McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 8 Dec 1897, p. 6

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EXPENSIVE HOSPITALITY. A. Host Who Put Up a Sign for the Benefit of Visitors. "'Down in nearly any of the Southern States," remarked the New York drum­ mer Sundaying In Washington, "the oppression of hospitality, if I may so express it, is sotnethipg the Northern­ er has no idea of. I have traveled in IDflgland, as well as all oVfcr the South, and I have actual knowledge of what I-am talking about. I never heard of a Yankee being eaten out of house and home by his friends, but I know of a dozen families in different parts of the South who have a continual strug­ gle for existence simply because they haven't the courage to put up the bars and shut out their thoughtless visitors, who drop In at any and all times for a meal or a night's lodging, or both, or half-a-dozen of them, for that matter. Of course they are just as ready to ex­ tend a similar courtesy, but it isn't every family who can make itself even by boarding it out, and the result is that burdens are thoughtlessly thrust upon many who are kept with their noses to the grindstone as long as they live. "I never knew of but one w-lio had the nerve to inaugurate a new order of things, and lie, or she rather, has been at.it so shortly that I cannot say how it will turn out, though so far It is a glittering success: This man had a good farm and a raft of friends who seemed to think that his house was theirs free of cost, and used it accord: Jngly. His first -wife was a native of the same count:', and she couldn't turn people away, though she and her hus­ band both felt that they were gradual­ ly being devoured and worked to death for their friends. Four years ago she died, and a year ago he married a Pennsylvania woman of sense and courage, and with no traditions and customs to observe. She said nothing for the first six months, but went ahead keeping a free hotel and listen­ ing to compliments on the superior kin.1 of a woman she was, and then she called for a change. "She had a comfortable competence of her own, and out of that she took enough to paint and enlarge the house and improve the grounds, and ifi the meantime she announced that she was going to keep a hotel. Of course, Avliile the workmen were tearing things up, the visitors had to stay away, and in this way they quit for a time. "On the 1st of September last she opened up the place, which she had made very handsome, and began wait­ ing for guests. The only indication of a hotel there is is an archway over the big gate on the pike, about a quarter of a mile from the house, and on this is a four-foot square sign reading: Hotel Bountiful. Best Meals and Beds in the County. Everybody Welcome. Entertainment for Man and Beast. Trices $5 per Day Up. Single Meals, $1.50. Lodging. $2. No Reduction by the Week or Month. Dogs and Children Not Admitted. Come one. Come All. MR. AND MRS. BLANK, Proprietors. "As I said," concluded the drummer, "I don't know how the scheme will re­ sult, but when I was in that neighbor­ hood ten days ago they hadn't done enough business to pay for the sign. In fact, they hadn't had a single guest, and I never saw two hotel proprietors as thoroughly contented and happy over the exceedingly bad business they were doing." well for Mr. Rhoades tbaf he was not ill camp. "He told me all about it." said Sam. "They was five acres in the home place that he got from his father'jj estate close to town, an' he bought five more joinin', mortgagin' the ten to make up the balance of the money. He'd a-made It all right, but times got hard, an' first one, then another of them got sicfe an' he had to keep on a-mortgagln'. He see he could never pay out, so he come out here to see if he couldn't strike it, leavin' nearly all the money they had with his wife, an' this cuss Rhoades sayin 'that he'd let the mortgage stan* anuther year, now--dern him. See that stain there? That's from a bunch of apple blossoms that was in the letter; he 'lowed they must a-been from the yellow harvest tree back of the garden, poor cuss. 'Take fceer cf yehr health, dead husban',' an 'him a-layin' flat of his back up there in his tent, without money enough for a month's grub. 