WHAT BOOKS 10 READ DO NOT DEPEND UPON ACCIDENT TO GET THEM. The Luxury of a Library—Read Your Favorite Books Many Times—The Bible as a Literary Work—The Book Lover Per Se Cares Little for Bindings—lf You Wish to Be Keen-Edged, Read the Newspapers —Newspapers Give Us Things to Talk About—They Make Our Boys and Girls Politically Intelligent. BV MARGARET E SANGSTER. (Copyright, I'JOS, by Joseph li. Bowles.) Plenty of people never buy books. They would think it extravagant to do so. They buy mowing machines and patent reapers, steam yachts and au tomobiles, and their wives spend money for rugs and divans and new paper and paint, for satins and laces, gloves, fans and all the pomps and vanities, but for books. They depend on accident. School premiums, and holiday presents, have fitted out many a home library. In a country house, rich in adornment, standing in the midst of gardens and parks, I have seen a meager stock of hooks, all belonging to the flotsam and jetsam of yesterday; not to an immortal yesterday, either, but the ephemeral and the useless, to the books that ought to be sent to the rubbish-heap. "Where do you get your reading matter?" I asked the kousemistress, wondering much at the strange and miscellaneous character of the ac cumulations. "Oh, John buys a novel now and then on the railway, and visitors often leave books they are done with. We don't invest in books. They are heavy things if one moves, and hard to pack, and nobody ever reads a book the second time. You can't turn books into cash, as you can diamonds and horses." There spoke the spirit of the toiler who had grown to wealth from pover ty and to whom culture was unknown. You couldn't turn books into cash, and you wouldn't read them a second time. The ideal of utility did not make a library a desirable asset. But one does read books the second time, and the third, and the fourth, if •one is a book-lover. If one sets the right valuation on books, one would rather have them in the house than any other plenishing. Mahogany tables and chairs are very well if you can afford them, and fine china is very dear to the housekeeper's heart, but a pine board and a bench will answer for necessities, if the family prefer literature to other lux uries. In the simplest of homes, where the yearly income to bring up a half-dozen boys and girls fell under a thousand dollars, there was plain fare on a plain table; there were bare floors, and in summer the children ran bare footed, but there was an abundance of material to read. New books were added every quarter to the volumes already 011 the shelves, and those vol umes included history, poetry, biogra phy and essays; travel, too, and scien tific research. From that home the .sons and daughters have gone to take high places in the world; one a pro fessor, another an editor, another a lawyer, another a surgeon. Their trend for life was given in the sweet humanities of their home, and though poor, they were gently bred. ***** What Books to Choose. If somebody gave me carte blanche to select his books, and he had none to begin with, I should revel in the ■enterprise. I take it for granted that at the basis of English culture is the English Bible. If you speak English, you know that the richest vocabulary, the finest treasury of style, and the highest system of ethics in the world are in that familiar book. No American home should be without it, and no American father and mother should venture to train children in ignorance of its profound anil beautiful pages. Hut what books shall you choose for daily reading outside the Bible? Do you like to read people's lives, to tread again in the footprints others have left in the sands of time? Then read the lives of Gen. Gordon, "Chinese Gordon;" of Ilaveloek. of Lord Law • rence, of Sydney Smith, of Queen Elizabeth, of John Knox, of Mary, Queen of Scots; of George Washing ton, Abraham Lincoln, t'lysses S. Grant, Frances Willard, Edward Hume-Jones; of anybody who was heroic or sturdy or virtuous here, and who loft a good example for imitation. On your shelves have the works of George Bitot, of Robert Louis Steven son, of Thomas Carlyle, of George Meredith, of Balzac, of Guizot, of Shakespeare, and of Sir Walter Scott. Put aside a little money every week and buy one book. Regarded from tin* standpoint of dollars and cents, books are not dear. Two dollars buys an ordiuary book; you can in no other way «et so much lasting profit front two dollars. Of course if you want editions do luxe and sumptuous bindings and fine handmade paper, yon will jiay the price, but the boololover per se cares more fur the reading part than for tin: dret, The meat in the nut i 8 more to him than the polished shell. • * * * Read the Newspaper. Unlest you are willing to become hopelessly a baek number, to know nothing whatever about tin- current of • •vents, to be rusty and dull wilted in Mi ad of keen ednetf and clover, you will not neglect tl«e new-paper. It Iw. be. oni« u poteutial force In our modi.. u ctviluwliuu. NVueUtea telegraphy, the latest forward stride in applied science, has brought the ends of the earth close and tied the ribbons in a bow-knot. We talk over Korea and Manchuria, thv> probable and the possible outcome of great wars, the course of diplomacy, the great struggles of Titanic nations at our breakfast tables. Not to read the newspaper Is to have no opinions, to be ill-informed, to be boorish. Men who are really broad-minded read several papers. They want to hear both sides. Com plaint is often made that the newspa pers tell too much: that they do not respect privacy; that they are un scrupulous in the search for news. But the news of the day interests every one, and the newspapers make us all one big family, with kindly feel ings for our kith and kin. They flash a searchlight on crime; they awaken sympathy for distress; they give us things to talk about. In choosing reading for the home, take in, as our British cousins say, as many good newspapers as you can. Our boys and girls have a first-hand privilege to be well-taught in politics. How shall they be politically intelli gent, or decently patriotic, if they are forced to read borrowed newspapers, or go without that essential of mental culture? Wear old hats and patched boots If you must, walk and save car fares, do without dessert after meals, but subscribe for good newspapers, read them thoroughly and discuss them in the family circle. So shall you lay foundation stones for wise building and future success. CASUALTY ROLL OF PEACE. The Modern Man's Chances of In jury or Death by Ac cident. The ordinary citizen who works for his bread and has a family to sup port takes it for granted that, when his time arrives, he will die in his bed. Why not, indeed, when the ac cidents of existence have been re duced to a minimum by the expedients of a humane and ingenious civiliza tion? People do not perish nowa days, or get hurt, by many of the chances which formerly threatened the safety, and even the survival, of the individual. Each person is safe guarded by the entire community, which is organized to defend its 11 .11- bers against harm of every imaginable kind. Nevertheless, and in spite of this flat tering view of the advantages of our modern civilization, says Pearson's Magazine, a study of the facts in the case shows that the actual state of affairs is far less satisfactory. This, to begin with, is the mechanical age, and with modern improvements have arrived hundreds of hitherto-unknown contrivances for killing and maiming. The railroads of this country alone kill 3,200 employes every year, and se riously injure 40,000 more. Machinery claims more victims annually than fell in any battle of our civil war. The civilization of which we are so proud may be in some respects humane, but it is undeniably murderous. How surprising it seems to learn that each year one man out of every seven meets with a disabling acci dent! Women are not nearly so much exposed to mischances, for obvious reasons, and not more than one out of every 12 persons of the gentler sex suffers a like misfortune in a twelve month. But it appears that, if you are an everyday citizen of voting age, you have only six chances out of seven of getting through the coming year without being disabled in one way or another. You have one chanca in 2,200 of being killed during that pe riod. Nearly one-half of all disabling ac cidents happen incidentally in busi ness occupations. Hence, it is well worth while to take this question into consideration when picking out a vo cation. The safest of all employments, oddly enough, seems to be that of the commercial traveler —a fact proved by the circumstance that he is re garded by all insurance companies as the best possible risk, standing at the top of the "select" class. Indeed, from an insurance standpoint he is so far perferable to anybody else that he may be said almost to constitute a ; class by himself. He is twice as ! good a risk as a clergyman. His Father Was an Athlete. Dr. Dudley, of Abington, tells this story of his man David and his house keeper. who had great confidence in all ! that David said and did. I One day David was in the barn, do : ing something which caused a visitor Ito say: "You're quite an athlete, aren't j you?" I "Well, yes." replied David; where | upon the housekeeper, who stood near, j said: "Why, 1 thought you told 1110 1 that you was Scotch." "Well," said David, "my mother was ! Scotch, but my father was athlete."— Uuston Herald. Invitation from Home. This is a cordial invitation from i the "home folks" in Georgia to the ! absent one in Texas: ' l>. at William: This Is lo let you know what yon are invited home to spend Thank-vnivin' an' Christmas. 1 We art mightily In debt an' have flva or six mortgages 10 pay off. an' you 1 ar< Invited 10 i-onie. an' bring all you ran with you an I \s>'ll glv> you u ! couple of good dinners," Atlanta Con stitution Deduction. l.lt'rv l.snitlKan 1 P'H'IIIIK) lie was an intelligent uu' hard storking man, downgrade (Uaasou (}«•«! Hi- must • ha 1 hud one o dew dual i*t t sou tlliies. I —fuck. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1905. A Christmas Genius —T~JQ A. BOGGS, JR., the "•L, scion of an aristocratic house, stood on one /frpgSL leg. about which he twined the other. At *1 r same time he twisted j his small body into graceful curves. "Say, pop," he in quired, indifferently, while still in that atti tude, "give me some Christmas money, will you? I got to have some, you know." His father, the senior Boggs. looked at him severely. "How much d'ye want?" he inquired. " 'Bout ten dollars," responded the youth. "What!" yelled the old man. "ten dollars? A boy like you? Never! Here, take this and run along. That's all you can have." He handed out a silver dollar. Boggs, junior, bit it to see if it was good, expectorated upon it slightly for luck, and secreted it somewhere in liis clothes. Then, with a vicious kick at the legs of the table he made his exit. Five minutes later he stood in Coop, er's Alley interviewing a bosom friend of his, whose euphonious name was Mickey Flynn. Mickey Flynn was clothed in rags from head to foot, he was the real thing in the rag line. "Say, sport," began Mr. Boggs genially. "I'm doin' a turn, understand. 1 want yer clothes. How'll you trade?" Mickey surveyed the clothes worn by the youthful Boggs with a critical air, and his face broadened into a smile. "Gee! Quince!" he returned. "I'll trade. Yours is as good as new. Sure! Here goes!" It was a cold, bleak day. Half an hour later a ragged, shivering urchin stood alone, with staring eyes and gap ing mouth, drinking in all the glory of new sleds as they were effectivelj displayed in the windows of a depart' raent store. "Gee, it's rotten cold!" exclaimed this youngster to himself. "Wondei how long 1 got to keep this up?" Not long, for at. that moment a car riage drawn by a pair of richly capari soned horses drew up at the curb. At. the window of the carriage appeared the face of a woman of wealth. The footman jumped down, and in response to her signal approached the boy. The boy. holding his rags together, fol lowed the footman to the carriage. He looked with wistful, soulful eyes in the eyes of the woman. "Gee!" he thought to himself as he looked at her. For he knew her. She was Mrs. John Y. Pierson, a friend of his mother's and a woman well known for her charitable deeds. But she did not know him. She was saying some thing about Santa Clans. "Yes'm," he found himself replying for he was a bit rattled; "yes'm, I've heard of him. In foreign countries," he added, as though quoting from a book, "he's called sometimes St. Nicho las and sometimes Kriss Krlngle. He's the patron saint of children." And then he stopped, for he had overreached himself. "Why—why," in quired the woman, "do you goto school?" "Well, ma'am," he returned, curing his unfortunate slip, "I do when 1 have clothes to wear and —and when I've had something to eat. I don't know as I can now. though, fer the man wot owns our room is going to put us out they's only my sister and myself," ho added, to round the thing out. The woman looked at the angelic face and the ragged clothes, and then her heart overflowed—and her purse also, which is more to the purpose. "I can't be bothered going around to his home —a dirty place, likely. 111 just give the money to the boy him self." she thought to herself. "I guess I can trust him." If she had said this aloud, Boggs Junior would have as sured her that she could. As it was. he took the money, thrust it deep in his pocket, touched his hat. and strode shivering, toward—home? Oh, no. merely toward a large shop around the corner. Once there, he examined the bill which the woman had given him. It was a ten-dollar one. And so Boggs Junior went from st ire to store, always the same poor, shiv ering, angelic specimen of humanity, a perfect Christmas carol, an Idyll In rags, so speak. But there was one thing be was careful about. He kept a wary eye on the police. Christmas morning at Ihe Boggses AH the family and several relatives congregated about a huge tree in thn library. "Where's Qulncy?" they all asked They were soon answered, for Immedi ately there burst into the room a verj* small boy grappling with a huge pyra mill of paper bundles, which he dropped upon the floor. "Here, pop." he began, handing that gentleman one of the packages. "tblt Is for you, and this for mom. and here's something for th cook arid here's mid so on. ad Infinitum. In o'h r words, he wa th" h< ro and I eaet'ai o" of the oc« islon. "Why where did you get the monev 'or all the*«» things'*' they gasped llotn-s Junior 'iiul il Worked for If ' be replied. "You must have worked hard " the* suggested. "Naw." he returne I, "l» wasn't ha id work at all And"he con* tinned, "it'd have bff.i hit rt■ •!• > if , ! had tin overcoat somewhere* In my ln tM Om »•"' i' WM WM for fail "• Thl i was as im bi as the family evei got to an explanation. FAMOUS TREE'S OFFSPRING Third Generation of William Finn's Treaty Elm Still Standing iu Philadelphia. Philadelphia.—ln the grounds of the Pennsylvania hospital, at Eighth and Pine streets, stands an old elm tree which towers high and spreads its branches far, yet which suggests ihe inevitable decay and passing away which is the fate of all mundane things. Great disapointment was felt recently when a slip planted from this tree languished end died, and at tempts are to be made to grow an other, because the tree has a history THIRD GENERATION OF PENN'S TREATY ELM. which is described on a brass plate fastened upon its trunk. This plate reads: "THE TREATY ELM. "This tree is a direct representative of the great elm of Kensington, un der which, it is said, William Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, made his perpetual treaty of amity with the Indians. When the treaty elm was destroyed by a storm, March 3, 1810, a scion was transplanted to these grounds, a cutting of which was plant ed at this spot in 1841 by Charles Rob erts, a manager, and William Matin, steward." m From this it will be seen that the tree bearing the tablet is the third generation of the treaty elm. Histo rians are not now fully agreed as to Just what the treaty itself was, but, while it may have been the conspicu ous and sensational affair that early painters and writers have pictured it, there is still no doubt of its impor tance or that its fame caused much favorable comment throughout the world upon the honesty and faithful ness of the man who made it. The treaty, made in 1683, and the written text of which—if there were any—has never been discovered, is now believed to have been simply a purchase of land from the red men, accompanied by certain agreements, as to territory and friendly trade, which were never vio lated during Penn's life. WILL VISIT AMERICA. Ex - Queen Margherita of Italy to Tour Country from New York to San Francisco in an Auto. Rome.—lt is learned that Dowager Queen Margherita of Italy is going to America next year. She will travel incognito and make a tour in an au tomobile from New York to San Fran cisco, whence she will take a steamer for Japan. Dowager Queen Margherita has been suffering from unassuageable grief since the death of King Humbert, five years ago. The queen in her youth EX-QI •EE NM A RGHERITA. (Widow of King Humbert of Italy, Who I» Coming to America.) was considered the most beautiful princess in all Europe. She is the daughter of the late Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, duke of Genoa, and she was married to Humbert, then the prince of Piedmont, on April 22, 18H8. Dusing her reign she was idolized by the people of Italy. The former queen knows French, German, English, Spanish. Italian, of course, and Latin thoroughly. She knows Greek well, and is familiar with the literature of all ages. The queen rises early and retires late. She manages with six hours' sleep, and thrives on it. Her work of charities, patronage, organization and society keeps her constantly busy. Sho Is not at all domestic. She likes driv ing and out-of door life generally, but has not much optMirtunlty for in dulgence In these tastes. She likes Germany ami the Germans, and is a varm friend of Willli.iu and his wife. Not Enough M -at for Army. If Girmany were to mobilize her 4i my to-morrow, tlu« Umseldorf chain !•■ r of commerce statei that there woul | nut be a soffleieiit quantity of meat in the country to Jtcd tho ttituy lu iftti held. THE GIANT FLED. An Incident of the Civil War Which Created a Good Deal of Sur prise and Amusement. The old Second Now York regiment was formed at a time when there was an urgent appeal made to save the city of Washington, writes an old sol dier to the National Tribune. Well do I remember how I forsook my con tract to drive the horses of a Shumung scow to enter the service and serve under the old flag, and how we left our beds on the scow to sleep on the bare floor of the old fair ground shed; how many of our boys thought good swine meat, bean soup and half a loaf of bakers' bread was a small meal; and afterwards how they would have rejoiced to have been furnished with the old fair ground ration. I was with the regiment about three months, RAN LIKE A FRIGHTENED DEER. when I was mustered out because 1 was too young. But I had the honor to be the first sentinel togo on post outside the works at Fortress Monroe, and I wore one shirt for three months, and was a pretty ragged looking sol dier. I, too, well remember the poor show we made flghiing the battle af Big Bethel. One of the men of Com pany A was a giant, nearly seven feet tall. He was a powerful fellow, and used to pick up us boys and swing us about and say he would smash the rebels right and left. But it was later proven that while his body was big his bravery was small. He seized a gate at the entrance to a lane and car ried It as though it was but a feather. As the regiment entered a field through the lane there came a rebel shell which stunned him. Then ther* caem another, and the giant turned and ran away like a frightened deer, and I don't know thai he was seen afterwards. REACHED THE FLAG. The Soldier Who Escaped from the Enemy's Lines Never Stopped Uii til He Grasped Old Glory. "I heard," said the- doctor to the Chicago Inter Ocean reporter, "a very simple, pathetic little story the other day about a soldier passing through the lines under fire. Comrade Brad ish, who related the incident, said that one of the men of his regiment who had been captured escaped from the confederates directly in front and ran at full speed toward the lines of his own regiment. The confederates opened a furi ous fire on the escaping prisoner, and no one expected him to come out of such a rain of bullets alive. But he came on and on in spite of the bul lets, and at last leaped over the works of his own company, to be received with cheers. "He did not stop, however, as the men expected, but ran onto where the flag was placed, and, dropping ex hausted. caught the edge of the flag in his hand and kissed it again and again. He was so wrought up by his tremendous experience that he could not speak, could not reason, but, as lie said afterward, instinct led him to the flag, which never seemed to him so radiant and precious as when he fixed liis eyes it as he raced with the enemy's bullets. He had no sense of comradeship in his distraughtness, but saw only the flag and went to it. Other soldiers, overwhelmed in battle, wounded and da/.ed, have felt, I know, the same wild desire to reach the flag." Girl Soldiers. A military company composed of the daughters of Boone county farmers has been organized, with headquarters at Englewood, 11 miles southeast of Co lumbia. Mo. The first public drill took place at a log rolling at Englewood, where, in the presence of a crowd of curious visitors from all parts of the country, the girl soldiers gave a strik ing exhibition, going through the inanua' *t! arms like veterans. Had Worda Erased. The London News calls ultention to the fact that wbon the building that is How Wellington Barracks. Dublin, \%.is u jail it had the words; "Cease to do Kvil Learn to do Weil." ehisled over the gateway. When it tecume a bar racks the authorities, perhaps i>ali/.iug Ihe use|es»»ii'!is of MUi h advice 111 some c.i • had tin) words removed. Where Flreanua A>e Mi.dr. V' II 'Htiiau is* as celebrated In Europe fir the firearms. s.iln r» and knlte* whl' h he manufacture as the Inhabit (li. of feJtiiUlkll ToUdo ui e lor tluil UU9- ed v <1 bit dea. ABOUT BEINC CAPTURED. Two Thrilling Incidents of the War as Related by Eye Witnesses of Them. My account of how I was made a prisoner (said a comrade) will be a brief one. The affair was exciting enough; but it began aud ended so quickly that 1 have hardly got over the surprise of it yet. 1 was a captain, on the staff of Gen. Emory, commanding the Nineteenth army corps. On tha morning of the 19th of October, 1864, we were roused up before daylight by the heavy tiring over on the left. Some thing was evidently wrong, and we had our horses saddled at once. We occu pied, with Sheridan's staff, the stone house —the "Hite House,"l have sine® heard it called—in rear of our first di vision. 1 was dispatched over to the "pike" to see what the trouble was and report. I did not reach the "pike" im mediately; there was a great deal be tween me and it to prevent, and as for "reporting," 1 never saw the Nineteenth corps again till the next spring. The morning was foggy, and it was impossible to see a man at that hour more than a few rods off, but I could see the flashes of the muskets of soma of the regiments of our corps, and I met fugitives from the Eighth in large num bers going to the rear. A great noise of shooting, and a yell that was never made by any but southern soldiers, was heard from the left, and 1 saw enough, besides what these fugitives told me, to be sure that there was an attack and a panic in the Eighth. It would have been well for me if I had been satisfied with what I had thus far discovered, and had gone back to headquarters with the report. I should certainly have found "headquarters in the saddle," and they were never so near to me again that morning. But I wanted to do my whole duty. I was anxious to see the whole trouble with my own eyes, that 1 might make a faithful report, and on I went. To avoid the streams of fugitives, I bore well off to the left, intending t n reach the pike rather below the line of their hasty retreat. I had not ridden half way to the pike when I came slap on four soldiers. The meeting was so sudden, in the obscurity of the fog, that they seemed to rise out of the ground. At a glance I saw that they wore gray, and that each of them had a musket. I can see now that if I had acted with the greatest promptness I might have wheeled and galloped back uninjured before a fine aim could have been taken at me; and then again I might have been knocked dead off my horse trying it. I was not quick enough to take the risk. I pulled up, and their muskets quickly covered me. They saluted me as a "Yank," order ing me to dismount, promising to "let daylight through" me if I did not, and conveying their wishes to me in other explicit language. They had the con troversy all their own way, and I yielded without trying to argue the question. I got down, and was taken to the pike, and up it toward Fisher's hill, to a place where many union prisoners had al ready been collected. The number was swelled to 1,200 by night, and we were started up the valley on the long way to Richmond before Sheridan's cavalry could overtake us. That (said another comrade) reminds me of what happened in plain sight of our picket line, off on the left, near Hatcher's Run, before that battle had been fought. Our major was in command of that part of the line. He had come out from the reserve with a sergeant, and took the notion togo beyond the line and see what he could see. It would not have been a wise thing for a horseman to do. They were afoot, and it was positively foolish. But they went—full of big head, to tell the truth. The country was clear in front, there being nothing but some scattering tim ber to break the view for perhaps 30# yards. I was one of the pickets, and 1 watched the major and sergeant as they strolled along out to the front, prob ably suspecting no danger. We had seen to a picket line, even in daylight, and their presence never be suspectett. What followed I got partly from my own observation and partly from the account of the major when he came in. As he and the sergeant approached a low stone wall, being r.ot more than 20 feet from it, three musker, were thrust over it at them ssd a voice shouted: "Surrender, Yanks, or we'll shoot!" The sergeant at once threw down his gun. He was captured, of course, and sent to the Libby. Not so the major. I know the man pretty well, and I think I can tell what Hashed through his mind oil that stern hail, and the dis covery of what was before him. it probably occurred to him that h® was where he had no business to be; that the months of weary captivity be fore him would be followed by an offi cial inquiry as to vs hat he was doing out there, and that some severe punishment, if not cashiering, awaited his exchange. He resolved to run for it. He must have appreciated the fact that tha rhauces were nine to one against him; but tlie reasons that 1 have stated made Plm desperate. 1 saw him whirl and ,-ush for our Hue. I heard ihe n-ports dV three muskets to gether. and they were aiuied so low that one »ti thai !lin»(er*4 wln II In- n> iii. "It., tiiik'ny!" hi -aiii, "thai was a c'>- •> rue." 1 think livtt 'lit I•» I tS.i.s Kit. 'lit off hl< h ■ !