I ‘ ‘ l I 5 Mother Hubbard % £2; ' 13,: J. A. Flynn - wawewmo/swsmwe I T W—AS dead low water with the Weekly Compendium when Mme. de la Mode quarreled with the editor, and he engaged a new young lady for the : fashions. Her name was Violet Raikes, and she was rather nice to look at. She sat opposite to meTl. am subeditor—so the fact impressed itself upon my no- tice; but somehow I didn’t take to her. She was fond of slang, she bicycled in “rationals,” and she hoped that I didn’t' ' object to a cigarette. I felt inclined to say that I objected to her altogether, but I didn’t. She was remarkably smart in her work, and I couldn’t afford to object to anyone who was useful. She hadn’t been with us more than a fortnight when the editor was laid up, and I had to be editor, sub, leader writer and political critic all at once. Then our financial expert went bank- rupt and bolted, and so I had to do the city news in addition. The next week our sporting author- ity disappeared-he had backed some of his own tips, poor fellow—and we couldn’t getnnother. The only members of the literary staff left were our art and theatrical critic, who doesn’t know a horse from a donkey; our tame poet, who doesn’t know anything, and Miss Violet. I felt I had about come to the end of my tether, and I said so pretty forcibly. Miss Violet locked up from some out- rageous costume she was drawing and laughed at my outburst. She was al- ways laughing. .. “Don’t put yourself out,” she said. “I’ll knock off the ‘Sporting Notes’ for you.” I jerked my eyeglasses from my nose in my amazement. “You?” I said. “You?” “Why not?” “What do you lmow about it?” “For the matter of that, what did he know about it. She nodded her head several times and pressed dimples in her cheeks with her pencil. “You really can’t do any more yourself,” shesaid. . “No,” I said, wearily. “But I’m afraid—” “You needn’t be. I’ll run it out to- night, and you can cut it up to-morrow morning.” , She wrote the sporting article as if she had been brought up in " stable, and from that time she became: our sporting tipster, and allowed herself an extra cigarette when she and I were working late in the evening. She al- ways insisted upon lending a. hand when I was extra busy. “You’ll kill yourself, if yOu don’t mind,” she remarked, suddenly, one evening, when we were making up the issue. I had just announced that we were short, and I must do another col- umn. ' “I can’t let. the paper break down,” I said, feebly. I had been working for 12 hours, and nature was almost ex- hausted. “Of course not... Fill up with this.” She threw over a manuscript headed “Answers to Correspondent-s,” and be- gan laughing, as usual. “I knew we would be short.” “Why?” I said. “What? Who are the correspondents ?” “I am, of course. You didn’t think there were such things as ‘correspond- ents,’ did you?” “Umph! I didn’t know—_—” “You’re a fine editor!” I didn’treply. I was deep in the man- uscript, which might have passed for a page out of several journals I could mention. “Nellie Q.” was given a recipe for a sponge cake; “Devout Lover” was advised-upon the etiquette of presents; “Molly” was cautioned against the per— nicious habit/of smoking cigarettes—“a most unbecoming and unladylike prac- tice!” “Abstemious” was encouraged in teetotalism; “True Tommy” was told to perseverewith his obdurate ladylove; “Flossie” was warned against slang; “Careful Housewife” was recommend- ed to insist upon having 14 penny scones for a shilling, etc. “Upon my word,” I said, warmly, “you’re a little brick. I only wish .I . could get you something extra for—”h . “Oh, shut up!” she said. She was given to saying things of that sort. I thought it a great pit-y, because she was otherwise a very charming girl; but I never could tolerate anything unfem- inine in a woman’s manners. No sooner had the number appeared than real applications for advice poured in, and our correspondents’ column be- came a regular feature. When we had a spare moment. she would read us some of the letters with her answers. She used to make us roar. She was such a comical girl—never could be serious about anything. The pseudonym she adopted was “Mother Hubbard.” About this time the paper began to . get better, and advertisements came in more freely. I persuaded the propri- etor to give Violet a. raise, and I offered to do the “sporting” myself, now that we could afford a city editor, but she wouldn’t hear of it. “You couldn’t do it half so well,” she stated. “Now, don’t get savage, old chap. Have a cigarette?” ' .. “I wish,” I said, “you wouldn’t talk in that beastly manner.” She flushed a little. , “When I want you to edit my conver- ,, sation I’ll ask. you,” she rejoined, tartly. . The "following Monday we were stop- ' ping late as usual, and for once the poet was keeping us company. He waSn’t . going home till he had found something ’ to rhyme with “my heart‘s desire," he i said. V iolet’s suggestion of “My tart's ' Maria!” caused him to decline further conversation with her. He’s very touchy over his rhymes. So we were terribly dull, until the boy we had kept ; in the lobby came in. i “If you please, sir, there’s an old lady called. She’s sorry it’s so late, she says; , but she’s so perticler anxious to‘ see, ‘Mother Hubbard.’ " _ l I i a “Will you see her, Miss Raikes ?” our conversation. _ , “What nonsense, Mr. Marchant!” . “Well,” said I, "you’d better tell her ' You can go, too, Thompson. I’ll lock up.” I don’t approve of keeping the- boys late. “She’s a very nice old lady, sir,” he ob— served, clicking some coins in his ' pocket: an’ she seems rather upset.” “Can’t you say you're ‘Mother Hub- bart ’s’ assistant?” I suggested to Vio- let. . “How can I talk to her before you-4 not to mention Tennyson. This was ! her name for the poet. ,2 . V “We’ll go in the ofiice.” i “And giggle all the time. Show her a in, Thompson.” ' Q We went into the unlit oilice, leaving the door open, so that we could see , without being seen. “MissViolet will make fun of her, I suppose,” I grumbled. “I don’t like that’sort of girl,” hesaid, emphatically. A slight, agitated old lady, in a deep black dress, came slowly in. She nearly fell over a. waste paper basket, and Vio- let jumped up and helped her to a. chair. Then she sat down opposite her. “ ‘Mother Hubbard’ has gone home,” she said, “I am her assistant. CanI tell her anything for you?” “I am a ‘Bereaved Parent.’ You may remember—” “Oh!” cried Violet, quickly; “I—she was so sorry for you. So very, very sorry.” I remember an answer about time . softening the blow, etc. I had asked ; Violet if she kept it in type, and she had ; laughed, as usual. i “Of course,” said the old lady, “noth- ing can really comfort me; but—” “I will write and tell.you if you will give me your address.” So she took down the address. “There,” she said, ‘ “my mother will see you, I feel certain. l \ ' HOPED I DIDN’T OBJECT TO A CIG- ARETTE. She is so kind and patient. Oh, so pa- tient! Good-by, and~and you will be brave, won’t you, dear?” She bent sud- denly over the old .woman and kissed her. _ When she came back from showing the visitor out we were both at our desks working in energetic silence, and no sound was heard until she caught a .‘ ; than in summer, since plants evaporate ‘ less water from their leaves in the cool- questioning look in my eyes. “Don’t- be a fool,” she said, sharply. Then there was further silence till she looked round for the ruler, and found the poet regarding her intently. “What are you staring at me for?” she demanded. “I was thinking,” he said, solemnly, “that there are some things in real life that one cannot put into poetry. I wish, Miss Raikes, one could.” ' The man isn’t without his points. I think I shall let him do a few par..- graphs next time he wants to. I said nothing. I was busy writing some- thing on a piece of paper. It took the form of an inquiry from a person who styled, himself “Ardent Admirer.” He had come in contact, in business, with a charming and lively girl—the pluck- iest and clevcrest little woman that ever was. They had become great friends, but he ,had been annoyed by her apparent frivolity, so they had quarreled. Now he had discovered that her frivolity was merely upon the sur- face; that she was the support of her invalid mother, and the kindest of friends to anyone who was in trouble. How could “Mother Hubbard” advise him to regain her friendship, and did she think it possible that he might ever gain her love? When I had finished I threw it over to her. ' “Perhaps you will get your mother to answer that,” said I. She read it down hastily. Then she looked up at me in her old daring way. Her eyes were very bright and her pret— ty face was pink. , “I answer all the questions myself,- really,” she said. “Then," I said, “won’t you Vi—won’t you?" She looked at me in silence. There was a tremble on her lips, and I couldn’t see her eyes. The poet jumped up quickly, and : grabbed his hat. ‘ “I’ve just remembered an appoint- ment," he said. rushing into his over- coat without even pausing to dishevel his hair. “Good-night. you two.” The man isn’t without sense—for a poet! I shall certainly let him try his hand at a few paragraphs. . He was scarcely out of the door be- fore I was beside ‘her chair. “Vi,” I cried, excitedly, “you don’t mean to say that you care for me ?” “Of course I don’t,” she said, with'a‘ queer little laugh". Then she gave me just one glance, and I took her in my’ arms—St. .Paul’s. . Mull ' by Pneumnt‘l'c Tube. The pneumatic tube between Paris and Berlin carries