——
THE MEVERSDALE COMMERCi:.. “AZYERSDALE, PA.
“DUCKING” IN BATTLE.
Little Chance For Dodging Modern
High Velocity Bullets.
Although under the altered condi-
tions of modern warfare both officers |
and men take all the cover they can
get, it is still considered “bad form” to
duck when bullets are whistling or
shells screaming overhead.
This is a survival of the old Crimean
days, when men were actually punished
for ducking bullets in battle. That the
Service tradition was not always strict-
ly observed even then, however, is ap-
parent from a story told of a grizzled
old veteran who, on being remonstrat-
ed with by a young corporal for indul-
gence in this very practice, replied, “It’s
all very well for you, m’lad, but I'm a
family man,” and continued to duck at
each report.
It is on record, too, that Napoleon
strongly objected to it, and on one occa-
sion he even went to the length of
publicly reprimanding one of his staff
officers for stooping over his horse's
neck in order to avoid the balls he
heard whistling over his head.
General Gordon, no mean authority,
was of a different opinion, though.
Writing in his journal, he says, “For
my part, I do not consider judicious
ducking to be a fault, for I remember
on two occasions seeing shells before
my eyes which certainly, had I not
bobbed, would have taken off my head.”
Needless to say, however, it would
be impossible to dodge a modern high
velocity projectile in this free and easy
fashion. It cannot be seen, and by the
time it is heard the danger is past.—
London Mail.
COMFORT IN THE HOME.
A Man's Notion of How the Roome and
Things Should Look.
A young newly married man com-
plained recently that he almost dread.
ed taking a friend home to dinner be-
cause his wife, every time she expected
Company, imagined it was necessary to
scrub the house from garret to cellar
and polish every bit of silver on the
sideboard.
It made him uncomfortable all day
long to think of his wife giving herself
this wholly unnecessary trouble.
, "Of course, a man likes to see his
home looking nice when he takes an
,6ld chum into it—and of course the
‘chum does too,” he said. “But I'd be
far happier if I could convince my wife
that a house can look tidy even if it
’t been gone over that very day.
“I lke the books to look a little dis-
orderly. You get the feeling that
ey’re being read all the time, and
t's what books are for. And I like
the music on the piano to be a trifle
disarranged. It looks as if we really
‘sang the songs, and it gives a room
that cozy home feeling that a fellow
‘doves. What if the curtains aren’t just
in every window? Things ought
look as if they were touched and
Were used and enjoyed. If the sofa
Cushions are dented you know some
@ne has leaned against them. Isn’t that
What they're for? But if they stare at
Jou in a prim row you're a brave man
you dare to put your back against
them—much léss your tired head!
“And when a fellow comes home at
aight he usually has a tired head! —
Irish World.
* Fly Killers.
One recommendation of the depart-
ent of agriculture for getting rid of
files 1s powdered hellebore. This when
Yrinkled on the manure heaps in which
{ flies lay their eggs destroys the
larvae and does not in any way spoil
manure,
e Journal of the American Medical
“Association says the hygienic labora-
pry of the public health service has
ound in salicylic acid an eminently
satisfactory agent for killing adult
files. This, it says, is not an objec-
tionable substance to handle, and there
Is little danger of toxic effects from ac-
cldental consumption of considerable
doses of it. A 1 per cent solution of
salicylic acid should be sweetened and
left in shallow saucers where flies will
easily fing it,
empleo meas
“Crossing the Bar.”
Lord Tennyson's most noble death
mg, “Crossing the Bar,” is one of the
hire greatest death songs ever writ
ben, and it comes to us as a sublime
Prayer, a humble petition. a sacred be
of a great man. The last Ione man
on this terrestrial sphere will utter no
gander words when he sets sail to
#sas unknown than those dropped as
#ith’s anchor by the silent man of the
ester age: 0
hope m t face to face
en: Tha os the bar.
: Faithful Cook.
“Did you ever hear of a cook stay-
fg with the same family as long as
ty years?”
h, yes.”
“I presume si:e was called a jewel >’
“She doubtless was considered one,
bit the family called her ‘mother.’ "—
gham Age-Herald.
et i
Replacing a Meat Dist.
The people of the United States con-
sume fully twice as much meat per cap-
fa as do the people of Europe. Dried
Beans, peas and lentils may replace
meat in the diet to a large extent to
he advantage of outdoor workers espe-
Too Late.
