Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, September 28, 1923, Image 2
Benoa adn Bellefonte, Pa., September 28, 1923. a — WANTED—MEN TO LEAD. There isn’t a lad but wants to grow Manly and true at heart, And every lad would like to know The secret we impart. He doesn’t desire to slack or shirk, Oh, haven't you heard him plead? He'll follow a man at play or work, If only the man will lead. ‘Where are the men to lead today, Sparing an hour or two, Teaching the lads the game to play Just as a man should do? Village and slums are calling, “Come.” Here are the boys, indeed; Who can tell what they might become If only the men will lead? Motor and golf and winter sport Fill up the time a lot, But wouldn’t you like to feel you’d taught Even the boy a knot? Country and home depend on you, Character most we need; How can a lad know what to do If there isn’t a man to lead? ‘Where are the men to lend a hand, Guiding at boyhood’s side? Men who will rise in every land, Bridging the “Great Divide?” Nation and flag and tongue unite, Joining each class and creed. Here are the boys who would do the right, But where are the men to lead? FEW FEMALE HUMORISTS. By L. A. Miller. Whether true or otherwise, it is al- leged that but a very limited number of funny women exist. The country is full of funny men, either alleged or real. Why not funny women? This should be an excellent topic for Women’s Clubs to consider. Surely the men cannot be blamed for fencing them out of this field, because it is open on all sides, and may be occu- pied without let or hindrance. There have been, and are still, ex- cellent poets, novelists, musicians, lec- turers and readers, among the sisters of men; but for some unknown, yet good and sufficient reason, none have risen to fame as humorists or music- al composers. The why and the wherefore of this ought to be set forth, and who is bet- ter qualified for the task than a wom- an? There are a great many things to find out yet before the world is as wise as it may be, and one of these is why women are not humorous. They enjoy fun to its fullest extent, and are the best patrons and friends of funny men; yet, when they come to write, they are almost universally sen- timental, prosey and heavy. Proba- bly more than half of the books writ- ten by women are negative in charac- ter; that is, they are devoted to find- ing fault with the existing state of affairs. The remainder of their books are made up of poetry, fiction, cook- ery, and such like. Even their poetry is largely of the melancholy type, and about as sug- gestive of the flatus of indigestion as the inflatus of poesy. Just there is a tender point. To say that women are not witty, is to offend the entire sis- terhood; therefore, it were better left unsaid. Indeed, it would not be strictly true if it were said, although there is but little on record to show that any of them have ever distin- guished themselves in that way. How- ever, they have a better record as wits than humorists. It is said that much of the credit given to Charles Lamb for wit is due to his sister. Sundenburg, in his “Conjugal Love,” said that males are masculine, and fe- males feminine, in soul as well as in ody. The masculine element is love cloth- ed in wisdom; while the feminine is wisdom clothed with love. Hence the characteristic of man is wisdom, or understanding, and that of woman love, or affection. Between the poet Otway and the seer of Stockholm it is possible to get a clue to the reason why women are not funny fellows, or given to al- leged wit. They are above such things; or rather beyond them, while men are so surrounded that they can- not help being affected more or less. The humorist’s lot is not a happy one, the prevailing opinion to the contrary notwithstanding. He is gen- erally bilious and splenetic, and lives in two worlds—the one in cloud-land, from whence he looks down upon the vagaries of his fellow-man, seeing them magnified and illuminated; the other beneath clouds, where all is cheerless and chilling. He feels, while here, that life is not worth the trouble it costs to live, and wonders why men are such fools as to fight and struggle for existence. It is here that he phil- osophizes on the phenomenon of life. Artemus Ward, who of all humor- ists was the most philosophical, lived the greater portion of his time under sombre clouds. He knew there was a brighter world, but, somehow, he could not keep in it. We call this bil- jousness, induced by habits of life pe- culiar to those who live under clouds. It is said that all humorists are sad- Hearted; either from their natural dis- position or from their associations. As if followed by cruel fate or venge- ful spirits, the fountains from which they drink are embittered, their pet hobbies carry them into’ bramble thickets, and their grandest schemes turn out to be only castles in the air. This is not universally the case, but it is probably a fact that they suffer more than ordinary mortals; not by reason of being more sorely beset by evil genii but because they are more sensitive. sess a clearly and highly sensitive brain; sensitive enough to appreciate the things that pass the ordinary mind unnoticed, or, at least, undefined, and clear enough to define them and give them form and color. In reality, the humorist and poet are artists, as much as the painter and sculptor, the difference being only in the manner of exhibiting their skill. The name ‘or reputation of being a funny fellow amounts to almost a calamity. Everybody laughs at him; not in derision, of course, but at his remarks. The humorist must pos- His smile sets a parlor-ful of young folks to giggling, and a glance from his eye will cause the av- erage seminary girl to “just die” a-laughing. : Bob Burdette, who was always a very companionable fellow, and one who enjoyed fun to the fullest extent, said he was almost bored to death by poeple laughing at him. If he asked for another potato or buckwheat cake at breakfasst, some one was sure to snort out laughing and exclaim, “Why Mr. Burdette, how funny you are!” To suggez: = siesta on the back porch convulsed the entire household, while a midnight hint that he was tired and would have to take an early train in order to make his next appointment, literally doubled them up. . There are some alleged humorists who love to be laughed at. So fond are they of this style of appreciation that they do not hesitate to make fools of themselves to secure it. These, however, do not figure much outside of their narrow circle of ac- quaintances. They are rarely able to materialize their fun on paper, or, if they did, it would be apt to take a header into the waste basket. Humorous writers seldom display much humor in their conversation. As a rule they are quiet, reserved, and court seclusion. If this disposition is an essential qualification for a humor- ist, it is not necessary to seek furth- er for the reason why there are no women in the business. Humorists are born such, and they have an im- portant mission to fulfill. They have to expose the other side of life to view, thereby breaking the | monotony of business and care. Wom- en also have a mission, which, in some respects, does not differ great- ly from that of the humorist. It is for them to make home happy and | cheerful, and thus dispel, day by day, the cares and worriment that settle about the hearts and minds of men. OHIO AND OTHER PRESIDENTS. Six Presidents have come from the State of Ohio, crediting those who have filled that station to the States in which they resided when they were elected. Five came from Virginia and five from New York. Ohio heads the list. But a queer fatality has followed . the six Ohio Presidents. The first from that State was William H. Har- rison, who served but one month. He was the first to die in office. The next President from Ohio was Rutherford B. Hayes on whose title some conceiv- ed a cloud to rest. He was not a ean- didate for re-election. Garfield was the third and his sad fate is known to all. He died on the nineteenth of Sep- tember following his inauguration. Then came William McKinley, who served one full term, dying on the fourteenth of September following his second induction into office. William Howard Taft was the next Ohio man on whom the choice fell. In his effort for re-election, he carried two States, Vermont and Utah. Last came War- ren G. Harding, who served but little more than half his term when death removed him from the list. The six Ohio Presidents ruled the country in the aggregate fifteen years 8 twenty-three days, or an average for each of two years, seven months and four days. The five Virginia Presidents were at the head of the nation for thirty-five years, nine months and four days, an average for each of seven years, one month and twenty-five days. They were in power considerably more than twice as long as the six from Ohio. New York has had five Presidents and in the aggregate they served twenty-five years and seven months, or an average of five years, one month and twelve days each. When it is re- called that of the New York Presi- dents three succeeded to the presiden- cy by the death of the President and threfore served out fractions of terms, the average is higher than one might expect and is notably greater than that of the Ohio Presidents. New York with its five Presidents has twenty-five years and a fraction to its credit in the office to more than thir- ty-five years for Virginia. Judged by the length of time that the sons of Virginia occupied the office known to our people, that Commonwealth still has the right to call itself the mother of Presidents. It will be some years before any State overtakes Virginia in that respect. New York has the best chance of doing it. Even if Virginia does not have another President soon, New York will have to succeed in more than one election to overcome the Old Dominion, : In the meantime, Virginia may be called upon again some day to furnish a Chief Executive. It has been sev- enty-eight years since a Virginian oc- cupied the White House. Just now Massachusetts is taking her turn. No Massachusetts man has exercised the supreme power since John Quincy Adams went out of office on the fourth of March, 1829, nearly a century ago. °° Some other States are awaiting their turn.—Reformatory Record. sei Dr. Swartz Gives Land to Bucknell. Dr. James S. Swartz, former treas- urer of the International Mercantile Marine, New York city, recently do- nated to Bucknell University a 600- aere tract of land situated along the Potomac river between Washington D. C., and Mt. Vernon, Va. The land, which is traversed by the interurban railway running between these cities, is valued conservatively at $60,000. The land is ideally situated in the his- toric valley made famous by General Washington and will probably be de- veloped into a suburban residential community, = Dr. Swartz has been a member of the University board of trustees for nearly forty years and has been for the 'past seven years chairman of that body. Cr —— Non-Church Goers Fined. (An old law is still extant in Vir- ginia which imposes a fine of fifty pounds of tobacco on 2 man if he ab- sents himself from, church for one month without a valid excuse. rm —— A ———. . Aunt Het. “I reckon I trust Pa as much as any wife ought to trust a husband, but I ain’t never took in a female boarder.” , TIMBER BILLIONS OF i THE NORTHWEST. i Hundreds of logging camps are pushing back the forest frontier. i Cities with a permanent economic ‘ support in lumber are springing up. One hundred and fifty thousand men {in camps and mills already are pro- ducing nearly one-third the nation’s | lumber cut. By trainloads and ship- i loads the great forest crop, worth 1 $350,000,000 a year, moves eastward { throughout our own country and to | foreign lands.” “The world demands more of it to build and grow. The Pacific North- west can supply it. ~On the slopes of the Cascades, the Coast Range and ! the Olympics of Oregon and Wash- ington, in the Coeur d’Alenes, the Bitterroots and Rockies of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is half the timber of the United States. Here is America’s great forest reserve. A vast storehouse of natural wealth measuring 970 billion board feet! If these great forests should not stop ' growing, and cutting should proceed | at the present rate, they would yield 110 billion feet worth $350,000,000 | every year for 100 years. But growth . continues at a rate that adds to the | supply more than half the amount an- i nually cut. And cutting must shortly {increase to two or three times the | present amount, in the opinion of the United States Forest Service. Ex- perts agree that within the next fif- i teen years the burden of supplying ‘the bulk of the country’s needs for lumber will rest upon the Pacific Northwest.” “America has an amazing appetite ! for wood. We use two-fifths of the total wood consumption. Our annual ration is 40 billion feet of lumber, 87 million railroad ties, 53 million cords ! of pulp wood, and 110 million cords of uel. We have $5,000,000,000 invest- ed in plants that make lumber, wood products and paper. These 75,000 es- tablishments employ 1,350,000 work- ers. Nor is that all. Every industry, ! no matter what, is dependent in part’ on the forest.” “Let us look for a moment at these vast areas of timber wealth, the most : magnificent forests in the world. First, the most wonderful forest of a i single type the giant Douglas firs of western Oregon and western Wash- ington. In this almost unbroken stand, 350 miles long and 100 miles wide, is more than half the timber of the Pacific Northwest—558 billion feet. These are the “big trees” of the Pacific Northwest. Trees six feet in diameter and 200 feet high are com- mon. Long timbers for ship and car construction, and highly finished boards for interior uses of many kinds are obtained from these mammoth trees. The products of the Douglas fir forests are shipped by rail and water to many parts of this country and of the world.” i The other principal varieties of saw | timber are the western yellow pine, | i of which there are about 100 billion i feet, and the western white pine, of { which there are 20 million feet. Western yellow pine—sometimes ! known in the lumber trade as western | pine—is found throughout the Pacfic | Northwest but the heaviest stands are in central and eastern Oregon | and in parts of Montana and Idaho. It has long been a wood of recognized value for all sorts of uses. It com- petes now in the markets of the cen- tral States, and to a less degree in the eastern States, with the yellow pines from the southern region. The largest forest of western white pine in the world is found in Northern Idaho and lapping over somewhat in- to western Montana. It contains 20 billion feet—three-fourths of the white pine in the United States. It is the occurrence of this species that is responsible for the building up of the lumber industry there. From the standpoint of general utility as well as value, there are few substitutes for white pine. ; Western larch, however, is the dis- tinctive tree of western Montana, and with western yellow pine and Doug- las fir it makes up the principal com- mercial forests there. Larch is used principally as a heavy construction timber. On the east side of the Con- tinental Divide in Montana and Wyo- ming the species are Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, yellow pine, and some species of less importance. Lodge- pole pine occasionally grows large enough for saw logs but usually it is best suited for railroad ties and mine timbers. It is largely used for these purposes. The chief forest industry of Wyoming is in the utilization of lodgepole pine for railroad ties. About two-thirds of the great for- ests of the Pacific Northwest are own- ed privately, while one-third are own- ed by the Federal government. The National Forests were set aside to insure the permanent production of timber, to protect