NEW NEWS
OF YESTERDAY
Vigil of Love Killed Savant
How Affection of Lord Kelvin, the
Famous British Physicist, for
His Wife Really Led to
His Death.
Two years ago in December, the
cable brought the news to this coun
try, where he was wklely known and
loved, that Lord Kelvin, the great Brit
ish physicist, had died after a brief
illness. A day or so later the cabled
accounts of his funeral told that the
only flowers on his casket at the fu
neral was a wreath from Lady Kel
vin. How Lord Kelvin’s great love
for his wife really led to his death is
here told for the first time, and the
story is vouched for by Mr. George
Westinghouse of Pittsburg, who was
one of Lord Kelvin's most intimate
friends.
“When Lady Kelvin accompanied
Lord Kelvin to America,” said Mr.
Westinghouse, "everybody who met
tlie two were invariably impressed
with their deep devotion to each oth
er. It was easily apparent that Lady
Kelvin was not only a sharer in her
husband’s interests in mechanics,
physics, industrial development, and
all science, in fact —of which he was
In so great degree a master —but also
that their domestic relations were
ideal, she constantly looking to his
comfort and ministering to him, and
he responding with gentle carressea.
“During Lord Kelvin’s last visit to
this country, his friends here learned
that he was deeply solicltious regard
ing the state of Lady Kelvin’s health.
Some time after his return to Eng
land, word was received that Lady
Kelvin had, in fact, become a hope
Caruso of the Last Century
Pitiful Talk of the Once Great Singer
Not Long Before His Death in
Poverty at New
York.
Brignoli—what a wealth of musical
memories the name awakens in those
lifelong lovers of operatic music
whose heads are now gray. For Brig
noli, coming to this country in 1855,
for a quarter of a century thereafter
was probably this country's most pop
ular operatic tenor —a veritable Ca
ruso of yesterday. He sang with Patti
at her debut, with Nilsson, La Grange,
Parepa-Rosa, Tietjens—all the great
singers of his time. He had the coun
try at his feet.
Many are the memories that come
to me of poor Brignoli, whom I met
several times, at last to know quite
well. But most vivid of all my recol
lections of him is that of our last
meeting, which occurred but a few
months before he died in poverty—
he who for years received what were
then unprecedented sums for singing,
excepting, possibly, those paid to Pat
ti and Nilsson.
Returning to my hotel about mid
night of the second day of the Re
publican national convention which
was held in Chicago in 1884, I heard
some one call my name as I passed
the entrance of another hotel. Turn
ing about, I discovered that it was
Brignoli, whom I bad not seen for
about a year, and then in Washing
ton.
We shook hands. "If you please,”
he said, with the grace and politeness
and courtesy that were Inbred In him,
"I would walk with you back to your
hotel.” Then he added, byway of ex
planation as we Btarted off. "I have
walked much .by myself this evening,
and It seems happy to me to meet
some man that I used to know, to talk
a little with him."
“Are you singing here, Brignoli?"
I asked.
"Ah, no, not much,” he said wear
ily. "I came here to sing a little, but
Brignoll's voice—what is it? Puff—”
and here he snapped his Angers with
a disdainful gesture, "it Is gone. It is
no longer Brignoll's voice."
"What Is the trouble?” I asked.
"Have you been 111?"
He touched his breast. "Sick
here."
For a moment he was silent Then
his heart spoke.
“What is Brignoli now? Nothing.
He might as well be dead. It would
be better, perhaps. Ah, it would sure
ly have been better, perhaps. Ah, it
would surely have been better for
Brignoli if he had never had a voice.
Then he would have stayed in Naples.
He would have had a good trade. He
would havo lived and worked and
loved and laughed like others of his
family. He would have had something
for his old ago. He would not now
be walking the streets in the night,
thinking this: 'Not any longer are
you Brignoli.’ Because he learns this
—when you have a voice und sing so
that they clap and shout, then you
are an idol. They point the Anger at
you on the street and say, 'That’s
Brignoli.’ But when the voice is
gone, then you are nothing. They for
get you. They don’t remember that
they ever knew you. They have for
gotten Brignoli, and he once had the
world at his feet Ah. It was all bad,
less invalid. Then came the report
that Lord Kelvin himself was serious
lyMU, and within a week or two the
announcement of his death followed.
