Iowa County democrat. [volume], September 09, 1909, Page 5, Image 5

About Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938

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There TV ere Lions in the TVay
Ella F. Mosby In Springfield Repub
lican. —Francis awoke with laughter
on his lips, and we are both singing
cavalier songs before the sun was up,
—though we could hardly have, been
kicked out of bed another day! The
war w r as not over, but there was a
truce; and we, being young, were
sent home to recruit in bodily
strength and God’s grace after our six
months’ experience of war.
“We need both,” I cried to my
cousin Francis, -ho was arranging
his love-lock before a round mirror
In the tent’s corner.
He laughed in answer, but William
Cunliffe, his father’s trusted body
servant, the leader of our little band
of troopers, groaned a fervent assent
and a grizzled soldier muttered. “’Tis
a bad sign, this laughing before sun
rise— ’’
“Lions in the way!” mocked Fran
cis, merrily. “Lion s in the streets,” as
the man in Proverbs saith,” and he
laughed again.
“I would like Ir as well if our jour
ney were done,” said Cunliffe, “and
there’s no harm in that, Master Fran
cis!”
"If we don’t cease prating, it will
never again,” I cried, leaping into my
saddle—most of the men were already
mounted—and Francis quickly fol
lowed. A fair day it was, and merry
of heart were we both, singing
snatches of roundelays.’ and making
such a clat'er, bustly and stir a gay
young life that all who were awake
envied us as we rode. Our master
less men that infested the highroads,
draw one side, and let us go by, un
hindered. No doubt they thought
their errands vouM fare better —If,in-
deed, they had any- for not meddling
■with ours.
Meadows and fields were full of mu
sic. Little green linm ts and fieldfares
sang from the tall weeds, and sky
larks bubbled with melody overhead.
I had been well content to ride on
when at evening we reached the
wood , and the silver moon began to
rise through the oak boughs before us.
Rn Francis was of another mind, and
so were the men with him. They want
ed a warm supper and easy bods, and,
Indeed, our horses deserved their
rest in stables, so Id and not urge my
unwillingness to go on.
Rut no inn was near. The wood
land we had entered Ik longed to the
Belton estate.
“Why no go to the castle, Master
Francis?’’ suggested Cunliffe, with th e
privilege of a long-trusted servant.
“My lord, your father, loveth the earl
right well. Never would he pass by
such a friend's door, were it noon in
stead of night, and look you, sir, here
is tin- road that leads straight 1o a
welcome!”
“I mistrust me (he earl is absent,”
said Francis, ‘but we will try bis
lady’s kindness,’’ and so we turned
into abroad avenue of oaks, above
which we could see the strong, square
lower of a massive pile.
There seemed to be a good deal of
military s'rictness, which I thought
natural, tho lord absent, and the old
steward having the lady and her twin
babes and castle under his charge.
No was most respectful at the name
of Freemantle, nnd begged pardon for
a somewhat slow admittance.
r e Cen^a/^^/7VCMr
wl'' mill
IN a roi'i'iit volume of reminiscences
William Winter tells a story of Oliver
Wendell Holmes which reveals the
sen tie autocrat as if it were a flash
light portrait. It was during Winter's
Boston days that they met on the Charles
River bridge. They were strangers,
though \V inter knew Holmes by sight and
watched him with admiring interest.
Holmes was walking along very slowly in
a pensive mood, his face as grave as
could be, when suddenly, with no appar
ent reason, he “burst into laughter and
his countenance became radiant with
mirth."
It is thus in the poems and essays upon
which Hr. Holmes’ fame Is founded. They
breathe the quality which Matthew Ar
nold called the "high seriousness of ab
solute sincerity," yet unaccountably and
unexpectedly, like the crack of a whip,
taere comes a bright smile and a breeze
of merriment. Heme does the same thing,
but his seriousness is bitter and his laugh
cynical. Holmes is always healthy and
happy.
Now that a hundred years have passed
since his birth—he was born August 29,
ISO 9, in a gambrel-roofed house at Cam
bridge, ter n down long ago to make more
room for the university—now that his
centenary is upon us, people are asking
whether Holmes’ fame will endure or
wane. The question seems almost ridicu
lous. He wrote the most popular of our
patriotic poems. -Old Ironsides;’’ the
n.<t beautiful of our philosophical poems.
