Newspaper Page Text
Fathers
Conspiracy
By GEORGE MUNSON
{Copyright, 1916, by W. G. Chapman.)
The last time I had seen father was
In the court. He was standing up in
one place and mother in another, and
I was between them. The judge was
at the top, on a high seat, and he
looked at father so angrily that I
didn’t feel like doing anything but
cry.
Before that father had been away
for a long time, and mother and Mr.
Griggs told mo he was never coming
hack, and I must forget him. How
could I forget him when ho used to
play soldiers with me and we'd go
fishing together and have such lots of
fun?
The judge told me I’d have to go
home with mother and forget him,
too. I guess I was only a kid then —
I’m nine now, and that was a long
time ago. Anyway, I forgot what hap
pened for some time after that, but
I didn't forget father.
I remembered him all the time, es
pecially when Mr. Griggs was at our
house. One day mother asked me how
I’d like Mr. Griggs for a new father,
and I said if he were my father I’d
run away. I guess mother didn't like
that, and she told me Mr. Griggs would
be a far nicer father to me. But Mr.
Griggs never played anything with me,
and he didn’t know a fly from a worm.
Then came the time when I saw
father. I’d been to the store at the
end of the lane, and I heard a noise
In the bushes, and who should step out
but father? He was all roughly
dressed, but I guess I didn’t think
' ii» i <n
Father Looked as Black as Thunder.
about that. I just ran to him and he
kissed me as if ho was never going
to stop.
“I thought you weren’t coming
back.” I said.
“Well, 1 don’t know that I am,” said
father. “But I’ve come to see you,
anyway. How's mother?”
"She’s all right,” I said, “but I wish
Mr. Griggs wouldn’t come so often.”
Father looked as black as thunder.
“How often does he come?” he asked.
“Every evening,” I answered. “And
I guess he’s going to be my father
now. Mother says so, anyway.”
Father looked blacker than ever.
“See here, Roddy, can you keep a se
cret?” he said.
“Sure,” said I. Father and I had
always had our secrets together,
“But this is a real one,” said fa
ther. "You mustn't even let mother
know. How would you like to come
for a week's tramp with me? Fishing
and fun in the woods?”
“I’d love to,” I answered. “Mayn’t
I tell mother, though?”
“No,” answered father. "You must
promise. That's the secret. Suppose
I was to be here with an auto tomor
row night at twolve, do you think you
could slip out of the house and meet
me?”
I told father I could, and I prom
ised faithfully not to say a word about
It. But It was hard work not letting
mother know, especially as she looked
so kind when she kissed me good
night.
Mr. Griggs was there as usual, and
I heard him say, when I was out of
the room, “Thank heaven the kid’s
gone, Minna. Now you and I can talk
sense.”
“You mustn’t take too much for
granted, Lionel.” I heard mother an
swer.
“How about a little moonlight ride?
I can get my auto here in a jiffy,” said
Mr. Griggs.
I thought mother said no, but that
was all I heard. I waited hours, until
I thought mother was gone to bed, and
Mr. Griggs away, and then 1 slipped
cut! It was a bright moonlight night,
and I walked hurriedly up the lane.
And there stood father, waiting for me,
■with his little car in the roadway. It
wasn't half as big as Mr. Griggs', but
somehow it seemed much nicer to me.
Father took me in his arms and
kissed me again, and then I hopped in.
And father got down to crank.
Just then a big car came along in
the ether direction, and. as it slowed
down to pass us I caught sight ot
Mr. Griggs, and mother at his side.
They would have passed without
recognizing me, I think, because they
seemed to be whispering to each oth
er, but I was so overcome I couldn't
help shouting to mother. She knew
my voice, and the car slowed down
and came back toward us, and I beard
mother scream.
“Mother! Here's father!” I shout
ed. You see. I was a kid then, and I
hadn’t been told not to tell that. And
I thought how nice it would be to have
father home again in place of that
horrid Mr. Griggs.
Mother screamed at the top of her
voice, and just then father got the car
cranked and jumped in. And all he
said to me was, “You’ve went and
bust the show, kid. However, we’ll
see what my own little jitney can do.”
