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M* ^ii. %'?. fr?i: Ji Probably the 3 414 -$ 'm *t V2f 4%C,» yyti, 1 h&K1 ^P5, most ,v jr^-ns ng'tlgyT ^vTii 6Md MoiMs For Otter Con- STARTED TER YEARS A60. Tmi Thouund Children Enjoy tin Benefits of Theoe Institutions Every VMr-Stnw of tho Playgrounds Aro Constructed Ovar Reservoirs. Beading's system of playgrounds, from a small beginning, has grown Into one of the most comprehensive and elaborate in the state of Pennsyl vania and become a model for other cities to follow, with the result thai many delegations have visited Read ing from elsewhere to get pointers on the subject The first playground was started ten years ago by the Olivet Presbyterian church in a vacant lot at the rear of tho church edifice. Subsequently the civic division of the Woman's club took up the cause, and finully the Read ing Playgrounds association was evolved. The association now receives annual and city appropriations from the school board and city government for maintenance and equipment, and the half dozen grounds are fitted up with various devices for both rational rec reation and useful occupation. Two large plots of the Heading Iron company's land are occupied by play grounds. On one of tbem are the Olivet gardens, which the Olivet Boys' 1 IN READING, PA. mmhwi will THOUSANDS OF CHH.D11EN BNJOY THESE PLAIOKOCNDS. club has made a big success, combining play with the raising of vegetables and truck by neighborhood families. The Good Fellowship gardens are conduct ed along similar lines by the Woman's club. novel playgrounds In the country are those at the Penn street reservoirs, which are maintain ed by the Reading water board. These are Immediately adjacent to the city park. The feature here Is the fact that the playgrounds are actually over two of the city's largest reservoirs, which are roofed with concrete. This provides two skating rinks for roller skating in summer and ice skating in winter, when the roofs are flooded and allowed to freeze. In addition to the sports at the park rinks, there is a regular curriculum of teaching in bas ket making, raffia work and other lines, as at all the other playgrounds, by a staff of experts. Folk dancing on the green is also enjoyed. For next season the Playgrounds as sociation has planned more extensive ly than ever. To this end it has en gaged Professor A. A. Harwlek. physi cal instructor of the Reading public school system, to take charge as super visor. Ten thousand children share the benefits of Reading's playgrounds ev ery year. HOUSES AT COST FOR POOR. Detroit Woman Plan Sanitary Reei dancas at Nominal Rantalo. Detroit's poor will have an opportu nity of renting sanitary cottages at a nominal figure If the plans of the Twentieth Century club, an organiza tion of prominent Detroit women, are successfully completed. The cue for this work was taken from Mrs. Mary Mannering Wadsworth. ex actress, who, since her residence at Grosae Pointe. has built a number of simple cottages for the occupancy of working people and who demonstrated that this enterprise could be made, a success. Making money is not tho pur pose of either Mrs. Wadsworth or the Twentieth Century club. The occupants of the cottages are to pay on the basis «fooit •. The cottages will be built of cement, containing four and six rooms and costing about $8X100 each. tan Diegate Civio Center. San Diego, Cal.. la to have a civie center, and the Business Men's and t3Mc associations are determined to wlte it a model of its kind. The idea of locating It that the courthouae will be on the north, the park in the .center and the city ball on the south, {with the enlarged San Diego hotel on west and the chamber of com* vsnerce building on the east of the park. Ins aroused the admiration and en lUrasiasm of all. 'j:.m Three^ Liars A Stoiy For Easter By F. A. MITCHEL When our troops came home from Cuba and, nearly all nick, were un loaded from transports on the eastern end of Long Island the camps that held them were thronged with persons who bad come to find relatives or friends. One of these, an old lady with an anxious look on her face, stop ped at a tent before which aat an offi cer In a camp chair and asked In a tremulous voice: "Can you tell me if my boy has come?" The officer rose, took off his hat re spectfully and said: "What regiment did your boy belong to. madam?" "Be was with the —tb Pennsylva nia." "Come with me, and I will see If I can get the Information you wish." He led the way to a tent wherein an officer was writing. "Make your inquiries here," he said and left her. "I'm trying to find my boy, Henry Ashurst" said the old lady. The officer looked serious. He re membered having the name of Henry Ashurst on a list of killed and wound ed. He bunted in his desk for a cer tain paper and when he found it ran bis eye over the list of names. His expression became still more serious, but he bent his face down so that it was concealed under the rim of his hat. He had found the name of Hen ry Ashurst. bi:t had not the heart to tell the mother what list It was in. "Your son hasn't come up from Cuba yet, madam. He wasn't very well when the last transport sailed." "Do you know what his trouble was?" asked the old lady, tears start ing into her eyes. "Some of those fevers they have down there, I believe." "Is he very 111?" "Well, I couldn't tell you about that. There's the regimental surgeon's tent over there you might inquire of him." The old lady walked feebly over to the tent designated, found the surgeon and asked the same questions she had asked the adjutant The doctor looked down upon the anxious face and turn ed coward just as the other bad done. "Henry Ashurst!" be said as If try ing to recollect. "There was a soldier In the hospital of that name, I think, but I can't exactly recall bis case." "Was be very sick?" "Oh, no not very sick. 1 tblnk it was a simple flesh wound in the leg." "Do you think he will come on the next transport?" "No doubt of It madam no doubt of It" The old lady went away. The ad jutant saw her go and walked over to the surgeon. "I Wouldn't do my duty by that old lady, could you? I found his name on a list of mortally wounded. I told bis mother he bad a fever." "I remembered him In the hospital as one for whom there was no hope of recovery. I lied about It too. I told his mother he had a slight flesh wound. I only know what I have told you. so I took the benefit of the doubt." Every day the old lady visited the camp, and every day the adjutant and surgeon either told her more lies or re peated the old ones. The ship bearing her son never came to Montauk Point, and when the last tent was struck she ceased ber visits and her inquiries. The winter passed and no one had the courage to tell the mother that her boy would not come back to ber. They all excused themselves on the ground that no record of the death and burial of Private Henry A&hurst had been found. But when the war closed ev ery one connected with tbe army was In a hurry to get away from the beat tbe sickness, the death attending an army in a tropical climate in summer. Until some one would assure ber that ber son was dead tbe poor mpther hoped. She was very religions and prayed fervently that ber boy might be restored to her. One morning 1A April when tbe sun. shining warm, was opening tbe leaves typifying the resurrection shortly to be celebrated at Easter tbe old lady went to ber rec tor and said she had a feeling that Henry would come home on Easter Sunday. "Do you tblnk," she said, "that thla feeling has been sent me by Provi dence?" "Quite likely." was tbe reply. "I be lieve that Providence often sends as. forecasts of what is about to happen." He had do more doubt that Henry Aaburst's bones were aaolderlng In Cuba than that the earth tamed onjte axis. "Pm so glad you think, so!" added the mother, moving away, while the clergyman looked after her, not know ing whether to consider himself a liar or one who had done kindness. Atdawn on Easter morning there waa a load rapping on the door pt Mr. Aahursfs bouse. "He's comer she said, gecting out of bed, and without stopping to put on wrapper Uhe went downstairs, opened the door and was claspedinthe arms of her son." "Ob. Harry, wbere ba»* you been •11 this timet* "I was left, in Cuba. When 1 got well I had forgotten who I waa. Since then 1 .have been going about as an other person. Some time ago a surgeon removed a piece of my sknll, and hers 1 am.% ROUND THE WORLD Belgium has 400 goat insurance so cieties. Massachusetts has-over 100 woman lawyers. New York now has 1,636 firemen on its pension list Paris makers are offering 400 shades in women's wigs. Chicago now has a church devoted to the deaf and dumb. Jersey City home for the blind is to to have a new building to cost 9100, 000. •bout 400 arrests for counterfeiting are made in the United States each year. Bricks made of peat are being suc cessfully used In Sweden for small buildings. Females outnumber the males in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Boston. The United States has made more rapid progress in Iron production than any other country. The height of buildings in Hungari an cities Is limited by law to eighty two and one-half feet According to Dr. Clement Lucaa of England, the human family Is likely to become a one toed race. Recent statistics credit the United States with about one automobile for each two miles of country road. At tbe present time 118 women have the right to wear the coveted red rib bon of the French Legion of Honor. Co-operative rural credit associations are planned for the Philippine Islands. The object is to help the small farmer. Some of the finest lace in the world Is made by tbe women of the Philip pine Islands front a strong silky fiber obtained from pineapple leaves. Solidified alcohol in cube lonn is coming into use in Germany for cook ing and other purposes for which small amounts of heat are sufficient. A recent census, the first of the kind ever taken, credited Denmark, which has about one-tbird the area of Wis consin, with more than 5,000,000 fruit trees. An express train traveling from Nice to Macon, France, was beaten by twelve minutes by an eagle which raced it over a distance of eighteen miles. Few turtles are being caught these days in the Bahamas, the annual catching having diminished for some time. Exportation of turtle shell may soon cease. A life preserver of European inven tion for seagoing vessels is intended to keep a person fairly warm and dry for several days as he floats about awaiting rescue. It Is said that the first man to crosa the continent on a motorcar was, George A. Wyman of San Francisco, who performed the feat during tbe summer of 1903. Brazil claims to be the country which possesses the most precious timber for general construction and shipbuilding and for tbe manufacture of furniture and other articles. The Turkish government has given a French bank a concession to build an electric railroad between Jerusalem and' Bethlehem and for lighting tbe former city with electricity. According to an Italian scientist who has classified 4,000 cases of self de struction, more suicides occur between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five than at any other period in life. Statistics show that Ireland's fish eries continue to decline in amount of fish landed and the number of men and boats engaged. Capitalists are displacing individual fishermen. One of the largest forest uurseries in tbe. United States is conducted by the forest servicj^. near Haugen. Mont It is known agohe Savenac nursery and has a capacity of 4,000,000 young trees" a year. Iron alloyed with gold Ib being intro duced as a substitute for tin in tbe making #of cans. The resulting prod uct is proof against corrosion of most kinds, but costs fifteen times as much as tin plate. The readiness of Africans to accept and pay for modern methods of trans portation Is illustrated by the fact that of 18,000 passengers- carried in one month by the Tripoli railway 15,000 were Arabs. Italy 'has established a strict censor ship on moving pictures. Pictures por traying scenes distasteful or contrary to public decency and morality, espe cially those reproducing acts of cruelty or which might be*an incentive to crime, are forbidden. Literature in Turkey has responded to tbe liberty that followed the revolu tion. Large numbers of translations and adaptations of European scientific and literary works and books of a pop ular nature ate now available. Onis of the ^pqgest bridges, ih the world wiUsoonbe built by Germany. It will give railroad cohnectlon be tween Rngen. an island In the Baltic sea. and the mainland of Germany.' The length will be about 11,000 feet and the cost about $5,000,000. More than: 4,000,000 gray squirrels were kHIed laat year in Siberia for their fqr. The taila alone f^hed more than twenty-one tons. The ani mal figuring next In the fur tra^e of Asiatic Busslain point of numbers waa the white bare, which contributed' 1,500.000 skins. A landowner named Bisony, living at the Hungarian town of .Mlakolei, who died recently, has lefthis fortune, amounting to $60,000. to the Hunga rlan Provincial Society For tbe Pre vention of