Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1907-5-16, Page 7E OR, A SAD LIFE STORY te0+0-4o4 O+O +<)+0+0+O}o+-gga+v+o+o+o+Q+oi 4o+U ¢off CHAPTER X,Xvi11.-(Cottlillued), For a moment Jim stands dumb with consternation at the announcement of lits intention ; brit, reflecting that it would not be a wh1L more, lrrelknal 10 attempt to reason with n madmen who clad reached tate podded -room stage of lunacy, then with his present emepan- Ion, he contents !himself with saying t "And supposing that you do not lean lo -night where she has gone?" "There Is 1/0 use in supposing any- thing so Impossible 1" But as the hours go by, the possibility becomes 4 probebtllly, the probability a certainty I Ivitdntght comes, and the closed tclagraplt-office puts a final ex- tinguisher upon the expectation, which no ono but the unhappy (over had over entertained, that Florence would be en- lightened before 'the dawn of another day as to the place whither her two truants have fled. 13uegoyne has accompanied 111s friend of;on his last importunate visit to -the now -going -lo -bed and justly -Incensed 12 Bis, He has been ashamed again to pre- sent himself at the se -of ten-altackeddoor, so has wailed at the bottom of the steles, hits heard Byng's hoarse query, and the negalivre-curter and less suave than the Inst one--Lhnt follows [t; has heard the door shut ogaln, and the hopeless foot- steps that c0)11e staggering down to him. "You will go home now?" "'Perchance, Ingo, I shall »e'er go home l'" replies 13yng; and, though he is com- pelled to admit that there Is no longer any possibility of his to -night objahning the information for which he so madly hungers, that there can consequently bo no question of his setting off by one of the early trains, since he would not know in which direction to go, and might only be fleeing further from her whom he would fail rejoin, yet be still keeps with fevered pertinacity to his project of spending the Mehl, n la belleetoile. Finding tL impossible to dissuade him, Jim resigns himself to bearing him com- pany. Itis with very little reluctance that he does ,so. There is nu truer truism than that all sorrows, 'however moun- tainous, are more easily carried under God's high roof then Iran's low ortes, and ha who does not sleep has for compensa- tion that at least the can have no dread- ful " w'aking. So the two men..wander about all night in the boon southern air, There aro not many hours of a sum, mer's night during which the stir of life has ceased and has not yeL reawalced in an Italian town, the talk and the tread and the ntulebells, and the flutes of the voiceful people lasting on till near the smell hours, and beginning again ere those hours have had Strength to grow big. But yeL there is a space of toe when Florence lies silent, baring her beauty to the constellations alone; and under this unfamiliar and solemn and lovely aspect tale two night -wanderers see her. They see her Campanile "Commencing with the skies," with no distracting human bustle about her feet; they see her Perseus battailing beneath her Loggia, and her San Giorgio standing wakeful' at his post on Or sato Michele. They see her smiling palace rows, her stealing river, and her span.- ningbridges—palaces out of which no ud es t g 1 head peeps, a river on which no boat ones, bridges upon which no horse -hoof rings. They have all leer eliurehcs— Snnla Grace, Artolplio's great "Bride," that new Maria that Is now four hun- dred years 'old and more, the humbly glorious San Marco --lo themselves ; all her treasure (louses, all her memories, all her sower-embaifned air—for a few hours they possess them all. ,She is brit a little city, this,fair Firenze, and In these few hours they traverse her In her le.ngih and breadth, rambling aimlessly wherever Byng's feverishly miserable Im- pulses lead ilom. Burgoyne offers no opposition to any of these, but accom- panies his friend silently down Mem- brane - thoroughfares, or across sleeping Piazza, by Arno side, under colonnade or arch. 11 is all one to him ; nor is he sensible of any fatigue, when of length, at about the hour when Byng had meant, Ls have caught the early morning train, they return to the hotel, and the younger num, happily dead -beat at last, worn out with want of food, leers, end weariness, flings himself down, dressed, upon his bed, and instantly falls into a leaden sleep. ,hhn feels no desire, nor indeed any power, or following his example. He is not easily tired, and his former life of travel and hardship has made him al- ways willing to dispense .with the—to him—unnecessary luxury of abed; and, ander ordinary circumstances, a night passed. In the open air would have had an effect