McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 15 Dec 1910, p. 2

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. . . . ' " . . ' •V* ' ... • f ! " WZt i j® 3, m. m •% "? •* •* IE- •««! "5F Tjfc- w fTv^S ROM the rush and bustle of busy * American city streets, alive at this season of the year with Christmas shoppers, back to old Nuremberg, in Germany, where the Christinas spirit lasts the year around, where Santa Claus spends his working months for the joy of the world's children-- surely the step Is not too great for the imagination nor its goal uninteresting as a study. Coma out of your crowded streets, your people-packed stores, leave off for the time being your breathless chase after that troublesome "last present," and turn into the quiet iviDding streets, the Irregular hilly passages dovetailed by houses older than any­ thing In the oldest parts of the United State*. Rouse rises above house full of a historv as roman­ tic as the proudest mansion of our city streets, and yet marked by a simplicity and single-hearted­ ness seldom present In things modern. It is here that the toys are made which you buy in your home across the sea. Here in the quietness of the un- modern, the playthings are invented and perfected for your restless, buoyant children. You read Made in Germany" with a skeptical tilt of the eyebrow, but the fact remains that by far the * * : Z 7 I 3 fiiVi #' ePVJSavZ8-Jffir a greater number of all the toyB manufactured oome from Nuremberg. The ancient feudal city, attiund which cluster the grim traditions of the Inquisition and the thrilling epic of the times of Charles V., has for floor hundred years or more been the center of the children's fairyland. It has been and Is the BDcleus of Christmas happiness for the youth of every place In the Occident, and its charm li the perpetual one of Joyous creation which de­ lights In planning the amusement of little people. In the factories they will tell you that 72,000,- 000 marks' ($18,000,000) worth of pleasure Is sent out from Nuremberg every year, and that $6,500,000 of this export is for the benefit of Young America. Only a few years ago all of the necessary labor for this immense production was done by hand, and much of the finishing and fine last touches are performed by special artists. Bven now in the factories the old spirit of an almost consecrated enthuslakm lives and is evi­ dent In the interest of the village artisans for their craft Not merely the reason of bread and butter goes toward the making of those marvel­ ous walking dolls, those phenomenal speaking picture books, those thousand and one games that have called for all the imaginative as well as practical genius of these honest German peasant folk. Rather has their unique Industry called for and developed In them a romance, a sensitiveness of perception which is remarkable. Follow the lurching, worn curves of the Al- brecht-Durerstrasse, and you come to one of the many hom£s of this Nuremberg spirit. In a min­ iature red-roofed house, wedged in among a hun­ dred squat brown huts, live two old men--broth- era, of sixty-five and seventy--whose white heads are constantly bent over small circles of wood--shaping, paring, carving, painting. All day they sit there, sometimes all night, tolling over the delicately ornamented dolls' dishes which perhaps you have bought, as a small Insignificant thing, Just this afternoon for your amall daughter's tree. You looked at them carelessly; they were not especially original or attractive, and you shoved them into your bag with a half-hesitating accept­ ance, thinking that maybe they would please ca­ pricious Dorothy. How could you know that back in the village of Always Christmas old hands had fashioned those trivial plates and pitchers, old eyes had strained with loving anxiety over those fine traceries of columbine, and old hearts had warmed over those completed trifles with the same thrill of the master painter over his best? But this was true. Indeed, nearly all of the simple wooden toys are constructed by hand, in some humble volkshause which goes to make up the aggregate creative force of Santa Claus' workshop. Take the tiny sets of soldiers, the doll s chairs and tables, the painted wooden ani­ mals whose realism Is a delight to all children, actual or grown up. These are fashioned In homes, sometimes by the efforts of whole fam­ ilies, but most often by children themselves. Sixteen is the age limit for