Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, October 01, 1915, Image 6

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    Frwy
‘since his marriage.
“Chicago, where Cousin Lensky had
‘relatives, but he had never written.
-rang in his ears.
corner, Jacob carried a lamp and
Bemorrai fata
room
Bellefonte, Pa., October 1, 1915.
THE PAWNED BABY.
[By Vane Merriman.]
Rosa Hornitz meved heavily down
the narrow aisle between the dusty
glass cases of the pawnshop and
peered up into the = storm-swept
streets.
“We got to light the lamps about
now, papa,” she said over her shoul-
der.
The little man huddled over a
greasy ledger at a desk near the win-
dow looked up with hawk eyes.
“You shouldn’t be cutting off all
what light there is, Rosa,” he re
proved his wife. “When I make a
footing of this here yesterday's page,
then, maybe, we shall light lamps.”
Rosa moved her bulky form so that
iit no longer obscured the window.
‘From the basement doorway she could
look up and see many feet passing
along the sidewalk, the feet of men,
iwomen and little children, and if it
/had been light enough in the basement
‘Papa Hornitz might have seen his
wife’s face wet. with tears.
Suddenly a pair of large, mascu-
line feet, shod in well-worn galoshes,
hesitated at the top of the flight of
stone steps and then passed on.
Rosa turned toward her husband.
“Cousin Lensky just went by; I could
to tell his galoshes.” :
“The feet of a meddler,” snarled
Jacob Hornitz. “He dare not show
‘his face to me.”
“Papa, papa,” soothed Rosa, laying
‘her hand on her husband’s trembling
arm.
“Did he not steal my boy—my
Joey?”
“Ah, papa!” wailed Rosa, “it was |
not Lensky who stole our son. It was
his niece, that good for nothing Ray
Nemuss, with her fancy ways.”
. “It was Lensky who told Joey if
he broke his engagement to Ray her |
‘heart would break. And even though
our hearts break from his disobedi-
ence our son marries her, and we nev:
ier see him.” Jacob's voice cracked
‘drearily.
“You told him never to show face
here again. And her; we hated her .
for her silly ways and because we
were jealous. Now they have moved
to Chicago—s8o far away,” reminded
Rosa.
The door opened suddenly to admit
a customer. Jacob retired to light a
lamp over a distant counter and pre-
pared to haggle over a gold watch.
Mrs. Hornitz stood before the door
watching the feet on the sidewalk.
‘Suddenly a bulky object blotted out
the view; there was a commotion on
the stone steps and something bumped
against the door.
Out of the storm and wet there
was propelled into the shop a baby
carriage pushed by a shawl-shrouded
woman,
“For what—" Rosa was angrily be-
ginning when the woman interrupted.
“Please—please to let me have a
dollar on it. It’s a fine carriage, al-
most new and—"
“Wait,” Rosa interrupted in her turn
and lighted a bracket lamp. She ex- |
amined the carriage closely, poked its
empty depths and then nodded assent.
While she fumbled in the cash drawer
the woman pushed the carriage into a |
dusky corner out of the way of a
passing customer, :
The transaction concluded, the wom-
an clutched the dollar bili and the
pawn ticket and vanished into the
night.
Jacob was lighting the remaining
lamps that shone like dim yellow oases
in the desert gloom of the shop.
“Times is hard, papa,” observed
Rosa.
“Times is always hard for some
folks,” retorted Jacob as he returned
to his desk,
' “Times is very bad when a lady
Pawns her baby carviage. Look, papa ;
a fine, handsome carriage, and only |
a dollar asked.”
<~acob glanced toward the corner |
and nodded. Rosa usually made a
good bargain. He sighed sharply.
Rosa Hornitz knew that he was
‘thinking of their son Joey, gone al-
most a year. They had not seen Joey
Now he was in
Perhaps Jacob’s denunciations still
At eleven o’clock Rosa, nodding over
her knitting, lifted her head sharply.
Jacob locking up his books, stared
at her curiously.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I thought you made a cry, papa,” |
she said meekly.
“You would always hear things,
Rosa,” he reproved. . |
A queer little sound came from the |
darkest corner of the shop, a feeble,
half strangled cry. |
Rosa and Jacob rushed from their
place and met in the middle of the
shop. ;
. Their eyes questioned each other.
Jacob spoke first. Perspiration
beaded his forehead; he essayed a
careless laugh. “I am like a child—
a crazy one,” he confessed. “I
thought ‘twas little Joey crying! And
him—God knows where!”
