AWAY OUT IN
'Away out in the country - -
i Where there is no clang and roar. ,
IWhere it's eight miles to the railroad
i And it's three miles to the store, ;
There is peace and .there is quiet; . .
Men are not contending there . , v
For the powers that seem precious ,
I To the greedy billionaire.
VA way out in the country
"
t
. 1 Surly teamsters do not try -To
run men down, unless they , .
, Pass the crossing on the fly;
i 1A schemer isn't waiting , 1
1 Everywhere a man may look
To rush in and get his earnings -,
j All away by hook or crook.
'Away out in the country
t Where the woods are full of joy,
'And the hens are cackling loudly ,
J At the sunburned farmer boy, j
i There is never any crowding, , i
V ! There is room out there to spare,
. 'And the people aren't' breathing
, Flyin' rubbish with their air. 1
TTT
THE girls were having a gooa
was well warmed and lighted,
and there was a sound of
laughter and the bum of merry voices.
'Some one was tuning a mandolin to
!the piano, and there was a fluttering of
;music leaves. Company had come in,
as usual, to spend the evening. The
Moberly girls, that is, the three older
ones, all had light hair, blue eyes, and
lively, vivacious manners that proved
very attractive to the young people in
the quiet village.
"Pa" Moberly nobody knew much
about. He sat out in the kitchen most
of the time. It was a dingy little room
and often in the evening' he had no
light;! only the dull glow of the stove
and the red sparks of his old-fash
ioned pipe.
Pa Moberly was a little, timid,
shrinking man. He had faded blue
eyes, bent shoulders and toil worn
hands. He had worked hard for his
girls. He had ungrudgingly given
them his best It seemed too bad that
now he was old and they were grown
to woinanhood they5 did not care.
When Mrs. Moberly was alive,. things
were j different. He jiad his comfort
able chair then in the sitting room;
his slippers, too, and tnere was the
lounge for him to rest on when he was'
tired.
But1 as his girls grew up, pretty,
strong-willed and altogether selfish, Pa
Moberly found himself banished from
his comfortable quarters. A number
of cushions too fine for use adorned
the old sofa, and his armchair had
three tidies on It He was soon made
to understand that he was not wanted.
It was not long before he began to
stay in the kitchen, and by and by he
-. - s - - . v,-;-v; j
"DOj YOU MIND TAKING ANOTHER CH AIR j MR. BRYANT ?'
sat nowhere else. He knew every fig
ure on the dingy papered walls, and the
only chair he had to sit In was . a
straight-backed wooden one, in which
he could not rest -,
He used to long sometimes for his
old corner in the sitting room, with its
. lights, its laughter and its music, but
to his gentle hints the girls gave scant
encouragement "They didn't want pa
around," they told themselves.
The lonely, tired old man had many
thoughts as he sat in the, kitchen night
after night in solitude, and he some
times used to ponder the question in
his gentle heart as to whether, after
all, it Raid to bring up girls who were
ashamed of you after you were old. ;
Polly didnot know about the changed
condition of affairs. v Polly was the
youngest, 'and more like her mother
- than any Vol the others, being smallj
quiet and brown-eye'd. - -
She had been staying for three years
out in Pennsylvania with an Invalid
aunt for whom she had been named.
Poor Aunt Bassett was dead now, and
to-day Polly had come home again.
She was upstairs . now, busy in the
small back room that the girls had for
gotten to make ready for her. ; ;
. As Pa Moberly sat alone in " the
kitchen i to-night, he was thinking of
Polly. In his yearning, fatherly heart
there was a faint stlrrinsr of hoDe. '
There; was a chance that he might
xaKe some comfort with this, his young
" est daughter He had felt that from
tne time she: was born. She wasn't
Jmm 9tto irlst qjo ghjg
THE COUNTRY.
" Away out in the country ' ' ?
Where the lilacs sweetly blowf
People lon' t pay out a dollar j
To behold a ten-cent show; (
Men are not 'looked on with pity
Just because their clothes don t fit,
- And the women don't go mourning
When the servants up and quit.
Away out in the country . f
Where the .'water's cool and sweet,
And the knife's a useful weapon
When the hungry people eat, ' ; , .