Betective—So I've caught you in the
fiaencial district, have I? Crook—Yes,
MW, but I can’t slip you nothing. I just
Jot away from a broker.—New York
e.
Better Stil:
Mary—Why don’t you prefer Harold
#% Tom? Harold is capable of big
Maude—Yes; but Tom owns
@me, —Puck.
SIX SIDED SNOW CRYSTALS.
! That Is Nature’s Law, but Why It Is
{ So Science Cannot Explain.
Snow crystals obey an immutable
law of six. They are six sided jewels
or six pointed stars. They never an-
swer to the law of four or five. ‘Snow
is crystallized water, and water always
| crystallizes in six sided forms. Why?
No one ever will know. There is no
more apparent reason for the sixness
of crystallized water than there is for
the monoclinic prisms of sugar crys-
tals. Water and sugar and the com-
plex minerals which make the granite
rock all follow laws which are utter-
ly unchangeable, but which are, as far
as We can see, without any special rea-
son. It is as profitable to speculate
why the chlorophyll of vegetation is
green and why the blood of animals is
red. 1
|
The whiteness of the snow is under-
standable. It is due to the fusion of
prismic colors scintillating from the
countless surfaces of minute crystals,
Human sclence comprehends this. It
also comprehends the fact that snow
is a poor conductor of beat and thus
prevents terrestrial radiation and keeps
the earth and the things in the earth
snug and warm under the white blan-
i ket which is softer and finer than
| lamb’s wool or eiderdown. Science
| knows why snow is white and why it
is beneficent, but it cannot explain the
! law of six.
| It is well that snow cannot be al-
| together explained.
| earth's most beautiful mysteries. It
would lose something in beauty were |!
it to lose all its mystery.—Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
BANKS “LOAN” MONEY.
They Don’t “Lend” It Because It is a
Business Transaction.
Why is it banking houses always
“loan” their huge sums of money, nev-
er by any chance “lend” them? “Lend”
is the true verb, while “loan’ was ex-
clusively the noun. How came it about
that “to loan” has uniformly supplant-
ed “to lend?” ) ?
he purists make a great fuss about
this, They insist that the stupid and
untaught financial world has foisted
upon the language a substantive verb
when no new verb was needed, when
the ancient and established usage was
fixed in the signification of “to lend.”
But prior to the modern development
of business enterprise when money
was lent, it was bestowed upon the bor-
rower either for temporary use with-
out compensation, as a mark of favor
or patronage, or by the professional
money lender who, taking advantage
of persons in extremities of need, de-
manded usurious interest. This Anglo-
Saxon verb today retains its ancient
connotation. When it was coined the
productive powers of money were un-
known and the wealth of rich men
was locked up for safety and kept out
of the channels of commerce.
Nowadays, by devices of credit and
rapid intercommunication, it is kept
constantly working in productive en-
terprises. Immense loans are made, no
longer to relieve the necessitous and
the improvident, but to stimulate in-
dustry and to enable the borrower as
well as the loaner to reap a profit in his
transactions. Mouey is “loaned” in this
sense. It is not lent.— New York Times.
The People of India.
| The population of India speak about
i 150 different languages and are divid-
ed up into’ forty-three distinct nation-
alities. There are 2,378 main castes
| besides a large number of subcastes.
| There are 200,000,000 Hindus, 60,000,
| 000 Mohammedans, while among the
| Hindus there are 50,000,000 of degrad-
ed people of no caste, whose touch or |
even shadow is supposed to cause pol-
lution.
Limited in number, but mighty in in-
fluence, are the Parsees, who hold the
wealth of Bombay in the hollow of
their hands and dwell in the loveliest
mansions around the coast. They con-
. form to European customs and live as
much like Europeans as is possible for
; a colored race. Yet these people still
i Worship the sun.
—_——
The Seychelles Islands.
The Seychelles islands form an archi.
pelago of 114 islands and are situated
about 1,400 miles east of Aden and |
1,000 miles from Zanzibar, They rise
steeply out of the sea, culminating in
| the isle of Mahe, which is about 3,000
| feet above the level of the ocean and
| i8 nearly the center of the group. All
the islands are of coral growth. The
sive coral hewn into square blocks
which glisten like white marble.
Trying to Oblige.
“What's your name, my poor man?’
asked the kind hearted woman.