'Come back soon to us'--hum-m. Look here, pardners, let's answer Bessie's prayer, an' show this feller Rhoades whether mlnin' is chasin' wild geese ur not. Mebbe Sam's a dern fool, an' I know he ain't got much money, but he can rustle. I'll go purty nigh my pile on it--there's fifty; who's all in on it?" and lie slammed two twenties and a ten on the bar. It was just like Sam, and whoever heard an appeal like go unanswered in a mining camp? There were fifty meii in the room, and every man saw Sam's ante, and those that did not have that amount borrowed it from their friends. In a few moments $2,- 550 in gold lay piled on the bar. Sam's eyes glistened as he counted the mon­ ey. "Everybody's in on the game," he said; "won't one of you com: down and see what he has to say?" "No nonsense, Sam; you take it down, an' tell us what he says to-morrow." "No, I'll be denied if I do. Some of you fellers got to come along. I ain't a-goin' to play this hand alone any longer." So three or four of us went with him. Well, there is no use going into details. What would you or aty other man say under the circum­ stances? Finally he wanted to give us a note or send a mortgage back as se­ curity, but we laughed at him, and all of us crawled into our blankets that night conscious of having done some­ thing that might balance something eise on the debit side of the recording angel's ledger. He was too ill to travel alone, and at last, after repeated urg- Ings, Sam was induced to accompany him. Prof. A. H. Sayco is adding still an­ other volume to the long list of his pub­ lished works. "The Early History of the Hebrews" is just announced for publication by the Macmillan company. Besides the prosecution of his wo^k as Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, this author has been an indefatigable student of and writer on subjects cog­ nate to his own particular field of re­ search. * Mrs. Morris has given up Ivelmscott House, Hammersmith, and the lease lias been taken Over by H. C. Marilller. Besides the interest conferred upon ICelmscott House by Mr. Morris, who made it the central scene of his Utopia in "News from Nowhere," and erected his presses next door, there is an older legend attached to It. Sir Francis Ron­ alds ,one of the pioneers of electric telegraphy, lived there and built what was practically the first experimental long line, carrying several miles of wire up aiid down the spacious garden, which'is one of the principal charms of the estate. The Engineering Magazine, in a lead­ ing artjcl^ by Iliram S. Maxim, upon "The Effects of Trade Unionism upon Skilled Mechanics," furnishes a most Important contribution to the discussion, of one of the fundamental problems confronting the modern industrial world; The great engineering strike which now convulses England uses the demand for shorter hours as a screen for the enforcement of trade, union principles and domination which threaten her manufacturing suprem­ acy. The London Saturday Review greets the appearance of the Times' new mag­ azine, Literature, with a long and acri­ monious article predicting the speedy downfall both of the Times and of its magazine on account of, its ultra-con- servatism and because of the "odd brain structure of its editor and man­ ager." It twits the Times on its fam­ ous error in allowing itself to be duped by the Pigott letters, and says it is so hopelessly out of sympathy wrltli cen­ tury-end thought and feeling that it can never awaken public interest. Even the Saturday Review's praise of Mr. Traill, the editor of Literature, Is tem­ pered by classing him with the "fossil­ ized, gentlemen from the British Muse­ um," who are to write for the new Mag­ azine, Clearly the amenities of Brit­ ish journalism are not so much sweeter than those of the American country editor, after all. I of East Lexington, Mass. He has been collecting material for it during the last twelve years and estimates .that it will require three volumes of 500 pages each to develop his plan In a satisfac­ tory manner and that it will take three or four years to bring it to a satisfac­ tory conclusion. The work is being conducted under the auspices of Julia Ward Howe, T. W. Higglnson, William T. Harris, commissioner of education; A. F. Chamberlain, Clark University; Edward Everett Hale, Ednah D. Che­ ney, William Lloyd Garrison, Philip S. Moxom, D. D.; Hattie Tyng Griswold," Caroline Bartlett Crane, Mary A. Liv- ermore, Nathan Haskell Dole, Frank B. Sanborn, and several editors. loaned: his elbow on the bar and gazed out'iuttfttbe darkness, at the same time twisting his milstaclre fiercely, as if worried oversoiuethhig. "What's wrong, Sam? Patient dead?" some one ^Sked. - "No,"/said Sam, "b,ut he's a-layin' up there wisbfu' he wa^. f tell you, pard­ ners,"' he continuectv turning to the crowd, "I've.been in hard luck myself- --so've all of "us, I guess--an' seen oth- fers in hard'luck, but that poor cuss up ^here's in the hardest streak of luck I ever see. He's plum down to bedrock an'nary color." "That's nothin,' Sam: we've all been there many a time. What's the matter --out of grub?" "Naw, lie .ain't out 0' grub, an' won't be as long's Sam's got any; but it's somebody else. I got a letter for him. to-day on the stage anr took it down to him. After he read it lie* jest turned over with his back to DIP an" laid quiet, but purty ,soon I shifted to where I could see his face, an' I'll be derned if : he wasn't cryin'--yes. sir, cryin' like a I baby, he's thftt weak, you know. I says to hitfl^asyjike, 'What's the mat­ ter, pard?