World
Fireside
HE FASHIONS arc corning in with revolutionary changes, but
they are not more revolutionary than the changes that are
overtaking fashions in business and education and home cus
toms. A few years ago it was most outre for a girl togo to
college. Now it is entirely correct. The tables are turned.
Last June over a thousand more young women were gradu
ated from college than young men.
A few years ago it was distinctly bad form for young
women togo into business. Now there are over six millions
r—1 1
_T_
of American women and girls in trade and industry and more
are following them constantly.
There was a time not many years ago when shoes and candles and
soap were all made in the individual houses. Now they are prepared
each in its own factory. When cookery follows suit the home will be
left as a place to rest and chat and play or work in. Each mother will
have her profession or art or trade to engage part of her day. And the
children will have a chance to grow up with many other children, meeting
them evt 1 , day in big playrooms and playgrounds and kindergartens.
Expert educated women will take charge of the children as their pro
fession. They will be women who love children. Women who are not
fond of children will choose other professions. The mothers, meantime,
will have 110 more to do than has the usual housewife, hut they will be
able to perform their chosen work as specialized experts who learn one
thing well, not as amateurs, jacks of all trades, who know a little of each
of tlie "tangled industries" that goto make up the business of house
keeping.
They will have just as much genuine leisure and playtime with the
children as now, perhaps more than now. But it will not be spoiled by the
children ''being in the way" while mother tends the holy cookstove.
Platonic friendships are thought amusing, if not impossible nowa
days. But they will be perfectly possible and natural when there will be j
a thousand other common interests between men and
women besides love making.
Airs. Charlotte Perkins Oilman, an apostle of to
morrow, predicts that as the women share in the larger
life of the larger world there will spring up big com
mon reading rooms and playrooms and sitting rooms
where men and women will meet each other in the
same delightful, friendly natural way. Otherwise put,
the big world itself will grow homelike, cozy, sociable,
companionable. There will be no "cold, hard outside
world." Every place will be home, sweet home.
Secret
Societies
in Our
High
Schools
By PAUL H. SMART
them and the whole school. The struggle
for offices and the part played by the fraternities in this struggle are per
fectly evident to all. The secret societies' desire for offices, control and
power is endless. Their ambitions are advanced to the great detriment
of their morals and principles. It is an open question whether they have
any.
But, granting they are possessed of them, can these morals and prin
ciples stand against such conditions as exist in the secret societies and as
their policy dictates? This high-handed,; overbearing policy meets with
opposition and illegal means are employed to overcome such opposition.
Ballot boxes are "stuffed," graft of every description exists, as any one
who has had to deal with high-school polities will admit. This graft is
exercised chiefly by the secret societies. Being in the minority, they must
find gome way to elect their candidate and what way is easier than by
graft and ballot-box "stuffing?"
The secret societies' desire for control is not limited to class offices.
The managerships of the various teams afford excellent, opportunities for
this desired control. In one school, where there are five managerships, all
filled by appointment, these five positions are held solely by secret-society
men..-This is accomplished through a well-known process. The manager
is a'member of one society and he appoints an assistant from the same
society. This assistant is the logical choice for manager, the next year,
aiid'bv this system all managerships are filled by men.
. .-These societies are oftentimes the only obstacles in the way of abso
lute democracy, preventing the union and mutual trust of the scholars.
Through this feeling of trust the best interests of the school are to be
advanced. The secret society also
causes factions and develops frietibn xp ~ .
in the student body. "J4*. «STY\CJ^
Texas
Great Slate
for Broom
corn
By E. R. HANBY
Of San Antonio
Naturally I supposed they would .start to raising cotton and grain,
but I was surprised when they explained that their reason for choosing
Texas was that it had all the rest of the United States beaten to a frazzle
as a producer of broom corn. t
This plant is one that brings good profits and there will always be a
strong demand for it. since brooms and brushes are items of domestic
necessity.
Each Mother
to Have Her
Art or Trade
By AI)A MAY KRECKER
Xo organizations of the American high
School have been so universally criticised —
some people would say abased—as the se
cret societies. Students, teachers, masters
and outsiders have attacked them, not
through ignorance, but because of charac
teristics and conditions in these societies
themselves.
The ordinary pupil, constantly thrown,
as lie is, into close connection with the so
cieties and their members, can easily see
the rivalry and strife that exist, both be
tween the different societies and between
The present rush of homeseekers from
tlie middle west to Texas is something ex
traordinary.
Sturdy farmers from Illinois, lowa, Ne
braska and Michigan are pouring into
Texas by the trainload and it is safe to
say that 75 per cent, of them will buy
land, with a view of locating permanently
in the southwest.
Only the other day I met a party of 25
of these immigrants from Illinois who had
already picked out their location and were
going to make final arrangements before
moving their families.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2i, 1909
OLD LOU STONE:
Visitors Attracted to Relic ot
Homer's Days. i
Legend Around Piece of Masonry Says 1
British Capital Will Last as
Long as Rock Is
Preserved.
London.—Visitors to the world's me
tropolis usually take great interest
in a curious piece of stone, let into the
side of a wall in Cannon street, just
around the corner from the Bank of
England. It is an unpretentious mor
sel, and above it is the brief legend,
"London Stone." The two words sig
nify a great deal. In the first place,
this is the oldest piece of famous ma
sonry in England, if not in Europe.
As for its ancient history, It is said
to have figured in the Trojan war, for
the exact date of which kindly refer
to Mr. Homer, who has written exten
sively on the subject.
Carefully screened behind an iron
grating fixed to the south wall of St.
Swithin's church is the blackened and
crumbling old relic, which is not only
supposed to date back to the very
foundation of London, but to act as its
palladium, or safeguard.
Tradition declares that the stone
was brought from Troy by Brutus, and
laid by his own hand as the altar
stone of the Temple to Diana.
"So long as the stone of Brutus is
safe, so long will London flourish,"
says the legend.
Possibly it has been largely owing
to this Superstitious belief that the
stone has been so jealously guarded
through the centuries.
Many and various have been the
suppositions put forward as to the
origin and use of this landmark, but
the one now most generally accepted
Is that it was the old Roman "mil
larium," or milestone, from which, like
the one in the Forum at Rome, all dis
tances were measured.
Watling street, of which Cannon
street is a continuation, is supposed
to have been the principal street of
Itoman London, and, according to Mait
land, the historian, the stone was
placed at the conjunction of the mili
tary roads.
Stow, the ancient London historian,
| states that in his day the stone was
on the south side of the street. "It
was fixed in the ground very deep,
' fastened with bars of iron, and other-
I wise so strongly set that if carts do
|
I K3R (
5 IMff il
London's Curious Landmark.
run against it through negligence, the
I wheels are broken and the stone itself
j unshaken."
Some of the public uses to which It
was put were as follows: (1) A mark
in the middle of the city within the
wall; (2) a place for the payment by
1 debtors to their creditors at appointed
J days and times (afterwards made at
| the font in St. Paul's and then at the
j Royal Exchange); (3) a testimony to
j the city's devotion to Christ, the
i stone typifying its divine foundation.
It was likely that upon this stone
I all public proclamations were made to
i the people; in support of which Stow
] quotes the fact that the rebel Jack
] Cade, who said he was Mortimer, earl
| of March, rode up to London Stone,
! upon which he struck his sword, say
ing: "Now is Mortimer lord of this
9'ty."
This was probably in . accordance
with the tradition that the old Brit
ish kings took their oaths of accession
upon London Stone, and until they did
so were only kings presumptive.
Before the lire of London the stone
was "much worn away, and. as it were,
but a stump remaining." It was then
cased over by Sir Christopher Wren,
builder of St. Paul's cathedral, with
a new stone, handsomesly wrought,
and hollowed so as to contain the an
cient relic. ■*
In 1742 the stone was removed to
the north side near the curb, on ac
count of its proving an obstruction in
its old position. Fifty-six years later,
when St. Swithin's Church was about
to be repaired, the old landmark was
doomed to destruction, but happily,
owing to the intervention of Thomas
Maiden, a printer of Sherbourne lane,
the parish officers consented to place
it against the south wall of the church.
An inscription let in the wall re
cords that "for more careful protection
and transmission to future ages, it was
better secured by the church wardens
in the year 1869."
The harmful effects of the London
atmosphere, greatly increased in re
cent years, have left their mark upon
the old stone; but there is still enough
of it left to insure London for many
years from entering on the downward
path, which Is predicted to be its fate
"when the stone of Brutus shall dig
appear"
: !ND PREHISTORIC MONSTER
Fossil Coryphodon and Remaint of
Member of Predentata Family
Discovered in Montana.
New York.—-Two dinosaurs have
been discovered in the fossil beds of
Montan.T. by an expedition of the
American Museum of Natural History
led by Barnurn Brown of the depart
ment of vertebrate paleontology. This
discovery gives to the museum the
distinction of naming two prehistoric
monsters the finding of which adds to
the already high scientific standing
of the institution.
Two expeditions were sent out early
last summer under the direction of the
head of the department. Prof. Henry
Kairfleld Osborn, who is also president
of the museum. The first, which was
Monster Found by Scientists.
under the charge of Mr. Walter
Granger, went to the Wind River
basin, in Wyoming, where its most im
portant find was a skull of the cory
phodon, a creature which somewhat
resembles the hippototamus of the
present day. This expedition also
found some five hundred smaller speci
mens which are of great value in
filling in connecting links in the chain
' of evolution.
The expedition of Mr. Brown, which
went to the Lamarie formation, re
sulted in the unearthing of the fossil
skeletons of a new reptile of the cera
topsia variety, and of one of the pre
dentata family hitherto unknown to
scientists.
The ceratopsian specimen, whose
classic name translated means "horn
face," is a dinosaur, and is closely al
lied to the triceratops, of which there
is a complete skeleton in the museum.
The body measured 23 feet in length
and seven in height, while it was ful
ly four and a half feet across the
back. The skull was missing, and
some other expedition will have to get
him a head. The frame of the reptile
is lighter than that of the triceratops.
The accession from the predentata
race is a lizard which walked about
like a kangaroo. Three skeletons were
found, but no head, and it is now for
another expedition to see that he does
not remain acephalus.
The new reptile measures seven
feet from tip to tip, and when he stood
up he was probably five feet high.
The preparation of the specimens
which have been gathered by these
two expeditions will require a year's
work and research.
PRESIDENT'S NEW OFFICES
Taft Will Handle Affairs of State
over Spot Where Roosevelt
Played Tennis.
Washington.—President Taft's first
love, the Philippines, has ousted for
mer President Roosevelt's hobby, ten
nis, and where once the strenuous
president battled with the opponents
in his tennis cabinet Mr. Taft will
sit at his desk in a new room which
will constantly remind him of the
Philippine archipelago.
The new executive offices have
been finished and they are works of
art, pronounced in Washington as
the most sumptuously furnished of
any of the host of magnificent offices
in the capital. Mrs. Taft has inspect
ed the new offices and she is well
pleased with the decorative scheme.
Two large offices in the rear will
be devoted to President Taft and Sec-
The President's Room.
retary Carpenter. The president's is
a large room, oval in shape and deco
rated in green and white. The walls
are to be coated with burlap. The
furniture will consist of new chairs
and settees covered with a Philippine
product, carabao cr water buffalo
leather. The floors will'be parquet of
callae wood and other lumber import
ed from the Philippines. Mr. Taft
will use the desk of mahogany which
was turned over to him by Mr. Roose
velt. President's Secretary Carpen
ter's room will be smaller in size, but
furnished similarly, Philippine woods
also furnishing the flooring.
A new feature of the executive of
fice will be a congressional waiting
room. Heretofore representatives
used the same rooms as the senators
to wait on the president. This room
was also used as a cabinet rofflfl. 'i'fte
new scheme provides a cabinet room
in which the senators will wait, a
congressional waiting room and the
same old room, renovated and re
painted, for the general run of vis
itors at the White House. The press
room has been fixed up to look like
new and more commodious and com
fortable quarters for the assistant
secretaries, clerks, and
telegraphers have been provided.
A girl may be angry at a mac
for trying to kiss her, but just the
same the admires his good taste.
WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
What Indian woman was called
' Rebecca?"; —Pocahontas.
Who wrote "Snow-Bound?" —J. G.
Whittier.
Who was"The Poet Painter?" —
Thomas Buchanan Read.
Who was the most celebrated
American poet?— Longfellow.
Who is the "Hoosier Poet?" —James
Whitcomb Riley.
What father and son were presi
dents? —John and John Qulncy Adams.
What Indian gave land in Rhode
Isiand to Roger Williams? —Canoni-
eus.
Who was the author of "Home,
Sweet Home?" —John Howard Payne.
Who was the Sage of Concord?"—
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
What Indian chief was the grand
father of Thomas Rolfe? —Powhatan.
What writer was known as "H. H.?'
—Helen Hunt Jackson.
Who was the "Hachelor Poet?"—
John G. Whittier.
What state is known as the "Prai- i
rie state?" —Illinois.
Who invented the thermometer? — J
Fahrenheit.
Who was Jenny Lind? —A famous ;
singer of Sweden.
What is remarkable about the site i
of Fort Sumter? —It is built on an ar- j
tificial island.
What is the meaning of Costa Rica?
—The rich coast.
What author was known as "Boz?"
—Charles Dickens.
TWO AFTER-DINNER TRICKS
Picking Up Glasses in Order and Car- I
rying Another Five Feet Full of
Water Without Spilling.
Glasses numbered 1, 2, ?>, 4 in the
illustration are empty; those num
bered f>, 6, T, 8 are partly filled. The
trick is to pick up two adjacent
glasses at a time and in four moves
change the positions so that each al
ternate glass will be an empty one,
says People's Home Journal. First
move 2 and 3 to the extreme end;
then fill the gap with 5 and 6. Fill
gap with 8 and 2; then finish with 1
and 5.
Another trick is to state that you
do not believe many of those present
can lift a glass full of water and carry
t five feet in five seconds without
spilling most of it. Of course several
will at once claim the ability to per
form the feat, and the time for your
trick has come.
Fill a tumbler with water and com
pletely cover the top with a stout
sheet of writing paper. By' pressing
the paper firmly against the top of
' the glass you may safely turn the
, ' ft
Trick with Glasses.
whole thing "upside down," or invert
it. Rest it on a table, and the top of
the table will press the paper so
firmly against the edges of the glass
; that not a drop of water will come
out. I
Now.you carefully withdraw the pa
per, and the water is still kept in the
glass, this time by the table-top alone.
When' anyone tries to . lift the glas?
the water will tit pace come- out.
A Corn Game.
The following corn game, may be
played, but for this cards will have to
be distributed, the cards having
spaces after each question where the.
answers may be written:'
f—What corn is used by "a musician?
(Cornet.)-
2 —What corn is used by carpenters?
(Cornice.)
3—A-corn that children hail with
delight ? (Popcorn.) "
•' 4 —The chief corn of a building?
(Cornerstone.) " •>
5—A language? (Cornish.)
6 —A corn in which florists delight?
(Cornflower.)
7—An ornamental corn? (Corn
ucopia.)
B—A8 —A corn dear to the heart of the
southerner. (Corncake.)
9 —A corn that flies? (Corncrake.)
10 —A corn in which rodents de
light to reside? (Corn crib.)
11 —A corn used by the cook? (Corn
starch.)
Weighing Smoke.
Did you ever near me story of how
Sir Walter Raleigh made a wager with
Queen Elizabeth that he could weigh
the smoke that came from a pipe full
of tobacco? How do you suppose he
did it? If you can guess you are
more clever than Queen Elizabeth,
and yet the solution is simple.
He weighed the tobacco carefully
ot some scales bafore he put it in
his pipe, and after he had smoked it
he knocked out the ashes iind weighed
those. The difference, of course, was
toe weight of the suKtke.
QUESTION.
I fey-diddle-de-dlddle!
There runs an old riddle
That a cow jumped over the moon;
But if she did so
We would much like to know
How she ever got down so soon.
And in that same riddle
A lat's in a llddle;
Hut how did she ever Ret there?
For no door has a fiddle
At end or at middle;
So that is most strange, I declare!
And that riddle does say
That on that same day
A dish ran away with a spoon!
But alas and alack!
As they never came hark
They must have gone up to the moon.
JIGSAW PUZZLE WITH CARDS
Part of Animal on Each Pasteboard)
and Object Is to Assemble Them
to Make One Complete.
A variation on the jigsaw or ordin
ary cut-up puzzle has been designed
by a New York man. In this new
Variation of Jigsaw Puzzle.
game the object is the same as in
the old type—that of assembling the
various parts to make a whole an
imal or birds, as the case may be —
but it is in some respects more dif
ficult. The cards can be printed eith-
I er with a part of only one object on
| one corner or with parts of various ob
jects on all the corners or along the
edges. In playing the game the
idea is to see who can make
tip the greatest number of these
objects, either in a given time
or in an unlimited time. Though
; it may not appear so. this type of
puzzle is unusually difficult, as _there
are no curiously cut edges by which
the various pieces may be identified
by neighbors. The animals, or what
ever the objects may be, are formed
by the matching of lines entirely, and
a knowledge of the appearance of the
objects in question aids greatly its
forming them.
MANY TOYS ARE IMPORTED
Millions of Dollars' Worth Come into
United States, Mostly from
Sonneberg, Germany.
Over $30,000,000 worth of toys have
bse". imported into the United States
during the last ten years. During the
same period something like. $5,000,000
worth of toys were exported.
Du,r,'ng the last fiscal year the high
water mark has,been reached in.so far
as expprt trade in toys is concerned.
The total value of exported toys, dur
ing that time has for the first,ti.uie ex
ceeded $1,000,000.
The value of toys imported has fail
en somewhat since 1908, wtten the to
tal value, of imported toys was $7,2511,
000. This year, according.'to the .Inde
pendent, the figures were $5,000,000 ir»
round numbers.
Toy manufacturers in the United
States had investments in plants anil
in stock of less than $1,000,000 in lf»S0.
In 1905 such investments had grown
to $4,750,000. The Value of importa
tions of toy merchandise has in the
meantime shown a constantly increas
ing trend. Trade in toys lias largely
been developed during the last ten or
a dozen years. .
Toys are very largely "made in Ger
many." That is to say, Germany is by
far the largest source of supply in the
United States. The little German
town of Sonneberg, in the duchy of
Saxe-Meiningen on the Rothen, is
perhaps the largest toy manufacturing
center. In addition to its summer re
sort business it has been credited with
the annual production of some 24,000,-
000 toy units, having an aggregate
value of $4,000,000.
Nuremberg and certain other sister
cities are also to be reckoned with as
toy makers. The value of toys import
ed into the United States from Ger
many in 1908 was $6,500,000, out of ai
total of $7,250,000 imported that year.
A Lady.
So far, the best definition of a lady
seems to be that of Charles Dan*
Gibson: "A lady is a woman who al
ways remembers others and never far
gets herself."
21