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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1916-10-12, Page 6Marjory's Soldier "All tickets, please!" Marjory Moore made the time -worn words ring with .a new note as she stood by the station gate to collect the tickets. In her trim blue uni- form, with a cap perched on her glossy hair at a smart angle, she looked charming enough to win a smile from even the niost pessimistic of travellers, "Good morning, miss!" said more than ono of would-be clever youths who handed their little squares o pasteboard to her. But there was a look in Marjory's eyes, as she returned the greeting which put a full stop to their at- tempted familiarity. Somehow this particular morning Marjory felt happy, although there was a chilly wind blowing, and the ce- mented platform struck cold through her stout shoes. She found herself now and then humming gently under her breath, while her eyes glanced quickly here and there. Then suddenly her humming died away on a soft little minor key, and for a moment a tender light shone in her eyes. For coming down the plat- form towards her was a wounded soldier, in the well-known blue hos- pital uniform. Ile was moving awkwardly along, evidently still uncertain of his crutch, while the big soft shoe on his right foot told of it bandaged wound inside. As he reached the gate he paused for a moment, and then began to fumble for his ticket. "I've got one somewhere," he said to Marjory, "but—" "Never mind," said the girl, with a smile in which was a hint of tears. The wounded soldier smiled back at her. "Not used to this contraption yet," he said, with a grin, as he pointed to his crut'h. "The doctor says that per- haps I'll be able to do without, but it seems to me that I might as well practise, in case I can't." Marjory stepped well clear of the gate as he passed through, and, with another grin, he was gone. The uniformed girl watched the man hobbling away with a sad look on her face. There were so many of them about, she thought, but all of them were cheery. Ah, well, if they could smile at their fate, so must she. She was just turning away towards. the little room where she waited and sorted her tickets between the trains, when something made her look again at the soldier. Then a quick pang ran through her heart, and with an effort she choked back a scream. The wounded man was going along slowly, handicapped by the crutch, while just behind him a heavy lug- gage -trolly was beginning to slide down the platform. It had been care- lessly left unfastened, where there was just enough slope on the platform to make it roll, and the helpless man was right in its path and quite un- conscious of the danger. A moment later Marjory was rush- ing across to the rescue, in her heart a great hope that she might be in time. There were few people about, and her path was fortunately clear. She was thankful then of the fact that she had always been good at run- ning, Just as the front of the trolly was about to touch the soldier, Marjory had reached it. With a great effort, she swung it round and brought it to a standstill. But the force with which she did this threw the girl herself to the dusty platform, where she lay for a moment breathless and shaken.; The wounded soldier had only be- come aware of his danger as it pass- ed him by. Now he stood staring in amazement at Marjory, who presently rose slowly to her feet, and, with a shaky laugh, leaned against the trolly. "That was a narrow shave!" she said, with a quiver in her voice. "Bet—but-----" began the soldier in amazement. "What happened?" "The trolly was just behind you, and you would have knocked you down," explained the girl briefly. "Then I have to thank you for sav- ing me from a nasty tumble," said the man, comprehending at last, "By Jove, it was plucky of you!" "Pooh! There was no risk to me," laughed Marjory, bending to dust her skirt. "Perhaps there wasn't," replied the man, gazing with admiring eyes at her slight figura and flushed face, "but there aren't many girls, or men either, who would have thought of such a neat svay of tackling that thing." Marjory felt that she must get back to her post now; or, rather, to the little room. The sudden rush, with its consequent tumble, had shak- en her more than she liked to own to before the little crowd which had collected. "Shall I see you again?" asked the wounded soldier in a low voice, as she held out her hand and turned away. "I'm always on duty somewhere in the station during the day," replied Marjory, striving to speak casually. Bet somehow the touch of those strong fingers on her own thrilled her, With another word of thanks they.. parted, a'ad