^ <' " 'Nothin',' he says, 'only more hard luck.' "'Girl gone back on you?' I said, thiukin' to-be. cheerful an' niakin' up my mind to josh him. .4 " 'No,' he says; 'It 'ud a-been better for her if she had long 'go. Read that,' he says, an' handed me this," concluded Sam. as he drew a letter from his pock­ et. It was dated from an Ohio village and read as follows: "My Own Dear Husband--Your lov- Wc all thought Pyrites Sam was a fool the very da.v he struck the camp, ftot were not absolutely certain until the night lie came in with his pockets full of pyrites of iron, and taking each man aside jipivately informed him, •with many injunctions as to secrecy, that he had discovered and located a brass mine. As a rule we had grown very tired of initiating every tenderfoot that came along into the mysteries of quartz mining; showing them the dif­ ference between gold-bearing quartz and country rock; between a true fis­ sure and contact vein; between gran­ ite, porphyry, schist, spar, serpentine, fluartzite, etc.; of trends, dips, spurs, angles, etc.; of shafts, tuunelk, stopes, "winzes, and drifts; of the manipula­ tion of the horn spoon or gold pan; how to distinguish the resultant sediment, If gold, from mica,, pyrites or sulphur-, ets; in a word, teaching them in an hour or- two, all we hatl'lwtued after years of toil and privation. We had reached this stage of the "tired feeling" when Sam brought in his "brass" speci­ mens, and not a man of us would tell him what it was. "Uh-liuh," we said, as be carefully exhibited his deceptive- looking find. What did we think of it? Why, it was a great find and very high- grade ore--if it was brass. "If"--why, ©f course it was brass; look at it; any­ body could see what it was. We admit­ ted that they could; yes, anybody that knew anything at all. So we permitted Sam to work away in ignorance on his Claim for two weeks--until he received returns from the sample sent to Los Angeles for assay. Then the "Brass Jlonkey," as Sam called it, shut down, and he went to prospecting again. We WORKING WOMEN INCREASING. A MANUFACTURER who gives /\ employment fo a large number of women and girls cites a few reasons for the preferment shown the fair sex. He says that women are more adaptable, more reliable, more easily controlled, neater, quicker, more indus­ trious, careful, polite and docile than men. "Furthermore," tie continued, "where men and women are in other respects equal there is one point of su­ periority on the part of women that counts heavily, and that is . sobriety. Taking this in conjunction with the fact that employers are more and more making it an absolute condition of em­ ployment, it will be seen that women possess an advantage that is very marked. The advantage of being will­ ing to accept smaller pay is an unsta­ ble equilibrium, but the advantage of habits- of sobriety is a stable equili­ brium, and sober men possess the same advantage.*'"- • . . The percentage of increase of women In all gainful occupations since 1880 is 48, while the percentage of their in­ crease In mechanical industries is near­ ly G3. Amoug the gainful occupations in which women are engaged to the ac­ tual number of 4,000,000 are those of pilot, sailor. locorootSTe engineer, plumber, machinist, workers in iron, steel, brass, lead and zinc; boiler-mak­ er, nail-maker, furnace-maker, roofer and slater. Although as yet women are not found in rolling mills, blast fur­ naces, nor In any of the occupations that expose the workers to excessive heat, it is probable that there will be inventions before a very long time which will relieve all such labor of many of its special hardships, and the entrance of women will follow. Hook for the Theater Hat. The theater-going woman has always strongly objected to taking off her hat in the theater for the reason that no place has been provided where it can be stowed away without danger of in­ jury when it is off. To carry it on the lap throughout the performance is a more unfeasible idea than if it were a baby, and,to place it under the seat is only to tempt the fate which falls up­ on the unhappy chimney-pot