Betty's War Garden By MYRA E. SMITH (Copyright, 1518, by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) Betty dug savagely at a huge weed whose roots refused to come up. Red and perspiring, at length she straight ened up and tossed it triumphantly on the weed heap. Just then an auto horn sounded and gay voices called: "Betty! Oh, Betty Mason ! Come here." Betty hesitated In dismay, glancing at her earth-stained dress and hands, and thinking ruefully of her tumbled hair. Then, as she saw no way out, she advanced to the machine. Within were two girls in dainty sum mer costume, who gazed in pitying amusement at the slender khaki-clad figure with its bright face. One ex claimed gaily: "Behold the farmerette!" The other girl spoke sharply: "For heaven sakes, Betty, don't make a fright of yourself getting sunburned and actually dirty out in that garden. Hurry up and get ready to come with us for a ride. This is Lieutenant Clay ton, who is anxions to meet the farmer ette we talk about so much. Bob and Jack made us promise to persuade you to complete our party. Don't you dare say you can't go." Betty Hushed miserably as she met the young officer's keen gray eyes, feeling that no detail of her disrepu table appearance had escaped them. Her brown eyes were troubled as she shook her head firmly. "I can't Katherine. You mustn't tempt me. I would be delighted to go with you if I could leave my hoeing. But the weeds will smother my pota toes and beans if I don't hoe them this week. And then, there is canning—" "Betty Mason, you are perfectly ab surd when you could afford to hire that kind of work done, and you might be knitting f6r the Red Cross." "But I don't like to knit," retorted Betty. "And Ido love to work in the garden, so I am doing my bit here." "A very important bit, too," inter posed Lieutenant Clayton smilingly. "It may sound ungrateful, but If we sol diers had to take our choice between mufflers or helmets and a square meal we would surely take the square meaH" Katherine pouted and, glancing at her charming white hands, asked hast ily, "Surely you don't expect all girls are going to toll at such dirty work as farming? I am certain I never could stand it." "We don't expect the lilies to do any thing but look beautiful. Miss Mason and I are of different stuff. As a farm er myself from the middle West I can sympathize with her. I wonder," add ed the lieutenant slowly, "if I couldn't «uggest a solution of our difficulty. Suppose you girls go on with Bob and Jack and leave me to assist Miss Ma son with her hoeing. lam sure we can finish by noon time, and you can come back for us, and we'll spend the rest of the day with you. Won't you ac cept a helper, Miss Mason?" Betty was too surprised to more than gasp in amazement. "But you couldn't! It wouldn't do to work in a garden In that uniform." "This uniform means I am in the service of Uncle Sam to help him beat the Huns, whether I dig trenches in France, or dig weeds in the garden here. Please may I help you? I really can hoe!" It was settled in spite of Betty's pro tests, and the others drove off, prom ising to return at noon, while her new assistant, stripping off coat and hat, went speedily to work. She soon found he had spoken the truth about his ability and, although she worked rap idly, he quickly outstripped her. Before noon the hoeing was complet ed and Betty had changed to a pale green dress, looking like a rose with her pink cheeks and yellow hair. The others returned and soon were all enjoying the swift motion of the car and the cooling breezes. Lieutenant Clayton found frequent opportunities to renew his acquaint ance with Betty's war garden and its farmerette. He told her about his Western farm and of his plans for it when the war was over. He shared his worries with her over the difficulty of finding a manager who would take a real interest in it and carry out his plans until his return. At last the time drew near when he was to go. He called on Betty one morning and announced that he had decided on a new manager for his farm. Betty was at once interested and asked if he had secured a good one. "I think so," answered the lieuten ant, with his old twinkle. "I am sure that I have selected a good gardener, as I have had a very good chance to judge the new manager's work from personal observation. All I am anx ious about is whether she will accept the place." "She, did you say?" exclaimed Betty in surprise that changed to confusion under the officer's smiling scrutiny. "Yes, Betty, dear, do you care enough to marry me and wait for me on the farm till I come back? Then we can carry out our plans together. I have no one of my own people, and I would like to fet>l you were on the old farm waiting for my return from 'over there.' Will you accept the posi tion as manager, Betty?" Betty did accept it. and now, in her Western home, she