IN LIFE'S LAST HOURS
THOUGHTS OF CONDEMNED MAN
AWAITING EXECUTION. '
No Authentic Record Nil Ever Bmk
Made, but One Man Hare Set
Down How Ho Imagines Ho
Would Bo Affected. :
It It a curious tact that do man con
demned to death by process of law
hat left what might bo acoepted aa
an authentic account of hli thoughts
and acta during the closing bouri, W.
R. Rose writes in the Cleveland Plain
Dealer -
For the most part condemned man
are not Intellectual men. To put their
feelings into words and transcribe
them on paper would be a task for
which they couldjiave no liking and
little aptitude. They approach the
hour of death, we may believe. In a
dull and largely unemotional manner,
keeping their thoughts away from the
dreaded hour and getting such com
fort as they can out of the Immediate
moment. With 'men of higher grades
of intellect it would be different The
mind of the man of reason and imagi
nation would be beyond his control
To be alone with himself and his
thoughts" and his sense of absolute
helplessness would be maddening.
Robert Louis Stevenson could have
clothed these final hours in poetic Eng
lish; Poe could have given them a
ghastly, finish; O. Henry .would have
made them worldly and cynical.
If It were possible to put yourself
in thought in a condemned man's
place how would your mind regard
the situation T . " ;
This la the way one man says It
would affect him: .
"I roused up this morning with a
sudden start Something called me.
It battered at my ears.
"Two more days two more days!
"I wonder why T sleep, I wonder
why I eat! I'm ashamed of my body.
It Is a clod. It doesn't understand.
Once in a while, however, my stom
ach has that horrible, sinking sensa
tion and my body realizes for a mo
ment what my mind endures. Then It
goes back to Its old ways Its appe
tite, its demand for exercise, its call
for sleep.
"I am beginning to look upon my
self as something apart from my body.
Perhaps I am. Perhaps It is only my
body (hey will hang, while my spirit
but why should I speculate when 1
am so soon to know? '
"Ok' course I pray. That's the primal
Instinct. I cry out for longer life. I
beseech and 1 make promises a cow
ard's cry. Tet there's comfort in it. It
draws my mind from that one mad
dening thought -
"There's something else In which I
find a little comfort: I .am going on
a Journey that billions have under
taken. The millions who are alive are
only a small part of the host that has
peopled the earth. I am going over
to the great majority, and whatever
my destination may be I shall have
company. There are near and dear
ones in that tide of outgoing souls.
Is there a shadowy shore where we
may meetT V. . -.
. "God, it is night again! .
"The guard has just looked in. The
death lamp in the corridor is burning.
A single thread of light comes through
the grating. Is it hope? i
"One more day. '
"I feel torpid. Is the thought of
death dulled? Have I exhausted its
terrors T
.hwuj nvuuv. i. uij VWf mill
shame me? Will it break mr pride?
"There will be no tomorrow. Some
how, the thought doesn't unnerve me.
Ho, no, I'm not going to break down!
"There are men In the corridor. I
Jiear their tramping feet, their hurried
-voices. Someone has called mr name!
My heart bumps my ribs. Hope is turn
tllng at the lock!
"I I am reprieved!" '
WOULD TEMPT THE EPICURE
No Modern Dish Can Be Accounted
I Superior to the Squirrel Stew
of the Early Days. -
Toung squirrel, new. potatoes and
June peas, stewed together tn an Iron
pot, over a hickory wood Ore. At Har
ry Lauder aays, "Ye canna beat It."
In the early days it was a prime fa
vorite in Kentucky, and the pioneers
of Missouri brought a yearning tor it
with them when they came overland
from the Blue Grass state and settled
along the rivers and creeks in Mis
souri. . .
There were plenty of squirrels in
(th woods of Missouri tn those days,
and in the middle of June, when new
potatoes were about the also of wal
nuts, and early peas were big enough
ir the shell, the old man, or the big
gest boy of the family, would lift the
long-barreled squirrel rifle and powder
horn down from the pegs over the fire
place and go out after a "mess" of
young squirrels. At that time in June
they were just large enough to dress
well.
. - A hunter who would shoot a squir
jrel anywhere except through the head
jwas accounted a mighty poor shot.