"The Chambered Nautilus.’’ and the most
perennial of our humorous poems. “The
Deacon's Masterpiece.” commonly known
us "The AVotulerful One-lloss Shay.”
These alone would make his memory
secure.
Few people who read the merry meters
of the “One-lloss Shay" suspect that
there is anything more to it than appears
on the surface. Yet. if credible critics
are to be believed. Dr. Holmes has delved
deeply Into theological controversy with
this comic poem. His antipathy to Cal
vinist doctrine is apparent throughout his
works, although his father had been an
orthodox Congregatiouai clergyman, and
the “One-Hoss Shay" was a symbolic
presentation of how the impregnable logic
“A hurly-burly age as your fathers
know—•” he was beginning, when all
at once a shrill scream brought me to
my feet. It seemed to chill my blood
but Francis put a detaining hand on
my arm.
The old steward was chuckling at
my fright.
“A cockatoo,” said Francis, “I saw a
sailor with one on the wharves—a fine
rose-colored, crested fellow, but how
he screeched!’’
“Ay, ay,” nodded the old man, “my
lady’s pet!—and I had well nigh for
got—she begs you will excuse her to
night, as she is in frail health, and she
will give u welcme tomorrow.
“Have you a full garrison?” 1
asked presently.
“Full enough, ’ he answered. “Even
the dungeons have inmates,” and he
.chuckled again.
“Prisoners!” I exclaimed, “but ’tis
peace at this time?”
“Horses,” said Francis. “I dare say
you are using the underground part
for stables. Bur you must have a good
many steeds to need so many stalls.’
The old man shook his head. “The
first gu fj ss was near the mark, but ’tis
not as he thinks. Prisoners in good
sooth.” and he laughed good-naturedly.
William begged his young master
to permit him to sleep in his room.
“Across his door,” he said to me in a
lowered tone. “The earl is not here,
and I like to be near what I have in
my charge. Faugh ’tis a musky, queer
smell we have here!” he exclaimed
as we crossed the inner court.
Most houses had odors not over
sweet, and we had been all day in the
fresh air of the open, and our nos
trils were a bit more sensitive than
those shut within thick walls week af
ter week, so I paid little heed to Wil
liam’s words.
Francis and William needed no rock
ing to make them sleep, but 1 was
wakeful.—so restless, indeed, that at
last I got out of bed and seated myself
in the deep window, watching the
scene without. Everything was plainly
visible in the moonshine.
Nothing was astir. Yet a strange
nt ise fell upon my ears, a noise with
out any disguise, but such as I had
never heard before.
’Twas a sort of rumble or roar, as if
from the bowels o? the earth, yet with
something snister, so that my hair
did stand up, and my blood run cold.
There was no reason to expect evil.
I was in the house of friends. As I lis
tened the sound was repeated, this
time preceded by a deep growl, that
recalled old tales of the desert, and
then I saw whence (be menace came.
You must bear in mind that the
court beneath was a square of light,
with a band of shadow from the wall
on one side. I saw a dark object
stirring in this shawod; then,dragging
a man’s body, a tawny beast crept
forward in the moonlight. As it shook
its prey, it looked like a great cat.
I had been perfectly quiet, but now
I almost cried out as Francis suddenly
laid his hand on mine. He had been
awakened by the sound, and he now
saw what I did—and more!
For he had turned away from the
savage beast, and was gazing straight
down beneath our window. Merci
ful heaven, little tongues of fire were
leaping from the woodwork!
of Jonathan Edwards would come to
smash.
The poem Is simply another Illustration
of Holmes - humorous gravity, or grave
humor—the faculty that burst into laugh
ter on the Charles Klver bridge. We can
understand, also, knowing this, why so
discriminating a writer as Barrett Wen
dell should place Holmes alongside of
VolOlre lg tie world's literature.
Yet sucb a comparison is unjust, be
cause Holmes never displayed the sar
donlc savagery of the Feraey sage.
Holmes was genial and geutle. and be
longs rather with Charles Lamb. The
“Breakfast Table" series. beginning
with the “Autocrat" in ISST and 'losing
with “Over the Teacup” in ISDO, is nearly
related to the "Essays of Elia And
had he written none f 1;< p- ems Holmes
would live by these delightful books. As
I homes Wentworth liigg nson lias said.
