THE-FULTON COUNTY NEWS, McCONNELLSBURG, PA..
OUTWITTING THE
By LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN
CHAPTER XIII.
9
Five Day In an Empty House.
' ih,. live days 1 speut In Unit house
Kcmi'il "1U llke flve yt'"r8, I,url"8
-II tlmt time I lintl very little to elit
es In fact ,Il,,n 1 ,,w'n Bl'ttln ,n
the fields. I dl11 n()t ft'01 11 H0 ,mJ' per
tans, because of the fnct that I wns no
loBger exposed to the other privations
which heforo hud combined to muko
mJ condition so wretched. I now hud a
,! place to sleep, at nny rule, nnd I
did not wuko every liulf hour or so rs
I liml been accustomed to do In the
pVIri mid woods, nnd, of course, my
huni.fr wus not aggravated by the
physical exertions which hud been
necessary before.
.Nevertheless, perhnps because I hud
more time now to llilnk of tho hunger
pnlim which were gniiwlng at me all
the tin"', I don't believe I was ever bo
miserable ns I wus nt thnt period of
my adventure. I felt so mean towurds
tho world I would have committed
murder, I think, with very little prov
ocation. German soldiers were pnsslng the
house nt nil hours of tho day. I
watched them hour after hour from the
keyhole of the doorto hnvo shown
myself at tho window wns out of the
question because tho house In which
I wns concealed wus supposed to be
untenanted.
Demise of the fnct thnt I wns un
title to speak either Flemish or Ger
man 1 could not go out und buy food,
although I still hnd the money with
which to do It. Thnt wus one of tho
thirds thnt gulled out tho thought
that I had the wherewithal In my
Jcmifl to buy ull the food I needed nnd
yet no way of getting It without en
dangering my liberty und life.
At night, however, lifter It wns dork,
I would steal quietly out of tho house
to ace whut I could pick up In the way
of food. Ily thnt time, of course, the
itorcs were closed, but I scoured the
atreets, the ulleys and the bywnys for
amips of food ujid occasionally got up
couruge enough to nppenl to Belgian
peasants whom I met on the streets,
oad In thnt wny I munuged to keep
body and ev"l together. .
It wus quito nppurent to me, how
ever, that I wus worse off In the city
than I had been In the fields, und I
decided to get out of that house Just
aa soon as I knew definitely that Huy
llgcr hud made up his mind to do noth
Ins further for me.
When I was not nt tho keyhole of the
door I spent most of my day on the top
floor In n room which looked out on the
street. l!y keeping well awuy from the
window I could see much of whut was
Koiii' on without being seen myself.
In my restlessness, I used to walk bnck
ami forth In that room and I kept It up
i constantly thnt 1 believe I must have
worn n pnth in the Hour. 'It was nine
steps from one wall to the other, and
ns I had little lse to nmuse me I fig
ured out one day lifter I had been
wing up nnd down for several hours
just how much distance I would have
covered on my way to Holland If my
footsteps had been tuken In thnt direc
tion Instead of Just up nnd down tliut
old room. I was very much surprised
to find thnt In three hours I crossed
the room no less than r,(XX) times and
tho distance covered wns between nlno
and ten miles. It wns not very grati
fying to realize that after walking nil
that distance I wasn't a step nearer my
Coal than when I started, but I had to
do something while waiting for Iluy
llger to help me, nnd pacing up nnd
down was u natural outlet for my
restlessness.
While looking out of the top floor
window one day, I noticed n cat on a
window ledge of the house across tho
street. I bud n nice piece of a broken
I Rummaged the House Many Timet,
mirror which I hud picked up In the
house nnd I used It to nmuse myself
for an hour nt n time shining It In tho
ats eyes across the street. At flrtt
i uniiiial wns annoyed by tho reflec
tion iiikI would move nwuy, only to
conin ,UI.( n f,.w niii.uts later. By
"I'd by, however, It seemed to get
used to the glare und wouldn't budge
"o mutter how strong the sunlight wns.
''laying with tint cut In this wnv irot
Into tho liuhlt of wntchlng her
c"mings nnd goings and wns hull
fi'i'tly the means of my getting food a
""y or two Inter n( a time when I
-"- no fii'iilitbtid Unit 1 was reudy to
do almost anything to appease my
hunger.
It wns about 7 o'clock In the even
ing. I was expecting Iluyllger nt 8,'
but I hadn't tho slightest hope thnt he
would bring me food, ns ho had told
me thnt he wouldn't tuko tho risk of
having food In his possession when
culling on me. I wus standing at the
window In such a way that I could
see what wus going on In the street
without being observed by those who
passed by, when I noticed my friend,
tho cut, coming down tho steps of the
opposlto hiniso with something In his
mouth. Without considering the risks
I run, I opened tho front door, ran
down the steps nnd across tho street,
and pounced on thut cut lieforo It could
get awuy with Its supper, for thut, as
I hnd Imagined, wns what I hud seen
In Its mouth. It turned nut to be a
pleco of stewed rabbit, which I confls
cnted eagerly and took buck with mo
to the house.
I'crhiips I felt n little sorry for tho
rnt, but 1 certainly hnd no qualms
about eating the nnlmul's dinner. I
was much too hungry to dwell upon
niceties, and a piece of stewed rabbit
was certainly too good for a rnt to rot
when a man wus starving. I ate and
enjoyed It und the Incident suggested
to me a wny In which I might possibly
obtain food again when nil other ave
nues fulled.
From my place of concealment I fre-
qently saw huge enrts being pushed
through the streets gathering potato
peelings, refuse of cnbbnge and similar
food remnant, which, In America, are
considered gnrhnge nnd destroyed. In
Belgium they were using this "gar-
huge" to make their bread out of, and
while the Idea may sound revolting to
us, the fnct Is that tho Germnns have
brought these things down to such a
science thut the bread they make this
wny Is really very good to eut. I know
It would have been like cake to me
when I wns In need of food ; Indeed I
would have eaten the "garbage" di
rect, let alone the bread.
Although, as I huvo said, I suffered
greatly from hunger ttvhllo occupying
this house, there were ono or two
things I observed through the keyhole
or from tho windows which made me
laugh, and some of the Incidents thnt
occurred during my voluntary Impris
onment wore really funny.
From the keyhole I could see, for In
stance, n shop window on the other
side of the street, several houses down
tho block. All dny long German sol-
diers would be pnsslug In front of the
house nnd I noticed thnt practically
every ono of them would stop In front
of this storo window nnd look In. Oc
casionally a soldier on duty bent would
hurry past, but I think nine out of ten
of them were sufllclently Interested to
spend nt least n minute, nnd somo of
them three or four minutes gazing nt
whatever wns being exhibited In thut
window, nlthough I noticed thut It
fulled to nttrr.rt the Belgians.
I hnve a considerable streak of curi
osity In me, nnd I couldn't help won
dering what It could be In that window
which almost without exception
seemed to Interest German soldiers but
fulled to hold the Ilelglans, nnd after
conjuring my bruins for a while on tho
problem I cume to tho conclusion thnt
the shop must hnve been a book-shop
and the window contained German
magazines, which, nnturully enough,
would be of tho greatest Interest to
the Germans but of nono to tho Del
glans.
At any rate I resolved thot as soon aa
night cume I would go nut nnd In
vestlgnte tho window. When I got tho
answer I laughed so loud that I wus
afraid for tho moment I must hnvo at
tracted the attention of the neighbors,
but I couldn't help It. Tho window
was filled with hugo quantities of
snusagel The store was a butcher
shop and ono of the principal things
they sold apparently wus snusage. The
display they nmde, although It con
slsted merely of sausages plied In tho
window, certulnly hnd plenty of "pull
Ing" power. It "pulled" nlno Ger
mans out of ten out of their course nnd
Indirectly "pulled" mo right across tho
street I The Idea of thoso Gosmnns be
ing so Interested In thnt window dls-
plny as to stand In front of tho win
dow for two, three or four minutes nt
a time, however, certulnly seemed
funny to me, nnd when I got buck to
the Iiouho I snt nt the keyhole ngaln
and found just us much Interest ns
before In watching the Germans stop
In their trucks' win n they reached tho
window, even though I wns now aware
what the attraction wus.
