Democratic; Walcipn
Bellefonte, Pa., Sept. 22, 1905.
ES —
THE MINISTERS WIFE.
Oh, pity the lot of a minister’s wife;
It is sinful for her to be fair;
She must not try to seem too sublime for this
life,
Yet must still have a heavenly air:
She must never view others with zritical eyes,
She is there that the rest may themselves
: criticise,
Whatever she does or may wear.
If she tries to be humble, her sisters will say
She poses and isn’t sincere;
If she shows that she’s proud of her promi-
nence, they
Cast looks at each other and sneer,
And talk of the folly of one who believes
She’s “too good for this world, while her hus-
band receives
Only four or five thousand a year.”
If she seems to be pleased with the sermon
the rest
Will think it is all for effect.
Yet she must not pretend to indifference, lest
They may talk of her lack of respect;
They call her a frump if her costume is plain,
And accuse her of being extravagant, vain,
1f she dares to be handsomely decked.
If she acts like a saint they will say it's for
show,
If she doesn’t there's scandal. Eeah day
She is under the gaze ofthe high and the
low, !
And though she inspires him, they
Regard the poor preacher with pity, they
sigh, :
And, whispering sadly go wondering why
He loves her so much, anyway.
—Chicago Record-Herald.
S————
THE ANGELS OF SIX STARS.
It was on a drowsy August morning that
the angels came to Six Stars. We worthies
were on our bench, our faces turned to the
warm sunshine, smoking lazily, listening
as much to the rumble of the mill as to the
monotonous discourge of Andrew Binn, for
the teacher was always talking. Andrew
was like the mill. Had he stopped we
would have looked around, wondering what
the trouble was. But he was going thas
day, steadily,and his discourse would have
made no more distinct impression than the
thumping of the water wheel, had it not
been for the strange events thas followed.
As we recall it now, he was telling us of
his new home, for he had just settled in
Lucien Pulsifer’s little house at the end of
the village. He was dilating on the beauty
of tradition. He was defending himself
against the charge, as yet not made, that
he was superstitious.
‘‘Tray-dition is romance,”’ he said. ‘I$
is the intellectual heritage of a people.
Now, I suppose you uns, if yon’d’ a’
bought Pulsifer’s place, would paint that
Amish gate yeller or some other fancy col-
or. ButIsay to myself: ‘What is life
without tradition?’ The gate was blue—
the blue of Heaven—a sign to passin’ an-
gels that here an Amishman lived—a call to
them to come in and bless the home. Of
course I'm a Methodist, but : I have some
artistio taste. I’m a bachelor and I say
to myself—it was just a joke between me
and myself—‘Blue the gate shalF stay,’ I
says, ‘and mebbe an angel will come some
day and——' ”?
* Now it was that the strange things began
to happen. Piney Kallaberger appeared
out of breath from hard running. Piney
is generally a harbinger of evil.
‘‘Teacher—Teacher—Teacher,”’ he cried.
Andrew never liked to be interrupted,
and the frown on his face checked the lad,
who clasped a hand to his throat ani
gasped. :
‘‘Well, Piney,’ said the pedagogue, when
he had gazed the intruder into a proper
bumility, ‘‘what can I do for you?”
‘Nothin’, answered the boy, backing
away fearfully. ‘‘Nothin’ but——?’
‘But what?’’ Andrew Binn’s tone was
fatherly and encouraging.
‘Nothin’, but I just seen two Amish
ladies go into your house,” faltered Piney.
Andrew sprang to his feet. ‘You see
what?! he cried. .
“I seen two Amish ladies—two old
Amish ladies—go into your house,” was
the whimpering reply.
‘‘Angels,”” oried old Martin Holmes,snd-
denly awakening. ‘‘Mebbe they is angels.’
He, too, was on his feet,and he made a fein
at the boy with his stick. ‘‘Tell the truth
—ciess your fingers, sonny—honest Injun
—had they wings?’’
*‘No, sir. They came in a livery riggin.”’
‘They came how?’’ cried Andrew, mov-
ing to seize his pupil by the collar.
The boy dodged and sprang from the
porch. ‘‘They came in a livery riggin®,’
he answered from the road. *“‘The man
who ‘was drivin’, he asts me, ‘Is this Lu-
cien Pulsifer’s place? These ladies has
come from Kansas to ‘wisit him,’ he
says. When I forgot and told him it was
Lusien’s house, he set them down there
and —
‘Where is he now?”
diving at the boy.
But Piney shot away. ‘‘He’s gone, Teach-
er, gone down the big walley agin,’ he
cried as he tore along, making for a refuge
behind the mill.