""He is likely to c.,-;,] us one of the few
great humorists of the world." <*
His Addiction to i*iii:nli:g.
He shared with I-antb a taste for atro
cious puns. The very first paper of the
“Autocrat" is full of them, although It
likens punsters to people who put coppers
on a railroad track. "They amuse them
selves and other children, but their little
trick may upset a freight train of con
versation for the. sake of a battered wit
ticism “
Charles F. Adams has told how a book
canvasser called mi Hr. Holmes to per
suade him to sulucrlbe for the “Century
Dictionary." “N-. " said th > Doctor. ‘ Tiii
too old eighty j urs 1 sta'u't live to
IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT, MINERAL POINT, WIS,, THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 9, 1909
But it was a comfort to have Frank
beside me. I threw off the numbing
sensation of sudden terror, and tried
to vake Cunliffe, no easy job. He had
his wits about him as soon as he took
in the situation, “That’s the steward’s
prisoner,” and Frank smiled grimly.
“No doubt the beast was kept in the
dungeon.” “Yet those flames look like
some foul work,” said Cunliffe, and his
countenance changed. “There’s always
private grudge and greed for plunder
to set treachery on foot. I’ll give the
alarm, and I pray heaven we be not
caught in an enemy’s trap!”
Yet when he ran out, crying “Fire!
Fire!” the whole house was still.
Doors bad only begun to open, and
people to run to and fro as we tried to
find our way to the steward’s chamber.
A lady stopped us, both babes in her
arms, to beg us to save them, and
Cunliffe left Francis and me w T ith her
till he could hold some counsel with
the old man.
Twas but a few moments before
both came, and the steward reported
drawbridge up and gates shut—the
key were at his belt—and no sound of
any f orce without. It looked as if there
might be soon as the secret foe inside
though so soon as the lady heard the
fire had broke out near the lion’s quar
ters she cried out, as if she had the
clew:
“Where is the beast tamer? He
vowed to me he would not go down
lone?”
“Ay,” said the steward. "My lady
has hit the nail. Poor old Martin!
He mus:; have had another fit and
dropped his lantern in his fall, and
so the fire hath got out!”
The countess wrung her hands.
"Ah, but the fire is foe enough with
in the castle! Who can put it out
with the wild beasts in the court?
Ah, my poor babes!”
“Madam,” said Francis, very gal
lantly, “be not afraid. We will shoot
the lions and your men shall put out
the fire. The long rains have
soaked th e timbers well, my lady,
and all the cisterns are full. If you
will go back to the shelter of your
chamber, and let your women attend
you, all shall go well.”
“All shall go well,” repeated Fran
cis with a fresh, gay vice, full of
certainty, that comforted my lady’s
fears much.
We left Peter Thacher, the stew
ard. to see about the fire, only ask
ing for some lad who knew (he pas
sages and stairways to guide us. A
blithe-look’ng boy, Ralph by name,
my lady’s page, volunteered to serve
us, and we quickly got our weapons
in good condition.
One of the women called to us
that we had best take burning
torches to keep off the beasts, but
William thought the black shadow
of the wall was a better covert.
“Crouch low, Master Francis, and
let us take the brute unawares,’’ he
whispered.
“Cunliffe—l would send you to aid
the steward if I could make you go!”
laughed Francis, very low, and
with some vexation in his tone. “Pkl
ward and I are enough for this job.”
“Maybe so. Master Francis,” ans
wered Cunliffe very respectfully, for
he was taking his own way, “but ’tls
not the lion I am tracking.”
“Ah, hut he is tracking us!” sud
denly cried Ralph in a hoarse fright
ened voice, pointing to two glaring
eyes that shone upon us in the rear
jtfdlTTies'. SSna/sa *** II
see the Century finished." “Nay, Doc
tor, persisted the agent, “you won't
have to live so very much longer to use
our book; we've already got to G." "And
you may go to 1. If you like!" ex
claimed the Doctor, and the agent went.
