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Bellefonte, Pa., December 16, 1927.
a —
THE CHRISTMAS STAR
The Christmas star swung bright and low
To guide the Wise Men long ago;
And shepherds on Judea’s hill
Learned God’s desire for man’s good will,
Beneath its glow.
The Christmas star through clouded years,
Through manhood’s wars and woman's
tears,
Sent glintings faintly understood;
Until, with dawning brotherhood,
The star again appears.
The Christmas star this wintry night
Invades my home with tender light;
It sprinkles gold where baby lies,
And star dust dances in your eyes,
My heart’s delight.
The Christmas star, it shines afar
Where our eternal treasures are.
Men hear the good Christ's gentle call,
As twilight lets her curtain fall
And pins it with a star.
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT.
In spite of the December blasts
which were sweeping around the cor-
ner, blowing thin skirts against thin-
ner legs, whirling shaggy tam-o’-
shanters from unwary heads, and add-
ing a bluish tinge to the already
chilled cheeks, a knot of children were
lingering one Sunday morning outside
the doors of the big Parish House that
stands in the heart of New York's
East Side. A dozen or more of the
feminine members of Miss Devon's
Sunday-school department were eag-
erly discussing their teacher’s atti-
tude toward the approaching Christ-
mas festival. Being a newcomer that
year, she was still an unknown quan-
tity as far as Christmas presents were
concerned, but in other ways she had
proved so satisfactory that the de-
partment as a whole had laid its
eighty palpitating hearts at her feet
in token of the great love they bore
her. Among these hearts none beat
more warmly than that belonging to
Florabel—named as a compromise be-
tween what the deaconess considered
fitting and her mother’s leaning
toward Floradora—and she listened
with unfeigned admiration to her
bosom friend, Louisa May, who was
holding forth vigorously.
“It ain’t no difference what Miss
Sweeting done. I guess Miss Devons
ain’t no such slop, no ma’am, she ain’t.
You see if she don’t give us elergant
presents an’ no Bibles nor prayer-
books, neither. Them’s for confirma-
tion, an’ me an’ Florabel’s goin’ up
this year, an’ so’s six others from
the department, so what would she!
be givin’ us prayer-books now for?
An’ ain’t we got the Bibles for our
lessons? Them ain’t no Christmas
presents an’ I don’t care what you
says; it’s all a lie, anyway.”
The gentler Florabel shuddered at!
her friend’s fierce denunciations, while
feeling that they were none too strong
for any one who dared impeach Miss
Devon’s heart and judgment, but
Louise May’s opponent was undaunt-
ed.
“You shut yer face, Louisa May,”
she retorted, haughtily. “I tell yer I
was promoted from Miss Sweeting’s
class last week an’ before I left she
was tellin’ Miss Gray there was a
meetin’ of all the teachers, an’ they
was talkin’ over what we should have. |
An’ some says how we wasn’t to get
no useful things ’cause our mommers
should buy us clothes an’ umbrellas
an’ gloves, don’t yer know, but we
was to have somepin what would make |
us think what Christmas meant. An’|
Miss Sweeting she says nothin’ don’t
do that so quick as Bibles, an’ I asks
Mr. Brown could I get promoted an’
he sends me to the department.”
In spite of this overwhelming evi-
dence Louisa May’s faith in her teach-
er remained unshaken.
“I guess Miss Devons ain’t takin’
no orders from Miss Sweeting,” she
remarked. “Ain’t she boss over eighty |
in the department, an’ Miss Sweeting |
ain’t got only a dozen kids to mind.
An’ I don’t believe nothin’ ’bout them
useful things. Ain't we always got
rubbers an’ mittens when we asked?”
“Me mother wants I should get an
umber-ella,” remarked a small voice.
“The last one got broke on the stairs
when they was takin’ Mrs. Casey
away. Mommer helped the police
"cause she ain’t never been friends
with Mrs. Casey, an’ the umber-ella
got broke over her head.”
“Was it Mrs. Casey give your mom-
mer that black eye?” inquired Eliza
Friedman, eagerly. “We thought
mebbe ‘twas yer popper smacked her
when he was drunk last week.”
. At this intresting point the ring-
ing of a loud bell announced the open-
ing of the session, and the group raced
into the building, almost upsetting
one another in their eagerness to be
the first in the room where the de-
partment sat. Today there was an
unusually large attendance, and as
Miss Devons looked at the scanty gar-
ments and the bright faces she felt
a sudden desire to defy the element
which had insisted ir "the teachers’
meeting that the Christmas spirit
could best be inculeated by the pre-
sentation of elevating gifts, such as
books and pictures, rather than by al-
lowing the children to choose what
they wanted.
“If you give them useful things and
let them choose,” one decided matron
stated, “they and their families will
loc: upon Christmas as a glorified
bargain counter where they can get
what should come out of the family
earnings for the price of a few Sun-
day-school lessons.”
No useful gifts! And how could
Jim come out in this bitng weather
unless he had a sweater to cover his
thin chest? Were Mary's little red
hands to be chilblained all winter for
lack of a warm pair of gloves, and
was Flociace to arrive on wet Sun-
days drenched to the skin because the
family umbrella had been “broke over
Mrs. Casey’s head?” Miss Devons
vowed with the raskness of youth that
in her department at least the Christ-
mas spirit should be inculcated by
giving thes: children one chance in
wanted—provided always th: want
was within the lirits of the treasury
—and in this way should they be
filled with the Christmas joy and
learn to impart it to others. :
While she mused thus in the time
devoted to the preliminary instruction
of the different groups by the under-
teachers, she caught an ecstatic whis-
per from the corner behind her.
“What opens an’ shuts eyes,” Lena
was saying to her neighbor. “Nefer
haf I so seen, but so it iss. Blue eyes
and gold hair—ach, wie wunder-
schon!” .
“An’ yer goin’ to git it on Christ-
mas?”
“Sure, so haf mine rich uncle mine
mudder bromise. Ach, so glad am I
der Christ-kind ist gekommen!”
Lena’s blond head bent over the les-
son once more and Miss Devons
sprang to her feet and rang the bell
sharply. No need to call twice for
attention that day! Every head was
turned toward their beloved teacher,
every eye was glued upon her with
an intensity that was almost painful
as she began to speak. :
“Jou know,” she said, “that Christ-
mas will be here in three weeks, and
you know that the Sunday school
gives each of its scholars a present.
Now, I have decided that you may
choose your own, and I hope you'll
get what you like in that way. What
is it, Eliza?” ;
The small person who was agitat-
ing a grimy hand piped up excitedly,
“Could I get a necklace of red
stones, teacher? Me aunt’s got one
what’s just grand!”
“I’m afraid not,” said Miss Devons,
decidedly. “I was going to tell you
that I can’t give any jewelry. You
see, real jewelry costs a great deal,
and I don’t think imitation is nice
for any one to wear.”
“I told yer they was real shiners,”
whispered Louisa May, wildly, to
Florabel, with whom a running fight
as to Miss Devons’ hatpins of bril-
liants had been waged for two weeks.
a said she wouldnt have nuthin’
else.”
“And,” pursued Miss Devons, un-
conscious of the fatal construction
placed upon her words, “while you
know Santa Claus is very generous,
still he has so many little boys and
girls to look after that you mustn’t
ask for white elephants. I mean,” she
corrected herself hastily, “I can’t get
you very big presents, but I’ll try to
get what you ask for if you’re reason-
able. You must all write me letters
and tell me what you want. Give me
a choice, mention sizes, and write at
once or Santa Claus will be late.”
From the back row came a snicker,
and a hoarse voice muttered:
“Say, what’s she stringin’ us about
Santa for? We ain’t no kids.”
“All right, George,” said Miss De-
vons, who was popularly credited with
a pair of ears for every corner of
the room. “If there’s no Santa Claus,
then there are no presents.”
“I was only foolin’,” responded the
abashed George. “Say, kin I git a
pair of roller skates?”
“I'll see,” said Miss Devons, wisely
refusing to commit herself until she
had p~iced the articles. “You must
write tie the size, you know.”
“Dat’s all right,” shouted Mark
O'Reilly. “You kin git em for sev-
enty-five cents, an’ dat’s what you
got to spend.”
“I wants ’em half-clamp,” shouted
George, losing hold temporarily upon
the Christmas spirit. “You none of
you deserve anything. You sha’n’t
have a present if you don’t behave
yourselves. I have told you you must
write for what you want—yes, you
may use postals—and, children, please
remember that Christma. is the time
for giving rather than for getting,
‘and try to be very grateful for what-
‘ever you get.”
She repeated this caution the next
week after having perused some fifty
letters. -
i “I'm afraid,” she said, “that some
of you are going to be disappointed
‘if you expect what you have written
for. Lily, dear, can’t you think of
something you want besides furs? I
can’t get you furs, but if you’d like
‘a work-box?”
“Yes, ma'am; I
sighed Lily, wearily; and Miss Dev-
ons again exhorted the class to re-
member their blessings. At intervals
during the lesson George inquired
whether his skates were bought and
if Miss Devons had remembered they
were to be half-clamp, until she told
him that he might as well stop talk-
ing, as he would know nothing about
it until Christmas Eve. Mark also
had a request to proffer, He desired
a football, and he suggested that the
extra money be taken off the teddy-
bears which some of the younger girls
wanted and which would cost less.
what makes ’em,” he whispered,
hoarsely, hanging over the back of his
teacher’s chair when he was supposed
to be pointing out Samaria on the
map. “He gets em awful cheap.
Shall I order yer a whole bunch? Yer
makes money dat way.”
When the class was dismissed the
gentle little teacher who looked after
part of the girls’ section approached
Miss Devons timidly. :
“If you wouldn’t mind,” she said,
softly, “I have a favor to ask.”
“Certainly, Bertha,” said Miss Dev-
ons. “What is it?”
“Florabel and Louisa May,” said
the little teacher, nervously. “They
are such good girls—if it wouldn’t
be too much, could they have little
crosses to hang round their necks?
They do want them so much and I
said I would ask you.”
Miss Devons beckoned the two, who
were Seeding apart, watching the in-
terview breat! losis:
“Come here, chicks,” she said. “Why
do you want crosses?”
Florabel twisted her legs around
each other, but Louisa May spoke up
bravely. :
“Crosses is lovely,” she said. “We
ain’t old enough to be Girls’ Friend-
ly an’ we can’t get ’em no other
way. Giuseppe says his folks always
wears em. An’ they ain't just Jewel-
ry, so Mr. Brown can’t say nothin’
if we wears ’em to church, an’ _ we
think they'd look just elegant. Miss
Sandbourne she give all her girls
crosses last Easter an’ we thinks meb-
be we’d be better girls if we had ’em.
An’ Florabel’s aunt she’s goin’ to
ali the long year to have what they | L
! crosses.
ain’t pertikler,”
“Me uncle’s got a pull wit’ a man |
give us the chains if we get the
She paused, out of breath, and Miss
Devons pondered the motives.
“After all,” she reflected, “I sup-
pose we all mix up things, though we
aren’t always so honest about it.
Well, girls,” she continued aloud, “if
Miss West says you deserve them”—
(“Oh yes,” interjected the little teach-
er, radiantly)—“then we'll see what
we can do.”
“If it should be too much,” said
Bertha, timidly, when the children
had gone, “I'd love to make up the
difference.”
Bertha worked in a tobacco factory
and coughed early and late, but every
Sunday morning found her at her
post, and she looked genuinely disap-
pointed when Miss Devons assured
her that the cost of the crosses would
be slight.
Meanwhile the scholars were again
assembled in conclave outside.
“You see,” asserted Lily Hammond.
“We don’t get what we asks for. I
told yer ’twas a trick to keep us
here.”
“It ain’t so,” exclaimed Florabel,
hotly.
nobody. You wait and see.”
“I'll wait,” assented Lily, gloomily.
“But I don’t get nothin’ fine; yer can’t |
fool me. Asks us what do we want
an’ then gives us work-baskets.”
“She don’t, either,” asserted Louisa
May. “She gives us—"” Pride almost
caused her to betray the promised
cross, but prudence stopped her in
time. Suppose something should pre-
vent her getting it—what a triumph
for Lily!
“Oh, I guess so!” exclaimed the lat-
ter, bitterly. “Favor-ite! Favor-ite!”
She jeered at the two friends with
extended tongue and feet wide apart.
All thought of the influence of the
coming Christmas fled from Louisa
May's mind, and she leapt hotly at
her tormentor, who sought safety in
flight.
During the next week the letters
poured in, and Miss Devons struggled
between tears and laughter as she
read them. Giuseppe, the dark-eyed
Italian, wrote in a painfully labored
hand that anything his dear teacher
gave him would fill his heart with
joy. Little Paul wrote—“pleas send
me a elektrik batry. Yours truly,
Mr. Paul Smith.” “I don’t want no
white elefunts but a first-rate foot-
ball. Mery Xmas.”
. When all the lists were made out
in carefully arranged groups Miss
Devons sallied forth to buy. Begin-
ning with the highest, she soon de-
scended to the lowest shops, and pur-
sued a frenzied course through the
crowded aisles in pursuit of the glit-
tering “Christmas bargain.”
“I know,” she moaned, resting her
weary feet for a moment by sinking
against a counter when she met an
equally harassed friend; “I said 1
would go nowhere except to the White
List shops, but what am I to do when
this place has teddybears cheaper
than anywhere else, and the only
seventy-five cent sweaters in town
are across the way? Oh, I think I
shall die! Why didn’t I give them
all Bibles?” :
At last came the eventful night and.
the hour for distribution. Miss Devons
felt repaid for all her hard work
when she saw little Paul’s face as
he carried off the coveted battery, and
George’s shout of joy when he fitted
on the skates made her forget the
weary weeks of labor. Giuseppe’s dark
eyes spoke eloquently of his grati-
tude for the warm silk muffler, and
Louisa May and Florabel nearly wept
for joy on seeing their small gold
crosses. It was a happy,
a weary but satisfied teacher that
dragged herself home that night.
But alas for the self-satisfied!
next Sunday Miss Devons, glowing
with pride, entered the room to find
Lily Hammond absent and Florabel
without her faithful companion.
Moreover, the little girl wore such
a dejected air that Miss Devons feared
some catastrophe had befallen her,
and she kept her after the hour to
inquire into the trouble. But Flora-
bel stood before her, the large tears
welling up and trickling down her
cheeks unheeded, while she regarded
her teacher with a sad, reproachful
look, wofully different from the for-
mer admiring gaze she was wont to
bestow upon her.
“But what is it, dearie?” asked
Miss Devons, drawing the forlorn lit-
tle figure to her side. “And where is
Louisa May 7”
“She’s home. She ain’t feelin’ good,
Miss Devons,” sighed Florabel.
“What’s the matter? She hasn't
hurt herself, has she ?”
“Yes, ma’am; at least Lily Ham-
mond hurt her the day after Christ-
mas. They had an awful fight an’
Lily clawed her somethin’ fierce. An’
Louisa May she can’t go out ’cause
her eye's all bloody an’ the doctor
thinks mebbe she’d lose it.”
“My dear child!” exclaimed Miss
Devons in horror. “What ever made
Lily do such a dreadful thing? And
where is she today?”
“She ain’t comin’ any more, ma’am.
She’s got an awful mad on her an’
her mommer she’s ad, too. You give
Lily a teddy-bear ’stead of furs or
a work-box, an’ she says you was a
liar. An’ Louisa May tells her she’s
one herself an’ Lily claws her.”
Too late Miss Devons reembered.
Lily, having written for no second
choice, had been set down in the list
of those who had expressed no pref-
erence, and, being a newcomer, her
age had escaped the teacher’s mem-
ory, and she had been presented, like
the smaller girls, with a teddy-bear.
With a sinking heart Miss Devons
sought to discover why she was also
branded as a liar. On this point
Florabel was reluctant to speak, but
by dint of much gentle cross-exam-
ination her teacher discovered that
Lily had accused her of having given
“joolry” in the shape of gold crosses
to her favorites while refusing it to
the rest of the class.
“An’ I says it ain’t joolry an’ she
says it is, too. An’ I says it ain’t
imitation, anyway, an’ Lily says you
wears that yourself an’ you haven't
no right to be talkin’ against it. She
says them pins ain’t real shiners an’
we says they is because you says peo-
ple ain’t to wear imitation. An’ Lily
says you lies an’ Louisa May hits
The
“Miss Devons she don’t trick .
grateful |
throng that finally left the room, and |
1
her and then they fights somethin’
fierce.”
Poor Louisa May! As Miss Devons
thought of the little martyr she felt
inclined to weep herself. ;
Florabel’s own tears gushed forth
afresh as she surveyed her fallen idol,
and Miss Devons picked her up bodily
and nestled her in her lap while she
wiped away the tears and strove to
make clear the difference between
hatpins of brilliants and imitation
diamond rings. Comforted more by
bel at last allowed herself to be
| soothed, and suggested a visit to the
afflicted heroine.
“Ain’t she the foolish one?” re-
marked Mrs. Franke, cheerfully, as
the visitors entered. “I tells her soon-
er she stops cryin’ she gets well, but
it ain’t no good me talkin’. She thinks
a heap of her Sunday school teacher,
an’ I guess mebbe you can help her.”
Miss Devons again gathered into
her arms a forlorn little bundle, and,
after some degree of comfort and to
ascertain that the injury was, in com-
parison to Florabel’s report, a slight
cone. Somewhat shattered by these
harrowing events, she made her way
toward Lily Hammond’s house and
encountered the acid * gaze of Mus.
: Hammond, sitting in state in her front
room heavily ornamented with chro-
mos and plush furniture.
She listened in bitter silence to
Miss Devons’ remarks, and then re-
! plied, acidly:
“I'm much obliged to you for com-
ing, Miss, but I guess Lily don’t £0
to your Sunday-school no more. That
child’s been sitting up nights to get
her lessons, and when Christmas come
you give my girl a teddy-bear. I guess
we ain’t going to stand no favoritism
like that. Lily throws the bear away,
and now she’s attending to the St.
Joseph Sunday-school, where they
think a heap of her. I don’t hold with
favorites myself.”
“I have already explained to you,”
: wrath, “how the mistake occurred.”
i “I guess,” said Mrs. Hammond, with
lofty scorn, “that we don’t need to
. be askin’ for no presents. I give my
children all the presents they need.”
Suddenly and silently Miss Devons
left the room. She drew a lon
{ breath and broke forth into bitter
speech to herself.
“No more Christian spirit than a
heathen Chinee. Favoritism, indeed!
That child has been making trouble
ever since she came and what she de-
served was a good whipping! It was
favoritism not to give it to her, and
I hope she'll get it some day. As for
her mother, she is a dreadful woman
and I hope I shall never see her
again. Another minute and I should
have thrown the stove at her. I am
thankful Lily is not coming to Sun-
day-school any more and I wish I had
told Mrs. Hammond so. Never again
will I try to please any one! These
people haven’t the slightest concep-
; tion of the Christmas spirit.”
She walked three blocks with angry
energy and then paused to laugh help-
essly,
“I guess,” said Miss Devons to the
Easy Side at large-—“I guess I've got
an awful mad on me!”
New Automobile Law.
Failure to have a windshield clean-
er on your automobile is an offense
under the new motor vehicle code of
Pennsylvania, according to announce-
ment by the Keystone Automobile
club, which lists a number of prac-
; tices now permitted which will be for-
bidden under the new law, effective
January 1.
Roland E. Price, manager of the
i club’s legal department, urges motor-
ists of Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey to familiarize themselves with the
new provisions, to avoid embarrass-
ment or the danger of arrest when
the law is in operation.
The average motorist has neither
the time nor the inclination to wade
through a mass of legal phraseology
to determine what he can or cannot
do in the operation of his car. To
assist in giving him a working knowl-
edge of some of the salient points of
the new law affecting daily use of
his motor, the following summary has
been prepared:
After January 1, it will be unlaw-
ful in Pennsylvania to:
Loan registration plates to another.
Fail to have a windshield cleaner.
Fail to have rear view mirror.
Have any plates, cards or lettering
of an obscene or vulgar nature at-
tached to the car.
Have any posters non-transparent
on the windshield or windows.
Drive with more than three per-
sons on the driver’s seat.
Coasting down grade with gears in
neutral. |
Fail to report to police every acci-
dent where injury resulted or damage
exceeded $50. :
Deface, injure or damage any high-
way sign. :
Park or stop in front of any pri-
vate driveway. :
Park within 25 feet of intersection.
Drive faster than 15 miles an hour
when passing a school while children
are going to or from the building.
Se another vehicle closer than
is reasonable and proper.
Operate a vehicle faster than 35
miles an hour on the open highway.
Fail to yield the right of way to
pedestrian crossing at a pedestrian
cross-walk, except at traffic control
points.
Real Estate Transfers.
T. M. Gramley, et al, to Ralph E.
Spock, trustee, tract in Gregg Twp.;
$900.
Ralph E. Shook, et al, to Dairymen
League Company or Association, tract
in Gregg Twp.; $850.
Bellefonte Trust Company, Exec.,
to J. M. Cunningham, tract in Belle-
fonte; $100.
0. J. Harm to Phoebe W. Harm,
tract in Bellefonte; $1.
M. E. Corman, et al, Exec., to Solo-
mon Shay, tract in Milesburg; $65.
J. Harris Green, Exec., to Solomon
Shay, tract in Milesburg; $50.
Anna Andrews to George O. Miller,
| tract in Huston Twp.; $1.
B. H. Arney, et ux, to
Tate, tract in Centre Han;
Agnes J.
$2,700.
the petting than by the logic, Flora-
said Miss Devons, gulping down her .
| FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN.
| DAILY THOUGHT
{ aa——
! When the Yule log burns upon the earth,
With carol, chime and Christmas cheer,
A fire should kindle in each soul
{ To gladden all the coming year.
—DLouisa M. Alcott.
| Is your Christmas gift to the house
‘this year to be one that will be used
‘in the kitchen? If so, let us—old
‘veterans that we are in this business
—make a few suggestions about se-
i lecting articles that are well made,
' good looking and designed to lighten
some of the numerous tasks involved
in doing one’s housework.
Now a fine contraption, not at all
new, but nevertheless interesting,
which looks as though it might be a
mouse trap or a bird cage, is a device
which every salad-eating family should
possess. Washing lettuce or spinach
leaf by leaf is a tedious affair in-
deed; but if you use this basket the
under the faucet and set to drain with
but one handling. The wire washer
filled with the vegetable may also be
placed right in the refrigerator un-
til time for cooking or serving. The
one in the photograph costs only a
litle over a dollar and during "the
course of a year it will save many a
water-soaked finger and much kitchen
time.
A self-seal porcelain pudding mold
saver as well as a labor-saver. A fun-
nel up through the center of the
mold permits the heat of the boiling
water to reach the interior of the
pudding as well as the outside, and
so a shorter period of cooking is ade-
quate,
The mold must first be well but-
tered. (In buying a pastry brush, get
one with an adjustable cap which will
release the bristles for a thorough
washing). Then the pudding batter
poured in, and, as in the case of the
open dish in the photograph, a dab
of pie crust or dough is pressed into
the funnel. When the lid is put on
this forms a tight seal which is fur-
ther strengthened by wrapping the
mold with heavy strings which fit into
grooves at the outside edges. This
8 | crockery mold is made of good pot-
tery and costs only $2.
Another mold, similar in purpose,
has an adjustable band around the
top by which the cover is secured af-
ter the batter has been poured in. The
bowl of this one is made of heavy
china, the metal parts are bright and
shiny. It comes in several sizes, vary-
ing from $2 to $6 in price.
Crockery molds for ‘setting” pud-
dings in fancy shapes are helpful in
preparing festive dinners whether for
guests or just for big family gather-
ings. They may be had in individual
or in large sizes, in ovals or rounds.
The individual molds cost a bit over
50 cents each, the larger ones sell for
a bit under $2.
While we are on the subject of des-
serts we’ll mention the new pastry
flaker which sells for 25 cents. The
working part consists of a wire mesh
on a strong oval-shaped frame. There
is_a conveniently shaped haandle to
hold it by while you chop up and
down, mixing the shortening into the
flour. This functions the same, al-
though it is differently constructed
from a pastry flaker which we test-
ed and wrote up several years ago.
That one consisted of about eight
strong wires bent in a semi-circle and
fastened into a strong, straight bar,
which was the handle. It is a well-
made piece and certainly facilitates
the process of pie making; its one
drawback is that it is not on sale in
the east. but must be ordered parcel
post from California.
The housekeeper who entertains
largely, if not lavishly, will like a box
of cooky or sandwich cutters—six dif-
ferent shapes, all of minute dimen-
sions. A box of them costs 60 cents.
The bowl of oatmeal and milk will
be enhanced beyond measure for the
two-year-old if he can eat it off a
decorated tray on which Little Boy
Blues and jumpingjacks prance and
strut in waterproof colors. Such trays
are made to fit right over the high-
chair rack, and the price does not ex-
ceed what one would naturally want
to spend on a charming young man at
Christmas time.
The same youngster will no doubt
be delighted with the nice, big, Shing ;
ball which the store man says is for
cooking rice. It is hinged at one side
and fastens shut with a funny little
latch at the other, and when partly
filled with rice is dropped into a pot
of bubbling hot water for the cooking
process. The rice doesn’t need stir-
ring, of course, and since it is inac-
cessible within the ball you can’t dig
at it experimentally with your long-
handled spoon, as you are very likely
to do in spite of all directions.
We can see all manner of ways in
which this ball will be used in addi-
tion to its role in the kitchen. The
baby will use it in defense against
those silly adults who palaver over
him in his helpless state. We ~an just
see him whanging Aunt Ella in the
ear with it when she simpers at him.
When your twelve-year-old daughter
rigs up for a performance of the
eighth-grade kitchen band, that ball
will probably have a prominent place
in her costume. For such a versatile
article, it is moderately priced at a
bit over $2.
Any woman who loves to cook will
delight in having a bright, shiny pot
of good proportions in which she can
simmer a soup for days at a time, or
stew a tough old fowl, or do a pot
roast. The one in the photograph is
made of fine quality spun aluminum
and comes in four or five different
sizes, costing $5 and up.
A fry pan isn’t just a fry pan any
more, or a skillet either. There may
be in its make-up that which will
make or mar an omelet. One with
a bottom of three-ply metal air holes
on the under side gives well-dis-
tributed heat to the cooking surface
and makes burning of food an excep-
tion. This fry pan costs $4.50 and is
on sale in practically every depart-
ment store in town. ~~
Another fry pan which is made of
fine grade aluminum has an extra
long handle which is separated from
the pan itself by a small band of non-
heat-conducting material; and this
sells for but little over $2.
vegetable may be rinsed thoroughly | bl
which eliminates using a bag is a fuel b
FARM NOTES.
THE PENNSYLVANIA HEN,
See that all market crops that are
to be held over winter are protected
against freezing and other damage.
. Wrap favored specimen evergreens
in burlap or, if small, protect them
with board shelters from drying win~
ter winds.
Do not delay your order for trees
for next spring’s planting too long,
say foresters of the Pennsylvania
State College. Determine what you
need, how many, get a blank, and send
your order in.
Is your seed corn properly cured so
that it will pass through freezing
weather undamaged? It is a valua-
ble commodity on any farm this year
2g every ear should be saved if pos-
sible.
Do not feel
house plants do
disappointed if the
n not show profuse
oom during December. Short days,
cold nights, and unfavorable indoor
conditions will affect blooming, but
if the plants are supplied with water,
fresh aid, stimulation, and warmth
they will make a brave showing later;
In pruning grapes remember that
the third to the eighth bud will pro-
duce better grapes than will the first
two buds. On this account pruning
to arms of 8 or 10 buds is far superior
to the old method of pruning to two
uds. Of course where 8 or 10 bud
arms are left the number of arms is
cut down to a quarter of the number
formerly left.