en res for a larger war garden and waits for her soldier Jboy to come home. THIS TELLS HOW TO FIGURE INCOME TAX Squarely Up to Every Individual to Get Busy by March 15 or Suffer Penalty. "Don't wait until the final due date, March 15th, for paying your Income Tax and making your return. Avoid the last minute rush. Any person can figure out his liability today as well as he can next week, and if there is any point on which he needs advice he can now get in touch with a Revenue man. This word of advice is being given out by Internal Revenue men. Re turns and payments are being col lected in Pennsylvania by the follow ing Collectors of Internal Revenue: Ephraim Lederer, Benjamin F. Da vis, Fred C. Kirkendall and C. Gregg Lewellyn. Every aid of their offices arid field forces is being given freely to the public. But the Income Tax men will not pull your door-bell or your roat-tails, according to the Collector's announce ment. It is squarely up to every indi vidual to figure out bis own case and to «et busy if he comes within the scope of tbe new Revenue law. Did You Earn This Much? Every unmarried person who receiv ed income averaging §19.25 a week during 1918 and every married couple who jointly received income averaging $38.50 a week should secure at once from the nearest Deputy Collector or the nearest bank a blank Form 1040 A. That form contains the information he will need to enable him to figure his correct net income and any tax that he owes the Government. The law requires that every unmar ried person who had a net income of $l,OOO or over and every married per son vfrhose net income was $2,000 or over (including the income of husband or wife, and the earnings of minor children, if any) must make a return on or before March 15th. And this re quirement does not hinge on whether the person owes a tax. Taxable Income. An individual must include under gross income all gains, profits and in come derived from salaries, wages, or compensation for personal service of whatever kind and in whatever form paid, or from professions, vocations, business, sales or dealings In property of all kinds, interest, rent dividends, or profits derived from any source whatever. Very few Items of income are exempt. Deductions Include ordinary and nec essary business expenses, interest paid or accrued on indebtedness, taxes of all kinds except Federal income and excess profits taxes and assessments for local benefits, losses actually sus tained, debts ascertained t© be worth less, and depreciation on buildings, ma chinery, fixtures, etc., used in business. A further deduction is allowed for con tributions to corporations operated for religious, charitable, scientific or edu cational purposes or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals to an amount not exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net income as computed without the benefit of the contribution deduction. The taxpayer is not allowed to de duct any personal, living or family ex pense, any amount spent for improving property, or any expense of restoring property or making good its exhaus tion for which an allowance is claimed under depreciation. Figuring the Tax. Before figuring the normal tax the dividends are deducted as credits from net income, together with the personal exemption. As in previous years, divi dends of domestic corporations are ex empt from normal tax when received by the stockholder. The normal tax rates for citizens and residents are as follows: On the first $4,000 of net income in excess of the credits the rate is 6 per cent; on any further taxable income the rate is 12 per cent. The surtax rates apply to net In come of each individual in excess of $5,000. The personal exemption and the dividends are not deductible before computing surtax. In the case of re turns by husband and wife, the net income of each is considered separate ly in computing any surtax that may be due. Form 1040 should be used for making returns of net income exceed ing $5,000, and the instructions on that form will show how to figure the sur tax. Business House Returns. Employers and others who paid wages, salaries, rents, interest or sim ilar determinable gains in an amount of $l,OOO or over during 1918 to any person must file an information return with the Government. Blanks may be secured from the Collector. Every partnership must file a return showing its income and deductions and the name and address of each partner, with his share of the profits or losses during the past year. Personal service corporations will file similar informa tion for 1918. ★★★*★*★★★★★★★★★★★* ★ ★ ★ INCOME TAX PAYS ★ ★ FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS. ★ ★ ★ ★ "Viewed in its largest and ★ ★ truest sense, the payment of ★ ★ taxes is payment for benefits ★ ★ received or expected. Only from ★ ★ a narrow and essentially selfish ★ ★ and shortsighted viewpoint can * ★ the individual propose to him- ★ ★ self the evasion of tax liability ★ ★ as a desirable course of action." * ★ —Daniel C. lioper, Commission- ★ ★ er of Internal Revenue. * ★ * LONG HOLYPLACES Shrines That Are Held in Vener ation by Moslems. All True Followers of Mahomet Eager That Their Last Resting Place Shall Be Near Those of Their Great Apostles. Near to the resting place of the first great apostles of their faith it is the dearest wish of all pious Mohaxn inedans to lie after death. The shrines of Najaf, Kerbela and Kazimain, the resting places of All, Hussein, and the seventh and ninth Imams, lie on the edge of the desert In the country British troops now oc cupy in Mesopotamia. One often meets a corpse on the road packed in a long crate or bundle of palm leaves and slung across the back of an ass, says Edmund Chand ler, the press representative in the Mesopotamian forces. The pilgrim be hind is taking his relative to swell the population of the cities of the dead by which these sanctuaries are sur rounded. Of the three shrines, Najaf is the richest, and to some minds the most sacred. Like Kazimain, it is ap proached by a horse car line. The cars are not of the pattern of those that ply in European cities. I believe the few British soldiers who have seen them rank them with the Clock tower in the mosque as first among the lions of Mesopotamia. In peace time the dead come from a wide radius. The donkey with the bundle like a big carpet bag on its back, draped in wattle or rich silk, according to the means of the pilgrim, may have come all the way from Bok hara. A few years ago a corpse ar rived from the Persian embassy at Paris. The rich as a rule are buried in £he shrine itself. The fee for inter ment in the mosque is $250. For burial outside the walls of the city the pilgrim pays anything from four to ten rupee (two to five dollars), ac cording to the distance he has come. Many pilgrims buy houses in Na« jaf, and thus the place is gradually becoming a city of the dead. Nine houses out of ten have graves in them. Sometimes the building is nothing else than a tomb. Najaf has proved impregnable to Wahhabi and Bedouin. It is believed to be fabulously rich. There are two stores of treasure. The old treasury has not been opened since the visit of Shar Naslr-ud-Din, 50 years ago. It is buried in a vault and built over with brick and lime, with no door or key or window by way of entrance. The new treasure Is in the keeping of the kilid dar —gold and silver, and jewels, and precious stones, silks, and shawls, and pearled curtains. One of the first gifts for the shrines to reach Bagdad after our troops en tered the city were four curved swords of gold, with diamonds on the sheath and hilt. They had been dis patched from Constantinople to Bag dad when the British menace was re garded as a madman's dream, and bore the inscription, "From the servant of all pious Moslems, Enver Bey." No doubt they were intended to symbolize the might whereby the Turks w T ould defend the city against their hated foes, the Christians. Runs Her Own Canteen. Mrs. Scott Lee, an aged negro wom an, is happy because she has found a way at last to cheer the soldiers on their way as they pass through here en route from camp to coast for overseas service, according to an Ashtabula dis patch to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Mrs. Lee, who lives near a railroad track, looked wistfully at the troop trains as they sped through, wondering If there was any way in which she could make a long trip more pleasant for the men. But the trains went through so fast she almost despaired until she finally hit upon a scheme that works to perfection. She got a long pole, and to it she fastens bundles of magazines and lunches, and as the trains whiz past she stands on the station platform and reaches her gifts to the men as they lean from tlie car windows. Carrier Pigeon Mystery. The authorities of Albany, Ore., and everywhere else are trying to decipher this message: "P-n-7-8-a-r-11-w." It was written on a piece of note paper brought here by a strange car rier pigeon, which died very soon after It was found on the street The bird was identified as a species of California desert quail, not found in any part of Oregon save possibly in the southeastern portion. The bird refused food and water and was ex hausted. A piece of string which bound the message to the bird's leg was olive drab in color and might have been un raveled from an army uniform. The Indian's Idea. John Ratt, a full-blood Cherokee In dian of Cherokee county, Okla., being drawn in the draft of selected men, was sent to Camp Travis, Tex., for training. After he had been in camp for several days, he was haled before the adjutant for failing to salute an of ficer. and gave the following explana tion for his default: "Me