"It was his solicitude for the com
fort of his invalid wife—his helpmeet
of a life time—that really killed him.
Though he was a man of advanced
years, and had need to husband his
strength, from the day that Lady Kel
vin became an invalid he was in con
stant attendance upon her. He could
scarcely be prevailed upon to leave
her for a few minutes, even; he
seemed to feel that that time was
wasted which he could not devote to
the care of his wife. He was con
vinced that her illness was mortal,
How Fillmore Tricked State
His Crafty Methods, When, as Comp
troller of New York, He Wished
to Be Absent from His
Office.
Probably no man now living knew
Millard Fillmore so well as did Charles
C. Clarke, who, prior to his retirement
from active life some years ago, was
long the treasurer of the New York
Central railroad.
“Fillmore’s was a romantic career,”
said Mr. Clarke to me one day. ‘‘Be
ginning as a wool carder in a town
near Buffalo, he became president of
the United States. He had many re
markable adventures, and the story
of his life, if told in popular style,
would furnish almost as fascinating
a very bad mistake, I would be happy
now in Italy, if only I had been Just
Brignoli, without a voice.”
What could I say? In silence ve
reached the door of my hotel. Across
the way beckoned a well-lighted bar.
I saw Brignoli's eyes wander in its
direction. “Ah. if I could only buy a
drink of brandy!” he appealed. He—
the Brignoli who had been great—who
had received the w*orship of the great
—was stranded in a great city with
out a cent of money in his pocket!
A few minutes later he passed out
into the night, and the next I heard
of him was that he had died in pov
erty in New York City.
(Copyright. 1909. by E. J. Edwards.)
Wines for Royalty.
Sherry is a wine that has almost
disappeared from the table of Ed
ward VII. The king some years ago
sold a large quantity of sherry that
had been laid down in the royal cel
lars many years before his accession,
and since the sale of sherry has quite
fallen out from the list of fashion
able wines in England. His majesty
knew what he was about. He had
reached the age when light wines are
advisable, for health’s sake, and he
neither wished to oblige himself nor
his guests to partake of even the
smoothest, mellowest sherry. Among
some facts concerning the wines
served at his sovereign’s table, re
cently related by the head butler in
charge of the department at Buck
ingham palace, he says visitors often
go over the cellars, and on one
occasion after he had told the history
of a certain almost priceless claret
to a foreign royalty who was inspect
ing the wines, the latter exclaimed
with a laugh: “Why, wine like that
ought to be in a museum.”
Old Dutch Cradles.
Baby's bath is now mounted on tres
tles so as to save stooping on the part
of the nurse, while the cot and bas
ket are almost always of the folding
variety, draped with hemstitched and
embroidered lawn threaded with satin
ribbons or with embroidered net.
Occasionally a reproduction of an
old Dutch cradle will be used, and
this will be lined with quilted satin.
The newest quilts are stuffed with a
vegetable fiber or wood wool which
comes from Sweden. These are beau
tifully light and porous and are recom
mended for hygienic reasons.
When baby takes his daily constitu
tional it is in u perambulator with sil
ver fittings, a crest or monogram on
its white enameled surface. Some
times the carriage is even upholstered
in white, and the cover may be of
lino linen trimmed with real Irish cro
chet, while in winter it will be of opos
sum or Tibet goat.
The Poet of the Attic.
It Is reported that a modem verse
muker has been sued for a $27 gro
cery bill. «
This seems to advance him a little
nearer the real poet class.
In the earlier day, however, the
real poet never got within hniling dis
tance of $27 worth of credit.—Cleve
land Plain Dealer.
True Thrift.
Stella —Is she economical?
Bella —Very; she will bsvo tea
cents any time to spend a dollar.
by E.J.EDWARDS
and to those who endeavored to per
suade him to rest now and then, he re
plied that during the time left to him
and to Lady Kelvin to be together, he
felt that he ought to give her his con
stant attention. And so, hour after
hour, he sat by his wife’s bedside,
holding her hand and talking with
her.
At last there happened what Lord
Kelvin’s friends had feared all along
—the strain of his constant vigil of
love broke him down completely, and
having no surplus vitality to rely upon
for recuperation, he passed away.
