Newspaper Page Text
The Man, the Mission
and the Maid
By George Randolph Chester
(Copyright by the McCluro Newspaper Syndicate.)
When Hal Oilman got home from j
college ho had left all such things as
youth and folly bohlnd him. He was
more conscious of this than when, aft
er the welcome home had quieted
down a bit, he strolled out and glanced
at tho Blanchard porch. A dazzling
young lady over there was arranging
her fluffy summer gown picturesquely
as she sat down in one of tho big rock
ing chairs She was supplied with
a pink book, tho color of which
matched her gown and her cheeks per
fectly, but before she opened tho book
she gave tho neighborhood a satisfied
Inspection and so saw tho young man
looking out upon his boyhood sur
roundings with the new eyes of ex
treme serious maturity.
"Welcome to our beautiful city!"
called the girl gaily, rising from her
chair.
It was Miss Dlanchard after all. He
!had been In some doubt about It.
"Fickles" he had used to call her. He
shuddered at tho memory of tho dread
ful word. A year ago, too, he would
'have vaulted over the picket fence
that separated the two lawns, and in
an instant more would have been
sprawling upon the Dlanchard steps.
He remembered this also with a pang
as he lifted his hat and made a dig
nified bow to her; then ho walked Be-
dately down the Gllman path and out
.at the Gllman gate; he walked sedate
ly over to tho Dlanchard gate and
opened it; he walked sedately up the
Blanchard path and upon the Blanch-1
.ard porch, where he deposited himself
and his rigid Prince Albert carefully
upon a chair, after having shaken
hands most politely with the Dlanch
ard younglady. "How you have blos
somed!" he observed with a fatherly
gravity that forbade any suspicion of
.gallantry. "I should scarcely have
lenown you."
"Wo all change," she solemnly re
plied through lips that were full and
red and most dellclously curved. "We
bud, wo blossom, we ripen and decay.
Life ah, life is merciless!"
"Yes," he admitted pensively, "wo
are always growing older."
Ho was twenty-two and feeling for
a mustache; so the weight of advan
cing years lay heavily upon him. Alice
Blanchard reached over to lay her
pink book upon the tabourette at her
Tight hand, and the book-mark fell
out It was a large, square, cream
tinted envelope and very fat Tho
address was In a man's bold chirog
raphy, and Mr. Gllman frowned as ho
noted it. This sort of thing was a
part of the folly ho had left behind
him forever. Miss Alice picked up tho
letter, hut she did not do It hastily,
nor blush. She put It carefully back
In the book; it was too sacred a thing
to be treated flippantly. Already
Alice Blanchard had met her Fate.
.She was a woman, now, with all tho
responsibilities and cares that come
to a mature woman of nineteen.
Silence ensued. They looked out
upon the pretty suburban street with
thoughtful eyes.
"It must be One to be a man," pres
ently sighed Miss Blanchard; "to bo
.able to go out in tho world and fight
Xor fame and fortune."
Ho turned reproachful eyes upon
her.
"Fame!" he expostulated. "Fortune!
There are too many of the world's
sreedy host after those empty honors."
Miss Blanchard was startled, but
gave him Instant comprehension. She,
too, viaa just back from college.
"True' sho sighed. "How true."
""Aa for myself," he went on, "my
ale la cast. I have already engaged
to devote myself, after a short period
of repose with the good grandparents
who raised me, to the uplifting of hu
manity. Settlement work la to occupy
jny time henceforth."
His eye was calm but Btern. He
did not glow with enthusiasm. Tho
cause was not ono for mere boyish
fervor. It was a man's serious, sober,
.solemn mission that he was under
taking. "How noble!" breathed the girl.
".No!" ho protested. "It is merely
at debt that our family owes to hu-
monlty. Oh, you do not know, Miss
Blanchard, you cannot conceive of
tho ' misery that abounds in this
-world!"
Miss Blanchard turned upon him
Targe wide eyes that wore deep and
somber with sudden sorrow.
"Perhaps I do, though," she replied,
-softly, "Our own burdens teach us
sympathy and understanding."