“Ah, papa!” wailed Rosa. “I heard
it too. It is a bad sign and—" She
stopped and listened with a tense look
on her rcund face,
The cry again—louder—a distinct
wail.
“A—a—baby!” Jacob stamped his
foot angrily. ‘Rosa, fool that you
are! There is a baby in that car
riage.”
“Ah, no! The lady had no baby.
= | ed Rosa, bending over it.
+ door.
flashed it toward the carriage.
“The carriage was empty,” repeat-
“Jacob, it
is a baby—poor, forgotten one!” Her
.arms plunged into the carriage and
; brought from under the hood a bundle
| wrapped in an old shawl. The bundle
| wriggled and wailed lustily.
' “You will take it to the police,"
commanded Jacob sourly. “What for
should anyone wish us bad luck like
this?”
The baby suddenly stopped crying
and, cradlcd in Rosa’s hungry, mother-
ly arms, stared up at her with round,
, black eyes.
“He should maybe two months old,”
semarked Rosa. ‘Such a beautiful boy
—see, Jacob he smiles at you!”
“I see nothing but bad luck,”
shrugged Jacob peevishly. “Where is
my umbrella and my galoshes, Rosa?”
“What for, papa?”
“I go to the police.”
“In the morning, Jacob—husband!
Let me keep him tonight—I will take
him tomorrow myself—poor little one
—that a mother should pawn her babe
for a dollar,” she crooned softly.
Jacob stamped back to his desk and
looked up his records.
“Ticket 13482,” he mumbled.
you know the woman, Rosa?”
“No. She looked like that Vetta
“Did
. Vogel what keeps boarders down by
Kester street.” Rosa threw this in-
formation over her fat shoulder. “I
. 80 to give baby some milk, papa.” The
door into the living room slammed.
Jacob sat and stared at the closed
He could hear Rosa’s tender
voice as she moved to and fro and
again the baby’s cry ending in a gur-
gle of satisfaction.
“But for the heavy years—it could
be little Joey again,” he sighed. “He
NEVER AGAIN FOR HIM
MR. BURLISON DECLARES HiM-
SELF IN STRONG TERMS.
BR
‘Good Reasons Why He Should Make
Resolution Not to Bring the Sun-
day Dinner From the City—
“Why, Henryi”
em
There was the look of a man with a
troubled soul in the face of Mr. Henry
Burlison when he reached his home
one Saturday evening. The smiling
face of his wife did not lessen the
look of grim determination in the face
of Burlison. A wife with far less in-
tuition than Mrs. Burlison had would
have discovercd that something had
gone wrong, and Mrs. Burlison asked,
: “Why, Henry, what has happened?”
Burlison stepped into the vestibule
of his home and dropped the suit case
he carried to the floor with a dull
thud. His voice had an edge like a
blade as he said:
“Something has happened that will
never happen again if I live to be so
old that Methuselah will seem like a
was a good son—it was his only dis- |
obedience.”
his greasy ledger.
He did not hear Rosa when she
came into the shop and dragged Joey's
cradle from a dusty corner, nor the
heavy vibration of her tireless feet
as she waited upon the waif. He was
thinking of Joey in all his delightful
phases from infancy to upright young
manhood.
* * * - ® * *
A week later Jacob Hornitz faced
a shawl-wrapped woman. She pushed
i some money and a pawn ticket across
the counter.
“I came for it,” she said briefly.
Jacob studied the ticket and nodded.
He went to the corner and pulled out
the baby carriage. “Here it is,” he
said.
The woman hesitated. She was old
and wrinkled and her hair was griz-
zled. “I want the baby, too,” she said
sharply.
“The ticket calls for baby carriage
—no more,” said Jacob sternly.
“I want the baby. I hear him cry-
ing now.” She started toward the
back of the shop, but Jacob and the
carriage blocked her path.
“No lady ‘would pawn her baby. You
are -crazy,” he said. :
“I tell you I hear it.”
“What you hear it our own baby—
one I shall adopt. Will you go or
must I call police?” he asked politely.
“I will go and bring police myself,
old man!” she cried shrilly, and clat-
tered up the steps.
Rosa came into the shop,
the baby in her arms.
Jacob poked a crooked finger un-
der the baby’s dimpled chin. “Such
a little rascal bhabee!” he chuckled.
He bowed his head upon
|
i
carrying |
kid when compared with me. This is
the last time I save 15 cents by tak-
ing that suit case downtown with me
on Saturday and bring home our Sun-
day dinner in it to save express
charges—the very last time!”