of her male escort, A solution of the difficul­ ty takes the form, however, of a newly invented hat peg. which is screwed in­ to the back of the seat in front, and, being telescopic in its formation, is drawn out when .wanted, and forms no obstruction when out of use, and, joy of joys! there is a mirror at the ter­ minal knob, whereby the fair lady may adjust her tresses and her treasured tile and go forth again with a clear conscience and at peace with all men. Perfumes and the Nerves. It may not be generally known, but it Is nevertheless a fact, that the per­ fumes which are the most pleasing to the senses are not in all cases helpful to the nerves. Ambergris, for instance, Is positively offensive to many, yet it is said to possess a wonderful power of clearing ?ae brain and driving away those evil spirits known as the "blues." On the other hand, attar of roses, with the suggestion of glowing suns and gorgeous eastern colors, predisposes one"' to tears. A faint odor of musk as a tonic, while civet brings drowsi­ ness of soul, for which the best anti­ dote is the pungent odor of sandal wood. The fragrance of the citron and aloe wood is as soothing to nervous people as far-off music. Fruits for the Skin. Fruit acids will cure most skin dis­ eases and will keep the complexion clear when medicine lias failed. Ap­ ples will relieve a torpid liver, and the sallowness which results from it. Plums and peaches will correct acidity of the stomach. Grapes will stimulate digestion. Oranges supply food and medicine for the throat, and berries of any kind will cur(f cjtses of skin erup­ tion. A good physician declares that the best skin and blood tonics are made from fruit acids. Girls with pallid complexions want strawberries; if not to be had, substitute bananas; but of all fruits, the apple stands unrivaled for all general purposes of diet and medicine. Barred Out by Their Beauty. Many reasons have been advanced for the exclusion of foreigners who sought to take up residence in this country, but so far as records show none has been barred for the same rea­ son as now operates to detain Ella and Agnes Frensdorf at the immigrant landing in JJew York. The- girls are sisters from Hamburg, and came to America hoping to find at least it tem­ porary home with their untiey S. P. De Yough, a New York importer of wealth. On their arriral the rich mer­ chant went to meet them and was at ktnee impressed with the idea that the LITTLf j. RECENT INVENTIONS. A bottle washing machine recently patented has a rotary brush mounted on the end of a hollow shaft with perfora­ tions through which water flows to cleanse the bottle as the brush revolves and loosens the dirt. Clotheslines which need no pins to fasten the clothes are being made of wire links with the ends of the Wire lying parallel with the side of the link to form spring clamps into which the cloth is forced to hold it fast. A New York man has patented a re­ versible street car, in which a turn­ table is mounted on the truck to sup­ port the car, which Is turned by a crank on the front platform geared to a circular toothed track inside the turntable. Seeking Veterans as Husbands. Much complaint has been made re­ cently of the increasing number of young women who are marrying veter ans of the late war ostensibly for the purpose of receiving their pension after their death. The inmates of the old soldiers' home in Togas, Maine, are much alarmed over the recent sugges­ tion of Pension Commissioner Evans, who has recommended to Congress that no pensions be granted the widows of soldiers who are married hereafter. Many veterans who live at the home nre trapped into marriage every year by women who seek the $12 a month pension, which will come to them on the death of their husbands. Counterfeit silver dollars of greater A Washington man has patented a veight and fineness than those turned boat which has the rear end submerged >ut from Unc}e Sam's mints are the with the seat 'overhanging an open a test in the counterfeiter's art, and well, the front of the boat being raised St. Louis is the first city to suffer from above the water line, the advantage hem. For a week St. Louis bank tell- being that the boat is not easily rocked, irs accepted the counterfeits in qnes- Tailors will appreciate a new spool- ion without hesitation. It was only holder which has. two wire spindles to •vhen they reached the St. Louis suL- enter the ends of the spool and Is sup- reasury that the spurious character ported by a hook Avhich can be attached vas detected. in a handy position on the coat, so that A Wins ted (Conn.) man met a girl the thread is always ready to