There is, not the constant jangle, ,
Nor mad clanging that subdues.
And distracts the city poet -
When he seeks to court the muse.
Away out in the country
- And the neoDle keep apprised of I
All the thines their neighbors do.
Here and there some queer old fellow
JViay not namcer to put uown
The-tools the farmer has to .use
And move awav to town
. Chicago Record-Herald.
seemed so unfeignedly glad to seejhlm.
He felt the pressure of her young arms
yet about his neck, and her kisses, still
lay warm upon his furrowed cheek.
In the darkness of; the old kitchen
he brushed a tear from his eye. He
was thinking of Ma Moberly, too) and
of her gentle, tender, womanly ways.
He wished the girls' were moret like
their mother. V
Just then Polly came in. She went
quickly to his side.
"Why, pa," she cried, ."what are you
sitting in the kitchen for, and in the
dark, too? Is anything the matter?"
In the friendly darkness Pa Mober
ly took the little hand and stroked it.
"Nothing, Polly," he said. I I al
ways sit here." t
Polly seated herself on his knee.l "Al
ways sit here?" she cried, in surprise.
"Don't you go Into the sitting room
evenings as you used to?" I .
; Pa Moberly shook his head. "No,
he faltered. j;
"But why?" Insisted Polly. 'fYou
don't mean to tell me you don't sit
Pa Moberly's chin quivered. Polly
did not know, and it was hard to tell
her. Polly was like her mother.
'AHfA Hko tn kppn thnt hnir,. for
company," he said, slowly. "Oh", I don't
mind the kitchen so much, now," he
added, as cheerfully as he could. l"At
least I won't now, since you've come
home. I do miss the old chair some,
but it's all right
, "The girls don't want me in tljere,
Polly," he went on, huskily. "They're
young, and there's always company,
you know. I don't know as I blame
'em much. I'm old and worn out and
behind the times. No, I can't say. as I
blame 'em."
Poky laid her soft cheek suddenly
against the wrinkled one.
"You're not old or worn out or t be
hind the times,; either!" she said. "It's
a shame for 'you to stay out here !"
Her sweet, girlish voice was f ulU of
indignation. : ,
-"But never mind, pa," she went !on.
"I tell you there are better days ahead
I've come now, and I'm going to look
after you, see if I don't. What would
ma think if she were here, to see you
sitting here all alone in this dark bid
kitchen ? Why, it would break here
heart! Come with me, pa!"
. , ;yhere?". said Pa Moberly, hesitat
ingly, in his surprise.
"Into the, sitting room."
"Oh, I can't go in there, Polly; they
don't want me." .
"Yes, you can. I want you. You
wouldn't refuse me anything on this,
my first night home?" - :
Pa Moberly got up. The old wooden
chair was uncomfor.table, and he rose
stiffly, even with ; the aid of Polly's
arm. i
- .:.. . . . .-, . . ,i
"No,. I couldn't, Polly," he said.
"You you're too like your mother"
. As they left the dark kitchen to
gether Pa . Moberly grasped Polly's
nana, tightly. "I'm afraid, Polly," he
whispered. "We'd better not" .
But Polly only squeezed his hand! in
a reassuring clasp, and somehow. Pa
Moberly felt stronger.
Polly opened the sittincf room floor.
and a stream of light flashed out into
the little dark entry. The girls were
A young lady In a blue dress occu
pied. thV piano stool. A. young man
with his hair plastered down over his
forehead, occupied Pa Moberly's arm
chair. He had a mandolin In his nana,
and was strumminff it to the young'
lady's 'accompaniment Alice and Belle
and Harriet vere sitting about; wiui
the. liveliest ar' of enjoyment;
As Pollv and Pa Moberly entered,
their complacency suddenly faded into
astonishment and dismay. What dia
Polly mean, and what did pa mean,:
by intruding on their company in this
fashion? . -fv"'' 'l-
Polly advanced steadily into the cen
tre of the room, still holding her fath
er's hand. .
How; little and . shy.. and bent pa
looked, the girls thought, and how de
termined was the air Polly wore like
a young captain going into battle, jit
was as if Ma Moberly had come to life.
Alice rose. The young lady at the
piano turned, the young : man stopped
his : mandolin. In all the months he
had come to the Moberly house, this
was the first time he had ever seen the
little; white-haired man who lived
there And -who was that , pretty,
brown-haired girl with flashing eyes?
Alice broke' the silence. t'My sister
Polly, Mr. Bryant," she said, a little
nervously, "and my father. And this
is our old friend, Eva Brent. Pa, you
know Eva?" '' : -: ;: . u.;-'
Pa. nodded cordially; so did Polly.
But something unusual was in the air,
and every one felt ; it ' -
Polly led Pa Moberly up to the young
man reclining in the chair. "Do you
mind taking another chair, Mr. Bry
ant?" she said, pleasantly. "You see,
this one is pa's favorite. Ma gave it
to him."
Alice and Belle and Harriett flushed.
but Polly was quite undisturbed.; The
young manwas astonished, but he rose
quickly, with a stammered apology,
but Polly calmly wheeled the chair
nearer the pleasant fire.
"Sit here, pa," she said, affectionate
ly, "and let me turn the - light so it
won't hurt your eyes."
She adjusted the light to her liking,
then pushed Pa Moberly gently into his
old place. His white hair shone in the
lamplight, and his lips trembled.
"There!" said Polly in a pleased
tone. "Isn't that better?"
Regardless of all onlookers, she
stooped and kissed the withered cheek;
then she turned to the others.
"Go on with your playing, won't
you, Java r she saia gently.
Nobody spoke; then the young lady
turned to the piano and the restraint
was quickly over.
Pa Moberly's eyes grew moist How
soft the chair was, and how pleasant
the flre and how comfortable was the
touch of the little, firm hand upon his
shoulder!
And there was something else. He
knew and every one else knew, that
his lonely hours in the old kitchen wero
over. " . "
To-morrow the straight-backed
wooden chair would be pushed back, to
be occupied no more. The firelight
could play on the dingy walls, the mice
could scamper at will over the Old
floor. Pa Moberly would not be there
to see. Polly had come home to take
care of him, and Polly was brave. It
was as if Ma Moberly had come to life
again. Youth's Companion. 1
Guests Iass With Glaciers.
Hotel keepers In the Alps have a
new trouble ; and are complaining at
the loss of patrons, who are moving
away from the glaciers. Yes, the gla
ciers are actually passine from the
landscape, and as they recede the ho
tels along their borders find that their
registers are shortening.
These glaciers are not running away.
by any means, but they are deterior
ating slowly with a persistency that
means their final annihilation. Hotels
that a few years ago stood very near to
a great rjver of slowly moving ice,
now find themselves a' considerable dis
tance away, and the attractiveness of
the site is lessened.
. The famous glaciers of the Rhone
have shrunk 3000 feet in the last
twenty years, or about 110 feet a year.
A number of the well known glaciers
approximate this diminution, and the
scientific fact! Is established that these
reminders of the great glacial period
are surely disappearing. New York
Herald. . -
A Thirsty Congressman's Error
An Interesting story Is in circula
tion at the Capitol, relative to an act
perpetrated by a certain member of
Congress from Wisconsin. The Con
gressman, upon arriving in the city,
rented an apartment at the New Wil
lard. It had been a habit with him
to partake of a drink of water before
retiring for the night. On this particu
lar; night, J after searching vainly for
drinking water, he discovered that the
waiter had neglected to sunniv him
with that necessary ; fluid. However,
further search revealed two small but
tons in the wajfl, I under one of which
was inscribe! ' "Push ;' twice for
water." .
He pushed jthe button. When ; the
waiter appeared in the doorway with
the water he was very much, amused
to see .. the Congressman holding a
pitcher under the button. Wash im?.
i Xqvl Timely -) M
Maintenance! . -
r HB object of maintenance Is
to keep I the roads in such a
5tate that vehicles of all ' de
scriptions always find them
best possible condition for
in the
travel.
It is necessary, then, that it be
directed in a way to. remove at every
turn every obstacle or source of resist
ance to traffic, arid to prevent or cor
rect," at the beginning, all the impair
ments to which roads are liable. This
result can be obtained only by means
of a constant watchfulness, and by the
organization of resources constantly
at hand in material and' workmanship.
The secret of the excellent roads of
Europe Is, first ) good . construction;
second, the constant, systematic, and
skilful method employed in the mainte
nance of roads. Oil these roads a force
of skilled men is continually employed.
making repairs, and any defect, how
ever slight, Is immediately repaired.
It Is not considered that .the necessity
for continual repairs is an evidence ; of
poor workmanship in the original con
struction, but rather that an earnest
effort Is being made to keep the road
ways In perfect condition. This prompt
and constant repairing explains the
superior condition of the roadways of
Europe.; v';Urjv;v '!v:::'-;: u
The men who have these repairs in
charge are skilled in this line of work,
and hold their positions because they
are thus qualified, j Politics has noth
ing to do with them, as it has in this
country. These men are removed for
cause only.' It takes years to educate
men in the art of; road building and
the proper method
making repairs, v.
to : be employed in
Generally In this
country cities and towns pay for edu
eating the men In charge of their roads,
and then politics removes them, but
time will make i this matter right.
It will certainly be made right when
people find that It Is the only way to
have good roads, j The trained road
builder is just as necessary as the
trained doctor, manufacturer or edu
cator. .; :,' ' :.':':); ' '. -.,;, ; '
Take, for instance, the method em
ployed in making repairs on dirt and
gravel N roads with! a road machine.
In a great many towns you will find
the road officials, once a year at least
at work with this7 machine, taking the
worn out material which the water
has washed from the road into the gut
ters and putting it back in the centre
of the road. This Is wrong, because
this material is worn out. It is soft
and it Is disagreeable. It is dusty,
and when wet makes mud, which holds
the water, thus Injuring the road. It
is as necessary to keep a road clean as
anything else. It lengthens the life of
a road, and it should not be covered
with this worn, loose, worthless dirt,
whatever the road may be. :
The proper maintenance of roads is
everything. In nine cases out of ten,
In traveling through the different towns
deep ruts may be found both where
the horses and wheels travel, and quite
often in good natural road material.
There is no need for this if a proper
system of maintenance is employed,
and these roads can be maintained for
a small sum of money, if promptly and
properly attended! to and with some
diligence: For instance, if depressions
are filled and ndtj'allowed to develop
into deep ruts, it will not only be more
comfortable to the traveler, but the
water would not be held: but would
run off the surface of the road. Stand
ing water is a detriment to any road.
The very best constructed road will
soon go to pieces unless it is kept con
stantly In repair., just the same as a
building. ! i
, How Progress Is Blocked.
Probably the greatest obstacle to
the Improvement of the country roads
in the State of Ohio at the present time
is the antiquated law now jin force re
quiring all road work to be done under
the supervision of some person who
must be elected from among the voters
of the road district; without any regard
to his fitness experience or-qualifications
for the work No matter how
good a road builder a non-resident
may be, or how useful his knowledge;
may be to the roads, the law does not
permit him to touch them or to allow
the public to avail itself " of his skiU.
If perchance be be a resident and voter
and be elected: to the position of road
supervisor, he cannot use his skill in
the construction of roads unless he con
sents to . do it without compensation,
as jne btate prevents him from receiv
ing one cent more than the common
laborer. j ' ,
Under the. present law there Js' no
possible chance for a skilled road
builder to get any road building to do,
and there is no inducement for a man
to prepare himself for the vocation
A bill originating ; with the Portage
County Good Roads Association has
just been introduced into the Legisla
ture by C. F. Suse, of Hudson. reDeal
ing the law, and putting the selection
o road supervisors Into the' 'hands of
flic :f ATimflWn iiM.i..
trustees ; practically the sam 61
in - respect' to road sun?
boards of education have
ployment of . teachers for
They can employ the best L
can find and pay such
feel justified in. They can rem
service demands it
good
ott?