“To-day Lady Kelvin lingers on, a
hopeless invalid—and I doubt not that
all her thoughts in all her waking
hours are of the man whose whole
married life was dominated by the
one thought of her comfort and hap
piness.”
(Copyright, 1909, by R. J. Edwards.)
reading as does the early life of
Abraham Lincoln.
"It was my good fortune to know
Fillmore well. He became comptrol
ler of the state of New York in 1847,
and not until the following year was
he nominated for vice president on
the Whig ticket with Gen. Taylor.
During that period I was deputy treas
urer of the state, Mr. Fillmore fre
quently dropped into my office to chat
with me, and in this manner I came
to know him intimately.
“But of all the things he told me
confidentially of the great politicians
of the day, and of all the things he did
to my own personal knowledge, noth
ing threw for me so interesting a
light on the man’s character as did
his methods of tricking the state
whenever he wanted to be absent
from his office. It Is a story that
illustrates perfectly the crafty side
of his nature. His other and nobler
side was that which any great mao
and true patriot possesses.
“Soon after he became comptroller,
Fillmore brought to the treasurer’s
office some blank warrants and asked
me whether, if he signed them in
blank, they could be utilized in case
he were absent from his office, for
he expected to go pretty often to Buf
falo and other points in the state. I
answered that this could not be done,
but added that if he were out of the
state at any time, then his deputy
would have authority to sign war
rants, which the treasurer would be
obliged to honor.
“ ‘Well,* said Mr. Fillmore, ‘if I
should go to New York and take the
Housatonic railroad, which runs
through Connecticut, it would take me
out of the state for a few hours, then
my deputy would be authorized to
sign, and it would not make any dif
ference if I got to New York City
that way?’
“ ‘If you notify us that you are go
ing into Massachusetts and Connecti
cut,* I replied, ‘then your deputy
would be authorized to sign the war
rants until you notified us of your re
turn to the state.*
“That was all the assurance that
Mr. Fillmore wanted, and after that,
for several months, whenever he went
to New York City, he took the Housa
tonic railroad Instead of going by
steamboat down the Hudson, as al
most everybody else did. But first
he always notified us that he was
leaving the state and took equal care
not to notify us of his return to it
until he was back in Albany.
“But I think that without question,
the strangest of all his subterfuges to
trick the state of his time, and so give
himself more time, he employed at
the time the suspension bridge over
the Niagara river was under construc
tion.
“There was to be some sort of cere
mony at Niagara in which he wanted
to tuke part, and it wus to occur at a
time when some important warrants
would have to be signed by the comp
troller. Nevertheless, he went on to
Buffalo, hud himself taken across the
river in u basket In which the bridge
workmen were conveyed across the
chasm, and then sent us word that
he was in Canada, so that we would be
compelled to recognize this deputy's
signature on those important war
rants and all others until such time
as he notified us that he had returned
to the state.
"Think of it—the man who was to
be vice president in two years, and
president in three years and u half
later, being the party to a subterfuge
liko that. For he wus actually out of
the state less than an hour, though
officially he did not return to if for
some days.
(Copyright, loop, by E. J. Ed wares.)
Not Up-to-Date.
TTncle Slle—Thar's one thing I can’t
understand, Mandy.
Aunt Mandy—What’s that, Silas?
Dncle Slle—Why, how kin these
tony city fellers keep their swell par
lors up-todate when they cover the
walls with palntin’s by the old mus
ters.
Prehistoric Pugilism.
“In the olden days they had encoun
ters between two-headed giants.”
“I suppose such combats called for
i a double amount of preliminary talk."
Dorothy’s Way
By EDITH S. SPEED
(Copyriglu, 1909 by Associated Literary Press.)
James drew up the window shades
find. laying some letters on a little
table by the bedside, remarked:
“A fine day, sir."
The sleeper opeend his eyes. “Don’t
teii me it is time to get up?”
It is eight o’clock, sir.”
While James was drawing the bath
for his master Rev. John Ashe
stretched out his hand and took up
the bundle of letters. On top was a
little blue envelope addressed in a
feminine band, familiar and full of
character.