be uu- ind was married to her an hour and a wound. lalf later In order to fulfill the condi- Circular saws are being used in :ions of his uncle's will and come into butcher shops, a frame being attached ,)ossession of $5,000. to the block and extending over it to A tramp wearing a shiny silk hat hold the saw in position on a spring ivas one of the sights in Portland the arm, so it can be depressed as it is rap- it her day. * idly revolved by means of a crank and It is estimated that a single brewery chain gear. in Munich makes $34,000 a year extra A new combined spring pedal and toe by selling foam instead of beer on the clip consists of a steel plate riveted to top of each glass. the pedal shaft with te£th at the rear It cost the city of Bridgeport, Conn., edge to grip a cleat in the shoe sole and £50 the other day when a Hungarian the front portion elongated and curv- rjri tried to mail a letter in a fire- ed over at the end to form a toe clip, alarm box. A current motor," for use in running The average price of a cashmere gout streams, consists of two flanged cylin- or sheep is about $1,000. About five ders, pivoted end to end in a floating pounds of wool are needed for an en- frame, with a cogwheel mounted on a tire Cashmere shawl. shaft and meshing into circular tooth- _ . ed gears on the inner ends of the cylin- Corrosive water is a common source ° , . . ^ . . . . . . T , . . . . d e r s . T h e f l a n g e s a r e m o u n t e d i n o p p o - of trouble In metal mines. Its etlect alrectIons ou the cylinders, soa, on iron, curious!,- enough, is greater s„les o£ „lc beel. when it simply drips on the metal man . when the Iron is immersed in it. A Compressed ail is used in place of 12-pound iron rail has been cut in two tll<? old-fashioned 'well sweep to raise in a few weeks by drops of water fall- water from a well, the bucket being in"- oh it hung on one end of a rope with a ••liol-- ° low air chamber and a number of The latest charge against electric weights at tlie opposite end. The air is railroads is that in many places w. c..e juto the reservoir to raise the they run near the coast t ley lstui heights and lower the bucket, which the working of sub-marine e ec nc ca raised by exhausting the air and bles. Hie electric stieet nu n allowing the weights to fall to the bot- Cape Tow,*, Africa, says the Electrical ^ Qf the weU Engineer.) has a ffectea seriously the - ; • . efficiency of the siphon recorder of the A Texan has invented a machine to sub-marine ;cable of the Eastern aud resuscitate drowning • persons, which South African Telegraph Company. has a supporting table with an opening at one end to receive the mouth and More Precious than Gold. nose of the patient, kneading devices At last, after many dangers, she had to engage the sides and back of the braved the terrors of the Chilkoot pass body, and a single operating' rueclian- and had rejoined her lover on the Klon- ism to alternately draw them in, the dike. i • supporting table being raised and low- "Are you glad to see me?" she asked, ered at the foot while the operation is "Do you still think that I am worth my going on. weight In gold?" "In gold?" he cried contemptuously, Makes One Exception. as he folded her to his frozen bosom. A California temperance association "My darling, you are worth your limits the beverages of its members to weight in hash." wine, beer and cider, "except when -- laboring under a sense of discourage- gwallow Faster than Pigeon. ment, and then whisky shall be al- Some time ago the experiment was lowed." They are said to be the most made of letting loose at Compeigne a discouraged temperance people in the swallow belonging to Antwerp in com- State. pany with a number of pigeOns. The * swallow immediately made a bee-lin^ There Was Another, for home and arrived there in one •lack--I hear you had a narrow es- liour, while the pigeons required three cape from a grizzly in the mountains hours.--Philadelphia Ledger.' *^ls summer. Ella--Yes, indeed. It was the tight- Thc Ever Present Question. est squeeze I ever had. First Cyclist--Oh, you wouldn't, like Jack (putting his arm around her)^ Jobson; lie's got a wheel in his head. Well, that grizzly is not the only mem- Second Cyclist--What make?--Judge, her of the "press association." LOOK HERE, PARTNERS; LET'S ANSWER BESSIE'S PRAYER, responsibility of looking after two girls was more than he could under­ take. Mr. De Yough wants them to return to Germany and promises lo send them money regularly after their arrival there, "but," says he, "beauti­ ful as they are I cannot assume charge ef them; they are too beautifuL" The representative of Austroi-Hun- gary found them places as governesses in a Brooklyn family, but the head of this household acknowledged that If they did not prove what lie wanted hp would discharge them. This is one of the contingencies to provide against which the immigration bureau was formed, so the girls may yet have to return to Germany. Scarcity of Wo nieru Young women are still searee in .Ida­ ho, and bachelors who desire to change their conditions ©f single blessedness are plenty. As a result of this condition of affairs school boards in that State have difficulty in securing teachers to conduct their schools. There are about ten unmarried men to one unmarried woman in Idaho. Dr. William C. WhitewelL a druggist, and the Maj'or of Salmon City, Idaho, gives the following incident as a sam­ ple of. the Avay schoolnia'anas are woo­ ed and won in Idaho: "A charming young lady, Miss Busch, came from Iowa to teach In the public school in Givensvllle," be says, "but before she was there three months she was engaged to a prominent man of the town, and at the close of the school term they were married. Her sister came to teach the next school year. When the term was half over this sis­ ter resigned and married, and sent for another unmarried sister to take her place as teacher. The third Miss^Rusch taught In the school the latter half of the term, but three days after the term closed she was married to a business man of the town." Mine Worked by Women. It is an uncommon sight in this coun­ try to see young women mining coal from the bowels of the earth. Such a sight, however, can be seen any day in Pennsylvania. The Mahoney valley, near Sliamokin, boasts of a coal mine worked entirely by women. There are seven employed, and they are all relat­ ed, being the daughters of a German miner named Hans. Toilet Odds and Ends. Many waists are fastened with hand­ some buttons, but invisible fastenings are and will be in vogue while such ir­ regular, one-sided effects are worn. The favorite sleeve is one closely fit­ ting with a crisp little puff at the shoul­ der; another is a modified mutton-leg, smooth fitting from waist to elbow, with leaf point finish or flaring tabbed cuff falling over the hand. A new sleeve shows the forearm very close, buttoned nearly Its entire length on the outside, with three upstanding tucks between the buttons, or three rows of Milan braid instead of the tucks. This arrangement reaches to the small shoulder puff. Upright trimmings on half-large hats are a loose velvet draped about the crown, with a bow on the left from which three or five tips or a cluster of feathers rise. Full velvet crowns are found on hats of every kind for chil­ dren, misses and ladies, but for 3-year- old girls the choicest headgear is the Bengaline bonnet. The season's hats are distinctively different. A very becoming idea is for the side-tilted hats to have an ostrich feather under the brim, resting on the hair. All large hats have the turned- up effect on the left side, and a favor­ ite way to trim is a half-long ostrich feather sweeping back from a rosette of velvet, and a steel buckle In the front* and a smaller feather and bow under the left brim. Can Assume Their Maiden Name. A decision which will be of interest to women all over the country was rendered by a Cincinnati judge a few days ago. It is that a woman has the right to continue in business under her maiden name after she is married if she s0 chooses. The judge in his opin­ ion said that a married woman's legal name Is that which her husband bears, and that as long as they are man and wife she can have no other surname, excepting for business purposes, when she can assume her maiden name, or any other name, provided, of. course, that there Is no intent to defraud. Fair Sex to Be Oloried. What woman has done from the time when she began exerting her wiles on unsuspecting Adam up .to the present day is going to be told in a book. It is to be written by George Willis Cooke Too Many to Count. . Lord Kelvin calculates that the num­ ber of molecules in a cubic inch of any gas is 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and in each of these molcules there are several atoms moving among them­ selves at the rate of seventy miles a minute. There are only three negro telegraph operators in this country, but they are all first-class. Somehow, black people do not take kindly to electricity. It is considered that .Japanese men are among-the best needleworkers In the world, their only equals being the women in Russia. The farther a man can look into the future the fewer creditors he sees.

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