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Show t . THE CITIZEN 14 Gods sake, dont let them think down in the city that you are destitute of general information in regard to spelling. How did you spell sardines? And she me. told Then I got up and opened the window and picked up her poor little scrap of paper, which she had left no the ledge for the market boy to take in the morning, on which she had written her wish for extra milk and a small box of sardines. I brought the bit of paper to the bedside and said, 'Here, Love, is your pen and ink. Just put an h at the end of your sardines, then we can both lie down in peace to sleep, and in the morning When the market man reads your paper, he will know you know how' to spell the fish, although the h" is always silent. And God forever bless her! she wrote it. But if she ever discovers that in that spelling I was wrong, why, the china and I will fly." the jumping frog business? Our bedroom Is directly under yours, and poor Livy and her headache do try. to move more quietly, though 'Livy would rather suffer than have you give up your game on her account." Then the sound of receding footsteps. Our consternation was as great as our ' for we had been 'unconsc ious of walking heavily, or of making unnecessary noise. The bedroom was luxurious in' Us appointemntsf the rugs soft on the floofr; we could only surmise that the floor boards had some peculiar acoustic quality that emphasized sound. On tiptoe, we finished our toilets, and spoke only In whispers, much disturbed in inind that we had troubled the hostess, and hoped she knew that we would not willingly have added to her headache even the weight of a hummingbirds wing. When the toilets were finished, slowly and softly we went down the stairs and into the breakfast room where, behind the large silver coffee urn, sat Mrs. Clemens. With sorrowbul solicitude we asked If her headache was better, and begged forgiveness for adding to her pain. To our amazement she answered, "I have no headache." In perplexed confusion we apologized for the noise we inadvertently made... "Noise!" Mrs. Clemens replied. We have not heard a sound. If you ha'd shouted we should not have known it, for oui rooms are in another wing of the house." At r the other end of the table Mark Twain sat, looking as guileless as a combination of cherubim and seraphim never a word, excepting with lengthened drawl, more slow than usual, "Oh, do come to your breakfast, Aldrich, and dont' talk all day." surprise at the reprimand, - . . Almost innumerable are the stories told by Mrs. Aldrich and the memories of the great that crowd into her mind. There was the visit to England and the many meetings with literary and artistic celebrities, and among them, Irving, Ellen Terry, and Mme. Bern- hardt: It was delightful to and Miss Terry together, each so unlike, Mme. Bernboth equally fascinating. hardt had gone early in the evening to Miss Terrys dressing room. Not finding her there, she had written on the white napkin of her toilet table, Ellen Terry, my dearling," that being as near as her French tongue could surmount the spelling of "darling." Miss Terry said she had cut the dear message out and should have it framed. Fussy," Mr. Irvings little dog, was much in evidence that night at the supper, dividing his attentions wtih impartiality between the two queens of the feast, traversing over the table the distance that separated him from the strawberry ice cream of Mme. Bernhardts plate and the "tutti-fruttof Miss Terrys. The friendship between Fussy and nis master was very intense, the companionship inseparable. And although Fussy was content to receive the adultation of the entire theatrical company, his true allegiance was solely to Mr. Irving himself. . a considerable part of this book, as is natural enough. We are indebted to it for a personal description that we should be sorry to ' Mark Twain occupies miss. . Mrs. Aldrich says: at this time or 32 years old; a sparely built man of medium height; a finely shaped, classical head, covered with thick, shaggy, hair; a mustache of the same, tawny hue; eyes which glimmered, keen and twinkling, under overhanging, bushy eyebrows, each hair of which ruffled itself, taking Mr. Clemens was 31 i" red-color- ed part with unwarrantable intrusion on' Mr. Clemens' moods, were they grave or gay. Once, in my remembrance, so belligerent and fierce was their aspect that his listener, who had the temerity to differ with the views he was expressing, begged the privilege of brushing the eyebrows down, that she might have courage to continue with the argument. NEW GROCERY AND Mark Twain had been married four years on the occasion of the Hartford visit, and we have a pleasant description of Olivia Langdon and of her strange courtship by the impetuous Clemens. Also another story: Out of those far-o- ff days are two in- and twinkled in Mr. Clemens eye a laughing Imp that boded mischief. Mr. Clemens said, "I had just fallen into "the first sweet sleep of dawn,' when this murmur reached my ear: 'Mark, do tell me how to spell. sardines.' I replied, 'Livy, for OLD What housewife who did her own shopping some ten or twenty years ago does not remember the grocery store of those days, with its unsightly, unsanitary sugar and cracker barrels, its dried fruit bins and Its long rows of tea, coffee, starch, spice, rice and other cereal boxes; its dust and dirt; its clerks who dived with their bare hands for prunes one minute and plug tobacco the next, and who were fishing for pickles in vinegar and filling coal oil cans off and on? In those days the principal function of the clerk's apron was that of a towel. Things are different today. Tbe grocery is the result of a long and tireless campaign of education and salesmanship. Of course, many influences have been brought to bear to bring about the change, but one of the most important factors was the sanitary way of packing food. The reformers went further than just advocating clean stores. They