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SHI" THOMAS'S FIANCEES By ML A. TAFT TWO PARTS ? PART ONE. "HI* Thomas' Girls," they called them at Merryweather. That was the town where Hiram Thomas had been born, and lived the forty years of his life up to the date of hia marriage and the several Strang occurrences which were reported with variations in the village. A true history of the matter should, however, be called the story of Hi' Thomas' aunts, for a staid, re* epectable, middle-aged man like Hi­ ram would never have become engag­ ed to five girls at once without match­ making intervention of some kind. Hiram Thomas had the reputation otoeing one of the most bashful men In the town. It was perhaps the five aunts who gave rise to this Idea. Or It might have been because, as his mother said, "Hi* -never was blessed with the gift of gab." But he was a Jolly, good-natured fellow, who laugh­ ed heartily at other people's jlokes if he did not make them himseilf, attend­ ed carefully to his own affairs, and had brought a run-down old farm into * condition where it was without a rival in the state, and he was as regu­ lar at church every Sunday as at town meeting. If he did not seem to care for femi­ nine society it might be because he preferred a life of single blessedness. The five aunts said that Hiram was bashful, and as that was a satisfactory excuse for his seeming disinclination for matrimony it was generally accept­ ed. Many of the prettiest of Merry- weather's • maidens had gone out of their way, in view of this belief, to Bhojr him that they would do any­ thing in their power to help him over­ come the defect, but without avald. The girls married off, one generation after the other, and still Hiram was a bachelor. Now he was forty, and the aunts had decided that it was time some­ thing should be done. There was no one more amenable to reason than Hiram, they agreed. He was not op­ posed to women's society, and he was devoted to children. As far as they knew there was never a woman or a girl in the town to whom he had paid attention. There was Susie Benson, to be sure, pretty nad frivolous, and he had carried her books to school twenty years ago when she was a flippant little chit of a girl. But then, the might have done that because of the name. It was the same as his mother's, and certainly Hiram was fond of his mother. Bat Susie Benson had married and left town a few,years later, and no one had heard of her since. She might be a grandmother, for all they knew. It was Just possible, for she was a girl who was always getting ahead of every one. Or she might be dead, and, anyway, it did not count, for she was only a past memory now. The previous generation of the Thomas family had been a family of girls--five of them--and only one boy, Hiram, the present Hiram's father. The five girls had all married in due season, settled in as many different towns in the vicinity of Merryweather, raised, and In due time married off, large families of children. Now, hay­ ing liesure to turn their attention to their late brother's family they talked long and earnestly concerning his only child's lack of interest in matrimony and the prospect of the extinction of the family name. "Hiram is certainly bashful,** said Annt Lizzie Alice, the oldest of the aunts. "It staritis to reason that he mukt be--a nice boy like that and the catch of Merryweather. It's against boys make such a hullabaloo that you don't know anything about It." "Well," chimed in the other two aunts, "the only thing is we have got to manage it one way ohr another, and if five women who have brought up five families of children cant save that poor boy from himself it will be a pity." Then the conclave broke up and the aunts retired to their respective towns and homes, each resolving quietly to herself that she, by her unaided ef­ forts, would lead Hiram in the way in which he should go, preserve the name of Thomas, and earn Hie grati­ tude of the family. Aunt Lizzie Alice was the first to make an advance. She was usually the first to make up her mind and take a decisive step of any kind. She in­ vited Hiram and his mothef over to tea one night, and she also invited her nest-door neighbor and her daughter. That was not unusual. They were i 2 A Now he was forty. nature, and then it's not as if oars was not a marrying family." "You can't judge by appearances." said Aunt Ellen May, the aunt next in age. "A bashful man is the last to show It. It just shows how bashful he is that he doesn't." "You think when you hear blra laugh that he is real Jolly," said Aunt An astasia, the middle aunt, "but I have brought up six boys, and I know the delicacy of a boy's nature. Why, girls don't begin to be as shy, but the WHAT MEAN TIME WAS. Had Answer for at Least One Question. . • certain young man in this city, i who was not long ago a student In an old-fashioned country boarding school, abominated above all things else the college custom of holdiug recitations at 5 o'clock in the morning, as the Iniles of that particular institution re- {quired. One morning after having ibeen absent for a week be made his (appearance in the astronomy class iand fell into a peaceful slumber, from i which he was soon aroused by the iprpfessor, who poked at him this ,<taestion: "Brown, what is time?" "Don't know," said the somnolent •tadent "What is slderial time?" queried the professor. "Siderial time? Dont know, sir," .•aid the scholar. "What is solar time?" was then fired /!^ .9$ him. He dldp't know that either. /, , "Then," said the professor in the severest manner he could, "What is mean time, sir?" | j E & e w - - w a s ..u V-'v :**•: *!. si t h © S t a r B e t h l e h e m Theory of Profs. Forbes and Servis Refuted--Kepler's Hypothesis Untenable--Star in the East M us t Have Been a Mag ian Star--Were the Magi , or Wise Men , Ke l t i c Dru ids? \/mt MH0V" w^/I/WNVI" N W By Rev. F. P. Duffy, M. D., Secretary of the American Church Bible Institute. He gave her a hearty kiss. good friends of many years' standing. After tea she asked Hiram to take a look at her potato patch. It was plnd- ling, she said, and she wanted his advice. "You come along, too, Sophy," she added to the neighbor's daughter, a plump, brown-haired, rosy-cheeked country girl of twenty-four. "I don't like to see young people dawdling around the house. It's time enough to do that when you get old." She walked briskly ahead and the two younger people sauntered along after her. "I declare," she said, as they stop­ ped at the edge of the potato field, "you two are pretty nearly of the same height. That's what I like to see in a couple. It's a plumb disgrace for a woman to marry a man who is short­ er than she is, and, for my part, I don't like to see a man tower head and shoulders above a woman. "Hiram. Sophy's just the woman you ought to mrry. She's a nice little housekeeper, too." "It would be too good fuck. I'm afraid Sophy wouldn't have me," said Hiram, with one of his good-natured chuckles. "You could do worse, couldn't yon, Sophy?" persisted Aunt Lizzie Alices and Sophy, blushing -all over her pretty fee, answered "Yes." "Now what have you to say to that, Hiram? Isn't that enough for any man? I know what I would do if I were a young man and a girl said that to me. I should kiss her straight." "Well, I am quite willing if Sophy Is/' said Hiram, and as Sophy did not seem to object he gave her a hearty kiss, and Aunt Lizie Alice's eyes sparkled with delight. "They are just as good as engag­ ed," she whispered excitedly to the two mothers when she reached the bouse and Susan Thomas looked up from her knitting with a surprised ex­ pression on her face, but she did not say anything. She was like Hiram; she was not blessed with the "gift of gab." Aunt Ellen May was the next to turn her attention to Hiram's inter­ ests, and it was not strange that she should do it, unconsciously in almost exactly the way pursued by ber elder sister. They were much alike. She, too. Invited a neighbor and a daughter to tea. but it was in taking her nephew and young woman guest to visit the barn that her remarks be­ came personal and suggestive of mat­ rimony. "Elizabeth ain't as handsome as some," she said, with neighborly frankness, "but I've noticed how In­ terested you two are in music togeth­ er. Elizabeth's prime with the needle and gets the county prize for butter every year, not to say that her pa has a farm most as good as yours, HI. Now, I don't believe in young people- being too prim.' continued this estim­ able lady, who had brought her own' children up with great strictness, "there Is no harm In a kiss, and if anything should happen when I turn my back, why, you know I should never tell." (To be continued.) sleepy and cross and indignant "Mean time," he said, is 5 o'clock in the morning. That s mean time enough for anybody, and its insulting to make a man get up before the chickens to ask a silly question."--Washington Times. The Star of Bethlehem is a theme of wondrous power. It has fascinated sages of the East and philosophers of the West. It has been discussed these nineteen hundred years by men of varying minds with a freshness that never fails. It excites a glow of fer­ vid love in the breast of the saint. It kindles the dying embers of hope in the soul of the sinner. It is the ray of Heaven's own light to the afflicted. It beckons the prodigal back to the Father's home. It gives strength to the living. It brings peace to the dy­ ing. But though a mystery of awe to angels, it is a Symbol of Love Divine to men. As such it cannot fail to pro­ foundly Interest every intelligent in­ quirer after truth. That we may the fetter understand the srfbjeet and more thoroughly appreciate the ways of God with man, I propose to treat the subject under the following heads: 1. The star was a real, true, bona fide star--not a mere temporary mir­ aculous creation for the specific pur­ pose. it is allowed by all authorities that the Magi, or Wise Men, were learned. They would, therefore, make use of words and terms with discrim­ ination. But not only were they learned, they were astronomers. Hence, when they used an astronom­ ical-term, they would use the appropri­ ate word or phrase descriptive of the object referred to. They use the word "aster," which means an ordinary and permanent star, not an extraordinary and temporary one. Now, in the Bible star is used only In a twofold signification--literally or figuratively. In its figurative sense it held that the Magi were resident or located in the east at the time the star appeared to them. Yet according to the plain terms of the statement, they must have been located in the west Anatole means (1) the rising of the heavenly bodies from the horiz­ on; (2) the dawn or dayspring; (3) the east or Orient Whichever mean­ ing you adopt the beholder must have been west of the star. The star must have pointed to or been at Jerusalem when first observed by the Wise Men. Therefore the Wise Men must have been west of Jerusalem. 6. It was a fixed star--not erratic in its movements. The term "star" was used by the Wise Men. But they were skilled astronomers and knew the difference between a star, a plan­ et, a comet or a meteor, for all of which there were distinct names. Hence planet, comet, meteor are ruled out by the word aster (star). And hence we conclude that the Star in the East was a fixed star. ' 7. It was a star in the sign Pisces of the zodiac--the Sign of Judea. This is an Important factor. Among the ancients there was a part of the heav­ ens called the zodiac. It was a belt encircling the heavens on each side of the ecliptic, or apparent path of the sun among the stars, within which the larger planets always remain. It ex­ tended to eight degrees on either side of, the ecliptic. It was divided into twelve parts called the Signs of the Zodiac. The different countries of the earth were divided among the twelve signs. Judea belonged to the sign pisces, the twelfth. The Magi, like ajl other astrologers or astron­ omers,4 believed in that division. junction of Mars and Jupiter on the night of Dec. 25 In the year of Rome 747. Next year Saturn Joined Mars and Jupiter, and according to Dean Al- ford, the eminent commentator, the light of the three planets blended and appeared to the beholder as one light What a beautiful illustration of Trin­ ity in Unity--the lights of three plan­ ets blended into one light! Ideler con­ firmed Kepler's calculation as to the conjunction of the planets. Wieseler, who followed, makes the conjunction In A. U. C. 750, the year of the Na- tyvity now agreed upon by the learned, ft is remarkable too that the conjunc­ tion of the planets took place in the Bign pisces, the Sign of Judea. This theory is also free from the objections above referred to. But beautiful as is the theory. Bibli­ cal conditions compel us to reject it Christ's birth took place, according to St. Paul, in "the fulness of time." This fulness of time is an astronomi­ cal expression meaning the comple­ tion of a cycle, or the revolution of a sphere In its orbit. That cycle, or revolution, occupied thousands of years in Its completion. As we have seen, the Star of Bethlehem had a periodic time, which must necessarily have corresponded with "the ̂ fullness of time." But the periodic times of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn are all known and are of short duration. , Even if we apply the periodic time to the con­ junctions of the planets the objection still holds good. The times of the conjunctions are known and are com­ paratively short. So that attractive as is the theory of. Kepler, we must dimiss |t, and look elsewhere. There is one star which fulfils all the Gaelic priests or Druids that the star of Bethlehem appeared, let us go back to primitive times, when Mag- ism was incorporated with Zoraster- ism. Besides Ahura-Mazda there were the Amesha-Spentas, or "the Immor­ tal Holy Ones." There was a third class lower than the Amesha-Spentas. Among this class were Mithra and Tistrya. Mithra was the spirit of light, or the sun. Tistrya was the spirit of the brightest star in the firmament, or Sirius. Ultimately Mithra became associated with Ahura- Mazda and placed almost on an equal­ ity with him. So we may exclude Mithra from our calculations. Tis­ trya, next to the Divinity, became the object of the Magi's reverence. Sirius was his star( and thus became to the Magi "the star." Balaam, the Rab-Mag, Chief Maglan, or Arch Druid of his time, was a prophet like Iarbonel of the Gaels. In his prophecy, which still lives, he ut­ tered, under the inspiration of Jeho­ vah, "The star shall come out of Ja­ cob." Sirius was "the star" to all the Maglans. The stars symbolized kings or rulers. He whom Sirius symbol­ ized, therefore, would be greatest of all kings. If we could connect Sirius in any way with Jacob at the time of the Nativity there could be no question as to the star of Bethlehem. And we can do it. The twelfth sign of the Zodiac was Pisces. And Pisces was the Sign of Palestine, or Jacob, or land of Judea. That part of the heav­ ens known as Pisces presented a most remarkable spectacle at the time of the Nativity. There the splendor means a king or other civil ruler, an ecclesiastical teacher, and perhaps an angel. It is not used in its metaphor­ ical sense here. Therefore it means a real star. 2. It was a star in motion--it changed its position in the heavens. Motion is characteristic of all the heavenly bodies; and the words of the sacred narrative are, "The star went before them till it came." When first they saw the star it occupied a particular spot in the sky. Now, how­ ever, it has a different position, not relatively because of the change in the field of observation, but absolutely by change of location in the heavens. No doubt the motion was a movement In its orbit This will appear more plain­ ly from our next proposition. 3. It was a star that had an asters- tlce--it stood at a particular point in the sky above them. The statement is very distinct: "It came and stood over where the young child was." 4. It was a star that moved in an orbit--it had a periodic time. This is a most remarkable statement We are told that Herod privately learned of the Magi "what time the star ap­ peared." The margin of the Revised Version gives us a better, because a more correct translation of the phrase; It Is, "The time of the star that appeared." But the literal ren­ dering is "the time of the appearing star." 5. It was a star that had a relative position in the sky--it was in the east. Assuming that the correct ren­ dering of "anatole" Is "in the east," then it has reference to that particu­ lar part of the heavens to the east of the observer. The observers, there­ fore, must have been west of Jerusa­ lem. This is a point to be borne in mind, as we shall have to refer to it more particularly later on. The con­ clusion here arrived at is contrary to the generally received opinion. As far as I am aware, it is universally So far we have traced some of the necessary conditions of the star. Let us now try and discover the star that fulfils these conditions. In doing so we shall briefly discuss the different theories put forth and held by differ­ ent people, some of them men of great eminence in their own particu­ lar sphere. We shall also show the untenableness of the different hypoth­ esis. I--The star was not an angel. No less a father of the church than The- ophylact held this view. He believed it was an angelic apparition. No doubt angels were sent on messages from Heaven to men, and the Angel Gabriel was used in the Annunciation. But the angelic vision would disappear with the accomplishment of the ob­ ject. Not so the star; it remained. II--The star was not a meteor. This view has been largely held. It is asserted that some kind of meteoric phenomenon would best meet the ne­ cessities of the case. But any meteor drawn to the earth would either be consumed by the atmospheric friction or else would fall to the ground and become extinguisned. Its appearance would be almost momentary. III--The star was not a comet. One of the greatest fathers of the church, Oregen, held this view. But not all the weight of Oregen's great scholar­ ship could obtain credence for such a belief. Just recently this theory of a comet has been revived, unconscious­ ly, however, that Oregen was the father of it. Prof. David Forbes In England and Prof. Serviss in America both claimed to have identified the Star of Bethlehem with Halley's com­ et. At the time I refuted the theory in an article that appeared in the Chica­ go Evening Post, April 11, J.903. IV--The star was not a conjunction of planets. This is the most feasible as well as fascinating theory. It is that of the great astronomer, Kepler. He calculated that there was a con- the conditions, (a) It was la an espe­ cial sense the Magi's star, (b) It has a periodic time, (c) Its revolution is of indefinite length, (d) It was in the sign Pisces at the birth of our Lord, (e) I believe we can find a peculiar­ ity by which it could be called "His Star." That star was Sirius, the brightest in the firmament of heaven. Before we can arrive at our final conclusion it is necessary to learn something about the Wise Men, or Magi. Who were the Magi? Where did they come from? The etymology of the word Magi is Involved in much doubt It is gener­ ally supposed to be primarily a Per­ sian word, but the Persian is only a form of the original. Our word Magus, of which Magi is the plural, is but the Latin rendering of the Greek Magos, the Persian of which is probably Mas. Maz is cognate to Maj in Major, Mag in Magnus and Meg in Megas (Raw- linson). "It is an lntensitive and means much or all." In Ahura-Maz-da, Persian name for God, it means the all wise or all powerful. The Irish word Druid means wisdom or Magian. It Is worthy of record that the Irish Scriptures render "there came wise men from the east" by "there came Druids from the east" The Irish words are: "Draioch o naird sholr go Hierusalem," which shows the Irish belief that the Druids were Maglans. It is a matter of history that part of the Gaels or Irish in the westward movement of the race returned by the valley of the Danube and settled in Asia Minor. They prefixed their own name to Asia, and called their abode Gael-Asia, or Galatla, as it came to be spelled. Whether the Druids or Magi to whom the Star of Bethlehem appeared were residents of Ireland, Scythla, or Galatia is immaterial, for they were all the same Gaelic race. Having, as I hofre, made it clear that it was to Take Issue With Koch. _ The International Congress for Hy« giene passed the following resolution: "Human tuberculosis is entirely un­ transferable from one person to an­ other. At the present state of our knowledge it Is still necessary to rec­ ommended hygienic measures to pre­ vent the transfer of animal tuber­ culosis to human beings." The last sentence apparently means that the theory of Prof. K.och concerning the difference between tuberculosis In cattle and In men Is not yet consid­ ered as conclusive by the majority of experts. World's Cotton Cropt The total cotton crop of the world Is 13,000,000 bales of BOO pounds each, a which the United States furnishes 11, 000,000, and all other countries 2,000* 000 balsa, . A Christmas Thought Oh, Chrlatmas is coming again, you say. And you long for the things It Is bringini But the costliest gift may not gladden the day. Npr help on the merry bells ringin Borne getting is losing, you understam s< Some hoarding is far from savin y We are richer ?or what we give. ,'ing; What you hold in your hand may slip from your hand, better than having; There ia somethin • And only by giving we live, Tour last year's presents are scattered and gone You have almost forgotten who gave them; But the loving thoughts you bestow live on As long aa you choose to have them. IX>ve, love is yoifr riches, though ever so poor; Mo money can buy that treasure; Yours always, from robber and rust secure ' Your own, without stint or measure; It is only love that can give; It la only by loving we live. For who ia it smiles through the Christmas mora* The Light of the whole creation? A dear little child, in a stable born. Whose love is the world's salvation. He was poor on earth, but He gives us all That can make our life worth the living; And happy the Christmas Day we call That ia spent, for His aake, in giving. He shows us the way to live; Uke Him, let us love and give! --Lucy Larcom. I of the heavens appeared to culminate. The sun seemed to shine with a deeper effulgence. Meteors, precur­ sors of some mighty event, flashed athwart the sky. Comets shot from out the darkness of space and illumi­ nated the sign with their fiery flow. Mars and Jupiter and Saturn halted in their orbits to focus their lights Into one mighty blaze in Pisces. And wondrous sight! The star--the Ma­ glans' Star--his star--Sirius!--enters Pisces, and is now In Jacob! This wondrous event occurred in B. C. 6. The heliacal rising of Sirius took place on the same day in four successive years, the fifth, fourth, third and second B. C. There is some­ thing most remarkable about this heliacal rising. It is on the same day. But sameness is unity. It thus sym­ bolizes the Unity of the Deity. Then, assuming that B. C. 4 is the correct year of the Nativity, which scholars assert, there was one year before the birth and three after it. In the sym­ bolism of numbers one Is Unity and three Trinity. But the one year be­ fore birth signified the past revela­ tion of God, or unity of the Deity. The three years after the birth symbol­ ized the new revelation, the Trinity of Persons. Lastly unity and trinity (one year + three years) equal the complete and perfect number four, the years that Sirius may be said to have remained in Pisces. This symbolism OCCUPS with the rising of Sirius, which signified the rising of the Light of the World. It was as if, whilst heaven's arches rang with the angels' loud ac­ claim, Sirius flashed through space, "Arise! Shine! For thy light is come!" Ravenswood, Chicago, Feast of the Nativity, 1903. Copyright, 1908, by F. P. Duffy. The World'a Rejoicings. This is the season of the year when the world shakes hands. The Spirit of Christmas permeates everything, ennobling the meanest among us, throwing Its powerful rays into the dark corners of the heart and drag­ ging down for a few days from their high estate greed and commercialism and all uncharitableness. It touches all the earth, and what it touches it transforms. What a pity it is that the spirit of Christmas does not last the whole year through. There Is a hush of music on the air, The white-winged fairies faltering vtvrf- where, And here and there, / Made by a sudden mingling as they faiL There comes a softer lullaby thin all." Swept In upon tbe universal prayer, Scrooge is still alive, but nobody pays any attention to him nowadays except to laugh In a good-natured way at what he says and wish him hap­ pier thoughts. The few of his kind that are left are apt to refer to the mystical time between the 20th of December and the 2d of January as "demoralization." They don't know what they are missing. Johnny Drummer, Who : J* '36We» A; Tracked to let the Limited : ^ • By, Expresses His Sentiments ' I; That 'Train- " " ,v, t • .* •-- "It has been my dream of joy supreM^C-l^ To ride in plush and velvet splendor Parlor car for a swell tailender "* '"Vfils- Platform fenced with a swell brass fender vfe On the Regular Limited Train 'j-'J>1 Electric bell right under your nose Vv im­ porter to come and brush your clothefc>V Grub in the diner the best that gww A downy bunk for a night's repose On the Regular LimitedJTrain /*'» • ' ' ' • CHORUS .. \ .,.F . Btffl Bangl am&eamlnttte ' No other method of travel is in it I want to go ripping, skipping »•"<* lipping • Away on the Limited Train." These lines are not original with me. They are taken from a tuneful little ditty sung in George Ade's comedy, "Peggy from Paris." The Jingle cianced through my brain the other day as we K :. lay on the siding at Prairie Junction, or some such plt-.ee, to let the Santa Fe's west bound California Limited go by. It wa3 a gorgeous train of pal­ ace cars, and behind the plate glass observation windows beauty and fash­ ion and youth and old age were lolling among the luxuriant . cushions, some visiting, some reading, some pleas­ antly dozing, some making wreaths 01 cigar smoke, some gazing dreamily through the windows at the passing 6t cities, and fields, and forests and riv­ ers. 1 stood on the rev platform of the last car of our train and watched the California Limited as she faded away toward the golden west And I thought of the difference between travel now and travel in the days of '49, when it took the gold-seeker half a long, weary year, filled with all kinds of hardship to travel the distance that is now covered in three days. I thought of the slowly moving wagons, the dust, the stones, the jolting, the thirst, the hunger, the homesickness, the snail­ like crossing of plains, the laborious climbing of mountains, the wearjr^ dragging weeks, the never ending trail. In these palaces that had Just glided by were people going to the same place to spend the winter months where the climate is perpetual sum­ mer. And they were not to endure ft single hardship on the journey. When night came they were to lie In beds whose soft embrace makes sleep a luxury--and in the day time the velvet cushions of their seats were to be made 'deeper still by pillows-- and they were to spend a delightful part of ftielr time in the gilded and glittering dining car, where every dainty that ever tickled the palate is enticingly served--In short, they were to have on the trip all the comforts of home--and of the best kind of home. I stood there and watched them pass out of sight while my soul was con­ sumed with envy. But I derived some consolation out of resolving that some­ time I, too, would see California, and I promised myself that if I ever did go there it be would be over the Santa Fe. "JOHNNY DRUMMER." Forcing Plants to Bloom. The method of forcing flowers by putting tbe plants, for example, lilacs, under chloroform or ether for a time to arrest the sap, and then placing them in a hothouse to bloom, is com­ ing into use in Germany, and ft French grower, M. Aynard, of Mount- peliar, has made a striking experi­ ment which proves Its efficacy, says the London Globe. A budding lilac was put under fumes of ether, with the exception of some boughs protect­ ed by glass tubes from the anaesthet­ ic. On placing It in the forcing house It soon burst into bloom, all but the protected boughs, which remained in the bud. The experiment can be m'kde with budding twigs of the willow cut from the tree and kept in water. Eth­ erized twigs produce catskins, while the others continue in tbe bud. Mr. W. W. Denslow, whose Christ­ mas books for children have attained such tremendous popularity, has de* parted from his usual style this year. Instead of bringing out one large vol­ ume of his clever work, he has brought out 12 small books. The first series consists of old time favorites Uke "The House That Jack Built," "Old Mother Hubbard," etc.. His own crea­ tions consist of "The Zoo,4' "The One- Ring Circus," "Humpty-Dumpty," etc. The G. W. Dillingham Co., New York. "Mr. Salt," recently published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., is the latest 1 oveJ from the pen of Mr. Will Payne. This is a story of Chicago business life with a love element attached. The principals are Mr Salt, magnate, and his stenographer, a$ul the scene of action, the Chicago Board of Trade. This work should" prote o f special in­ terest to the readers of'his native state. Public sympathy should go out In one large enveloping wad to that unr fortunate citizen who Is asking for a p divorce because his marriage was y consummated at a time when he was ill in bed and unconscious. Tbefe is surely sufficient ground for. compas­ sion in the average case ^here tbe man contracts matrimony "with a fall knowledge of all the circumstance#. Feet Comfortable Eve;- Since. "Tsuffered foryears with myfeet. A friend recommended ALLEN'S FOOT-EASE. I used two boxes of the powder, and my feet have been entirely comfortable ever since. ALLEN'S tTOOT-EASE is certainly a god­ send to me.' Win. L. Swormst.edt.Washf ton, D. C/» Sold by all Druggists, 25c. y Pp6f. Marshall L. Perrin of Boston university tells the school teachers: "As a people we are not thrifty. This is shown by our neglect to use cigar holders." Evidently Prof. Perrin to more a joker than be Is a smoker. Hundreds of dealers say the extra quantity and superior quality of De> fiance Starch Is fast taking place of all other brands. Others say th«y cannot sell any other starch. The man who spends much of Ma time boasting about his ancestors may be sure that bis descendants wont spend much of their time boasting about him. \ <S M8?§ISMlii