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DOLEFUL BALLAD OF A HERMIT. BY r. ?. B. There wns a Hermit mild anil goo<X, Who owned a modest little c</t Close to the borders of a wood, And happy was his lot. 80 kind he was (o bird and beast, They loved him as their clearest friend; They often shared his frugal feast, And he the sick would tend. One night upon his rottage door There came a most emphatic knock, 'And still another one. before His hand could reach the lock. ] He opened, nnd to his amaze There stood a little brownish bird iWith head aslant and jaunty gaze, Who said, "At last you've heard!" "I'll take a shelter for the night/' Said he, excruciating hold, "There is no other hut in sight, Besides, it's rather cold." The gentle Hermit stared aghast, So saucy wns his little guest, Eut snrend an adequate repast. Aiul bade him take his rest. The bird just winked his beady eye. Said he. "My friend, I've come to stay; I'll build a nest or two near by, Aud never move away." And so it was. Before you'd think Some hundreds of his cousins mustered; The Hermit could not sleep a wink. So loud they screamed and blustered. Until at last thev drove him out, Which grieved his neighbors to the marrow, !Aml long ere this you've guessed, no doubt, This Person was au English Sunrrow. ?I. F. 15. ****** ******** *j* * * * When Pa Kicked Over the Traces I By GERTRUDE G. BLAISDELL. Ma looks out of the window, fanning herself vigorously with her blue checked gingham apron. "It beat the Dutch," she says to Arvylla, the younger daughter. "It does beat the Dutch how your Pa tramps over to the neighbor's for water. Here's our cistern full and all we need is drinking water brought, and by actual count that's the eleventh time he has fetched a pail today." "Why, Ma," says Arvylla, as she drops the pea pods In the wide basket, and glances down the path at her lather as he plods along between the banks cf blossoming roses. "Why, Ma, we don't drink no eleven palls of water a day. "Lf.nd sakes alive, Arvylly, of! course we don't; he jlst pours it out and says ho thinka lin'il Xre3h water. I'm afraid, I'm afraid, !Arvylly, that something dretful ails your pa. Now his consin, Sallic Brown, her that was Sallie Perkins, died with some such an ailment, and that is jist the way she acted, was always thinkin' about fresh water, would drink a hull pail at a time, so they said." i The tears were oo'ursing down Ma's imuciu iuee aud Arvylla looked up ecared and white. "Oh, Ma," she gasps, "Don't." Meanwhile, Pa, the object of their concern, plods alo?ig the path and into tho yard of their neighbor. Thoughts and Impulses which he had always before*-;tieen stranger surge through Pa's gentle breast. Heretofore life has held for him only his "wimmenfolks." Ma and the girls have been tho sum and substance of his existence. When a few years before they had decreed that the old farm should be sold and A lmmn i? ? * _ in iu w ii, j-a n a a not demurred. "Ma knows best," he said. What if out behind the barn with no one to see but old Rover, a few tears had trickled down tlie withered old cheeks. The "wimmenfolks" had never known. He had said good-by to the dear old farm where his whole life had been spent, to the cows and horses, the lambs and calves. No one had known the cost to tlie poor old man. No 0110 unless it was Rover who looked up in his evos in such a sympathetic way that Pa felt he understood, even if Ma and the girls <lid not. Poor Rover, town had been too much for the farm dog and the eyrlnga bush had blossomed over his b??To uuw xor uvo seasons. Four weeks ago when Pa had gone to the neighbor's for a pail of water, there, In the woodshed, curled up heHide their savage little mother, were eix of the plumpest, most winning fox terrier puppies possible to imagine. That was the beginning. The puppies wero very friendly and soon would scamper to meet him, growling and barking and jumping about him In delight and Pa enjoyed the frolic even better than they. "Better take one, Mr. Perkins," aald the neighbor pleasantly. But Ma and the girls had instantly vetoed such a possibility when Pa had timidly suggested it. "What, a puppy trackin' ovor my clean floors, weU, I guess not," | gasped Ma. < > 0*1 day when Pa went