Her eyes turned from him, in ex
planation, to the fat envelope where
its edge peeped out from the book. The
envelope did not Interest him much
an'd' he returned to the eyes. They
were remarkably pretty eyes, very
blue. Indeed, and full of expression.
Tho lashes above them wero long and
curved. Tho hair clustering about her
-white brow was of the exact golden
-shade that had let him stretch a point
to call tt red when ho was a boy. Bo
low Its shining waves the tip of a pink
oar was revealed. Her cheeks wero
.rounded and creamy, Her neck was
a ttrm whlto, beautifully modeled col
umn that supported her small head
most-gracefully. Fickiesi to tninic
that he had ever called her Pickles!
Grandfather and Grandmother Oil
man were looking out of tho side win
dow at them.
"Look at that, now!" said Grand
father Gllmnn.- "Honestly, I feel like
I wanted to paddlo that boy! There
ho sits, as stiff as a poker, talking
to tho prettiest girl in Oakdalo with
no more life in him than It she was a
sack of potatoes. Did I, at his ago,
ever sit llko a tailor's dummy on any
girl's front porch?"
"Adam," retorted Grandma Oilman,
"my distinct recollection is that at
twenty-two you were tho biggest fool
in tho county."
The mall-man came up tho street
Miss Blanchard ran down to the gate
and he handed her a large, fat square,
cream-tinged envelope. Mr. Gllman
had followed her.
"Have you anything for me?" he
asked the mall-man. Mr. Halfred
Joyco Gllman?"
The mail-man looked up with a
start.
"Why, hello, Harry!" ho cried heart
ily and held out his hand. "I didn't
recognize you. How you have grown."
Mr. Halfred Joyco Gllman was too
dignified to wince.
"There's scarcely any change in you,
Mr. Powell," he said with lofty gra
clousness. "The years treat you very
kindly. Indeed."
"Getting gray gray at a rat" And
tho mail-man jerked off his hat a mo
ment. "Let me see. You asked about
a letter. I got one here, but I hadn't
any idea that Halfred Joyce Gllman
could be you."
The letter he hunted out was a
long, legal envelope. It bore, printed
in one corner, the address of the Tene
ment House Sunshine league. Mr.
Gllman took It with reverence, while
tho deep frown of concentration
creased his brow.
"I shall have to ask you to excuse
me," ho said briskly to Miss Blanch
ard. "I have been waiting with some
anxiety for this delayed communica
tion. It Is well tho call of duty.".
He glanced at the fat envelope. "You,
too, will be naturally anxious to see
what Uncle Sam has brought you."
"I know beforehand," she said.
"These envelopes bring me no sur
prises. They are my only rays of sun
shine." He smiled sadly and shook his head.
Ho intended to devote himself solely
and undlvldedly to humanity, and it
ho ever married at all it would be to
some good woman who could aid him
In his settlement work; oven then only
if he was convinced that they could
do moro together than they could sep
arately. "You must come over often," invited
Miss Blanchard. "I am interested in
your work."
"I should be glad Indeed if I could
interest you seriously in it," he as
sured her. "I shall consider it my
duty to do so if I can."
In the pursuit of this duty he came
over nearly every day and most of the
evenings. Miss Blanchard did not go
out much. The fat, square, cream
tinted envelopes kept her at home;
made her refuse many invitations that
she might have been glad to accept
had Bhe been tho unsettled, frivolous
girl sho used to be when sho was
young Bay, seventeen or eighteen.
It was not long until Mr. Halfred
Joyce Gllman knew all about the en
velopes. Sho told him. ono evening
when the family had gone out and
they were alone on the Blanchard
porch in the moonlight.
"Mr. Gilman," she observed tremu
lously. "I may trust you. We have
known each other all our lives, and I
never knew you to betray a confidence,
even when we had our worst spats.
Mr. Gilman"
"You may call mo Halfred," ho inter
rupted with quite elderly gentleness.
laying his hand protectlngly upon
hers, where It rested upon the arm of
her chair. "You have no brother. You
need one."