The man tore open the envelope and
began eagerly to read the contents.
“Overlook, L. 1.. April 1.
“My T>*ar John—l am wrltln/f to an
nounr o not only my engagement but the
date of my -\%eddlng. May 1, Just a month
hence.
“You no doubt will be surprised at
my deeiftion to marry so soon after the
announcement of my engagement; but
as you know, I always did do eccentric
things, and now that I know my own
mind I wish to be married as soon as
possible.
“Perhaps you know -the man I am
to marry. At present I shall not tell
you his name, but leave you. to guess.
He is one of our own old circle of
friends.
“Will you marry us. John? This I wish
most earnestly. The wedding will be sol
emnized at noon on the first, only a quiet
little home wedding with a very few
friends present. Try to catch the nine
o’clock train from Long Island City. Do
not refuse this one request and please
your sincere friend,
“DOROTHY MILLS.”
It was not meant to be a cruel let
ter; but it hit hard. Rev. John
Ashe had known Dorothy since his
junior year at college, where he had
met her at a football game. She was
a very attractive girl and he had fallen
in love with her. After graduating
from the seminary he had proposed;
but she had refused him. A year later,
when he received a Aattering call to a
parish church in Evanston, he repeat
ed his proposal to Dorothy to become
his wife, but her answer was no. She
admitted she cared about him, but not
enough to marry him, and promised
that, should she And, in years to come,
that she really could love him she
would write; but he must not propose
to her again. To this he had reluc
tantly consented. Now, he had been
in the west for two years and had re
ceived friendly letters from Dorothy,
but she never had said the words he
so longed to hear.
And, after all this time, she was
about to marry another man and she
begged him to officiate. That seemed
more than he could do. It was hard
enough to know that she was to marry
some one else —but to perform the
ceremony. No, he never could do
that. Why was Dorothy so cruel? She
knew that the one great hope he had
cherished for the last three years was
to make her his wife. He would send
her word at once regretting his In
ability to be at Overlook on the Arst.
Again the strong desire to please
her—the desire that had mastered him
since their Arst meeting, prompted him
to send a telegram of acceptance. He
would do for Dorothy the one thing
against which his soul and heart re
belled. He would attend her wed
ding.
The tub Ailed, James returned to ar
range his master’s wearing apparel.
Instead of having to call him a second
time, as was the custom, his man found
the minister sitting up in bed staring
into vacancy. His brown eyes, no
longer full of sleep, were unusually
bright and his mouth had become very
stern.
“Do you recall any engagement for
May 1, James?”
The Rev. John Ashe had always to
depend upon his servant to keep him
in mind of engagements.
We leave New York for Old Point
Comfort, sir, at 3:30.”
' Bless me, I had forgotten. But
that doesn’t Interfere with u 12 o’clock
wedding.”
His servant stared a minute, then
remarked: "Your bath is ready, sir."
The minister was sure he
never have performed his duties cor
rectly during the month that followed
if it had not been for James. The
faithful man Instantly reminded him
of things to be done, and when the
thirtieth came secured berths, packed
the luggage and. at the last minute,
bundled his master on the train for
New York and the wedding.
The train rolled along all night and
the minister slept with a semi-con
sciousness that provoked endless
dreams. One was very persistent, in
which ho proposed to Dorothy and she
accepted him. Finally he awoke with
u happy sigh which memory turned
Into unhappiness. Thus disconsolate,
ifc- arose, for the traiu was nearing
New York, and he began the dlillcu*
performance of dressing in a sleeping
car. *
By 8:30 he was crossing the ferry
frefm New York to Long Islaiid City
to catch his train. He met no one he
knew; the wedding guests were to
go out Inter In the day.
In an hour ho reached Overlook, a
pretty little Long Island village in a
hilly country, with a few stores and
cottages nestling in the valley and
beautiful homes of too wealthy crown
ing the wooded knolls.
Am automobile met him nt the sta
tion and he was boon at the Mills
home, a very spuc4ous house of colo
nial style, overlooking the sound.
Mrs. Mills, an elderly widow, re
ceived him. "I am glad to see you,
and so pleased that you caught
this train. I do not know what I
should have done with Dorothy If you
had not come early. She has been
very nervous all morning fearing that
something might happen to prevent
your coming. She was so relieved
when she saw the automobile. She
Is waiting for you in our sitting room
upstairs. You know where !t is.”