a letter from' one city to the other in 35 minutes. r I asked. We had become very formal in I I that ‘Mother Hubbard" has gone home. i ' until thoroughly dissolved. E mer. TREATMENT FOR SCAB. How to Disinfect Seed Potatoes with out Going to Mach \Vork and Needles: Expense. To make the solution, first get a good- sized woodentub, tank or wide barrel. Dissolve two ounces of corrosive sub- limate (bichloride of mercury) in two gallons of boiling, water; then add Wa— ter enough to make 15 gallons. If need‘ ed, make double this quantity. Stir It is a good plan to have the tank, or whatever it is, stand upon a bench or other sup- port high enough so you can put in a faucet for emptying the solution when TREATING POTATOES FOR SCAB. done using/into some other convenient receptaCle. If you have a basket- maker living at no great distance from you (as I have) you can get him to make a plain, strong open basket of the shape as that shown in illustration, large enough to hold about ai- bushel of po- tatoes. Or if such a basket is not at hand or cannot be procured, then you can take a coarse gunny-sack and fill it with potatoes. Whatever receptacle you have, immerse it with the potatoes into ..the tank or tub, and leave it in about 90 minutes. Then lift the basket or sack out of the liquid, empty the po- tatoes out to dry, and fill with anew lot to go through the same performance. ‘Vhen the potatoes are dry, out as want- ed and plant. Do not let any of the 1 treated tubers lie around, as they are liable to poison any animal that would get hold of and eat them.—Farm and Fireside. . ORCHARD COVER CROPS. Their Value and Advantages Of- ficially Recognized by the Agri- cultural Department. The growing _of green crops in an orchard should not be done with the benefit the trees as a covering. The E agricultural department has given this ' matter its attention and pointed out the advantages in a special bulletin. A f cover crop, to serve as a blanket and protect the soil, may be secured with the use of mammoth clover, cow peas,‘buck- wheat, rye, crimson clover or anything that will remain on the ground all win- ter. Cover crops, unlike those grown throughout the season, do not, as a rule, - injure the trees by drying out the soil, and even where the weather during the fall is normally dry, the injury is less er weather and shorter days of fall than in the longer and hotter days of sum- Cover crops. not only do not, as a rule, dry out the soil injuriously, but they also add directly to the moisture holdingcapacity of the soil by the hu- mus formed in their decay, and they hold much of the snow until it melts and is absorbed by the soil. They are also rarely as injurious as crops grown throughout the entire season, and are often beneficial because their growth is made after the trees have stopped growing and are maturing their wood for winter. Trees make their greatest growth early in the season, and there- fore require much less moisture the latter part of the season than earlier in the year. In fact, in some local— ities it is considered an advantage to cease cultivation by midsummer and grow some secondary crop which will check the growth of the trees and cause then! to mature before winter. It has also been found that wherever cultivation or irrigation has been kept up late in the season, and the ground in a moist condition, with the trees thrifty and growing, the frost did but little damage. Fcrtlllze the. Orchard. It is certain that any crop will ex- haust the soil in time, whether of grain, grass or fruit. On some farms may be seen orchards of apple trees over half a century old. Every year these trees 5 have produced fruit, and in return have received nothing in the form of fertil- izer. It is estimated that an ordinary apple crop removes from an acre of 5 il about 50 pounds of nitrogen, 40 pounds of phosphoric acid and 75 pounds of potash. When clover is grown in the orchard the land is benefited by having its proportion of nitrogen in— creased, but it willfgain nothing in, mineral matter. The land devoted to apples should receive fertilizer or ,ma- nure every year, and when therc'is a heavy crop of apples in sight the fruit should be thinned out in‘the early stages of growth—Rural World. Size of the Farm Garden. Unless there is a convenient market for the scale of vegetables the garden should be no larger than is necessary to afford full variety and an abundance for the family, as the keeping down of weeds and grass in the garden is a' mat- ter which may require attention just at a. time when the farmeris busy with his spring planting, but ., every farmer should have a garden. even it but few‘ kinds of vegetables are grown. » ..... -..-..“ .. .... .