Andrew Binn stood mopping his brow
and looking ap the road to the turn, as if
he would bend his gaze there and see his
little house at the snd of the village.
“‘Don’t git he’s up, ’said: Martin Holmes
soothingly. “It’s only a tray-dition, and
you must devote yourself to fixin’ em
comfortable. You must make your home
a Heaven for ’em. S’pose we goes up there
now and sees about carryn’ in their trunk
and —
“Don’t trouble
Andrew shouted,
yourself,” snapped the
teacher. ‘‘T am able to take care of my
own affairs. ~ When I need your aid, rest
assured, I'll ask i¢.”? Bl
He'swung away toward home.
Martin Holmes sat down on the porch,
threw back his head = and pushed his beard
up over his face. This waa a precantion
the old man always took when suffering an
extreme attack of merriment. Seven of his
family bad died of apoplexy. and six of
heart disease, and since his seventieth
birthday he had been in constant fear of
‘‘explodin’ ” if be allowed himself the full
enjoyment of his mirth. Moses Pole could
not see what the trouble whe about. = His
wife’s sister was Amish, and frequently
made his family long visite which ‘they
really enjoyed,and because old Holmes was
not religions was no excuse for: his
ing at folks who were so pious that. they
wore no buttons. = Aaron Jones reed ful-
ly with the bark peeler, and i by an,
chance the teacher was in need of a rigging
to send the Amish ‘ladies “back to the hig:
valley, there was his white mule standing
idle in the stable. - The rest of the store
was pon-committal. We bad too few facts
to announce ourselves in sympathy with
either Andrew Binn and his romantic fan-
laugh- |
—
cies or the aged and practical Holmes. He
sat patiently on the long bench, smoking
and thinking, awaiting the coming of the
pedagogue with a full report. He allowed
us nearly a half hour of meditation.
Now, Andrew Binn had always prided
himself on being high-strung. He regard-
ed himself as a delicate physical mechan-
ism, tuned to the highest possible pitch of
intellectuality, and so when gently hand-
led productive of much that was good and
beautiful, but likely to become unstrung
by the slightest jar. It was evident that
in that half hour something had gone as-
kew with his intellectual stringing.. He
was badly out of tune.
‘‘Can any of vou speak Dutch?’’ he ask-
ed, after he had mopped his face with his
bandanna,dusted the back of his head with
it, brushed the brim of his hat with is,
rubbed ap the battens of his waistcoat with
it, and closed by flicking the mud from his
shoes. His old sprightliness of manner
was gone. The question came as a plea for
aid, not as a demand.
‘Iused to could—a leetle,’’ spoke
Martin Holmes.
The crowd started and stared at him.
This was the first time he bad ever admit-
ted knowing a word of the language, for
he bad always boasted himself of the pur-
est Scotch-Irish descent, but now he was
smiling blandly as thongh the confession
caused not the least pang. Noting the gen-
eral astonishment, he added: ‘‘I learned it
when I was a drove-yer. Every eddicated
man should know German. In fact, if you
are goin’ to travel its a nee-cessity, for in
some parts o’ Pennsylwany, you’ll hear
nothin’ else.”
‘‘Can you speak it loud?’’asked the teach-
er, laying a hand on the old man’s arm as
a sign to him to arise and follow.
‘‘Can Ispeak it loud?’’ cried Martin a
bit testily. *‘Why, that’s the only way I
can speak it.”’
‘The Amish ladies are de-e-f,”’ explain-
ed Andrew, tucking his arm lovingly under
that of his aneient enemy.
Through the village our little company
went, two and two, Andrew and Martin
leading, a solemn procession, past the pub-
lio pump, around the bend, throngh the
blue gate at the house at the end of the
street, and without the formality of a
knock, into the living room where the
strangers sat, one at either end of the stove.
The visitors were evidently very nuch at
home, for they had the fire going and were
watching the kettle boil when the compa-
ny shuffled in. With true earthly feminity
each quickly adjusted her white cap and
smoothed the wrinkles from her plain brown
gown. Then they smiled pleasantly.
‘‘The Amish ladies,’’ said Andrew, wav-
ing his band toward the strangers.’
*‘The angels,” said Martin, solemnly.
And in a musing tone that all might hear,
he added, ‘‘About seventy—no wings—
blue tin trank—uses ear-trumpets—likely
to bless the house with a good long stay.”
‘‘Mind here, Martin,” exclaimed An-
drew with a revival of his old spirit, ‘‘can’s
you realize they haven’t come to visit me.
It’s Pulsifer they come to see, and I’ve
tried for half an hour to explain to them
how as he moved to Ioway, and all they
say is ‘yah.’ 7?