"Thank you, Halfred," she gratefully
replied. "I am going to confide in
you. Halfred, my parents are bent on
ruining my life. I have an attach.
ment, a deep and lasting attachment
and they frown upon it. I have never
met him but twice, but we have cor
responded ever since. At first it was
only the ordinary hoy and girl cor
respondence, of course; but as it grew
It deepened and ripened into some
thing far too precious for them to un
derstand. You, however; are a man of
tho world. You can, perhaps, appre
ciate how vital an attachment like this
becomes." And sho quoted'four verses
from the "Rubalyat" of Omar Khay
yam to prove It
"Yes, I .know, I know," replied Hal
fred. with dreamy emphasis. "I had
also, when I was younger, an attach
ment that might have altered tho
course of my entire life, but It was
nipped in the bud. She" he choked
ud a little bit very successfully "she
proved faithless."
"I am sorry, brother," she Bald,
turning her hand palm upward to
clasp his strong and supple fingers
with a grip of understanding.
would not have re-oponed your wound
for worlds." f
"It Is nothing," he replied in a hoi
low voice, leaving his hand in hers.
"Nothing whatever, Tho same devo
tion I would have poured out for her
I now Intend to pour out for tho weak
and the fallen,"
"I am so proud, so proud, of my
brother," sho murmured.
After that they wero no longer Mr.
Gllman and Miss Blanchnrd; they
wero Halfred and Alice, and they wero
moro together than ever, It possible.
They wero 'on ideal couple for mere
brother and sister. Thoy found so
much to talk about that they scarcely'
needed other companionship, and even'
when thoy were with gay parties they
could always bo found by themselves
some place, discussing tho glory of
self-abnegation as evidenced In set
tlement work, or tho callousness of
parents who .frowned upon provi
dentially ordained attachments.
Meanwhile, there was peace on Oak
street Grandfather Oilman becam
almost reconciled to Hal's stiffness,
and tho Blanchords began to rest
somewhat easier about the cream
tinted envelopes. One evening at din
ner, however, Mr. Blanchard ventured
to banter his daughter about Hal.
"Father," tho fair young girl sternly
reproved him, "how blind you ore;
how utterly mistaken! Mr. Gllman
Hal and I aro brother and sister, as
we have always been. You must have
but little respect for your daughter It
you think she can be so fickle as your
remarks would scorn to indicate. Only
ono heart, father, is attuned to each
other In this world. There is but ono
such harmony for me."
"I didn't llko hla looks," replied Mr.
Blanchard in a weak attempt at self
defense. "Exactly! And you do not like him
now!"
From her corsage peeped tho corner
of the latest fat, cream-tinted letter,
and Mr. Dlanchard eyed it with ex
treme disfavor.
"No," ho admitted, "I do not llko
him; but I think that It I were a young
man and knew this I would make it a
point to corns around and display my
better side often enough to win confidence."
"And bo insulted again," was the re
tort "No, father, he will not come. I
shall not permit him to do so."
And that night the sad, fair young
girl wrote him that he must not come
nt the WheatheHys, and her brother
was her escort. About nine o'clock
Grandfather Oilman nnd Mr. Blanch
ard who were chatting together, no
ticed Miss Alice put on hor wraps and
slip out of tho-front door. Five min
utes later Hal came to bid them good
by, and Mrs. Woathcrly went to the
door with Hal and his grandmother.
Grandfather Gilman looked at, Mr.
Blanchard. Mr. Blanchard looked at
Grandfather Gllman. Halt an hour
later Alice had not, come back. Grand
father Gllman and Mr. Blanchard'wcre
still talking. I
"By George!" Bold Mr. Blanchard, "I
wonder where Allco has gone!"
"Possibly to tho depot with Hal,"
replied Grandfather Gllman with a
curious hesitation. "Ho has gono to
Now York to arrange for his fool set
tlement work; ho will be back In
about ten days, he says."
Hum," said Mr. Blanchard, and he
fidgeted for Just a few minutes long
er. "Say, Adam, there is a train due
to leave within five minutes. Suppose
wo hurry down to the depot I I
scarcely like to have her como homo
alone."