over there v were only five bright-eyed, frisky puppies left. Tho next day Fatty was gone. To-day there is only one, but the brightest and best of the lot thinks Pa as he grabB llttlo Spotty Up. "Oh, SpOttV. StlOftv I onn't you go, I can't," he groaned. Then something very llko a twinkle gleamed in the old man's eyes, and he muttered tremulously: "I'll do It, II will, I'll kick over the traces this once." If the "wlmmonfolks" had worried over him before they wero in agony about him now. His peculiar desire for fresh water gives place to many new but equally startling vagariea. It Is a usual thing now when they sit. down to an unusually good dinner I aud the old man has prepared the meat and vegetables for eating to ?uddenly push back his plate, declaring that he feels "porely" and cannot oat unless he carries his dinner out of tfoors. "Seems like the smell of Ibo roses and slch makes things mora tasty," he murmurs. "Why, sure, father, dear," says Arvylla the first timo this happens. "well set the table out under thoJ apple tree to-morrow If you can eat ! better there." Her father Bhakea his head, "I want to eat alone," he says, j shortly. So they watch him nearly every < day as ho potters toward 'he barn with his plate. "And he do.i't even take a fork," sobs Ma. "He must eat with hi* jack knife." As fall draws near the old man grows frailer and thinner, and one morning does not get up as usual, but lies so still that Ma, with a great j catch at her heart, thinks he must bo | dead. But he is only ill, so ill that ; for days and weeks ho lies as 0110 already beyond the borderland. The dpVntml nui'cinir r>f flm "irlmmn.. folks" wins in the end, however, and one clear, crisp day in November, Pa opens liis eyes and knows them. Knows that Ma is holding his hand just as tenderly as she did so long ago when they were first wedded; knows that it is Arvylla who drops the soft kiss on his forehead. Even as the peace of it all soothes him a wild fear and horror seizes him. Spotty! Just at that moment something wriggles at the foot of the bed and Pa glances down?there curled ui), fatter, saucier, more irresistible than ever, on Ma's best white counterpane lies Spotty, and as though he understands, he opens his eyes and with a little yelp of joy wriggles up to Pa and snuggles against him. "Ma," quavers Pa, "I hadn't ought tn n flnnn it " "You keep still," sobs Ma, 0110 hand holding fast to Pa's poor bony one, the other patting Spotty's sleek back. "You jist keep still. Oh, Pa, to think of your starvin' of yourself and a makin' of yourself sick, jist because I didn't want to be bothered by a dog. Oh, Pa, you was out of your head that Hrst day, and you talked so strange. We never knew how lonesome you was without the critters before and that you wanted a dog so. That very day I went out to the barn and found this rascal and I brought him in, and he has lived on the fat of the land ever since. Oh Pa," and Ma's head fell down on the bed in an atronv of renentancp. anrl Snnttv wriggling his soft little body over in bis moat insinuating way, gave Ma's shining gray head a few loving little licks.?Boston Post. Equal to the Emergency. I5y TOM 1\ MORGAN. "Mawnin', sab!" saluted a ramshackle looking negro, addressing the cashier of a certain small town bank. "Mawnin'?dat is, sah, if yo' isn't too busy. An' does yo' need a nigger 'round de place yuli?nigger wid a ree-commend, sab; 'dustrious, hon'able cullud man?to wash winders an' po'tah 'round. Uh-kaze, if so, I's de pusson, sah, an' dis yuh dockymunt am de obsequies dat Cuhnel White done writ 'bout muh 'chieve munts." "Ah-h'm!" commented the hanker, as he scanned the proffered paper. "So your name ia Hilsondlgger?" "YasBah; dat'f, muh 'dantiflcatlon." "And the Colonel writes here?" "He sho' does, sah!" "He says? Look here! Can you read?" "Who, me? Nussah. Dat is to say, I kaln't read writin'." "I thought not. Well, the Colonel says: 'The hearer hereof, Gabe Hilsondigger, is personaly known to me?" "Desso, sail! Aw, do Cuhnel knows rue!" "?as :i liar and a thief, and too utterly worthless to set a good clog on.' Well?ha! ha!?it appears that the Colonel doe3 know you. Ha! ha! ha!" "Well-uh, well-uh?now, now?if dat ain't g'prisin'! But?uck!?dat's de way I likes to lieah a white pusson laugh, sah; I alio' does! Takes away dier troubles, sah?makes 'em fuhgit die,- trlbbylatlons. Dat's mull puhinission In dis world, makin' de white folks happy. Kain't be much fun in dis yuh bank-bidness?dess'uh chinkin' de money an' uh-shavin' off de ten puh-cent. An' den, when yo's all wo' uot. sah. I conies 'loner, sin' yo' has a big laugh dat makes yo' feel fine all day; dess as line as a dram er peach an' honey done make yo' feel. Don't yo" reggln, sah, dat yo' could spar' 'bout haffer-dollah for de good Joke yo' has on mo, an'? T'anky, sah; t'anky! Gwlne on muh way uh-'Jolcln', sah! Gwlno now!" ?From Puck. Use of Magnets In Flour Mills. Explosions are often caused in llour mills and breweries by nails or other Iron particles that find their way in the grain and which when they strike the steel rolls of the mills produce sparks and ignite the finely pulverized material about thorn. Recently a large malting concern mni imajmcen troubled by many such explosions installed a set of electromagnets over which the grain Is passed beforo being prepared for shipment to the breweries. All Iron particles In tho grain aro picked up by the magnets and 800 to 1000 bushels of grain aro cleaned an hour. When tho magnets havo collected a large amount of metal they aro swung to one side, degenerlzed and swept clean of any particles adhering to them by residual magnetism. Slnco the installation of these magnets there have been no explosions lu the , mills.?Scientific American. / /' * ' ( ,1 ^^^Simart Frill; \iexv York City.?No garment is prettier than the over blouse. Just ..?> 11 10 i/v-iiin c.Mvuhiveiy worn in tli111 material to match the tailored suit and over any pretty guimpe or lingerie waist. This one is peculiarly well adapted to such treatment, although it can be utilized for any en m % , tiro row 11 of foulard or linen, of ba; tisto or lawn, Indeed, for any material that is adapted to treatment of this ! sort. The sleeves are cut in one with | it and consequently there is almosl 1 no labor involved in the making I Thi*> one is made if chiffon cloth with I trimming of mescaline, but marquisettes are much liked for the trans juirttiii mouse, and as already Statec the model can bo utilized in number : less ways. Trimmed with soutachc j as shown in the bark view it wouli I bo exceedingly smart, and i*. contrast ing material is preferred silk of an] | sort, either plain with a satin finis! or figured, can be used as best suits ; the foundation material. Dottec I foulard on plain fabric is fashlonablt | and pretty. The over blouse is made with fron I and back portions and thero ar< I shoulder and under-arm seams only ! so that making means almost no labo: I and very little time. The irlmmim portion for tho neck, which gives i y?ke effect, Is applied over the blouse and tho bands aro applied over th< sleeves. Tho quantity of material require< for the sixteen year size is threi yards twenty-one, twenty-four or thlr ty-two or one and one-half yards for ty-four inches wide, with one-hal yard of silk twenty-seven inches wld< for trimming. Hordorcd Gingham. One of the newest things Is tin Scotch gingham in plain color with ; Striped border. Gray grounds wit! black and white stripes, green wltl lavender or lavender with greei stripes, pinks and blues with d^.rke stripes and tans blended with sof browns are among the blends. Whit* linen crash with a colored stripe bolder is one of the practical thing; among the linens. Stamped Waist Patterns. Tho stamped waist patterns are ex tremely dainty, and a length of Per sian lawn, designed for embroidery in a variety of stitches, such as bllni j eyelet and heavy satin, includes suf i flclont (loss for working. I if w t n TnHrfw l 1 ! A Mode Which is Unusually I'opulai This Season'. Colored Slips. Lace-striped dimities made over colored slips or petticoats aro 01111-: new. The stripes are sufficiently wide to permit the und^neath coloi to show through. Such dreanea need little or 110 trimming. Hats Far Down. Tho hats aro worn far down on the | head; they droop at the right, and I the proper tilt, over that eyo is th? | delicate question. l,, .jib I 5 of Fashion Kmbroiuery For Sleeves. To complete the one-piece froc""v wide embroidery Is brought into uso I for sleeves and bodice, thus making i a perfect garment at less expense than the robe, which is always valued | at the high price of exclusive pieces. I Printed Cotton's. On flint lv lil'intpil mttnn a i ?