*‘Meanin’ yes,” said Martin, gravely
wagging his head.
‘‘Meanin’ nothin’,”’ snapped the teach-
er. ‘‘I've been yellin’ at them in English
as loud as I can that they’ve made a mis-
take and there is no result. Watch the
kettle boil! They'll be frying my ham
next.’
To relieve the embarsing silence that fol-
lowed this one-sided coslloguy, the young-
est of the angels arose and rattled the stove
door. As she did so her skirt caught her
ear-trumpet and swept it to the floor. There
was a scramble for it, and Andrew, being
the nearest, secured it.
‘Now explain,’” he commanded of Mar-
tin, waving his prize at the angel, who had
resumed her place and was groping about
the chair in a vain search which gave evi-
dence that beside being very deaf she was
exceedingly near-sighted.
‘You hold it and I'll try,’’ said Martin
with a sigh of resignation.” “Youn uns all
knows I never blowed about my German,
but mebbe I can find a word or two that
will help.”’
Andrew placed the end of the trumpet
in the angel’s hand, still retaining his hold
on it. Then he drew the old man towards
him by the sleeve and said, ‘‘Begin!”’
The angel, understanding that her visit-
ors were about to establish a line of com-
munication, smiled encouragingly and pre-
tended to listen.
Martin handed bis cane to one of the
group that pressed about him, and leaning
well over, with a hand on each knee and
his mouth close to the trumpet he shouted,
* Wie gehts?’
““Goot,” the angel answered.
‘‘She says she is well, and so is her sis-
ter,’’ the interpreter explained gravely,
turning to the company.
*‘It ain’ ber health as is bothering us,’’
spapped the teacher. ‘Tell her about
Palsifer.”’
“Give me time to think,’’ returned the
old man angrily.” ' ‘‘German ain’ so easy
as is looks—pertioler when you have to
talk it into a machine.”
He pulled his beard violently,closed one
eye, and gazed at the sister behind the
stove, seeking there an iospiration. Ig
came at last, and he took a long breath
aq shouted into the trumpet, ‘Wie bist
Iu ’
*‘Goot!’’ The angel had raised her voice
until there was a sharp ring in it. The
complacent smile had disappeared, and she
frowned at her inquisitor.
*‘She says her sister is exceedingly well
—exceptional well, should jedge from the
way she sayd it,”’ Martin explained.
“I could have found that out be lookin’
at ’em,’’ broke in Aaron Jones.
“‘Tell her about Pulsifer,” oried the
teacher, stam ing his foot.
‘I was leadin’ up to that,” returned
Martin blandly. ‘Give me time, Andrew.
We musn’t break it to ’em sudden.” He
resamed his crouching attitude over the
trumpet,aud after moment’s pause,shout-
ed: “Wo kommst du hier?"
The frown left the angel’s face, and she
smiled and nodded.
‘*Kansas,”” she replied. 3
‘She says she comes from Kansas, oried
Martin in triumph, etraightening op and
smiling gleefully at the company. ‘‘She
‘tells me that the other Amish lady is her
sister, an’shat she aleo comes from Kaneas,
an’ that they
Palsifer.” : : :
*‘Explain about Pulsifer.”’ Bion laid an
angry band on the old man’s shoulder, and
spun him around and pushed him down to-
ward the trumpet. : £
*Can’t you give me time,’’ Martin plead-
ed. ‘‘She speaks low German; mine’s high,
an’ is takes a heap of thinkin’ to get ’em
so hitoh,”’
There was an ominoussilence. To relieve
its embarrassment, the sister behind the
up
‘stove arose aud rattled she iron door. Mar.
tin stroked his beard long and seriously,
until at length the inspiration came. Rais-
ing a warning finger to still the mutters of
discontent beginning to arise from the group
behind him he shouted: *' Vom wo bist du?’
are here to wisit Lunoien |
‘‘Kansas—Kansas—Kansas,”” cried the
angel angrily, tearing her trumpet from the
teacher’s supporting hand and shaking it at
the interpreter. ‘Kansas, Ich sagt—Kansas.
Martin took a heavy step forward to avoid
the waving instrument, and in a voice,now
tremulous with emotion, whether fear or
merriment we could nos tell, he said, *‘She
allows she’s from Kansas—bher sister is also
from Kansas,”
‘Tell her about Palsifer,’’exclaimed An-
drew who had gnickly recovered his hold
on the trumpet and dragged the old man
into range again. The interpreter strug-
gled feebly to free himself.