upon him rather exhilarating than other wise, Ho has his bath, dress. es, breakfasts, and then jumps into e tiacrc, end has himself driven Lo the Anglo-Americain. The day is so exactly the counterpart of its predeoessor, in its even assured splendor, that Jim has a hazy feeling that they 1)0110 make only one divided Into I.Wo'pa'Ls by the narrow dark blue ribbon of the exquisite brief night. When did yesterday end and lo -day be- gin 1 As Ile Is borne along, his m0110rY, node 100ro alert by sleeplessness, repro- duces ---merely, as it seems to him, the hotter to 1111 1111» with pain and remorse —We different stales of mind In which Ire had passed over t11e often trodden ground. dere, at Iho street corner, what a nausea bad cone ever him at the thought of 411e Interest the would have to feign in those humdrum details, so dear Ici A11101ia's soul, of their. future menage, with all its candle -end economies and depressing restrictions. Here, In the chunclh shadow, how he hod bled to lash hhnseif up into a more probable sem- blance of pleasure in her expected and dreaded caresses, 'thele eeems to bo scarcely an inch of the way wheelie has not had some harsh or weary thought of 1her; he Is thenkful when the brief tran- sit, that has appeared to him so long, is over. And yet the eliange Is only from the sharp sting of recollected unkind- nesses to the dull bruising ache of anti- cipated 111, A garcon is sweeping out the salon, for the dour is yah. much beyond eight, so Jim goes into the dreary little dining -room, where ileo places are laid with coffee -,cups and rolls, Only two. And, though ho knows that nothing short of a miracle could have already re- slcred Amelia so completely es to enable her to come down to breakfast, yet the ocular demonslratton of the tact that her place is and will be empty, strikes a chill to his boding heart, lie is presently joined by Cecilia, whose carelessly - dressed hair, heavy eyelids, and tlted puffy face, sufficiently show tat not l0 her, any more titian to himself, has night brought "Sweet child -sleep, the filmy -eyed." "flow fresh and coot you are!" she cries, with an almost reproachful inton- ation. "Do not look at me f"—covering her face will her tot !lands—"I am not fit to be seen ; but what does that mat- ter? What do I care?"—beginning to 5)'y—"Oh, she is so bad I We have spent such o dreadful night 1 As I tell you, I am a shocking sick -nurse ; I never know what to do ; 1 lose my bead completely; and she has been so odd--sho has been talking such gibberish l" "Delirious?" "'Yes, I suppose that is what you would call it, I never saw anybody de, lirlous before, so I do not know. I have seen Sybilta In hysterics, but f never be- lieved that they were real—I always thought that a bucket of water would bring her round," As a general rule, Jim may be counted upon for cordial cooperation in any hit directed against Syllilla, but now he is roc spirllless even to notice It. "I was so frightened," COn1111ves Ce- cilia ; "1t is not cheerful being all alone at the dead of night with a person talk- ing suelh nonsense es she was. Amelia, of all people, to talk nonsense 1 I could not make out quite what it was about, but it seemed to have more or less refer- ence to you. She was begging you to forgive her for something she !lad done, au far as I could gather ; sumo treat she had prepared for you, and that you had not lilted. Have you the least idea what she could have meant?" He has -every idea; but it would seem profanation to explain that her poor wandering brain 1s still dlsiressedl Y laboring: with the abortive project she had so happily framed for his enjoy- ment. "She is quieter now. Sybiila's maid is with her; Sybllla really has not be- haved badly -fol' her ; . s110- let, her meld look in several times during 111e night; but still, for the most part I was alone with her.- Oh, I do trust"—,shuddering— "that I may never again have to be -alone at night with a person who is not right in her Head 1" This aspiration on the part of the youngest Miss Wilson is, for the present. occasion, at least, likely to 130 gralliled ; for, by the time that another night set- tles down on Florence, Amelta's illness has been declared by Dr. Coldstream to have every symptom of developing into 1110 mala1lous Florentine fever, which not =frequently boys low the chilled or over -fatigued, or generally imprudent foreign visitor to that little Eden. Amelia has Florentine fever; and the verifica- tion of this fact is followed by all the paraphernalia of serious sickness—night and clay nurses, disinfectants, physic phials. The announcement of her being at- tacked by a definite and recognized dis- VISO brings al first a sort