Slowly the minister climbed the
stairs, noting every familiar object.
The gayety of the smilax and roses
everywhere struck a jarring note upon
the depression of his own feelings.
How different from the home coming
he had planned! He stopped to pat
Bob, the collie, who stood at the head
of the stairs wagging his tall in wel
come.
As he was about to knock upon the
door of the sitting room it opened and I
Dorothy stood in the square of the
doorway, a lovely vision in white. The
sunlight streaming through the win
dows behind her shone upon her fair
hair, making It sparkle like gold. She
had always been pretty, but to-day she
was beautiful.
Taking both his hands In hers she
drew him Into the room.
“Oh, John. It is so good to see you
again. I knew you would come, al
though each time the bell has rung I
could not help being nervous, for you
cannot imagine how hopeless the wed
ding would be without you.”
“It is good of you, Dorothy, to say
that; but had I not come you could
have secured the services of another
minister.”
“I couldn’t do that very well, John.
Your coining has made me so happy.”
In such moments there is but one
refuge—the commonplace—and John
Ashe ffed to it to hide his emotion.
“I must not forget the little present
I have for you.” He drew frim his
pocket a tiny box. It held a small
crescent of diamonds.
“Oh, how beautiful!” she exclaimed.
“I shall wear It to-day. It will be the
only piece of jewelry to adorn my wed
ding dress.”
“That will not please your husband,
Dorothy. Tell me whom you are to
marry? I have not guessed.’
She looked at him a few seconds,
then a faint smile hovered r round her
lips, and she said:
“Haven’t you? I am to marry th*
Rev. John Ashe. And he has prom
ised to marry me."
WAGES PAID OUT FOR FOOD
Figures Show That Bulk of Earnings
Go for Absolutely Necessary
Expenses.
The standard of living among work
men in this city has been Investigated
and reported on by the New York
Association for Improving the Condi
tion of the Poor. The report shows
that among 1,000 men, who had been
compelled to ask for aid. the average
yearly wage, when employed at full
time, varied from $525 to $575. The
men whose statements were used in
this computation were practically all
able-bodied, with families and anxious
to work. The percentage of skilled
and unskilled laborers in the 1,000
was about equal. The average wage
fell more than S2OO short of the SBOO
necessary for a decent standard of
living under prevailing economic con
ditions in this city. This standard
was Axed by a recent study made un
der the Sage Foundation, which
showed It was impossible for a family
pf Ave or six. the average size, to
maintain a normal standard of living
on an income unde? SBOO a year. The
federal bureau of labor reports an In
vestigation It made. sbowMng the aver
age Income afnong 1,415 workmen in
the North Atlantic states, among
whom the percentage of skilled labor
was high, wag $834.83. Against this
was an average yearly expenditure of
$778.04. of which but 43 per cent, was
spent for food. A* report based on re
turns received from about 1,000 fami
lies In Berlin and Hamburg. In Ger
many, showed an average yearly in
come for skilled workmen there of
$458.83, and the average expenditure
$457.71. of which $51.5 per cent, was
spent for food alone. These Agures
were obtained by the imperial statisti
cal department of Berlin, and com
mented on in London newspapers.
Among the unskilled laborers in In
dustrial and commercial occupations,
the report showed an average yearly
Income of $409.78, and an average
yearly expenditure of $411.70, of
which 54 per cent, went for food
alone.
Future of Spinal Anaesthesia.
The position which spinal anaesthe
sia is destined to hold in the field o<
<»urgery In the future is not yet
clearly to be discerned. Its true
claims. Indeed, nt the present day are
not very easy to state with precision,
for It is a comparatively new venture
and its methods are not yet certain,
nor are the opinions ns to Its value
among those who ate practicing it by
any means unanimous. . . .
Spinal anaesthesia does not appear
to be welcomed so warmly In Great
Britain as in some of the continental
countries, and we believe that the
main reason is that there is less
cause to be dissatisfied with the use
of general anaesthetics here than
there is abroad. —Lancet (London).
HER WEIGHT INCREASED
FROM 100 TO 140 POUNDS.