‘‘See here, you,’’ he expostulated, ‘‘give
me time. You uns talk like German jest
otter roll offen my tongue. Now if it was
the regular high, I could tell her all about
Pulsifer, but she speaks low. Her ’an me
have come to the dividin’ line of language.
Why I could yell high German at her from
now to next Christmas,an’ it 'uad sound to
her about as sensible as Latin—can’t youn
see that?’
‘‘Mind here, Martin,’’ retorted Andrew,
‘‘if these weemen had settled in your house
I allow you’d talk low German first rate as
long as they were boilin’ your Kittle and
fryin’ your ham.” His voice sank into an
argumentative tone. “‘I haven’t done you
no harm, and if you was in my place, and
your house was invaded, and youn come to
me and asted my help, and I knowd Ger-
man, why I'd talk it, high, low or mejum,
whatever was needed—you know I would,
wouldn’t I?”
The murmur of approval that followed
this plea showed clearly that to the minds
of the others, the mstter had become one of
village importance, and that the sympathy
was with the pedagogue in his efforts to
drive the invaders from his hearthstone. As
old Holmes scanned the faces behind him,
he noted the hostile wagging of heads and
realized tbat the time had come for him to
make a serious effort to succor the teacher.
It the mere wish would have done it, he
would have screamed a volume of German
into the trampet, but when he declared
that the angel and he had come toa parting
of the ways of language, he bad spoken true.
His firat effort to act as interpreter had bad
its rise not in any desire to help Andrew in
his predicament, bus in his curiosity to see
the angels that had come to bless the house
with the blue gate. That blue gate had
been closed to him until the teacher’s need
of an interpreter compelled him to call in
the store for assistance. Then he made the
best of his opportunity, and now he was at
his rope’s end. He knew it but he could
not retire in the face of his companions’dis-
approving scowls. So he bent over once
more and opened his mouth at the trumpet.
He closed it again and pulled at his beard,
as fhongh garprised that no word had come
forth.
“Tell em about Pulsifer, do Martin,’
pleaded Andrew.
‘* Wie— Wie— Wie,”’ the old maa began.
‘‘Go abead,”’ commanded Andrew,giving
him a gentle shake.
*‘ Wie, wie-—"' The angel straightened
up and stared severely as Martin. If he bad
anything to eay, it fled fiom him then.
* Wie—wie—wie—'’ He failed and angri-
ly tore himself free of Andrew, and turned
on him. ‘‘See here,’’ he cried, ‘I’m not
goin’ to mix in no more with my German.
She can’t understand—can’t you see that?
This here is a perilous langnageand there’s
no tellin’ what they might think I was say-
ing if I spoke high and they thought it was
low. No, sir, Andrew Binn, you painted
that gate blue and now you can lay on it.”
There was no appeal. With a defiant
wave of his stick, the old man strutted out
of the house, to the road, shutting the blue
gate after him with a vicious click. Perbaps
he felt that his retreat was glorions and his
conduct ungracious, for we did not see him
at the store all that afternoon, but when
evening came bringing with it his old ally,
the darkness, hesidled up on the porch,and
took his old place at the end of the bench.
For a long time he was unusually silent,
leaning forward and resting his chin on his
cane, apparently drinking in the music of
the frogs.
Suddenly he turned to the teacher and
inquired, ‘Gone yit?”’
**Who?’* asked the other sharply.
‘Them Amish angels,” said the old man
solemnly.
The only reply was a low growl.
‘*Andrew has moved down to my place,”
came from the end of the bench, where in
the darkness Moses Pole’s cigar was glow-
ing. ‘It’s an aggerwatin’ situation, ‘bus
what can a feller do?”’
‘Why didn’t you uns explain after I
left?’* said Martin in ap injured tone. ‘You
was 80 mad at me fer mixin’ my German,
an’ yet not a hate would you do for your-
selves. The Lord helps them as helps them-
selves, an’ them that helps others need no
encouragement, as the feller sais.’’
‘‘Dido’t who explain,” cried Andrew.
‘‘Humph? Why they was in hysterics agin
you got through with ’em.”’
‘They dropped their trumpets,’”” Moses
Pole pus in.
‘‘An’ they jest wouldn’t tech ’em agin.
They wanted to Lear no more,” added
Aaron Jones. “The harder we tried to ex-
plain the higbstericaller they gos.”
*‘Poor old weemeu.’”’ Martin's voice was
mouinful,bus he pounded the floor vicions-
ly with the cane. *‘Poor old angels—fur
Jom home~nepliow gone—most a’'mighty
' ''Sad,’’ snapped Binn, poking his aged
neighbor with his elbow. ‘‘Sad? How about
me, I'd like to know. I goes home to-night
allowin’ I'd slip inter bed early—door half
open—kitchen olear—snenks into my room
an’ lights a can’le, an’ there them "Amish
weemen was, the two of ’em in my bed a
sleepin’ away ‘as peaceful as lambs. How
about me, Martin—that’s the sad part.”?