1 o Howells, who was bis next-door
neighbor tor three years, he once re
peated "two Slues of mine that go as
deep as any others In a certain direc
tion,' Th y were the ••losing couplet of
aa early peem. describing the rmu of a
house:
Till "meld remains, t' e saddening tale to tell,
‘ife s last wrecks, the cellar aud the well.
Of course, his hearers h ;I ; to admit
that it was not easily possible to go
deeper that; "the cellar and the well.”
He was never happier than when he
could perpetrate a whe'e chain of in
genious plays upon words, :■ r example,
like the mite to his poem. "The Plough
man.” which describes a . Ity dweller's
ignore n e of country life and farming:
i
pay uo and vlden-ls. A con’.t ■;•. he snp
p ses, has soia-crang to do with a horse.
His notions of stock were obtained in
Faneuil Hall Market, where the cattle
locked f :ani!y enough, to he sure, com
pared — 1 h the living originals’ Ho
where we had imagined ourselves
safe.
We barely escaped dropping our
guns as we ran —every man-jack of
us—and Ralph at our head, toward
the nearest steps that had led up
the "walls into a turret or hooded
chamber for shooting. We scrambled
up breathlessly making the door
fast behind us when the last one was
inside.
“How many beasts are there?”
asked Francis, wrathfully. “It’s a
bit wiser to know whether you are
stalking a pair, or a few dozen.”
“The collection has dwindled down
to a pair,” said Ralph. “The earl
ha<s added .nought because of the
wars.”
“You need not make excuses to
me,” and Francis laughed. "Rut.
hush, the creature gets our scent!”
The lion, for this was the male
beast that so nearly surprised us,
had' moved out into the open court,
raising his great head and sniffing
the air.
Never have I seen a more magnifi
cent beast. His massive head and
jaws, his powerful legs, hi s tawny
mane, made him look indeed a mon
arch, —but I should have chosen the
wide space of the desert between us!
He was not excited like the lioness,
who had lashed her tail nervously,
while she uttered a purring growl
over the prey. He, on the contrary,
looked around him with perfect calm
ness.
After a few moments, during wnicn
we hardly dared breathe, he began
to roar in a most curious fashion,
putting his head close to the ground,
as if to belch forth the sound.
“We must shoot now, - ’ said Cun
liffe, and Francis fired. The great
brute leaped into the air, and such
a leap!
We all drew back in alarm, feel
ing as if another such spring might
land him among us. But he fell to
the earth dead, or almost dead. 1
saw' the great limbs twitch once or
twice as he lay outstretched.
Until this shot had been fired we
had heard no sound except the roar
of he loud clamor from the wolf and
s aghounds in the kennels, and we
heard the plunging and whinnying of
the terrified horses.
“Are the stable doors well barred?”
I questioned Ralph, for I could hear
the shrill call of my ow r n mare,
Brown Maid, and I feared lest she
should get loose and into the court
yard, where the lioness lurged now
in the shadow. Brown Maid would
look for her master, I knew well, if
it seemed to her there were trouble
abroad. T never knew 'whether she
wished most to protect me or be pro
tected. but I believe it was both.
When the big lion did not stir f
could see his mate rise her head
from her prey and look toward him.
Then she crept warily forth, and
stood behide him, stopping to lick
him and to moan over him in most
strange and pitiful manner.
Rut pity as we might, we must
end our work, for her moaning has
changed in o a threatening growl.
She stretched her neck toward the
gate, as if smelling something.
“She seeks for us,” whispered
Ralph.
“No. no, —it is my mare.” As I
feared, the slender, beautiful creat
ure had cast off her halter and
broken out of the stables. She
&e&c r o?2 c
knows. it is true, that there is a differ
ence in cattle, and would tel! you that he
prefers the sirloin breed. His children
are equally unenlightened; they know
no more of the poultry-yard than what
they have learned by having the chicken
pox and playing on a Turkey carpet.
Their small knowledge of wool-growing
is hi mtb)en table."
His First Famous Poem.
It may serve to excuse Dr. Holmes
that Shakespeare was just as fond of
punning, and even the grave philosopher.
Bacon, do. ;ared himself to be descended
- B Of .
the Baconians have overlooked hitherto*
iu their efforts to show that Bacou wrote
Shakespeare. Dr. Holmes, as we have
seen, could be serious enough upon oc
casion. s/nd h:> first famous poem was an
appeal to patriotic pride.
Edward Everett Kale, who died only a
few months ago, recalled how, as a lit
tle boy at school, he used to spout the
lines:
stopped in the gateway, and the
scent of the lioness reached her
head up with a wild whinnying call.
Francis and I fired together. It
seemed as if we had missed. The
lioness and crouched for a leap, and
she did not change her position Her
position for a few seconds. The
she recked herself slowly to and
fro, and .'ell over on the body of her
mate. It was a little while before we
dared move, but as soon as I leaned
forward and sounded the whistle
which I usually summoned Brown
Maid, she came flying across the
bodies of the lion and lioness to
reach me sooner. Yet she was
trembling all over with fright, and
I had to rub her pretty head and
talk to her with man a per word be
fore she wa s willing to be led to her
stall.
On joining the steward we found
the fire was extinguished; and my
lady was waiting to thank us for our
“gallant deeds.’’ Francis her
we had been in no danger, at which
Master Ralph opened wide his eyes.
We w T ent to our beds, well pleased
to have our adventure safely ended.
My lady was most gracious the next
day. affirming herself delighted to
he rid of the beasts. The present
lord s father had once had a notable
collection of wild animals from for
! e i§ n countries, but during the civil
: war they had dwindled down to this
I Pair, and the parrakeets and cock
atoo In my lady’s chamber.
Her Idea about the poor beast-tam
er proved right, but happily he
must have died unconscious of the
lions.
Our journey thereafter was a quiet
one, and to say truth, we did not
wish for more adventures. We were
well content that our road ran be
neath a sky of blue and between
blooming and peaceful fields to the
very gates of home!
Florida’s Seventy Foot Bamboo.
Possibly the tallest bamboo in
America grows in Arcadia, Fla., and is
about seventy feet high. The clump
has a spread of fifty feet, and the di
ameter at the ground is twelve feet.
The specimen is only eight years old.
This is the common bamboo of India,
probably brought to south Florida
from the West Indies. In Jamaica it
has become naturalized and is popu
larly supposed to be indigenous. This
bamboo makes an astonishing growth
during our rainy season, the canes of
ten attaining their full height in six
weeks, after which (hey begin to put
on leaves. The canes ar e from four to
five inches in diameter at their base.
Unfortunately this species cannot
stand low temperatures, and the speci
men in Arcadia has freqeuntly been
damaged by cold.-—Qardgp > *
Concrete Apartment House.
1 he apartment house of several
stories is the solution of the house
building problem where it is costly
and apartments crowded, as in the
larger cities. In no class of buildings
are sanitary, durable and fireproof
features more (o he desired, and no
material so readily lends itself to
work of this character as cement, and
concrete, says Cement Age. A fine
example of a concrete apartment
house is the Casa. Grande, New Or
leans. The building is truly mono
lithic in appearance. The severe
treatment of the structure gives the
Nail U tiie mast bcr holj flag.
Spre.-d eTfrr threadbare sail.
And give hfr to the god of storma.
Ti.e lightning and the gale!
All the boys of Boston knew the song
by heart which had saved "Old Iron
sides" from destruction. This pet name
had been given to the frigate Consti
tution. which had been built at Boston
and brought many prizes into Boston
harbor. In September. IS3O, the Boston
Advertiser printed a note that the Navy
Department intended to break up the
old ship as unfit for service. Holmes,
just 21 years of age, read the paragraph
and hastily penciled the poem, which was
printed in the Advertiser the next day.
It focused the popular clamor for the
preservation of the famous naval reile,
aud two years ago the writer found "Old
Ironsides" still well preserved, in the
Charlestown Nary Yard, as spick and
span as anew pin. affording a graphic
contrast tc the modern armored cruisers
lying alongside.
Most of Holmes’ l *i,erary work, how-
Impression of a building that will
withstand fire and time. With the
exception of the few small ornament
al details over the entrance and upon
the roof, every feature is plain and
simple and of the non-dust catching
type. This Is especially noticeable
in the balconies, windows and corn
ice. That construction should be of
this type is the conviction of many
of the leading architects, and In this
house the theory has been put into
practice in very attractive form,
INTERESTING BITS.
Cardiff, in Wales, is a city at least
2,000 years old, and its growth has
been regarded by some people as phe
nomenal. Thus a writer of 1522 re
marks upon the fact that tinplates
have enormously added to a popula
tion which in 1801 was less than 2.-
000 and “is now grown to 3,521.”
Since then the city by the Taff has
grown to 160,000.
It has been discovered that the
ancient volume over which the stu
dent pores is full of germs; and
some people say that the danger
should not be faced without a silk
and wire mask to fit over the mouth
and nose. The reading mask is used
in Paris.
Roller skating >s popular in the far
east. In Calcutta, at a rink on the
Maidan, as many as 6,000 Tinkers and
spectators, nearly all foreigners, have
been seen in one day.
To Preserve Railroad Records.
The Pennsylvania Railroad com
pany has under construction an in
novation in the shape of a fireproof
building for the preservation of papers
and documents of value, says Cement
Age. Through frequent fires in com
bustible structures valuable records
have been lost and it is the purpose
to guard against this bv storing them
in an absolutely fireproof structure.
It is announced that the building wi 11
be reinforced concrete. This is recog
nition of the fireproof properties of
concrete from a high source, as the
skilled engineers of the great railway
companies are alw r ays upon the look
out for materials representing the
highest economy and durability. The
record of concrete in actual fires Is
such that it is not a surprise to find
it selected for the purpose described.
INTERESTING BITS.
That pear tree with which Count
Zeppelin’s airship lately came into
collision has been sold to an ebonist
of Stuttgart. This artist proposes
to work the tree up and sell fhe
articles a.s souvenirs of (he event
in the form of backs for books, pin
gnU jailers. Counterfeits ot
fS& 1 JAltLfv are already in ‘he
market.
Waterways in Alaska navigable by
steamers aproximate 4,000 miles, of
which nearly 2,700 are in the water
shed of the Yukon river.
There are over 160.000 automo
biles in use in the United States,
more than double the number in all
Europe.
She —An ancestor of mine slew 500
people in battle, all with his big right
arm.
He—Pooh, that’s nothing. My
grandfather was a famous surgeon.—
Royal Magazine.
Tsy-Jiejre Ifblrsies' s' x ■ ■ ■■-'■'
ever, was done late in life. When the
Atlantic Monthly was established In 1857,
and James Russell Lowell was asked to
become Its editor, he accepted with the
stipulation that Holmes be secured as one
of the contributors. The sparkling "Au
tocrat” papers were the result, a species
of dramatized essay which first estab
lished Holmes ns one of our literary
luminaries and made the Atlantic a suc
cess. He was approaching the age of 50
when he was formally launched upon lit
erature, and abandoned the practice of
medicine.
He had written a couple of papers In
1831, Just after leaving college, for the
New England Magazine, under the title
of ‘‘The Autocrat of the Breakfast
Table,” and he revived this Idea In his
riper years, working It out In most de
lightful fashion. Although a bit erudite
at times for the average reader of today,
who feeds upon Ade and Dooley, book
sellers can testify that the Autocrat 1*
still a steady seller.
“Elsie Venner." the best known of his
novels, was a somewhat remarkable story
of a girl who had. imbibed the nature of
a serpent from her mother's being bit-,
ten by a rattlesnake. Another of his
stories, ‘‘The Guardian Angel,” cost the
Atlantic many subscribers who scented
agnosticism In the author.
His Lovable Personality.
Of course, these timid souls were
wrong, for Dr. Holmes, with all his
rationalist and scientific trend, was of a
deeply religious nature. “As often as he
spoke of religion,” said Howells, his old
neighbor, “and his talk tended to It
very often, I never heard an irreligious j
word from him, far less a scoff or sneer I
at religion." Howells has given us a very
attractive glimpse of the poet's lovable
personality.
f*ne story Howells records Is almost os
characteristic ns the meeting with Win
ter Henry James, the father of our
enigmatic novelist, said to the doctor one
day; “Holmes, you are Intellectually the i
most alive man I ever knew." And the
doctor retorted with zest anil frankness: i
•‘I am. 1 am; from the crown of my !
head to the sole of my f>*et, I'm alive, !
I’m alive ”
When he died on October 7, 1894, and j
waa buried from King’s Chapel two days j
THE GARDENS OF SHUSHAN.
