Trying Out of Stephen. By CORA B. DAY. "I say, boy, can you tell me of a place near by where I could put up my horse and get a lunch for him and myself?" "Seems as It your horse was going lame coming down the road," was Stephen's first remark, as he leaned his hoe against the fence and put bis hands on the top rail for a spring over Into the road. "Why, It's Jerry from the livery across from the sta tion, Isn't It?" he added as he took a closer survey of the horse who stood on three feet, resting the lame one. "Yes, It Is that same Jerry, as they told me. They told me also that he was sound and kind, and a fair driver. I'm sorry to doubt their word, but be wept lame all at once down the road here, and I have ten or more miles to go yet. I don't know how be will do it, either. I don't know much about horses, anyway, or I suppose I would have known better than to accept this old skate." The man in the buggy looked both dis gusted and worried over his situa tion. Stephen shook his head emphatic ally. "Jerry's all right, ordinarily. I don't see what made him go lame. He has always had sound feet, and been a good driver, Just as they said. Here lift up, Jerry, and let me take a look. Ho, there's the trouble, eh?" He took up the lame foot between bis knees, reached a large stone from the roadside, and with a deft tap lent flying a small stone from where !t had become wedged in the horse's loot. Then he set down the foot, and Jerry stood on it carefully at first, nd then more firmly, with evident relief. "Well, well," ejaculated the stran ger. "It seems that you can teach me a thing or two about horses. I m ever so much obliged to you." "So is Jerry," answered Stephen, rith a twinkle in his frank eyes. "You are both very welcome. I'm glad I happened to be here and find the trouble. You would have had a lame horse in earnest if you had driven him far with that sharp stone In his shoe. That's the first thing to look for in a case like this. Now about that lunch, sir. If you will drive on up to the house, I will ask my mother if she can take you in for dinner with the rest of us. She does sometimes, I know." "Thank you. Suppose yon Jump v In and go up with me, if you are going soon," invited the stranger, and Stephen acquiesced and took the empty seat in the buggy. Mrs. Warren agreed to the ar rangement Stephen had suggested, and in a few minutes Jerry was hav ing a good dinner in the barn, and bis driver was seated at the big fam ily table in the cool dining-room of the farmhouse. It had need to be a big table, for there were a good many to sit down to it. Mr. and Mrs. Warren had no need to hire help for the work of the farm in the house or out. Two rosy cheeked daughters were mother's helpers in all that was to be done , In woman's sphere; while Mr. War ren was helped In his part of the work by three stalwart sons who would have made glad any father's heart. In the friendly, cordial at mosphere of the house the stranger loon felt at home, and talked easily nd entertainingly as they dined. "I km taking this trip in place of my partner, who usually attends to the outside work of our real estate busi ness, while I am the office half of the concern," he explained, after giv ing them his name. 'That, you see, accounts for my lack of experience with horses, and my need of the good services of this young man," turning with a smile to Stephen. Stephen's eyes had brightened and brightened as the guest spoke of his city life. Although he was splendid help to his father on the farm, and never shirked his share of the work, bis heart and Its most earnest desires were elsewhere. The stir and bustle and business of the city had a fas cination for him that the other boys tould not understand, contented as Ihey were with their work as farm ers. Stephen had for years had a iesire to do and be something else than a farmer. One winter he had worked in the village grocery, and bad on several occasions done the er rands in town that the storekeeper had not wanted to take his own time for, and that he knew were simple enough for the boy. Those little - - business trips had fired Stephen with the ambition to get into business in town; to find an opening in the gro cery trade somehow and somewhere, and go on and up until and there he would go soaring away in airy visions of future greatness in the business world. Mr. Warren saw his interest In the stranger now, and understood it. He had never discouraged Stephen's am bitions and dreams. He had two good helpers left even if Stephen should go to the work he liked; and the father very wisely thought that It was best to let him work out his 3wn problem unhindered. "I have a boy here who would like to go into business in town,'" said' Mr. Warren, "but I never heard him wishing for anything but the grocery business. So I don't suppose you