live at Welling. \Yi ■a me meet man C; re naybeso speak to him one time. \< ,'oali any more to s?me man a 1! r ■ Down here me alute it eve ti TIME TO PUT ON BRAKES With the Passing of His Fiftieth Birth day Man Should Take a Few Moments and Think Hard. When you have passed, say, your fiftieth birthday anniversary, that foxy old gent, Mr. Time, puts the skids un der you and greases tliein good and plenty. It is appalling, then, how quickly the days and the weeks and the months pass. You start in on Monday morn ing, and before you know it, it is Sat urday night again. Even the years slip by as though you were riding through life on a roller coaster. The thing to do then, brother, is to put on the brakes. Slow up and get a little more enjoyment out of the scen ery. Some men think that just the other way is the best method to adopt, but we are convinced that they are making a mistake. Their idea is that the thing to do when one grows gray and bald is to keep up with the procession, wear pinch-back clothes, silk socks and a sailor hat with a polka dot band. But, if you do that, all you achieve is an acceleration of the pace. Tt is a pathetic form of camouflage that de ceives no one, and yourself least of all. When you are fifty and over, you know it, and everyone else knows it. When a n.an is fifty he should have a home in the country, or at least out of tlie town. He should awake before dawn and say good morning to the sun. sip his glass of water deliberately in stead of gulping it down, move serene ly, take his time. When night comes he should be able to say, "Well, this has been a fine, long day," instead of saying, "For the love of Mike, where has this day gone to?" Then, when old age comes, you will be able to say with the sage: "Old age is the night of life, but is the night not beautiful with stars?" —Los Angeles Times. Real "Lucky Bone." « One of the most precious posses* sions of an officer in England, and one which excited much curiosity during a recent short leave, is an ordinary wish* bone which he has had mounted in gold and carries about with him as a mas* cot, it having already, he avers, once saved his life. It appears that while near the front line in France he was enjoying a rare meal of doubtful chicken with a couple of brother officers, and was just about to try conclusions with the wishbone with his opposite comrade when it slipped from his plate and dropped under the heavy oak table the three had managed to secure from a ruined farmhouse for their barn billet. No sooner had the Birmingham man got under the table to grope for the bone than the barn was reduced to debris by a couple of direct hits from enemy airplanes. The other two officers were killed outright, but the stout table saved the third from any material injury. The wishbone was firmly clasped in his right hand when he was dug out of the ruins. "" * Hit Profiteers in Meat. Queensland, New South Wales, has found a way to get cheap meat Its policy, inaugurated by the Queensland labor government in November, 1915, is now past the experimental stage and working well. Convinced that exploi tation was going on "on a grand scale," and finding every attempt at price re striction met with bitter complaints from dealers, the government decided to test the situation itself, and set up state butcher shops. After two years and a half of operation, reports the staff correspondent of the Montreal Star at Queensland, the price of meat, which had increased 100 per cent In war time, under private control has been brought down "to a figure equal to what it was before the war, plus a difference due to legitimate causes, such as droughts." Beef fell nine cents a pound when the first state shop was opened. Can Yuh Blame Him? "Say, George, dear, Td like to ask you a very important question, If you are not too busy," remarked the wife of his bosom timidly during the period In the evening when George has his nose buried in the paper. George heeded her not. She repeated the ques tion. "Well, what is it?" he snarled in the sharp, decisive manner so becoming in husbands. "Why, uh —I was Just going to ask you if you thought—(and here wife had to stop to giggle) —if you thought the crews in those Hun U-boats speak low German, and the aviators high—" But George snorted disgustedly and went back to feasting his eyes reading about the high cost of living. Urges Slaying of Bears. Hundreds of trees in the northwest, including Douglas fir, white fir and western white pine—the wood of all of which is used more or less in airplane construction—have been seriously damaged by bears peeling the bark, according to H. J. Liepel, forest rang er. Liepel says about 100 trees to the square mile have been peeled." He invites hunters to kill the bears as a patriotic move. rtard Worked. Newsons—l'm going to take my gramaphone when I go on my vacation. Nexdore—That's very thoughtful of you; it certainly needs a vacation.