Bellefonte, Pa., October 25, 1829.
A BALE OI' RAGS.
When the Duke of Athens, one of
the most wayfaring of ocean tramps,
swung from Millwall docks into the
river, rounded the Forelands, kept
clear of Goodwin Sands and cleverly
avoided numerous other marine
traps and pitfalls on the route to |2ag
the little south-coast harbor of New-
haven where she had to take on
more freight, the only passenger
was Charles Rolingston, who was
taking out a pack of hounds to
his Wyoming ranch, with a view to
finding out whether the coyotes of
that region could run as straight
as the foxes of WNorthampto re.
But with the numerous bales of rags
shipped at Newhaven came on
board a mud-colored individual, in
a great state of excitement, in whom
Rolingston recognized as an old
acquaintance, Jonathan Strange, the
Lewes nag merchant. Rolingston
had much difficulty in preventing his
hounds from being buried beneath
the musty and unsavory cargo, over
the stowing of which Strange was
making a great fuss. He had
every bale ticketed, and nothing
would suit him but that they should
be stowed away in numerical order.
like a child in a tidy fit over his
toys.
Jonathan was a many-sided per-
sonage. He owned a few racers, was
a licensed pawnbroker, and, the un-
charitable said, a fence. But rags
were his standby. Lewes was not
large enough for his operations, and
he had acquired control of the out-
put of Brighton, Eastbourne and
other watering places. Though of
pure Sussex stock, he was one of
the few gentiles who could patter
Yiddish, his different occupations
throwing him much among the us-
ers of that jargon, and his affinity
for them often stood him in good
stead. He was full of narrative after
the fourth gin and ginger. “Now,”
he said to Rolingston, “I think I
can do a bit of business in the
States. It seems that they wear
their clothes so long over there, or
have such poor stuff to start with,
that American rags are no use for
making the better kinds of paper.
Now, I have fine rags, beautiful,
splendid.”
That Strange was greatly inter-
ested in rags seemed evident to Rol-
ingston, for whenever he went below
to look after his hounds he always
found Jonathan admiring his
smelling property. What with the
ship smell, the kennel smell and the
rag bouquet, it was no bed of roses
below decks in the Duke of Athens.
One calm afternoon, after many
days, the tramp steamed slowly in-
to the harbor of New York, and the
rancher parted from the rag mer-
chant, not expecting to see him
again, unless they should sometime
meet in old England.
Jonathan Strange got his rags
through the customs without diffi-
culty, and, with the assistance of a
Mr. Lewis Colquhoun, at once at-
tended to the distribution of the
bales. Here it was that the utility of
the numbers appeared. There are
a great many varieties of rags, and
the samples were carefully graded,
according to the purposes for which
they were to be used. The bales
numbered from 100 upward were | their English cannot be
sent to various eastern points where | with
they arrived in safety, and drop out
of this story. Bales Nos. 1 to 50,
inclusive, were linen rags of a very
high quality and were consigned to
a paper mill in San Francisco. Of
course, this shipment would not pay
for freight, but if these samples
gave satisfaction, Strange intended
to supply the mill by the ship-load
by the way of Cape Horn. Bales
Nos. 51 to 100 were carted up to the
warehouse of Mr. Colquhoun, where
they were to serve as specimens
for the New York trade. They were
all kinds—good, bad and indifferent.
Colquhoun and Strange looked them
rapidly over. “No. 91, I think you
said it was?” remarked Colquhoun.
“Yes,” answered Strange. “Should
be linen.”
“Linen it is,”
“Help me drag it out and open it.”
This was done and therags were
spread out till it seemed as if they
would cover acres. Jonathan was
down on his knees among them,
and Colquhoun was equally inter-
ested. They appeared to be in
search of something they could not |
find.
Suddenly Jonathan arose from
his stooping attitude and eagerly
examined the number painted on
the hoop of the bail. “Good Lord !”
replied Colquhoun. !
| carried back to Tie Siding
through a short catechism, which
was repeated with variations by
every subsequent conductor. “You
say the stuff in that car belongs to
you. What is it?”
“Rags.”
“Rags? Oh rats! what did you
want to do if you did get in?
Here Strange explained that his
rags were, or should be, very fine,
handsome rags, but that one bale of
much inferior stuff had been ship-
ped by mistake, and being a sam-
ple shipment, he wanted to get it
out before arrival, so as not to dam-
e his future trade. This was a
trifie thin, but the best he had to
offer. :
‘Well, I can’t let you in. The car
is sealed and billed through. It'd
cost me my job on the road.”
To offer a large bribe was evi-
dently inconsistent with his story.
A small one was manifestly inade-
quate. So Jonathan reconciled him-
self to the prospect of chasing ca-
booses in the middle of the night,
living on doughnuts and rail-road
station coffee, and enduring the joys
of traveling by freight all the way
to San Francisco. The conductors,
seeing that he was no ordinary
tramp, but one provided with good
cigars and a frequent inexhaustible
bottle, passed him on from one to
another as a harmless crank, made
mad by many rags. Thus he work-
ed his weary way on to the Union
Pacific, through Nebraska, where he
already knew his car by make and
shape without looking at the number
—11038—past Cheyenne and over
Sherman Summit, till the smoke of
Laramie hung far below and dis-
tant many miles, when— Smash,
Smash, Bang, Brrrrrrrr.
Neither more or less than a col-
lision with the caboose of the pre-
ceding train which had uncoupled
itself and was stranded with a
broken axle. Engineer and fireman
had jumped, the crew of the help-
less caboose were at a safe dis-
tance, and the only person damaged
to speak of was Strange, who was
on a
hand car, and, with serious concus-
sion and a dislocated elbow, retired
from active pursuit of his quest for
the time. But car No. 11038 had
been next to the engine, and, piled
on top of it, was now a blaze. Tight-
ly-packed rags, however, are not
very inflammable, and only seven
bales were severely scorched. The
remaining 43 were soon put in an
uninjured, car and sent on to their
destination.
While Strange was tossing anx-
iously and feverishly on his cot in
a six room “hotel” at Tie Siding
kindly ministered to by a stout
landlady, his fellow-traveler of the
Duke of Athens was scarcely 10
miles distant down the hill, on his
ranch.
Two days after the freight
smashup, there crawled into Roling-
ston’s main yard a dilapidated team,
dragging on four wheels a great
mound of rubbish, upon which two
men were perched. Before they had
laboriously alighted Lucy Rolingston
had already christened—if that
word is allowable—one of them
Jerusalem, because he was old and
full of sorrows, and the other Nine-
veh, because he was oiled and curl-
ed, with greasy black ringlets cov-
ering his ears, though he was on a
rather small scale for an Assyrian
bull. There was .no doubt from
whence their ancestors had come.
They themselves apparently were
recently from middle Europe, and
rendered
justice to its quaintness.
Nineveh did the talking, while Jeru-
salem gazed with rapt and prophet-
ic air at the ash-heap. Rolingston
fancied however, that Jerusalem
was really in command.
Nineveh’s inquiries began with re-
gard to scrap-iron and broken stoves,
proceeding to bottles, for which he
quoted to Rolingston a market-
price of three cents per dozen, and
wound up with old clothing. “Rags,”
quoth Nineveh, “rags ish goot. Ve
did great piz’nish mit rags at Tie
Siding. Yes, sir, give us some more
Tie Siding rags.”
Jerusalem, at this point, cut the
communication short by dropping a
large piece of old iron on Nineveh’s
foot, and the two junk merchants
piled the Rolingston rubbish on top
of their own and departed.
Not many days afterward, Rol-
ingston was at the railway station
at Tie Siding and heard of an Eng-
lishman who had been injured in a
railroad accident, and had gone
stark, staring mad. Of course he
hunted him up, and of course it
proved to be Jonathan Strange, who
had then about recovered from his
concussion, but was still suffering
with his arm. He began to pour
out his troubles to his compatriot,
complaining that while he was
he gasped, “we have sent 91 on to sensible the railroad people had
San Francisco. This is 16, as you
can see by the bar under the 6.”
The two men stared hard at each
other. “You must start West to-
night,” asid Colquhoun, “and catch
that car. East of Chicago they
won't let you break the seals. Af-
ter that they won't be so strict, and
if it comes to the worst you must
follow that bale clear up to the
paper mill.”
Strange reached Chicago ahead of
the car of rags, but there his trib-
ulations began. He found out
that “Run along now, my good
man,” which is potent with an Eng-
lish railway “guard,” does not de-
velop any extraordinary activity in
an American ‘“conductor’—even of
a freight—and that even a quarter
does not, if accepted, elicit the
same amount of servility as a six-
pence. It was his first visit to
America, and he was not enjoying
|
sold the debris of the freight wreck
to a couple of peddlers, who had
vanished, and with them seven bales
of his rags. Then came the familar
story about the linen-rags samples
and the prospective San Francisco
trade which Jonathan now mourned
as ruined.
“Strange,” said Rolingston, “I
konw I am a fool, but I can’t swal-
low that. What have you got in
bale 917”
Jonathan paused, and then an-
swered hestitatingly, “Second-rate
linen rags.”
Rolingston sniffed, and reflected.
On the station platform he had met
Tom Virgil, a sheep-raiser, whose
ranch was about three miles from
his own. He had mentioned to Tom
the sale of his old junk and learned
that the peddlers were in negotia-
tion for Virgil's whole wool clip,
and had demonstrated their ability
himself. As a result of his various to pay several thousands for it.
breaks, the car eluded him at
Chicago and went serenely on its
western way. By dint of a good
deal of activity and the assistance
of an old engineer with compassion
for a fellow-countryman in distress,
he finally caught up with it at a
little doghole of a place in Iowa.
He was boldly clambering up the
side of the car, determined to effect
an entrance, when he was hauled
down by the coat-tails and a new
obstacle presented itself in the per-
son of a freight conductor. ‘Say,
old feller, you can’t ride in there !”
St , Who was rapi acquir-
tg. vistom, tad song, Tut bre
thus io an ally, took him
So the next day Rolingston drove
Strange over to where the peddlers
were camped, and he tackled them:
“I lost seven bales of rags in the
wreck at Tie Siding,” he said. “You
bought them.”
“” es.”
“I would like to buy them back
from you.”
‘My friend,” said Nineveh, “the
railroad company will pay you full
value for your loss. Those damag-
ed bales no goot to you now; ve
keep them.”
Strange tried a variation of the
good old story about the samples
and the danger of lo his trade,
but the Compassion ef s auditors
was not noticeably excited. “Have
‘you opened any of the bales?” he
| inquired, in desperation.
Nineveh looked at Jerusalem, who
solemnly nodded. Thus encouraged,
Nineveh, repiled, “Yes, they vash
very goot rags; but ve found some
grit in one bale.”
Jonathan now swore, implored,
threatened and cajoled by turns,
and Nineveh was beginning to spit
and become abusive, when Strange
burst into a stream of Yiddish.
From that time on,
could only judge the conversation
by the tones and gestures of the
the new medium of communication
was having is effect. Jerusalem at
once began to take am active
part in the discussion, and Nineveh
was soon almost as much a spec-
tator as the rancher. Strange kept
up the imploring tone for a while
Jerusalem shaking his head vigor-
ously. Then the two ragmen step-
ped aside and held a consultation.
Next, Jerusalem made a proposition
to Strange, who hestitated and re-
fused it. Another consultation,
longer than the first, another prop-
osition; a volley of questions from
Strange, and then, evidently, agree-
ment. The three men shook hands,
and Rolingston drove Strange home
to his ranch, where his guest sur-
prised him by announcing that he
must start for England that very
night. Pumping failed to elicit any-
thing satisfactory.
“It is better for every one that
you should not know what is up,” he
said. “But I shall not forget your
kindness, and some day, when it
will do no harm, I will tell you
about bale 91.”
Ten yearrs later there came to
the Wyoming rancher, through the
hands of an English firm of solici-
tors a little package and a letter.
As civilized man—and a rancher is
partially civilized—looks to the
written word to explain the un-
known, Rolingston first read the let-
ter, which read thus:
“Dear Sir:—pursuant to the in-
structions of our late client, Jona-
than Strange, recently deceased, we
forward to you by International Ex-
press Co., charges prepaid, a parcel
to your address and we enclose
herewith a sealed letter relating
to it. Hoping you will favor us with
an :acknowledgement of the receipt
of the parcel and letter, we have
the honor to remain, Your obedient
servants, Jones, Welsh & Stratton.”
The letter inclosed was from
Strange himself and was as fol-
lows: “As I promised you in 1916,
I now take pen in hand, being
about to execute my will and other
important documents, to explain
the occurence about which I was
unable to enlighten you at the time.
Finding that my rag business and
other ventures were not going to
make me a millionaire any too soon,
I determined to have a little flutter
with the U. S. custom house. I
raised $125,000, bought diamonds
and packed ’'em safe and sound in
bale 91.
had promised me $175,000 for
parcel. How 91 went astray you
know, and talk how I would I
couldn't get the peddlers to shell
out. The Yiddish saved me.
beggars hung on to the stones, but
offered to start me in rags and dia-
Lord, what a backing they had!
Since that I have been at it steady—
diamonds, phenacetine and lots of
other stuff—and never a custom
house officer poked his blessed nose
into one of my odoriferous bales.
But unluckily I did, and one of ’em
had more bacilli to the square inch
than a culture tube, and that’s why
I'm writing this. Wasn't it a beast-
ly shame, when I was just getting
enough together to retire at my
ease? Well, the jig is up for me,
but the small sample of my riches
which you will get with this—dut
paid, mind you—will look well, I'm
sure, on your Lucy's hand, and will
serve as a reminder to you of a
day I have never forgotten, for it
was the one on which you set me
face to face with Jerusalem and
Nineveh.”
Charles Rolingston found the
sample of riches to be a fine, large
cut diamond, of the rare and valu-
able blue-white color, in the center
of a package contrived in the out-
ward semblance of a minature bale
of rags— From the Reformatory
Record.
MEN OUTNUMBER WOMEN
SIX TO ONE AT “STATE”
Reversing conditions that main-
tain for the summer session at the
Pennsylvania State College when
there are many more women stu-
dents than men, it is found that there
are almost six men for every wo-
man on the dampus for the fall
term. Enrollment statistics show
that of the 4056 undergraulates,
3447 are men and 609 are women.
The School of Agriculture con-
tinues to hold its place as one of
the leaders, six of whom are women.
Chemistry and Physics has 413 stu-
dents, 13 of them women; the School
of Enginering is again the largest
in the college, with 1116 students,
including six women in architecture.
The School of Educational Arts has
920 students, including 133 women.
The School of Mines and Metallurgy
is the only one not invaded by wo-
men this year, for it has 180 men.
These enrollments set a new high
record of attendance at Penn State,
130 in the graduate school setting
the grand total at 4186.
——— le —————
ROAD INSTALLS OLUB
SMOKER FOR LADIES
ly on the stronghold of masculine
privilege, have successfully stormed
another important fortification.
Though women for several years
have invaded the railroad club cars,
thereby nullifying the male right of
free speech, until now they have
been definitely classed as intruders,
who generally smoked their smoke
and hurried away.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
however, has tacitly admitted femi-
nine capture of this strong-hold by
establishing, on its Washington-New
York line, a single.standard car di-
vided into a smoking room, both
fitted with comfortable chairs and
seltees, library table and writing
el
Rolingston
participants, but it was evident that
monds as a regular trade, and Good |
American women battering instant. |
' DUMB ANIMALS SUFFER
IN FAULTY FREIGHT CAR.
| Mr. Philip F. Shall, who resides at
Cochranton, Penna. made a‘ trip
"into our western States where he
; purchased thirty-five head of yearl-
ing horses, which were loaded and
consigned for railroad shipment to
his home.
| The shipment was unloaded, fed
and watered in Wisconsin, where it
is reported, the authorities of the
railroad decided the car was over-
crowded and the horses were shipped
on to Cochranton in two cars. An-
other unloading and feeding took
place in Meadville, Penna., where in-
formation reached Mr. Shall, of aw-
ful conditions in the extra car load-
led at Milwaukee, but without cor-
recting these awful conditions, the
| horses were shipped on to Cochran-
ton, where the agent, Mr. Laskey
was called into the case.
The car used for this shipment had
numerous spikes driven into the
sides, apparently, for holding in place
some preceding shipment of a dif-
fernt nature. Two veterinaries ex-
amined the horses, along with the
agent and the owner, and six of them
were ordered to be destroyed by the
humane agent because of hopeless
mutilation. Eyes were pierced and
cut, and torn from the sockets; three
horses had broken legs; and the sides
of numerous horses were mutilated
with long slits and piercings. Ap-
parently, in instances of shifting the
cars on the train, these horses were
thrown back and forth, and the
spikes cut deep slits, causing swell-
ing. In some instances, the horses
‘legs seemed as thick as the weight of
, an average man. In this awful condi-
| tion, the horses were evidently re-
loaded into the same car, without as
much as taking concern to remove
the spikes or relieve the awful condi-
; tions of suffering. It is quite likely
that the horses with broken legs
were not removed from the car for
| feeding or watering, and therefore,
‘ remained in this serious agony with
high temperature and without so
i much as a drop of water to quench
their thirst through a period of a
number of days.
The exact time involved in this
shipment and available facts of con-
, ditions at different points along the
{road have not yet been determined.
Neither has it yet been determined
whether a messenger accompanied
: this car, or who the individuals are
{that can be held responsible, either
FARM NOTES.
—When poultrymen of western
Pennsylvania visited the farm of
Robort W. Lohr, in Somerset county,
on their recent annual tour he ex-
plains how 1,000 growing turkeys
each week ate an acre of second
growth clover. Placed in a yard
enclosing about three-fourths of an
acre, the birds satisfied their raven-
ous appetite for greens by getting
all the clover on the area in five
days.
—Growers are urged by entomol-
ogists and plant pathologists of
State College to take good care of
spraying equipment. Such care in-
cludes cleaning and oiling all work-
ing parts, checking to find worn or
broken parts so they can be replac-
ed, and housing the sprayer. No wa-
ter should be left in the sprayer, as
freezing will cause injury.
—Much of the injury to fruit
trees from rabbbits and mice can
be prevented by protecting the trees
before the snow comes. The county
agent can tell what measures to
employ.
—Leaf mold or other rich soil
should be placed ina box and stored
in the cellar before the ground
freezes. This material will come in
handy for repotting plants during
the winter. Lawns should be cut
until growth ceases but do not cut
too short the last time.
—This is just the time to lay
plans for woodlot thinning work
during the fall and winter. Let that
riot of autumn colors henceforth
cover all, straight, well-crowned,
sound trees of good growth and use-
ful kinds instead of “just trees.”
—The education of the foal
should not be postponed until it is
desired to break him as a 3-year-
old. Horse specialists of State Col-
lege recommend teaching subordina-
tion early to prevent the foal from
becoming willful or headstrong. A
foal responds quickly to kind and
patient treatment applied early.
—Use Barrel for Storage.—A large
barrel, buried in a horizontal posi-
tion in the side of a bank, makes
a convenient place to store small
amounts of root crops and cabbage.
Soil and straw or leaves are used
for covering the barrel. The barrel
| representing the railroad or the head makes a convenient door for
' shipper.
| The legal problems involved are
| very complicated, but every effort
(will be made to go into the matter
, thoroughly to fix the responsibility
and to prevent the repetition of
| such an awful experience.
|
|
THE LEAVES DIE TO ’
GIVE THE TREE LIFE.
| The falling of autumn leaves is
Colquhoun of New York | the annual sign that Mother Nature |
the | has made provision to save her trees |
from dying of thirst during the win.
er.
! This explanation, which may serve
The | to soothe the ruffled feelings of home *
; owners who are now busy raking up
| the leaves, comes from Martin L.
Davey, president of the Davey Tree
| Expert Co.
{ “On the average tree there are
| several acres of leaves—literally mil-
lions of them,” Davey said. “Ever
| leaf gives off water. But during the
| winter the tree’s roots absorb very
little moisture. Consequently if the
leaves remained on the tree and con- |
‘tinued to tap the water supply, the
i tree would die. So nature sentences
the leaves to death.
“The process used by nature to
make the leaves fall is complicated.
Weeks befoe the first frost she be-
y | gins to extract from the leaves all
the food substances which the leaves
manufacture and which the tree
needs, and gradually the leaves with-
er. Simultaneously, a thin-walled
layer of cells is formed at the base
of the leaf where it is attached to the
twig. This layer is a zone of weak-
ness so that eventually the leaf falls
of its own weight or is blown off by
the wind.
“The scar left by the falling of the
leaf is well protected by nature. It
immediately becomes covered with a
substance which is practically water-
proof. Since the bark of the tree
also is almost impervious to water,
the entire tree is practically bottled
up for the winter.”
Davey said that the long drought
last summer was responsible for the
early falling of the leaves in many
sections of the country this fall. Na-
ture hastened the leaf-dropping pro-
cess, he said, so that the tree would
not be robbed, through evaporation,
of the sap vital for its existence.
erm eecaseeee fees emer
SYSTEM OF TAG NUMERALS
Letters will be used in place of
certain numerals in Pennsylvania au-
tomobile licerse tags for 1930 after
the 99,999 mark is passed. Twenty
tags bearing only one letter each,
such as A, B, C, but not I, O, Q, T,
W, and X will be used on the pas-
senger car license tags. In addition
there will be 400 two-letter tags
which will be issued without numer-
als. The letter X will be used to des.
ignate dealers’ tags. O will be used
on the buses, taxis and automobile
for hire tags. W is too wide and will
not be used at all. I was taken out
of the usuable list because it is con-
fused with the numeral 1.
No tag will have more than five
numbers or a combination of more
Wen five numbers and letters in
1 1930.
emt
| FARMERS KILL DEER
I TO SAVE THEIR CROPS
Following unprecedented slaughter
of deer reported to have been de-
stroying crops field officers of the
. Game Commission have been direct-
! ed to investigate fully all such cases.
During September 215 deer were re-
ported killed by farmers as compar-
ed with seventy-nine in the same
month last year.
Farmers who kill deer and fail to
report each one are liable to the
: same fine as an illegal nunter.
Officers also have been instructed
to report existence of salt licks near
the borders of fields where farmers
have been killing deer.
this storage pit.
—Shredding all corn or stover not
ensiled helps to control the Euro-
pean corn borer. Do not let any of
the insects survive.
—Approximately 4 per cent of
the hogs on farms in the United
States died of cholera last year, says
the United States Department of
"Agriculture. In round numbers the
loss amounted to 2,250,000 hogs
valued at approximately $29,393,000.
'Nine States each lost more than
; 100,000 head of hogs from the dis-
ease.
While the disease is highly conta-
gious and is difficult to control, the
losses have been much higher than
they should be, since a preventive
serum is available, say department
experts. This serum, used before
‘animals get sick, combined with
strict sanitation and thorough disin-
fection after outbreaks, is the most
i effective known control measure.
| Dr. C. C. Lipp, a South Dakota
. veterinarian, urges a thorough clean-
up if it has not already been done.
! All accumulations of cobs must be
| burned. Then remove the manure to
' fields where no hogs are allowed.
. If possible, the lots should stand va-
| cant during the winter. Plow all
+ yards early in the spring and give
{the hogs new temporary pastures
| for a time. Sprinkle the yards as
‘soon as they are clear with air-
| slaked lime.
| After yards have been clean-
ed and disinfected the pens
must be given similar treat-
i ment. Scrape out all manure,
| feed and dried accumulations witha
' hoe or spade. Then spray floors,
! troughs, walls and partitions witha
| solution of sheep dip made by add-
ing twelve tablespoonfuls of dip to
each gallon of water. Use a spray
pump if possible because it drives
the disinfectant into the cracks and
corners. Repeat the process at fre-
quent intervals, allowing free circu-
lation of air an: plenty of sunshine.
After completiig the disinfecting
the entire interior of the house
should be thoroughly whitewashed.
Such a cleaning is not expensive
and greatly reduces the probability
of cholera next year. Even though
no disease has been present on the
place during the past season such a
process is well worth while.
—“Geese subsist largely on grass
during the growing season and are
the closet of grazers,” says Alfred
IR. Lee, author of Farmers’ Bulletin
767-F, “Goose Raising,” just pub-
lished in a revised edition by the
United States Department of Agri-
culture. Geese grow to much
heavier weights than chickens, but
the price per pound on the markets
is usually several cents less than
for chickens. Some of the
geese are sold from the farms to
specialists in the fattening of the
birds, and then go to market, large-
lation creates a demand.
The bulletin describes the principal
breeds of geese found in the United
States, the Toulouse, Emden, Afri-
can, Chinese, Wild or Canadian and
and Egyptian. It gives directions
for housing, selections and mating,
incubation, care and feeding of the
stock for market. An acre of grass
will supply nearly if not all the food
for from four to twenty-five geese,
with perhaps ten to an acre as an
average. In the South some cotton
growers keep geese for the sake of
their aid in keeping down weeds in
cotton fields.
Farmers’ Bulletin 767-F may be
obtained free upon request to the
Department of Agriculture, Wash-
ington, D. C.
_ Pennsylvania farmers lose $3,-
000,000 worth of property annually
in fires. This is the official Fire
Pre-
ly in the cities where foreign popu-
Prevention Week but every week.
should be observed as such.
FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN.
Daily Thought.
Man is a failure when he lets a day g¢
by without making someone happier anc
more comfortable.
OUR HALLOW-E’EN PARTY
. —Almost as soon as we had fin
ished celebrating the Fourth o
July the children began to tall
about a Hallowe'en party. We decid
ed to ask nine of the most inti
mate cronies. Early in October w:
brought down the biggest pumpkis
in the cornfield and the day befor
Hallowe’en we went shopping fo
the Party things needed.
The vitations were writte
on the backs of cardboard witche
and left by hand at the differen
houses.
The dining room was turned ove
to the children to decorate with th
aid of crepe paper, black cats, pa
per skeletons and other Hallowe'e:
symbols from town. Then we wen
down cellar and dressed up a witct
We stuffed 4 pair of long whit
gloves filled with tissue paper int
the sleeves of an old black dress s
that the hands showed. We drape
the dress over a box topped by a
inverted vegetable basket and set
paper hat and mask on top, wit
an orange paper fichu, a whit
apron and a broom on which th
witch appeared to lean.
A little way off on an orang
crate we set a tin cracker box wit
a candle to shed a ray of light o
our witch. Before her on the floc
we laid kindling wood with orang
paper. On the fire we set a larg
cauldron.
Around the ceHar we placed litt:
Jack O'Lanterns. Each lantern ha
a number on the back and unde
each was tucked a slip of pape
These slips looked perfectly plaj
but on each was written an amusin
fortune and the directions for
ing some simple stunt. The wri
ing was done by dipping a new pe
nip into a strong solution of soc
and water and letting it dry car
fully.
We then went back upstairs, tie
several apples to strings and fa
tened the ends to the top of a doo
way, letting the apples swing in
line with the children’s chins. The
we washed a box of raisins and le
them in a sieve to dry. Later we f
led little candy bags with them. C
a table in one corner we stood fa
ors and mottoes, paper plates ax
aprons, lolypops, candy bags and e
tra napkins.
The afternoon of the party v
made peanut butter and jelly san
wiches. Six of these with two ct
cakes we did up in an orange pap
napkin lined with oiled paper, tii
bag fashion with black ribbon. V
made a bag for each child, to¢
them down the cellar and deposit
them in the witch's cauldron.
Jack o'Lantern we made fra
the great pumpkin, stood him ou
side by the cellar door on ty
orange crates wrapped in a shes
and set his candle firmly inside. T
lest thing to do before the witch
began to arrive was to run out a:
light Jack’s candle.
With the stroke of seven the
were three raps on our cellar dos
answered from within by thr
whirrs of a wachman’s rattle and
jingling of a cowbell. Slowly t
door opened just enough to adn
a witch, a ghostly arm reached ¢
and a voice bade the witch ent
turn three times slowly and th
shriek. (The arm belonged to
friend in sheet and mask.) This :
itiation ceremony was followed w:
each succeeding visitor, who w
handed a bit of paper bearing
number in the order of her entrar
and directed to seek her fortune 1
der the lantern bearing her numb
She must then take lantern and fi
tune up to the dining-room and c«
sult the sorceress (really Mother)
In the room above an old wil
was seated on the floor in one c
ner behind a short orange canc
The young witches were invited
arrange themselves in a semi-cir
and to present their fortune sl
in numerical order. The sorcer
would take a slip and hold it n
enough her candle flame to me
the writing turn brown so that
I letters appeared as if by magic.
The witches then took turns t
ing to bite the apples on the strin
. two minutes being allowed for e:
try. The apples were washed
with a clean wet cloth after
turn.
Bobbing for apples came next
great bowl of cold water was pla
‘on a low table and each child :
on a rubber bathing cap and ha«
square of oilcloth pinned aro
her. There were three apples in
bowl and three ducks were allowe
Before supper we played the
penny-in-the-flour game with |
bright new pennies. A cup ©
packed with flour into which a p
ny had been dropped and then
flour - was turned out on a pas
board. Two children played a
time, each wielding in turn a ta
knife to cut away the flour. !
i player who moved the penny
the game and the penny went
her opponent.
After the flour game they w
all sent down to get their supj
from the witch's cauldron.
cocoa with generous dabsof ma:
mallow whip awaited them w
| they came upstairs to eat.
ei
—To clean baby’s nails use
corner of a piece of writing pe
folded in a square. To use scis
roughens the nails.
—Never turn electricity on or
when you are standing on a we
‘even on a damp floor.
| —C Clothes should be damper
i an ironing machine than for i
!ing by hand.
—Lace, frills, intricate yokes,
standing collars all relieve
severity of the collar line.
newest blouses have the most fi
nine things imaginable, with b
ties, pleated ruffles hemstitct
and scarfs that show somebc
imagination has been working
ing the hot weather.
caution and carefulness will pre
many farm fires, say State Col
agricultural engineers. :