We were off in a moment, with the
little car going licketysplit, and the
big car going rackety-rack behind us,
and mother screaming; and then it
began to dawn on me that mother was
angry. And somehow I saw that fa
ther was taking me away from moth
er, because, just as the judge had said,
they couldn’t both have me, and so I
had to go to the injured party. Though
I am sure father never injured moth
er in his life.
“They’ve got us,” said father, and
just then we came to a bend in the
road, and father wheeled the little car
sidewise and stopped and jumped out.
And the big car came snorting up to
us and crashed into it just as father
pulled me to the ground.
“Give me back my boy, Charlie!”
screamed mother. Then, as father
pushed me behind him toward the
wrecked car, she cried to Mr. Griggs,
"Knock him down, Lionel. Take the
boy!”
Mr. Griggs looked so funny. He
came up to father in a weak sort of
way, and father doubled his lists, and
then Mr. Griggs suddenly turned and
bolted like a deer.
Father wont after him, and mother
caught me and began kissing me and
crying over me. And I think she
would have run away w r ith me, but
just then father came back, dragging
Mr. Griggs by the scruff of the neck.
It looked so peculiar, because Mr.
Griggs was quite as big as father, and
fatter, and there he was crying like a
baby. “I’ll have you arrested for as
sault. Let me go. Let me go.”
Father marched Mr. Griggs straight
up to mother.
“Here’s your now beau, Minna," he
said. “A fine sort of chap you're go
ing to take f6r the boy’s second fa
ther. I guess this deal’s mine.”
Mother’s face was perfectly white;
and then, all at once, looking at Mr.
Griggs moaning and cursing, and at
father, with that humorous look he
always had when things went wrong,
she suddenly burst out laughing hys
terically. And father put his arm
round her.
“Beat it!” he said to Mr. Griggs.
Mr. Griggs took one last look at the
situation, as the saying goes, and took
to his heels. And father and mother
began kissing each other.
“I guess your taste in beaus isn’t
much better than your taste in hus
bands, old girl,” said father. “Hap
pily we have the same taste in boys.
Eh?”
So we all wdlked home arm in arm
and never thought about the machines.
And father is still father, but Mr.
Griggs left town next dpy and hasn't
come back yet.
Emerson as an Essayist.
Emerson’s essays constitute his
continuously popular writings. Virtual
ly all his prose consists of essays.
Their point of view is uniquely unitary
and self-consistent. They form pleas
for freedom of personality. All set
forth enthusiastic and constant faith
in the worth of every individual, be
cause Emerson believed in the inner
goodness of all men. and the necessity
of each of us standing immovably in
himself. He taught the eternal truth
that men have founts of joy in them
selves, and quickened faith in the soul.
He stood for the large attitude toward
life. He regarded the whole world as
an expanded circle of brothers. His
message was that of Keats: 'Beauty
is truth, truth beauty;” and he cared
equally for each. He exemplified tho
highest function the essayist can per
form. His interpretation of life, con
duct and character is the spiritual and
idealist interpretation. His Judgment
| of men was so nearly infallible, that it
seemed that of fate, and proved again
| that the man of ideas judges the man
of action more wisely and justly than
the man of action the man of ideas
Frederic Perry Noble in the Spokane
(Wash.) Spokesman-Review.
Wanted Another Arrangement.
It had been an unusally hard day
for little Theo, who was visiting her
great-grandmother, at whoso house
lived her grandmother and her Uncle
Wallie a’so. This uncle, who indulged
her with a fine disregard of conse
quences, was a great favorite of little
Theo. On this particular day she had
been naughty, calling forth many re
proofs from her two grandmothers.
At last, weary and discouraged, she
sat down indignantly in her little
rocker, and, eying her grandmothers
with evident disgust, remarked with
a loud sigh: "I wish God had not
made me so many grandmas, but had
made me more Uncle Wallies.”
* ————————
Pony Lacked Avoirdupois.