-,~_ view of scattering crops for use, but to ' l l ! LVN N11 N G daze TT E , A ssmc‘ius SITUATION. , Two Thousand Men at Buffalo [Will Not Work Fora Contractor. BUFFALO, May 12. — The strike among the members of the Freight . Handlers’ union at this port is gradual- ly assuming, a serious aspect. There are about 2,000 of these men PIBGg’ed not to work for any contractor, and many of these are now on strike. Originally a few of them went out in sympathy with the grain shovelers, and now it Is believed that in case the SCOOpers gain their point they will‘ still remain out until their own difficulties have been satisfactorily settled. Several managers of transportation lines said yesterday that if the con- tractors did not quickly demonstrate their ability to do the work of loading and unloading freight boats they would be compelled to devise other means of relieving the congestion of traffic at this port. At the Lehigh Valley docks the com- ‘ pany called in a lot of yardmen and. other employees to take the places of the strikers; ' . At the Central, Erie and other big docks the work was practically. at a standstill, the few freight handlers who were at work being nonunion men. ' Thelfreight handlers demand an in- crease of wages from 25 cents an hour. the present rate, to 30 cents an’ hour for work outside of the freighthouses and 20 cents an hour for inside work. 0 No Further Concessions. CLEVELAND, May 12.—The commit- tee of the Lake Carriers’ association which went to Buffalo in the effort to settle the strike. of the grain shovelers held a. meeting yesterday, when it was heard that the strike had broken out afresh. There were present Thomas Wilson, James Corrigan and Harvey R. Goulder. The whole situation was reviewed, and it was decided not to make any further concessions to the strikers than have already been offered. There is a disposition to fight it out to the bitter end. Swindler dc Bara’s Boil Raised. CHICAGO, May 12.—Baron Edgar d1 Bara, who is chargedwith using the mails to defraud a. number of persons in England, went before Judge Kohlsaat in the United States district court yes« terday afternoon with a. petition to have his bail reduced from $10,000, but when he left a few minutes later his bond had been raised to $11,000. The court order- ed a bond of $1,000 in each of the 11 in- dictments which were returned against the titled prisoner and his wife by the last federal grand jury. The Baroness Fannie de Bara, who is at liberty on $500 bail, will also appear in court to plead Monday. The De Baras are said to have represented themselves as agents of the Edison Phonograph com- pany in Chicago and to have swindled their victims out of sums aggregating $50,000. For Syrian Freedom. NEW YORK, May 12.—Syria was pro: claimed a free and independent state yesterday by a revolutionary party which for three years has been secretly at work throughout the world. Mimco- graph copies of ,a call to arms. were is~ sued by the thousand from the head~ quarters of the secret council or junta not far from the Syrian colony in Washington street, this city. This rev- olutionary party has on its rolls 25,000 men in this country alone who are will- ing to fight to free Syria from the rule of the sultan of Turkey. _____.___._ . Copper Company Incorporated. NEW YORK, May 12.—The Union Copper Mining company, with a capital of $3,000,000, has filed articles of incor- poration in the county clerk’s office at Newark, N. J. The object of the com— pany is to do a general mining and smelting business in gold, silver, cop— per, lead,‘ zinc, brass, iron, steel and other metals. , A notnni'e‘ivis‘ning' Party. TOLEDO, May 12.- — Ex-Presldent Cleveland, Captain Robley D. Evans, Judge Harmon and Professor John U. Floyd of Cincinnati have reached Mid- dlebass for a week's fishing among the islands. Captain Evans and the re- mainder of the party refused to talk on politics. Ex-Governor Foster joined the party yesterday afternoon. .~ A Rice Course Riot. LONDON, May 12.—In a riot that broke out at the Harrow, race course yesterday ovér the decisions of the starter the English pugilist “Jem” Smith was attacked by the mob 'and carried off the course unconscious. Many other persons were injured, and the races were stopped by the police. Postmaster: Appointed, WASHINGTON, May 12.—The follow- ing fourth class postmasters have been appointed: New York—Lebanon, Sabine B. Davis. New J ersey—Wiskerton, Kroel C. Kymer. Pennsylvania—Grahamton, H. L. _ Forcey; Tranger, William S. Hayes. American Atrocities. LONDON, May 12.—The heads of the religious orders in the Philippines, ac— cording to a dispatch from Rome to The Dally Mail, have presented a petition to the pope, in which they protest against the “American atrocities.” Great Fire In Austria. 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