child labor in the factories, but no young person is prohibited from assisting his parents at home, provided he spends the required period of time at school. So that many of those playthings which give most hap­ piness to the children of America have been made by the children of Nuremberg. And If babies must work, what work could one find for them more appropriate or more pleasurable thaw 22V~ 7&y~ this business of toy- making. They grow up in. the midst of It, all their hereditary ideas are colored by It, the history of the city speaks of it. Inside of half a doz­ en blocks you have trains, up-to-date ho­ tels, electricity, motor cars, Parisian frocks, primitive carts drawn by hugs mastiffs, funny tucked-away inns near the market place full of peasant women In wide black silk aprons and snowy whits caps'--crumbly fountains and a castle with a secret passage. All the elements of the fascinating past and the strangely progressive present within a stone's throw of each other. The realization of all that Nuremberg has been and has undergone comes to one most vividly as one stands looking down into the Schloss well 650 feet deep, where prisoners used to eome to fetch water. Underground their passage led from the dungeons to this unlit circular pool, for state pris­ oners were never permitted to see the light, and the hollow splaa^i of the water which the attend­ ant drops into the well seems to re-echo, after an Interminable half-minute, the hopeless pilgrim­ age of those countless victims of medieval fanat­ icism. Such 1b the potency of the ended. While the vitality of the occurring emphasizes itself, not far off, in one of the dozens of toy factories, whose very machinery whirs modernity, men, women and children--that is, children over six­ teen--are massed into this building, all intent on the one Idea, the creation of better and newer and more wonderful toys for everyone's children, In everyone's country. . It Is seldom the Industrial planet can boast of a broader ambition than this of the craftsmen of Nuremberg. To bring the greatest possible amount of pleasure, legitimate and often educative pleas­ ure, to growing, active minds Is surely an aim worthy of the finest art In the world. It even Beems as though the thought back of the toys should surround them with a deeper meaning as gifts this Christmas tide, since the added gift--the biggest gift--lies in the patient Interested inven­ tion and accomplishment of which they are the exponent. As for the inventors, strictly speaking, their reward seems infinitesimal according to our stand­ ards. The "boss" controls ideas as well as mate­ rials of output, and it Is chiefly to his profit that new inventions In toyland redound. The man or woman who first thinks of or improves upon some plaything gets a very small per cent, of the In­ come from it. To our new world standards of commerce it seems strange that the originator should receive such scant recognition and that without grumbling. Very, very few Nuremberg toymakert have ever grown rich over their lngenlousnesB. It is true that ideas as well as toys in Germany sell for double what they sold for eight years ago, even! On the other hand the price of living has gone up appreciably, and what would have seemed a large purchase price then la only moderate now. The staff of artists employed by the Nurem­ berg factory boss is in itself a not Inconsiderable expense, and many a quiet charity la undertaken by these men who at home would be absorbed in getting rich. In the shop of Frits Muller are various small kitchen gardens, carved and tainted .by a poor man and his sister after their regular working hourB, and bought by Mr. Muller at high rates as his pet philanthropy. In this shop, now 100 years old, are seen all of the most novel of the toy-village playthings. The store was crowded with n^pre children over thirty than under thir­ teen, and absorbed for hours over the clever and quaint attractions. The doll's house of Nuremberg leaves nothing to be desired. Not only the usual rooms of a con­ ventional menage are found in it, but conserva­ tories with miniature orchids, fountains and wa­ tering cans; 6chool rooms with tiny desks, a schoolmaster, very stern, with goggles and ruler, and children In aprons and carrying slates, the latter a sixteenth of an Inch big; fields of flowers for the back yard and a swing for the smallest doll. In all German art, of which toy making is by no means an insignificant department, perfection of detail has always been the salient feature. Ev­ ery phase of home life is reproduced in micro­ scopic form In German toyland, even down to the wee pairs of hand-knitted stockings and sweaters, the hob-nailed shoes and blue blouses which make up the wardrobe of the volks boy and girl. The tourist season is a second Christmas for Nuremberg people, and they sell as many play­ things in the one period as the other. An Inter­ esting point brought to light by this fact is the early differentiation of the American and Euro­ pean individuality, which shows itself in choice of games and pastimes. They say in the shops that an American child Is invariably fascinated over the mechanical and complicated, that he finds In­ tense interest In mastering the technicalities even of playing, while the European child likes a sim­ pler but brilliantly colored toy, cherishing often a curious sentiment for traditional objects such as typify old world conservatism. They are blessed with imagination, these vil­ lage people, and they are not aBhamed of show­ ing their simplicity of spirit. Their souls are bound up in the heritage of centuries. The trag­ edies of their city's history wind about the toys they make, breathing into the wood a characteris­ tic vitality--the vitality that comes of centuries of striving, of centuries of patient achievement. As you sit in a swirl of red ribbon and foamy paper, "doing up" jour Christmas presents, re­ member that many of them have come from this quaint little Village of Always Christmas. It may add to your holiday happiness to know thft no pleasure which the toys may bring can be greater than the pleasure of those who made them, and that no good will of yours can outdo the quiet sincerity of purpose with which the simple people of Nuremberg have given their part toward th<« season of the universal gift. Nomads of the Cranberry Logs It never falls to surprise tourists "Who visit Cape Cod for the first time to find this large foreign population, which has no parallol anywhere else In the country and most of whom speak little or no English. Many of the Cape Verde Islanders are true no- jnads in their visits to the cranberry country, arriving in the spring when cultivation on th« bogs opens and re- ^tnalning until the end of the picking season late in the autumn, making trip both ways in sailing vessels that are engaged during the winter months in the coasting trade on the coast of Africa. A skillful cranberry picker can earn from $3 to $5 a day, so the "oravas," as these invaders are called, can within a few years save enough to live In affluence In their isl­ and home. Under the new conditions not only la the picking ot oraabM^ ties done by the aid of machines, but other machines separate and sort the berries.--Christian Herald. Hark Back to History. Tu the good old days of story, Bos­ ton women had spinning wheels and were encouraged to make the material for their own clothes In order that the colony might not have to depend to such a great extent upon the Im­ ports from Great Britain. Consequent­ ly there were often contests on the with prim offered, aat some of the daintiest ladies of the old days sat down with the humblest, by way of example. Five hundred Boston girls are now scouring the country for spinning wheels, and they will take part in the pageant of 1915. They have made their own ulothel after the pattern 9f those worn -by Felicity and Priacllla, in a contest In 1725. NEWS BREVITIES OF ILLINOIS The hairs of our baeds are gnn> bered. But then so are the antno biles and trolley cars. Havana.--Charging that votes were cast in the recent election for county superintendent of schools by illegal voters, Fannie Spaitz Merwin, who was defeated la h6r campaign for this office by two votes, will contest the election of John A. Mehiop, io whom the Election certificate was giv» Sri by the Mason county reviewing board. Jacob G. Gpalti, father of Mrs. Merwin, preferred the charges which, according to the statute gov­ erning election contests, must be brought by an elector. Mrs. Merwin, among 20 other allegations of irregu­ larity, declares that the reviewing board was composed of Democrat? who were opposed to her candidacy on the Republican ticket. Litchfield.--Mrs. George of 216 West Sargent street, this city, was danger­ ously burned by an explosion of gaso­ line that nearly proved fatal. Mrs. George was cleaning some clothing In hot water and gasoline. The ves­ sel containing the composition was standing on the kitchen^ stove. The gasoline became hot ai>d an explosion followed that, shook the house. Be­ fore Mrs. George could escape sha was in flames. Seizing a large cape she threw it over her head, which was probably all that saved her life. Her screams for help attracted the neigh­ bors, who rescued her, but not until she was severely burned and her hair almost entirely burned off. Ottawa.--Three children of L. E. Kassel, who left their home more than a week ago, have not been lo­ cated by the parent. It is thought the children voluntarily deserted their father. Joliet.--Dragged 100 yards by a runaway team of horses, Albert Riley miraculously escaped with bruises, cuts and one broken bone. Bystand­ ers who rushed to his assistance ex­ pecting to find him dead were surpris­ ed to learn that he was not seriously Injured. Duquoln.--Miss Lillian M. Sturm became a Bridegroom when she de­ cided to exchange her name for that of a St. Louis fireman. Roy E. Bridegroom is the man. Bridegroom, while anxious to be the bridegroom* thought two Bridegrooms at a wed­ ding were better than one bridegroom. County Clerk J. G. Taff-ee looked from the bridegropm-elect to the Bride­ groom-to-be when they asked for a license. "Name, please," he requested. "Bridegroom," said Bridegroom. "Name, please?" repeated Taffee, im­ patiently. "Bridegroom," insisted Bridegroom. Taffee looked up stern­ ly. "I'm in a hurry," said he; "give me your name!" "We're in a hurry, too," said Bridegroom. "Give us the license," Taffee saw a big white light. "Oh!" he said. Chicago.--Eleven persons -- eight men, a woman and two boys-- narrowly escaped death from gas in a house at 1829 Allport street and are all ill arid under the care of a physi­ cian. Only for the prompt action of a boarder on another floor of the struc­ ture none of the 11 would oe alive. The persons overcome livet} in the flat of John and Katie Kraeftjulit, at the address given. Frank Marik re­ turned home late and as he ascended the stairs he smelled gas. It was so strong as to be almost ovei powering. Marlk bent low and, clinging to the railing, rapidly continued bia way up to the first landing. Then it be­ came apparently that the gas was es­ caping from the Krahulit flat. Springfield.---Rev J os Gpli Prsncis D. D., bishop of Indianapolis, Ind., made the opening address at the annual synod of the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield. Rt. Rev. Edward W. Osborne, bishop of the diocese of Springfield, delivered his annual ad­ dress. E. A. Snively acted as toast- master at the laymen's banquet, held at the parlsnhouse. Bishop Francis made the principal speech. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: Secretary, Rev. E. H. Clark, Springfield; assistant secretary, Rev. William Baker of Bloomington; treas­ urer, W. R. Vredenburgh of Spring­ field. Chicago.--One and one-half mil­ lion dollars Is the amount neces­ sary to convert the state insane asy- j lum at Elgin into a hospital In real­ ity for the cure of the mentally af­ flicted, according to a statement of the superintendent, Sidney D. Wilgus, In an address before the Elgin Press club. He had asked the state board of charities for an appropriation of 11,000,000, but did not expect to get more than half that sui£ for the com­ ing year. Present facilities were in­ adequate for curing or properly hous­ ing the insane, he added. Shelbyvllle.--John Knox, a mer­ chant at Mode, and brother ol Chief of Police J. E. Knox of this city, fell from a load of fodder on the Chafee farm, near Mode, and his neck was broken. A boy who was with him says Knox seemed to have s fainting spell. The boy tried to hold him from falling, but was unable to do so. Mr. Knox was widely known In Shel­ by county. He Is survived by a wife. Springfield.--Whether steam rail­ roads can be legally forced to co­ operate jwith electric railroads in Illi­ nois, to the extent of interchanging freight cars loaded with merchandise, is a question with which the Illinois railroad commission will grapple in a meeting in Chicago. The Chicago hear­ ing arises from the refusal of the Al­ ton and other roads, it is alleged, to accept freight from the Joliet & Chi­ cago Traction company without un­ loading. It Is probable the commis­ sion will hand down a sweeping de­ cision covering the situation in a short time. Springfield.--City and county au­ thorities were requested by State's Attorney Burke to arrest John Berry, a farm laborer, who is accused of deserting his wife, leaving her in a small farmhouse, two hours before she gave birth to a child. The woman was found lying unconscious in the oold house, without fire or bedding She and the child are In a critical condition. Blobmington.--Melvln Anderson, a retired farmer of Taylorville, wai married here to Mrs. Elizabeth Ad tms, a professional nurse who at om f.lme attended Anderson's daughter JERSEY CIDER GIVES mm A ROARING JAG B OV I N U F I L L UP ON APPLE MA3H AND INDULGE IN HILARIOUS BACCHANALIAN ANTICS. Rocksburg, N. J.--When the work­ ers at the Warren county cider mill near here went home they left the trough of apple mash uncovered, with the result that a herd of ten cows from ac adjoining farm, wandering in from the lnclosure, ate most of it. Farm hands were attracted to the place a short time later, noticing a disturb* ance among the bovines, and found the yard of the mill in an uproar. The cows were frisking about, kicking into the air, and assuming attitudes that in a human being would have been described as hilarious. Puzzled at these antics, the farmers became worried when one after an­ other of the c,j»ws sank to the ground. Believing the prevalent epidemic of hog cholera had reached the supposed CURETHATCOLD TO DAY r:<, m Cows With a Cider Jag. Immune cows, they summoned a veter­ inary, whose diagnosis relieved the anxiety of the situation. "Just a Jer­ sey cider Jag of untoward propor­ tions," was his verdict The cows' heads were bathed In ice water and In a short time they recovered, since which time they have refused all food, subsisting on copious draughts from the pasture spring. None has been near the cider mill since, >and to pre­ vent future bacchanalian raids on the part of the herd a new cover for the trough is In place. "I would ntkw frcwrre the hralft •f • MtiOK than be it* rater."--HON* TON. Thousands of people who flm suffering with colds are about today. Tomorrow they may be prostrated with penumoniag An mince of prevention is wurtu a, pound of cure. Get a 25 cent bottle of Muik» yon'a Cold Cure at the nearest drug store. This bottle may be conveniently carried in the vest pocket. If you are not satisfied with the effects of the rem­ edy, send us your empty bottle and we will refund your money. Munyon's Cold Cure will speedily break up all forms of 4. ; J > K- aim iJuruinOlliii. It checks discharges of the nose and eyes, stops sneazinj;, allays inflammation ana "ever, and tones up the system. If you need Medical Advice, write to Munyon's Doctors. They will carefully diagnose your case and advise you bjr mail, absolutely free. TnJ.rcv Munyon, 53d and Jeffemon street^ Philadelphia, Pa. ; y StlKffitl!! Is • he name to remember "-'ft -•! you need a remedy f o r COUCH! and COL.D SHUT IN VAULTED HUMIDOR Time-Lock Device Protecting 4,000,00C or 8o Choice Havanas Catches Clerk Napping. Chicago.--Fred Rosenthal, a cigar clerk at 110 Monroe street, has always loved the aroma of a good cigar, and especially of the imported variety, but the aroma of 4,000,000 cigars which he was forced to Inhale for two hours the other day has completely cured him of his fancy. At 2:30 o'clock the other afternoon Rosenthal entered a new steel vault holding 4,000,000 cigars, which the H. M. Schermerhorn company has had recently Installed In Its store. As he stepped within, the automatic lock sprung, closing the heavy double doors and Rosenthal saw no hope but to Wait until the lock would BUtOiiiauS ally open at 8 tho next morning. In the meantime the patent humi­ dors, which are Installed in the vault to keep thA cigars most, worked over­ time and filled the airtight compart­ ment with the strong, damp fumes of the Havanas. Rosenthal kicked on the door, but to no avail, and the fumes began to make his head 6pin around like a top. Be­ cause of the confusion on the first floor, when the afternoon trade was at its height, no one paid any attention to the young clerk's knocks. It was two hours later, when Charles Link, the chief clerk. Jour­ neyed up to the vault to procure a particular brand of imported "stogies," that he found the door locked and heard a faint noise within. He hur­ riedly worked the combination and threw open the door. Forth stumbled Rosenthal, sallow and pale, and he staggered as if in a drunken stupor. After a couple of hours' rest on a couch In the office he was able to again resume his work, but feeling weak and faint. And now the other clerks are kidding him with: "Oh, you imported aroma." A DIFFERENCE. Stranger--Is this the nursery? Host--No; that's the bawl?room. Tug of War for Bride. Atlanta, Ga.--A tug of war for pos­ session of a bride of a few minutes threw the congregation in the Cen' tral Baptist church here Into the wild* est confusion and caused a suspen­ sion of the servlres. The tussle waa between the young husband, George H. Coker, oh one side, and the two maiden sisters of Mrs. Coker on the other. Mr. and Mrs. Coker had eloped and been mar­ ried by the pastor of Central church Just before a special evening service. Two sisters of Mrs. Coker, declar­ ing Mr. Coker should not marry their sister, arrived Just ks the ceremony was finished, and, not knowing it waa all over, attempted to pull her up the aisle, while the husband sought to keep her at his side. The contestants left the church, after the sisters of the bride ^ere convinced that the marriage had already taken place. Auto Freezes Fast In Creek. Salt Lake City, Utah.--J. P. Quirk of Minneapolis reached here after a narrow escape from death from ex­ posure and starvation in Wyoming In the course of an automobile trip from his home to California. The car stuck fast in a freezing creek and the chauffeur and a guide started out to secure aid, became lost and were not discovered until three days later. Mr. Quirk, when bis companions did not return within a reasonable time, left the machine and'wandered about un­ til he came upon a sheep herder's camp. He waa taken la tod was di­ rected to Medicine Bow, where he se­ cured men to go to tfc* aid of his chauffeur and culd& Does Your Cat Cough? Poor pussy! As if the immemorial charges against her of keeping us awake o' nights and of eating canary birds whenever she gets the chance were not enough, the doctors havp just discovered that for years she has been responsible for the spread of diphtheria. Dr. Q. J. Aw bum of Manchester, England, having traced an epidemic of this disease In a sub­ urb of that city to a pet cat belonging to one of his patients, has found, after much clever investigation, that all cats are peculiarly susceptible to diphtheritic affections of the throat. He has therefore recently been warn­ ing all families who own cats to watch them carefully, and, if they de­ velop coughs, to forbid their being hugged and petted. Dr. Awburn fur­ ther recommends that If the cough persists and the cat begins to grow thin to have the animal destroyed at once. The only really safe way, he says, is to let the first wheeze be pussy's death warrant Sense of Taste. From a series of experiments re­ cently made at the University of Kan­ sas It Is evident that the average per­ son can taste the bitter of quinine when one part Is dissolved in 52,000 parts of water. Salt was detected In water when one part to 640 of the liquid was used. Sugar could be tast­ ed in 228 parts of water and common soda in 48. In nearly all cases women could detect a smaller quantity than men. hAGER TO WORK. Health Regained by Right Food. The average healthy man or woman Is usually eager to be busy at some useful task or employment. But let dyspepsia or Indigestion get hold of one, and all endeavor becomes a burden. "A year ago, after recovering from an operation," writes a Mlcnigan lady, "my stomach and nerves "began to give me much trouble. "At times my appetite was vora­ cious, but when indulged, indigestion followed. Other times I had no appe­ tite whatever. The food I took did not nourish me and I grew weaker than •ver. "I lost interest in everything and wanted to be alone. I had always had good nerves, but now the merest trifle would upset me and bring on a violent headache. Walking across the room was an effort and prescribed exercise was out of the question. "I had seen Grape-Nuts advertised, but did not believe what I read at the time. At last when it seemed as If I was literally starving, I began to eat Grape-Nuts. MI had not been able to work for a year, but now after two months on Grape-Nuts I am eager to be at work again. My stomach gives me no trou­ ble now, my nerve* are steady as ever, and interest in life and ambition have come back with the return to health," Read "The Road to Wellvllle," In pkgs. "There's a Reason." Brer rend «h»- above letterf A a«n one appears front time to tUM. They are iconluc, uae, mud full ksasa latere* t. /

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