“Why, Henry, what happened?”
“Enough happened to make me tell
you that I'll eat my Sunday dinner
from an armchair restaurant with glit-
tering white letters on the window an-
nouncing frankfurters and mashed po-
tatoes for 10 cents before I'll do any
Saturday marketing with a suit case.”
“But you haven't told me what hap-
pened.”
“You would have seen what hap-
pened if you had been with me just as
I reached the subway stairs. I s’pose
I had forgot to push down the clasps
that help to hold the suit case to-
gether, and the thing was so crammed
full that it was too much for the self-
locking arrangement, and the thing
opened right at the top of the stairs.”
“Why, Henry!”
“You'd say ‘Why, Henry!’ if you had
seen a six-pound Philadelphia capon
traveling down those stairs, followed
by three big yellow grapefruit and
half a dozen apples!”
“Why, Henry!”
“A bunch of celery rolled down two
or three steps, and a man racing down
the stairs stepped on it and slipped,
and he threatened to sue me for dam-
ages! You will find the print of a
woman’s boot heel on that pound of
butter, and I left the dozen eggs I
had bought on the subway stairs, for
I would have needed a shovel to have
scraped them up after they had rolled
down six iron steps! One of the
grapefruit rolled between the feet of
an old lady going down the stairs, and
she gave a yell like a maniac and
called for the police! A grinning idiot
caught up one of the grapefruit and
flung it up toward me, and two other
men pelted me with the apples!”
“Oh, Henry!”
“The bottle of maple sirup spread
over six of the steps, and the people
carried it home on the soles of their
shoes; and the paper came off ‘the
soup bone I had bought, and I left it
lying at the foot of the subway stairs.
| All is, this is the very last time you
The shop door flew open and two | ever hear of me saving 15 cents in
people flung inside—a girl whose face
was sharpened by illness and priva-
tion a young man gaunt and hollow- !
eyed, a ghost of dashing Joey Hornitz.
“I want my baby,” said the girl
tensely, holding out eager arms.
“Give her the baby, mother,” said
Joey gently. “She has pined for it.”
Silently Rosa dropped the baby in
Ray’s arms. She and Jacob stared at
Joey with unbelieving eye. They
scarcely listened to his tale of poverty
and illness and how an avaricious and
{ merciless landlady had caused baby
and carriage to vanish one stormy
night. They had just gained her con-
fession that she had pawned the car-
riage and relieved her house of the
nuisance of a baby guest.
“I am sorry for the trouble, papa,”
sald Joey, “but we will go now. Come,
Ray. Good-by, mamma.”
Jacob scurried down to the door and
locked it. “You couldn't take away
our baby,” he defied them. “It’s got
to stay here—and you, Joey—and Ray,
your wife—we want you all. Eh,
mamma?”
Rosa's eyes were full of tears.
Joey's arm was around her and Ja-
, cob was awkwardly hugging Ray and
the baby.
“Of course all our children must
' stay here by us,” she said decidedly.
“Joey, you help papa. Ray, baby's
milk is warm—we must feed him
now.”
(Copyright, 1915, by the McClure Newspa-
J per Syndicate.)
A Poor Present.
A wounded soldier explaired his
grievance to his murse.
“You see, old Sgith was next me in
the trenches. Now, the bullet that
took me in the shoulder and laid me
out went into 'im and made a bit of
a flesh wound in his arm. Of course
I'm glad he wasn’t 'urt bad. But he’s
stuck to my bullet and given it his
girl. Now, I don’t think that’s fair.
I'd a right to it. I'd never give a girl
0’ mine a second ’and bullet.”
. Work of Imagination.
“They tell me that it's imagiration
that keeps the doctors busy,” said the
slow-pay patient.
“It is,” replied the physician. “A
lot of us are kept busy making out
The carriage was empty—I felt in it,”
protested Rosa, waddling toward the
a
bills which we foolishly imagine are
going to he naid”
that way! My lacerated feelings are
worth at least a quarter, and—"
“Oh, Henry!”
“I left half of my stuff in the sub-
way, and the other half will taste bit-
ter to me when I think of that gap-
ing, grinning, giggling, tittering mob
that saw me standing there with my
empty and open suit case in my hand
and all that stuff traveling down the
subway stairs!”
“Why, Henry!”—Judge.
Men’s Wrist Watch a Flivver.
The wrist watch for men, at least,
has been officially, if negatively, de-
clared to be a “flivver.” Even if the
classiest looking men you've ever seen
wears the time on his pulse, he hasn't
the official sanction of the American
National Retail Jewelers’ association.
