North Carolina Newspapers

THE: i FRAN PRESS, V OLUME XXL , FRAN KLIN; N. C. W EDNESDA Y, PEBRUAHY 21, 1906. NUM13EU 8. KLIN NOCTURNE. ftp to nr eliamher window 1 A light wire trellis frM, And np this Rnmeo'a ladder :. Clambora a hjlil white rose ' I loons la the lln shadow 1 see tin lady leaa, tFiclaaplnr her silken girdle, Tkt curtain folds between. WAS IT HER MOTHER? , Just a little voles catling through th lark, "Mamma; oh, mammal" abd the low sound ottlfld sobbing, i Col. Trevstalck teard them both, sod they etnqta hint with a new sense of loss and pain. "He had scarcely thought of bt little girl since his wlte dleaVtv hours before died at the very Instant when she was kissing him good-by, taking with her Into the faf heavens the warm breath of his hu man love. He had loved her as, per haps, men seldom love, from the first hour of tholr first meeting. "There la Maud Harrison," some one had said, and he had turned to look, and met the 'Innocent gaze ot two frank, gentle,' very beautiful browa eyes, "Brightest eyes that ever hare hone," he said to himself. Their owner bad other charms besides a fair and lovely face, round whlofi golden hair made a soft, bright halo; a lithe, girlish figure; a manner of unattest ed cordiality blent with a certain maid enly reserve, and which seemed to htm perfection. He loved her then and there. His wooing was short, and his wedding hasty, but be had never re lented his haste; never known an unhappy hoar from the moment he brought bis wife home, nine years ago, till these last tew days, in which' his love and care could not provent her from going away from him, to another ; home where he could not follow her the home whera she had gone now, far beyond his search. - She was a., good little creature, and . aha did. not rebel even at the summons to tjQ out of her earthly Eden In search of the paradise of Ood. She longed In deed to live' tor she loved her owu, and she could have resigned herself to die mora willingly but for her hus- band's passion of woe. That Very day she bad said to him, as ho knolt beside her: , : "Do not grieve so, darling. I am not going so tar but that I shall come back to yon every day. Something tells me that I shall be always near you and - Uaudle. You cannot call, or she cry, out that ' I shall hear you. I know that when she needs, or moat wants me, I shall be close beside you." ' . And, with that very last kiss, when her breath was falling, she had whis pered: sTI shall not go so far as you think." Now, when he heard the low call of 'his little Maudle, and her smothered sobbing, he .remembered th3 words of his dead darling. Did she. Indeed, hear Handle cry, and was it possibly trnub- : lias; her? He got up and went Into tho little room where Maudle had slept alone ever since her sixth birthday, a couple ot months ago. He bent over her low bed, and asked tendirly: "What to It, darling?" . A Utile, nightgowned figure lifted it self upland two little arms clung round hla neJk. lie put me to bed without tak- to mamma. Mamma did not ic good-night, and I want the oh, I want she should. Bessie n't carry me to see her; and I you to. Besslo said mamma ncv uld kiss me again; but that Isn't fs'ltf You know I've " heard it say Bessie wasn't always bla," Trevethlck considered for a mo- 'what he should say to his child be could make her understand rest, sad, awful, yet triumphant iry which had come to pass that tunder their root the great loss, let the great hope that hallowed was such a baby It seemed bird his words. Must he tell her er mamma would never kiss her T But how did he know that? the 'Sear Lord promised "all those who loved Him, did it inliidn the to n In a Vk oronen ids, the up-springing of - (lend" -a, the finding one's own again, Where? He thought It nr-tat. for t a word without meaning heaven Id be to him It his own Maud e not there! He temporized a lit- I he cannot kiss you now, my dsrl j but you, shall kiss her." ,. , , hs lifted the little white figure in -rw. b'-'nr It close, as one who Sh smile on her white-rose toTCt hhe nadirs out her hand . And hPliia him at the window T -1 we It whera I aland I - To ber scarlet lip She holds him. And kliwxn him many a time- Aft, met It aa ha that won her Detaiiae he dared to clluibl Thomas Bailey Aldrlvh. By, Louise Chandler floaltoa. the flbwers; but the real mamma, who loves little 'Maudle, wlU not bs buried. She will be somewhere, I truly believe, where she can see and hear her llttb girl." , For a moment the child Slid again from his arms, and nestled cloe against the cold breast, kissed the un movlng lips. Then she said: "Good-by, this mamma, wh3 can't see; and good-night, other mamma, that hears Maudle." Col. Trevethlck marveled. Had be, Indeed, succeeded In making this lit tie creature understand; er had some one he could cot see Spoken 16 her words ot SWeet mother wlstfom?' He carried her then, and laid her in her little bed, and went back to his own loneliness; but half an hour af terward he heard the small voice call ing, "Papa, papa," and again he went to her, and the little arm Came tip around bis neck, and held him fast. "Cant t go, too, paper It yOd ask God, won't H let hie! Because I did so love toy ffiamma." That afternoon Col. Trevethlck had felt as it he had nothing at all left M this world; but cow he realized how much emptier still MS home might be if he lost out ot It (his child who was so like- her mother. - "Mamma would