for herself or take care of her own
children; so when she spied the nest
our yellowblrds had made, she was
mean enough to leave her great egg
In It for her tiny neighbors to take
care of."
"I would have smashed it, if I had
been in their place!" cried Tom.
"They were not strong enough to
break it, nor to roll It out of the nest,"
said papa, "ond they did not like to
build a new one In another place; so
what did they do? They just put in a
new floor right over the cowblrd's egg
and built the walls of their house a
little higher. So they have left that
egg In their cellar, where it will never
bother them."
"Wasn't that smart!" said Nan Nan.
"Let's go and watch them."
The children visited the yellowblrds
every day ; and they examined the nest
after the young birds had flown away.
Sure enough, safely stowed away in
the cellar, as papa called it, was the
cowblrd's large, blotched egg.
Youth's Companion.
How Treea Cool the Air.
Not one person in ten, perhaps, looks
upon a tree as a cooling agent beyond
the effect produced by its shade. And
yet it acts on the hot air around It
Just as a lump of Ice acts on the water
in a pitcher. Here is the explanation:
The human body, as you know, main
tains, when in a sound condition, a
temperature of about 08 degrees, called
blood-heat. Well, a tree as a body has
a temperature of about 45 degrees,
which is not affected by outside influ
ences. You see, therefore, how a clump
of trees, irrespective of the shade they
make, can lower the temperature of
the air around them; and when you
consider the combined effect of this
and the shade they make, you readily
understand why the woods are so cool,
and why it Is wise to have little parks
all over a city, and plenty of trees
along the streets.
The Mosquito's Hum,
It has always been supposed that
the humming sound made, by the pes
tiferous mosquito Is caused by the rap
id action of .its wings, but a Scotch
scientist, who has been investigating
film subject; sffyr he has discovered at
the base of the Insect's wlugs an appa
ratus that probably produces the sound.
It consists of a movable bar provided
with tiny teeth, and as the wings are
moved up and down the teeth rasp
over a series of ridges. The discoverer
Is not sure that the sound Is produced
by this apparatus, but he says that it
might well be, and further investiga
tion may show conclusively that it Is,
How to Be Happy Though Married.
Wife, make much of your husband.
Flatter him discreetly, laugh at his
Jokes, don't attempt to put down his
club, never tell him homo truths and
never cry. Husband, praise and ad
mire your wife, and let other men ad
mire her too. Don't Interfere in her
department Be reasonable about mon
ey If you cannot bs generous and not
overfond of your own voice. And both
of you: Be very tolerant, expect little,
give gladly, put respect before every
thing, cultivate courtesy, and love each
other all you can. If you do all this
you are sure to be happy though mar
ried. Maud Churton Braby in Grand
Magazine.
A chesty man usually wears a smaU
hat
- RECORD-BREAKING CLIMB.
Woman Scale Hlgheat Mountain te
a Height of 25,000 Feet.
Annie S. Peck is the most persistent
mountain climber of her sex and no
one who knows the history of her strug
gles against Ill-for
tune and realizes
her i n d o m 1 table
pluck will fall to
feel a sense of per
sonal satisfaction
at the success of
her latest venture.
It is reported from
Lima, Peru, that
Miss Peck has as
cended Iluascaran
to the . height of
25,000 feet, the
annib s. peck. highest point ever
attained by man or woman.
Miss Peck had previously gone to
South America twice to climb "this
mountain. On an earlier trial she was
compelled to give up the attempt after
reaching a height of 17,500 feet, owing
to the cowardice of her guides. By
reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet Miss
Peck has ascended higher than any
other person, man or woman, in the
world. The previous record was held
by W. W. Graham, who reached a
height of 23,800 feet in the Himalayas.
Miss Peck began her mountain climb
ing in 1895, when she scaled the Mat
terhorn. She ascended Mount Sorata,
in Bolivia, reaching a height of 20,500
feet Iluascaran, or Huascan, towers
above a notable group of volcanic sum
mits in the south of Peru to the west
ward of the great plateau in whlcb
Lake Titecaca lies.