Cruelty to Animals on con dition ttpat It erects an asylum for worpout hones. tfj COLORING EGGS. Simple and Easy Way of Pre paring Easter Souvoniro. "V Photo by American Press Association. ON EASTER HORNING. Easter morning without its tribute of fancy eggs—eggs with colored shells or candy eggs such as are to be bad in the shops—is to the average child like Christmas with Santa Claus left out While the colored eggs may be pur chased, it is more interesting to pre pare them at home. Then the careful mother will .be able to assure herself that perfectly harmless dyes are used. Children have a way of putting the eggs in their mouths, and unless vege table dyes have* been used in coloring tbe shells tbe practice is one to be discouraged. Onion skins, beet juice, spinach and saffron will stain tbe shells of eggs. A pinch of alum put Into the water in which they are boiled with the dyes will help to set tbe colors. When preparing the eggs for dyeing wash the shells well tint some water with any coloring desired, such as carmine, saffron and shades of vege table green. Tbe lowly blue bag is also not to be despised, nor yet such homely dyes as coffee, tea, chocolate and tbe shades obtained by boiling onion skins for yellow tints, and for green auch vegetables as spinach and tops of leeks. Boll tbe eggs ten minutes in tbe dye and leave tbem in it for fifteen min utes after boiling, unless you are satis fied with the depth of tbe color, after which dry tbem and rub tbem well with a piece of paper dipped in salad oil and then with a soft cloth In order ty polish them. This is fascinating work, and chil dren are delighted to find their names or some inscription in white on a dyed egg. It is done in this way: Be fore boiling the eggs write on -them any date, name, etc., desired, using a piece of suet cut to a point, or, what answers as well, a fine wax taper. Some people use tbe pointed end of a candle. Wbere tbe shell has been greased it will not take tbe dye and tbe designs will stand out in white. Another way is to paint on the name, and so forth, with silver, gold or other paint when the egg is cold. Instead of coloring die eggs, clever pencil sketches may be made and are very effective done on the undyed shells. The boiling does not take off the pencil marks at all. After boiling and cooling paint on tbe «ggs artistically any seasonable flower.qualnt figure or a landscape. At one. time, especially in Russia, gold and silver eggs were in vogue, tbe eggs being boiled, tben painted with gold or allver paint or rubbed over with gold or silver leaf. So treated they are simple and pretty. One of tbe prettiest ways to present Easter eggs is to lay them in snng nests made in flat strawberry baskets. Imitating nature as closely as possible. Even more fascinating still is the Ger-' 'man fashion of hiding tbe eggs In tbe garden for tbe children', to find. The pleasurable excitement of hunting for arid then finding some gloriously col ored egg nestling in tbe bed of cro cuses. snowdrops, daffodils or- under a big clump of violets* Is a joy not soon fotgotten. Tucking a Laos /Blouse. Instead of putting machipe stitcbed plaits or tucks in lace blouse or one of very fine material, catch tbe tucks 'down with French knots. These cau be worked In any shade you desire or can be white or tbe color that matches the blouse. Net and lace Hre sure to shrink when, washed, cauking tbe~ machine stitching^ to pucker or break when the garmenjt is Ironed or pulled Into shape. In any' case the French knots make very at tractive trimming. W a a 0 If the thread breaks when sewing upon heavy linen rub the backiof the cl^th. with white soap 'and .'yon will baye no ntbre^difficulty. Keep In mind while woridng with colored silks pot.to dampeAihjt ends of ,tlM»' threads Irt your tuouth ^before try ing to thread the needle Tbe *l'ks are colored with poisonous matter, and: qu|te often persons have suffered In tensely from poison contracted in this manner. Dampen the Anger tips and twist tbe thread. Pifh'For.Lent. With ttie advent of Lent the house wife again faced the problem pt bow best to Incorporate, fish Into the iBUly diet If she approaches the sabjMt open mlndedljr she will find that l^s ad vantages are surprisingly numerous. "The equal of bed! ^s a source of en ergy In the diet" as a government food expert puts It it costs about half as much, furnishes variety, and bas a par