They closed their convention with the
refusal to have anything to do with
the bracelet timepiece. . It was a fear:
ful blow for the man who introduced
the fad who has been extolling the vir-
tues of the wrist watch, especially for
the male sex. Neither the advocate
of the whimsy nor anyone else pro-
posed that with the sport shirt men
might wear watches draped about their
necks on a string or a chain. Neither
was it intimated that men might carry
their subway tickets and cigarettes in
vanity cases.
Snake Successful Angler.
That some snakes can catch fish as
well as old anglers was demcnstrated
Sunday on the ranch of E. D. Osborne,
near here.
A small spring creek runs through
the pasture on the Osborne ranch,
large enough for fish to play in. Hern
a large water snake was seen to grab
a rainbow trout by the head and make
for the tall grass.
Osborne killed the snake and threw
the live fish back into the pool. The
fish was about 12 inches in length. —
From the Husum (Washington) Dis-
patch.
Work Demanded of Recruits.
The English recruit is expected to
put every rifle shot into an eight-inch
ring at 100 yards. The territorials
must put 80 per cent of all shots into a
12-inch ring at that distance. The
French soldier is required to put half
of his shots into an 12-inch ring at
the same range.
SQUIRREL AND KITTEN PLAY
Game of Hunting and Being Hunted
Watched on a Lawn in Melrose
—Billie Saves His Dinner.
In some sections of Melrose the gray
squirrels have been petted and fed to
such an extent that they do not hesi-
tate to enter houses in search of nuts
and dainties. It is common to see as
many as a half dozen of these squir-
rels playing about the lawns at one
time, and they seem almost to have
lost their fear of mankind.
The other day an odd incident was
witnessed in which one of these squir-
rels figured. His squirrelship, locally
known as “Billie,” was engaged in for-
aging for some of the nuts he had
cached in the grass on a lawn near a
huge oak. He was seen by a playful
maltese kitten about three months old.
When it noted the squirrel, the be-
ribboned kitten became ail attention.
Then, nature asserting itself, the kitten
crouched and began to stalk its quarry.
“Billie” was perfectly aware of the
kitten’s proximity, and with one eye
watched its attempt at a stex'thy ap-
proach, while with the other and his
nose he proceeded with his search.
The kitten appeared puzzled at the
boldness of the squirrel and its curi-
osity became aroused to such an ex-
tent that it neglected its crouch and
arose to its full kitten height better
to see what the squirrel was doing in
the grass.
Then as the squirrel paid no atten-
tion to it, the kitten slowly walked
over to within two feet of the squirrel.
Billie had secured his nut and calmly
sat upright to open it. :
Without a preliminary crouch the
kitten jumped for the squirrel. Billie
leaped -at the same instant, but went
clear over the back of the kitten. When
the squirrel came to the ground two
feet away, it at once resumed its ef-
fort to open the nut.
That was play the maltese could ap-
preciate. It crouched, wiggled its
slick length, leaped and sailed grace-
fully over the squirrel. The latter
dropped his nut, but otherwise did not
move until the kitten again came toc-
ward him, wher in his turn ne jumped
over it. As he landed the little mal-
tese ran for him, and he ran round
and round the kitten, purely in play
and without apparent fear.
For nearly three minutes the pair
kept up their antics. Then suddenly
there was a black streak from the
flower bed as an older kitten rushed
for the squirrel. But Billie knew his
ground and his rush carried him six
feet up the trunk of the friendly oak
by the time the older kitten was at its
base. .
Then Billie hung, head down, tail
flirting, and in his squirrel way gave
that black kitten a piece of his mind.
After five minutes of vain waiting for
‘him to come down, the two kittens de-
cided they must delay their attack and
adjourned for a romp of their own.
They were scarcely 15 feet from the
tree when Billie leaped down, secured
his nut and scampered back up to a
sheltering limb of the oak to enjoy it
in peace.—Boston Globe.
Marked Similarity.
The dispatches state that in a de-
termined effort to eradicate from the
Ottoman empire all traces of things
European, the Young Turks have or-
dered the removal of all business
signs written in any other language
than Turkish. Great confusion pre.
vails in- Constantinople on this ac-
count. Two-thirds of the inhabitants
are natives of other countries and
know little of the Turkish printed
characters. Strangers find it exceed-
ingly difficult to get about, and the
average citizen cannot tell from its
sign whether a building harbors a
hotel or a stable. Much the same con-
dition prevails in this country. Here
in Kansas City so few of the corners
have street signs on them that one
can scarcely tell where he is. The
Metropolitan conductors call the
-Street names in an unknown tongue.