‘You otter a woke ’em up an’ explain-
ed,” the old man retorted blandly. ‘‘The
hull thing was scan’alous—you a standin’
there in them poor Amish ladies’ room—
them a sleepin’ so ca’am, an’ peaceful an’
percent. Why didn’s ye yell?”
“I did, ”’ was the teacher’s weary answer.
- done it in half a dozen langnages—I
est
trumpets—olf course —of ‘course,’’Marsin:
oried. ‘‘It’s easier to wake the dead than
the deef without a trumpet. This thing is
gittin’ scan’alouser an’ scan’alouser. I’m
out of it. Next you'll be after me to go up
there to try to wake ’em up in: German—
but I won’s, boys, ming that—I won’t. You
don’t git me fussin’ no more with angels.’
He closed his speeeh with a bang of his
cane. There was silence on the porch, for
a long time, till at last Martin guddenly
arose, and pointed away to the ridge, where
a tiny red coal was blazing among the trees,
“It’s the moon, boys,’’ he said, lifting
hie cane. ‘‘Mind how nice she looks! It’s
jess the night fer the angels to be with us,
and the whole walley seems to be lullin’
’em to sleep. Do ye catch the light yander
oo tlie hill—that’s Harvey Hoomer, he’s
settin’ late readin’ the Good Book, and T
allow mebbe be’s wonderin’ if they is sich
things as angels. That's a good no on him,
ain’t it setsin’ up there so ignorant and in-
percent, while down here, right among us,
sleepin’ in our beds, hoilin’ our kittle, fry-
in’ our ham, we have two fine ones, Ag
*'Of course you forgot to put in their ear:
‘on the face.
| shall never be kissed until her engagement |
cordin’ to present prospects they are likely
to spend quite sowe time with us, too, and
we’ll have to git together an’ study low
German £0 we can make ’em understand.
Meantim—no wiolence—mind ye—-no wi-
olence. Some of us wight go up once in a
while to keep them trumpets workin’, bat
no more mobbin’. Let’s be patient like
and long sufferin’—board the teacher free
and lodge him—stedy low German reg’lar,
and then mebbe some day they’il fly away.
Angels is angels, even if they is deef, and
they muss be treated respectable. Oars is
short on quality, but mebbe if we use ’em
right the next uns that comes to bless us’ll
be younger and speak high German or reg-
'lar Pennsylwanyan.”’
Ours is a blessed valley. Leave behind
you the rolling fields of Kisikoquillas,
where rest is broken by the rumble of the
railroad, distant but eternal, cross the
mouutain and you will reach a land where
peace is, if the world has not racked your
heart past mending, and plenty of awmbi-
tion bas not made a glutton of you. Well
might angels tarry here—especially if they
bave come from Kansas! Out there yon
see the world rolling away forever; earth
and sky are boundless and you so little. We
bave the mountains to shut out the vast-
ness,and fewer of us seem to share the sun-
shine. Oar pars of life is bigger. So when
you have a pleasant house, with a weedless
garden at whose foot a broad creek chatters
all day long; when a wide spreading tree
drops yellow apples in your very lap; and
from the benches on the poreh you can
watch the san and clouds make strange
shaddow puzzles on the hillsides,you prob-
ably will stay—at least till frost comes.
Oar angels stayed. They made themselves
thoroughly comfortable against the re-
turn of Pulsifer. Long we debated how to
set them right again, and start them on
their way, but the counsel of Martin
Holmes always prevailed. His advice was
reasonable and sv easy for all but the teach
er to follow, that we began to accept it
withont question. But Andrew wearied of
his banishment from his own roof after a
day or two, and began to clamor for an
eviction. It was easy enough, he argued,
for the others to allow the angels to stay so
complacently in his honse and live on his
larder. Were it only fora day or week he
would not object, but he might have to
wait for them to die before he could return
to enjoy the home he had won by years of
intellectual labor of the hardest and most
trying kind. Six Stars admitted this. But
where was the remedy except to wait? He
could not shoot them. To turn them ont
he would have to use force, and the village
would not see a hand laid on the two deaf
old women who were hurting no one. It
was proper that Andrew should argue with
them. It was all right for him to visit them
daily to enact a pantomime intended to con-
vey to them the idea of their nephew pack-
ing his tiank and departing for Iowa. More
than that Six Stars would not allow. So
he sat on the store porch and fumed.