ticular advantage in that it Is possible to purchase practically tbe exact amount required for a single, meal. Every housekeeper knows that in or der to have a good juicy roast she must nine times out of ten buy a lar ger one than she really needs end that the only ateak worthy of a place on her table Is a thick cut having a heart rending amount of waste. Finally, fish Is an invaluable meat substitute) for sufferers from rheumatism, neuralgia and other uric acid complaints. It is too bad to have to confess it, but the abuse of tbe frying pan has proba bly done more to bring fish into disfa vor than any one cause. Perhaps tbe reformers will in time 'get around to a "down with the frying pan" slogan, and a lessening of the amount of our national disease, dyspepsia, will result Fish Economy. A number of economical recipes for made dishes are furnished, and in any one of them the bnmble codfish, which is always to be had. may be satisfac torily substituted tot cold cooked fish. It will be noticed that the ingredients of th6se dishes are very similar and that a white sauce is frequently necfes sary for their success. Lemo? and parsley add to both flavor and appear ance of auy fish dish, and among the many condiments that may be occa sionally used for the sake of variety are cayenne and paprika. Chili and Worcestershire sauces, sweet herbs and—in discreet quantities—onion juice, tarragon vinegar and crushed clove. Appetizing sauces which may be ap propriately served with fish are tar tare. anchovy, bechamel, piquant caper and tomato. Whon Baking Fis'h. Fish may be baked—incidentally sending less odor through the house than wben cooked in any other way broiled and boiled, and an astonishing number of palatable and tempting dishes may even be prepared from tbe occasional leftovers of a fish dinner. If the objection to boiling Is that no special fish kettle is owned one may be Improvised by the use of a perforated pie plate as a drainer. Again, if tbe only Variety of fish available is consid ered too tender to boi,l. stripg of clean cheesecloth or old muslin may be bound around It to prevent Its break ing into unsightly pieces. Fish Rissoles. Prepare these as follows: To a plate of .cold fish add one-third as much breadcrumbs, one finely minced boiled onion, the yolks of two eggs and one tabiespoonful of butter. Season to taste. Make a rich puff paste.and cut it into two-inch squares. Place a table spoonful of tbe fish mixture on eacb square and fold over with tbe pastry. Wet the edges with well beaten egg and fry the triangles In boiling fat Garnish with pastry, und slices of lemon. CoquilUs of Fish. Fr^.a-ijUt 'ctf cold boiled fish.from skin and bones and break into tfthftlt pieces with a silver forlC Put the shredded fish Into a saucepan with half a cupful of boiling water, a tabiespoon ful of thick cream, a teaspoonfui of butter rolled In flour and salt and pep-, per to taste. Stir over tbe fire until the mixture Is thoroughly heated, tben fill shells with ramekins, cover with crumbs and bits of butter and set in the1 oven until nicely browned. Fish With Mashed Potato. Butter a baking dish. Line tbe bot tom and sides thickly with well sea soned masbed potato, preferably beat en light with an .egg. To flake fish add half its quantity, of breadcrumbs and enough white sauce to make It quite moist and beat well. Season highly. Fill the space left in the potato with this mixture und bake in a hot oven. Fold a napkin neatly around, the baking dish and serve. Scalloped Into a well bdttered baking dish put a layer of arid baked fish, a layer of the dressing with which tbe fish wasi originally stuffed and tbeM'one of' bat tefed bread or tracker crumbs moist ened witb a wblte sauce, sweet cnub or. nllk. Reason well and repeat these alternate layers until the dlsb is filled. Covier the- top with well', batten* cratabs and hake until an appetising browo. -White Same* To make tfhlte Saudis pit liji mii a tahlespoonfql of irafw ifett floor ati tlt perfectly smooth^ add one pint of sweet milk, mmn to taste and let it boll tip once. 'Stgaia through, a floe slevd If not perfectly smooth. V. An'-Boonemioal Hint* Oilld |ititat6ea.'fr*sd from luoiiM and rtihwd Into, tb* #oni\ make aind pastry mpcb* lighter and no'baking FOR THE CHILDREN Benny's Donkey. A man named Benny loet bis donkey He wept bitterly, aiid a fairy appeared to ask lit she could in any way comfort -him. Hearing tbe story of tbe loos,, she told Benny that she woflld have several animals pass before bta and be could choose his own froqa 'among tbem. Benny was naturally 'greatly pleased with the offer. The procession if twists tfettfr came a, handsome horse, strong,, sound and beautiful. Benny shook ti head, though the Wish sprang in hls heart that bis beast were as valuable as'the one before him. Next cape an Ara bian thoroughbred, a superb creator^ Again Behhy shook his bead. Then followed a hunting horse, next a Bus elan trotter. A Shetland pony pranced behind his, heels, and a great draft hone came n'ett bis stately trwtd showing'his strength and power. Last of all came a donkey. And such a poor, miserable donkey be lookedintbearis-. tocratlc company of the others! Benny was tempted to claim one of the othfers as his own, but affection for the beast overcame bis desire. He seised hi» donkey aiid patted his head so affec tionately that the fairy knew he was a good master. To reward him for hi* honesty and fidelity she made him a present of all the others, and Benny no longer was poor. Preserving Cut Fiowara. When sending flowers "to a town friend always cut them in ithe early morning and select those just on the verge of blooming. Next carefully line a box with blue tissue paper and with a layer of cot ton-wool which has been well saturat ed witb water. Pull it loose and fluffy before putting in the box. Fit the flowere in singly, reversing the position of each layer, and cover tbe stalks with damp tissue paper. Pack flowers rather tightly and cover finally with a thin damp layer of wool. Then your gift will arrive fresh. On arrival place all the flowers loose ly in a pail of rainwater and stand it in tbe dark for some time. Snip the stalk ends, fill your vase» with water, adding a small pinch of carbonate of soda, and tbe flowers will last for a week or ten days. Wilted flowers can be revived by plunging the ends in hot w&ter for a minute. This is a suggestion well worth remembering. Workers For Mankind. Birds live to eat It is. lucky for men they do. Some years ago a French sci entist told the World that if all the birds should suddenly die man woald have only a year's, life left to him and proved his point to the satisfaction of, other scientists. How mucb does a bird eat? Take the robin as an example, it eats at certain seasons of tbe year about dou ble its weight tn insects and worms. every day. Tbe insects eat crops. Tbe bird's dinner hour begins at sun rise and ends an hour after sunset. Any legislation looking to the shorten ing of its hours of labor, which, are coincident with its hours of eating. would bring faming. All tbe song birds and all the,silent birds give their service to man, and tbey ask no pity for it except to be let alone. t:,. \, Conundrums. Why is a newborn baby like a don key's tail? Because it was never seen before. What kind, of robbery is not danger ous? A "safe" robbery. Why is a nail driven in a bard sur face-lik^e an old man? Because it Is in-firm.. What par^^, the: locomotive require* the most attention? The "tender" parti of course. What Is tbe most warlike nation? Vaccination, because It is usually up In arms. Why are gloves unsalable articles? Because tbey are made to be kept on hand.^-^i^y^ 'Curtailings. 1.—Triply curtail a hundred years* and get a penny. 2.—Triply curtail to make an offer Of marriage and get a support 3.—Triply curtail that wblch a par ent has over bis children and get writer of books. 4.—Doubly curtail tbe name of ?j., boly day and get one of tbe four points of tbe compass. •?*'. 1 I mmi :wm-i Answers.—!, Centaury 2. prop-ooe 8 authority 4. East-er: .'"1 -v* Thevtutterily. In Germany there is a large, naottt that infest* dairies and subsist^ QJ butter and milk. In Gennahy I Und It is called tbe butterfllege, fly). Other nanlM'bea^ in G«nt#4l for. the .daji^ moth are bqttMrvofel bw .. iter Urd naidkindieb. whejr' tMef^ana becomethe generalnamefortln»wboie raee. tbougb some people hoM that tM name is a corrdption of tbe English phrase "flatter fly." -r Charade. MyflrstUrsomatMac. We all Uka tp haar Each day ot tbe:week. Bach week In the year. My second is frail And win easily tear -V- :v#l ".Pi OfpSt"! But made Arm and strong ••••••-, 'For a long tltrie will Wear. ,!J Vvi' Mr two loined toaepior . ••^..:'2:7w -woipia.tr|veis ivn4 Biialand aitd Chltt* It Is inn la .he^undi'i