“And the king loved Esther . . .
and made her queen instead of
Vashti.”
Be pitiful I Her Ups have touched
this cool
Clear stream that sets the long
green leaves astir.
The very doves that dream beside the
pool
Sang their soft notes to her.
Pov her these doors that claim the
amorous South,
Bound in red bronze and stay***!
with cedar wood.
And here the bees sought honey from
her mouth.
So like a flower she stood.
For her the globed pomegranates
grew, and all
Sweet savory fruits rose perfect
from their flower.
Here has her soul known silence and
the fall
Of each enchanted hour.
Under her feet all beauty was laid
low.
In her deep eyes all beauty was
made clear,
W hen the king called her through
the amber glow:
“O Vashti, I am here!"
Still the sweet wells return to me
her face,
Still her lost name on every wind
is blown.
The shadows and the silence of this
place
Are hers alone.
—Marjorie VMckthall In American
Magazine.
SAND DUNES DESTRUCTIVE.
Especially on the East Shore of
Lake Michigan.
Shifting sand dunes are causing
trouble on the borders of Lake Mich
igan. The dunes are formed by the
on-shore winds, which sweep the
beach sand beyond the reach of the
waves.
The sand accumulates in low
mounds about any obstructions, such
as stones or bushes; thus started
the dune is sufficient cause for its
own growth. The wind keeps piling
the sand up from behind, the dune
grows, and the sand on its crest is
blown over to the lee-vard side of
the mount, *o tliat the dunes gradu
ally march inland.
On the east side of Lake Michi
gan the dry west winds have heap
ed ii]) numbers of dunes, ranging in
height up to 200 foot. In Indiana
the (hines have moved inland across
a forested area, burying and killing
trees, leaving the dead trunks as
skeletons behind them in their march
onward. —Philadelphia Ledger,
Game Stock.
Now that 1 have my monoplane
running smoothly.” remarked the
aerial crank, “I’d like to build a fac
tory and turn out individual wings by
Ihe hundred. Them I’d present them
to every one free of charge.”
“Yon are getting generous these
days,” continued his friend.
“Oh. no, T am pining for sport.. It Is
no fun whizzing around in th© air at
a mile a minute when there Is no one
to run down.”
later, thousands of tongues and pena
united In praising him, and nearly all
used the epithets "genial” and "kindly.”
One of the moat heartfelt tributes was a
poem In I> ndon Punch, with these
stanzas;
"The Les Leaf!" Can It be true.
We have turned It, end on you.
Friend of all?
Tfiiet the years at lent hare power?
That life’s foliage and 1U flower*
Fade and fall?
Was there one who ever took
From It* ahelf, by chance, a book
Penned by you,
But w* fast jour friend for life.
With one refuge from it* eUifs
Bafa and true?
Even gentle Ella's self
Might be proud to share that ahelf.
Leaf to lea?.
With a soul of kindred sort.
Who could bind atrong sense end sport
In on* eheaf.
Winter tells another story of him—
about how he wrote his autograph upon
a portrait for Winter’s son, and gave It
to the boy with the words: “Ten —twen-
ty— perhaps even thirty years from
now—somebody may be Interested to
hear you say that you received this pic
ture from the hands of the original;
sometimes writers are remembered even
ns long hh that.”
But we cannot afford to forget him.
The coming of his centenary brings as
surance that be will be rememt*ere4 i
"Till time and teacups both shall be no
more.”
CONCRETE SAILING VESSEL.
TROPE Is experimenting with con
crete boats, yet Baltimore, Md., tm*
already demonstrated them. A con
crete sailing vessel has been In operation
for 11 years there. The boat Is known
as the Gretfben and Is owned by Daniel
B. Banks, consulting engineer of the Fire
Board. The boat Is a two-masted
schooner yacht, 65 feet long and with a
16-foot beam. It draws 14 feet of water.
The vessel belong* to the fleet of the
Baltimore Yacht Club and It has ac
commodations for at least 12 passengers.
It is claimed that the concrete Is Just aa
buoyant as steel. The “stone boat” hue
been as far North as the Hudson Bay
country. Not long ago the boat was
driven on the rocks, but It survived,
where a steel boat would have been
stove la.
5