not want you to come," he said, passionately, "She nas all heaven, and 1 only you only you, little Maudle, In all the world. Mamma wants you to stay with me." After that he was quiet; and when he looked In at her an hour later, she was sound asleep with one H'.tlfj hand like crushed white rOs under the red ro3e of her Bushed cheek. Ebe' never asked for her mother after that ntghtr but her father was sure she never forgot her, Bhe was the strangest, gravest little creature. BtW never made any noise, rvn at her play; and eke never did any of the things tor which her mother had been accustomed to reprove her. The trouble was that she was too perfect there was something unnatural about It which frightened Col.. Trevethlck. He would have been glad if she had been naughty sometimes like other children. He longed to have her tease Mm to see In her some spirit of naughtiness or contradiction; but ho saw none. She grew tall quite fast, but she was very thlft a Utile, white wraith of a creature, who looked as if she had been made out of snow, and might melt away as soon. It was a good thing tor Col. Treve thlck, no doubt, that he had her to at tend, and to be anxious about, It kept him from surrendering himsB.t to his own grief. Nearly two yeah went on, and all tho time the little girl became more and more frail; until, at last, when she had just passed her eighth birthday, she was taken very ill. Her lllnrs.i seemed a sort of low, nervous fever, and sho grew daily more feeble, A skilful nurce came to share with DM sie the task of attending her, ana her father was seldom tar away. Halt the day he would be sitting in her room, and bait a dozen times in the night he would steal In to watch her breathing. One afternoon, as he sat by her bed, she looked t p at htm with a sad, tender look, too old for her yoirj but thrtt all her words and ways were too eld for her years, "Papa," she said, "I would get well if I could, to please joj. I should got well, I know, If I had mamma to nurse me. Don't you know how she usedj if my head ached, to put her hand on it and make the pain stoj?" A sudden mist ot tears came between bis eyes and the little face looking up at him. She bad not spoken before ot her mother for so .many months, and yet how well she remembered. In stantly his wife's words, that last day, cani8"1sacl5 to fels, memory. She had said: "I know that when Maudle needs me most, or you mo3t want me, I shall be ti-ere beside you." Was she there nowT Could she breathe upon the little wasting, lite some merciful dew of healing or rat she, perhaps, by her very love and longing, drawing the child, from borne to herself? ; . That night Bessie was to sit np on alikiwnd then to call thi yek, be dor than he had hoard from her Hps In two years. . . What did the child meant Had she gone mad!. He controlled h'lmsolt and asked: "Who tonded you, my child? I found Bessie sound asleep." "Yes, mamma made her sleep, and you, and nurse. She nt all of yon the dreams rou like best; and all night long she sat here beside my bed, With her hand on my head Just as she used to put It long ago. She was all in white, and her soft, golden hair fell about her shoulders, and her eyes were very, Very bright, and her Hps when she kissed mo, seemed somehow to melt away," .. "8oyp'j, too, dreamed about mam ma, darling?" "(To, -indeed, papa, I did not dream, Mamma sat there all night long, 1th her hand upon my head. Sometimes 1 slept, but mors often I woke up to look at her; and 111 the time she sat there, and did cdt tire, until the tint sun shine came lit at tho windows; and then she kissed me and went away. 1 did Dot see- her go. Perhaps I .shut my eyes a moment Then I looked and she was gone, and then I heard yon coming in. She said she Was with me every day, but she couldn't haVe come to m like this It I hadn't beetled her so very) Very fauch. And she wanted tri. make hie well, because you would grieve for me If I went to her; and I was to be very good, and tend you, and make you comfortable; and I must laugh, and make you laugh, for lunsh ter was good, and tJie reasost I got 111 was because 1 had been Botry so long, and had not laughed at all. And I waj hot te be sorry after her any more, because she was very happy, and noth ing grieved ber except when she saw you and me mourning for her, and not knowing that she was watting close beside " "Was It her mother? can It be It was. the child's mother?" the father cried, uttering bis thought aloud, un consciously. "Ot course It was mamma; and sho ftU made me well. See If Dr. Hale does not tell you I am well." Two hours afterward Dr. Hale camo. He stood for a few moments beside the the little bed. He looked 4a the child's glad tsyfts; he counted the throbs of her pulse, he made her put out her healthy little tongue. Then be turned to her father. "Trevethlck," be Said, "ran yptt swear that this Is the same little girl I left here last night? If the days ot ihlfaclea were not gone, I should say that one had been wrought here. I left, I thought, a very sick little person, about whom I was anxious enough, cer tainly, to make this my first call this morning, and I find my small batleht so well that I Shall bnly keep her id bed a day or two longer, for form's sake." fc "Perhaps It Is a miracle," Col. - Tre vethlck said, smiling. But be did hot explain. There are some experiences too Marvelous fbf belief, and too sacred tor doubt or question, and that was one ot them. Two days afterward little Maudle went down to tea. She wore a fresh white gown,- with lovely blue flbbftnS, and also looked as much like a little angel in festal attlfe as a Human child Pan be expected tb look. Out he did hot take her -usual seat She sat down, instead, behind the teapot, where Bes sie usually stood to pour out the tea. "Hadu'l Besslo better do that?" papa asked, as he saw the little hand close round the handle of the teapot But Maudle laughed, and shook her head.- "No, I don't think Bessie Is 'sponsi ble,' she said; "and mamma said 1 was to Hvb just On purpose to do everything for papa." And again Col. Trevethlck asked, but this time silently: "Was Itcould It htv been tile child's mOtberT'4iev -rk Weekiy. QUAINT AND CURItUS. According to a cablegram from Brus sels, the Belgian Government has au thorised an international lottery to col lect 12,000,000 for an expedition V the North Polar regions. It is declared on the authority of a leading member ot the Automobile club of America that there is one chauffeur In New York City who Is receiving an annual Balary of CO0O. . ' Those engaged In the manipulation of false hair are found alinosV univer sally to suffer from afteilons of the throat and chest, caused If the Inhala tion of minute particles ""' In the "Situations Wanted" In the London Express was this advertise ment: "Galloping consumption of means; Dr. Work wanted. Address, Pa tient, Bed C48, Dally Express, Tudor street" , A naturalist, according to the Dun, dee Advertiser, has ben making ob- ryatlons on the toilets ot ants ot iW and has discovered each s through a cleaning process irate as that ot a cat not only led by herself,' but by another, 'a tor the time as lady's maid. gator boats." used br Canadian rmon, can travel both on land ater. When the boat comes to e where the ! river has entirety up, or to a sand bank, an anchor 'cable are taken out some way d, the engines are set ' working, the boat is slowly bauled up to tho tor. - .,v. A King's Punctuality., . Ill men agree In the abstract that punctuality Is the soul of business,1 it few act-up to the maxim with the trlctnesa of the King of the Bel Hans. 'Wherever or however be may i ravel, whether the visit be of bust Juess, pleasure, or ceremony, be Is punctual, not only to the hour, but to the minute It might almost-be sajd to the second. And yet bit majesty la never seen to consult a watch. But fnn-ninrs know that his habit of id along his flowing device for glancing at hlch he wears fasten, London Globe. v'llllainsburg bridge in to bo lighted by IKE PULPIT. A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON B DR. SPENCER S, ROCHE, Cnhjacti Lihhi of Klljah's U.'a. Brooklyn, N. Y.-At St. Mark's P.' E. Church, the Rev, Dr. Siei)eer Summer field Itorhe, the rector, preached Sun day on "Lessons From Elijah's Life." The text was from I, Kings, xliS): "Ami be came thither, unto a cave." Dr. Itoche said: Tbe lessous present quite fully the life of thst grand old prophet Klljali the Tlshliite. Front a sublime scene In his life 1 shall attempt to draw such lessons as may (It the hour. Let as Se lect the moment when his soul yearned to be Oil Horeb, the Mount Ot Ged. lllve jour thoughts id Hi Is statement, "And he cniue t li 1 1 Iter, unto a care." . aliall speak of the coming and of the cavern; of tits' grief the Journey brought to view, and tho glory the env ern revealed. ' Throughout we must re member that we study a typical case of Almighty Coil's dcriliug with- His discouraged terraiits. Whnt the Lord sab! nnil did to Elijah, lie would have us believe He snys and does to our selves. From one of the most striking situa tions in history we are to see Elijah burled' lu tin Instant. Tbe occasion of his full was oue of the slightest of In cidents, n when sn avalanche which carries down the ride of n mountain Is started by tllp Waves of the air aroused by r tourist's halloo. A hub talked with bis wife. VC bare seen greatness of character in reticence, ns when to the numerous Interrogatories of Pilate the Son of Mnu "auswered him never a word." Fo meanness, cowiirdlce are seen often in that easy flow of words which lets out everything. A wife may tell ber husband what he Hs no business to kuow: ir man may make himself contemptible blabbing every thing to his wife. "Ahnb told Jezebel all that Elijah Jind done and withal bow be had sialn the prophets with the sword." 1 do not rocersta'U be spoke In wrath or inal.-e; quite the contrary; be knew ne had u tigress to deal with, and used all the tact bis lean wit could summon. He wab nfrnjil to tell her that he. himself bnd ahandohed. the sinking cause of the Bnnlites. He di vided bis matters, putting the rmnll things nrst; last of nil her beloved ministers of falsehood and fra.id were slnln. The tlpress rolled ber angry eyes and showed ber cruel teeth. She sent this message to EHJ-b: "The gods do so lo me and more also -If I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about iMs time." Jese bei's blooo wai up. "He ar.se and went for his life." The man whs bad confronted tile Hint find his armed re; tflin?rs fied terrified from d woirinri. Th -re Is a lesson hr for nil. Life's victories only lift us to new battlefields. One of Elijah's mistakes wss his sup position that all would go well if one event resulted favorably. He succeed ed beyond his wl st tir.ami onijf to find bis real troubles yet to begin. So we regard the office to which we hope to be elected, the partnership we are anxious to form, the fifty or hun dred thousand we are striving for. When the great achievement Is won we nre simply like the army lauded en a hostile shore bndef the guns of the' Beet. Shut up for weeks lb nnrrdvt qnnrters, tossed by the sea. fed on ship's fnrc, the men long for the land wlib Its fruit and forage. The Joy of the landing Is quickly exchnnged (pr the Reuse of Insecurity and tbe fear of sudden attack. A day or so after Carmcl, 2llJsh was at Becrsheha. Even there he Was full of alarm. He fled Into deeper solitude, The farther be fled the lowev sunk bis spirits. Bee his Hwfdl cOilsternstWd In bis lilcdiitistehey With regard td life; He bad run away td save It Under the imiiper tree he begged it might be taken. So low is Elijah fallen! ju for tbe second stave of tlso Journey: The propht is brone . ddwn. Hi thinks the end has come. See how tlod theerert HIS disconsolate servant First He took core of Elijah's body. Tbe prophet was fatigued, famished, spent. Natural law carrying out di vine pnrpjse ca-aed tbe plulng and sighing to bring slumber. The discouraged Christian can often do worse itin lie down and take a nap. When tbe world is too much for us. when the strnin and worry seem as If thoy would never cease, when the dis appoint ment Is bitter, when the letter comes destroying our hopes, when be reavement leaves tbe heart desolute, heaven guides the afflicted soul to cahn and quiet, and the peace ot submission. "So He glreth His beloved sleep." , Next Ood fed Elijah. "An angel toncbed him and said: 'Arise and rat' And behold there was at bis bead a enke baken on tbe coals and a cruse ot water." Our depression has at times an Intensely physical basis. Our Lord fed tbe multitude before He instructed them. A full stomach Is not always the sigh of a pure heart, but who donbts that If we could give one good meal to the wretched creatures Infest, Ing the streets ot cities we might begin In some of them the salvation from sin. Elijah slept' and ate, and slept and ate again. Tbe repose was natural, tbe repast supernatural, but the lessons are universally applicable. Calmed and strengthened, his holy spirit reasserted Itself. He would see Horeb tbe Monnt Of God. .,.,.:.,,,.,., -'..,.--,.. f,,:;-,-.- - "And he came thither, tinto a cave." Notice tbe parallel with Moses. These two who were united in a post-mortem communion on. the Monnt. of Transfig uration, were In life granted the most inspiring villous of Jehovah In per haps tbe same identical spot. How of ten lu tbe Old Testament and In tbe New. as well ss in tbe later history of Redemption, we are reminded that God grants additional favors and mercies hi tbe place where prayer is wont to be made. Places In the lapse of time ac quire redoubled sanctity. Tbls church wss rebuilt over the spot where God bad for many years listened to His peo ple's prayers and praises. ; We see It again tbls morning after an Interval of several months, changed, but the same; not yet in the final form of beauty which we shall see in a few weeks and which will Justify unusual services snd unusual gladmss, but already brighter and fairer than we bare ever seeu It before. ,' - ,- ' We love to apply the term old to our churches, and tbe world has no more Inspiring . u illtles than those areas in some of tbe great cities of Europe where churches have stood since the days of Charlemagne, of Constantlne, snd possibly In some cases from the sge of St. John. Where God had re- venled Himself hundreds of years be tore to Moses He now snows His glory; to EHJnh. "What dost thou here, Eli jah?" The euswer illustrates mistak en, thoughtless zeal. The Ttstblnte Is r eva i on Israel and caret I for his own Ilf0, and betrays a wrong spirit. Very Koort people, even In their religion opinions, their most pious aspiration. e,r greatly. They show nverw helmini; conceit, or unworthy estimates tf others,- or the most wroiiy'ienlesl ciwi-r f m ens. or a selilsh regard for their ivn cjinfort, and even life. Among he mistakes of good men think of the ;tlern hie : narrowness of those who aik against missions to tbe heathen nut refuse to contribute; or tbe cold' ies of those who discourage under he term "slumming" efforts by Chris Inn people to fight the devil lu bis own o.rougbolds of the brothel nod tbe nunnery. Elijah, though a good mau, mule some mistakes. So far has be 'iirn?d aside that we are tempted to hlnk bis est I mere Is just that be can leucefonh be of no srvlce to bis Lord. But we shall see that heaven can make iliiniilnnt Use of even cross-grained en riy , so only It have a good heart See Ols method with this devout heroic, but misguided saint. God showed Elijah the Impotence of the Carnal. There Is no reproach. "Go forth and stand on tbe mount before the Lord." There came sweeping down the granite crags of Sinai a rust and then a blast and then a hurricane that uprooted the niicleut trees, and rolled the loose fragments of rock against one another till they flew lu pieces like millstones subjected to too swift revo lution. The appalled, snlnt knelt breathless, and ns the tornado spent Its force be lifted his eyes for a nearer view of God. "itiil the IrJ was not In tho wind." The earth rumbled, the crags were split, tbe mount itself rocked, the ground opened great As sures, tbe day of the dissolution ot na ture Itself appeared to have come. He looked again. "But