could induce him to take your place as sub stitute out-door man," he said with a laugh. The stranger looked straight at Stephen, and saw who wanted to go to town. His own', eyes bright ened, i "That o?" he- said. ."Well, I find town a pretty good place for me; I hope Stephen will find it the same, if he gets there. Has he any plani made?" "No, not yet( I think. He meant to make a try in the fall after the work in the fields is done. I suppose he will find something in the line he wants. MoBt people can find work if they look hard enough for it." Mr. Warren laughed again, and helped the stranger to a second dish of corn and beans. "I think so, too. And I will keep him in mind, and see what I can do for him when he is ready to come. I have several grocer friends in mind; one of them surely ought to be glad to get a good, willing, sturdy helper, such as Stephen would undoubtedly be," with a smile at that young man's flush of delight and embarrassment at the implied praise. "Thank you, sir. I should be very glad to try any good position you might know about," said Stephen earnestly. The dinner ended, the stranger and Jerry departed, and Stephen went back to the field and his boe. But all the afternoon the hope that the stranger's words had awakened anew sang in his heart, and he worked vigorously and happily until it was time to go up and help with the evening chores. All through the summer the thought was in his mind of the pos sible good news that might come any day if the stranger kept faith. And then, one day in early fall, the proof came that he had remembered and at least tried to make good his word. Two letters came for Stephen, both In the same mall and both from the city. He could scarcely wait un til he had opened them and fairly de voured their contents. Then his eager face suddenly grew grave, for there had risen a question for him to decide. Well, what's the news?" asked John, the eldest brother, watching the face of the reader and seeing the sudden change. Stephen turned to mm fiui a laugn mat new an un easy note. "It seems to me that there Is a little too much news. I think I would be better pleased if I had received only one of these letters, and not have two places offered me and have to choose between them," answered Stephen. "That's Just the way with people never satisfied," mocked John. "If I were the fellow who wanted to go to the stuffy old town to work, seems to me it wouldn't take me long to pick out the right one of the two. W'herever the most money will come from that's the place. Isn't it? Or are you going into it for love of the work rather than the cash?" he add led laughingly. Stephen smiled too, if ."jut answered seriniislv pnnnph "No; I cannot settle this question by that rule. I have something more than that to it. Listen," and he read first one, then the other of the two brief letters. John listened, and as the last letter was read and folded up, his lips formed themselves into a whistle, and his eyes, frank and hon est as Stephen's own, met his broth er's. Yet he said not a word until after Stephen spoke. "One offers much the best wages and hours and everything, except the very thing that makes it " he hesitated for a troubled second; then suddenly he threw up his head with a new air of decision and a lighten ing of his face "that makes it im possible," he finished. "Good for you, Steve," shouted John, giving him a loving slap that made him gasp, big and strong though he was. "That's the way for a Bon of Mr. Warren to talk. If I thqught that his youngest was going to take a position where he would have to touch, handle, and deliver the stuff that addles honest brains, and puts murder into hearts that would never think of it without the poison of alcohol, and does all the rest of the mischief that it possibly can well, I think I see a fellow of about my size bringing one of your size home by the nape of the neck, so " and therewas a friendly scuffle. "Even if such a position would pay more money the thing that ought to decide the whole thing offhand, eh?" taunted Stephen, Joyously, now that the thing was settled. For he was going to take the lesser wages and longer hours, with the man who did not handle "choice liquors" In his grocery store. He went in due time and, after a preliminary interview, entered upon his new work. Ho did not leave home, for the early trains carried him into town every morning, and an evening train hurried him back to the big farmhouse and the. beloved home circle. Among all the wonder ful things he had to tell over the eve ning table, those first few weeks, none was more wonderful than the story he brought home on Saturday night with a pay envelope that held enough more than the agreed wages to make it equal to that other offer which he had refused. "Yes, sir," he said, telling the whole story