The pantomime was in vain. Day after
day the teacher visited his house and went
through the mute performance, but seeing
a gaunt,sallow man enter their little kitch-
en,unpack a carpets bag on the floor,replace
it, and then walk out of the door and
through the gate, pointing off in the blue,
presumably towaid Iowa, conveyed no idea
to the angels except that this was the vil-
lage idiot. Every performance made this
conviction firmer, and they smiled with
pity on what little of the dumb play their
nearsightedness permitted them to see.
Six Stars was patient; Andrew Bion rest-
less and furious. Martin Holmes said wait.
And the old man was right. A letter came
one day addressed to the Mayor, and there
being no such officer in the village, Ned
Smith, by order of his postmastership,open-
ed is. Then he quickly dispatched Piney
Kallaberger from house to house, to assem-
ble the male populace. To this solemn
company he read from the long sheet of
foolscap a communication from his Honor,
the Mayor of Keoria, Kansas.
¢Sir:—I am requested by Mr. Fritz Kal-
karp, a respected Amish gentleman resid-
ing in this vicinity, to demand that you
take immediate steps for the protection of
his sisters, the Misses Kalkarp, who are
now in your midst, heing daily subjected
to untold indignities. Going to your town
to visit their nephew, one Pulsifer, they
found him missing, and being the nearest
of bis kin settled on his property. They
bave written to Mr. Kalkarp that an effort
has been made to drive them from their
home, a riotous crowd of men have visited
them almost daily,greatly disturbing their
peace of mind by making light of their un-
fortunate physical affliction of deafness.
lunatic who has ruthlessly entered their
room at night. This said person has caus-
ed them the greatest trouble. They say
he seems to labor under the halluncination
that he owns the house. I appeal to yon,
sir, in the name of decency and justice to
act at once to insure the safety of these re-
spected Amish ladies.
‘I am gir, your obedient servant,
ARCHIBALD MASTERS, Mayor.”’
Andrew Binn crumpled the county pa-
er into a ball and hurled it violently at the
stove, as if he saw there his Honor of Ke-
oria. Before he conld speak Martin Holmes
placed one hand on his shoulder, and gent-
ly tapped him with the head of his cane.
‘*You have been long-sufferin’, Andrew,”
the old man said in a more gentle tone than
be usually used toward the teacher, ‘‘yon
have been noble—but you insisted in be-
lievin’ in blue gates and youn ' reaped your
reward. We all sayd wait, for there was
nothin’ else to do,but now the end’s come.
It’s a long way to Kaneas,but jest you buy
a sheet o’ paper, an envelup and a stamp,
and we'll explain to this here mayor of
Keoria about Pulsifer. He'll tell Kalkarp
‘an’ I allow that these Amish gentlemen
won’t mix high and low German, or tangle
’em up in their ear-trompets.’’
So the angels left us. A livery rigging
came from the big valiey for them nos
many daye later, and as they drove away
We stood by the blue gate and watched
them.
“They has flew away, boys,’’ Martin
Holmes said, pointing to a cloud of dust on
the hill by tbe peach orchard. ‘“They’ve
gone like Elijy, takin’ their blue tin trunk
and their ear-trumpets with 'em. They’ve
left the house and—and—— What's that
you bave in your hand, Andrew? White
paint—a can of it? Mighty souls, man,
don’t git discouraged by jest the one catch.
Mind the tradition of the angels and the
blue gate.— By Nelson Lloyd in the Metro-
politan Magazine.
——There is a 14-month-old girl baby in
Binghampton which has never been kissed
Her parents declare that she
is announced when she grows $o woman-
hood. "Any old time ! The parents of thas
kid will be the bisiest people in Bing-
hampton 16 years from now if they try to
carry oat that resolution. ° ’
——Hope is a progressive game. One's |
children failing to hecome famous, the hope
progresses to the grandchildren.
ee
Their sleep has even been disturbed by a |
Contributed to Campaign Fand.
New York Life Gave $48,702 to National Republi-
can Committee. Some Interesting Testimony.
i —
re a —
New York, Sept. 16. — George W.
Perkins, member of the firm of J. P.
Morgan & Co., and first vice president
pf the New York Life Insurance com-
pany, was the star witness at the ses-
sion of the special legislative commit-
tee probing life insurance companies’
methods, and his testimony was re-
plete with revelations in the develop-
ment of finance as applied by insur-
ance companies.
The climax of the day came when
Mr. Perkins was asked concerning an
entry of $48,702 in a ledger, marked
“ordered paid by the president.” The
check was made out payable to J. P.
Morgan & Co., and Mr. Perkins frank-
ly stated it was a contribution to the
national Republican campaign commit-
tee, and had been paid to Cornelius
N. Bliss. Mr. Perkins said:
“This payment was made after very
careful deliberation. It must not be
considered an ordinary contribution to
the campaign fund. It was paid be-
cause we felt the assets of the New
York Life Insurance company would
be jeopardized by a Democratic suc-
cess.” te
Mr. Perkins said contributions were
also made in 1900 and in 1896. As an
illustration, witness said the first con-
tribution made was in 1896, by Presi-
dent McCall, who is a Democrat. “He
contributed to the McKinley campaign
fund and voted for, McKinley because
he felt it was in the best interests of
the policyholders of his company.”
This bomb caused a murmur of con-
versation about the room, which had
become packed with spectators.
“What other contributions to politi-
cal campaign funds have heen made
by the New York Life?”
“None to my knowledge.”
PARKER INTERVIEWED
Denounces Insurance Co.'s Contribu-
tion to Republican Campaign.
Esopus, N. Y., Sept. 18.—Former
Chief Judge Alton B. Parker, last year
the Democratic candidate for president
of the United States, referred to the
charges made by him in the presiden-
tial campaign last fall, that corpora-
tion funds were being used in aid of
the Republican campaign. To a cor-
respondent who called at Rosemount,
Judge Parker’s home, and asked him
if he had anything to say relative to |
the statement made by Vice President
G. W. Perkins, said: “Yes, I believe I
ought to say, now that there is no po-
litical excitement to distract the public
attention, that the president of the New
York Life was not the only such con-
tributor. The officers of other great
life insurance companies, such as the
Equitable and the Mutual, also con-
tributed from the policy holders’ funds |
for campaign purposes last year.
“Were there an investigation of rail-
road, manufacturing and other corpo-
rations, it. would be found ‘that these
life insurance officers were not the oniy
corporation officers who put their hands
into the treasury and took out mone -s
belonging to widows and orphans to
help secure a partisan triumph.
“That their acts were unlawful and
their purposes corrupt goes without
saying. They intended to have the
money used, as it was, in corrupting
the electorate. Mr. Perkins makes the
point that Mr. John A. McCall, the
president of the New York Life, is a
Democrat. Apparently he would have
the public assume that when Mr. Mc-
Call unlawfully contributed these funds
—the company’s share probably as a
member of t he underwriting syndicate
—it was evidence of political virtue,
rather than misconduct.
“The officers responsible for these
raids upon the treasuries of corpora-
tions have received their reward in
unfettered management of life insur-
ance corporations; in unembarrassed
raids upon the public through trusts—
condemned by both common and stat-
ute law; in refusal to punish criminally
the officers of railroad and other cor-
porations violating the laws; and in
statutory permission to manufacturing
corporations to levy tribute on the
people. { !
“There can be no hope of checking
the unlawful aggressions of officers of
great corporations so long as they may
form a quasi partnership with the or-
ganization of the dominant political
party. For in the hour when the ad-
-ministrative official seeks to punish the
offenders he is reminded by the head
of the organization of the magnitude
of the contributions of the corporation.
There is, however, something worse, if
possible, than the escape of such of-
fenders from justice. It is the gradual
demoralization of voters and the dull-
ing of the public conscience caused by
the efforts to make these vast sums of
money procure the ballots they were
intended to procure, corruptly and oth-
erwise.” :
Found Murderer Insane In Cell.
Roanoke, Va., Sept. 18.—At Rocky
Mount, Franklin county, when the sher-
iff went to the jail to carry Chap Ram-
sey, who on September 3 shot and killed
his nephew, Willard Ramsey, before
Judge Saunders for arraignment, he
found tue accused man almost a raving
maniac. Ramsey escaped on the day of
the killing and surrendered himself |
last Thursday night.
. Snow In Colorado.
Oripple Creek, Colo, Sept. 19.—Sev-
eral inches of snow fell here. The
nowfall was preceded by a high wind
that blew down several buildings, ig
cluding a large icehouse. =e
“
Yellow Fever Report.
New Orleans, La., Sept. 19.—Report
of yellow fever up to last night: New
cases, 34; total to date, 2605; deaths,
6; total to date, 341; new foci, 9;
cases under treatment, 811; dis.
charged, 1395, i
— a ot + —- oa
CZAR A PROMOTER OF PEACE
Issues Invitations to Second Confem
ence at The Hague.
St. Petersburg, Sept. 19.—Emperop
Nicholas again appears before the
world as a promoter of universal
peace. No sooner is the Russo-Japa-
nese war over, and even before the
peace treaty has been ratified, than
his majesty issues invitations to a
second peace conference at The
Hague.