In tho meantime- Mr. Halfred Joyco
Gilman had telephoned for a cab to
bo at his door' and had hurried over
home to get his suit-case. He threw
it In tho cab and was just about to
follow in when a figure flew down tho
Blanchard path and a voice called out
to him to wait It was Alice. Ho
gripped her hand tensely when she
cams running up to him.
"You didn't come over here to say
goodby again?" ho asked.
"No, I am going along," sho half
laughed and half-sobbed. "I'll tell you
in the cab."
He noticed for the first time that
she carried a sult-caso. Time, how-
ever, was pressing. Ho handed her in
and sat besido her.
"Now, tell me about it," he said, be
wildered, but she had changed her
mind. Sho could not tell him now,
Sho only clung to his arm; herself
gasping at tho audacity of what she
was doing. At the depot he tried to
persuade her to go back home, know
ing that something was wrong. Sho
Immediately becamo tho sad, fair
young friendless girl.
L 1 L..
'I Pass," Replied the Young Man, Suddenly and Briskly, Losing all tho
Dignity That Had Weighted Him Down.
Setting Up Balzac's Copy.
Tho prolongation of tho rue de
Itennes on tho left bank of the Seine
lias already condemned the famous
Passage du Pont Neuf, described by
Zola In "Thereso Raquln," and It now
seems that the house in which Balzac
'installed hla printing office In the rue
"Vlsconti, or the rue des Marals, as It
then was, is also doomed. It has been
Mid that the failure ot the printing
tHulnesB was the direct result of the
eormoua - labor entailed In' making
errections In Balzac's manuscripts.
"A compositor did his hour ot Balzac
as a convict did his Imprisonment"
wrote Chnmpfleury, The stupendous
task of setting up Balzac's manuscripts
is shown by the fact that "Cesar Blrot
teau" had to be recomposed fifteen
times in twenty days. London Standard.
Fault Finding.
If we had no faults, we should not
take so much pleasure In noticing the
faults of other people. La Itochefou
cald. ' 1
to Oakdale. Her father did not wish
him to do so. In this she was not pre
varicating; she merely wished to be
oppressed. It was so sorrowfully and
sobfully grand.
Strange enough, she did not con
fide this latest oppression to Brother
Halfred. Of l'ato they had referred
less and less often to the cream-tinted I
envelopes, talking more about settle
ment work in place of It It was very
pleasant to discuss the hardships and
distasteful features of living In slums
while walking with a dear brother in
the moonlight on balmy summer eve
nings. It was very pleasant to tuck
this dainty blood-relativo protectlngly
under an arm and take her, radiant in
her beauty, to receptions and dtnnere
and theaters.
They wero very, very proud, Indeed,
of each other, almost more so than If
they had been actual brother and Bis
ter; but, nevertheless, in the fall, just
before Hal was to go away, a change
came over Sister Alice. Sho grew
abstracted, and sometimes when the
square envelopes came she seemed to
hesitate about opening them. Some
times she put them away for a full
half-day before sho read them, and
her answers to them wero always de
layed and always most painstakingly
and laboriously written.
Tho result of this, at tho other end
of tho correspondence, was but nat
ural and -logical. One day came a let-
ter that threw her into a flutter of
excitement It made her gasp and
hold her breath and turn pale and pink
by turns. This thrilling letter why,
it was the very apotheosis of her
carefully built-up romance! The stern
demand It laid upon her was a call to
heroism.
Thoy wero going to Hal's laatfunc-
I tion that night, nn anniversary dinner
Chance for the Reformer.
The Chicago Evening Post opens up
a vital question In ethics by wondering
how soon tho time will come when the
toastmaster at a banquet will feel at
liberty to squelch tbe speaker who has
overrun his time limit Here is a
chance tor those earnest souls who
spend their leisure and other people's
time by organizing societies for the
prevention ot things. We believe we
echo the soulful sentiments ot nearly
every experienced bon vtvant in lay.
lng down the dictum that a proper
"You are my only friend nnd you
must do as I say. This Is the crisis ot
my life. Brother Hal, and I must meet
it like a brave woman."
He shook his head, but she had al
ready picked up her sult-caso briskly,
and was walking on with a determined
step. All he could do was to take her
sult-caso from her and carry both.
The train was just pulling out when
Grandfather Gilman and Mr. Dlanch
ard arrived at tho depot They had
no difficulty in finding out that Hal,
who was known, and Alice, whom they
could easily describe, had purchased
tickets for New York. Grandfather
Gllman and Mr. Blanchard turned as
by ono Impulse and shook hands until
their eyes watered Nothing could
have pleased them better.
"Let's go telegraph them," said
Grandfather Gllman. "I. know Hal's
hotel. Tho young rascal!"
In tho meantlmo Mr. Halfred Joyce
Gllman was compelling his sister to
tell him things, Insisting on a broth
ers right in tho matter.
She was eloping!
Mr. Halfred Joyce Gllman moistened
his lips. He had a peculiar grip at hio
throat, and ho felt very lonesome all
at once. A profound , distaste for set
tlement work, even, settled upon him,
Nevertheless, he stiffened himself. It
his Sister Alice was so deeply and ir
revocably attached as this it was his
duty to see that she attained happi
ness, and he would do it like a man.
He told her so.
They chatted very practically now.
They discussed tho 'deep and solemn
sacrifice that a woman must make
when she gave up her girlhood home
to make a new home for a noble man,
His nearness was such a support to
her. She would never have had the
courage to take the step If ho had not
i. 1 i i
bcon coming on this tralu. Never!
Sho snuggled closer to him and want
ed to cry. Sho didn't know why.
It was only about a three hours' ride
to tho city, and she grew radro and
more nervous as they approached it.
When they had alighted from tho train
a young man, though considerably
older than Hal, camo toward them. Ho
was not a very prepossessing young
man. There wero pouches beneath
his eyes and his lips wero thick and
wide. Ho wore a loud tio, and a suit
nnd overcoat ot wondrously checked
pattern. Alice saw him first, and she
gripped Hal's arm more tightly. Sho
did not experience the bounding joy
to which sho had so long looked for
ward when sho should greet this
Princo of tho World. Sho had It upon
the tip of her tongue to cry out to Hal
that sho did not want to elope, that
she wanted to go back home, but tho
prido which had made her keep up the
romance Sho had bullded, even after
it hadflost its Interest to her, and
which had made her plungo into this
daring escapade In spite ot both her
Judgment nnd her inclination, now
held her silent to meet her devouring
fato.
She glanced half in terror from the'
approaching young man to Hal. Sho
was startled 'at tho change In her
quasl-brother. He had stiffened him
self to his full flve-foot-seven of ath
letic height His nostrils were dilated
and his eyes were glaring, but ho
smiled, actually smiled, a'B it. in the
glee of coming battle. Tho approach
ing young man suddenly caught sight
of young Gllman and stopped short, as
it startled. Then he came on Blowly,
hesitatingly, looking from one to tho
other.
"Why didn't you tell mo this fellow's
name? Why didn't I ask?" demanded
Hal: but ho really was pleased.
There was no time for reply. Tho
young man had como up to them. Hal
turned on him savagely.
"Well, Peyson?" he Inquired.
"How do, Gllman?" said Mr. Peyson
with a Jerky nod, and then held out
his hands to Alice, with an evident In
tention to Ignore her escort from that
mbment on.
Hal stepped between them.
"Peyson, I'll give you Just two min
utes to get out of sight," ho pleasantly
obseryed. "If you'll remember, we
gave you 24 hours at college. You
had things to pack up thero. You
haven't here!"
Mr. Peyson looked at him curiously
for an Instant and moistened his Hps,
then ho suddenly wheeled, and a mo
ment later they Baw him worming his
way through tho crowd.
"I'm sorry, Alice, that I can't tell
you tho details about him," Hal said.
Sho was standing very stiff and
straight herself.
I don't care to hear. I know
enough. I am Just praying my grati
tude that I am not to be linked for
life to any man whom another man
could make run without an explaan-tion."
Hal scarcely heard her. Already ho
was consulting a time-table. It had
taken them three hours to make the
trip. They had started at 9(30, and
It was now 12:30. There waB not an
other train back until three o'clock in
tho morning, and it would not land her
In Oakdale until daylight She had
not comprehended to tho full phase of
it as yet But Hal swiftly decided that
whatever they did and wherever they
went they could not stand there, and
he bundled her Into a cab.
It was not until they were rolling
away from the depot that she thought
with a gasp of the possible conse
quences of her act, and cried: "What
are we to do?"
"I pass," replied the young man, sud
denly and briskly losing all the dignity'
that had weighted him down when ho
got his sheepskin, and reverting once
more to the slang ot early college days.
It looks to me as If we were In a Jam,
Never you mind, though. Ilely on your
Uncle Dudley. He'll put rouge and
cold cream and violet talcum on tho
face of this thing, and don't forget.it
Do you know anybody hero that you
could visit?"
"Not a soul," she walled. "I only
know one family, and they are abroad."
Never mind," ho said, patting her
hand whero it lay trembling on his
arm. "You just keep your eye on Lit
tle Willie. First of all we are driving
over to my hotel, where I shall leave
my suit-case and send a couple of tele
grams. Tnen we'll do a real quicK
thlnklng stunt Did you ever see mo
think? It will be a positive joy to
you."
She nestled confidently tip to him.
His voice sounded bo good nnd strong,
and she liked him so much better since
ho had dropped his age. She was
glad, ohl so glad, that he had hap.
pened to come with heri t
At the hotel Hal Jumped out with
his sult-caso: Ho left her In the cab.
but presently he came out chuckling.
He had two telegrams In his hand
Ono of them ho had not opened, but
the other ho read and re-read with
evident appreciation.
"You'd better open this ono before
I show you mine," he said, handing
the unopened telegram to her.
She looked at tho Inscription. It
was addressed to Mrs. Halfred Joyco
Gllman. She handed It back demurely,
"It certainly Isn't for me," Bho said
with a laugh that had a suspicion
a tear or two in tt
"It doesn't seem to be for anybody."
he retorted, laughing a bft nervously
himself, and tore It open. It was
from her father.
"My dear girl," It read, "you are a
very, very foolish child, but it is no
trouble at all to forgive you. Come
back home as soon as you can."
He handed them both to her.
"You precious young rascal," read
Grandfather GUman's message, "if you
aro already married when you get this,
remember there's got to be another
ceremony In Oakdale."
"It looks to mb as if wo had to make
good, Pickles," laughed Hal. "I know
whero there is a preacher tha.t works
overtime." And giving a crlBp direc
tion, ho Jumped into the cab with her.
Somehow or other her head happened
on his shoulder. Funny that women
should cry when they aro happy.
A London
Ghost Story
A wonderful ghost story Is agitat
ing high Boclety, according to the Lon
don Express. Tho principals are peo
ple of tho highest social position.
Tho vlcir of n Kensington church
was leaving tho church after his choir
practice when a lady stepped out of
the aisle and asked him In agitated
tones to como with her at once to an
address near by.
"A gentleman Is dying there," she
said. "Ho is extremely concerned
about tho state ot his soul, and anx
ious to see you before he dies."
Tho clergyman followed her to a
waiting tnxlcab, and a short drive
round the corner brought them to a
mansion. The lady, who seemed to be
extremely agitated, urged the vicar to
hurry. Ho Bprang out of tho cab, rang
tho bell, and a butler appeared.
"Does Mr. live here?"
"Yes, sir."
"I hear ho is seriously 111, and has
sent for mo."
Tho butler expostulated that his
master was not ill, that as a matter
of fact ho was In the best of health.
"But this lady" exclaimed- the vi
car, as he turned round, and then an
expression of blank astonishment
came over him. .
The taxicab and the lady had com
pletely disappeared.
The butler looked on the clergyman
as either a "madman or a practical
Joker, and was about to slam the
door when his master came along the
passage and Inquired what it was all
about.
'Are you Mr. ?" asked the
clergyman. "I heard that you were Be
rlously 111, that you were concerned
about your soul, and that you had
Bent for me."
Ho described the lady who"' had
brought him, and the "dying" man
said he could not Identify her; that he
had no such friend or acquaintance.
They discussed this matter on the
doorstep for a few moments, and
then the clergyman was invited to
come inside.
It is very strange, said Mr. ,
'that you should have been sent on
such an errand, in such a mysterious
way. As a matter of fact, though I
am perfectly well, I have been trou
bled lately about the state of my soul,
and I have been seriously contemplat
ing calling upon you to discuss tho
matter with you.
Now that you are here let us brush
aside this strange incident, and if you
will, give mo the time we will discuss
what has been on my conscience."
The clergyman stayed for an hour
or so, and it was then arranged that
his new acquaintance should come to
the church the next morning and they
would continue their discussion after
service.
He did not appear at the church,
and the vicar, very much interested,
called to see what was tho matter.
He was met at the door by the butler,
who told him that his master had died
10 minutes nfter he left the house on
the previous evening.
They went upstairs to the bedroom
where the dead man lay, and on a
table in the middle of the room stood
a portrait of the lady who had brought
the .clergyman In the cab from the
church.
'Who Is that?" asked the aston
ished clergyman.
"That, sir," replied the butler, "Is
my master's wife, who died 15 years
ago."
BomeTbuin
TIfelpsT
TREES HEllP PUBLIC HEALTH
Besides Purifying the Air, They Help
to Make Cooler 8ummers and
Warmer Winters.
Men and animals have good reason
for their fondness for trees. It Is not
only because tho trees add so much to
the beauty nt our streets, or bocauso
the attractiveness of rivers and lakes
and even of tho seashore depends
largely upon the trees that we look
upon them aa silent friends. Thoy
help us in a moro material way than
with their beauty, great as that help
may be. They add to our physical
comfort and to our health.
Parrls T. Farwell, in his "Village
Improvement," urges the necessity of
planting and caring for trees for tho
sako of tho c.ity's or village's beauty
and heolthfulness.
Tho side of tho Btrcet having tho
most trees Is the popular side In sum
mer. That' is because it Is the coolest
by about 20 degrees, Mr. Farwell tolls
us, for "a full grown tree sends out
187 gallons of wnter through its
leaves Into tho air." Shading tho
ground also serves to moderate tho
heat. And the air around the trees
is moro pure. "The foliage takes in
carbonic acid gas, which Is poisonous
to us, and gives out oxygen, which Is
healthful, Indeed, Indispensable to
us." Medical authorities recognize
that trees promote the heolthfulness
of a community.
The tempering effect of trees on tho
climate is not confined to summer.
In winter they actually radiate heat.
In addition to their benefits ns wind
breaks when planted In clumps and
groves'. !
That it pays to have trees in tho
town and city and on the farmstead is
shown by the fact that real estate on
shaded streets and that on which
trees are growing sells for a better
price. No little of tho welfare and
prosperity of town, city or country
depends upon Its trees,1 "and there Is
a direct connection between the at
tractiveness of the village or of tho
home on the farm, and the love of the
citizens for their village or of tho
children on the farm for their home."
KEEP BOYS OFF THE STREET
Authority on the Subject Points Out
How Playgrounds Help to Develop
Useful Citizens.
Addressing a Philadelphia audience,
Ernest K. Coulter, who can qualify as
an authority on child problems, de
clared that more than holt the cases
brought before the children's court
grew out of a thwarted desire for play.,
Very frequently the craving for ex
citement and adventure, which moro
fortunato youths may gratify (n ath
letic contests, drlfro the street birj to
minor crime, then into the world of
graft and gangs. So-called reforma
tories and prisons under the present
system operate to keep him there,
once he has been convicted.
Tho remedy is playgrounds, and
more playgrounds. Philadelphia is do
ing some work in this field, with its
recreation centers and playgrounds
and gymnasiums. But the work can
not now reach half of those who need
It Money upent for its extension is
a splendid investment bearing inter
est In useful' citizens rather than loaf
ers and lawbreakers.
First Aerial Spy.