over the second time un hindered, for the pure Joy of the tell ing, "that other offer came from the man that I am working for. He says he always tries out the fellows he wants, to make sure that he does want them. And if they are willing to do that other work, and handle the at da that he dislikes as much as any of us, he finds that he does not want them atany price. Yes, this Is the wages he always pays after the first few weeks. He makes them go on the scale as a part of the test. My, but I'm glad you folks brought me up with strong objections to the liquor business. May I have another bis cuit? I think I've only had six," and the young business man from the city laughed light heartedly. Young Reaper. Problems of Parenthood. By Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf. UR Government is democratic and the spirit of democracy that " I equates all classes and stations has a tendency to strip away J I the awe and reverence that should halo the orown of old age, m . . , 4 . i . MiHiDfnf orA ihtk holl- uie omce oi irusi, vu Bacreuuena ui wo j "" Bess of parenthood. Liberty Is frequently turned into license, and honors, that rightly belong to the aristocracy of culture and character, are only too often lavished upon mere monetary success. Men bow Deiore ut millionaire and ridicule the minister; sons reverence the prize-fighter, ami daughters bow before the dictator of fashions, both, in the meantime, neglect ing end disobeying their parents. . Wherever and whenever we have filial piety we have never failed to nna back of it parents who mastered the art of parenthood, parents who under stood how to awaken and to preserve their children's love and reverence. Wherever we find children disobedient to tbelr parent, neglectful of them, un dutiful, disrespectful, ungrateful toward them, we generally find parents as much to blame for it as their children. ' In not a few of our homes today may be seen a reversal of that old-time method of child-raising that engendered deep love of parents and Implanteo abiding reference of them. It is the child that Is sovereign in such homes; its parents are Its slaves. All of a father's means and all of a mother's time and labor are made tributary to the child's every want and whim. From the very awakening of its consciousness It is impressed with the notion that the sole purpose of parents' existence is to minister to its every wish. It is good to turn from such complete surrender to the old-style home. They were no sentimentalists, these former-day parents. Life meant a battle for them and they knew that it would mean a battle for their children, and they believed that, if their children were not to be left behind In the race foil success as unfit In the struggle for existence the sooner they are hardened and made acquainted with the asperities of life the better It would be for them. "What if the child had an occasional fall and tumble because a parent's or a nurse's eye could not be upon it always? They knew that there Is nothing like getting prepared for the hard knocks which it was sure to receive in life. There Is harm in parenting too much; there is yet greater harm In parent ing too little. In parenting just enough to make a child deeply to appreciate its parents' love and sacrifice, and lastingly to show its appreciation In words and deeds of love and reverence, lies a child's noblest gratitude, lies a parent's highest reward. 0 0 Dangers of Present Day. y the Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyice. HE air of our country today Is heavily charged with electricity. The lightning of exposure has been striking into the dark places and playing havoc with bouses that were founded upon lies. The thunder denunciation rolls all around 'the horizon; many hearts are troubled; some are dismayed. Voices of despair are heard, cry ing that all is rotten society, business, politics all must go down. On the other side conservative and soothing voices are heard that all will be well. Where is the truth? Neither with the hysterical shrlekers nor the soporlflo soothers. Itather let us take our stand with those who are both awake and sane; those who desire that no good men shall be unhonored as earnestly as Hhy wish that no guilty men shall go unpunished. Meantime let us understand clearly that the man who is responsible for much of our present trouble, apart from the inevitable complications which spring from our national inexperience and ibewildering prosperity, is that notorious individual, "the man with the muck rake." The real muck raker Is not the honest critic of abuses nor even the malic ious assailant of vested interests and Invested politicians, but this busy, silent, indefatigable fellow whose eyes are so fixed upon the thfhgs of thia world golden dust and busks of pleasure and withered straws of notoriety and brittle sticks of official power that he cannot even look, much less think, on the celestial crown of virtue and praise. Yes, you are the man, you money spinner; hasting to be rich and for getting to be honest, generous or kind; bending your conscience to your deal ing, if Deed be, to succeed. The critic, the satirist, even the cynic has his part to play; but I ehoull never look to the school of Nietsche and Bernard Shaw for men or womea who would be safe to trust or good to live with. Let us, then, if Indeed the age be critical, strengthen ourselves by the con taginn of virtue to play the better part. Let us cast our lot mot with the destroy ers but with the fulflllers. Let us cherish In these halls of learning our ancient ideals of culture and wisdom and honor. 0 0 Money and Marriages. By Prof. John L,. Elliott. Ph. D Associate Leader of the Society for Ethical Culture. HE typical home deserter Is habits, a man given to drunkenness and laziness. Attractive he is pretty sure to be, and he is also protty sure to be able .to earn good wages if he just would put his energy to it The fault in all cases of home desertion is almost always with the man; the woman is Beldom to blame. When she is to blame it is usually put down to bad temper or nerves. We have ibeen laboring under the delusion that the chief trouble with the poor was their poverty. They believe themselves that if they had some Aladdtn's lamp to bring money and bouses all their troubles would be at an end. This is not the case. When founded on the right Ideals the home endures in spite of the hardest .blows fate can give. Drunkenness is the greatest cause of desertion and laziness: a lack of power to do what he ought to do is a close second. In 100 cases almost one third came Just before or after a birth, and In so many of these cases the wife would say, "He was too good for me," and name the baby after the de serting father. One of the unpleasant things about these homes of the poor is the way they put the children to work. You suppose these children are working to support widowed mothers. The facts are that they work, more of them, to support lazy parents than to help those who need their help. You and I and the rest of the people are to blame for this, too. We who take such a pride in the American nanu and In our country, still allow such things to exist. 0 0 lihe Country Needs By E. C. McDoucal, E are in an era of extravagance in enterprise and extravagance of expenditure, extravagance as much beyond precedent as is our feverish business activity. No matter what this country's book profits are it cannot accumulate capital without thrift, and today thrift appears to be forgotten. At least a moderate amount of ' what is popularly known as "hard times" is the only cure. mm , Every good .business man knows that the end of constantly rising prices must some time be reached and that when that time comes prices will not remain stationary at the high level, but will start on the long expected decline. Business men should not dread but should welcome that time. We are not today on a sound basis. We cannot get back to a sound basis until we have a decided check. The longer that check is delayed the more severe will It be. Expansion is not confined to the Industrial and commercial world. For years banking liabilities have been expanding out of all proportion to the growth of cash reserves. It It not time for bankers to check this undue expan sion? Consider that our reserves consist largely of balances due from other banks. The system of reserve agents, both In our State and National banking systems, with which you are all familiar, the abolition of which would be opposed by most if not by all of the bankers in this room, contains possibil ities of serious trouble, nay more, invites serious trouble. . A Word For the Railroad. Great as is the power and promin ence of the road in the West, it ia itself only the instrument by which a mighty nation Is making progress. The road was the effort of the East to knit to itself with steel the far outlying Rockies and the Pacific coast. Without the road, the West and East, diverse in interest and 0 a man who is dissolute, a man of bal 0 Hard Time. Banker. sentiment, never could have been held tcgether. With the interchange cf ideas and commodities which it encourages, the American people have been able to build up a great em pire, holding together vast territory, firmly founded upon national unity. From Ray Stannard Baker's "Des tiny and the Western Railroad" In the Century. STRETCH,' LADIES, AND BE HAPPY 1 Alto Again Stretch,' Stretch, Stretch and Be Craceful, B Be-au.ti-ful and B Good. A new method has been proposed whereby New York women are to be made happier and better, not to say thinner. A crowd of well dressed women thronged the studios of Mrs. Clara Z. Moore and listened with rapt attention as was expounded to them her theories upon "The Joy of Daily Living." The secret of "the Joy of dally liv ing" Is dally and hourly stretching. Just how far the new stretch system Is to go is not known, but according to last reports from the front the lim it has not been reached. The stretch is advocated in all the dally walks, rides and other occupations of life, and is guaranteed to cure dyspepsia, discontent, red nose, blues, hump back, bad temper and running the shoes over at the heels. It Is to be practised at the dishpan, in the sub way, with a broom, and is particu larly recommended for the bargain counter and the bridge table. "This conscious stretching and gov erning all the muscles of the body with every movement," said Mrs. Moore, vcan be done anywhere and everywhere. It will give women grace, youth, beauty, and, finally, and most important, it will have an effect upon their characters and make them a positive Joy to themselves and to everyone about them. "We see hundreds of women here whose bodies are little more than moving masses of contented flesh. If they would begin a gradual system of stretching the muscles, so fast asleep in their cushions of fat, the adipose tissue would work off. Stretching good, strong stretching is the only way to bring those bod ies back to the human form. "If you are nervous, stretch. If you lack repose of manner, stretch. If you are giving a dinner and your husband fails to put in an appear ance, stretch as you meet the guests and you can carry off the situation gracefully. In fact, at all the crucial moments of life remember the slo gan, 'Stretch.' "New York World. i IIow a Submarine Dives. All submarine vessels are brought to a condition or readiness to sub merge by taking in water ballast in suitably arranged and controlled tanks. This causes more of the boat to sink below the water's surface, and finally leaves her with only a small part of her connlng-tower out of water. The remaining part above water represents what is called "re serve buoyancy." This buoyancy var ies generally from 200 to 1000 pounds, depending upon the size of the craft; and it is to overcome the permanent tendency to rise repre sented by this reserve that pressure is brought to bear upon the sub merging rudders or the aeroplanes in order to make the boat sink after she is once put iu motion. Now, the amount of water that must be taken into a submarine ves sel to bring her body sufficiently be low the surface for readiness to dive constitutes one of the two prime dis tinctions between the submarine and the submersible. In the submarine only from five per cent, to twelve per cent, of her total submerged bulk lies above the surface when she is in her lightest condition, and, accordingly, nearly that percentage of water bal last must be pumped into her tanks to bring her down to the required condition preparatory to running sub merged. In a submersible, on the other band, two, three and even four times this percentage of water ballast must be pumped into her tanks in order to reduce the vessel's reserve of buoyancy so that she may be forcl by made to sink out of sight. It is the height out of water or reserve of buoyancy of the submersible which gives her her superior sea-keeping qualities, which permits the vessel to be driven safely on the surface at higher rates of speed, and which con tributes in other ways to the effic iency, the babltablllty and the mili tary value of the craft. Harper's Weekly. Steady Going. . A shooting-party, putting up at Amos Llbby's Maine camp, found their sport much interfered with by rain. Still, fine or wet, the old-fashioned barometer that hung in Amos' general room persistently pointed to "set fair." At last one of the party drew his attention to the glass. "Don't you think, now, Amos," he said, "there's something the matter with your glass?" "No, sir, she's a good glass an' a powerful . one," Amos replied, with dignity, "but she ain't' moved by trifles." Youth's Companion. Time Was Money. A clergyman not long ago received the following notice regarding a mar riage that was to take place at the parish house: "This is to give you notis that 1 and Mis Jemima Arabella Brearly is comin' to your church on Saturday afternoon nex' to undergo the opera tion of matrimony tt your hands. Please be promp, as the cab Is hired by the hour." Ladles Home Journal. Milton's Cottage. The cottage in which Milor wrote bis "Paradise Lost" is still standing at Chalfont St. Giles, near London. The great poet fled there to escape the plague in 1665. It is the only bouse remaining whl:h Milton is known to have occupied. Truth and Quality appeal to tho Well-informed in every walk of life and are essential to permanent success and creditable standing. Accor ingly, it is not claimed that Syrup of Figs and Elixir of Senna is the only remedy of known value, but one of many reasons why it is the best of personal and family ' laxatives is the fact that it cleanses, sweetens and relieves the internal organs on which it acts without any debilitating after effects and without having to increase the quantity from time to time. It acts pleasantly and naturally and truly as a laxative, and its component parts ace known to and approved by physicians, as it is free from all objection able substances. To get its beneficial effects always purchase the genuine manufactured by the California Fig Syrup Co., only, and for sale by all leading druggists. Only Slight Reduction. It is stated that the April dividends to be paid by railroads, Industrial and traction corporations will be $120,000, 000, compared with $134,000,000 a year ago. The recent flurry falls a long way, short of an old-fashioned panic. The city of Thebes had a hundred gates and could send out at each gate 10.000 fighting men and 200 chariots in an, i.uuu.uuu men ana z.uuu cnar tots. 20 Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrnp for Children teething.sof tons thegums, reduces! nflamma tion, allays pain, cures wind colic, 25c a bottle WHAT MEN USED TO EAT. Most of Present-Day Dainties Were Unknown to Past Generations. W'hat would be the sensations of one of our ancestors of the middle ages if he could sit down to a mod ern breakfast table? asked an ingen ious student of old manners in the current Harper's Weekly. "To be gin with fruits," he answers, "these were almost unknown to the men of his period; certainly in their pres ent form. So were most of our veg etables. The only vegetable which seems to be more or less Indigenous over the greater part of the world Is the squash-pumpkin tribe. The pumpkin is very ancient, for it dates back to Cinderella. Of course he knew the small wild cherry, with its bitter flavor, the little wild straw berry, the raspberry, blackberry and plum. Apples, or 'crabs,' as Shakes peare calls them, were used in Eng land, and generally roasted in order to deprive them of their astringency. The wild-hedge orange of China and India filtered Into Europe occasion ally, but it was scarcely eatable. Po tatoes were, of course, unknown. Bananas were Introduced In quantity to Europe within the lifetime of many middle-aged men. The grape fruit Is the product of the past two decades, and even yet has seldom crossed the Atlantic. The peach was a poisonous shrub in Persia. Our worthy ancestor, then, broke his fast upon salt fish, or meat u he were wealthy or had access to some deer forest. He washed down his food with hot beer, spiced, or honey brew." Moon Doesn't Affect Clouds. The supposed power of the full moon to disperse clouds In which meteorologists have been gradually losing belief, has been Just Investi gated again, this time In South Afri ca by J. R. Sutton. In observations at Potsdam, from January, 1894, to June, 1900, Meissner found no such dispersing power, but that there Is a minimum of cloud about the time of the new moon and a maximum just after full. Mr. Sutton concludes that these are Just the apparent results we might expett, if it is assumed that the moon has no influence whatever. In south Africa the cirrus and cirro-status disappear at sunset, but the rising moon makes them visible again, and the 8 p. m. observations from January, 1900, to January, i907. show considerably more cloud beteen the third and eight eenth lunar day than between tho eighteenth and third. CHANGE IN FOOD . Works Wonders in Health. It is worth knowing that a change in food can cure dyspepsia. "I deem it my duty to let you know how Grape-Nuts food has cured me of indi gestion. " "I bad been troubled with it for years, until last year my doctor rec ommended Grape-Nuts food to be nsed every morning. I followed Instruc tions and now I am entirely well. "The whole family like Grape-Nuts, we use four packages a week. You are welcome to use this testimonial as you see fit" The reason this lady was helped by the use of Grape-Nuts food Is that it Is predigested by natural processes, and therefore does not tax the stom ach as the food she had been using; I -1 . 1 . 1 i ..I A for building up the nervous system. If that part of the human body is iO perfect working order there can be no dyspepsia, for nervous energy rep resents the steam that drives the en gine. When the nervous system is run down, the machinery of the body works badly. Grape-Nuts food can be used by small children as well as adults. It Is perfectly cooked and ready for Instant use. Read "The Road to Wellvllle," in 1 pkgs. "There's a Reason." Ever read the above letter? A new one appears from time to time. The are genuine, true and full of bomai Interest. i l
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers