THE MEYERSDALE COMMERCIAL, MEVERSDALE, PA.
Dark Days
oR
By
JESSIE ETHEL SHERWIN
~
Cop, right, 1917, by W. G. Chapman.)
“We're shut up. Go away!”
Thos John Wylie, gruff, almost
vicious, he who had never in his life
Yefore spoken an unkind word or re-
fused a favor or a kindness to human
or animal.
There was some excuse. John was
at the end of his rope—financially,
physically and mentally. Life had gone
hard with him. He had finished all
but one year at a medical college, when
the bank failed in which he had de-
posited the means of finishing his col-
lege course and a surplus to float him
into practice in a modest but respect-
able away.
He knew considerable of therapeu-
tics, however, and he qualified as a
prescription clerk and secured a very
good position in a downtown drug
store. He scrimped and saved, for he
had an ambition to be his own master.
The chance came. He saw the adver-
tisement of a druggist forced to sell
out “on account of ill health.” John
looked grewsome as he viewed the lo-
cality. The store was located in a
wretchedly poor tenement district. His
plausible predecessor painted a glow-
ing picture of lots of sickness, there-
fore a steady demand for remedies.
“Of course it's a dime at a time,”
he observed, “but there’s a steady
stream of them.” :
So John became a proprietor. Busi-
ws was quite “steady,” indeed, but
at the end of the month he looked
solemn and dubious, The volume of
business had not been so bad, but half
of it was on a credit basis. John, un-
used to the wiles of human nature,
was easily played upon. All kinds-of
promises and excuses led him into the
trap. Then, too, there were forcible
calls on his sympathy from people who
could never pay. His sympathetic
heart went out to these. Who could
refuse health, possibly life, to a pen-
piless mother or a dying child?
It was now the end of six months
and John had balanced, or rather un-
balanced his books. The result was
appalling, His stock had dwindled
to one-quarter of normal and he had
aon
“The Murdering Villain!”
neither the cash nor credit to replenish
it. He was too honest to sell out to a
dupe.
“What's left will barely pay what
1 owe,” he groaned dismally. “I've
got to close up shop.” >
So, at eight o'clock that evening he
tarned off all of the lights, crawled
“into his clean, but dreary bed under
“ the counter and lay there, miserably
going over the wretchedness of his
tangled business affairs and seeing no
way out.
Tap-tap-tap!
| ‘John buried his head in the bed-
clothes, resolved to be impervious to
intrusion, no matter what the motive.
Tap-tap-tap! patient, but insistent.
John was obdurate. Then he became
angry. The summons continued stead-
ily, expectantly. John roused up, aflare.
He rushed to the door of the shop.
He unbolted and tore open the door.
“We're shut up. *Go away!” he
roared.
“Please sir—"
“M—1” observed John, taken aback
- and cooling down magically. There
stood a tiny girl, poorly clad, shiver-
ing with the cold, her big wistful eyes
woefully crushed, but pleading.
“Please, sir,” she said simply, “Miss
Walton is dying. The doctor wouldn’t
come, ’coz she can’t pay him, but he
sent her a scription. Won't you please
make it up, ’coz she’s awful sick and
can’t pay, but they say you're a good,
kind man—"'
“Who says it?” snapped John.
“All the poor people you've given
credit to.” :
“Bah! Rot! I'm a bear! I'm—
ouch! Serve me right. Come in.”
John had stumbled over the door
check and stubbed his toe. The little
girl sat down on a stool. He pushed a
jar of candy towards her. Then John
examined the prescription.
“The murdering villain!” he burst
forth. “Soda and aqua pura for a
suffering woman! Here, you lead me
to this woman you talk about. I'm
only half a doctor, but I can do better
than that fraud who gave you a pre-
scription to get rid of you. Fill your
pockets with that candy. Now then,
lead the way.”
It was to the meanest of a row of
tenements his guide took him and to
a -dreary room, sparsely furnished,
where, upon a bed, lay the phtient.