And it had to be shot in the head or
jnot at all, for a squirrel Is a wary ani
mal. As the hunter goes around one
Slde of the tree the squirrel goes
around the other way, keeping the tree
between him and the enemy, but oc
casionally he peeps out to see what
Is going on, and that is the hunter's
chance. . ...
Half a dozen squirrels Is enough for
a mess. While the head of the family
Is dressing them the womenfolk are
grubbing out a half peck of new pota
toes and rubbing off ths tender red
skins, and shelling a quart or two of
new aeasi Squirrel, potatoes and peas
are put into the pot together.
It must be an iron pot Any old
settler will tell you that there is a
flavor and a tang to "vittles" stewed
in an iron pot that modern pots and
pans never impart. The ingredients
must be allowed to simmer, not to boll
briskly, but stew gently over a slow
fire until the whole mass Is thorough
ly disintegrated. Then it Is ladled out
and eaten while piping hot. A chunk
of corn pone, dipped Into the Juicy
stew and munched with It, im
proves It.
Anyone who has eaten of this dish
will tell you that in all the range of
cookery there Is nothing quite so good.
The tender young squirrel meat has
fallen away from the bones, the new
potatoes have melted, the peas have
imparted to the whole a faint green
ish hue, and all have blended together
tn a savory mass redolent of Juno
buds and June blossoms.
- Extra Pay for Beauties.
"Every American boy and girl has
an Inalienable right to have a good
looking school teacher, and school
boards should be willing to pay $1$
a month more for comely Instructors
than for homely ones."
Dr. Henry S. Curtis, New York play
eipert, expressed that theory to west
ern Kansas school teachers at Fort
Hays Normal. .
Doctor Curtis believes that better
looking teachers mean better disci
pline and more effective teaching.
Doctor Curtis also believes that play
should be made compulsory just as
education is. In 12 generations most
Americans will be Insane unless play
Is taught, he says. : v . -;
Important Service.
"Cant you drive your own car?"
"Oh, yes; But I employ a chauffeur
so that my family or guests won't be
able to blame me when anything goes
wrong with the trip."
A Fowl Affair. '
"Jack took a cocktail first of all."
"What did he take after the cock
talir. "His wife saw him and he took a
henpeck."
PREHISTORIC WORKS IN OHIO
In the 8tat There Are Some Five
Thousand Remain of Ancient
Civilisation. ,
On the banks of the Scioto, within
four miles of Columbus, on Its north
boundary, stand two conspicuous ex
amples of the work of the prehistoric
peoples of that vicinity. One is on the
old Flenniken farm, on the east bank
of the river, and on the weat side of
the river road, about a mile north of
the water pumping station and filtra
tion plant The other Is on the west
side of the river, three miles farther
north, and Is on the west side of the
road that fcitirts the west shore of the
river. It is on the 8hrum farm.
They are mounds of the same type
and of .considerable size. They atand
on level planes, from which they rise
abruptly and symmetrically to a height
of twenty or twenty-five feet It must
appear to any observer, writes H. J.
Galbraith In the Columbus Dispatch,
that they are artificial and not natural
mounds. The owners of the proper
ties have long placed high values on
them and have not been disposed to
permit them to be opened. As a mat
ter of fact scientific archeologistt are
not anxious to explore theae mounds,
for, while they admire them as ex
amples of the work of the ancient In
habitants here, they know from expe
rience tn exploring such earthworks
that It Is extremely unlikely that they
would, yield anything worth the time
and labor it would take to make the
explorations.
There are several less conspicuous,
mounds in the county that Doctor
Mills, the curator of the museum at
Ohio State university, would prefer to
open, mounds that the general public
would lightly regard, if Indeed they
would recognize them as the' work of
prehistoric peoples at all. There is a
mound of this kind on the Olentangy
river near Worthlngton that is hardly
: known at all to the general public that
Doctor Mills has been watching for
some time. "I know that mound would
yield a rich store of treasures," Baid
he. "There Isn't any sort of doubt
about it, but 1 feel sure that anyone
who would explore the two Scioto
mounds would get little for his pains."