the watersheds of navigable streams, and to preserve water supplies for cities and for ir- rigation and power. . Sales of timber es are made by the government to private concerns. Mistletoe a Parasite. If the silent signal of the mistletoe hanging from the chandelier means anything to you next Christmas, re- member for an instant that in the southwest it is a commercial pest, and that for 12 years scientists have been studying its depredations and how best to exterminate it. Mistletoe fastens on the yellow pine tree, checks growth, and finally caus- es the tree to die. By the Department of Agriculutre it is called an “insidi- ous and destructive disease,” and its eradication is an important problem. About the only way to get rid of this parasite is to cut down the tree on which it has fastened. The mistle- toe dies with its host, the yellow pine. —————— Ais Evidence. Cole Black had fallen afoul of the law and was having a preliminary conference with his attorney. “Can’t you prove an alibi?” asked the latter. “Al—says which, boss?” “Alibi. Can you prove where you were at the time the offense was com- mitted 2" Yoni . “Lawdy, boss; dat’s jes” what Ah’s skeered dey’s gwine to do!”—Ameri- can Legion Weekly. from these forests on long time leas- BEFORE SHE COULD STOP HIM Bride’s Husband Thoughtlessly Re veals Hidden Unwashed Dishes to Her Mother-in-Law. I had been married only a week, and my husband was proud of my good housekeeping. As he came home from bis work tired at might, I decided not to let him help me with the dishes, and yet I wanted to remain fresh and the problem in this way. The stove in our kitchen contained two ovens—one large, and, my husband thought, useless. However, I was of a different mind regarding it, for after 1 had washed the pots, pang silver, and glassware, I rinsed the remaining dishes and surreptitiously shoved them into the large oven—which we never used. The next morning I washed them with the breakfast dishes, and friend husband was none the wiser, My husband's mother was the last word in housewifely neatness, and I had often heard George laud her sys ‘tem in the kitchen. One evening she came bag and baggage to pay us an unexpected visit. The next morning "at breakfast, my husband directed her , attention to our dainty Kkitchen—and i then before I could stop him opened the large oven door to exhibit its spa- clousness—revealing the hidden un- washed evidences of my sloth! The look of housewifely horror on the face of my mother-in-law is never ' to be forgotten.—Chicago Tribune. LESSENING RISKS TO LIFE Automatic Illumination of Lifeboatr When They Are Launched From Ship Is Tested. An invention for lessening risks to life at sea by the automatic illumina- tion of lifeboats when they are , launched from a ship’s side has just | been tested by British board of trade officials. The inventors are two partners in the firm of Messrs. T. Blair & Co, ship’s store merchants, in Bast London. By their device two small electric lamps are switched on by contact es- tablished from g float contained in a tube fixed to the sternpost of the life- boat. The float is forced up the tube by water when the boat is launched. Storage batteries capable of giving twenty-four hours’ continuous light to the lamps are carried on board. Under present board of trade regu- ! 1ations every ship's lifeboat has to ! carry an oil lamp and a dozen boxes ' of matches in a sealed watertight tin. ! The inveutors of the new device | claim that it will eliminate much of ! the risk of liftboats being run down. i . i ———— | A Genius. | A crusty banker who had risen to af- | duence from an humble start on a farm had half promised a boyhood | friend to give the Mtter’s son a place in his office. The old farmer came in to talk the matter over and was rather timorous about the boy's qualifications, explaining that he was just a country ! Jad who knew how to plow, take care | of pigs and milk. He wound up by stating: ‘The boy knows enough to keep his mouth shut. That's about all I can say.” The listener for the first time dis- played interest. “That's enough,” declared the bank- er. “That's education enough for any | man.” Origin of Word “Brandy.” The original name of the liquor gnown as brandy was brandywine, from the fact that (in the countries where it is not prohibited by law) it was, and still is produced by the dis- tillation of wines. The word lost its “wine” part because the English lan- guage has the happy faculty -of drop- | ping unessential parts of words to save time. “Brandy” traces its origin to the word “brand,” as in “brand from the. burning,” for the simple reason that the product known as “brandy” or “cognac” was produced by the process of burning, which in all the Germanic languages is designated by some form of the word “brand.” To the word “brand” as in “brandy,” the word “burn” is also related. Allowing Days of Grace. In the reign of Henry II the day | irst mentioned in each term of court | was called “essoign day,” because the ' court then took the essoigns or ex- | cuses of those who did not appear according to the summons of the writs. But as—by a custom traced by Blackstone to the Germans of the days of Tacitus—three days of grace were allowed every defendant in which to appear, the courts did not sit for the dispatch of business until the fourth day after that time, On the other hand, they continued to sit until the fourth day after the last return. The rule allowing days of grace in the United States was adopt: ed from the English law. E—————— eect Relative Importar~e, It talres an older child to ~vnlain te the little fellows the intricacies of school management, “My teacher's sick, will I git to go home?” adked little Joe. “Not on yer life.” answered Mike. aged ten. “Then yer principal tele- phones: in an’ gits a sustitoot teacher.” “Oh-0-0-0. An’ if the principal is sick,” edked Joe, “does a teacher tele- phone in an’ git a sustitoot principal?” “Nah,” Mike informed him. “That ain't necessary. The principal ain't got nothin’ to do, He jest sits in the office. I hel git sick, the janitor ‘d go in there an’ take his place.”—Phila- delphia Ledger. : dainty for him in the evening. I solved | CHARACTER NEED IN FICTION Fewer Complexes and More Personal- ities Is Essential in American Scenes, Canby Says. Character is essentially what the American scene has to offer the mak- ers of literature—character, the es- sence of the novel (to which plot is only a convenience), the chief ingre- dient of all literature not lyrical or philosophic. The characters that have escaped description so far in the United States! I know a dozen which, ‘properly interpreted, and transmogri- fied into art, would be worth all the realistic, arratic, erotic naturalism in a thousand book shops. Men and wom- en are dying daily who would have made novelists’ fortunes and been our delight. Can't we have fewer com- plexes masquerading as humans, less social conscience, not so many dusty, dirty details of suppressed lives and more people of blood, gristle and pas- sion? Can’t we have more personality, self-sustained and convincing, which embraces all true motives and im- pulses, of being merely compounded of psychologists’ terms? Can't we have men, women and children whose names we remember although we have known them only in a book? Russian literature will not give them to us, not at least our own brand; nor French, nor British. The job waits upon Amer- fcan writers. Perhaps in serene old age our younger generation will find the time to smile and do it.—Henry Seidel Canby in Century. “WINE” WAS SPRING WATER An Explanation of the Split Between Marshal Wu and Gen- eral Feng. nn. The Peking correspondent of Kol _aische Zeitung reports that everyone in China talked of this summer's civil war as confidently as 8 Rhenish peas- ant talks of the next vintage. He considers Gen. Feng Yu Hsiang a coming man, and gives this curious account of his alleged break with Mar- shal Wu Pei Fu, whom he supported against Chang Tso Lin in last sum- mer’s civil war. It seems that Marshal Wu Pei Fu was having a great birthday celebra- tion. His entire camp was en fete. Such observances are always important in China, and In case of prominent leaders are the occasion for political demonstrations and the laying of polit- ical plans. Wu Pei Fu is a “lover of good liquor.” His Christian lieutenant, Gen. Feng Yu Hsiang, is a total abstainer and a prohibitionist. Indeed, his army of roundhead followers is as white rib- bon as himself. Among the gifts to the marshal were naturally many cases of wine, and especially of Chinese spirits distilled from rice. When these were opened at the mar- shal’s birthday banquet, it was discov- ered that the offering from the Chris- tian general contained geod spring water. This caused some Irritation, and, added to other differences, has made the two leaders enémies. Le Written Language for Belgians. In the ordinary way the natives of che Belgian Congo do not wear any clothing, but sometimes put on a hat or a ribbon or carry a sunshade when they are going to have a photograph taken. This is considered a social event. These black people are very moral and live better lives than many of the well-dressed persons in other parts of the world. Missionaries in the Congo have de veloped a written language for the natives by jotting down the sounds as they fall from the lips of these deni- zens of the African forests. The wap they teach the natives is to instruct the brightest among the younger men and women, and they in turn instruct the others, Measles Old as the Race. Measles is probably as old as the cace, In ancient times it was diagnosed as a form of smallpox. Somewhere about the Tenth or Eleventh centuries, when Arab culture and science flamed high in a mentally dark world, Arab physicians distinguished the difference between the two diseases. These men noted that having smallpox did not give immunity to measles and having measles did not give immunity to smallpox. They studied both diseases and pointed out the difference in the eruptions. But measles continued to be confounded with scarlet fever until the latter half of the Seventeenth cen- tury, when Sydenham, an English phy- siclan, pointed out the difference in the symptoms and the eruptions. Worries of Mrs. Toodles. Movies were very real to tendem hearted: Mrs. Toodles. She always wept freely through the sad scenes and considered that her favorite ac- tress was nothing short of an angel with a baby stare. So when she came home looking grave Mr. Toodles knew that something serious had happened. “What's wrong, my dear?’ asked he. “I don't like this. My favorite hero- ine is playing a vamp,” she replied. “You mustn't let that worry you. It is only pretense. You know that.” “Maybe so. But where did she learn to smoke cigarettes?” Nome Plagues From Victim's Colon. The term “white plague” originated among the early Greek physicians and was so called by them owing te the ex- treme whiteness of the body and the attendant terrible emaciation. The white plague. black plague and yellow plague are all characterized by white ness, blackness and yellowness of the body. A —— THACKERAY AND THE MOVIES Member of School Class Says Hire Novel “Gives a Picture” of Time of Queen Elizabeth, A class in a certain school in the city was reading the biography of Wil- Ham Makepeace Thackeray. The les- son was an intensive one, and the ob- ject was to read a paragraph, then give every point it contained. One boy had recited in full sup- posedly, when Clifford became much concerned as indicated by his wry face and an eagerness to be heard. “He left out a very important point,” he said. The class mewnbers registered dis- approval on their countenances and negative nods here and there. Clif- ford bristled slightly at the idea of dis- agreement. “He did leave out an important point,” he urged, insistently. “What was that?” asked the teacher, “That Thackeray was in the moving picture business,” replied the boy. The class snickered in spots, and it was necessary for the teacher to intercede, “Where did you read that, Clifford?” she said. With flourish and decision he promptly opened his book and read: “Thackery’s novel, ‘Henry Esmond,’ gives a picture of the time of Queen Anne.” WAS JUST LIKE THE REST Teacher in Small Town Finds Every One Related to Every One Else. I went to a small town to teach school, and found that every one seemed to be related to every one else, That cut me off from all chance for friendly gossip, for one could never tell when she would be gossiping in front of some adoring aunt or cousin. I was explaining this, laughingly, to a girl in the town who had been nice © me. She remarked: “Yes, that is so, but 1 am one exception—we have no rela. tives here outside our immediate fam- ily—you may gossip to me about any one.” “Well, the people I want most to gossip about are some newlyweds— don’t know their name, but she calls him ‘darling Donnie dear,’ and they are too silly to be around sane people.” “Oh,” replied my friend, “I had for- gotten about my brother Don and his wife—they've been married about a month, but we don’t think they are sillier than anybody else, *—Exchange. . Pantomime 22 Centuries Old. The word “pantomime” is about twenty-two centuries old, says’ the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It originally meant an actor and not the act. Lit- erally, the word means the “mime” or imitator of everything, and imitate everything the old Greek and Roman actors could and did. Their plays were usually in dumb show, and movements and gesticulations formed the actor's chief art. Later, the pantomime—which now has come to mean the act—was con- tinued into the Middle Ages in the form of the play of Pantaloon, Col- umbine and Harlequin—Clown was a later addition—who are supposed by some scholars to represent the ancient deities of the original pantomime. A little later still, pantomime had turned into a ballet, still without words and still centering round Harlequin and the rest. Hawthorn Respected in Ireland. Whitethorn, or, as it is better gnown, hawthorn, blooms in May. Its blossoms are much whiter than those of the blackthorn, and have a de- licious perfume. In Ireland hawthorns are regarded with much respect as belonging to the fairies, and certain large trees all over the country are known as “gentry bushes,” gentry being a name by which fairies are sometimes desig- nated, says the Detroit News. The cutting down of one of these old thorns was supposed to bring had luck. In Sir Samuel Fefguson's poem, “The Fairy Thorn,” reference is made to the disappearance of one Anna Grace, who went to a dance under one of the ancient bushes. ! It is likewise believed that to carfy a spray of hawthern into a house forbodes the coming of death to one of the inmates. In the south of Eng- land-the fruit is called “pixies’ pears.” Our Favorite Recipe. “Pow may we evict the skunks from under our house?’ is the some- what startling question asked by a reader of an agricultural magazine. Another reader, from the depths of a wider experience, answers the question 'thue: See that the wall is tight where they live, but leave an opening for them to go out. Take a bottle of household ammonia, pull out the cork, slip a long stick In its nlace, and ghove the hottle into the skunk’s hah- {tation Raise the stick and smash the hottle. The skrnks will alk mach out, saying: “Our odor may be a little disagreeahle to our enemies, but here they are using poison gas on us! We call that low ‘down! They dislike the fumes so much that it is said they never come back.—The Quthook. Nickel Plating. The object to be nickel plated fis made the cathode of a battery or dyna- mo delivering a current of about six volts. A piece of nickel is made the andde. The electrolrte between the poles of the dynamo is a solution of goluble salt of nickel. The passing of the current from the anode through the solution to the cathode causes a deposit of nickel on the object.