improved the way in which the food was placed in the stores. Just as today's grocery is an entirely different institution from that of yesterday, so is the modern food and , delible pictures in my memories of the last morning and evening of our happy visit: the assembling of the guests at the breakfast table, and while we waited the entrance of our hostess, Mr. Clemens; with sober face and inltable drawl, telling his night experience, wit hthe orders for the next day. The evening before Mrs. Clemens had been speaking of her consternation in finding she had misspelled a word in a formal note, and said it had always been a great mortification to her that she could not spell; that the sound of a word left her helpless as to the spelling of it, and that, for Mr. Clemens sake, she should not be allowed to write even the simplest note unless he looked it over. While she was speaking there glimmered see Mme. Bernhardt up-to-da- te . domestic product manufacturing plant. There are seen rows after rows of long machines, doing with clock like precision the work that was formerly done by hand, or work that was never done at all. It is these automatic ma- chines, invented by an American and developed here, that is largely responsible for the new conditions. If groceries were sold from the bin and barrel, as formerly, it is estimated that each of the 265,000 groceries in the United States would need at least one more clerk to handle its business. Twenty years ago 99 per cent of the groceries were sold in bulk; today 75 per cent of dry groceries reach the market in package form. The introduction of the sanitary package was by no means an easy matter. Manufacturers insisted there was no public demand for goods in cartons, that the system of selling in bulk was entirely satisfactory, and that merchants would not be willing to pay the fractional increased cost. The pioneer concern in the industry sold the idea to sugar manufacturers by sending representatives to practically every grocer in the New England states and compiling a list of those who were willing to pay about an eighth of a cent a pound more for their sugar if it came to them in package form. The grocer absorbs this cost, but more than makes up for it in saving ' on clerk hire and paper, bags and twine, and in the elimination of spillage and waste. One well known sugar company found that 80 per cent of a large number of stores were selling package sugar at the same or a lower price than bulk. As packages began to be introduced on a greater scale the grocer came to realize one of their greatest advantages the opportunity to display his wares. Attractive packages and labels encouraged sales, he found. Manufacturers also have not overlooked a broad economic principle underlying the utilization of the packaging idea. Purchasing in bulk tends to a certain amount of hoarding or overbuying, incident to lack of knowledge of future But consumption on requirements. when the dealer can buy in small amounts, with quick deliveries insured, he buys only to meet immediate requirements. With an even demand manufacturers can gauge future needs and can arrange their output to meet the real demand rather than speculative market operations. The package has also wrought great changes in the American pantry. Today's housewife gets a package of convenient size for household consumption, tightly sealed and put up under sanitary conditions, with its quantity guaranteed not to vary over a sixteenth of an ounce, and its quality backed by the reputation and nationalized advertising of its manufacturer. She has greater confidence in her purchase, for she knows it was selected and prepared by an expert, and she also knows she can come back and get her favorite brand any number of times. THE PLAGUES OF RATS. In the estimation of the 13uren: Biological Survey of the tTt States Department of Agriculture f rat is a world menace. The nee Of of a campaign of unvarying against the common brown ratj outstanding one. No other animT insect is so dangerous and persi an enemy, and no other enemy Si . ceeds in inflicting the damage that' rat annually imposes .upon rat population of the U States is at least equal to the h population, and the same ratio fa true for practically every country-d- er the sun. The Bureau of Biot cal Survey places the value of thet and property destroyed annually S each individual rat at $2. Keeping; tl within the boundaries of conserve 0 this means that each year, in t p country alone, we produce $200,00i.. worth of food to no other purpose to feed our rats. In another way, j 000 men in the United States are dr r ing all their labor to the maintens t 7 1 hum-Th- fy it rats. But the rodents enmity is fart of 100,000,000 fj being satisfied by this huge econo: injury. A frequenter of all the pb that are vile and loathsome, the r is the most efficient germ carrier c India,, no longer ago than 1896, V bubonic plague killed 9,000,000 j 11 c sons. Recommendations for the extern: tion fo the rate made by the bun are: Trapping should be done cont: ously and systematically at all ns fested places. Rat poisons, espen barium carbonate preparations, a s cently developed by the Biological! j, vey, should be employed. 2 i . r AUTOMOBI LITIS. touring car I sit, mother dear, of you And our cosy little home In the , I thin! j so 1 t; away. We are standing in the road, wifi tire thats gone and blowef j And the engines acting in a if j way. Crank, crank, crank, our back breaking, Cheer up comrades, if you can. While the batteries are gone, wef crank away till dawn. Tis the fate of almost every auto I Though we yank upon the crfi there is no gas in the tank, And the carburetor quit long, K ago. So we cannot get up steam, and1 cannot hire a team, And it's almost time to see the n lngs glow. Crank, crank, crank, our knees f shaking, Cheer up, comrades, just the Though the benzine buggies oalk,1 can all get out and walk Back to. town, nine miles, for that's1 in the game. . Chicago Tiibutf l |