John had a new and spent a
large part of his time feeding it, but
was never seen to ride it. "Why don’t
you ride on your pony?” asked an in
terested neighbor. “Oh,” John sadly
replied, "I have to wait until he gets
fat enough to fit the saddle.”
DUCK RAISING IS FLOURISHING INDUSTRY
GROUND PLAN
| L '«
Five-Pen Breeding House for Ducks.
R. W. Curtiss of Ransomville, N. Y.,
who raises about 30,000 duck 3 a year
and makes big profits at the business,
says it is harder manual work to raise
ducks than chickens, and the business
requires patience and good judg
ment. He selects eggs from the
stronger birds and sets them in incu
bators and broods them until they
are eight weeks old when they are
fattened for market.
“Before these ducks are fattened
we sort out our breeding stock at the
age when the ducks are old enough
so that we can tell the sexes. I go,”
says Mr. Curtiss, “through a large
number of ducks and perhaps I might
get five or ten fit to breed from out of
a large flock of one hundred. That
seems like a lot of work. Every time
you change the feed the ducks won’t
eat, and if you change gradually they
will probably be off their feed for two
days; and just at that time we sort
out the breeding stock, and it is just
at the time we change the feed so
that we do not lose anything.
“We handle the ducks by the neck;
we never take them by the legs. We
hold the duck up and look at him, and
if he has a good broad breast all the
way through and fairly deep keel, and
broad back, and not too long a neck,
and his head not tob long, and if he
fights a great deal and tries to get
away, showing ho is strong, then we
will pick out that duck. He has got
to bo a certain weight; we do not
actually weigh them because that is
too much trouble.
“We take the ducks out in May and
they are taken out in flocks of two
hundred. We start and drive these
ducks over to the pasturo and in driv
ing them we will say that we have
two hundred and ten or two hundred
and fifteen.
“We keep them in a large wood lot.
We take lots of time driving them
along, not too slow and not so slow
as you would drive market ducks. We
keep them moving and when we get
them half way over two or three of
them will break down and flap their
wings, and they cannot walk. These
House for Growing Ducks.
ducks are left right where they are.
It is simply the survival of the fittest,
and when we get to the breeding pens
there will be ducks strung all the way
along whero we have been driving
them. It is only the ducks that have
strength to walk this distance, being
urged all the time, that are put in
the pen. Then we go back and clean
up the ones that are left and they are
put. into the marketing pen. It does
not matter how nice a duck they are,
because it is strength we are after.
“We put one hundred to two hun
dred ducks in a pen, and there is no
shed or anything for them to run un
der. It is just simply a wood lot. It
; would be just as well to have them
! run in a field, provided they had some
! artificial shade, but decidedly you have
got to have some shade for ducks. If
you put ducks in a hot field in the
summertime there is danger. I have
seen full-grown ducks get sunstruck
and lie down and die.
“We feed them there for five months
on light food. We do not want to fat
ten them. If there are any ducks that
get off their feed they are taken right
off; they are not kept. We keep lan
terns burning in the trees on dark
nights to keep them from getting
scared.
“A peculiar thing about ducks is
that they will run and trample on
each other and jump in the corner of
the pens if they get scared on a dark
night. If it is a bright moonlight
night we do not light the lanterns.
“The feed for these ducks is four
parts bran to one part of flour and
one part cornmeal and one-twentieth
beef scrap. For green feed we use
four parts clover. The clover should
bo about one-third or a little more than
one-third of the entire feed. You can
feed them all the green feed they will
eat. A good indication is to watch
their troughs, and after they have
eaten their feed if they leave a little
clover in the trough you know they
are getting all they want, and may be
a little more; and if they clean this
trough up they haven't quite enough
to eat. If they have too much to e<A,
they pick the green feed out and leave
nothing but the mash, and then you
know they haven’t enough green feed.
“We feed them wet mash; mix it a
little «iore moist than you do for
chickens. These ducks must not be
fed all they will eat, because if you
do they will get in good condition.
They are not to be starved, but you
must keep them Just a little hungry,
and they will go out in this one or
two acres of land and eat more or
less green feed, and they will ruu up
and down the pen and it will give them
muscle.