(Hie of my chief occupations during
these days wns cntchlng llles. I would
catch n Ily, put 111 ata In n spider's web
(there were plenty of them In tho old
house), nnd sit down for the spider to
come down nnd get him. Hut always I
pictured myself In the saino predlcn
incut and rescued thii fly Just ns the
snider wus uhout to grab him. Several
times when things were dull I wns
tempted to see the tragedy through,
but perhaps the sumo I'rovldcuco that
guided me safely through nil perils
wns guarding, too, tho destiny of those
llles, for I always weakened nnd tho
llles never did suffer from my lust for
amusement.
The Iiouho was well supplied with
books In fact, one of the choicest li
braries I think 1 ever saw but they
were nil written cither In Flemish or
French. I could read no Flemish nnd
very little French. I might hnvo mndo
a little headway with the latter, but
the books ull seemed too deep for me
and I gnvo It up. Thero wus one thing
though thnt I did rend and reread
from beginning to end; that was a
New York Herald which must have ar
rived Just about the time wnr was de
clared. Several things In this In
teres! ed me, nnd particularly the base
ball scores, which I studied with ns
l Knrn ii n rnul fun Dossllilv cnlllll
I tin uu-to-duie score. I couldn't rcfrnlu
Copyrfcht, 1018, by
MtMtMMMHMMHMMMIMMM.IttMtMMMMtHtnIMMUtMUtMMlMHMHmHMMMH
from luughlng when I came to an ac
count of Zimmerman (of tho Cubs)
being benched for some split with Ihe
umpire, and It afforded me Just as
much Interest three years after It hud
happened perhaps more than aome
current Item of world-wide Interest
hud at thut time.
I rummaged the house ninny times
from cellur to garret In my search for
something to ent, but tho harvest of
three years of war had mndo uny suc
cess along thnt line Impossible. I was
like tho man out In the ocean In a bout
and thirsty with water every where but
not a drop to drink.
I wns tempted while In the city to
go to church one Sunday, but my HKtor
Judgment told me It would be a useless
risk. Of courio, someone would surely
say something to mo nnd I didn't
know how many Germnns would be
there or whnt might happen, so I gave
up that Iden.
During all the time I wns concealed
In this house I suw but ono automobile
nnd that was a German BtnIT officer's.
That same afternoon I hud one of the
frights of my young life.
I had been gazing out of tho keyhole
ns usunl when I heard coming down
tho street tho measured tread of Ger
in a n soldiers. It didn't sound like very
ninny, but there was no doubt In my
mind that German soldiers were
marching down thj street. I went up
stairs nnd peeked through the window
nnd sure enough a squad of German In
fantry was coming down the street
accompanied by a mllltnry motor
truck. I hadn't the slightest Idea thut
they were coming after me, but still
tho iKisslbllltles of the situation gave
me more or less ularm, and I consid
ered how I could make my escape If
by chance I was the mnn they were
after. The Idea of hiding In the wine
cellur nppcnlcd to mo ns tho most
practical; thero must have been
plenty of places among the wine- kegs
and cases whero a man could conceal
himself, but, as a mutter of fnct, I did
not believe thnt any such contingency
would nrlse.
Thejnnrchlng soldiers came nearer,
I could hear them nt the next house.
In a moment I would see them puss
tho keyhole through which I wus look
ing. "Halt 1"
At the word of command shouted by
a Junior officer tho squad came to at
tention right In front of tho house I
I waited no longer. Itunnlng down the
stairs I Hew Into tho wlno cellur and
although It was nlmost pitch durk
tho only light coming from a grating
which led to tho backyard I soon
found a satisfactory hiding pluco In
the extreme roar .of the cellar. I had
had the presence of mind to leave the
door of tho wine cellar ajar, figuring
thut If the soldiers found a closed door
they would be more npt to search for
n fugitive behind It than If tho door
were open.
My decision to get nwny from thnt
front door hnd been mndo and cnrrled
nut none too soon, for I had only Just
located myself between two big wine
cases when I henrd tho tramp of sol
dlers' feet miirchlng up the front stoop,
a crash at tho front door, a few hasty
words of command which I did not un
derstand, nnd then tho noise of scur
rying feet from room to room nnd such
a bunging nnd hammering nnd smash
ing and crashing thnt I could nut muke
out what wns going on.