That the emperor has done so was
learned from a source which leaves no
shadow of doubt as to its authenticity,
The announcement created the
greatest surprise here, and that Rus-
sia should plan a second conference,
despite the steps already taken by
President Roosevelt, was also heard
with amazement. It is clear that the
step could not be taken by Russia
without first reaching a complete un-
derstanding with President Roosevelt.
The fact that President Roosevelt is
reported as being entirely in sympa-
thy with the proposal, and that he is
said to believe that to the initiator of
the first Hague conference should be-
iong the honor of convoking the sec-
ond, and readily and even gladly ac-
ceded to the Russian proposal, is clear
proof that the conference has already
been called, and that President Roose- ..-
velt relinquished his part in it to the
emperor.
" It was impossible to learn the pro-
posed date of the second conference
or to gain even an approximate idea
regarding it, but it probably will not
be greatly delayed. Russia as the
power convoking the conference will
probably submit an official program,
the other powers submitting sugges-
tions.
ARMISTICE SIGNED
Hostilities Formally Suspended Be-
tween Russia and Japan.
Gunshu Pass, Manchuria, Sept. 16—
Owing to the variance between Rus-
sian and Japanese time and also the
fact that the exact spot for the meet-
ing of the Russian and Japanese rep-
resentatives had not been defined, Ma-
jor General Ovanovsky, representing
General Linevitch, was the last to ar-
rive at the place for the armistice
conference. General Fukushima, rep-
resenting Field Marshal Oyama, with
Colonel Tanaka and Captain Tanaka;
two professors of international law,
Ariga and Soyzi, and a guard of 50
men had already arrived under a flag
of truce. :
After nine consecutive hours of ne-
gotiations the armistice was signed.
It takes effect today, agrees to the
abolition of all hostile or inimical acts,
establishes a neutral zone of four kilo-
metres between the two armies, of
which Shahotzu on the railway is the
center. Maps showing the zone are to
be exchanged. Only civilians will be
allowed within the territory, and com-
munication between the two armies is
to be only by the Shahotzu road.
CONSTITUTION LEAKING BADLY
First Ship of American Navy In Dan-
ger of Turning Turtle.
Boston, Sept. 18.—The ancient fri-
gate Constitution, familiarly known as
“the first ship of the American navy,”
which has for many years been one of
the most valued possessions of the
Charlestown navy, is in danger of
turning turtle, and it is learned that
the good ship cannot last many years
in its present state.
Tle frigate is leaking badly and the
hold fills so rapidly that it is necessary
to use a power pump frequently. One
of the attaches of the yard said that
the officials did not care to risk plac-
ing the ship in dry dock to make re-
pairs, as the vessel would crush with
its own weight.
HARMONY FOR DELAWARE
Call Issued For Meeting of Warring
Republicans.
Wilmington, Del.,, Sept. 19.—After a
conference here between former
United States Senator L. H. Ball, Colo-
nel Henry A. Dupont and others, it
was decided to issue a call for a meet-
ing of the Regular Republican state
committee on either Friday or Satur-
day for the purpose of bringing har-
mony. among the warring factions of
the state. Ever since United States
Senator Allee repudiated J. Edward
Addicks about two weeks ago efforts
have been making to bring the Regu-
lars and - the Union Republicans to-
gether. £
GOING TO NEW ORLEANS
President Roosevelt Willi Visit City
Stricken With Yellow Fever.
New York, Sept. 19. — President
‘Roosevelt sent a message to Mayor
Behrman, of New Orleans, in which he
said that he had expected to arrive in
that city on October 24, and that he
ghould de so if the people wanted
.him to come then. If they wanted him
.to come later he would make a second
trip to visit Louisiana and Arkansas.
He intended to do whatever the peo-
ple of New Orleans and Louisiana
wished, subject to the quarantine reg-
ulations of other states through which
he would afterward pass.
Reading Orders 1100 Freight Cars.
Philadelphia, Sept. 16. — President
Baer, of the Reading and Jersey Cen-
tral railroads, announced that he had
‘placed an order for 1100 freight cars
for the Reading road with the Stand-
ard Steel Car company, at Butler, Pa.
One thousand of the cars will be steel
‘hopper coal cars and the remaining
100, steel flat cars. They will have a
eapacity of 100,000 pounds each.
President Diaz Is 75.
Mexico City, Sept. 16.— President .
Diaz celebrated his 75th birthday,
which was observed as a national holi-
day. He was in excellent health and
enjoyed the many manifestations of
public good will.
-