¢ One crisp winter morning Ray Coen ,™ took his new Chrietmas sled and went j_ toasting on the long hill beyond the. woods. He wore a fine new sweater that Mother Coon had "Imit him, e sweater that had the letter "R" on the breast to help keep -- warm against the sharp winds. re he coasted -~down the hill and gp oa slowly back to the top again. "My!" daid Ray Coon, stopping to take a. lopg breath. "It did not nanan 80 far aS that when I was going ow Then he took another full breath of the cold air and exclaimed, "And 1 believe this makes me hungry, too!" Just us he spoke he spied his good friend, Bunny Gray, sitting on a log beside the road, eating a big red gp- ple. "Good morning, Bunny!" called Ray Coon. "What « lucky boy you are to have a big red_apple!" "Good morning, Ray!" answered Bunny Gray. "I-was just thinking | what a lucky boy you are to have a fine sled." Then they both laughed heartily, for they were such good friends that each could always count on a share of the other's good things. Bunny jumped up from the log and allowed apple, Then, when Bunny had finished what was left of it, Ray cried: "All aboard! We'il be at the bot- tom in three winks!" When Bunny was seated on the sled, Ray ran a few steps down. the hill, When Ray Coon Went © oesting. an this snow that I cannot nec al bi | | Ray to take two bites of his big red | Said | = AY =D: "Q Mr. Blinky Owl!" said 'Ray. 'Coon. "We ran down poor Mr. Pos- SUM, and I'm afraid we have killed im!" "You ran down Mr. Possum?" re-) peated Mr. Owl. "Well, well, that's 3) foo bad! Let me see! Let me-see!" i He came poking along to where Mr.: Possum lay, and looked bard at him from head to feet; then suddenty he' sat down sal put his ear to Mr. Pos-, som's heart. "It's just as J} thought," he said,' getting up. "Old Mr. Possum is not hurt at ali. I've known him a long! time, and he has a way of playing dead when anything exciting happens. See! You did nct hit him-at all! It was his cane that your sled hit, and. when the cane snapped he tumbled. down. When Mr. Blinky Owl had spoken thus to Ray Coon and Bunny Gray, he! put his bill close to Mr. Possum's ear and shouted, "Whoo! Whoo!" sev-' eral times with al] the strength of his voice, Deaf as he was, Mr, Possum could } not fail to hear that. Te opened first, one eye and then the other, and finally ; raised his head and peered round very carefully. "Is that vou, last Mr Blinky Owl?" he "Ww hat happened to' me? Again Mr. Blinky Owl put his pill! close to Mr. Possum's ear and shouted | again es loudiy as he could. "The boys wee coasting," he said.' "The sled hit your cane and you fell! down. They are very sorry. They! | minutes in an engagement near Ba- hauling the sled, in order io give them a flying start. Then he leaped on behind Bunny. The road was smooth | sum, getting to his feet in very! and the hill was steep. How they! sprightly fashion for an old fellow. ! flew! The faster they went the sharp-/« thought it might be something ér cut the wind, so that Bunny, who! worse, and so I kept quiet to see what! was in front, began to wish that he | would happen. I do not blame the had buttoned his jacket --_ they boys. I know I was right in the mid-! started. dle of the road, anyway." did not mean to do it. "Oh, that's all right!" said Mr. About*halfway down the hil there was 2 sharp turn in the road. they rounded the turn, going faster and faster, they saw a sight that made them both shout in sudden fear. It was old Mr. Possum plodding along the road just ahead. He was leaning on his cane, and over his shoulder he carried a stick with a bundle at the end. of it. he had been over to the village on a shopping trip and had come into the road by a path through the woods. "Look out! Look out!" screamed Ray Coon and Bunny Gray together, at the top of their voices. to shout to a tree. ded on in the middle of the ed,-- crash! crash!--and Probably | It would have done as much good, Ray's sled. That did Old Mr. Possum' room to spare, and they had to hold o was too deaf-to hear them; so he plod-' very tight when the sled flew down road.' the steep hill. There was no time for Ray and Bunny | to enjoy it as much as the boys did, he to steer the sled to one side or even although the wind nearly blew his | to throw themselves off. Before they glasses off. «wild shout a second time, it happen-' bottom of the hill, Mr. Possum jump- there was ed off the sled and shook hands with pocr old Mr. Possum lying flat in the both the boys before he went into! Then Ray Coon and Bunny Gray did' When ; what they could to help Mr. Posstim, ' Ray picked up his stick with the little! bundle at the end, and Bunny, after at long search, found~ his eye-glasses,' which had fallen off into the snow. "Please get on the sled, Mr. Pos- sum," said Ray, shouting | very loud. "We will haul you home." "You are very Mr. Pos- sum, "but you will not" have to haul me far. It is downhill all the way I shall be glad to try coasting again. It has been a long time since I was on a sled." So all. three seated themselves on id not leave any n! Mr. Possum seemed! When they reached the . written by n young Flem to- wife immediately before he ai died: hour has come. J have received © last sacraments. J am going to giv my life gladly for God and country. For the Jast time I Kies your dear pic- +Good-bye, my poor, dear wife; good- bye, my Httle, innocent chi idren, My Jove for vou will not die with me. 'From Heaven I will watch over you and pray for you." Boasts of Slaying Girls. The German public iv well aware of fa i e Koel- recently these whelésale executions. ' nische Zeitung complained that the number of German spies who}. 'were granted their lives was far too ,Jarge and that the Belgians were not worthy of Germany's generous mercy. 'This kindly intention accounts, maybe, rim for the following letter found in the posseszion of a Bavarian soldier who had keen made a prisoner: "Dear Grete Meyer: I bayoneted four women 'and seven girls in five tonville. We had a house to house fight, as the women fired at us - with revolvers, and they shot at the cap- tain too. Then he said I should shoot: "pet suffer. oe : : charecter work ¥y Peers Mars How's Cee ss fate aad Snipers of Highest observing in turn. reba ti live they work together, each knowing kn the other's style and adapting himeelf ONLY PHE BEST OF MATERIALS ARE USED. Greatest of Care Needed in All Stages of Manufacture of Fighting Airship. Ceneider for 2 moment what an air- is both brave to it. i there are volunjgers for the job, Inst while it is almost sure to prove fatal : within the spen of ten-short days it | offers a chance for telling service and Germany had a specialized corps of, snipers when the war began; England | "jand France had none, but with the adaptability that has baffied the Hun 'everywhere the allies picked fhe, science up and went the Hun one bet- ter, developing camouflage AS an as- aviator's tricks are -- i ig he world looking on, wi oh fof men gaping vprard to po i quently his secrets are spread; ' the hemispheres. Everybody' jicjows how he "loops the loop," ed them all, I bayoneted them and did the "falling leaf," th not shoot them, this herd o cows; ! 9) re Elaseatenn ae am mone ae set. Now the allied snipers are mora! , they are worse than the men. I close! yg pus Behances of nature's laws, all; proficient than those of the central "my scrawkwith many greetings. and' 'kisses as if you were here from. far': ; away----Venger." The Germans, when they encounter- ed resistance, invariably took their revenge on the civilian- population. In' | one place the corpses were found of} {three boys and a girl between 7 and; 12 years old; in another the corpses of a woman and a twelve-month-old baby, --both with their throats cut. Man Is Buried Alive. At Tamines, after the massacre, : German doctor ordered a man who was ' still alive to be buried. with the rest.' The plank on which he was lying was j borne on again and the man was seen !to raise his arm elbow high. They call- Pos-'ed to the doctor again, but he signi-/ agonizing stealth and care, watching Wat on the western battle front, fied by a gesture that he was to go into the grave with the others. An English officer of an infantry iregiment speaks of a carriage full of British wounded on which was marked i"Englsche schweinehunde." "At Liege," he continued, "I tried personally to get the Red Cross offi- cials to give our wounded men watef.: They refused. I saw some German Red Cross nurses wa- ally ter in cans up to our men, show it to; them and then pour it on the plat-) form. At 'Aix-la-Chapelle, where there Red Cross 'Dressing Z was an elaborate station, the Sereten wi 8 "T can name you case where a harmless sailing ~ = boat while the .German gu have sat on their absurd bridge raked the helpless vessel from bow to| stern with a hail of bullets. The Abas-' o, a big passenger liner from West |" his out warn- 'ing 300 miles from land at the twi- light of an April evening. The seeth-' ing water smashed her hfeboats while ines, was tor powers, and the life of the German. , sniper promises to be cut down to far) Hess than the given ten days. -- TETANUS, DREAD DISEASE. eless finger snaps at the deeree-of F Tiant Newton. _ + Meneteny of Waiting. apr the "sniper's" bag of tricks : Seat a earth os ; les, e slow monotony o ; 'waiting.~ When the "sniper" dine at "i = pe ben Scourge of =---- ening of his tenth day in No °| - is 'hidd' @ ev 'Man's Land he merely crumples for- iqrard and gasps out his life with no lockjaw, is not a good one, for it de:! Spectators at hand. -He cannot fall | scribes one symptom only--and not i tically to earth at the end of a, the one that is always the most pro- ® 'stirring air duel, marked by millions, 'minent. Moreover, lockjaw, or inabil- eyes. His is a slow, methodical, 'ity to open the mouth, may occur from ; selenttific job; the most dangerous in' causes that have no connection with , the war, and the most painstaking. He tetanus. That disease, which has been | 'the is celebrated wit! Snipiog, which "originated in ee et in all thes The popular name for this disease, | plane in called upen to do. It must extreme changes of tempera- : #1 must stand the buffeting of air ; it must pass unaffected from dryest © of atmospheres to the damp of cloud banks; it must be able to loop do 'and shoek 'of landing. Besides all this, 1 it must be so constructed that the vi- je bration caused by its powerful gaso- line engine producing hundreds of ex- plesions every mimute will not have any ill effects. The wood of an air- plane cannot warp in any way without 'inviting disaster When the wood is actually built into ' the machine each piece of it is protect- | ed by a coat of varnish: The joints of | wings are glued and bound with har- ness maker's' thread. After gluing 'and binding the joints are covered with another coat of glue. 'airplane are made of spruce, the ribs of pine and the re-enforcing strips en | the ribs of birch. Linen For Wings. | The wings of the airplane are cov- ered with a fabric. The material which i has proved to be best adapted for ~th> purpose is linen, Ax it is increasing- iv difficult to obtain linen, a movement has been started to get men to give up | wearing linen collars. "Save the jinen | for the airplanes," they are told, "and j the starch which is used every tim> your collar is laundered for the mianu- | facture of high explosives." The linen is fitted over the frame- The beams of an 'must think of a thousand and one mi-! known for thousands of years, has be- | i work of the wings with all the meti- details; he must move with | come one of the great scourger of the | culous care given to the tailoring of nid ffi oat. There must be no each grain of pound counting every ; not a contagious disense--the sick do! wrinkles. , fabric is sewn to the blade of grass, measuring the wini, not transmit it to the well through! jane} frame with strong waxed thread. the distance, the humidity of the air.! contact or propinquity --but it is in-| Linen absorbs moisture readily. e Requires Steady Nerves. fe eg that is, it is caused by & Therefore, airplane makers coat it He is a pieked man exactly as the apectic 'germ. with a solution which is called dope.- at germ, the tetanus bacillus,| qj, ts of @ sad 6 hotags is a picked man. His nerve gains entrance into the body through | A out fire. conte af Sope are ase " in- as steady as the birdman's id pollen of paling his body mo- ove rue hours at ewe a gra- a break in the skin, and grows in ~the| ssues, giving out a poisonous secre- tion or toxin that especially affects the spinal cord, and through it causes the ae typi cal of-the disease. The Sega in the soil, and fertilized. Whee Weily aching to alte te- tanus germ cannot grow; it thrives only in closed spaces where there i er | little oxygen. t is the reason why a penetrating wound, such as one caus- ed by a nail, or a jagged wound, such of exploding shell, is more likely to be followed by tetanus than an wound. It sometimes occurs after vac- he grass, the house, the wall, cination when there has been careless- pe or the trench which he crouches "against. contamination. Art of Concealment. as one caused by shrapnel or by a bit! open, ness in keeping the wound free from ithe wings. Dopes differ in their gredients. Some are both waterproof and fireproof, while others are only waterproof. When the wings are dry after being doped the linen covering eee into a perfectly smooth, hard "The fuselage or body cannot be fit- airplane as oa ee 'out of true on one side it would have a worse effect on _ the machine when in flight than would a on walght Pest other than amidship in a canoe "Light Alloys Needed. Modern airplanes depend on metal 'to a great extent..Dhe greatest prob- 'lem has been to get metals which were 'not only strong but light. Aluminum 'alloys have.been used with more or less success. But still lighter alleys are wanted. Some have been obtain- 'ed. The most satisfactory have been snow, while Ray and Bunny went fly- his house. ing heels over head into a drift beside "Thank you, boys!" he saic; "that the road. makes me feel younger. I'll try to They clambered out of the drift and keep out of the road the next time hurried back to where Mr. Possum' you are coasting, but some day I lay. They themselves were not hurt' should like to go coasting with you-- a bit. but both of them were so fright-' perhaps to-morrow, if I am not too ened that their hearts went thump!, lame from my fall to-day." thump! | "All right!" shouted Ray. "Oh, I hope we have not killed Mr. : call for you!" Possum!" moaned Ray Coon in a voice; While Ray and Bunny were climb- that was yery trembly. 'ing back up the hill, dragging the "We'll "How still he lies!" said Bunny sled behind them; they agreed that Gray. "We must have hurt him ter-. Mr. Possum was a fine old fellow, and ribly!" , that perhaps once in a while such old While they stood there, eager to do! fellows like to have a little sport as something, but not 4anowing what to! well as youngsters such as them- do, Mr. Blinky Owl came out from | | selves. behi:id a tree and drew near "But wasn't it lucky," said Ray, "that we hit Mr. Possum's enne in- stead of one of his legs!" "Hello, boys!" he called. "What' ia the matter here? The sun is 80} some of those 1,700 executions of in- jmoceut Belgians, which have taken} :place since January, 1917. Among | them numbered ten women, three girls Pe from 14 to 16, and several boys un- GERMANS BEGIN NEW _OUTRAGES der 20. All suppose! to be uilty of | WOMEN AND GIRLS BEING SHOT! cont ernest on and execution have tuk. AND BAYONETED. - en place within three or four days, so that no serious inquiry could be made. Most of these victims of German | terrorism have been subjected before their execution to most cruel tortures 'to force them to denounce their "ac- Belgian Civilians and Hospital Ships! ! * Picked For New Barbaric complices. i Killed Beside Her Parents. A campaign of unprecédented bar- Two daughters of M. Groneret, a barity apparently is contemplated by shopkeeper of Liege, were forced to Germany by land, in the air, and under witness the death of their father and the sea. Hospital ships have been mother. Life was promised them ruthlessly torpedoed in mid-ocean, they consented to speak. The eldest, German planes have swept down from"aged 20, refused courageously, and the skies, bombing and machine gun- was killed beside her parents. Pres- ning hospitals and stretcher bearers! sure was then' put on the younger, a behind the British lines. But in no! girl of 14,.but she remained firm - in case do these atrocities compare with | spite of the efforts of her tormentors, _ those inflicted on the unhappy Bel-, and shared the same fate. gians. a group of twenty prisoners re-| "If any one asks: 'Who lifted the lid | cently shot at Ghent was a girl of 16 of hell?' let the truthful answer be: ! whose only crime had been to carry 'Wilfjam Hohenzollern." He has a. letters over the frontier, She*begged shrunken soul, anda mind that reeks | j for life ungjl the last moment, and was with egomania. He is swollen like a! shot, kneeling. drowned pup with a pride that stiyka, " Again, before his execution, a These words were written by 2 Prus- | sporigman of Ghent, Van Rantogen, sian officer gs he lay dying in the field -- iraeeed t i streets of before Verdun. wn pepreats a chain an Those eyes moat have witnessed jaubjeetod oe + ing of b goldiors Reign. the Germans looked on in amused dis-| The first symptoms may appear in dain while 300 men, women and chil-. dren etruggled in the water." Chums. should die to-night there still would be : If I favor left--one pleasure left to me, that, to come from out my nar- . row cell In aie form and see and wish you! And To tend I beside and hear you jest and quip, And feel again your wholesome fel-' lowship-- To see your smiles and know your heart's rejoice, j And hear your songs and raise my! If you-should die to-night what would, nere be fellowship and happiness for! me ?-- Except. perhaps, to sit alone and stare | Across oA board and see your vacant- of , And, in he smoke, to see you kindly Or hear your'. cheer resosnng through the space of a and, while my fancies! 8 To area alone pf happy times that re! eee - If are must t go and some must ata in If Fate on : dente the friendly Aies that bind-- How better far that Death should eckon on Than Life should last with love and friendship gone! --John D. Wells. --_--_@------------ To end the war honorably would be a great achievement; to prevent the same curse falling upon our chil would be 6 -- achievement -- --Lord Lansdowne A year's 'etort may may be lost lecting brood mares at. fosil 2 A alloys of magnesium. The engines used in propelling air- planes are very similar to the engin> which causes your automobile to run. But the airplane-engine has far gircat- er demands made upon it than has th> automobile engine. Ii has, in the first instance, to be thoroughly reliable as He must leave himself open to the two days, or they may not manifest jene 's fire, but must make himself; themselves for weeks after the injury. 'concealed from the enemy's si ight. If, They consist usually of a slight stiff- jhe hides behind a heap of stones or a ness in the jaw or face muscles--a steel shield he may be free from bullet ; condition that makes it difficult for the j danger, but he will be unable to work, | patient to masticate or swallow. The} since Fritz will be watching this} Muscles ofthe body. and limbs then. _parapet with suspicion. There must: 'become involved; they jerk when the 'be no sky Tine against which his head | skin is touched or when the bed is. well as exceedingly light in weight. will appear. 'jarred, or even when a whiff of air) You know what a lot of trouble very He must mask or paint his face, | blows on the body. 'cold weather makes for automobile en- camouflage his clothes and lie inert Prevention is better than cure, for gines. An airplane may leave the in some spot so conspicuous that it the disease is usually fatal. AH earth when the thermometer registers , will be regarded without suspicion. | wounds that are jagged and narrow 90 in the shade and inside haf an hour | When snow lies on the ground he or deep should be thoroughly cleaned rise 15,000 or 20,000 feet and en- 'chalks his face, whitens his garments 'and opened so that the air may have counter a temperature of from 20 to and flattens himself in a drift in plain | free uccess, and they should be fre- 25 degrees below zero. As the alit- "tight of the Germans, but unseen. , quently irrigated, in the way that war tude increases the power ef an engine He never "snipes" at the enemy di- | wounds now are. If there is any chance decreases, owifig to the effect of( ths rectly in front of him, but always, that the wound has been contaminated varified air which it breathes in i 'ghoots at the flitting heads fur to the With garden oil of refuse. a physician metal lungs. A height of 10,000 feet { ' | right or left. should give a dose of anti-tetanus se- "will reduce engine power by 27 per He watches the barometer intenily, 'yum, That is an almost certain pre-' cent. The higher the engine climbs _for its rise and fall tell him much of ; ventative, but it must be given as soon 'the greater the amount of gasoline it 'how his bullets will fly. Bullets b2- 85 possible, for it has little effect after will consume. have differently in different atmos-, the disease has fully -- ped. Physi- Positively No Suenawork. ' cians sometimes try other ipheres, varying but w fractiof of an. h . remedies An airplane must be so boil) that inch, but oftentimes that fraction of, When it is too late for antitoxin, but its weight may be divided inte per- an inch is enough "et the intended in only sure method is to give anti- coutaces, For exaninie: the olane it- \yietim esespe. ~ oxin before the disease has become eer. Se an ren eee ' } tablished. self, without the engine, fue! or loud, 4 Scientific Job. lentablishe ' toh st ceriati rent H must weigh a vertuin perceniage of Ile measures the velocity of H It is when t . _ ithe whole; the power plant, the movor, 'wind every few minutes with axtesegal ~ --_ wo - burden is' ;adiator, water. air screw and other care, resetting his sights to accommd-. 820e¢ to the burden of to-day that the parts of the power plant are allotted | weight is more than a man can bear. | tpgiry percentage of wei ight. | date its influence on the bullets. -- MacDonald. He watches that the rain_and the} | The load, if a military load, = dow cannot enter his rifle barrel or! The Red Cross originated from the clude the pilot, his observer, \instru- ouch his cartridges, for if a drop of, Geneva convention of 1864, an inter- ' ments, ammunition, machine guns, | water is on either when he fires a tiny 'national meeting called for the pur- ' cameras, radio telegraphi« got. uff of steam will. issue from the | Pose of improving the condition of , Everything which goes to make up gun's muzzle and betray" him ,into soldiers wounded ih the field. | such a military Joad is allotted another the hands of his enemies who 'are! As carbelic acid is a common drug. perceniage of the total weight. watching for him. | in many households, there are numer- | Then the fuel load, which includes He uses a telescope to study the ous cases of burns and poisoning re- gasolene and oj! necessary for a flight of given duration, is weighed and counted as another per cent of the entire 100 per cent. load. There ix no "guesswork nowadays about the con- struction and use of airplanes. ported from its use. For all ordinary enemy's trench and communicating! purposes. about three teaspoonfuls to ditches, covering with it every inch of | ground, looking each sand bag over one pint of water is sufficient strength. for dag trying to find some! However, after all precautions ap- eperture through which a bullet will | parently have been taken, accidents, apesd. He prefers a telescope rather. n happen. If by any mistake the An sirplane is a thing of paradoxes. ap binoculars for the resson that }t | acid reaches the mouth, it is wel] im-,It is both frail and strong. It will a6 gba one lens and @ proportionate-.| mediately to hold in the mouth vine-' endure more than the best automobile iM gmaller chance of catching @ reflec- | gar ss strong as can be endured. This and yet the slightest defect may send will eiso inhibit a good deal of the| it crashing to earth. On this won- burning of carbolie acid when sec}d-| derfully delicate machine with its high suipeta were before thoy aa pplied to the:skin. It iy pre-| power throbbing engire hangs the learned that glasses were finsh-| f ete to heve only the diluted seid in| fate of the world, o ing in the sup or in the flare of ca Have the druggist inform --_---- _ pon, thus making the hiding place psd gir ical to use as a 'a There is more stareh in wheat than isin as day to the Fectant ° . any other food that we eat. = st -