If Iluyllger hnd revealed my hiding
place to tho Iluns, as I wns now con
tldent he hnd, I felt thnt thero wus lit
tle prospect of their overlooking me
They would senrch the house from top
to bottom nnd, If necessnry, raze It to
tho ground before they would give up
the senrch. To escape from the house
through the backyard through the Iron
crating, which I hud no doubt I could
force, seemed to be tho logical thing
to do, but tho chances were thnt the
I Inns Imd thrown n cordon around the
entire block before tho squad was sent
to tho house. The Germnns do these
things In nn efllelcnt manner always,
They take nothing for granted.
My ono chance seemed to bo to stand
pnt In the hope thnt tho officer In
charge might possibly come to tho con
elusion that ho hud arrived at the
house too Into thut tho bird hud
Down.
My position In thnt wlno cellar wns
anything but a romfortablo ono. lints
nnd mice wero scurrying ncross tlie
Moor nnd the smashing and crashing
going nn overhead wus anything but
promising. Evidently those soldiers
Imagined thnt I ought to bo hiding In
the walls, for It sounded ns though
they wero tearing off tho woliiscottlng,
the picture molding nnd, In fnct,
everything thnt they could tear or pull
apart.
Ilefore very long they would finish
their search upstairs nnd would como
down to the basement. Whnt they
would do when they discovered the
wine I hnd no Iden. Perhaps they
would let themselves loose on It nnd
give mo my chance. With a bottlo of
wine In each bund I figured I could put
up n good fight In the dark, especially
as I was becoming more nnd more uc
customed to It and could begin to dls
tlngulsh things hero nnd there, where-
us when they entered the pitchy durk
ness of tho cellur, they would bo ns
blind ns huts In the sun.
Porhnpa It was twenty minutes bo
fore I henrd what sounded like my
denth-knell to me; tho soldiers wero
coming down the cellar steps I I
clutched n wine bottle In each hand
nnd waited with bated breuth.
Trump I Tramp I Tramp I In a mo
ment they would ho la the cellur
proper. I could almost hear my heart
beating. The mice scurried ncross tho
floor by tho scores, frightened no
doubt by the vibration nnd noise mado
by the descending soldiers. Some of
tho creutnrcB ran across mo where I
' stood between two wlno enses, but I
Pat Aire O'Brien
wns too much Interested In blggor
gnmo to pay any attention to mice.
Tramp I Trnmpl "Unit!" Agnln
nn order was given In Gorman, and al
though I did not understand It I am
willing to bless every word of It, bo
cause. It resulted In tho soldiers turn
ing right uhout face, marching up tho
stairs uguln, through tho hull and out
of Uie front door and away I
I could hardly believe my ears. It
seemed nlmost too good to bo true thut
they could hnve given up the senrch
Justns they were uhout to como upon
their quarry, but unless my eurs de
ceived uio thut wus whut they hud
done.
Tho possibility that tho whole thing
might be a German ruse did not escape
mo, nnd I remained In tho cellur for
neurly nn hour after they hnd nppnr-
ently departed before I ventured to
move, listening Intently In tho mean
while for tho slightest sound which
would reveul the presence of a sentry
upstairs.
Not hearing a sound I began to feel
thut they hnd Indeed given up the hunt,
for I did not believe thnt a German
"I Figured I Could Put Up Good
Fight"
ofllcer would bo so considerate of his
men ns to try to trap mo rather than
curry tho cellur by force If they hud
the slightest Idea that I wns there.'
I took off my shoes nnd crept softly
nnd slowly to the cellur steps nnd then
step by step, placing my weight down
gradually so ns to prevent tho steps
from creaking, I climbed to tho top.
Tho sight thnt met my eyes as I
glanced Into tho kitchen told mo the
whole story. The water faucets hnd
been ripped from tho sinks, tho water
pipes huvelng been torn off, and
gns fixtures, cooking utensils nnd
everything else which contained even
Ihe smallest proportion of tho metals
tho Germans so bndly needed hnd been
tnken from tho kitchen. I walked up
stairs now with moro confidence, feel
ing tolerably assured that tho soldiers
hadn't been after me ut all, but had
been merely collecting metal and
other underlain which they expected
an elabnrato dwelling house llko tho
one In which I wns concealed to yield.
Later I heard that (he Germnns have
taken practically every ounce of brass,
copper and wool they could lay their
hands on In Belgium. Even tho brass
out of pianos bus been ruthlessly re
moved, (he serious dunuigo dono to
valuable, properly by the removal of
only nn Inslgnlllcnnt proportion of
metal never being tuken into consid
eration. I learned, too, that all dogs
over fourteen Inches high had been
seized by tho Germnns. This furnished
lots of speculation nmong tho Ilelglans
as to what tiso tho Germans were put
ting the nnlmals to, tho general Im
pression apparently being that they
were being used for foodl
This, however, seemed much less
likely to me than that they wero being
employed an dh-mtch dogs In tho
trenches, the sumo ns wo use them on
our side of the line. They might pos
sibly kill tho dogs nnd use their skins
for leather and thelf carcasses for tal
low, but I feel quite sure that tho
Huns are by no means so short of food
thnt Ihey hnvo to cut dogs yet nwhllo.
Indeed, I want to repeat hero what
I have mentioned before; If anyone has
tho Idea that this war can be won by
starving tho Huns, he hasn't tho slight
est Iden how well provided tho Ger
mans are In that respect. They have
considered their food needs In connec
tion with their resources for several
years to como nnd they have gono at
It In such a methodical, systematic
wny, taking Into consideration every
possible contingency, thut provided
there Is not nn absolute crop failure,
there Isn't tho slightest doubt In my
mind that they ciin lust for years, nnd
the worst of It Is they ore very cock
Biire about It themselves.
It Is trim that tho German soldiers
want pence. As 1 wntched them
through tho keyhole In tho door' I
thought how unfavorably they coin
pored with our men. They marched
along the street without laughter, with
out Joking, without singing. It wns
quite apparent thnt the war Is telling
on them. I don't believe I suw n single
Germnn soldier who didn't look ns If
he hod Inst his best friend and he
probably had.
At the sumo time there Is a big dif
HUN
ference certainly a difference of aev
ernl years between wishing the war
wns over nnd giving up, nnd I don't
believe tho Germnn rank nnd file nny
more than their lenders have tho slight
est Ideu ut this tlmo of giving up ut
all.
Hut to return to my experience
whllo conccnled In tho house. After
tho visit of tho soldiers, which left
the house In a wretched condition, I
decided that I would continue my Jour
ney towards the frontier, particularly
us I hud gotten nil I could out of Iluy
llger, or rathe; bo hud gotten ull he
wns going to get out of me.
During my concealment In the house
I had mado various sorties Into tho
city at night, nnd I wus beginning to
feel more comfortable even when Ger
man soldiers wero about. Through
tho keyhole I hod studied very
closely the gait of die Ilelglans, the
slovenly droop that characterized most
of them, nnd their general appearance,
nnd I felt thut In my own dirty mid tin
shaven condition I must have looked
ns much like the averngo poor Belgian
ns a man could. Tho only thing that
was against mo wns my height. I wns
several Inches taller than even tho
tallest Belgians. I bud often thought
thnt red hair would hnvo gono good
with my mime, but now, of course, I
wns mighty glad that I wus not so
endowed, for red-haired Belgians are
about ns rare as German charily.
Thero are many, no doubt, who will
wonder why I did not get more help,
than I did ut this time. It Is easily
answered. When a man Is In hourly
fear of his life and the country Is full
of spies, ns Belgium certulnly wus, he
Is not going to help just anyone, thnt
comes along seeking aid. Ono of tho
German's most successful ways of trap
ping the Belgians has been to pose as
nn English or French prisoner who bus
escaped, appeal to them for uld, Impll
cute ns many us possible, nnd then
turn the whole German police force
loose on them. As I look buck on
those days I think It remarkable thut
I received us much help us I did, but
when people are starving under the
conditions now forced upon thost un
fortunate people, it Is ii great ten illa
tion to surrender these escaped pris
oners to German authorities and re
ceive tho handsome rewards offered
for them or for alien spies, as I wus
classed ut thnt time.
Tho passport which I lnul described
me ns a Spanish sailor, but I wus
very dubious uhout Its value. If I
could hnve spoken Spanish fluently It
might hnvo been worth something to
me, but the few words I know of the
language would not have carried me
very far If I had been confronted with
a Spanish Interpreter. I decided to
use the passport only ns n last resort,
preferring to net the part of a deaf
and dumb Belgian peasant us fur us
it would carry me.
Before I dually left the house I hnd
a remarkable experience which I shall
remember us long ns I live.
CHAPTER XIV.
A Night of Dissipation.