This bill, if it becomes a i
open up the needed ovvwhK
road builders. A man can " 1
self for this work with soK
of getting road building to
tees would soon find themselv i
plied with applicants qualif JK
this work. The principles of nJ
Duuaing are wen estaoiishec1,
jjie, uut iucj vuiiuut De io-TiA,
neglected without disaster to thh '
Portage Gounty Good Roads AsgJ
L1UU. i
MUNICIPAL BATKS.
w .
Tliirty-six American Cities Haw
Helps to, Health.
Within the past few years -a an J
of municipalities in this country u
established' all-the-y ear-round
pal bath houses, while others,
added to the number of open W
eans JJU.&L, uttve ueeu uiiiiuiainei j
ing tne summer montns. informal
collected shows that thirty-six ci
and towns with 3000 population
of 1900, now have either all-the-jj
are as follows: .Boston, Brookt
Cambridge, Dedham, Holyoke i
buryport. Quincy. Springfield,
town, Worcester, Mass.; rrovide
R. I. ; Hartford, Conn. ; Albany, $
falo, New York, Rochester, SyrapJ
Troy. Utlca. N. Y.; Hoboken' KJ
N! J.; Homestead Philadelphia, p
Wilmington, Del.; Baltimore, M
Greenwood, S. C; Newman, Sara
nah, Ga.; Cleveland, Ohio; Muskeg;
Des Moines, Iowa; Crookston,,St.
Minn.; San Jose, Cal., 1
The thirty-six places in question rj
distributed over sixteen States, 3
Massachusetts has ten and New M
seven of these cities and towns. He
of the other States are represented k
one municipality only. Outside of M
States of Massachusetts and M
York most of the public baths are opsj
only In the summer, and that is tJ
of some of the places in MassacM
setts. It is known that Newark, CM
cago and St Paul have all-the-yeJ
bath houses.
In 1895 the legislature of New Toil
passed an act which permits any mnii-
cipalities of that State to establish sH
the-year baths, and makes it coKjtf-
sory for cities of 50,000 inhabits
and over to do so.
Munlcinal baths, often comtM
with public wash houses or laundries
are becoming more and more commc
in England, and the signs of the tips
are that they will rapidly gain po?t
: j nrxu Intn1ir!
iar iavor m xnis country, xue muumH
iearure. wui, naiuraiiy, guiu 6iuu
much more slowly than the baths.
Thus far It has not been introduced
in the United States further than to
make a provision for washing the per
sonal clothing of the bathers. Drying
closets are also provided, so an un
fortunateman with no change of
clothing may be insured 'of clean w
derclothes to put on after his.hatb.-
Engineering News.
Klllinc Pfotile bv Brutal Truths.
Many people are killed by brutal
truths.: Some, physicians are so cod-
scientions and so tactless that . w
think they must tell patients tin
whole truth when they believe thej
cannot recover, instead of giving them
the benefit -of the doubt , for every
physician knows that, nearly always,
there Is a doubt which way the case
will turn "fThobrfnl PTifOUrageBe111
hrifs s?avpff rnniiv a life bv helping 11
to pass a crisis favorably, when JJ'
actual truth might have killed t
patient or reduced his rallying poj
to the danger-point In all the affaff
of life, cruel bluntness in stating hrut
facts has caused untold misery
broken . many friendships. Truth
self changes. from a jewel to a &
gerous weapon In the hands of a
1CS3 JJCIDUU. iJCtaUBtJ ixms " .1
is no reason it should be told, or 0
in, a way to offend. He who 5
have many and strong friends
exercise tact in order not to off
even by the .truth, because it is v
difficult for many people to
en a fancied injury entirely. .
la flonanla
taste, or speeches . which reflect W
one's pride,; abUity, or caputs
Orison S wett Marden, in Success.
Fassy'i Queer rainuy .
in tne nam or w. a. DUUf
tese cat is raising a family of
of her own kittens, two blafr
tens, two fox squirrels and a wi
bit. The mother of the family is
partial in her devotion to the j
ones. The twb squirrels ar
"black sheep" of the family, ana .
gite the old cat cpnsiaeia- . oIi3
w .rl i.cirWss. Indiana
by- their
News.
' x.itin
Some men are kept so busy
about what they are going to
they never find time to do anyu
t is