the soldier stood watch - For That Irritating Cut or Scratch There is nothing more healing and soothing than ,1ln Tads Mark hfte ',Welfare aoay Sold in glass bottles and sanitary tin tubes, at chem- ists and general stores everywhere. Refuse substitutes. Free booklet on. request. CHESEBROUGH MFG. CO. (ceuaoIkb d] 1880 Chabot Are. Montreal g her as she walked away across the platform. Here was a girl to admire! She was doing a man's work, truly, and she was such a slip of a thing, too! Just the sort of girl a fellow could like— , just the sort— Then, suddenly aware where his thoughts were taking him, he flushed crimson under his tan and hobbled away out of the station. * * * * * * Many times after that they met, and always there was a little chat be- tween them. Each time they met the soldier seemed able to handle the crutch more easily, until there cams a time when he walked towards the girl with only a stick. "How splendid!" said Marjory gladly, as she noted the change. "You will never need that horrid crutch thing again, will you?" "No, I hope not," said the man as gladly. But he did not add that the stick must be his companion through life. The injury to his foot would leave him with a lifelong limp, but ' he would not grouse about that. After all, his fate was miles better than that of many of his pals. I "I'm getting discharged from the' hospital soon, I hope," he went on. , "Then ',expect I'll be off home." "Home!" repeated Marjory, trying to keep her voice calm and merely friendly, although her heart was beat- 1 ing wildly under her blue serge jack- et "Where's home?" "Away in the country, down i West," was the reply, while the speaker's eyes grew soft. "We've a little farm down there, just enough to keep mother, dad, and me." And to himself he added the words, "And a little wife!" "Then we shall be saying a real good-bye soon," said Marjory. And, in spite of her efforts, a note of sadness crept into her voice. "Perhaps not," was the man's re- ply. Then he drew himself up. The doc- tor's report on his foot was not yet complete. There was just a chance 1 that, after all, it might prove worse than expected, and in that case- he could not ask a girl to tie herself to him, a cripple. I And a sudden rush of passengers from a train stopped their conversa- tion at that point, and the soldier had to make way for them. The days passed, and Marjory did not again see her soldier. "Her sol- dier" he had indeed become, although as yet she did not even know his name. But in her innermost heart she realized that the stalwart figure with the limp, which was a badge of f honor, had taken possession of her whole being. She loved this man in the badly -fitting blue hospital uni- form—her soldier. Then she found herself unconscious- ly looking for him and wishing she could hear again his cheery greeting. She missed his voice and the look in his dark eyes, But he never came. Tho days grew into weeks and the weeks into months and still she looked in vain. There had been a heavy rush of work at the station, and Marjory was feeling worn out one evening as she prepared to collect the tickets an her last train—for she did not work in the late evening hours. She gave her usual warning of "All tickets, please!" and prepared to take her stand by the gate just as the rush of passengers came along. How it happened she was never to know, but perhaps she turned giddy from the long hours she had worked. In any case, as the train drew to a standstill, she reeled and swayed. A shout went up from the crowd, and one or two men dashed forward to- wards her as she staggered backa step or two, right to the edge of the platform. In another moment she would have been on the metals and under the wheels of the still slow-moving train, when a man's figure hurled itself quickly forward and grasped her firmly, drawing her back to safety. There was at once a crowd round them—the tall man with the fainting girl in his arms—and a superintend- ent came bustling forward. "Tainted?" he asked quickly. "Bring her in here, sir!" And he led the way to the little room where Mar- jory had so often. sorted her tickets and from the doorway of which she had looked so long and so vainly for her soldier. The door was shut on them, and the crowd passed on. * * * * * * "My little girl!" the man whisper- ed tenderly, as he laid her down on the dusty floor, with her own overcoat as a pillow. "Now then, Jack," said a motherly - looking womtn, pushing him aside, "that's no way to bring the lass round. Let me see to her." But as he drew aside Marjory open- ed her eyes, and as they rested on him a great glory shone in them. "Then you did come again?' she said, in so soft a murmur that he had to stoop to hear the words. "!Ay, I did, sweetheart!" he replied, bending his lips close to hers. "And this time I sha'n't go away again— until you come with me.' "Come with you?" replied the girl. "What—what do you mean?" The motherly -looking woman inter- posed. "There! Just like a man!" she snorted, but her eyes were wet and her lips trembled. "My son always was like that—everything at once, like. Look here, dearie, Jack and I have come to see about taking you back with us, He says, if you'll marry a man with a limp, he'll try to be a good husband to you. "And"—her hearty voice faltered— "if he's anything like as good a hus- band as he's been as a son, you'll have naught to complain of." But the man and the girl did not pay much heed to her words, and the woman turned aside as their lips met. Away in that little country home was the grey -headed man who had once I spoken to her as Jack was speaking to this little slip of a thing. And Jack's mother prided herself on being able to mind her own af- fairs.—London Answers. Vindicated Self -Esteem. "The Woggses seem to have a high opinion of themselvey." "Yes. You see the same cook has consented to remain in their employ or three or four years, So they feel entitled to think that they are rather nice people." Making Crosses to Mark the Graves of the Gallant Dead FT11112 an advance on the Western front, everything that can possibly be done to identify the fallen Is done. end little wooden crosses are l erected over each grave to merle the pisco oP ntterinant. The sold±er sre-_ 'in the above picture Is shaping one of these cusses, wh1ch n Will later b, ;emoted over the grave of e. gallant soldier. The French CdavcrnmenlVI e made the kindly and thoughtful announcement that the little graveyards h 'where British soldiers steels their last ,y1eep shall be tree et all rent. Charges after the war. "F u'" which was immediately cor- 1111 1 t d 'cal it IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM IN YOUR GROCERY ORDER ®SEE THAT YOU GET IT COSTS NO MORE THAN T H E ORDINARY KINDS ass SOLD FOR $1.50 NOW WORTH $25,000 FAMOUS "ONE CENT" STAMP OF BRITISH GUIANA. It Was Sold By a Youthful Collector Who Was Short of Funds. There are in existence several stamps that can claim to be absolute- ly unique—the sole specimens of their kind, says Leonard E. Goldsmith in ' Chums. If we accept the word I "rarest" at its dictionary value, all of these must be placed level. Only one of them, however, is a classic, a real old issue from "way back," the others being in the nature of errors in sur- charging, while in certain instances only one copy of a stamp has been prepared in order that a fictitious value might be placed upon it The 20s surcharge in black on the is Oil Rivers Protectorate is an example of i this, while only five stamps surcharg- ed in violet and two in red were pre- pared. World's Classic Rarity. This is undoubtedly the One Cent British Guiana of 18$6. This stamp, with its follow, the four cents, was somewhat in the nature of a pro- visional, prepared during a shortage of the one and four cen values of the current issue. The design is very simple, the stamps being prepared at the office of the Official Gazette, Georgetown. The central design is a small three -masted sailing ship, with the words "Damus Petimus—Que Vi- cissm" above and below it. The block of the ship was obtained from the head of the shipping column of the Gazette and this central portion is inclosed by a frame of printer's rules, round which are the words, in cap- itals, "Postage—British—Four Cents —Guiana." The Four Cent Value, both on magnesta and blue paper, had been known to philatelists for many years before the sole copy .of the One Cent made its appearance. The Find. One day in 1873 a youthful col- lector, Vernon Vaughan, of British Guiana, was turning over a mass of old family papers and letters with a view to adding to his collection. Among other stamps he unearthed a large stamp printed in black on a glazed and rather dingy red paper. Mr. Vaughan was interviewed some years back, and stated that he thought very little of his find, as it was in very poor condition, having the cor- ners cut off. About a year after he sent to a firm of English stamp deal- ers for approval sheets, and on their arrival was seized by that insatiable desire to possess them that is a com- mon symptom of philatelists, young and old. Being short of money at the time he decided to sell some stamps out of his album, and among those chosen for sacrifice was the uninvit- ing One Cent of 1856. Mr. Vaughan says that though this was the only specimen he possessed he thought he would easily be able to replace it Travels of the One Cent. He took his stamps to an old col- lector in the colony, who bought sev- eral, but who would at first have nothing to do with the One Cent; its t bad preservation and octagonal shape prejudicing him against it. Eventual-' ly he was persuaded to "risk" six shillings on it, but impressed on the youngster the fact that he was buy- ing it as a "favor." The stamp re -1 mained in his possession for 10 years, , o and was sold in 1883 to a London deal- e er for £25. The stamp was again heard of in a letter from the greatest e of Victorian stamp dealers to Judge , Philbrick, a great collector and presi-1u dent of the Royal Philatelic Society. I. It was offered to him, together with 1 four other stamps, for £110; and al- though he fully intended to purchase + a it he delayed until too late, and the stamp was sold to the great French ! 0 collector, Baron la Renotiere von Per -'t rary, for a price that has never been ta mde public. A philatelist remarks: "Lots can- talned a one cent, red, 1856! as gen- uine as anything ever was * * * Itwas f a dreadfully poor copy." 1 Must be Worth £5,000, It is a strange fact that, in spite of a great find of the early issues of this colony that was made some years ago, o second copy of the rarity has turn- (' up. A very limited printing must ave been made, or possibly the word 'One" was a printer's error for rested. Various pekes have been as- 1 SCIENCE FACTS. signed to this tiny piece of paper s Salted whale ]neat Is considered a Edmonton military hospital. y great delicacy by the Japanese, With full mjlitat honors,James The locust tree was ane of the first Smith a Y Mnertcan trees to be brought to , Crimean veteran, aged 84, King Europe. was buried at Southampton. e The Belgians are looked upon as the Mre. J. Trueman, an assistant of e greatest potato eaters in the world, the Dolphin Calston Society, has died and the Irish come second. : at Bristol in her 102nd year. a Polish women are renowned for the More than 2,000 women are working e beauty of their hands ; they place voluntarily on the land in the Kosbe- gracefulness of the hands above all yen Division of Lincolnshire, other charms. - The emerald improves in color by ex- Captain C. A. Werner, a master at posure to the light. Pearls kept in Harrow school, who was killed at the darkness lose their luster, but regain' front, has left $9.500 bo Harrow school e it on exposure to the sun. - I endowment fund. A tree grows in Ashanti and around! Partridges are less numerous than a the woods near Kabba resembling in! usual on many preserves in. South appearance the English. oak, and it is Lincolnshire. Some of the coveys e said to furnish excellent butter. A are very backward. t.ourlaue fact about this vegetable but ditlLeeds school children have so`t far one catalogue placing it as low a £400 and another at £5,000, which, b the way, is much nearer the mark The 1914 catalogue of Whitfield, Kin and Co. prices it at £2,000, but thes quotations cannot mean much, as th gentlemen who have assigned them are not sellers, There are over dozen specimens of the Postoffic Mauritius known, and this is priced at £1,200. If relative rarity had any thing to do with the price, it is evi dent that the One Cent must be worth £15,000, but this is not an accurat guide, as the unique Oil Rivers stamp. previously mentioned, hung about long while at £250 before it found a purchaser. The only limit to the pric of this classic is the depth of pocke of the intending purchasers, and ther is little doubt that should a second copy come into the market all record for a single stamp would go by the board. THE SOLDIER -FARMER'S WIFE. NE1WS FROM EN -GLAND NEWS BY MAiL ABOUT JOf1N BULL AND Bib PEOPLis Occ i-renres hi the Land That Reigns Supremo la the easterner - dal World. Small investors have lent to the Government $411,195,000 for the pur- poses of the war. Canadian Army Medical Corps have taken over Darrow Home, Broadstairs, as a military hospital. The County of Surrey hay crop is reported to be a bumper one, and the biggest since 1869. Two soldiers three times wounded have been taken for the third time to e ter all the year round. is that It keeps in perfect can on saved $48,645 through school banks Beer is believed to be one of the for investment in war saving certi- s most ancient of drinks. Manuscripts ficates and bonds. written at least 3,000 years before the The Earl of Lytton has been ap- Christian era show conclusively that pointed civil head of the Admiralty even at that primitive period the in succession to the Duke of Devon- manubacture of an intoxicating liquor shire,Governor-General-Designate of from barley or other grain was ex - Canada. - A Good Training and a Good Partner Make a Great Combination. "What makes you think you will succeed as a farmer?" The question was asked of a re- turned soldier who had expressed a strong desire to get out on the land. "My wife," he answered. "Do you mean to say she persuad- ed you?" "No, I didn't need any persuading. But she wants to go as much as 1 do." "Does she understand what it means?" "She ought, She was born and brought up on a farm; she is not afraid of hard work; and she prefers to live in the country anyway." "For the children's sake?" "We've got none, worse luck. No, she likes it better herself," That man's battle is half won. He was not a farm boy himself, and he does not imagine that the little ex- perience he possesses is enough. He is therefore taking advantage of the elementary training; in such matters as gardening and poultry -raising, al- ready started by the Military Hospit- als Commission at some of its Con- valescent Hospitals; and he aims at taking a course of extra instruction later on at one of the agricultural schools. As announced some time ago, the Government makes special monetary allowances, in addition to the pen- sion, for the maintenance of both the soldier and his family while he is be- ing trained, if he has to learn a new occupation; so no man should have the slightest hesitation about taking full advantage of the training put at his disposal to increase his capacity and better his position. A trained man, and a wife both ex- perienced and willing, are a team hard to beat. It is very interesting to see that this fact has been recognized in a most practical way in England. There, the Government decided a few months ago to start, by way of experiment, three pioneer land colonies of ex- soldiers,—or rather "ex -service men," for even the man now ploughing the sea will hove his choice of ploughing the soil. The President of the Board of Agri- culture has just announced that in selecting settlers for these colonies 'preference will be given, as between men of equal merit and qualifications, o those whose wives or sisters or daughters have acquired proficiency n milking or other farm operations, as the result of their employment on the land either before or during the war." As a matter of fact, women in the ld country have taken a large and von extraordinary share in working the farms, which the war has depriv- d of so many of their usual laborers. Women of every social rank have vol- nteered to do this, and have kept their pledge, though many of them were not only quite unaccustomed to manual labor, but free from any ne- essity to work at a11, Canadian women, the vast majority f them, have never been in that post - ion. Work has always been familiar o them, and a very Targe number even of the town -dwellers among them were brought up on farms. Many of our returned soldiers, there - ore, who thinlc of going"back to the and,' will have a great advantage in the experience of their wives as in the special training offered them. Special training is given, of course, for a variety of other industries. The greatest care is taken to choose the occupation best suited to each man's ability. But, unquestionably, ngricul- turo is the great national industry, and needs the energies of every man tensively carried on in Europe. OUR STAPLE FOOD SUPPLY. Does the Modern Flour Mill Breed Cancers 9 That cancer is caused by eating rice flour and other foods which have been robbed by millers of some of their moat valuable elements before they reach our mouths is the belief of Dr Horace Packard of Boston University Such a demoralized diet, he declares encourages the development of the parasite or fungus growth whose en trance into the system leads to can- cer. "It is a momentous fact," he says "that the flour mills and. the rice mills of .the civilized world are busy elimi- nating every particle of iron, phos- phorus, sodium, potassium, silica, cal• cium, chlorine, magnesium and sul- phur (mineral salts), from our staple food supply and sending out food materials ricli In heat units but piti- fully meager In energizing and immu- nizing material, "In a single flour mill, approximate- ly one million tons of wheat are milled each year. Of this about 550,000 tons go to tate human family as refined flour (wheat starch) and 450,000 tone of the by-products bearing the ener- gizing immunizing food salts go main- ly to feed domestic animals." A committee in the East Riding is sending weekly to each of 250 York- shire prisoners in the hands of Ger- mans or Turks, $1.20 worth of feed and comforts. "Heroes' Corner" is a part of Wem- bley Churchyard, Middlesex, set aside by the vicar for burial of Wembley soldiers whose bodies are brought home. While dipping sheep, William Vick- . ers, a farmer of Littleners, Shrop- shire, fell into a vat of liquid disin- fectant. He died a few hours later from irritant poisoning and shock. The famous football which was drib- bled into the German trenches on the first day of the big advance, has drawn 2,000 people to the Kingston Town Hall during the past week. Already there has been sent out bo the men in the Berkshire Regiment nearly 3,000,000 cigarettes, 31/4 tons of tobacco, 108,000 cigars, 2,000 pipes and 25,000 local newspapers. Major Pierre Diesmortel, a retir- ed officer of the Belgian army, who came to England as a refugee in 1914, fell dead after attending Mass at St. Gregory's, Chelthenham, Mr. H. R. Knight, Weybridge, who has been rejected 19 times by the Army doctors, has now joined the British Red Cross Society and is on his way to Saloniki. A huge German mine, found at the entrance of the Humber estuary, has been presented to Grimsby in mem- ory of Grimsby mine sweepers who have lost their lives. A large number of seats bearing notices "For wounded soldiers only" have been placed at intervals along the main thotoughfores of Sheffields and in the open spaces. $1,000 represents the profit made from the sale of waste paper collec- tions in the Weybridge district during the past eight weeks. This amount has been divided between the local Red Gross hospitals. The Duchess of Devonshire recently visited the wounded soldiers in North Derbyshire, and at Buxton opened a new Canadian hospital in bhe presence of many Canadians, including Gen- eral Sir Sam Hughes. What must be one of the last re- maining links with Trafalgar has been snapped by the cleath at Whimple, Devon, of Miss Emma Agnes Yule, youngest surviving child of Lieuten- ant Yule, who was an officer on the Victory. / PROPOSING WITH A SPLASH. To Break Tar Over Girl's Head is Avowal of Love. The land of the Tarascans lies due west of the city of Mexico, and here the natives retain many of their practices which were well established when the Spaniards first landed at Vera Cruz. Here is the ,accepted method of courtship, for example: The lover goes to the spring where the object of his affections is accus- tomed to fill her water jar. He holds her shawl until she accepts him, and then, with a stick, he breaks the jar which she holds on her head and gives her a betrothal baptism of water. According to Prescott, the Taras- cans had a Noah, called Trezpi, who escaped from a great flood in a boat laden with animals. Instead of a dove, Trezpi sent out a vulture first and then a humming bird, according to the legend. The Tarascans once possessed the secret of tempering copper, an art now lost to the world, MOTHER LOVE AIDS SON IN TRENCHES It Brings Relief. To Boy Stand- ing His Watch Deep in Mud. Once upon a time, only a few months after this terrible world war had be- gun, Private Bailey, a soldier in the ranks, had stood for days in the trenches "somewhere in France." Tho cold rains soaked him to the sicln ; the laud was deep. He had had no rest. Weary and aching with rheu- inatfo pains, ho recalled the faith his &nether had in Sloan's Liniment, ,He asked for it in his next letter home, A largo bottle was immediately sent hint and a few applications killed tho pain,`once more be was able to stand. the severe expostu'o. ITo shared this wonderful =sole -soother with his comrades, and they all agreed it was the greatest "reinforcement" that had ever cone to their rescue. At your druggist, 25c,'50e, and $1,00 a bottle, ERZERUM. Something About An Old Eastern City, Erzerum, which has suddenly sprung into the notice and interest of the world during the progress of the present Russian campaign in the East, says the Manchester Guardian, has been identified with the Byzan- tine Theodosiopolis, which was a fortified outpost of the Grecian Em- pire. It fell to the Seljulcs in the year 1201, and just three centuries later passed to the Turks, '11, bad already on two occasions been in possession of the Russians—in 1829, when it was captured and held until the peace of Adrianople of that year, and in 1878, when it was restored to the Turks af- ter the Treaty of Berlin. The normal population of Erzerum amounts to about forty -throe thous- and, ten or twelve thousand of whom are Armenlane and two thousand Per- sians. Its public buildings, with the possible exception of one, which dates back to the beginning of the Seljuk period, are of no particular distinc- tion. As in meet towns in Terkey, the streets are narrow, crooked, dirty and badly drained, and there are few trees in the neighborhood. The under dog gets 't lot of Sym- pathy;—and that's about all. to 4w