During the first two days I spent
with Iluyllger lifter I hud first arrived
In the big city, he had told me, among
other things, of a moving picture show
In town which he said I might have a
chance to see while there.
"It Ih free every night In the week
except Saturdays nnd Sundays," he
said, "und once you nre Inside you
would not be upt to bo bothered by
nnyouc except when they come to take
your order for something to drink.
Whllo thero Is no admission, patrons
aro expected to eat or drink while en
Joying tho pictures."
A day or two later, while walking
the streets nt night In search for food,
I had passed this place and was very
much tempted to go In nnd spend a
few hours, particularly us It would
PRAYING PALM TREE DEAD
Used to Prostrate ttself In tho Evening
While Temple Bells
Rang.
Tho praying pnlm Irco of Fnrldpur,
uhout which certain Interesting fuels
wero published. Is dend. It tuny be
remembered that this tree used to pros
trate Itself In the evening while tho
lemplo bells rung, culling tho people
to prayer, und It erected Its head In
the morning. This process wns repeat
ed every day, to the bewilderment of
thousands of Hindus, who natiiriilly
come to look upon It ns the nbodo of
some "devutn" (god). Hundreds of
fered pujnhs to the unknown "devnta,"
which nil went lo (III the pockets of
the owner of the tree. Miraculous
cures wero reported us a result of pu
Jnh offerings.
The curious phenomenon attracted
the attention of Sir J. 0. Hose, who,
after much dllllculty, obtained permis
sion of the owner of the tree to Inves
tigate the mutter. Ho devised special
Instruments nil of swaileslil manufac
ture and begun to take records. He
found that tho palm tree fell with the
rlso of temperature and rose with Its
full. Itecords obtained with other
trees brought out the hitherto unsus
pected fact that nil trees were moving,
such movements being in response to
changes In their environment.
Sir J. C. Bose holds the opinion thnt
"the whole of the vegetable world, In
cluding rigid trees, perceive the
changes In their environment nnd re
spond to them by uiimlstukublo signals.
They thrill under light and becoino de
pressed by darkness; tho warmth of
summer nnd frost of winter, drought
nnd ruin, these nfld ninny other Imp
pollings lenvo a subtle Impression on
the life of the plant."
In 11)10 there were 6,510.013 Illiter
ates In tho United Slate.
99
perhaps give me on opportunity to
buy something to eat, although I was
at a loss to know how 1 wus going to
ask for whnt I wnntcd.
While trying to mnke up my mind
whether It wus sufo for me to go In I
walked half a block past the place, and
when I turned bnck ngnln nnd reached
tho entrance with my mind mndo up
thnt I would take tho chauco I ran full
tilt Into a German ofllcer who wus Just
coming out.
That settled all my hnnkcrlngs for
moving pictures that night "Where
you camo from, my friend," I figured,
"there must be moro like you I I guess
It Is a good night for wulklng."
Tho next day, however, In recalling
tho Incident of the evening before, It
seemed to me that I hud been rattier
foolish. What I needed more than
anything else at that time wns confi
dence. Before I could get to the fron
tier I would hnve to confront Germnn
soldiers many times, becnuso there
were more of them between Ibis city
nnd Holland than In nny section of tho
country through which I hud so fur
traveled. Safety In these conting
encies would depend lurgely upon thd ,
calmness I displayed. It wouldn't dd .
to get all excited ut the mere Htght of
a spiked helmet. The Belgians, I had (
noticed, whllo careful to obey the,
orders of the Huns, showed no purtlc-1
ulnr fear of them, nnd It seemed to ,
mo tho sooner I cultlvnted the same
feeling of Indifference the better I
would be able to carry off tho part I
wns playing.
For this reason I mndo up my mind
then nnd tb -re that, olllcers or no of
ficers, I wniihl 311 to that show thai
night nnd s.t l iirough no mutter
whnt hnppelied. Vhlle people may
think thut I hnd Jeclded unwisely be
cnuso of Ihe unnecessary risk Involved
In tho adventure, It occurred to me
that perhaps after all that theater was
about one of the safest places I could
attend because that wns uhout the lasl
pi nee Germans would expect to find a
fugitive English ofllcer In even If they
wero searching for me.
As soon ns evening cume, therefore,
I Blurted out for the theatre. I fixed
myself up as well as possible. I hnd
on n fairly decent pair of pants which
Iluyllger had gln mo and I used u
clenn hnndkerchief ns n collnr.
Willi my hnlr brushed up nnd my
beard trimmed as nently ns possible
with ii pair of rusty scissors which I
hud found In the house, while my ap
pearance was not exactly thnt of n
Beau Bruminel, I don't think I looked
much worse than the average Belgian)
In these days the average Belgian U
very poorly dressed at best.
I can't say I hud no misgivings ns I
mndo my wny to the theatre; cer
tainly I was going there more for dis
cipline than pleasure, but I bail made
up my mind thut I wus going thero tc
see It through.
The entrance to the theatre or heel
garden, for It was ns much one as the
other, wns on the side of the building
und wns reached by way of an alley
which ran alongside. Near Ihe dooi
wus 11 ticket-seller's booth, but US this
was ono of the free nights there wus
no one In the booth.
I marched slowly down tho nlley
Imitating us best I could the Indiffer
ent gnlt of the Belgliins, nnd when I
entered the Ihenter endeavored to act
as though I hud been there many times
before. A hasty survey of tho layout
of the place wus sulllclent to enable
mo to select my sent. It wns curly nnd
thero wero not more than half n dozen
people In the place at thnt time, so
that I had my choice.
Thero wns n raised platform, per
haps two feet high, nil uround the
walls of the place except nt the end
whero tho stage wns locnted. On till
platform tables were arranged and
there wero tables on tho lloor proper
us well.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
DOCTOR FITTED FOR LEADER
Much In Knowledge of Medicine to
Equip Man for High Pub
lic Service.
Thero Is much In the knowlcdgo of
medicine to lit n man for tho high call
Ing of lawgiver and leader of thi
people, snys Pr. Frederick Peterson, In
tho Century. Ho continues:
"To reach tho gonl of nntlonnl
iieulih. Ihu physician'! accumulated
knowlcdgo and experience must be
brought to lieur upon the luws which
relate to fit marriages, to housing and
the food supply, to education, occupa
tions, recreations, hygiene nnd sanita
tion, to contagious diseases, alcohol
Ism. poverty nnd crime; In short, upon
every law which relates directly or In-1
directly to Ihe health nnd well-being
of the people. Ills Interest reaches'
lulo the depths of sociology, biology
and philosophy, to the relations be
tween persons nnd groups, between nn-
Hons and races. The Interests of inedl-1
cine nre llxed only hy the boundaries
of life Itself. When (ho great state, '
with Its great freo municipalities Is at
length established, when wnr nnd pov
erty and disenso nnd unemployment,
as wo know them, hnve been banished
to tho vast rubbish heap of man's out
grown Ignorance nnd folly, It may be
(bat the physicians of Hint nobler' time
will be expected to frame wise laws
not only to Insure Individual health
but lo prevent the disenso to which
tin, nrimnlsm of the state, tho body
politic, has In ull earlier loclul stages
been subject."
She Earned It.
My llttlo daughter enmo In with a
penny. I nsked her where sho found
It nnd sho sntd' "I earned It You
tow, Curter culled ne a bad girl and I
was going to flgBt him, but ho Imd
somo pennies, so I told him If ho
would glvo mo nenny I veuldn'l
JClUt him and be dl4"
AWAIT VERDICT ON OSTRICH
If Arizona Reports Favorably, Big
Bird May Tako Its Place as a
National Food. ;
"I'lcnse pnss tho ostrich."
This request may be heard soon In
tho public eating places nnd the din
ing rooms of the private homes of
Washington. Stranger things than the
serving of nice roast ostrich, with
plenty of gravy and dressing, have hap
pened during these war times.
The future popularity of this bird
ns an American dish depends to a
large extent upon the success to be
met In Arizona, where they are being
Introduced ns a food now.
The federal food, administrator for
Arizona has granted permission to the
owner of one of Ihe largest ostrich
farms .in America, situated near The
nix, to slaughter WM) of bis birds. This
ostrich raiser reports that the birds
are In excellent condition, nnd when
killed will be dressed and placed on
tho market at an extremely low price
probably 113 cents u pound. The MX)
birds will muku uhout 2,km) pounds of
dressed nient.
This wur Is responsible In two ways
forlhls action on the part of the os
trich raiser. In the first place, the lat
ter would never think of slaughtering
these valuable, If not overtender, birds,
but for the fnct that the war bus put
the ostrich plume more or less out of
business. In tho second place, ihe
wnr shortage of meat Is responsible
for the Issuance of tho order permit
ting the slnughter nnd sale.
And thus It comes to pass that Ari
zona, or a part of her population, nt
least, Is preparing to observe nnd cel
ebrate "Ostrich day." Meanwhile the
rest of Ihe nation Is waiting to hear
the verdict to be passed upon this
bird ns a nice, tasty, and tender food
aside from Its neck.
Olllchils of the food administration
tre rather optimistic uhout tho future
of the ostrich ns n food. They point
to Ihe tremendous bit whale meat has
made lu various sections; even shark
steaks hnve been passed upon nnd
approved, and reindeer meat is making
the hit of the year In the West. Wash
ington Star.
Women Are Huskies.
A rolling pin In nn excited woman's
hands knows no home. That Is why,
when the police commissioner appoint
ed six women cops he gave them ev
erything that a man cop possesses but
a (dub. The new women cops will
have the same shield the regular po
licemen wear, and each will be dressed
In n "suitable" blue service uniform,
carry a gun ami handcuffs nnd be sup
plied Willi summons. books Just ns nil
cops are, but Ihey will not be allowed
to swing a (dub. "These women aro
much needed in New York nt the pres
ent time," explained the commission
er, "and, In fact, I consider their serv
ices so necessnry thut I huvo asked
the board of estimate to give me nn
appropriation fur more policewom
en." The women cops will specialize
among their own sex, especially as a
guard against the temptations (but
young women come In contact with In
the clly. But nt the same time, If any
guy gels fresh with them, Ihey will get
aplenty, for ull the women nre hus
kies und know their business. New
York Sun.
Don't Be an Extremist
. It was remarked by Muciiuliiy that
when feeling runs high und parties
align on any question, moral, religious,
political or economic, the best men on
bold sides are lo lie found nearest to
the dividing frontier. The extremists
of nil the factions always Injure und
often bring discredit on the cause which
Ihey espouse. Few things are heller
established than this, und recurring
evidence thereof Is found In the his
tory of every nation. It Is n principle
of nature; nnd us the temperate zone
separates climes which burn or freeze,
so wisdom holds the debatable middle
ground between the bitter nnd violent
extreme, and virtue Is only a Just tem
per between propensities which nre
vices when Indulged in to excess. Even
Peine perfection, as Halifax argued In
defending the tolerant vlu medlu he
always sought to follow. Is only the
equilibrium of attributes no ono of
which could preponderate without dis
turbing the moral and physical order
of the world.
Courtesy.
Did you ever think what kind of
milliner you nre developing? Or how
It pleases folks who meet you? Well,
you'd better gel busy nnd think about
It. You hnve no bleu whut a differ
ence It makes. We have In mind a
mnn who has gained some measure of
fume; be has standing In the world and
In his business. But be owiih u man
ner that we wouldn't keep In the
woodshed. He 19 exceedingly cultured
and apparently possessed of beautiful
manners, hut his milliners hide u nasty
superciliousness. He Is In reality na
extremely disagreeable und concelied
person und the fact has lost for tho
business be represents numy thou
sands of dollars u year. Consequently
It has lost many thousands for hliu.
If his mi er were uctually courteous
Instead of counterfeit courteous, he
would be iiciu'v u great man. From
American Boy.
Chile Building Ships.
Two large shipbuilding plants are be
ing erected In southern Chile. They
will bo ready for operation In Septem
ber and the building of wooden ves
sels will begin ImniedlnteJy. The flrat
vessel, of 3,ihm tons, will be launched
In March, lllll, according to the sched
ule, nnd nnother vessel of the same
size will lenvo the ways shortly after
ward. The new shipyards nre being con
structed nt Llanao. Tho wood to bo
used lu shipbuilding Is native timber
Chilean oak, spruce nnd other woods.
The machinery for th new vessel!
will be bought In the United States If
It Is possible to get It from this coun
try ; otherwise the builders will get II
from Autofiignstn.
Making Life Harder.
On n new cash drawer nn electric
bell rings until It Is closed and locked,
nnd once opened by pressing a combi
nation of buttons It cnuuot bo re
opened If purt?y shut.