Counting them all, big and little,
there are probably 160 earthworks of
these ancient people within the bor
ders of Franklin county, and five or
six thousand In the state of Ohio, No
other state In the Union Is richer in
the evidences of a prehistorlo civiliza
tion than the Buckeye state is.
' ' The Silver Lining Appears.
- The Association of Skirt, Dress and
Suit Makers have decreed that lovely
woman's attire shall be more roomy
the coming fall season. This Is a
bright spot on the horizon for the
cotton grower. There are said to be
20,000,000 women in this country alone
who wear clothes, and should the
fashion require a yard and a half more
cloth for a dress, it would mean a
consumption of 80,000,000 yards more
cloth. Figures do not lie.- Here is a
ray of sunshine that ought to dissi
pate the gathering gloom. Now If the
Filipinos and Chinese and Cubans
and other nationalities that aspire
for recognition in the world of civili
zation should require that their skirts
be made an Inch longer cotton ought
to jump like It did when Sully was In
the market Selma Times. ,.
Connecting Archangel With Siberia.
. One of the zemstvos of the govern
ment of Vologda Is handing in a pe
tition concerning the connection of
Archangel with Siberia by meant of
the following water route; Northern
Dwlna-Vychegda-Pecbora-Ob. The es
tablishment of such a water route was
planned In 190, when, by Imperial or
der, a special expedition was sent out
to make the necessary investigations.
This route would be of the greatest
importance for the exportation of Si
berian products to European Russia
as well at to foreign countries.
KEEP THE COWS CLEAN
Pure Milk Cannot . Be Secured
From a Filthy Animal. 1
Curry Comb and Brush at Essential In
Dairy Barn aa In Horse Stable
Remove Bedding From the
,; t Stalls Every Day. "
. The curry comb and brush are just
as essential to the health, comfort and
appearance of the cow at they are to
the hone. Clean, pur milk cannot be
had from a filthy cow. A well ar
ranged barn and plenty of bedding as
sist greatly tn keeping the cow In
a sanitary condition at all time.
By the use of good stanchions the
now are kept much oleaner than where,
they are simply tied with rope of
halter, a by the use of stanchions the
cows are not able to back off and lie
down in the manure, as they do with
other methods of stabling. Straw Is
usually cheap and plentiful on most
dairy farms, and It does not pay to
neglect to bed the cow well. The bed
ding should be removed from the stalls
every day, and fresh litter provided.
The manure should be hauled from the
barn to the field or storage pit often,
every day or two If possible to prevent
It from being a breeding place about
the barn for files, disease germs and
bad odors which taint the milk.
It Is a good plan to disinfect the
stablea occasionally, whether there Is
any apparent reason tor It or not.. It
Is not expensive, can do no harm
and does much good In the way of de
stroying lice and disease germs.
Where enough cows are kept to make
It profitable It la advisable to use
milking machines, aa we believe milk
can be produced much cleaner in this
way Vhan can possibly be don by band
milking. ' ? .. .. h
Where hand milking Is necessary
see that the hands are always clean
before milking, and use a covered pall,
Curry and brush the hind parts of the
cow well each morning at least halt
an hour before milking time, which
should always be regular, and rub the
udder well with a brush or burlap
sack, to remove all dirt and dust that
might get into the milk.
Dry, well-drained and well-kept feed
tots assist greatly In keeping the cows
clean, hence, also In producing clean
milk. Where cows are compelled to
stand all day In a wet or muddy teed
lot, unless much care Is used, the eve
ning milk will be far from pure. A
naturally high, dry and well-drained
location Is advisable for the feed lot
Weil-Kept Dairy Cow.
during winter and spring, and If It can
be graded and stoned It is much better.
It Is preferable to have the feeding
pens provided with feed racks, In place
of feeding on the ground, at the cow
Is a very cleanly animal, and will not
readily eat soiled food It It can be
avoided.
Water Supply fer Cows. -
In the matter of water supply for
the cows u it cannot be bad from
running stream or spring it mould
come from a deep well that is kept
clean at all times and not aubject to
turface drainage, and the water for
use in the barnyard or tor washing
the dairy utensils should be kept free
from foreign matter and taints of all'
kinds.