of relief to Burgoyne's mind, which, under Cecilia's frightened and frightening word-pte- tures, had been beset by 101101% great In proportion. to their vagueness, Now that Amelia is confessedly sick of a fever, there is nothing abnormal in her being "odd," and 'stupid," and "wandering, these being only the Inevitable stages on a road which w111—which must lead to ultimate recovery. t-fis heart is heavy, yet scarcely so.heavy as it had been upon its arrival hi the morning,: when, late in the afternoon—not sooner do 111e Mathis upon him of the disorganized and help- less family of 11is betrothed relax—he re - A New Orleans woman was thin. 10 Because she did not extract sufficient 41 nourishment from her food. 4201 She took Sctoif'.r Emt sty ot)i 1 Result: She gained a pound a di-ki in weight, 006446:44020.346404.034 y�, AgqL,,L DRUGpGI�STSpp(py,9,,��0pq1,, MIS $1.000, jj 006 9!'46 94020. ,46404.03 �36.40 turns to the Minerva to look after 13yng, !laving had every Inoses 10 feat' lira& he will not find him at tllo hotel, hut will be obliged 41011111 to net oft in pursuit of trim through Ibo street.% and squares so repeatedly traversed last might, ho 18 l'O• 1102e4) to learn from the hotel servants that the young man is in Itis bed -roots, He -.ands iiin there indeed 1 no longer etreielred In the bleased oblivion of deep eloap upon his bed, bat;silling on a hard chair by the open window, hie aeras rest- ing upon the back, and his Mee crushed down upon them. fly no sl)gblest move- ment noes he show consclntlsnrsus 01 ills friend's entrance. {gam afraid I have been a long time away," says the letter kindly, "three you?" answers Ifyng, his voice coming muffled through lips still buried Its his own coal -sleeve, "i do not know ; I !lave done with time t" "I do not know how you have man- aged shot," rejoins Jim, stbbl indulgently, though e. shed() drily. "Ilavo you been here all day 7" f do not knot} where I have been, Yess,"—lifting Ills head—"1 dot I have boon"Wetoul) 7" the Piazza d'Azeglio," "They know where she, is, They were packing her things ; through the door 1 saw llhenl tying the label on 111e box ; it 1 had tried I could have mead the ad- dress on the label, but I did not. ,She had forbidden them to give 1t to me; in her telegram she, had forbidden them to give it to anyone." CHAPTER XXIX. Jim refrains from saying how likely this culmination of his friend's woes has appeared to hint, since it would have been the height of the illogical for the i.e Merchants to have put lhernselves to extreme incorweeience in order to escape from a person to whom they immediately afterwards gave the power of following totem, lie refrains from saying tt, be- cause he knows of how very little con- soling power the "told you so" philoso- phy is possessed. "And what will you do flow?" Do 1 What is there to do? What does a man do when he is shot through the heart?" "1 believe that in poi11t of fact he juleps his 00011 height 1n the a1r. I know that a 131111010 does," replies Bur- goyne, with a matter-of-fact dryness, which proceeds less from want of sym- pathy, than from an honest belief that it is the best and kindest method of deal- ing with Byng's heroics. "Shot through the heart 1" murmurs the latter, repeating his own phrase as if he found a dismal pleasure in it. "I had always been told that it was a painless death; I now know to the contrary," "Shall you stay Here? There is no longer any use in your staying there." "There is no longer any use in my do- ing anything, or leaving anything un- done. "'There's nothing in this world 1 can nate me joy. Life is es tedious as a 1.svi0e- 101d tale, Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.' " So saying, he replaces his head upon his arms, and his arms upon tihe chair - rail, with the air of ono who, upon ma- ture consideration, has decided to main- tain that altitude for the remainder of his life. A week has passed; a week upon which Burgoyne looks back as upon a blur ot wretchedness, with distinct points of pain sticking up here and there out of It. It is a blur; for it is a time -space, without the usual limitations and divisions of time; a week not out up into orderly lengths of day ani night, but in which each has pttzzlingiy run Into and overlapped each other. There have been nights when he has not been in bed at all, and there have been days tvllen lie has slept .heavily at unaccus- tomed hours. Ho has not dined at Any particular time; the has shared forlorn breakfasts, dotted about the morning, as the loss or re anxtety about Amelia dictated, with the Wilsons. Ho has drunk more lea than he ever did in his life before, and the result of this whole condition of things is, that he cannot for the life of him tell whether the day of the week is Wednesday, or Thursday, or Fri- day, and that he has losI,ali sense of pro- portion. oto has not the least idea whe- ther the dreadful moments when he stood on the landing outside Amelia's door, and heard her beert•renderingiy beg 'hits not to go away from her for quite so long, to be a little gladder to see her when be came back ; or again affect- ingly assure him that she can do quite well, be quite cheerful without him, Whether, I say, those dreadful moments were really only moments, 01 stretched into hours. Besides the agony of remorse that the impotent listening to those pathetic Presorts and unselfish assurances cause him, he suffers too from neater agony of shame, that 'the father and sister, standing, like himself with ears stretched at that shut door, should be let into the long secret of his cruelly and coldness, that secret, which for eight years she has so gallantly been hiding. It is an in- expressible rel.ef Io flint that at least the old man's thickened hearing admits, but very imperfectly, his daughter's rapid utterances, "Poor soul I 110)1)101. quite make out %villa it is all about," he says, with his hand to 11[s ear ; "but i catch. your name over and over again, 1)n1; I suppose It is all about you." Cecina, however, naturally hears as well as he himself does, and apparently pitying the drawn misery of his face, whispers to him eoreforthlgly-- "You must not mind, you know it Is, all nonsense. She talks very differently when she is welt." The, Wilson family have never hitherto shown tiny very marked affection for Burgoyne, but note 11 seelS as If they could hardly born, line out ot their sight. They cling to him not because he is bo— ,llne mattes himself no illusion on that head—but because they have got into stet a habit of leaning, that it be no long11' possible to them to stand up- right, He had never reellzed' 1111 now how helpless they are. ile lied known that Amelia was the pivot upon which the whole family turned ; but, he had not brought home to himself how utterly 1110 machine fell to pieces when that pivot sats withdrawn, (To be continued). Some men are honmt and some others aro politicians. ON THE.FARMII APPLYING FARM MANURE,. A generation ago It was the usual pro - tam, in handling manure, to haul it from the barnyard tote field when eon* 00111011 t, pile, It there Al 55)011 heaps, and leave 11 in these heaps until Me time cause to plow the land, when, the manure was &:uttered just aimed of the plow and turned under as quickly as possible, the idea Icing teat 1110 drying of the manure would cause the ler'0r part of its virtue to be hest, writes Charles le, Thorne, Few farmers of that day knew that the pungent, but invisible gas escap- ing from the manure heap was. in feet, Its most valuable constituent, Y'110 majority did not louiw lhat s was ennslantly bring formed, sutldlong 118 the manner: lay in moist heaps, and was as constantly passing from the Malls into the air; they did not know that 111e drying of the manure bole away from 11 only water, leaving all the actu- al plant food behind, and that, in fact, the eemplelo removal of the water would leave the manure in better condi- tion for preservation t'lan before. We now know that the decomposition of manure can only take pineo in 1110 presen0o of nrolsLuro; 11101 if we eau withdraw all moisture the residue will preserve Its fertilizing qualities h lefl- nilely, 'and that when the moisture is evaporated- 11001 the manure heaps it orreries with it none of these fertilizing qualities, but goes into the atmosphere simply as watery venor. Everybody knows that when brine is evaporated all the salt is left behind, and this is equally true of the manure water. There, are two and only two ways in which manure loses its value. These are leaching by rain and the !heat- ing which accompanies chemical action, When the manure is heaped in the field bath these agencies begin their notion. The rain falls upon the heap and wrestles Ile more valuable constituents into the ground inlmedletely under and around the ]leap, and chemical, or more pro- perly, bacterial action begins in the heap, liberating Its nitrogen end con- verting its phosphorous and potassium into more soluble fortes to be washed down by the next shower. Of all the ways in which manure is ever handled, therefore, this old way of pulling it in small heaps in the field is the most wasteful, It Is 100150 Ilhan leaving it under the barn eaves end let- ting it leach out there, because` of the waste of labor involved hi ]hauling It to the field, and because the excess of fertilizing material washed into the soil under the Manure heaps is en actual injury to the soil. if the heaps be per- mitted to tie for any time. The over- growth of lodged and half-filled grain ever such spots ought to be eufllcient to convince any man of the mistake cf such a method, and yet there are thou- sands of farmers who still follow it. If we would but stop and reflect that fully half the potential fertilizing value of the manure, es it is voided by the animal, is found in the sails dissolved in the liquid portion; that the full effect of neither the soil nor the liquid por- tion can be realized except when used in connection with each other; that when the liquid is permitted to flow away in the stable or yard or wihere it is dis- placed by rain and separated from the scltd portion, whether In yard or field, it carries with it these fertilizing salts; but that when it is merely evaporated they are left behind and still combined with those of 111e solid portion, it would be easy to realize .that the ono and only right way to handle manure Is to col- lect the liquid by abundant absorbents, get 11 to"theIbeld where its effect is wanted as promptly as possible. spread It there at once and as perfectly as pos- sible, and then let sunshine and rain do their world Sunshine hirt will ill evaporate the water, but that only. and the rain w•licit follows will re -dissolve the salts and wash them into the entire surface HALT Tho Right Paint Whether you are going to paint the whole ' house, or only the porch. -the interior woodwork, ora floor—there's the right paint In kt4rna4ys Pointe. just the ahade, tint or color you vrant— tutxed joist right•• -in the right proportions. And it paints right ---took, right—wears sight. Try them 011ie spring. Thea you'll say—ss Polls bays said for , more than 0? yearn -- Ramsay's t Pala is are tile right paints to paint right. Write for Post Card Series "C," showing how some house0 are painted, A. UNSAY & SO14O. a NIpNx84AL, 53 Paint Maker* Since 1242. of the sol where they are needed, , nd not simply into little spots here and there, VALUE OF THE MANURE SPREADER. When we corse to understand the na- ture and value of manure, the need cf thorough distribution beeom0s apparent. When It is spread with the fork there will inevitably be lumps in one place and bare spots In another, thus losing pert of the possible effect in one place by excess and in another by delcioncy. it is true that the distribution of manure that has been spread with the fork may be very much improved by following with the smoothing harrow, but even with this extra labor the week cannot be so well done as with the manure spreader. Another great advantage 111 the =- mire spreader is 1hal it Is always ready ler its special purpose, and therefore the manure is much more likely to be drawn promptly to the field than if a wagon, used chiefly for other purposes, must be got ready for this job every time a lot of manure is to he moved. Not only Ls manure distributed more uniformly by the spreader than by hand, but the work is done more cheaply. With the steadily increasing cost of la- bor it becomes constantly mere im- portant to devise means for substituting the labor of horses for Riot of men, and with the spreader a team will un- load a ton of manure in a small fraction of the time that would be required to do it by hand. Considering the convenience, the per- feetion and the economy of its work, I believe that the manure spreader should be ranked next to the automatic herve.e ter in importance as a. farm hnplement. Many farmers fear that if they spread manure on frozen ground. especially on hillsides, it will be in danger of being washed away by the spring freshets; but clay is a powerful absorbent, and the rain that would carry away use fertiliz- ing salts of the manure won't' very soon draw the surface of the soil so that it would extract these salts from the water passing over it. Admitting that there may be occasion- al small losses from this source, such losses are unquestionably tnsigniflcant, as compared with those whirlt occur in the average barnyard, or in the small manure heaps in the field. Thirty years ago the writer was in charge of a large farm on which a con- siderable quantity of manure was pro- duced. This manure was collected throughout the winter in a basin shap- ed yard, where it was permitted to 1re until August, when it was drr\o' out and prowl at once as a top -dressing land that had been upon lowed po P for wheat.. This method represented led the practice of the best farmers of that period. A practice which is by no means obsolete today. There were several apparently very good reasons for the pepetico. In the first place, August was a convenient sen - son for mernsee hauling, harvest being. over, and as observing farmers had learned the value of a short summer fel- low rue stubble% had been plowed for the next wheat crop. so that it was e time of comparative leLeure. In addition to Ibis was the fact, that the manlier had had several months in which to rot. so there was considerable less of 1t In Sandie than there would have been ear, Iter in the season. This practise was an advance upon that which had prevailed at an earlier date, when the manure was piled in heaps in the field and spread in ad- vance of the plow, for the latter method permitted miter plowing. thus gaining the benefit of the short fallow, end it also left the manure where it was of some advantage es a shelter to the wheat plants through the winter and as a ferti- lizer for the young grass following the wheat. in one of the experiments of the Ohio experiment station one plot receives manure applied as a top -dressing to corn and wheat in a five-year rotation cf corn, oats, wheat, clover and timo- thy, the manure being used at the rale of eight tons per acre in each case and being open yard manure, treated as in the practice above described, thus fol- lowing closely a method whiclrllas been and 51111 is a very common one. This experiment has been in progress for 13 years, and the result has been an aver- age Increase per acre for the first ten years of 7 2-3 bushels wheat and a tit- tle more than 15 'bushels corn per acre. On the same farm and on ground of the some character, another experiment has been in progress for ten years, in which manure has been applied at the salve rate per acre to corn in a three- year rotation of corn, wheat and clov- er. 1n this test one plot has received manure which has been in an open barn- yard during the winter, while an ad- joining plot has been treated with ma- nure taken directly from the stable to the field without exposure to the wea- ther. The result has been a. ten-year aver- age increase for the open yard manure of 16 bushels per acre, less than a bush- el more than that from the same quan- tity of similar manure in the longer ro- tation—while the fresh manure has given an average Increase of 22 bushels per acre, or practically 50% more than the yard manure. As we have thrown con- siderably more than a tan of manure into the barnyard tor every ton hauled out, it will be seen that the actual dif- ference has been more than. 50%. rc In Norway vaccination is not compul- sory, but you cannot vote at an elec- tion unless you are vaccinated. Ei Eia1vanized STEEL Put them on with no tools but a hammer and tinner s shears,—can't go wrong. They lock on all four sides, are self -draining and water - shedding on any roof with three or more inches pitch to the foot. Make buildings"fire .proof, weatherproof and proof against lightning. Cost least in the long run, Made of 28 - gauge toughened sheet steel—only one quality used and that the best— bent cold and double -galvanized. Last longer with no painting than any other metal shingles heavily - lav Pen Address our painted.- Guaranteed in every way until 1982. Ought to Iast a century. Cheap as wood shingles in first cost' far cheaper in the long run. + Oshawa " Galvanized Steel Shin- gles cost only $4,50 a square, 10 ft. x 10 ft. Tell us the area of any roof and hear our tempting offer for covering it with the cheapest roof you can really afford to buy. Le t abouts send s you FREE booklet hoofing question—tells some things . you may not know. Oshawa Galvanized St eel Shingles are GUARANTEED in every way for Twenty -Five Years Ought to last a Century Send for FREE Sack. -"Roofing Right" Get Our Offer nofore You roof a Thing MOBITI> 1:AE NearestW rehouse 30143 Melt 8r. TORONTO 11 Colborne kit. 44. vaors mt r,. OTTAWA 423.Sitinox St. LONDON �] 1lundasSt, 70 Lombard St, ITANCOUVi1t 013 i'onder sr,, 0414 Till! IJAC0)WARD D, IgnoraelOe, svhlch Is almostCIIILLuny cruel, is nowltarp mora so than In its. ing with 011110en. Those who at , grown up can too wall remember the almo145loss,t invurlable cruel ,tate of the havoc. Ward otfldreit--ilio exasperation of theirteucbiurs and Me seem of their class. 1 A quarter of a century ago 310 00 dreamed that there was anything to dal Milt the so-called "Stupid child but tat goad and jerk and jeer and gibe hiat Wong the road to knowledge. 110115. solely, science, aided by good 10mrno11. sense, is_ a1 work, changing all .this, and to -day any teacher worthy of the name seeks for file Cause behind the bneku•ai'dness, and is convinced that itti tto ''•i'"yorigfewinal rasstesn," indeed -can it bo Rraoed We ara'not 110W considering the ques- tion et deficient children -of those who realty have something.' wrong with the brain. Although the parents of these -unfortunates often speak of then! ns "backw'ru•d" in the effort to hide, even horn themselves, that they are not litre other children, they are, as a matter of fart, a class by themselves, and should be recognized and handled acoordingiy, By "backward children" Is meant alt Mose who [rarely !know a .lessen, who 110001` seem to pay attention, who pass eny given 'point on ,the road to know- ledge with. unnatural slowness, and wba do n01 seem to be remelted by the usual motives of emulation,shame, and so one it will usually be found on careful exs amination thatthese cases have a phy- steal basis. Often in the case of the very poor it Is a Minot -breaking fad that this basis is partial'slarvaton. The children start for school in the morning either on no brenbcfast at all, or on such a meager or badly prepared one that it Is the same as none, Experiments in the line of furnishing these poor children with a meal in the wheal building have met with astonishing results in the im- provement ot the mental condition. Adenoids ole the cause of much ap- parent stupidity in children. A .child afflicted with these growths never, breathes properly, his blood is not aer- ated, and that causes a slate of'autofne toxication; so that he sits with Itis mouth wide open, staring vacantly into space, attending to nothing and forgetting everything. ft is 110 longer the fashion to shout angrily at this poor child. Instead, he is taken to a specialist and his adenoid growths are removed. The result is A most astounding improvement in ifs general condition and power to study. Eye -strain, or deficient vision, often keeps children backward. If a child is observed in twist into wrong attitudes while writing, or to have trouble In reading helm the blackboard at a pea - curable distance, he should be examine ed by n competent oculist.—Youth's Companion. DON'T SAY "I'M GETTING OLD." Never retire from active lite if you can possibly avoid .It; keep in "the swim"; Seep the mind active; never refer to your advancing years or say "At my; age." To preserve youth you must have a variety of experience. The country- roan at forty, although breathing s purer air and 1Iving on a more health. tel diet than the city man, often looks fifty, while the latter at his age does not look more than thirty. But his mind is more active than haat of Ida country brother; that is the secret qt his more youthful appearance. Nothing ages one more rapidly than monotony+ a deed- level existence without chsng of scene or experience. The rn1Ii must be kcptt fresh,or it will age, an the hod} cannot byounger than fh mind. Clearing 111e Air.—A trained nurse uses this method of clearing the atmos. phare of the sick room after the patient has been removed. She places a bump of camphor in a saucer and applies 10 this a hot poker. the strong fumes arising clear the 1111, and at the same limo aro a powerful disinfectant, —'X'; GERMANY'S ISOLATION. Hamburg Paper Complains Bitterly of British Diplomacy. The Hamburger Nachrlchten, formerly the organ of Prince Bismarck, and still representing Iia views of a largo sec - hon of Junkers and the military party, in a recent issue has a bitter article com,- pluining of the persistent efforts of Brit. tab diplomacy, assisted or inspired by Ring Edward, to isolate Germany from the rest of Europe and to draw a ring of hostile powors around her, Two powers, is says, must be consid-, eyed as having been in a special degree Influenced by England against Germany, natlloly, Italy and Russia. With Italy, Britain has been thoroughly successful, and reliance can no longer be placed on her by Germany i11 any confllot where British Interests are involved. but trill. Russia it is different, and there is still lime to prevent efforts being made in London to come to an understand Ing with the Czar's Government. It is absolutely necessary, says the Dismarckian organ, that German cliplo. »lacy does all in its power to hinder an understanding between Britain and Russia, and it expresses the hope that Prince Buelow is now convinced of the error of his former belief that an under- standing between these powers is in the Interests of the German Empire,. At one tine, says the paper, Germany was able to rely on a rising in tho Brig ish Mohammedan Empire should 'Cngg land got Into trouble, but since Iho Al- geciras fiasco the Oriental nations would Seen1 lc have lost confidence in Ger- 1111112Y, and would probably remain quist should war at any line break out be. !wean Great Britain and Germany. If, therefore, danger of a serious chal'acbsit is to be avoided, an understanding 119- Ist'een Britain and Russia must be pre- vented at all cosi%. There is n.0 other