Wonderful Praise Accorded
Perunathe Household Remedy
Mrs. Maria Goertz, Orionta, Olclft*
homa, writes:
“My husband, children and myself
have used your medicines, and we al
ways keep them in th~ house in case of
necessity. I was restored to health by
this medicine, and Dr. Hartman’s in
valuable advice and books. People'ask
about me from different places, and are
surprised that 1 can do all of my honse
work alone, and that I was Cured by the
doctor of chronic catarrh. My husband
was cured of asthma, my daughter of
earache ajid catarrh of the stomach, and
my son of catarrh of the throat. When
I was sick I weighed 100 pounds; now I
weigh 140.
"I have regained my health again, and
I cannot thank you enough for your
advice. May God giYe you a long life
and bless your work.”
A PROPOSAL
Housewife —You always seem to en
joy eating my food, but my husband is
never suited with it!
Beggar—Say, get a divorce and
marry me!
Why does Great Britain buy Its
oatmeal of us?
Certainly it seems like carrying
coals to Newcastle to speak of export
ing oatmeal to Scotland and yet, every
year the Quaker Oats Company sends
hundreds of thousands of cases of
Quaker Oats to Great Britain, and
Europe. ,
The reason Is simple; while the
English and Scotch have f >r centuries
eaten oatmeal in quantities and with a
regularity that hag made them the
most rugged and active
mentally of all people, the American
has been eating oatmeal and trying all
the time to improve the methods of
manufacture so that he might get that
desirable foreign trade.
How well he has succeeded would
be seen at a glance at the export re
ports of Quaker Oats. This brand ia
recognized as without a rival in clean
liness and delicious Aavor. 61
President Taft on Discontent.
President Taft, in one of his ad
dresses to the farmers of Florence, N.
C., told a story about discontent.
"No man,” he said, “can really un
derstand chronic discontent after hav
ing eaten one of those famous pine
stews of North Carolina. Chronic dis
content does, however, exist. Now
and then w*e find a case or two among
farmers when the wrong.
" ‘Ah, yes, Joseph, you have cause
to complain,’ a lawyer said to a farm
er. ‘The harvest has been very bad,
no doubt of that. But you should re
member that Providence cares for all,
and even the birds of the air are pro
vided for.’
" ‘Yes,’ said the discontented farm
er, so they are—off my potatoes.’ "
Washington Post.
Childish Inference.
Little Julia was taking her after
noon walk with her mother. Her at
tention was attracted for the first time
to a large church edifice on one of the
street corners.
“Oh, mother!’’ she exclaimed,
“whose nice big house is that?”
“That, Julia, is God’s house,” ex
plained the mother.
“Some time later it happened that
the child was again taken by the
church, this time on Sunday evening
when services were in progress.
Julia, noticing the brilliantly lighted
windows, drew her own conclusions.
"Oh, look, mother,” she called out,
“God must be having a party."
INSOMNIA
Leads to Madness, If not Remedied in
Time.
"Experiments satisfied me, some S
years ago," writes a Topeka woman,
"that coffee was the direct cause of the
Insomnia from which I suffered ter
ribly, as well as the extreme nervous
ness and acute dyspepsia which made
life a most painful thing for me.
“I had been a coffee drinker since
childhood, and did not like to think
that the beverage was doing me all this
harm. Dut It was, and the time came
when I had to faco the fact, and pro
tect myself. I therefore gave up coffee
abruptly and absolutely, and adopted
Postum as my hot drink at meals.
“I began to note Improvement In my
condition very soon after I took on
Postum. The change proceeded grad
ually, but surely, and It was a matter of
only a few weeks before I found my
self entirely relieved—the nervousness
passed awuy, my digestive apparatus
was restored to normal efficiency, and
I began to sleep, restfully and peace
fully.
"These happy conditions have con
tinued during all of the 6 years, and 1
cm safe In saying that I owe them en
tirely to Postum, for wheu I began to
drink It I ceased to use medicine."
Head the little book, “The Hoad to
\Vellvllle,”in pkgs. “There’s a Reason."
Kwf read the above lettert A■»
aao appears from lime to lime. Tbey
are aeaalae, true, aad tall mi ksaus
tale real.