Herr Michowskl, a German Pole at
tached to a Lelpslc firm of aeroplane
manufacturers. Is now languishing in
a Russian prison, and Is likely to be
come famous as the world's first flying
spy. Ho was arrested early in Feb
ruary in tho neighborhood ot Warsaw,
having, as he alleged, lost his way
in a fog and been compelled to effect
an emergency landing. The Russian
military authorities were persuaded
that his presence near important for
tifications concerned espionage, and
he is now formally indicted on that
charge. Tho German government
has so far tried in vain to secure his
release on representation that
Michowskl at the time of his flight
over Russian territory, was engaged
in an attempt to win one of the long
distance prizes offered by the German
national flying endowment.
Life's Hardships.
A tragic case occurred recently in
a court of law at Amberg, Germany.
A young girl who was called as a
witness begged to be spared the or
deal of having to answer tho usual
quostlons with regard to her past
.She had, she said, a position as cash
ier and had Just become engaged,
and she feared that she would be ut
terly disgraced if she was obliged to
state publicly the fact that she had
when very young been punished for
a small theft Tho court neverthe
less insisted on her answering the
question, and the girl thereupon
opened a vein in court She now lies
in. danger of death.
Monuments In Poor Locations. ,
The recently Issued report 'of the
New York art commission contains
the following:
"From time to time there have
been submitted to the commission de
signs of monuments (chiefly statuary,
fountains and tho like) completely ex
ecuted, with the bronze parts caBt, tho
marble or granite cut and the entire
monument ready to be set up. Often
tho entire' work has been completed
in a foreign country, with utter dis
regard to the location in which it Is
proposed that the monument shall bo
placed. They ore designed for on
abstract location, that is to say, for
any location, but Bearch for a suitable
location nearly always results In fail
ure.
'Most persons seem to have lost
sight ot the fact that many of the beau
tiful monuments of the pest were de
signed for particular sites; and conse
quently that the monument was made
to fit into Its surroundings.
'Our American cities, having in
most cases no Important civic or re
ligious centerB, have grown without
any Intelligent or comprehensive plan,
and monuments have been lodged here
and there in' streets and parks llko
driftwood. In only a few Instances
aro they definitely related to anything
in their vicinity, so as to form part of
a comprenensive scneme. inere is
no more forlorn looking object than
a granite monument placedvln the mid
dle' ot a green lawn. It is a foreigner
to all Us nearest neighbors. Recently
It has come to be recognized that cit
ies should be built according to a dis
tinct plan, and that tho various parts
and objects in the city should bear a
direct relation not only to one an
other, but to their surroundings."
banquet should be one-fourth oratory
and three-fourths gustatory. When the
proportions are reversed as usually
happens there is joy In neither phase
of the things, and life becomes a bowl
ing wilderness and a dreary waste.
Every banquet speaker should ba
placed on an automatic platform
which would, either collapse and drop
him into a coal chute or gently wheel
him out of tho dining room at the end
of 20 minutes. A'banquot ought to be
something more than an! endurance
contest
De Tocquevllle's Faith.
I cannot bellove -that the Creator
made man to leave him in an endless
struggle with the Intellectual miseries
that suround us. I am Ignorant of
his designs, but I cannot cease to
believe in them because I ' cannot
fathom them, nid I had rather mis
trust my owri capacity than his Jus
tice. Do Toccjuevllle.
Their Turn Now.
Father :"I am eorry to have to say,
my son, that from what I hear akeut
town you must be running into
debt" Son "You are mistaken, sir.
I am already in debt; my creditors
are doing all tbe running."
Surely Impossible.
A wag the other day denied that
John Bunyan was the author of "The
Pilgrim's Progress." Being vehement
ly contradicted, "Nay," said he, "I
question even it ho contributed to the
work; tor It is Impossible that a bun
ion could contribute to any pilgrim's
progress."
First Things to Be Considered.
Health, beauty, and comfort stand
higher than do the rights of the land
speculator.
c ,
An Unusual Case.
"Ferdinand Is engaged,"
"Good match?" '
' "Must bo. His aunts are all perfecti
ly reconciled, and even his mother
doesn't seem to think he Is making
muqh of a mistake."
, 8trlklng tho Wet Spo'ts.
Yeast They, tefl mo that with an
annual rainfall In excess ot 600 Inches,
southern Assam is the wettest spot 1b
the world. ' " '
Crimsonbeak, Geo! It can't bo wet;
ter than Milwaukee.