tbe Lord was not In the earthquake." Tbe lightning darted out of tbe clouds, flash follow ing flash In tht terrible splendor of Oriental tempests till tbe atmosphere seemed tflisi-ged With continuous flame, snd Molnit Slnal and the rave and the Armament Itself seemed itblaxe., Again be strained his vision1 til discern lu the blinding glare One yet more glorious. "But the LOrd was not ih tbe fire." As bat beeii finely said Elijah bad conceived God simply as power. Ills own achievements bad been wrought by power: He is now made to recog nise the futility 6f lucre force. This Is a needful discovery for us. Especi ally for tbe world's great ones. The man who In finance or Industry has wou the greatest success is speedily convinced of the Impoteney of that which men ordinarily consider victory. Whatever teaches us this Is good, Fail ure, disappointment, slckuess, each Is a blessing lu disguise If it lifts us out of ourselves and makes Us feel that with all the world, .can filvd there IS some thing else needed. He showed Elijah the Infinitude, the Inexhaustible power and goodness and glory of the divine. The cycloue wus stilled, the earthquake spent, the light nings burned out and yet God came not. "Then on perturbed and tormeuc ed nature a silence rested as when the lashed galley slave Is permitted to rest as wbeu the Atlantic roariug for days falls into a riiiim" The cave, lu its deepest .gWtlb. Mi pe'iett-ate'd witb the spirit of dullness. Kb breath stirred. The seer felt an awe, not less, but greater than before, when there came a voice, mysterious, thrllllug bis heart snd asking the Old question. Tbe old answer was given, w must believe, with a new meaning, for the great les son of time and eternity had been taught In the cave of Horeb the fundament al truth of the Christian religion Is re vealed, a truth every mission, however htimblet every church, however adorned: every Mtliedrali however magnificent, must illustrnle. Not the earthquake, cyclone, hurly-burly, but the still small voire. Here Is the se cret of God. Not the startling, but the pleading; not tbe violent, but the ten der; not force, but pity; not Slnntlc fury, but gospel grace; "not by might nor by power, but by My silrit. saltb the Lord." God Is love. Not an mi seen God, but a saving Christ. "He came to Horeb a voice, he left It an in itiated matt," says J. tirlce. But iroul the living ot the Christian turn td bis dying, . The cldse of every golod til has .digtilty like tliitd ''cbar lots of fire and horses of fire,'' But the ljkeness i ,h8 ori Imineerurabiy beyond death; 6t. jahies toil that Elijah was a man of like 1 assloris with ns. Then our Infirmities, thank God, allow us a life that does not end wltb earth. The! thought of All Saints is of the Steadily accumulating honors and Joys ot re deemed souls. We see Elijah go. But It is not tbe last of bim. Malachi said he would come back on earth. Cen turies later tbe world asked John the Baptist If he vers Elijah. ' Some be lieved Jesus must be. ( t tbe day ot Trensfl urjitlor, Elijah for a moment was with ns, at once on earth and In glory , We can. trust those dear departed ones, wh j memorials cluster around ns, wltb tbe Lord God ot LlljaU, THOUGHT WAGNER WAS FUNNY Peculiar Compliment Paid Composes by Unmusical Englishman. A story which Alfred Relsenauer, the pianist, tells of Richard Wagner relates to a London dinner at which the great composer wss requested to be especially amiable to Lord Pitkin a most unmusical man but high In so cial councils.' In due season the two Were presented. ' ' ' 1 '"Where Is your entertainment to be?" asked his lordship after the In troduction, whon .Wagner's forthcom ing concert was mentioned. ' " "At 8t. James' hall," replied th composer." "! (rust your lordship will be able to como." . j -.v ... ;. "I may, I may," replied the great personage. f .:". ?-?: ;r The concert took place as scheduled and a week or more later a patron ot Wagner gave a soiree in honor ot the composer. Lord Pitkin wss prominent among the guests and he seised the first opportunity to. walk over to Wag ner and congratulate him. ' "I was at your entertainment," said the polite ; nobleman, "and I don't know when I've enjoyed anything more.'' I laughed till I cried. You- are very funny, Horr Wagner." .".The company stopped talking and an amased look spread over Wagner's face.': ,..- - " , "But you know," cob tinned the affa ble lord, "it was almost, half an bout Before I recognised you with your black face and crinkly hair." - When Lord Pitkin stopped laughing be saw that he was alone in his mer riment. ' "Why what I hope I haven't it wag St. James' hall, wasa't It I er " '; Some one then explained that St James' hall consisted ot an upper and a lower auditorium and that his lord ship evidently bad wandered Into the one where the Burgess & Moore min strels wers giving a Jubilee entertain ment"'"' . ; "Wagner's expression," says Rolsen autT in concluding the anecdote, "was a study, hut Lord Pitkin's well, his w a en en'-'te cinnse of luntructlon.' rODNTRY SCHOOL GONE. A-NOTABLB INSTITUTION OF EXISTENCE. OUT fn Its Place Comes the Centrsllxed School With Bettor Instruction and Accommodations for1 tie Pupils Social and Educational Advantages , of New Plan. B;fore long the dodo Itself will not be moro extinct than tho old-time country school, declares the Now Yort Sun. As a people wo bavo hid a mania for multiplying schoolhouaes. We