At a glance John read better days in
the face of a young woman, full of
loveliness, wan and thin as it was. Her
eyes were closed. He lifted her hand
to feel her pulse. The expressive,
intelligent face, the dainty molded
hand told a commen story of a girl
of refinement and culture brought to
the saddest phase of poverty and desti-
tution.
ing for life and humanity left the
man’s nature. He roused up to the
true philanthropist thatshe was, as a
realization of ‘the patient lives of the
poor swept across his mind. A tear
dropped from his sorrowing eyes. The
patient started slightly. Her eyes
opened, their glance meeting his own.
She smiled sweetly, as though half con-
scious, as she saw the tear that hal-
lowed the moment where a kind soul
had come to her rescue.
The woman was, indeed, ill. For
two weeks she lay almost inert, for
two more convalescent. Food, quiet,
const-nt medical care the sympathetic
John brought to her, overjoyed at her
recovery and—Iloved her! And she?
There were expressions on her face at
times that stirred him strangely. His
business was daily growing more hope-
less, yet he seemed to care little for
that. His mind was wrapped up in
the patient, whose distress had roused
him from the lethargy of misanthropy.
“Say, you must be an awful rich
man !” commented the little ragged girl
messenger.
“Rich!” John smiled desolately. Yet
his senses spurred up. He was rich in
a new emotion that made the sordid
world as dross to him.
“She's gone,” were the words that
fairly stunned him one day from the
little child. “Oh, it’s like a play! Her
sister, oh! so rich and beautiful and
in a grand automobile came this morn-
ing and took her away. It seems that
our Mrs. Walton had quarreled with
her folks, who had lots of money, and
had made up her mind to be an artist,
and they just found “her gnd have
taken her away.” ’
And this was the end of the little
romance, then? Moodily John spent
the .last few days of his occupancy of
the little shop. He sat on a broken
stool in the denuded store, the day its
creditors came to cart away the few
physical assets left of the dire busi-
ness wreck. His face was sunk de-
jectedly upon his breast, his eyes
closed, his mind groping aimlessly to
scan the future.
There was a slight rustle and twa
ladies entered the place. John opened
his eyes as upon either cheek a warm,
glad kiss was planted and he staggered
to his feet to confront Miss Walton
and her sister .
“You true, brave friend!” spoke his
patient's sister. “Idalia would come,
weak ‘as she is. And what does all
this mean?’ and the speaker swept the
empty store with a questioning glance.
“It means that he neglected every-
thing to care for me,” spoke Idalia,
and her voice was full of emotion.
“How soon we will mend all that!”
came the vivacious pronunciamento.
“Forget it all, dear friend,” directed
the charming woman, “all except that
we owe to you the crowning Joy of
life
And Idalia read in the man’s true,
tender eyes love, and her own glanced
back at him gratitude and hope, sweet
harbingers of the golden future that
was to bless them in unison.
Learned Latin in Day.
A writer in St. Nicholas has an in-
teresting sketch of Mary Lyon, the fa-
mous founder of Mt. Holyoke seminary
—a school for girls established when it
was not considered necessary or de-
sirable for girls to have an advanced
education. Her own education was
gained from private instructors and
this story is told of her first reditation
in Latin: ,; “On Friday she had been
given the first lesson of Adands’ Latin
grammar to commit to memory. . When
she was called up early Monday after-
noon, she began to recite fluently
declensions and conjugations without
pause, until, as the daylight waned,
the whole of the Latin grammar passed
in review before the speechless teach-
er and dazzled, admiring pupils.
“How did you ever do it?” she was
asked, and this was her reply:
« «Well, really, I'll have to own up,’
she said, with some reluctance; 1
studied all Sunday! It wasn’t so very
hard, though. I soon saw where the
changes in the conjugations came in
and the syntax rules are much like
English grammar.’ ”
What Great Rain Means.
Something ui what a great rain
means has been calculated by the Com-
monwealth meteorologist of Victoria,
New South Wales. Last September, in
the region’s greatest rainfall for half
a century, the maximum downpour in
| ten days was 27.6 inches at Ulladulla,
New South Wales, and over an area of
more than 400,000 square miles the av-
erage was nearly four inches. This
was about 400 tons per acre—a total
for the whole area of roughly 100,000,-
000,000 tons of water. A lake 50 miles
long and 20 miles wide would be filled
to an average depth of 133 feet by this
quantity, and it is more than 100 times
the amount held by the Assouan dam
on the Nile, the world’s largest dam.
His First Name Fortune.
“What reason did Mr. Hunter give
for wishing to break the engagement 2
“He said the report that he was en-
gaged to me had not extended his
| eredit nearly as much as he expected.”
Now all. the desperate loath- |
Coat Fashions -
One Phase of
In those sections of this country
where the greatest amount of mogey
is spent on clothing, the top-coat is
needed nearly all the year round.
Therefore it taxes the resourceful-
ness of manufacturers and costumers
to provide new and interesting fea-
tures in its design. Up .to the last of
May the separate coat is a necessity,
and its usefulness is extended through
the summer months for those who g0
te mountains or seashore.
The best models shown recently are
in plain weaves and solid colors. Col-
ors include gold-mustard, brown, blue, |
black, plum and green in the beauti-
ful tones of this season and the tans
which are always good. Nothing hand-
somer than coats of covert cloth have
appeared, but the likeing for soft,
glove-finished surfaces puts the coat
of this material somewhat in the back-
double box plait at the back, forming
a panel, and has a straight, loose front.
A belt starting at each side of the
panel in the back, buttons in front
and ‘confines the coat a very little, to
form a long waistline. A big, flat but-
‘ton, covered with cloth, is sewed on
each side of the panel at the termina-
‘tions of the belt at the back.
A wide cape collar and turned-back
‘cuffs have, for decoration, parallel
rows of fine silk cord that simulate
machine stitching. On the collar each
| row terminates in a small bone button.
Saddle-bag pockets are stitched to the
‘cont and each has a turn-over flap
‘with the edge decorated with simu-
lated machine stitching. The collar
| may be brought up and buttoned about
the throat if needed. The designing
of this model shows excellent judg-
‘men in the selection of materials and
ground ; nevertheless it is a good buy.
The coat in the picture is of wool
velour and is shown in several colors.
It hangs in straight lines with 2 wide |W
yle-features of the season, and im
ir management. The coat is attrac-
_and practical for general wear as
as distinguished-looking.
Here is one of those pretty frocks
of embroidered swiss-organdie in which
Jittle misses look so fairylike. This
crisp and very sheer material is made
in wide flouncings that make them
particularly well suited to little girls’
dresses. The simpler and finer the
embroidery the better it is for chil-
dren’s wear and, in the little dress pic-
tured, there is merely a scalloped
edge with small flower sprays iz the
scallops. :
Fine, narrow val edging or dainty
home-made laces are used for finish-
ing neck and sleeves in these frocks.
Nine times out of ten val lace is chos-
en for trimming the sheer petticoats
that must be worn under them to get
the best effects. Batiste and organdie
skirts are made in exactly the same
length gs the dress skirt and often
two petticoats are joined to one body
made of a heavier material.
The little frock illustrated is made
with a long waist set onto a short
yoke. Lengthwise strips, with scal-
loped edges brought together, form the
back and front of the waist. The
sleeves are pointed flounces of the or-
gandie, edged with val lace. Two
flounces make the short skirt which
barely covers the knees. They are full
and gathered with a narrow band that
joins waist and skirt.
There is just one way to put the best
of all finishing touches to a little
dress of this kind, and that is by pro-
viding it with the right kind of girdle.
4 wide, soft ribbon in pale pink was
used for the girdle pictured and ine
stead of a bow at the back, a rosette
shows off the luster and lovely color to
perfection. The same ribbon is used
for the piquant hair bow that is poised
—like a big butterfly—on the head.
White socks and black patent leather
slippers finish up a toilet in which
any mother is warranted in taking
pride.
A Trim Figure:
The girl who is not necessarily stout
but who delights in the low-cut or gir-
dle-top corsets will find the following
hint a saving on brassieres. She can
sew into the top of her corset a piete
of stout linen lace—torchon or imita-
tion eluny will answer. It should be
darted as closely as possible and a
casing allowed for tape or ribbon at
the top if the lace is not open enough
of itself. When this addition to the
corset is drawn up tightly it acts as a
bust support and insures against the
showing of the corset line, $0 ugly un-
der thin blouses and frocks.
Porto Rican Work on Slippers.
A new idea for boudoir slippers is
| to have them of Porto Rican embroid-
ered linen, upon which the linen
| threads have been drawn so 88 to
| leave 8 pansy pattern.
‘| eupful
The KITCIN\EN
| CABINC i=
The power of evil habit is deceptive
and fascinating, and the man by com-
ing to false conclusions argues his
way down to destruction.
3 SEASONABLE DISHES.
Eggs are again becoming more plen-.
tiful, so that we need®not feel extrav-
agant to serve
them occasional-
ly in place of
meat.
Cheese Eggs.
—T ake three-
fourths of a cup-
ful of grated
American
cheese, six eggs,
a tablespoonful of butter, a few grains
of paprika, a teaspoonful of salt, a
fourth of a cupful of crumbs and milk
or cream to moisten. Butter a baking
dish or individual ramekins; spread
half of the cheese in the bottom and
slip in ‘six eggs, being careful not to
break the yolks; dust with salt and
pepper, add the remaining cheese and
crumbs well buttered, then barely cov-
er with cream. Set in a pan of hot
water and bake slowly uiitil the eggs
are set and the top is brown.
Chicken Croquettes. — Take .two
cupfuls of chopped cold chicken, a half
of chopped English walnut
meats, a fourth of a teaspoonful each
of salt and celery salt, a few grains
of cayenne, a few grains of nutmeg, a
teaspoonful of lemon juice, a few drops
of onion juice, a teaspoonful of
chopped parsley, and a cupful of thick
white sauce. Mix the ingredients in
the order given and mold in cork-
shaped croquettes, using a tablespoon-
ful of the mixture for each croquette.
Roll in crumbs, dip in egg white di-
luted with a tablespoonful of water,
then roll in crumbs. Fry in deep fat
and drain on brown paper. Serve with
white sauce or mushroom sauce,
Duck en Casserole.—Clean, singe
and’ cut up a five-pound duck, roll each
piece in seasoned’ flour and brown in
beef drippings. Pack into a large cas-
serole in layers, alternating a mixture
of half a can of peas and a cupful of
mushrooms mixed; cover with a quart
of well-sea§oned soup stock, a half
teaspoonful of onion juice and a tea-
spoonful of powered mint. Bake slow-
ly for three hours in a anoderately hot
oven.
Queen Victoria’s Favorite Soup.—
Heat a cupful of minced roast chick-
en in a pint .of chicken broth, well-sea-
soned; add a cupful of cream and
thicken with three hard-cooked eggs
yolks sifted fine. :
A dish of asparagus in alternate lay-
ers with grated, cheese
sauce, then finished with buttered
crumbs, makes a most nourishing es
calloped dish. If cheese is not desired
hard-cooked eggs may be substituted
If a cupful of cooked asparagus is left
from a meal, add it to the scrambled
eggs for luncheon. This will add va-
riety and make the dish more tasty.-
‘Without virtue and without integrity
the finest talents and the most bril-
liant accomplishments can never gain
the’ respect and conciliate the esteem
of thé truly valuable part of mankind.
~—George Washington.
A FEW COMPANY DISHES.
When company comes or is planned
for, we are happy to make extra ef-
: : fort to have something
that will be both pleas.
ing to the eye as well as
to the palate.
California Salad.—Take
half a cupful of sliced
ripe olives, four hard-
cooked eggs finely
chopped, a half cupful of
broken walnut meats, two
pimentos, all mixed to
gether just before serve
ing. Add any desired salad dressing
and serve on lettuce.
Caramel! Pudding.—Caramelize three
fourths of a cupful of sugar and dis-
golve by adding a cupful of boiling wa-
ter, add a cupful and a quarter of sug-
ar, 114 tablespoonfuls -of gelatin sof-
tened in cold water, add another cup-
ful of water and mix all the ingredi-
ents together until dissolved, pour it
boiling hot over four egg whites beat-
en stiff and mold. Serve with a boiled
custard.
Brown Almond Sauce.—Blanch and
chop a fourth of a pound of almonds,
brown in two tablespoonfuls of butter,
add two tablespoonfuls of flour and
salt and pepper to taste, then add a
pint of thin cream, pouring it in slow-
ly. Cook until thick, and serve with
an omelet.
Yum Yum Sandwiches.—One cream
cheese mixed and blended with two
cupfuls of minced ham ; add the leaves
from a bunch of watercress, and when
well blended spread on buttered rye
bread.
Grape Punch.—Combine the juice of
three lemons, one orange and a pint
of grape juice, add a cupful of sugar
and a cupful of shredded pineapple.
Let stand several hours, adding a
quart of water and ice as needed when]
serving.
Amber Marmalade—Cut in thin
sltces a well-washed lemon, grapefruit
and orange, remove the seeds and
cover overnight with twelve cupfals of
water. The next day cook the fruit
until tender, then set away again overs
night; the next day add ten cupfuls of
sugar and cook until it is thick. Put
in glasses and seal when cold. This
{s a most deticious preserve to serve
with toast and tea.
Newel Mawr,
Government Issues
Warning
Against Fly Poisons
Following is an extract from ‘The
Transmission of Diseasn Dy Flies,”
Supplement No. 20 te she Publie
Health Reports, April, 3978.
«Of other fly polsofie mentioned,
mention should be mesfie. merely for
a purpose of condemraion, of those
composed of arsenic. Fatal cases of
poisoning of childrea 3h: h the
use of such compovnds are far too
frequent, and owing Wb the resem-
blance arsenica) ning to
summer diarrhea sad cholera in-
fantum, it is believed that the cases
repo! do not, by #ay means, com-
prise the ; rsenical fly-de-
stroying devices rrlist be rated as
= extremely dangorcus, and should
never be used, evra if other meas-
= ures are not at hal.”
106 fly poisoning cases have been re- =
by the pr®ss within the ldst =
three years. As stited above this num-
ber is but a fracti<n of the real number.
Protect your chilfren by usingthe safe,
Shor 7
efficient, non-poleonous fly cal
HEE
WHER
Hil
Re
Servitude.
“Would yow marry a man who would
try to use watrimony to avoid military
service? : 1 }
“Sure I would,” replied the girl with
thin, hard lps. “That's the kind of
man you could soon teach to make up
beds and wa®h dishes.”
It is a bad well into which you must
pour water and he is a tiresome {friend
who is always looking to you for sup-
port. ie
There is no harm in a man’s posing
as a genius If he Is s he
d white ptr
FOR TORPID LIVER.
‘A Tver th
system, and produces . 3
Dyspepsia, Costiveness, Rheu-
matism, Sallow Skin and Piles.
There is no better remedy for these
common diseases than DR. TUTT'S
LIVER PILLS, as a trial will prove.
Take No Subs
an ap; lication of
refief
ve q
This liniment is
matism, sciatica, d
chest or side, sprains, cuts and
The large 2 cent bottle of Yager's
Liniment contains four times as mu
as the usual bottle of liniment solid at
hat price. Atall dealers.
AUTO TRADING C0. Inc.
WETTED SUITES METZ DIITRIBUTORS
, TURE
Men and Women
Women as well as men are made misen
able by kidney and bladder trouble. Dr
Kilmer’s Swamp-Root, the great kidney
inedicine, is highly recommended by thou-
s.
nds.
Swamp-Root stands the highest for the
reason that so many people say it haa
proved to be just the remedy needed in
thousands of even the most distressing
cases. ]
At druggists in 50c and $1.00 sizes. You
may receive a sample size bottle o
Swamp-Root by Parcel Post, also a pam-
phlet telling you about it. Address Dr,
ilmer & <Co., Binghamton, N. Y,, an
enclose ten cents, also merition this paper.
NEW YORK SHOPPING
Mesdames Scovil and Albert shep for or with you.
Services Free. Chaperoning. R«erences. Bocklet.
561 Cathedral Parkway, N. ¥. : Tel. £302 Morningside
H 2 Experienced on
Carving Machine Hand Gafis Machine,
so young men handy with tools and wood workl
machines. Steady work, good pay. Address 6, E
® BRO, INC., BUFFALO, K, ¥. State what you can de
‘
ogy