“Lady,” replied Plodding Pete un-
blushingly, “me name is ‘Lord Reginald
Courtenay Thorpe.’ ”
“Are you sure that’s your real name?”
“No, I Jes’ thought it *ud be a nice
name fur you to use if you wanted to
put de fact dat you had given me a
sandwich an’ a cup o’ tea in de society
Rews.”—Washington Star.
There Are Others.
“It is very strange that no ome has
over been able to find Captain Kidd's
treasure.”
“Oh, well, Captain Kidd isn’t the
real estate and couldn't get it out.”—
8t. Louis Post-Dispatch. :
The Whole Period.
when she thinks of nothing but dress.”
“What period is that?”
“From the cradle to the grave.”—
Puck.
Beauty is the first present nature
glves to women and the first it takes
away.—Mere
It is one of the |
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS.
The Large and Puzzling Part “Man
Failure” Plays In Them.
the statement made at a “safety” meet-
ing that 10 per cent only of industrial
accidents are due to machine failures,
the remaining 90 per cent being wholly
chargeable to “man failure.”
Students, however, will not be satis
fied with the simple statement, but will
want to know something more, espe-
cially as to conditions that contribute to
this appallingly large percentage charg-
ed directly to man’s share in the fault.
It will not do to say that in each in-
stance wanton carelessness is blame.-
able. Psychologists are no longer con-
tent with that explanation, but are go-
Ing deeper into the causation of acci-
dents, seeking to determine Just why
the normal mental processes at times
break and the Interrupted co-ordination
between brain and body ends in disas-
ter. ,
In the matter of interpreting railway
signals, for example, it has been set up
that registered impressions vary as to
individuals and that likewise individ-
uals react in different ways to the fm.
pressions given.
| Emergencies invariably arise in the
, operations of modern Industry similar
| to those in the transportation service,
. and, while the safety device may work
| with mechanical accuracy, the human
| factor cannot be depended .upon.—
| Omaha Bee,
a ——————
| FRUIT AS A FOOD.
| Only Figs, Dates and Maybe Bananas
Are Really Nutritious,
“Fruit of all kinds, when mature and
| fresh, is beneficial for healthful diges-
tion, good quality of blood and as a
preventive of clogging of the liver, kid-
neys and skin and, last but not least,
the brain.
“It is a mistake, however,” writes
W. Howard James, M. D., in Good
Health, “to look on fruit as a source of
nourishment. It should not be taken
with that idea. It should be looked on
more as the lubricator which makes
| the machinery work harmoniously and
{ without destructive friction.
“Some fruits may certainly be rank-
ed as food, such as figs, dates and per-
haps bananas. Those in the tropics,
who live largely on the banana, we are
' told, develop considerable abdominal
distention on account of the quantity
taken. With the exception of the date
and the fig, fruit should never be con-
, sidered as a food.
“The taking of fruit often does good
| by lessening the amount of food taken.
| We are a generation of dyspeptics on
account of excess of food, insufficient
oxidation and lack of proper supply of
fruit and pure water.” ”
Codfish Will Eat Anything.
The cod has the reputation of being
Detite for posters and old tin cans is
the subject of frequent Jests. The va-
ried nature of what the cod swallows
is not more remarkable than the enor-
mous quantity. According to a writer
in the Scotsman, such articles as sil-
ver brooches, clasp knives, books and
rubber balls have been found in its
stomach. One fisherman of Aberdeen
has a stone that weighs more than a
pound taken from a cod that had swal-
lowed it for the sea anemones with
which it was covered. The same fish-
erman has also found specimens of al-
most all the stalk eyed crustaceans
that frequent the northeast coast of
Scotland and of every kind of fish that
a cod can master, including its own
young. Cod have been known to swal- |
low partridges, guillemots and hares.
Dangerous Sport.
First Lady (reading a newspaper)—
This golf seems to be a very danger-
ous game. Did you see what happen-
ed to a man named Taylor? He went
into a bunker and was in two when
he came out.
Second Lady—How dreadful!
| “Yes, here are the words, “Taylor
' getting out in two; Braid secured a
half.’ ”
“Well, Tommy ?”
“Does it say what happened to the
' other half?"
“No, but there was worse to follow.
According to the report, Taylor then
. Tell completely to pieces.”—HExchange.
er ———
Altering the Map Without War.