doted on a landscape-well sup plied with them. And tho. general Idea wait that, If it rained school houses one day, the millenium might be expected the next day, at tbe fur thest, the day after. ' That's all changed. Country schools are being shut up by tbe score. But don't get excited. The young, Idea la not being deprived of its -right to shoot On tho contrary, It la at, last receiving Just as good a chance along that line as used to be tho cxclunlv privilege of town children. , ,. ; This la tho way it Is don, Take anywhere from two fo a dozen spln:V ling, tottering, bftlf dead country schools. There are thousands ot them. Throughout tho East the rtifttl school population has dwindled to half what It used to be. One teascn is tbe movement to ward the cities. Another la that the degree and kind of learning handed out in these familiar little old build ings wasn't able to bring a child with in less than long distance communica tion with an education. It was bobody's fault, of course, You ran expect Mamie Bfhlt'.i, aged IS, at $20 a month and her board, to be of the proper calibre te teach an as sortment of pupils from 6 to 21 years of age. At any ratd Mamie must be forgiven if the higher branches ar rather slighted. Such a school IS apt degenerate into a mere set-to between teacher and pupils, In' which all the rules and most of the furniture got badly out of repair. Under the now system all of these scratch-scrabble schools In a town ship are closed. If there already ex ists a graded sctiodl Within the town ship, tho country pupils are taken baok and forth between their homes add tha school, the cost of their transporta tion being paid out of the school furid of tbe township. The result is that the country chil dren have the same advantages as those in the town. And the cost to the township Is less. Tbe reports' Oil the working of the new system are Interesting. Tho change began in New England, but Is now in use id about thirty states. In Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia the system is gradually gaining ground. In the North It id fairly revolu tionizing farm life. Take one in stancethat of Green township, Trum bull county, Ohio. This Is tbe real country. Not a city, not a town, not even a sizable village In the township. This Is a rural community, if vef there was one. It Is eleven miles frOm one fail road and six miles from another. The" township Itself is five miles square. In 1900 the people of Green town Bhlp built a modern brick school house at a cost of f 0000. The building Ib steam heated. It contains six class rooms with two additiqnal rooms, one for a library, the other for office and reception room. There: is i, basement under the en tire building. Part of this is for a laboratory afld gymnasium. The cam pus contains three aires. The building is In the centre of the township' and ail the children ot school age are brought to It In the morning and taken home at the close ot school in eight , wagons regularly engaged, for that purpose. . During the first year after the clos ing of the small, scattered schools and the opening of the central ono, the en rollment Increased from 160 to 180 and the average atondance was more than proportionately hlgfier. Tardi ness, aa In all these centralised schools, is unknown. Tho drivers are under contract to bring their loads of children to school in time, and the children soon learn to be ready for tbe dragon, 'These wagons are generally long hacks or barges, with seats along the sides. The law requires that they be provided with curtains for stormy weather, with lap robes and hot soapstones. ; Tho drivers must be responsible persons. Each driver has a special route and though, of course,. some children may have a longer ride than their souls" really crave, tbls Is offset by the fact that nobody has to tramp through rain, mud, slush of snow and then sit In school with wet feet and clothing. ' .: ' ' j- In townships Ilka- Green, - where there Is no village or town llfer.this central school life Is an element ot almost Incalculable power. It brings about friendships which unite the scattered families of the district It raises the standard, of Intelli gence. It gives the boys a wholesome and hitherto Impossible knowledge of sport, for on the, campus - baseball, footba.f and Other athletic games are played. . v . ' - ' ' " -i ' ' Even special teachers In music, na ture study and drawing make regular visits to these centralized schools, whose pupils a Dew years ago were wrestling rudoly with Mamie Smith and a limited acquaintance wltb, the three Rs. '.''' :' " r In Massachusetts, with Its network of trolleys, ctralization hes been growing easier every year. Country children llvtn within fa reasonable distance ot a trolley line and It Is a comparatively small proportion which does not live- near one now-a-days- receive trolley tickets from the school and go back and forth on tbe ubiquitous elefltrio car. : These tickets are furnished the school authorities at half rates, and each child gets two a day. It tbe parents wlsti to have a child come home for luncheon thoy can have two extra tickets a day by paying an other five cents themselves; or the children carry luncheon with them. Almost Invariably tho new meth od results In a saving to the town ship. In Now Hampshire, out ot i:i towns only ono reported an Increased cost,- while twenty-sis out of tbo number c'vo tho present cost Includ ing conveyance oi - the children, as only one bait what it usod to ba under tho cross roads system. ' This is easy to understand when One realizes that In New York State there are about 000 school districts With on average attendance of less than tea pupils. There are some which rer.ort an average attendance of thrce-qitarttru of a pupil. la an Ohio county, close to the Green township paradise of central ized schools, some inspecting visitors stopped at a district school house in a township which still clung to the old method. They found a small build ing, no shade trees, antiquated furni ture, primitive ventilation and sani tary arrangements, in fact, tho typi cal country school ot sentimental poetry, And in this Uttered Institution of kardlng exactly fcur children were pursuing knowledge. The teacher was getting $30 a month to teach four pupils. S If she was above the grade of tbo Ordinary country schoolteacher, as -the - amount of her salary would in dicate, It may have been edifying fcr the lonesome quartette, though not exactly an lrjp(rlng experience. But It seems as if the taxpayers must have felt that those four children were an expensive ornament ti the district In Maine, where a total of one thirtieth of all tho school funds Is paid for transporting children, it la tho law that all schools with an en enrollment of less than eight pupils shall .consolidate wltb a neighboring school. As a result oven with the cost of conveyance, some districts re port as high a saving as $4 a pupil. Tbls Is good. But the best of It Is that tho coun try children thus have better teachers, better courses of study and better mental, moral and physical training, la Massachusetts tbe number of chil dren conveyed, to and from central ized schools has increased from about 80,000 in 1890 to about 100,000 at present The increase has been even moro pronounced in some states of tbe middle West. In New- York the method has not made much progress, but legislation Is helping It somewhat. Experience will do the rest. The country achoolbouse as It has been In tbe past will soon be a curiosity. A NEW MODEL CITY. Paradise For Workers One Thousin. Tollers' Families to Reap Benefit. John A. Roebllng's Sons Company, Trenton's great wire and Iron manu facturing corporation, la to build at Rinkora, ten miles soutb Of Trenton, N. J., a private city for the housing ot its employes. Arrangements were completed re cently for the erection of three work logmen's hotels, and nearly a hundred private dwellings, in addition to the big hotel and the half hundred houses already erected. These buildings will be used exclusively for tbe housing 6f the company's employes who will work iff the new rolling mill plant soon to be put Id operation at Kln kora. The building of UiO mill and the completion of the city will repre sent an outlay of more than a million dollars. All of the work is to be done in less than a year. Paved streets, private water aud gas "plants, electric lights, schools, Churches, a library and other ad juncts of a modern city will be pro vided by tho Roebllngs. None of the property will be Bold, and all of tho houses will bo rented at a very mod erate rate. Provision will be made within the limits of the Roebllngs' city for tho housing of ono thousand worklngmen and their families at tho start, and more houses and additional hotels will be erected as the demands of the place may require. In the new hotels the rates of living will be so moder ate that men who work with the pick and shovel will be able to live in them and keep well within their means. Tbe conveniences will be strictly modern and special attention will be given to tho sanitary arrangements. For the married men of the bosses and skilled mechanics class model homes ot various sizes will bo erected. These bouses will be substantially built of brick and stone. Tbey will be equipped with all modern Improve ments. The hotels and other public buildings will be lighted by electricity, which will also be used on tho streets. Electricity will be produced on the place and gas may be manufactured there, i : : ,Y:,.r. The new Klnkora will be the Roeb ilng City Beautiful. This baa been provided for on the laying out of the town. Each of the streets will be one hundred feet In width," wttb ample 'sidewalks. - All houses will be erect ed well back from tbe curb linea, witb grass plots In front. Trees will be planted on each side of every street and each bouse will have Its own (lower beds and shrubbery. ' Each house will stand alone, with plenty t air space all around it ;-, The Aew town will be provided with a complete system of fire protection, Including pressure mains, water to be supplied from a stand pipe eighty feet high. This Is already built and la In tbo very centre of the city. An other important feature ot the town will bo a street cleaning department Great care will be taken In the sew ering of the place, and' no mosquito and malaria breeding pools will be al lowed to exist U-e whole city to be governed by a code of rules yet to be formulated by theo orporatlon, and lersons who refuse to abide by them will be excluded. The Roebllngs In the expenditure Of this vaat sum of money to provide cheap and at the same time delightful bomea for their people believe they will be repaid In that they will secure better results from the labor employ. e. It the experiment proves a suc cess It Is likely that the idea will be extended there and developed In oth er places where thd Roebllng plants are located. . - The Hindoo priests in India have re- THE FIRESIDE ELEPHANT. . , t h roe, bow t irqiM-ntly t pant ' ')! 1m a matrly rlciihunt I- With skin so thick and strnipth so great lie ncirits Hi puny tricks' of rale, The while hla hiMilcl,T well may best A really untold wrluht ot curs. A A, wore I he. I will aver - ' 1 A bj a model householder 1 "TU pontblf,. I grant yoti that, lie l not suited to a flat : ' Vet you'll admit ot one that be . I bulMod for economy. U nerd not stoop to pick ttaliurs up . He K-nnta no valet, cook, or maid ; Ilia hand l oon and fork and cup, - Aod a'en a straw tor lemonade. And when th Icrtrox heard has shrunk To imny alxo In fourth floor rears. He takes a shower luith from his trunk, And alts a-fannlnx with bis ears, Or when the ilaya are wlulry chill. t And window must the air exclude, : He Itnvea his nose across lite sill, While foiki below prepare their food! " Jhonr me the man who irould not pant To be a gentle elephant ! Uurgrsa Johnson, In harper's Magaalm ' Dr. Probe It might be wise for yoa to call in a specialist. Wlthorly Then, for your sake, doctor, you'd bettor Bead In your bill drat Life. "Promise mo, Jack, you will not go to tbe dogs Just because I have re fused you." "Oh, pshaw, ot course not." "You mean thing!" Life. Commuter How long will It take the village hose company to get here? Na tive Wa-al, they usually gits around a leetle arter the Insurance adjuster does. Puck. "You won't be able to enjoy tho same luxuries after you're married." "Why not? I'm able to afford them." "Ob yes. I just said you wouldn't be able to enjoy them." Judge. Bacon What do you think of the Insurance investigation so far? Eg bertWhy, I think It has proved that AI Adams was not tho real policy king, after all! Yonkers Statesman. Hamfatt Did you have a good part In "Blot on the 'Scutcheon?" Junius Yes, Indeed. I played the title role. Hamfatt The ? Junius Yes, I was the blot Cleveland Plain Dealer. Little Sister Oh, mamma, Georgia baa just upset the tea-table an' brok en my dolly an' all your nice dishes. Little Brother (badly frightened) Yes, mamma, an' let's be sorry, but don't let's be mad!" Harpers Bazar. , His Contribution Why don't you contribute something to the cause of reform? "Well" answered Senator Corghum, "it has been ld that I have al ready done as much .as most men to make reform necessary." Washington Star. "What will you say when your con stituents ask you for an explanation?" "I don't know," answered Senator Sorghum. "There's no use of worrying about what I sm going to say. They won't believe It anyhow." Washing ton Star. NagguB Borus, that last- story of yours struck me as being more realis tic and true to life than any you bavo written tor a long time. Borus (highly flattered) Really? Naggus Yes; it was so infernally commonplace. Chic ago Tribune. ' . - "Yes," said the veteran of "61, "Col. Blank was tbe coolest man in battle I ever saw, but one day he lost his bead." "How was that?" queried tho man who was posing as the audience. - "A cannon ball' struck him -In the i ". neck," explained the veteran. Chicago Dally NewB. "What's the botanical name ot that pretty vine of yours, Billy?" "I don't , know tho 'tanlcai name, miss; I calls it the Bouncer vine." "What a queer , name. Why do you call it so?" "Be- . cause, you see, Miss, It's alius a-throw- ; Jn' out a lot o' suckers." Baltimore American. ( "Now, Willie," said the boy's moth- " er, "before you go to sleep you must 1 try and recall any little sin you com- s . I milted during tbe day and be truly ' sorry for it." "Yes, ma'am," replied Willie. "I guess I was guilty of usury for one thing.'" "Usury?" "Yes'm; I found a nickel and used It" Phlladel- , phla Press. "I wish" said Tltewodd to the law- ;' yer who was drawing up his will, "to leave $25,000 to each of my employes who has completed twenty years In my iervloe," "But that Is too geocssvW , oust" stammered the astonlBhed law yer. "Not at alll'm-ablng to fire all " , tbe old ones tomorrow, and I can't live ; twenty years longer. It'll be a good, ad.V-Cleveland Leader. - - , '-' -Cookina Fish In Clay.' 'T -The natives of the north ' woo-.a :'' have more appetizing ways to eojk fish than any other class of cooks In the world, says the Milwaukee Semr? 1 n,L. -Ia..I towstrlta , KiwavA er, seems to be tbe clay method. The V, flBb la wrapped in tne ciay witnoui having so much as a scale ruffled by the cleaning knife. He Is not dressed and the only seasoning Is a pinch of salt placed In the mouth. ;, -- When the fish Is done up In the clay the package Is placed In the em bers of the camp-fire to bake. When It Its done the clay Is cracked open and tbe scales ot tbe fish are found to be sticking in the, clay and, the he-Ad la then broken off. It Was Lord Roberts, Lord Roberts, while on a motor car ride tbla week, called at- the Spa hotel, St Neota, Huntingdonshire, for tea, and noticing a newspaper supremely portrait hanging up, asked, "Who Is that old Chap hanging up there?" The landlady replied, "Dear olj Bobs," Asked why she bad It hanging there, she said because she reverenced him for what he bad done for the country, though she had never seen him. ; As he .was leaving, Lord Roberts safS, "Don't ever pay aguln you hnvo never seen Lord Roberta," aihl, :(. :;. lug her who he was, proud:-, ! to f ! 1 r his !,:;';-.!-.- ! -n 1 T :( I I