— Boston Evening Transcript. Flying's Future.' J. L. Goldsboro of San Francisco believes flying after the war will be come a popular sport, possibly displac ing auto racing. . COULDN'T FOOLHIM Employer Had Read Detective Stories to Advantage. Why Mr. Petty, With Other Members of the Office Force, Regretted Their Choice of Birthday Present for the Boss. Mr. Petty hurried into the office an hour later than usual and was relieved to find that his employer was late also. "Pretty good!" laughed Mr. Petty to his assistant. "He will never know that I was late." When the head of the firm came In he scrutinized Mr. Petty long and closely, then leaned casually against the desk. "Your session at the bowling alley was prolonged last night," he began. "How do you know?" asked Mr. Pet ty, opening his eyes very wide. "I infer it from your stiff manner of handling the ledger this morning," re plied the head of the firm severely. "You exerted yourself more than usual on the alleys. At breakfast this morn ing you were so drowsy from want of sleep that you dozed over your morn ing paper." "So I did," admitted Mr. Petty, un comfortably. "I know it was at breakfast, because there is egg and coffee on the paper," frowned the head of the firm. "And while you were asleep your little six year-old son climb into your lap." "Y-yes, he did," gasped Mr. Petty. "But —" "How do I know?" interrupted the head of the firm. I know because your collar is written over in a child's scrawl. It is done in the peculiar shade of lead that you had in your gold lead pencil, which is usually in your left hand vest pocket. It is not there now. I hope that the boy has not lost it." Mr. Petty felt for his lead pencil. "It is gone," gasped Mr. Petty. "You were late to work this morn ing," went on the head of the firm, coldly. "I do not have to be told so, because you bought an evening edition of the paper at the subway station and it is an edition that does not come out until a late hour. lam very particular about the hours of work observed here." As the head of the firm was finally disappearing into his private office Mr. Petty wiped the perspiration from his brow and remarked to the assist* ant: "We were all against giving him a watch for his birthday because he Is always watching the time, but we made a great mistake to give him the detective stories instead." Enlists at 53; Says He's 39. American Magazine has an article about "Foghorn" Macdonald, who en« listed as a private in the Canadian forces at fifty-three and is now a ma jor at fifty-seven. The author of the article says: "By canoe for 31 days through the wilderness, by an old tub of a leaky steamboat, by whatever means of travel he could find, Including his own feet, he made his way back to Winni peg, only to find that the troops had left. All right! A machine gun com pany was being formed and he applied for that. "The recruiting officer was a friend of his, had helped celebrate Foghorn's fifty-third birthday the previous Jan uary. But when in making out the pa pers he came to the question. 'How old are you?' and Foghorn whipped out: 'Thirty-nine!' he never batted an eyelash. "Before his official cronies at Ot tawa knew it, Macdonald was on his way to England—a private at fifty three ! Two years later he was a ma jor ; the only man In the forces of the allies who has risA from the ranks to that grade in the present war." Wartime Economy. Mr. Benson went to New York to business, but lived In Brooklyn. Often he was not able to get home In time for dinner at night. He told his wife that he would phone her every day as to whether he could leave the office or not Mrs. Benson was of a very thrifty disposition, and the following was her solution of the problem: "Sam, If you find that you can't be home for dinner, phone me exactly six o'clock. If the telephone rings at that hour, I'll know it is you and that you are not coming for dinner. I won't answer it, and you'll get your nickel back." —Ladles' Home Journal. Gloves From Whale Intestines. The Norwegian state whaling sta tions have caughtf2oo whales, but ex pect to catch In all 500 during the summer. The stations have orders to take care of the intestines and salt them down, as It is the Intention to make gloves of them. The material Is fine in every respect, pliable, soft and exceptionally strong. The manufac ture of gloves will probably be com menced at once. Plenty of Color. Several soldiers were standing on a street corner talking when a "loudly" dressed girl passed. One of them turned to his comrades and said; "Here, boys, salute the colors; there goes plenty of 'em." New Phone System. Barranquilla, Colombia, is to have a municipally owned and operated tele phone system to replace the antiquat ed equipment now in use. There will be a demand for American supplies. FIT TO LEAD MEN Soldier Tells of Spirit of AmerH can Officers. Marching Soldiers, Near Limit of Phya ical Endurance, Brought Back to Sense of Discipline by Act of Gameneps. There was none of the thrill of crowded grand stands !r th» nice that: Sergt. Harold Baldwin describes inj "Holding the Line." It was run byf men so exhausted that they could! scarcely stand. Yet in that slow. stum 4 bllng race there was more self-deniaa more berolsm, more indomitable COUIH age than could go Into tbe breaking of world's records. It was midnight. Sergeant Baldwin says, and as hot as Hades \\ hen we started from the banks of the Yser.i We had been some 22 days constantly; in action ; again and again we had been launched into the line to help our ter ribly hard-pressed French and British comrades. Every time a tornado of German artillery fire opened up, wei stood ready to advance across opens ground to the front line. Judge, then, of our condition for a 25-mile march. At the heglnniug, they sent us at the double between batteries of roaring 75 and 60-pounders. The awful din was the finishing touch, and our nerves went snap. At last we were clear, and we settled down to a steady hike- On. on, we tramped! Would we nev er holt? One after the other exhaust ed men fell. Men dozed as they walk ed, fell as they dozed, lay where they fell. At last, as day was breaking, they took us into a field. Here a drink of hot tea, some food and a rest of one hour revived us somewhat I noticed that one of the officers was carrying a puppy in his arms. It was only a few days old, and I marveled at his wonderful heart In forgetting his own troubles and caring for tbe poor little helpless creature. On again, all through the blazing heat of the day we hiked. Tommies would walk with us, easing our lot In their rough, kindly manner. They promised us Fritz should pay dearly for his dastardly gas attack before they were through. On, on, till we entered Bailleul. Thank God! Rest we thought. But no, ever on. And then the men, the limit of en durance reached and mad with disap pointment, began to get In an ugly mood. Discipline was sorely strained, and we openly shouted our opinion at the officers to their faces. And then we witnessed a thing that brings tears to my eyes every time X think of it. Those officers of ours were In no better shape than our selves; in fact, owing to their respon sibility, they were in worse plight. In stead of marking down the offenders for future punishment they Inflicted worse punishment on us by making us thoroughly ashamed of ourselves. Lining up across the road, they bade us halt for a space, telling us that they had a bet to decide, and It must be decided at once. They were going to run a race. Their effort was pitiful in the extreme. Although they started out bravely enough, after a few paces one, then another staggered and fell; but they struggled to their feet and staggered away again. After such an exhibition of coarftge. what could we do or say? Not was it a lesson to us, but It is ope of the grandest memories I have. There were those battle-weary men, utterly forn out, with nerves on edge, scarcely able to walk, yet to show that they were gam* to the end they went through the three fold agony of that ra<*e. —Youth's Com panion. Royal Estate Opened to Public. Part of the estate of the late former Queen Lllluokalani recently was open ed to the public of Honolulu for the first time. This makes one of the finest stretches of bathing beech at Walkikl now available to the people. Prince J. Euhlo Kal&nlanaode, owner of the property, has torn down a fence which for years made the beach pri vate. Prince Kuhio, once widely known as Prince Cupid, inherited much of the property of the late queen. He Is now serving his eighth term as delegate from the territory of Hawaii to congress and is a candidate for the Republican nomination. Gold in Old Diggings. A large piece of virgin gravel has been found in the old Hllo diggings at Chaparral hill, near Downlevllle, CaL, by men who have b*en mining there on a small scale. The gravel is very rich in gold and Is of the same deposit from which sev eral fortunes were taken In former years. A drift run 100 feet on tbe gravel has not disclosed its full extent How this body of gold-bearing gravel came to be overlooked by the eaify miners is something of a mystery. Suspicious of Him. There seems to be no end to the number and kinds of questions asked of officers. The commander of a com pany of a negro outfit at Camp Zach ary Taylor was called on the tele phone recently by a negress who In quired: "Ah wants t' know, art mab busban' allowed t' git lettahs from odder wlmmin at dat camp?" Sugar Limited Everywhere. The hons hold sugar ration with litt! < t < increase —is tw<r ponpfi<* Vi a erica, two '■> pounds in
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers