ei -jr' ar a< D 0 [I Nehemiah I Nuggins' Charity "■ ■■ "> Nehemiah Nuggins cast his watery eyes over his store, preparatory to shutting up, going home and sneak ing Into his bachelor quarters. It was a fine array that he surveyed. Codfish, kegs of nails of various as sortment, boots and shoes of every size and style, hanks of flax, old as the pines that sobbed and sighed along the hillside back of the store( violins without bridges, needles In boxes mixed with thimbles, sealing wax, envelopes and babies' sucking bottles, old hats, caps, bonnets with plumes and without, face-powders, plows, harrows, rakes, shaving-soap, razors, fruit-cans, coils of rubber hose, cycle tires, monkey wrenches, gum rubbers, llsh-poles, hooks, lines, pos tage stamps, jars of peppermint can dy, and many other things too numer ous to mention. "Ten per cent, less than cost! No wonder I have to pinch, and scrimp, and half starve." But he did not figure that all this was his, his to own, to sell, to give away. His —and it never cost him a cent for the whole entire outfit of the store. To-day he sold a harrow. Boys grown up to manhood had carved their names upon the handles. Daily, year after year—in season, of course, that harrow had been dragged out upon the low porch. It had been beaten by the rains of years, and was dusty with the touch of time; it had been nibbled by the mice, gnawed by the rats and abused in general. To day he sold it. How his tender, susceptible heart quivered as he saw the old, familiar thing tossed into a farmer's wagon! Ah! and how quickly he hurried back Into his little den, yanked down his slab-desk from the wall, reached for a certain book and examined it close ly. It had been all well and faithfully kept, the old stock by his father, who had slept for twenty years under the pine-need'les of summer and the crys talline crusts of winter. And Nehemiah sighed as tie laid his lean, yellow finger upon a line. He shivered from head to foot, and a tear oozed from his watery eye. "Sold for fifteen per cent, less than cost! No wonder times are bad, men are poor—and I have to save, pinch, starve and look out to make both ends meet." Carefully replacing the old book In Its place, he next lifts his poor desk to its place on the wall, fastens It there with a button, and, rising, he leaves the den. The store will be closed in two min utes; all is well within. The codfish will not nibble at the hooks, the fly suckled sticks of licorice will not mix with the parls green, the fine-cut chewing will not absorb the fulminat ing gun caps, the razors will not shave the whiskers off the moth-eaten yarn mittens, the needles in the show case will not prick the toy gas bal loons, the monkey wrenches will not chew the lumps of gum—so all is well for Nehemiah Nuggins to close up, go home and to his bed. But he didn't close up and he didn't go. * "Nehemiah!" He started as he stood there with his hand upon the latch. He started, not because of fright, for he had lived too long among the ghosts of old things to be frightened. No; it was not fright that startled him. It was because the voice was a far miliar one; because it was the voice of one long since dead and gone, and laid away under the pines in the burial-ground upon the hillside back of the store. Down the narrow stairs clambered a figure; he could not see It, but he could hear it. It came in sight. Yes; the same old face with the sharp lines about the eyes, and the pucker of the lips. The spare, bent figure walked to the end of the counter, with that same limp of twenty years ago. It leaned one arm upon the show-case, filled with the countless odds and ends of a store's stock of notions; the hand drummed upon the glass as nerv ously as of old, and the sound of rat tling of the finger nails came to Nehe mlah's ears as plainly as of yesterday, though he had not heard it for years and years. The other hand fumbled with the stiff stock encircling the long, lean neck, with its little line of flabby skin reaching from chin to Adam's apple. How familiar the old chap looked! not a speck more of dust upon his shiny coat, not a hair more gray in the fringe about the high, narrow forehead; the eyes were as bright and keen as ever, and when the thin lips opened the voice was Just the same, sharp, clear, distinct; "Nehemiah, son, are you glad to see me back again after my long jour ney?" A shudder passed over the other; perhaps no man in all the warld had ever been asked such a question be fore. Was he glad to see his father come back, who had been sleeping In the graveyard for twenty years? Curiosity was stronger thar fear, and the son answered: "I am glad to see you, though I never expected to meet you again." "Yes, that's it, son; we are newer expected to come back; but we do come back, sometimes, though we 4o not always reveal ourselves. Many ft good bargain you have made, son, simply because I. your father, was at your elbow to prompt you. Of course, you never heard my whispers; that would spoil our plans. You never dreamed, son, did you, that spirits had plans, eh?" "No; can't say that I ever gave such a subject thought." "Well, we do plan things; we do not have any work to do, you know; you poor, earth-bound creatures, clog ged with the weight of mortality, do the work; but we plan just the same. We gather about tombstones in the time of night to arrange our plans; some have plnns concerning war, peace, business, love, ambition, and some, 1 am sorry to say, have criminal plans, just the same as when they were on earth and alive. Nehemiah, I have come back after staying away from you for twenty years, to tell you of a great weakness that exists In your nature." "Well, advice from such a judicious man as you were once —" "And now remember, son, I am pos sessed of the same strong points that had such telling effect when I had this establishment in charge." "I await your advice," uttered Ne hemiah, as ho drew nearer. And then he saw what he had failed to observe at a distance; at a distance, the fig ure of his father possessed the density of mortality; now, as he draws near er, he sees that the face, form, limbs, hands are semi-transparent, and that objects back, and beyond, and be neath, show through the person of his father like things through a veil of thin smoke. And it seems very strange, startling and grotesque to note a rat-trap hanging from a peg right through the spirit's face; and It seems as strange, uncanny and be wildering to see fishhooks, fiddle bridges and other notions appearing through his father's hands spread on the show-case. But ghosts will be ghosts, so why bother about It or question it? What he wants to know Is, what is this particular weakness made mention of by his father? "Nehemiah, did you ever give away anything in all your life?" "He, ho, he!" cackled the son, as the ridiculous idea came to him. "No! Why should I? Ttiis is all mine; paid for, and to sell again. I give away anything? Surely, I'd not be iny fath er's own son if I should give away anything." "Ah!" sighed the spirit—and a nickel-plated watch shone through his very mouth as he opened his lips. "That was my weakness, Nehemiah, my weakness. I was close-fisted, grinding, tight, cruel, mean, sordid. I was called a clever man at making a bargain; I never cheated a single hu man being out of a penny; yes, a very successful business man was I. But I never gave anything away. I never added one cent to heap the poor store of charity; no loaves and fishes were dispensed by these hands to re lieve the hunger and still the ap peals of distress. I owned what I had; all was paid for; all was for sale and to be turned into money. I can not rest now, my son; I did not think I was doing a wise thing when I stood at your elbow and prompted you to drive good and close bargains—al ways In your favor. 1 have changed my mind. Nehemiah, son, prosperous man that you are, I want you to help me out of my troubles. I want you to show some degree of charity to ward humanity. Turn not a deaf ear toward the pleading of want; look not with cold, cruel, pitiless unconcern upon woe; be ready to give some of your wealth to the poor and needy. Remember!" Nehemiah had closed his eyes when his father began; it was a habit of his for with closed eyes he was better able to comprehend, draw conclusions, solve knotty points, and thus make things clear. "Well, are you through, father," No answer greeted him. He opened his eyes. The figure had disappeared, but out of the gloom beyond came the one word: "Remember!" He shook himself together, pulled his hat over his brow, locked the door and passed on down the moon lighted street toward his bachelor quarters. What his dreams were It does not matter, only that they were not unpleasant, for before retiring he resolved to turn over a page in his life-book, wipe off the old slate and begin with a clean score in the morn ing. Early the next morning Nehemiah almost startled a little girl out of her wits when he handed her an orange and said, kindly; "Oranges are very good for little girls; here is your tea and change, and here is a box of cough-drops for your grandma." And the child ran home with her treasures as rapidly as her little legs could take her. All day long Nehemiah astonished the good people by giving things away; and in the evening he dropped in at the church parlor, where the parson's donation was held, and he deposited a check for fifty dollars, to help on the good cause; and the fol lowing day he loaded a wagon with provisions and sent a man to distri bute it among the poor people of the place. And so he continued to give things away and do good; and the old stock in the store began to as sume a new look, and trade became so large that he hired clerks, and was obliged to build a big block. So Nehemiah Nugglns, once so close and grinding, became a man of charity, a man of high respect and honor In the community. And the spirit of his father never cams back again to remind him of a weakness. —H. S. KELLJ2R. "The trouble with a lot of long haired geniuses," Mr. Taukaway says, "Is that the insides of their heads nev er produce as well as the outsldes do." THE MERE NAN'S VIEWPOINT A MAN'S MEMORY ■ -J i By BYRON WILLIAMS «lICniGAN woman refuses to erect a monument to her husband's ftiem- | ory on the ground that bto hadn't any. When she gave him a le'tter to mall he invari ably forgot it. He left the back door unlocked and tho wuter faucet open. He forgot to put out the cat and wind the | clock. Ho failed j not only to mat<h 1 a piece of dress NO IJEMORY. , . . . , goods, but be lost the sample, and many n time, she says, he stoutly denied ever promising to bring home the meat for dinner or tele phoning the laundrymun to call around and get the soiled linen. In fact, the woman Insists, this man had no more memory than professional ' borrowers of small sums for dire neces sities at the club. Ills forgotter was as marked as a horse fly on the crani um of a bahlheaded man, and his ob stinacy when confronted with the bare facts in the case was most irritating. Because of all this no monument marks the grave of this benedict who has passed on—no lieadpteco against which in spring one might lay fragrant bunches of violets; no footplece upon which to set the tomato can vase filled with forget nuMiots of the wild wood. You, Mr. Man, with that letter in your pocket, take notice of tills. Go through your clothes and make an In vestigation among the papers and en velopes. Possibly there Is an epistle worn through nt the edges, a letter to Aunt Katie asking her to come out and spend a month, if there is and you don't hike down to the postotliee with it there may be no shaft to mark your last resting place In the quiet corner of the country churchyard. It is queer how forgetful and trying men are at times. I know a man who forgot to register his wife at the ho tel. It was on h1 s honeymoon, tjSfqSK and to turn it off us a Joke he took A/fS the pen and 11/ I\ wrote, "Me and Jy Vr -v / my wife," paying «nS } in advance for a * room and leav- wft ing the plnce at y b s 4 I know another , j man who took L his wife to the ! jjjj | i| theater, went out jf ! |i >, to see a man be- (J P. 31 tween the acts, PvT J ' went home sober "W-jn. und forgot every , blessed word DTD about his better LETTER R liulf ignominlously left behind until ho found the house deserted. Tho trouble with a man Is that he never does as he Is told. If he would obey wlfie when she says, "Now, don't you put that letter In your pocket; Just hold It In your hand all the way to town!" tie might not forget, unless he did like another friend of mine who boarded the electric car for the city, holding the letter at arm's length and looking at It much like the man of the cartoon who has a dotted line run ning from his eye to the object In question. 1 smiled when he muttered something about being sure to mail that letter for Lucille, and then we got to talking about the sewer. We are building one out in our town, or hope to, and this friend is very anxious to see the work completed. When Brown got on and begau to complain about taxes and Improvements and talk graft and corruption in gen eral my friend i became excited. Ills excitement terminated In a lengthy and vig or o us dlsserta-' tion about tight wads and reputa tion wreckers, in the perturbation of which he twisted and tore that letter Into a half dozen pieces, dropping the re mains absent mlndedly Into the spittoon. It was such a joke I kept my HOLDING LETTER AT cOUUSeI, but the ARMS LENGTH. truth finally leak ed out, and 1 ascertained from his wife that when he came home at night the following couversallon took plate: "John, did you mail my letter tills morning?" "Er—why, yes, Lucille. I-why, 1 must have." And he thought he was telling the truth. It was not until I owned up to my duplicity in the matter that he was convinced the letter never had gone to its destination. Forgetful man! If it were not for the fact that we know his life often Is filled with worries and streuuosiiy we should feel like forgetting to pre ; pare his dinner now and then Just to school him. but we know what he lias to contend with, and we try to be mer ciful—that Is, you, the ladles, do and get along the best way we cnu with out pouting or cross words. REBELS CAPTURE TIA JUANA Take Town In Lower California After a Long Fight. Tia Juana, Lower California, near j the California line, was captured by j the insurrectos after a fight which lasted a day and a night. Many are dead and wounded on both sides. It is impossible to learn definitely how many have been killed, as the United States troops at the line refuse to allow any one to cross into the Mexican town. The attack was a complete surprise to the federal forces. Confident that the flanking party of forty men sent out of Tia Juana had forced the reb els to retire, the defenders were rest ing In supposed security when the as sault came. All but one or two of the federal flanking party are thought to have been killed or wounded. The federal force pressed on and was drawn into a trap and practically ex terminated. Wealthy Man's Son Has Leprosy. During a period of four years a suf ferer from leprosy, yet in daily attend ance at a public school during all of that time, Harry Sheridan, the fifteen year-old Pawtucket, R. 1., schoolboy, whose examination by experts at the Massachusetts General hospital re vealed the true nature of his dread disease, faces the fate of his kind. Virtually a prisoner in the home of his wealthy parents, about which po licemen detailed from the Pawtucket force stand guard, the fact of his hav ing been allowed to return to that city nt all has aroused the ire of Dr. Byron IJris Richards, Pawtucket's city physician, who is at a loss what to do. As a matter of fact the boy was taken home by his father, Edward P. Sheridan, superintendent the Lumb knitting mills and a manflf consider able prominence In that city. Either Penikez, the island of the liv ing dead In Buzzards bay, on which Massachusetts maintains a camp for leper eviles, or Manila, where the government camp is, will be the boy's future home. At present he is with Ills parents and his brothers, unwitting of that utter desolation from his kind which fate holds in store for him. York Girls Want Western Husbands. From information received in York, Pa., from the matrimonial editor of an Oklahoma paper, four pretty young girls o fthat city, ranginn in age from eighteen to twenty-two years, have asked that the editor provide them with husbands in the far west. Tlio young girls prefer wealthy farmers. Their names are Mary Horner, Mar tha Walker, Mamie Ridilak and Re becca Doyle. Miss Horner is nineteen and says she Is considered pretty. Miss Walker is eighteen and says she is affectionate and pretty. Mamie Ridi lak says she is nineteen, has brown hair, is pretty and weighs 122 pounds. She says"l am considered pretty." Rebecca Doyle, the last of the quar tet, is eighteen, weighs 125 pounds and is five fet tall. The girls are all young and apparently anxious. They seem to have taken a novel method in getting away from York. Danced Herself to Death. Mrs. Bertha Gordon danced all the evening at a house party given by Lewis Rose, at Furman Lane, Patch ogue, L. I. Then she complained of exhaustion and sat down to rest. Her friends no ticed that she looked white and was breathing hard. Suddenly she fell to the floor, apparently in a faint. Friends tried in vain to revive her and finally sent for Drs. W. Bennett and Charles Willis. They found the woman dead. They said she had suc cumbed to heart failure, the result of physical exhaustion; that she had lit erally danced herself to death. Lightning Scares Woman to Death. Mrs. Wilmot Moulthrop, of Kenoza Lake, near Monticello, N. Y., was scared to death by a sudden flash of lightning. About two years her home was struck by lightning ai.'l de stroyed, and since then she had been extremely nervous during any elec trical storm. She was talking with a neighbor, when there was a flash and she sank back in a chair, dead. Pays $25,500 For Luther Letter. At an autograph sale in Lelpsic, Saxony, a letter written by Martin Luther to Emperor Charles V.was bought by a Florence dealer for $25,- 500. The purchase is said to have been made for J. P. Morgan. The letter was written in 1521 dur ing the reformer's return Journey from the Diet of Worms, and, describing the proceedings, defended his attitude. Frightened by Ghost of Baby. The sixteen prisoners confined in the county jail at Fairmont, Va., are In a state of terror owing to their be lief that the place is haunted. For several nights, they say, they have been unable to sleep owing to the mysterious cries of a baby. The source of the noise has not been as certained. Five Children Burned to Death. Five of the six children of Sanford Davis, a fanner of near Free Union, Albemarle county, Va., were burned to death when fire destroyed the Davis home. Davis and his wife and an in fant escaped. The dead children rang ed in age from three to fifteen years. Eloperß Arrested. Frances Vanderworx, an eighteen year?old girl from near Montclair, N. J., and Edward Eane, an electrician, of Orange, N. J., were ar rested in Danbury, Conn., as elopers. Earle Is accused of abduction. Telephone Blunders. "ITave you uuy spare ribs?" was the question asked a Portland business man recently, when be took down the telephone receiver to answer a call. For a moment the business man thought he was the subject of some joke, but the sweet voice that asked the question reassured him, and he realized that there was some mistake. KO he hastily answered: "No, madam, 1 am not Adam, and 1 am not willing to give up one of my ribs for any purpose." "Oh, I beg your pardon," was the prompt reply. "I thought I had Blank's meat market." This incident brought forth a story about the chief of police of Oakland, Cal. Some years ago, when asked over the telephone if he had any brains, he grew furious and said some very im polite things to the lady who asked the question before he discovered that she wanted a butcher shop and not the chief of police.—Portland Oregonian. A Man Who Knew Everything. Thiers, the French statesman, was a victim of many whimsies. None had stronger hold on him, says Mgr. Ga briel ITanotaus in "Contemporary France," than his desire to get every body to recognize his universal compe tency. Of an applicant for the post of di rector at the Sevres manufactory Thiers said: "lie is no more made for that part than 1 for"— and then he stopped. "Ah. o!i! >l. Thiers," said his inter locutor. "you find it. hard to say what you could not do." "That's the truth! That's the truth!" cried the statesman gleefully. One day Thiers said, speaking of a man who h:td been raised to a high function: "lie is no more suited for that office than I am to he a druggist. And yet," he added, catching himself up, "I do know chemistry!" Champion Egg Layers. Many insects are extremely prolific. All of the order Hymenoptera. the bees and ants, lay large numbers, but they are easily excelled by the order Plocop tera, the stone (lies, one female of which deposits from 5,000 to 0,000 eggs. Rut the champion egg layers are the insects embraced In the order Isoptera, the white ants. Dr. Howard states that these insects are called white ants because they are not ants and because they are not white, but he further goes onto tell us that the females of some of the African species grow to an enor mous size, and their abdomen, swollen with eggs, becomes as big as a large potato. The rate at which the eggs are laid is extraordinary, being about sixty a minute, or 80.000 and upward a day. Office of the Footman. "I don't believe there is anything In that talk about Harlow being hard up," said Little Blake. "Why. he's just blossomed forth with a footman on his motor." "Footman!" echoed Jinkinson deri sively. "Footman is good! That isn't a footman. It's a deputy sheriff in charge of the car."—Harper's Weekly. \ V I | Has Liquor Got The Best | | of You? | I | I You know that drinking; unlits a man for business. Km- J I ployers recognize this and do not want a drinking man 2 I around. No man will knowingly employ a victim of the { I liquor habit in a responsible position. We can remove the X ft terrible craving for liquor, and positively cure you. Reliable • i references furnished if desired. 9 J Address in strict confidence. * THE SWAINE REMEDY CO., | » • J 17 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, Pa. $ || Dependable ||| m L+'i+\ >+ * W We handle goods that are cheap, but not V^j cheap goods. We want our goods to become your goods and our store your store. FT it is SI Clothing, or IZL2L —' m Shoes or ilj M>i* s&il || Anything || >❖< > t - to furnish man. woman or child up in classy, h-^-4 attractive and dapendable attire, then we have just the articles you need, <!ive us a call now. || MAX MAMOLEN, LAPORTE. ||| Ancient Homo's Libraria*. The libraries of ancient Itoine were Immense and splendid. Lucullus, whose name is associated with table luxuries, expended much of his weulth 0:1 books. Ilis library, says Plutarch, had "walks, galleries and cabinets open to all visitors." Julius Caesar proposed to open this library definitely tot lie public. llow were these vast libraries, in addition (o the book shops, filled? With his trained slnfT of readers and transcribers, n publisher could turn out an edition of any work at very cheap rates, and nlmost at a moment's notice. There was no initial expense of typesetting before a single copy could be produced, no ruinous extras In the shape of printers' corrections. The manuscript came from the au thor; the publisher handed it over to his slaves, and if a book of modest dimensions, the complete edition could be ready, if necessary, within twenty four hours. Actually, then, books wore produced and sold more easily nid quickly in ancient Home than they are in modern London.—T. I\'s London Weekly. Gill Swallows Safety Pin. Adeline Stevenson, the thirteen year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs John Stevenson, of Chester, Pa., swal lowed an open salty pin while dress ing. An X-ray examination failed to reveal the whereabouts of the pin. House Passes Free List Bill. At the conclusion of a ten-hour session the house passed the Demo cratic free list bill by a vote of 230 to 109. Twenty-four Republicans and Representatives Berger, the Socialist, voted for the measure. Tnft's Silver Wedding. Fifty members of the Cincinnati Commercial club are ging to Washing ton to help the President and Mrs. Taft celebrate their silver wedding an niversary on June 20. They will enter tain the president at luncheon. GENERAL MARKETS PHILADELPHIA FLOUR weak; winter clear, $3.25@3.50; city mills, fancy, 5.250/ r>.7;>. RYIO FLOUR firm, at $1.40@4.50 per barrel. WHEAT firm; No. 2 red, new, 92 @93c. CORN quiet; No. 2 yellow, 61 V.@ 62c. OATS steady; No. 2 white, 39c.; lower grades, 37V&c. POULTRY: Live firm; hens, 15© c.; old roosters, 10©llc. Dressed steady; choice fowls, 15c.; old roost ers, 11c. BUTTER steady; extra creamery, 23 Vic. per II). EGGS firm; selected, 19(fi)21c.; near bv, 18c.; western, lSe. POTATOES firm; per bush. 65@70c. Live Stock Markets. PITTSBURG (Union Stock Yards)— CATTLE higher; choice, $6.15@>6.35: prime, $5.90<fi'6.15. SHEEP higher; prime wethers, $1 10 @>4.25; culls and common, $2@2.50; spring lambs, st>©lo; veal calves, s(i.sO<fi'oi.7s. HOGS higher; prime heavies, sti.2o $7 6.25; mediums, G.GS; heavy Yorkers, light Yorkers, s<>.6s(T/ 0.70; pigs, $(J.65@C.70; roughs, ss® 5.40.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers