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About The Athena press. (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1909)
WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUMPRiN. By JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY., , ' - " mm. ' ' - 4(S rl ft Hi."' 1 ' y ; " r Whan the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock, And you hear the kyvack and gobble of the struttin' turkey cock; And the clackln' of the guineas and the cluckin' of the hens, And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence; Oh, it's then's the time a feller is a feelln' at his best, With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest; As he leaves the house bareheaded and goes out to feed the stock, When the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock. There's something kind o' hearty like about the atmosphere When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here. Of course we miss the flowers and the blossoms on the trees, ' And the mumble of the hummin' birds and buzzin' of the bees; But the air's so appetizin' and the landscape through the haze Of a crisp and sunny morning of the early autumn days Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock When the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock. The husky, rusty rustle of the tos- sels of the corn, And the raspin' of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn The stubble in the furrows kind o lonesome-like, but still A-preachin' sermons to us of the barns they growed to fill; The straw-stack in the medder, nd the reaper in the shed; The hosses in their stalls below, the clover overhead; Oh, it sets my heart a-elickin' like the tickln' of a clock When the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock. OUT OF BEACH. Pour, rain! You cannot get Into my heart Or put out the Are of my soul; I am safe In a beautiful realm apart Where the angels of light patrol! Pour, rain! You are good, I am told, for the flow ers and the grain, But you bea'. the the door of my heart in vain. Blow, wind! The trees you can buffet and break, I You can trouble the waves of the ea, .., .Yoli can scatter the petals of many ; . a? fio fer, i But yoii cannot terrify me! Blow, winds Tor the country of "Peace and a Quiet Mind" . Is a part, of the world you can never ! find! Youth's Companion. 1 I Catching His Eye It llowman, the assistant bookkeep er had a heart he was as unconscious of H as he was of any other of the practical working organs inai went to make up his physical man. wman loved his big ledgers. He jOVBieU 111 lUl'B, IBllllms wiuiuui ui IM..J I .1.1 - inirnH tin iikhii iriiuii 1.1111ms uu D&L ji an unemotional way, which left him amoved If the steak happened to be one too much or too little. He was -Jvpted to hlsjTCatberr-vHe,. enjoyed hiipa lnlhie evening after dinner. However, up to the age of 28 he ap parently v had neve?; heeded or been disturbed by the swkh of a petticoat, .ft-. YiaA lot Ma hnmt ha AurnAfl nvAn the fraction of an Inch yhe glance of a bright eye. He wasn't afraid of girls; In fact, he rather Uked. them. They were pretty, he thought, on account of the bright colors they wore, and some of them were graceful, so he enjoyed seeing them flash about, but somehow they all looked very much alike to him and he regarded them all with a benevo lent Indifference. He was quite an or dinary, stout, plain' person, who wore big spectacles across his big nose, had a wide, kind face and a twinkle In his eye. column, while she stood beside him humming a little tune. In a moment he handed the slip back to her. "I think that fixes you," he said hap pily. "Oh, thank you ever so much," she replied, softly. She stood for a mo ment, sliding the paper back and forth In a ridge at the side of the desk. 'I'm afraid you think It was awful funny of me to ask you," she contin ued, hesitatingly. "You always seem so busy." "Why, I'm never too busy to help you," he said. With a quiet Imper sonal pleasure he watched the pretty color surge up Into her cheeks. "Or any of the other girls," he added genially. Miss FInley turned on her little heel and walked away so quickly that Bow man was unaware of the smile that was curling her lips. A little ripple of giggles greeted her as she returned to the stenographers' corner. "Was It a frost?" Inquired Miss Tem ple. , "Maybe," replied Miss FInley non- committally. "But one frost doesn't make a winter. You just watch me." It was perfectly astonishing the number of things Miss FInley found after that which only Bowman could do for her. If the drawers of her desk became refractory and refused to open or shut, only Bowman's strong awn seemed to be considered equal to the task of getting them Into working or der again. She even got him to sharpen her pencils for her and her frequent appeals to him to know If Bowman was probably the only mem ber of the office fortj who remained unmoved the naming Miss FInley made her first!' appearance. Quiet and "mSif-BA,dalt.ty as she was, she was yet such" vlvM -erertore that even Abou . , week after the manager, wno oeueveu mat busl "I'M nevgb too bust to help you." her hat was on straight set him to woudering philosophically If a girl's hat could ever "be considered on straight. He felt no annoyance when she came to him one day apparently in the deep est despair because she couldn't find one of her hatpins, which was burled deep In the fluffy trimmings of her hat, but afterward It occurred to him that life would be much simplified for them if girls didn't wear such fant&s tlo things. ness and social relations fnouid,. be kept distinctly separate, noted JLev and asked her name. However, ; the first time Bowman remembered seeing her was one morning evral weeks after her initial appearance, wheu he raised his eye from his work to And her standing at his elbow, looking just a , trifle audacious, a trifle Bhy, but very pretty, with a piece of paper held up appeallngly In her hand. She laid the paper on the desk In front of Bow man and he noticed that she had to stand on her tiptoes to do It. "Will you add them for me, Mr. bowman?" she pleaded. "You don't know how mean they act for me." Bowman's Blight Interest in the fluffy topknot Immediately changed to a pro Bounced interest In the column of fig ures she handed him. "Certainly," he answered. He ran his pencil rapidly up and down h this episode Bowman was surprised one morning upon looking over toward the stenog raphers' corner to discover that Miss FInley's chair was vacant. He was even more surprised at the queer, sinking sensation that took possession t him when he realized that she won not there. His first Impulse was to go over and ask where she was, but a sudden fit of shyness seized him and ho decided not to. This cnade him uncomfortable, for shyness and vacil lation were entirely new emotions to him. He dragged down one of his beloed ledgers and began writing In It. Instead of figures, he seemed to seo a little pointed face In a mist of soft hair. At last he stuck his pen behind his ear and gave himself up dellberataly to reflection. After some mimiies of unproductive mental labor or the problem in hand he turned to the head bookkeeper. "Here," he said abruptly, , "how does a fellow feel when he's in love?" The head bookkeeper looked at him scornfully. "Come off!" he ejaculated Go on and tell me," urged Bow man. "I m In earnest I want to know." The head bookkeeper looked at him disgustedly over his glasses. "For an everlasting, all-round Idiot," he said you certainly are the limit. She's got you going, has she?" cowman said nothing more, but from his knitted brows and general air or unrest one might have gathered tnat he was still studying his own emotions. The next morning he was eaarerh watching the door when Miss FInley, zoning a little pale from her illness, came in. without a moment's heslta- tion he went over to where she was standing. Neither of the other girls naa arrivea. Miss Flnley," he said, "I came ove. 10 ion you something. I just found it out yesterday. I'm In love with you." He stood back and regarded her with a look of the deepest interest bne gave a little nervous laugh. vvno torn you 7" she gasped. "I found it out myself," he said triumphantly.. "I didn't think I could do it," she said soberly. I told the girls I was going to try Just for fun, but I didn't think I could. I told them the other aay tnat I gave it up. I thought you uunumuB lace grew siern lor a mo- i ment. "You did It Just for fun!" he saiu. xou never thought what it might mean to me." She gave a quick little sobbing sigh. "I did it for fun at first," she said. dui arterwara " well? demanded Bowman. "Why am you ao h anerward?" Because l uked you," she said after a moment's pause. Chicago tNews. VIGILANTES IN PABIS. iitiiena Determined to Protest Themselves from the Apache. Parisians are taking the law Into their own hands to suppress the hood' lums known as Apaches, who have been waxing more audacious and inso lent of late, a letter to the New York Sun says. Posters signed by well known lawyers and medical men are placarded all about the city and Its suburbs calling upon the people to join tne League of Social Protection This league will form an armed po lice body to protect members and their property. The manifesto runs "Fire brigades have been formed to right nre and a society exists for the protection of animals. The time has no come when honest people must unite and take action against the ruf fians who terrorize the suburban dis tricts. , - "Organized and disciplined troops of nonesi citizens are to be formed in ev ery district where Apaches endanger life and property. Reprisals will be exercised by the Social Protection League, whose armed members will seek out the Apaches and strike hard taking the law Into their owu hands." It is proposed that the league shall start operations in time for the com ing winter, wheu the dark davs and longer nights give the Paris tough fa vorable chances for carrying on his work without being easily detected by the police. Then, but Xot .Voir, "Do you know Penrotte?" "Yes; he became well aequaiuteo with me before his play became a suc- Boston Herald "7 r- Ham V .h chair du1' .an 200 years old thai has heldVjral generations of round faced' youngsters, all descendants of John Alden of the Mayflower, a New York Herald's Boston dispatch says. Mr. Church Is a direct descendant of Alden. The chair was given to h'm by his aunt Mrs. Elizabeth Church Stoddard, daughter of Lydia Alden, who married Gamaliel Church. "I am sure that it belonged to your great grandfather," Mrs. Stoddard told him. "It may have belonged to your great- great-grandfather." Mr. Church feels assured that this chair was used In the family of the fifth John Alden, born in 1740, who lived in Mlddleboro. It may have been handed down to him by his father, John Alden, born in 1718, who also lived in Mlddleboro. The chair bears evidence of Its age Well it may, for. the Alden children grew up very much as children grow up to-day. On the arms of the chair are countless childish scratches. There are also one or two generous Jabs with a knife or some other sharp instru ment. The hickory footrung is im pressed with the klcklngs of two and possibly three generations of chubby feet Fashioned in the days when house hold furniture was homemade and "made for keeps," this heirloom is an interesting bit of workmanship. A friend of Mr. Church interested in antiques came into his office to glance at it one day and found that he had spent a half-hour before he had finish ed turning it over. v There is not a nail In it. The join ings, which only show a line seam, and which have lasted for centuries, were made with pegs. The small pieces of wood at the back of the chair were made from oak barrel staves. A piece of homespun linen duck, sub stantial and woven on an old-time hand loom by the mother or sister in the family, is stretched across the seat. About an inch from the floor were originally four cross pieces. Evident ly the temptation of placing one's toes on one of these rungs and rocking backward and forward, irrespective of whoever happened to.be in the chair, was too much for the small Aldens Three of the pieces have been rocked away. Despite this the old chair wob bles only slightly. MR, tl )ffiv$IiP The wasp can cut its way through a seashell. The first motor exhibition was held in England In 1895. Of the 12,000,000 acres under culti vation in Burma, 8,000,000 are devoted to rice. The London hansom seems to be on the decline. Other ' types of convey ance are taking its place. Prince Edward of Wales, future King of England, until a few weeks ago re ceived 24 cents pocket money each week while in residence at Osborne Naval College. . Germany's top output for 1907 is es timated at $25,000,000, of which $19,- 000,000 was exported, and of the total the United States and Great Britain took more than half. Compulsory study of the ancient Irish language in the new national university at Dublin is expected to meet some opposition. At Queen's Col lege, in Cork, Irish classes were in stituted four years ago. The first year four pupils appeared, only two of whom stayed out the course; the sec ond year there was a class of two, and since then there have been no students of Irish at all in the college. There are practically no fire engines In Japan, but the Yokohama City Council has made an appropriation to buy two. In the old days of bam boo houses, which the owners could take apart and carry oil under the arms, fires caused little concern in the land of the Mikado, but the Yankees of the East have been constructing real buildings in recent years. Some de structive blazes, with heavy losses, started the fire engine movement. It beats all what odd questions reach some of the departments of gov ernment in Washington. Not long ago the treasury received a letter from a Pittsburg man who had made a bet asking "How many cents are there in bushel?" The answer was not easy to offer. If the man had asked about pounds he might have received a def inite answer. As it was, he got in re ply a guess from a clerk, that "rough ly there are something like $320, or 12,000 pennies. Keep the Road Drag Going-. Bad roads are an extravagance that no farming community can . afford. Just what they cost In unnecessary expenses It takes but a moment to determine. A' team and driver are reasonably worth $3 a day, and by the use of these It is possible to deliver to mar ket from your home 100 bushels of corn. Hauling over good roads, the cost of delivery Is 3 cents per bushel. But if, in consequence of bad roads. but fifty bushels can be delivered, the cost Is doubled and the difference Is what the Impassible roads cost you. Continue this calculation, applying It to the hauling of all your crops, and It quickly becomes apparent that It amounts to a very burdensome tax. Gbod roads help In every way; they promote sociability' by making friends and relatives accessible, and by means of them it Is easier to reach the schools and churches and to generally do and enjoy the things which make life really worth living. San doner for Poaltry. ' Sunflowers are grown by many poultrymen and farmers. ' The seed make an excellent feed for poultry and can be easily and profitably pro duced. The seeds can be sown . In rows and the crop cultivated the same as corn. When ripe the seed is thrash ed out. and fed to the poultry either whole or ground. If the . sunflower heads are thrown Into the chicken yard, the birds will thresh the seeds out themselves with no expense to the grower. It is an excellent fattening food, and when fed with cracked corn gives good results. It is too late this season ta an h Many people who have no time to sunflower seeds, but It is a rood thin play are always clamoring for soma-! to keep In mind for another tu- UUnf to play with. - Farmers' Guide. " i The Naked Trnth. There is an ancient fable which tells us that on a summer afternoon Truth and Falsehood Bet out to bathe togeth er. They round a crystal spring. They bathed la the cool, fresh water, and Falsehood, emerging first, clothed herself in the garments of Truth and went her way. But Truth, unwilling to put on the garb of Falsehood, de parted naked. And to this day False hood wears Truth's fair white robes, so that many persons mistake her for Truth's very self, but poor Truth still goes naked. " ' The Apple Barrel. It stood in the cellar low and dim, Where the cobwebs swept and sway ed, Holding the store from bough and limb At the feet of autumn laid. . And oft, when the days were short " and drear - And the north wind shrieked and .roared, We children sought in the corner here And drew on the toothsome hoard For thus through the long, long win ter-time It answered our every call With wine of the summer's golden prime Sealed by the hand of fall. The best jthere was of the earth and air, Of rain and sun and breeze, Changed to a pippin sweet and rare By the art of the faithful trees. A wonderful barrel was this, had we Its message but rightly heard, Filled with the tales of wind and bee, Of cricket and moth and bird; Rife with the bliss of the fragrant June When skies were soft and blue; Thronged with the dreams of a har vest moon O'er fields drenched deep with dew. Oh, homely barrel, I'd fain essay Your marvelous skill again; Take me back to the past, I pray. As willingly now as then Back to the tender morns, and eves, The noontides warm and still. The fleecy clouds and the SDanerled leaves ' Of the- orchard over the hill. Edwin L. Sabiq, in Llppincott's. Composition ilea's!: n" ' ,!"-t" JSC HIA Mnn and the Bona. two sides of tne xarm laDor question in this somewhat homely but fdrciblff manner; ' v i "He felt that he was working too hard for the pay received; he knew better than the boss how the wori should be laid out; he caroused od Sunday and was dead to the world Monday; he was jealous of the othei , hired men he got fired! - . , "He had no regular hours; he, , shifted teams from one man to anoth er; he spent his time in town; he had: plenty of spare room in his house, but gave the hired man the best in th hay loft; he grumbled about trifles-' ; his hired man quit." of Vegetable. mmcT IW.0IW WATER -PR0Ttl0.C9 CAR30HY0RATE5 6 MINERAL-MATTER O.066J' jQartrnM. MffTtf in ttRKWDSATE- While vegetables are given a low value as food for man or beast on account of their large percentage of water, the dry portion is highly nu tritive. In the potato the 22 per cent of solid matter is nearly all available for food. The proteids as flesh form ers and the carbohydrates as fat pro ducers are essential parts of food. A Tronbleiome Weed. 1 r Reports come from Ontario that the perennial sow - thistle has gained a firm foothold, making It the greatest weed enemy with which the farmer has to contend. It has been spread from one farm to another by the threshing - machines, the numerous seeds being easily carried.. One meth od being advocated for Its eradication Is to sow winter rye In September and pasture it the folbwing spring. This can be followed In June by rye, tur nips or buckwheat In this way crops are secured and the sow thistle fought at the same time. Fowli and Eg-jr. Farmers' Bulletin No. 128"," United States Department of : Agriculture, says: "The eggs of different kinds of domestic poultry vary in size as well as appearance, and there is also a coir slderable range in the size of eggs of different breeds. Thus, hens' eggs range from the small ones laid by ban tams to the large ones laid by such breeds as light Brahmas. On an av erage a hen's egg is 2.27 inches in length, and 1.72 inches In diameter or width at the broadest point, and weighs about 2 ounces, or eight eggs to the pound (1 pounds per dozen). Generally speaking, the eggs of pullets are smaller than those of old hens; those of ducks somewhat larger than hens qggs, while those of turkeys and geese are considerably larger. Guinea eggs, on an average, measure lxlVa' Inches, are rather pointed at one end,- and weigh about 1.4 ounces each, or 17 ounces to the dozen. Goose eggs weigh about 6.5 to 6.7 ounces each, or' about 6 pounds to the dozen that Is, more than three - times as much as ! hens' eggs. The eggs of wild birds are said to "be smaller than those of the same species when domesticaeed. Wild ducks' eggs are -said to be, on an av- erage, 1.97 to 2.17, inch.es in diai domestic 1 inches. ducks" eggs, 2.36 ,. to 2.56t Woman tn Chicken Yard. September is a good month to look about for stock, and if one has not al- ready settled upon a particular varle-' '' - ty, a hint In that direction may be 6t some use. Unless a woman can afford to keep plenty of help she should not. keep over fifty fowls. I feel that I am writing for the woman who takes care -of her chickens herself, and to herf would say that if she has th room it Is a good plan to keep a small flock of two varieties one for broilers oh fricassees and one for layingeggs, ana when it comes to the genuine busi ness, then give me the Black Minor cas. - The eggs are large and pure white. The hens are almost perpetual layers and do not make good moth ers. The eggs will command; the high est fancy prices, and If youf. stock is pure you can sell the eggs fok.sittings ". at prices according, to the stck you keep; '. ; v The Plymouth Rocks'or theNwyan dottes are suitable -breeds for broll- ugiuo uob. i laiuK mere is more money In the selling of eggs to private customers, or even in the mar kets, than hi broilers. There Is less work and less worry. , The latter fowl Is a good layer if she does not get too fat, but when this occurs make a pot pie of her. s. ; Blnta on Boa- RaUla. ' Salt burled a few inches in the. gruuuu m cerium spots will attract the hogs and confine them pretty close ly to such places. . It is natural foe a hog to root, but if you want to prevent him from do ing so a simple ring in the snout will answer the purpose. It Is a great mistake to mark a hog by mutilating his ears. Better use a meUl tag. r