> world designs are being made up into blouses for wear with coat and skirt suits, the plain color of the suit being echoed in slight touches on the blouse, or the blouse material finds its way into cuffs and collar on the coat. Initials and Names. When working the' first name or initial in script upon kerchiefs or underwear, the French now use the same shade of enibroulery floss which they have chosen t introduce upon these dainty lingerie articles. Since It has become a fashion to use coarse* linen and cotton threads for the embroidery of fine mul these heavy threads are split or separated for the working of initials and names. Polka Dots. Polka dots provide ornamentation for a plain lawn slilrtwais'. and on run uie trousseau 01 a recnt Dritfo. The colored dots form a lino down tho front box pleat and the id. its on each side. Thoy also run down tho top of tho shove and cover the ontlra four-inch cuff and the attached high . collar. A pleating of the plain whU [ material extend;- down one side of Vh : 5 front pleat, and this is edged with a l narrow line of plain color. A l/ovoly Kobe. -L 2 Our sketch shows one of the lovelj chiffon robes veiled in gauze. Th< robe is creamy white with a shaded pink border, while the overdress is 5 a deep pink. A black satin hen i makes an effective and practical ftnist i to tho skirt. i Gilt On Tilnen. r On many white linen coat sulti t gilt buttons are used to carry out tli 3 military air. Crochet buttons tha - are works of art are used sparing!} i on linen frocks and shirtwaists, an< buttons of pleated braid carry ou the decorations of many cloth cos tuines. Effective Cotton. Some of tho most effective cotton 1 and cotton ami .silk voiles are spottec - or striped in self-color with satin finished disks, dots or lines. -/ - ff (jf Fancy Blouse. Closing Invisibly at the Loft of t'ne Front. Jewel Framework. The Jewel framework la a feature > of the newest models In bags, and tha decoration ranges from a simple stono sot In the centre to a framework ln, crusted with jewels throughout Its ! entire length. Silks For Frocks. i Silks of every sort aro beliiK used for frocka. Shantung In tho thick t w oaves, moire and foulard, are much in domand. jj rHE STRUGGLE AGAIXST GEItMS. Itellections of n Victim of a Policy of Sterilization. Tho first question I want to .ask parents is this: Whatgood are a thouRfinrl ."ilu i....ii? ?i 1~ wvvi ?iu.vvi I.IIIU lO do you when you come into tho nursery and see your youngest with that I heavenly look upon his face?sucking I his shoe? It all came over nie like an innpiraj tion the othr.- day when I saw liim I ' doing it. that after all. barring his technique, the; little fellow was right j in what he was trying to express, that is in his general idea of not being so ; suspicious of tho Creator. I did not I pull down his foot or take his shoe ! out of his mouth. 1 just stood still I and envied him as he sat there in his n ue migm aim in 111s little bliss, the little calm sod, a whole Christendom of germs around him, letting himself have before his mother came in just one little moment of living. I have tried since (P. a. m: somej times, February, when I have got. up 1 to boil) to impress this truth upon bis mother, but it has done little good. She still boils and worries. The doctor every time be calls encourages her to worry and boil harder, and now lately she has begun a process of distilling and pasteurizing ; me. S'.te is living in hourly terror ! before her own bacilli and before my i.if.nn i ?i.~ -l.ii.i ? ' I .....nil .nm mc i ijimit-ii s \ seven entire sot she has to attend to in :i!l) I and it i - getting to be very hard to tell what to do for her. The germ theory does rot seem to me to he really praeticlie except for infinite and omnipresent, people, it is worse than the morphine h ihit. The moment a germ appears before her or 1 makes a feint or rumor of beginning 1 to appear within worryiiur distance 1 of us (300 miles) she throws up her arms, utters a cry of despair and falls li;r. before it.?From Mount Tom. The Trolley in Japan. Japan has been invaded by the | trolley. Sluul s of the samurai! From misty dawn until the fireflies are astir one may now trolley around I Tokio and from there on to Yokohama. No other trolley system on earth offers a more tempting and di, versified program fo; its guests than I this trolley ramble, for instance, ' which visitors to the Japanese capi1 tal are now taking at a cost o? less i than fifty cents! From any corner of Tokio the trol: ley deposits one at the Shinagawa suburb, where the rural lines havo their city terminus. The equipment is made up of heavy, high-powered cars, quite similar to those used in the same service in the United States. The different devices about tho cars bear the names of patentees and ' manufacturers familiar to those who overhaul the rolling stock of any | American company.?Travel Maga! zine. 1 I)o<*s in British Churches. T If an infant cannot he kept qniet * : in church, says the Weybridge Parl ish Magazine, is should, like a good i ; resolution, he carried out at once, x That reminds one of Dean Ramsay's i story of the beadle's answer to tho j minister who, annoyed by the whin! ins and finally the outright barking ! of a dog during his sermon, cried, s "John, carry that dog out." "N'a, na, 3 sir," said the beadle, looking up to t I tiio polpit, "I'se Just raak' him gho / ' out on his aln four legs." But an- | 1 other beadle scored more heavily oft! | t his minister In similar circumstances. - This minister had a way of shouting ' at the top of his voice as ho warmed to his sormon, and thereby In exc ited a dog in the congregation to howl. The beadle obeyed the order from the pulpit to expel the dog, but remarked reproachfully: "Ay, ay, sir; indeed it was yourself began it."? London Chronicle. ( 'nod Kcsolutiniis. I will never unworthily try to come at a knowledge of that which can only occasion me trouble. Why should we not he ashnnird m do thnf which we are ashamed to he caught i in doing? If I hear anything by ac- | ; cident which may benefit me, I will, if { | I can, profit by It, but I will never j lie in wait for my own abuse or fir j tho abuse of others, which concerns I me not; nor will I flame at every I vain tongue's puff. Ho has a poor ' spirit who is not planted above 1 otiy I wrongs. Small injuries I would ' either not hear, or not mind; nay, i though I were told them, 1 would ; not know the author, fur by this I may mend myself without revenging . myself upon the person.?Owen Fclt| ham. How Hi Mnnunet]. Mr. Cruinpot. wont to Italy last fall. Before ho sailed a friend said to him: "Better lot ine give you a letter to my j brother in Naples, Crumpet. lie's in- , llucntial and may be useful in getting j your things out of the customs with- , out delay." \ "Oh! that part of it will he all j right." said Mr. Crumpet. "Last time ( I went I had no trouble at all. I em- . nloved a' truido when we l.'indnd in i Naples <md ho took charge of 1110. ] When we came l<> ih> custom houso j ho simply said significantly and brief- , ly: , " 'Dees eoa do custom houpe?givo 5 a ze franc.' "?New York Tribune. Better Than Slovaine. "How do you extract women's teeth t without their screaming? You don't < give gas." 1 "But my office is opposito to a do- i partment store's millinery display. 1 When the women get abscrrfced in < looking at the hats they're oblivio*? 1 City Times. Retail Priccs and Living Cost i?y J. I; \riU:\CK fiATGHMX. There can be little doubt (hat the retail organization by which goods go from the wholesaler to the consumer is unnecessarily wasteful ami expensive. There are twenty butcher shops and groceries in every neighborhood where only one is needed. JCaeh must spend much in advertising, in show windows, in rents, in costly fixtures, in telephones, in wagos, in horses and delivery wagons, which are not essential to the total result. Five or sit wagons, wiln salaried drivers, ilistribute trifling quantities of goods to houses in the same street. The consumer pays for this waste in the margin of retail over wholesale prices. From 1890 to 1908, on an average, wholesale prices have increased nine per cent., while retail prices have increased sixteen per cent. The difference between wholesale and retail prices in particular cases, vaties from 10-2") per cent, to 1.0Q-1G0 per cent. If f?no clntif i rx A 1. - .. Uv?!.o i<j in'1 process of retail buying it will be realized that it. is the poller only who practically sets the price. There i no truo retail market price. Busy or ignorant people pay what is charged them without the patience or the power to select. In those days we pay for tho additional costs of dainty and attractive packages for cereals, crackers, iigs and tho like. Indeed under tho cover of special tins an amount of an article is sold at a price which makes a pound cost two or three times as much as formerly. The psychology of the retail market is itself a study, of no mean interest. Habit, fancy, caprice, rumor, emulation, grogarlous action of a set. may play a part. Onco a man gets established with a clientr>1r> lir> nntj t-i. . -M' 1 "J charges all ho can set, auci the confiding customer goes on paying the bills?-until there rises :i general cry of high cost of living, like that of tlio pre.-cnt clay. There are different retail prices for each half mile as ono passes from the centre of a city to its outskirts. Yet some persons think it demeaning to bargain or seek for lower prices. To spend recklessly is an evidence of what foma regard as belonging to social position. In the margin of the retail over the wholesale price, in a community not well shake" down into form, there is an opportuuiiv for serious; changes in the cost of living. Out of' this margin the catalogue houses, tho wholesale grocery houses, <he tea ami; coffee houses, have accumulated great' wuiues?hi uio expense or tnc helpless consumer. Then what is the remedy? Obviously, the creation in every neighborhood of co-operative societies for the distribution c?f goodsdirectly from tho producer to the consumer at actual cost?obviating the: waste of advertising, high rents and useless duplication of service.?Sciibner'a Magazine. Soinewliat Complicated. Four customers had called that morning. Tho dealer reflected that the order by mail would necessarily, take time, so going to tho long distance telephone h?? got his favorite jobber on the wire. This conversation ensued: "Hello! Is this the Retailers' Supply Company?" "Yes." "Who's talking?" " watt." "What is your nair.e?" "Watt is my name " "Yes. What is your name?" "My name is Watt---Charles Watt." "Oh! Charles Watt. Weil. Watt, send me this order on this noon's exliress." (Mere lie reads orflur.) "All right. Are you Srlwrtt?" "N'o; I'm not shot nor half shot." "1 mean are you John S lioit?" . "No* I'm Knott." "Well, then, what is your name?" "Will Knnit "Why, won t, you?" i"" * "I'h' My name is Will Kr.ott, of Knoxville. I want tliat order sent out on t t-day's noon exprev., sure." "Certainly, Knott. Good-by." And Knott went hack to the counter wmicU ring whether Watt said ho would or not.or \\liat. But he got the goods.?San Francisco Star. < < , " ' ' ' Covetotisnesi. Covetousness is not natural to man?generosity it--: but covetousne?s must he excited by a special cause, u? ;i piven uisease by a given miasma; and th< essentia! nature ot a material for the excitement of covetousness is that it shall bo a beautiful thing which ran be retained without a use. Tho moment we can use (fur possessions to any good purpose ourst'ves, the instinct of communicating that use to other rises side by side with nur power. If you can read a book rightly, you will want, others to hear It; if you can enjoy a picture rightly, you will want others to see it; learn low to manage a horse, a plow, or a ship, and you will desire to mako four subordinates good horsemen, plowmen, or sailors; you will never do able to soe tho fine Instrument you uo master of abused; but once fix four desLre on anything uaeloes, and ill the purest prido and foil/ in your heart will mix with tho riofllre and aiako you at last wholly inhuman, a nere uqly lump of stomach and suckers, like a cuttlefish.?Ruskin, . ^ A Hulcldo Signal. Suiclrtec in tho parks are cd such ommon occurronoo that' tho small* children with their nursae grow to look for thom. do youi think?" a tot oC a girl, said to herj iiother, coming homo from her- parlo >uting. "Johnny In a shot, butj ic^oouldn't find Ihr In tho Ne^ v., > wl