In a world where nations grow and
' decay, where forces change and popu-
Bouses are built of a species of mas- :
lations become cramped, it is not pos-
sible or desirable to maintain the stat-
Su quo forever. If peace is to be pre-
served, nations must learn to accept
| unfavorable alterations of the map
| without feeling that they must first
be defeated in war or that in yielding
they incur a humiliation.—Bertrand
| Russell in Atlantic Monthly.
EE —————————————
No Discrimination.
“I'm afraid father-in-law doesn’t care
much about me,” said the young man.
“He finds fault with most everything
I do.”
“Nonsense!” repHed his wife. “You |
| don’t know his ways. He is treating
; you just like one of the family.”—Ex-
|
only man who has put his money into
“TLere is a period in a woman’s life i
|
change.
Ear of the Whale.
The orifice of the whale’s ear is
scarcely perceptible, yet it is said that
the whale’s hearing is so acute that a
ship crossing its track half a mile dis-
tant will cause it to dive instantly.
True.
Professor—Now, what wag the cause
of the decline of the Roman empire?
Bright Student—I xnow. It was due
to too much militarism on the part of
outsiders,
Believe me. it is piadence that first
forsakes the wretched. Ova i
CC ARCS RE
Close observers are not astounded by :
Ie
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ABOUT EXTRAVAGANCE.
Nature Sets an Example, and Many
Poor Mortals Feliow it.
, Extravagance is a relative term
usually misapplied. If a man is worth
a hundred million it would not be con-
jidered extravagant for him to spend
& hundred thousand dollars on goldfish
if he wanted to. If a family of ten
people living on $1,000 a year should
get their pictures taken that would be
extravagance.
Hxtravagance
is an exceeding of the speed iimit. But
Who shall ssy what this is?
extra is often necessary.
Vagance is often nece . |
The stn is extravegant—the greatest
heat prodigal. So is mature. Sosa
river. Rain clouds are horrible exam-
bles of extravagance. They pour out
all their possessions without regard to
what they get in return and then fade
away. How like some people that Is,
break you, and not caring!
The. chief fault eof extravagance,
whatever it may be, is not so mrch
in the results it brings about, which
may be good or bad, ag in the time it
wastes. It is immoral because it takes
sway from our capacity for indulging
n the Bay Soy of life.
isn’t the money you spend; & =
the time you take to spend 1 that
causes the damage.—Life,
GOOD AND BAD MANNERS.
And the Brand Used In the Privacy of
the Home Circle.
fifth
Men with bad manners are 3
very successful in life because their
competitors and opponents lose their
tempers, thus making it easy
persons with the had manners
gf?
$F
“feat them. Before a bad mannered per-
Soh becomes wealthy he is known as a
selfish boor. Afterward he is sa’d to
There is grave danger that while a
bad mannered person is still in the
boor class some strong minded and
strong muscled individual may resent
his bad manners and spread his fea-
tures hither and yon over his face with
& few brisk and well directed blows of
a pair of No. i1 fists. If one cares to
run the risk, bad manners are great
things on which to gamble.—Kenneth
L. Roberts in Life.
The Anclent Dragon.
The pterodactyl, whose fossil remains
have been found in the chalk at Cam-
bridge, England, and elsewhere, with
& very varied spread of wings, which |
in the largest specimens must bave
reached twenty-five feet, is almost iden-
tical with the dragon of fable. A bat
like creature, with an elevated hody|
and long neck ending in an absurdly
small head with a portentous. beak, it!
could run very swiftly, was a fish eater
and could swim, or it. fleys by means of
huge membranous. wings, -which con: |
aected its long fore quarters with its 3
hind legs. The pterodactyl evidently
existed down to a comparatively recent
geological period, and it is not at an
improbable that the traditional dragon
Is described from the last living spect
mens as met with by primitive man,
Hard to Endure.
“My dear.
should die don’t let that irrepressible
wag, Snoofers, be one of the pallbear- |
“Oh, don’t taik about. dying, Hen |
ry!” answered the tearful woman.
“But 1 must.
keeping the other pallbearers chuckling
gall the way out to the cemetery and
back to town gets on my neives.”—
Birmingham Age-Herald.
Literary Inference.
“Who wrote “The heights by great]
en reached and kept were not at
tained by sudden flight, but they while
thelr companions slept were toiling up-
ward in the night?”
“lI dunno. Must have been 80s Poet
said the sick man, *“4f 1 ;
The idea of Snoofers|
who hadn't heard about the eight hour
day.”—Washington Star.