She cackles.
She has something to cackle about.
. She earns about one-tenth of all the
Income on Pennsylvania farms,
She has made Pennsylvania one of
the five leading egg and chicken pro-
ducing States.
he is responsible for the many
eggs in Pennsylvania each year that
if placed end to end they would reach
43,000 miles, almost twice around the
world. Her “son” never sets.
. Protection of the hive is a two-
sided job since it means not only pro-
tection against cold, but also against
wind. Apiaries situated where there
1S a good windbreak will do well. The
best windbreak is afforded by ever-
greens which allow the wind to sift
gently through the apiary. A slatted
fence is good, but solid breaks are
inefficient, often diverting the wind
without checking itsforce.
In most localities, the hives should
also be packed in some efficient way.
Where warm days occur frequently
enough to allow the bees to fly, a
good packing is given by leaf or straw-
filled chicken wire nets, cut to sur-
rund the hives on three sides, The
packing material should be as thick
as possible—at least six or eight.
inches—and come well up about the:
hives. A leaf-filled super placed over
burlap covering the frame makes a
snug top packing. The nets may be
tied about the hives with bailing wire,
crossing the fronts, and attached to
slats nailed at the edges of the nets.
Hive entrances must be contracted to:
about two inches.
In colder regions, where long,
closed winters are the rule, cellar win-
tering is preferable—almost necessary
sometimes—although some beekeep--
ers in such locations succeed in win-
tering out-of-doors.
Feed the syrup while still warm in
feeders which may be inverted over:
the frames and surrounded by bur-
lap or other material to keep the heat.
in. An empty super serves as a cham-
ber for the feeders and allows the
closing of the hive. The best all-pur-
pose feeder is a five-pound, friction-
top pail, with small nail holes punched
in the cover.
Autumn is the time to protect bulb:
plantings from destruction by moles,
mice, and pocket gophers. Tt is in
spring that complaints arise over
damage done by these burrowing ani-
mals and this damage is best pre-
vented in fall, the season when tu-
lips and lilies are commonly planted.
At this time of year the moles, mice
and pocket gophers are settling them-
selves for the winter, storing food,
and creating underground passage-
ways to their food supplies. Moles,
themselves, do not injure bulbs, ex-
cept by tearing them with their feet.
But there is.a" working partnership
between-moles and rodents, particu-
larly meadow mice, under which the
mice use the mole tunnels.
Pocket gophers, in particular are
active in early autumn, gathering
much more food than they can eat
and storing it convenient to their bur-
rows, and in chambers excavated at
the sides of their tunnels.
For both mice and pocket gophers
poison is the best method of eradica-
tion. A good poison for pocket go-
phers is green clover leaves picked
when free from dew or rain and pow-
dered with strychnine alkaloid at the
rate of 1 ounce of powder to ten
pounds of the leaves. Biologists of
the United States department of ag-
riculture say that the clover should be
placed directly in an uncovered run-
way, which is then carefully plugged
to prevent dirt getting on the leaves
and then recovered with earth to
darken the tunnel. Cloves leaves are
better than poisoned root baits be-
cause they are more readily caten, for
the gophers are likely to store the
roots.
Mice may be poisoned with whole
wheat mixed with a strychnine starch
paste dropped into little holes made
by the rodents, or placed under boxes
or in tin cams, or in the mole run-
ways the mice are using.
As yet no reliable mole poisoning
method has been developed, because
these animals, unlike the rodents, live
chiefly on living prey, such as worms
and insects. Trapping with choker-
loop traps and scissor-jaw traps is
recommended. :
Bulletins prepared by the Biological
Survey giving detailed instructions as
to the best methods of trapping and
poisoning have been prepared and
may be obtained by writing to the
United States-Department of Agri-
culture, Washington, D. C. Rodent
and mole eradication work in the fall
is much more certain to save the
bulbs than is work undertaken when
the damage becomes apparent. The
bulbs that are damaged by animal
pests in the fall fail to grow the next
spring.