Miss Peck has surmounted almost
impossible obstacles, chief among them
the lack of means. Miss Peck was at
one time professor in a Western col
lege, but for many years she has been
occupied as a lecturer and has climbed
many mountains for the purpose of ob
taining material for her lectures. It
has been her ambition to climb Iluas
caran, reputed the highest mountain in
the world, which all the climbers of
the world had failed to ascend. She
has had the greatest difficulty in rais
ing funds for her trips, but she has
persisted. In the face of constant dis
couragement and has started on her
mission each time with barely enough
money to take her through her sched
ule, with no allowance for accident and
with but scanty equipment. Scientifi
cally her equipment has always been of
the best and no doubt she will bring
back some valuable- observations. Her
past two trips have been made with na
tive guides who proved almost worse
than useless. This time she had with
her two Swiss guides and it Is doubt
less to their experience and hardiness
that she owes her success. Utlca
Globe.
MAY FIRES.
Ancient Scotch Cuatom Which In
volved Human Sacrifice.
Sir John Sinclair's "Statistical Ac
count of Scotland" contains notices of
many old customs, which still contin
ued to be observed in the Highlands,
though they were even then fast dying
out. From the eleventh volume of that
great work, which was published in
1791 and the succeeding years, we
learn, on the authority of the minister
of Calleuder, Perthshire, that the boys
of the township assembled in a body
upon the moors on May day and pro
ceeded fo dig a circular trench, leaving
the soil in the center undisturbed, so
as to form a low table of green turf
sufficient In size to accommodate the
whole party. .
They lighted a fire and prepared a
custard of milk and eggs and a large
oatmeal cake, which they baked upon a
stone placed In the embers. When they
had eaten the custard, they divided the
cake into as many equal portions as
there were persons in the assembly and
daubed one of those pieces with char
coal until It was perfectly black. They
they placed all the pieces of the caice
together In a bonnet, and each In turn
drew one blindfolded, the holder of the
bonnet being entitled to the last piece.
The boy who drew the blackened por
tion was destined to be sacrificed and
was compelled to leap three times
through the flames.
Although the ceremony had degen
erated into a mere pastime for boys, it
is evident that it must once upon a
time have Involved the actual sacrifice
of a human being In order to render the
coming summer fruitful. Gentleman's
Magazine. . : .
She Hated Garrlck.
Mrs. dive was eminent as an
actress on the London stage before
Garrlck appeared, and as his blaze of
excellence threw all others into com
parative insignificance she never for
gave him and took every opportunity
of venting her spleen. She was coarse,
rude and violent in her temper and
spared nobody. s
One night as Garrlck was perform
ing "King Lear" she stood behind the
scenes to observe hun and, In spite of
the roughness of her nature, was so
deeply affected that she sobbed one
minute and abused him the next, and
at length, overcome by his pathetic
touches, she burrled from the place
with the following extraordinary trib
ute to the universality of his powers:
"Hang him! I believe he could act a
gridiron." T. P.'s Weekly.
Same Thins;.
"Miss Bloomer seems to keep her
youth still," remarked Miss Goode.
"Well," replied Miss Chellus, "she
keeps her age quiet" Philadelphia
Press.
Introduce wisdom Into a love affair,
and you will break it up,
1 ...
1 TT "Tzr--
Nitrogen from the Air.
A detailed account of the progress of
the works now in course of erection on
the falls of the Svaelgios at Norodden,
In Norway, for the separation of atmos
pheric nitrogen, on the system of
Messrs. Blrkeland and Eyde, Is given
In La Nature. These works are the
property of a French company, and the
available power is stated at 34,000
horse-power. A second undertaking on
a far larger scale Is now in course of
construction to make use of the falls
of RJukan, where not less than 250,
000 horse power will be utilized. Pho
tographs show that the buildings are
now completed, and that much of the
machinery Is In place. The factory is
contained In two separate divisions,
the hydro-electric generating station
and the chemical works. Details of
the revolving furnaces, with the inter
nal electrodes and the flame ares, are
given.
Let Women Rnn Incubator.
Please do not get the Idea that the
incubator is so everlastingly automatic
that you do not need to give it any at
tention. The result with the use of an
Incubator is a great deal like the re
sults with the use of other things. They
will be in proportion to the effort you
make to a great extent Of course I
am not personally acquainted with you,
but as a long-distance proposition I
would a heap sight rather you would
turn your machine over to your wife.
The women folks have more natural
good sense in raising poultry, and you
can bet your boots they look after the
pennies and dimes In whatever they
undertake. While a man that is accus
tomed to dealing in big money often
overlooks seemli'gly immaterial things
that go to make the use of Incubators
and brooders a success. M. M. John
son, Nebraska.
A Clover Bnncher.
Clover that is pastured until the
middle of June andthen permitted to
make a second growth will escape In-
Jury from the midge and usually give
a better yield of seed. When 95 per
cent of the heads are a dead brown
color the mower may be set to work.
The Illustration shows a finger-like
mowing machine attachment for bunch
ing and laytng the clover out of the
way of the horses. . v
To Prevent Tomato Rot.
The disease often attacks plants that
are not sprayed It Is first noticeable
as small black or brown Bpots on the
leaves and stems of the plants, occur
ring first on the lower and older leaves,
but with favorable weather It spreads
rapidly till the plant is defoliated and
the spots on the stems have coalesced
Into irregular blackish patches. If a
piece of bark with these spots be ex
amined under a high power microscope
Innumerable small, crescent-shaped
bodies may be seen. These are the
fruiting spores of the fungus. Spray
with Bordeaux mixture.
Get a Disk Harrow.
The disk harrow is a tool that is
almost indispensable on an up-to-date
farm. For working land that is infest
ed with weeds that spread from their
root systems the disk harrow Is the
only harrow that should be used. It
cuts "the roots where they lie and does
not drag them from one part of the
field and transplant them in another.
With "plenty of horsepower .lt will do
the Trork of a plow on some kinds of
soil, 1 especially In fruit orchards,
where a plow is liable to tear up large
roots and start suckers to growing up
where the Toot Is cut
Ration for Cows.
Experiments conducted last year at
the West Virginia Agricultural Station
go to show that, while a ration of grain
given to cows that are on pasture may
keep them In somewhat better physical
conditilon and keep up their flow of
milk, the Increase in butter fat Is not
sufllcient to pay for the cost of the
grain ration. This would seem to be
on the assumption of a flush pasture
and that the cows would eat additional
grass to take the place of the higher
priced grain ration. ,
v Leguminous Cropa.
Nature has provided a leguminous
crop for every part of the earth where
it was Intended that man should farm.
Cow peas, soy beans and Japan clover
In the Southy crimson clover in -he
Eastern slope, red clover Jn the Cen
tral states, alfalfa Jn the ."vyest . and
Canada pea In the North show how
thoroughly the -distribution has been
effected.
Hired Man and The Horse.
Every man who works on a farm
ought to know how to care for horses.
By "care" it Is not meant that he
should know Just enough to feed a
horse, but he must know how to take
care of a mare in foal, how to break a
colt and how to feed It to the best ad
vantage. He should know all about
horses' feet and something about shoe
ing, too. Many a man has dropped
Into a fine and permanent Job because
he knew these things. Horses are the
most valuable animals on the farm, of
course, and the man who can take the
best care of them is the most valuable
help.
Changes In Farming;.
Farming Is not what It was twentj
years ago from a revenue standpoiut.
Corn and' cotton were the main prod
ucts from which the farmer drew his
income, and that, too, only once a year.
Now the process has changed up. In
stead of the one crop, cotton, farmers
have invoked a multiplicity of crops,
and not only grow corn and cotton for
revenue, but have supplemented pota
toes, both Irish and sweet ; peaches and
pears, onions, melons, berries, peanuts
and ribbon cane, all of which bring
money at all seasons of the year, and
there is a continued market for what
he has to sell. Sulphur Springs (Tex.)
Gazette. " .
Growing Dates In Texas.
An experienced date grower of Cali
fornia who ' visited the lower Rio
Grande region of Texas two years ago
discovered large numbers of date palm
trees, soine of them very old but all
of which were barren. He proposed to
pollenlze the trees ' artificially and
share in the proceeds, a proposition
which was eagerly accepted by the
owners. Hundreds of these trees are
now bearing delicious fruit. The poor,
crippled and sick Mexicans of that sec
tion regard the man as a sorcerer and
when he visits them they fall upon
their knees and beg him to cure them
of their infirmities.
' Machine Hoe Helpa.
The machine, wheel hoe is a great
thing in the garden. It makes garden
work a real pleasure if you have one
of the modern combined, drill and wheel
hoe arrangements. They are not costly
and not hard to operate. Any one that
has a garden as big as a town lot can
afford to have one, as It will save its
cost the first season and will last for
twenty years. You can do as much
work with one of them as ten men
with hand hoes and do it better.
Frnlt Tree Borera.
August is the time to look for borers.
Dig the soil away around the stems of
fruit trees to the depth of 3 inches,
scrape the bark with a knife, and if
any sawdust or exuding gum is found
it Is time to get to work. Dig out the
borer and wash the uncovered parts
with a mixture of soft cow dung, lime
wood ashes and a little crude carbolic
add. Then return the soil. The quince,
dwarf pear and. peach trees are pir
ticularly affected by this pest
Foe of the, Green Bog.
Last season farmers of the South
west were greatly alarmed over the ap
pearance of the wheat plant louse,' com
monly known us the green bug. They
caused a tremei'dous amount of dam
age, but this year Its ravages were
much less, owing to the appearance of
a parasite bee which destroys the bug.
The bee lays its eggs on
the body of the green bug,
which are shown in the
picture on the wheat leaf.
When the eggs hatch out
the larvre feed on the bug
until they become bees,
when they - lay more eggs
on the bugs, and this proc
ess is repeated over and
over. .The bees are shown
.In the picture, and farmers
should become familiar with them, so
they may recognize them as one of
their best friends. Exchange.
V Growing Mangels.
Mangels grown continuously on the
same land for four years, yielded over
nine tons of roots, containing one ton
of dry matter, while on land urfder ro
tation they yielded thirty-four tons of
roots and four tons of dry matter per
acre, at the New York Cornell Experi
ment Station. From 25,000 to 30,000
plants of mangels, rutabagas and hy
brid turnips, and from 40,000 to 60,000
plants of carrots, per acre, are sug
gested as proper stands.
Spraying to Kill Weeds.
It has been proved that such weeds
as false-flax, wonnseed, mustard, tum
bling mustard, common wild mustard,
snepnera purse, pepper-grass, bell
mustard, corn cockle, chickweed dan
delion, Canada thistle, bindweed plan
tain, rough pigweed, king-head, red
river weed, ragweed and cocklebur may
be destroyed by spraying the field with
1 or 8 per cent solution of cornier
sulphate, using about eighty gallons of
water per acre.
RAM'S HOBS BLASTS.
Warning Notes Calling the Wicked
to Repentance.
The right kind of
sermon keeps . on
preaching after, the
benediction - is pro
nounced. - .
Unless we do
something for . the
future the'tiuture
will not do"1 much
for us. , .
Too much care
has kept many a house plant from be
coming a tree. ,
The Lord employs no hired help.
It is a waste of soap to wash a pig.
Only the-worshiper can ask as God
wants to give.
There are days when "Hold the Fort"
is the right song to sing.
Characters are not built by accident
any more than houses are.
Better be blind than see nothing but
the shortcomings of others.
Fill the mind with good thoughts and
bad ones will be crowded out ,
Faithfulness in the day of small
things is what makes the true man.
The man who goes into God's busi
ness goes into a business that never
falls.
The religion that' makes no change
in a man's life has made none In his
heart
A man may never utter ah oath, and
yet swear like a pirate with his face or
his fist
The real size of the man always de
pends upon whether he is growing or
shrinking. . . ,.-.
, You can not always tell how hard a
man has been digging by what be brings
home in his basket ,
You have to explain a coal oil lamp,
but no breath need be wasted in telling
about the power of the sun. The
springtime will do that .
LIFE IN THE MINING TOWNS.
Though Minna a Good Many Com.
-forts It Has Its Attractions.
Dr. W. K. Robinson, formerly a
prominent and popular Baltiinorean,
but for the past three years a resident
of Goldfleld, Nev., Is a guest at the Ren
nert, says the Baltlm'ore American. Dr.
Robinson, who has prospered greatly
through his ownership of paying mines,
told some interesting facts about his
adopted home. '
"Compared with Baltimore," said he,
"the mining towns of Nevada are very
shy of the comforts and pleasures of
existence, but they have an attraction
of their, own, and I really enjoy living
out there. Goldfleld is a place of at
least 15,000 people. It Is a wide-open
town. Gambling goes on day and night
and the saloons are never closed. This
does not mean that it Is given up to
disorder and violence. On the contrary,
serious crime is rare, and what racket
is kicked up is the work of young east
ern chaps, who think they must cavort
and raise Cain to make the native re
gard them with respect. y .
"While the cost of living is pretty
high, there has been a great decline
since the earliest days of the camp.
One can now rent a very comfortable
house for $75 to $100 a month. No Chi
namen or Japs are allowed in Goldfleld,
and a strong Irishwoman who, can do
all the cooking and other family work
can often get $100 a month. We sigh
for the Boft-shell crabs of the Chesa
peake and the other glorious sea food,
but our beef and vegetables brought in
from California are Just as good as you
can get In Baltimore. ;""
"Goldfleld Is to-day in better shape
thar it ever was.,- Everything is on a
solid basis. Speculation In wildcat
property has ceased. Labor, like smelter
charges and railroad rates, has dropped
to a figure where the mine owners can
pay and get their profits. Some of the
biggest mines are not In operation, but
that Is only a temporary condition. The
treasury shipments of ore out of Gold
fleld are not less than $750,000 a month.
Inside of two years I believe the camp
will show an annual output of not less
than $25,000,000." - ;
The Lion and the Child.
The strange spectacle of a lion play
ing with a child Is reported to have
been witnessed at Vryheid. A Dutch
farmer, accompanied by his wife and
little boy, was out shooting game. Sud
denly the attention of the parents was
drawn to the child, who had toddled a
short distance away ' to gather wild
flowers. - Crowing with delight, the lit
tle fellow was pulling the hair of a full
grown lion, and the animal appeared
to be enjoying the operation." Spell
bound, the farmer and his wife stood
gazing at the scene. The farmer, even
If his gun had contained a shot, could
not have fired because of the child.
The lion skipped sportivelx round the
boy until, startled by loud shouts
from the' parents, it walked quietly
away, followed by a lioness, which up
to then had lain concealed in the long
grass. A hunt was afterward organ
ized, but the lions had disappeared into
the thick bush. East Rand Express.
What It Means. "
"Id like a rlference, ma'am," said the
cook, who had been requested to resign.
"You mean," replied Mrs. Hiram
Often, yon'd like a letter in which
there would be no reference to any.
thing." Philadelphia Press. .
A manly man likes to acknowledge
his faulty to a womanly woman who
tries to convince hun that he bag none.
Many a man has a kick coming that
never reaches him.