And in the average village there is a
Palace hotel, Palace Barber shop,
Palace restaurant, Palace livery sta-
ble, and so on, with little in their ap-
pearance to differentiate one from the
other. The op’ry house never housed
an op’ry, and the moving picture
shows usually bear such names that
one would fain wonder whether they
are movie theaters or beauty lotions.
—Kansas City Star. :
Tiny Pellet Brings $500.
A little round ball of paper which
Mrs. Charles R. Vincent dug out of the
pocket of an old sweater she was
washing mada her heir to real estate
valued at $500. The paper proved
to be her husband’s will.
Vincent died on March 29. His wid-
ow knew he had made a will, but a
five months’ search failed to reveal
where he had put it.
Recently she took down the sweater
her husband had worn, and which had
been hanging in a closet since his
death. She washed it and was about
to wring it out when she noticed a
lump in one of the pockets.
Mrs. Vincent unrolled the paper,
dried it and ironed it out. It be-
queathed real estate at Pine Brook,
N. J, to her. The widow took the
paper down to the city hall and had
it admitted to probate.—Philadelphia
North American.
In Peace Also.
Prof. Irving Fisher of Yale says the
cost of the war in money and lives is
small compared with its cost in the
emptied cradles of this and future
generations. We desire to remind the
professor that peace hath its emptied
cradles as well as war has.—Houston
Post.
Dry Goods, Etc.
LYON & COMPANY.
COATS and SUITS
-
A showing and sale that cannot be equaled
in this town. New Fall Suits in poplins,
serges and mannish effects; strictly first-class
tailoring; that are as good in quality and
style as others are asking $15. Our price
$10 and $12.50
A splendid assortment in fur, braid and vel-
vet trimmed Suits, the quality and style we
guarantee as good as any $20 and $22 suit.
Our special price
$15
Our line of $20 Suits will only be appreciated
when seen. The quality and style speak for
themselves. A still higher grade of Suits;
everything of the best; we are sure you will
not see this kind anywhere for less than $30
to $35; our price
$25
Our line of Fall and Winter Coats we guaran-
tee to be the best in quality and workmau-
ship. Styles that are bought to suit the most
fastidious. We have made special prices for
early buyers. The $10 and $12 kind now at
$8 and the range goes up to $30, which
means a big saving on every garment. Come
in and see our Coats and Suits and we
know you cannot resist buying.
Lyon & Co. ... Bellefonte
The Centre County Banking Company.
A Lawyer received $10,000 for suggesting these
words to a railroad. The sign, “Stop, Look, Lis-
ten!” saved the road many thousands of dollars
in damages. It’sa good sign. It’s worth $10,000.
Wise people are often warned by a similar sign on
the road of extravagance. They stop in time.
How about yourself? Think this over seriously.
+ . bank account is the Best Kind of Security at
any time. If you haven’t a bank account now,
start one at once. Any account, however small
you are able to begin with, will be welcomed and
carefully conserved at
THE CENTRE COUNTY BANK,
56-6 BELLEFONTE PA.
“STOP, LOOK, LISTEN!"
|
eR ————
orm
Groceries.
FOOD SUPPLIES
We have just received a shipment of new caught Blue Back
Mackerel, messed and boneless !
Canned Salmon and Tuna Fish are both very satisfactory hot
weather goods. Our brands will fully satisfy your desire.
Our fancy new American Cheese are now at their very finest. If
you want the highest quality, give us your order.
Asparagus tips, new pack, Nabob brand, just received at roc per
can. Elite brands, large can, fancy, at 25¢.
We have a blend of TEA that has proved very satisfactory for
making iced tea and for regular use at 6oc per pound.
The new crop of California Summer Valenica Oranges are now
just at their best. We have fancy stock at 2 5¢, 30¢, 4o0c, 50¢
and 6oc a dozen. Also fancy California Lemons.
Our Sliced Dried Beef is all full slices, cut only from the tender
part of the meat. Comes in clean wax paper envelopes. Some-
thing new and desirable.
We take special care in the selection of Bananas and can give you fancy fruit.
MEADOW GOLD BRAND CREAMERY BUTTER
Is a Strictly Fancy Grade. We get it in frequent orders so that you can de-
pend on it having that New Sweet Flavor. Try it and be convinced.
TR RD.
SECHLER & COMPANY,
Groceries.
bd sommowenon iT .. . Bemionte Ba