“We keep them in this manner until
they are five months old, and then we
change and put them in permanent
quarters. Most any kind of a build
ing will do for a duck house, it does
not require very much light, but if
you want eggs all the winter you must
have it warm enough so that the eggs
won't get chilled. If you go through
pretty often and take up the eggs they
will not get chilled.
“We do not have any nests in our
duck houses; we simply bed them
with shavings. We did try nests, but
we could not see any great benefit
from them. They will dig a hole
in the corner and lay the egg and
cover it up and when you go through
in the morning you have to be careful
that you do not walk on the eggs.
“We breed from a pullet, we never
breed from a yearling duck. A duck
will take on fat very easily, and if you
keep them over the second year they
get too fat, and they will not lay as
early, and the eggs are not fertile, and
we cannot get good results.
“We mate one drake and five ducks.
We start these in October, and as the
season advances, say about the first of
March, we watch the ducks, and if
we see two drakes get to fighting,
we catch one of them; we catch the
poorest and put him in a pen by him
self. Whenever we see any fighting,
we take out a drake, and when there
is no fighting, we leave them alone,
and they balance themselves up.
“Sometimes you will find they will
run for a long time and there will be
no fighting; then, there will come a
rain storm, and there will be puddles
of water in the' yard, and if you go
out you will find dozens of them fight
ing, and they will tear each other to
pieces. They will get the blood
started and your five drakes will get
after one and fairly eat him. I have
seen it when we would not have more
than one drake to ten or twelve ducks,
and we would get just as good eggs
as we got in the winter.”
RAISING FEED FOR THE FLOCK
Farm That Produces Its Own Grain Is
Always Most Successful—Oper
ating Expense Reduced.
“The poultry farm that produces its
own feed or a goodly part of it is al
ways the most successful,” according
to William H. Pfeifer of Allenton, Mo.,
“because the feed is always right at
hand when needed, no drayage, no
waste, the range birds seeing to the
latter.
“The shattered grain does not go to
feed sparrows, crows, etc., but pro
duces chicken-meat and eggs. The
droppings go back to the fields as
fertilizer and the operating expense or
upkeep is greatly reduced.
"Such a farm has a great advantage
over the one that has to buy all its
feed, hauling it over miles of rough
country roads, paying dearly for the
time wasted in drayage and extra han
dling. This in itself is important evi
dence of why the farmer can produce
cheaper poultry and eggs than the
pbultryman. Those who after serious
consideration decide to go into the
business should bear this advice in
mind.”
EGGS SHIPPED FOR HATCHING
Should Be Nested Deeply and Careful
ly Wrapped in Excelsior —Cover
Basket With Cloth.
Eggs to be shipped for hatching, if
packed in baskets, should be nested
deeply in excelsior and each egg care
fully wrapped in excelsior.
The basket may be covered with a
piece of cloth which is sewed to the
basket at the edges, or held in place
by tacks carefully pushed in the bask
et. or may have its edge pushed up un
der the top strip of the basket, outside,
; with the edge of a case knife.
SETTING EGGS FROM PULLETS
As General Rule Young Fowls Are in
Poor Physical Condition —Hens'
Eggs Are Best.
Better hatches and stronger chicks
will result by setting eggs from hens
than from pullets. As a rule, pullets
lay more during the winter and are
poorer in physical condition at the be
; ginning of the hatching season thar
are the hens, which gives rise to
larger number of small eggs and moi
infertile ones.
ONE MAN’S HOBBY
By SUSAN E. CLAGETT.
(Copyright, 1916, by the McClure News
paper Syndicate.)
Elizabeth Yeaton laughed as she
walked around the beech tree and ex
amined the markings on its trunk —•
two hearts pierced by an arrow and
encircled by the legend, “Pansies for
thoughts, rosemary for remembrance.”
“Were we ever so foolish as that?”
she asked herself. Then the laugh
died in a sigh as she talked on, push
ing her w'ay through the tangle of
ragweed that obstructed her path. Be
low' her, Cabin branch rippled with a
soft murmur. Everywhere were mem
ories and mingling with them a soft,
clear whistle, once so familiar a
sound it occasioned no surprise when
she reached the farm gate to see a
man stretching out a hand to open it.
“I thought you would come," he said
quietly. “The years have made no
change in you. You are not one day
older. Your eyes are sparkling and
your mouth has the same adorable
kink at the corners that —”
He came through the gate and stood
beside her. “You received my let
ter?"
“No. Did you write?”
“Then I owe my good luck to Provi
dence. I asked you to meet me here.
But I had hoped for a different recep
tion. 'Elizabeth, won’t you give me a
word of welcome?”
“I have first to forget years of ab
sence and silence," she said slowly.
She smiled at him with unconcerned
eyes. “What have you been doing all
the years you have forgotten friends
and country?”
“Working hard. I wanted a home.
When I needed recreation I cultivat
ed flowers. You should see my gar
den.”
“That would indeed be pleasant.
And your wife?” she asked ccfurte
ously.
“You are still an adept at fencing,
Elizabeth,” he interrupted. “Are we
to continue the same old game?”
“I do not understand. We are too
old to play pussy wants a corner and
hide and seek. Those are the only
games I remember. Perhaps I will
recall others later on,” she said.
“It will be pleasant to rummage
among old memories,” he laughed
shortly, “but at present I am interest
ed in knowing when you received my
wedding cards.”
“They never reached me. But a
home suggests a wife, doesn’t it?”
“Not necessarily. The purchase
was the result of a settled purpose.
May I trespass upon your hospital
ity? For the first time in years I can
treat myself to a short vacation.”
“You are most welcome,” she re
plied cordially. “You have been sad
ly missed.”
“Thank you. Your voice then held
its first note of friendliness. I -was
beginning to feel homesick. Eliza
beth, will you let me give you lessons
in gardening during my stay?”
She threw back her head and
laughed heartily. “It would be
wasted effort. Plants never thrive
for me, so I leave the borders to
Uncle Pink.”
“Perhaps you have never tried hard
enough. I want to talk and I am
curious. Are you really as indiffer
ent about that letter as you would
have me believe?”
“I had forgotten it.”
“Then, I presume, since the letter
is so easily forgotten, memory will
be at fault in regard to several things
I have been hoping you would remem
ber.”
“I remembered you,” she replied
pleasantly. "Ten years is long to
keep one in mind, especially—”
“Especially?”
“When one tries hard to be forgot
ten.”
She brushed the litter from her
dress. There was a finality in the
movement that made him stretch out
a detaining hand.
"Don’t go. It is very pleasant here
even if I am disappointed in the
warmth of my greeting, and I do so
wish to tell you of my garden.”
She shook her head even as she
paused. “I am afraid you ride an old
man’s hobby. Come to the house and
tell me in the firelight. The air is
getting frosty.”
“No. I must tell it here.” He hesi
tated a barely perceptible instant. “It
is a hobby. Dear, you should see my
beds of pansies and rosemary.”
The color flared into her face. “You
had prepared me for a garden of or
chids, but even old-fashioned flowers
can be an outlet for surplus energy.
You always did throw yourself body
and soul into whatever you undertook
to do.”
“Why not, Elizabeth? This is Mon
day. I must be in my office Thursday
morning. Important business requires
my attention, else I would remain
here and begin at the beginning of
things. Ten years is a long time, but
you have never been absent from my
thoughts. I would have written, .but
there was nothing to say. I had noth
ing to offer you. The best I could do
was to work for a home for you. It
has taken me ten years. Will you ac
cept it? Will you go back with me
Wednesday?”
Her eyes swept the fields. She
paused so long that the man beside
her caught his breath and grasped
the rail of the gate until his knuckles
showed white. Then she turned to
him.
“It will be a delight to see those
old-fashioned flower borders.” she
said simply.
WIFE TOO ILL
TO WORK
IN BED MOST OF TIME
Her Health Restored by Lydia
E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
Compound.
Indianapolis, Indiana. “My health
was so poor and my constitution so run
| .down that I could
not work. I was
i i p a * e wea k»
weighed but 109
eh pounds and was in
I bed most of the
• time. -'I began tak
*3S||!pl{] ing Lydia E. Pink
-'"'m&W'-' barn’s Vegetable
ilpjP§gfljj§y Compound and five
l l «fPIIp months later I
M / weighed 133 pounds.
L f & ’JI do all the house
work and washing for eleven and I can
truthfully say Lydia E. Pinkhara’s Veg
etable Compound has been a godsend
to me for I would have been in my grave
today but for it. I would tell all wo
men suffering as I was to try your valu
able remedy.”—Mrs. Wm. Green, 332
S. Addison Street, Indianapolis,lndiana.
There is hardly a neighborhood in this
country, wherein some woman has not
found health by using this good old
fashioned root and herb remedy.
If there is anything about which you
would like special advice, write to the
Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co., Lynn.
Mass. __
Why Not?
“I’m willing to admit that baseball
Is a great game,” said the golf expert,
“but at the same time I can see sev
eral ways in which it might be im
proved.”
“For instance?”
“Well, instead of having all the bats
practically alike why not have differ
ent bats for different purposes? It
stands to reason that a bat suitable
for hitting a straight ball cannot be
equally well ad’apted for hitting curves
and that a bat used for bunts should
be of a different design from the one
that is used in making a home run.
Each player should have an assort
ment of clubs and a caddy to hand
them to him as he wants them.”
To Drive Out Malaria
And Build Up The System
Take the Old Standard GROVE'S
TASTELESS chill TONIC. You know
what you are taking, as the formula is
printed on every label, showing it is
Quinine and Iron in a tasteless form. The
Quinine drives out malaria, the Iron
builds up the system. 50 cents.
Cause of Sickness.
Bacon —I understand a lot of cigars
are exported from the Philippines to
this country every year.
Egbert—That’s none of my affairs. I
should say that it was up to the board
of health.
SOAP IS STRONGLY ALKALINE
and constant use will burn out the
scalp. Cleanse the scalp by shampoo
ing with “La Creole” Hair Dressing,
and darken, in the natural way, those
ugly, grizzly hairs. Price. SI.OO. —Adv.
The National Guard of New York
has an armored train.
Makes Hard Work Harder
A bad back makes a day’s work
twice as hard. Backache usually
comes from weak kidneys, and if
headaches, dizziness or urinary dis
orders are added, don’t wait —get
help before the kidney disease
takes a grip—before dropsy, gravel
or Bright’s disease sets in. Doan's
Kidney Pills have brought new life
and new strength to thousands of
working men and women. Used
and recommended the world over.
A Georgia Ce.se
_ „ J. M. Pitts, chief
"wry Picture Tells • Story” of police, 218 East
«A ve ~ Cedartown,
Ga., says: “I was
in awful shape with
kidney trouble. My
body bloated and
my face was swol
ien all out of pro
portion. I was weak
and every little
thing I did ex
hausted me. I had
awful dizzy spells,
too. After everything else failed,
Doan’s Kidney Pills cured me.”
Get Doan’* at ABy Store, 50c a Box
DOAN’S K p , i D Ji.V r
FOSTER-MILBURN CO., BUFFALO. N. Y.
The Wretchedness
of Constipation
Can quickly be overcome by
CARTER’S LITTLE
LIVER PILLS.
Purely vegetable N<\
—act surely and Any CD'S
gently on the sf'.lS I
liver. Cure WiJ&apr wjJTLE
Biliousness, tjIVER
Head
ness, and Indigestion. They do their duty.
SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE, SMALL PRICE.
Genuine must bear Signature
O B<*na ten cents stamps to Mrs. Jennie
31l>|\ I Anderson, one twenty eight Hickory
street for Booklets, Pictures ana
full Information all about Hot Springs, Aikan&aa
IGALLSTONES
Avoid operations. Positive remedy— pnpp
(Xo (Ki)—Results sure Write for our r K Kfc.
big Book of Truth and Facts To-Day. * *
Gallstone Remecy C-*.,Dept.C-W,219 S, Dearborn SL.Ckicaga