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Show THE VICE uuiuuu THAT WAS N9T STILL& DJ When the poet imparted the soothing information that 'Silence, like a poultice, enme To heal the I)Iouh of Hound." ne didnt live in a flat across the hal! Irom a person who pracuced singing from early morn till dewy eve, with several hours additional thrown in for good measure. On West End Avenue, in an apartment adjoining the one occupied by a actress, dwells a young woman who fancies she Is cultivating her voice, says the New York Times. In the apartment underneath that of the human or inhuman screpch owl lives a real singer, whose husband is director of an opera company. The other day, driven almost to distraction by desperate attem ts of the scale torturer to dislocate her vocal cords, the lady hastened up stairs and s rang the hell of the flat The song without words suddenly ceased, and the offender herseif opened the door. "Whom do you wish to see? she sweetly asked. I wish to see If you cant be persuaded to stop that awful noise, snapthe unwelcome caller. ped "Noise? What noise? You certainly cant mean my singing! gasped the astonished young woman. You don't call su- "Singing? screeching singing, do you? Why, Pi has driven me to the verge of nervous prostration and It almost makes me lil." "Then this Is no place for you. In melody-mangler'- stead of coming to me to be cured wny don't you go to a sanitarium? ungrily retorted the indignant slamming the door with such violence that the back draught nearly blew the intruder down stairs. The opera directors wife retreated, vowing vengeance, hut the young woman whose feelings had been frac-tre- d determined to seek protection against further protests. That afternoon she visited the office of the Board of Health and said to the official In charge: Haven't 1 the right to sing in my own home? "Certainly, madam. If you wish to do so, he courteously replied. "During what hours? she Inquired. "Why, from 8 o'clock In the morning until 10 at night, If you choose." "Will you give me that permission In writing?' "With pleasure, said the official, and he dashed off the permit so rapidly that even the strains of "Hiawatha would have been too slow an accompaniment foi the proceeding. Armed with the permit the young woman returned home and until an hour after the curfew tolled the knell of parting day she made the most strenuous efforts to lacerate her larynx. And the last state of that apartment house was worse than the first. If poor Sullivan had lived there he never would have composed The Lost Chord, music-murdere- r, Birds of Argentina treas- Among Argentina's greatest her birds, which abound there In great number and variety. One peculiarity of the birds is their .gaudy plumage, brightest scarlet, olive, yellow, pink and green painted perhaps by the Southern sun, says Dlantha Churchman in the Montreal Family Herald. In color they are beautiful and in songs wonderful. Let us go to the woods bordering the river and see how many we can find. Yonder bird Is called the "arm of fire on account of his bright color. He appears to take great pride In showing himself. There Is the cardinal with the scarlet crest, white breast and dove colored .hack, also the yellow cardinal with yellow, body and black breast It la so named because its crest resembles the cardinal's bat That beautiful pink line that you see In the distant sky is a flock of pink flamingoes. They are nearing us. Now they alight upon the sand on the margin of the river. How pretty they are! Listen to that exquisite song. That Is the "Bugero; a large black bird with white beak. From the grassy marsh comes the discordant cry of the heron, and the green parrots are chattering In the trees over our heads. They think their scolding will frighten us away. ures are In no other country on the face of the globe does any one class wield more absolute power over the masses than do the "vaudoux priests of This power Is acquired, in BaytL some degree, through their skill In working on popular superstitions; but they owe the unquestioning obedience oi the people more to their remarkable skill In drugging and poisoning. The papaloi, as these priests are called, have a wonderful knowledge of native herbs, which in their hands produce effects with which civilized medical science Is not yet able to Doctors confess themselves cope. puzzled by the skill of these poison- ers. They guard their secrets most Jealously, but their powers are only too well known to the people. The papaloi can strike down, at will, a man with paralysis in various forms or with Insanity. They can Inflict death with their potions just as thy please quickly and easily or slowly and painfully. The narcotics are the drugs put to the worst uses. It Is asserted by many white men who know Haytt well that a secret society composed of poisoners of children exists within the ranks of the papaloi. These ghouls - sweet-voice- sugar-coate- But he was awful busy. He said he had so muon to do Xt almost made him dizzy. v But when he looked at sisters eyes So watery and red. He wiped his eyes and blew his nose An stroked her curly head; An then he said, There now, my child, Now jut you wait a minute, we'll make a little plaster cast An' put that Bunny In it! An don't you think thtt rabbits leg Could travel all the faster when one day doctor took his knife And out away the plaster? InPurdy township, or, rather, the how wondered thereof, habitants Caleb and the Squire escaped getWhen ting mixed In their "papers. Purdy township or any part of it had Dusiness to transact which required writing or figures, It Involved drawgoing over," or ing up the papers, looking over them. So Purdy township was Justified in Its wonderment from over the apparent immunity cloudiness which attended the Squires and Calebs papers, for Caleb could neither read nor write, and the Squire was a stickler for ponderous details and regularity. But they got on, just the same. The Squire was the money man and Caleb the general active head of the partnership In the small water-powe-r establishment on the sylvian edges of Henryville. There a milling business was carried on and farming implements sold. Caleb was engineer, foreman, salesman and miller. One or two evenings a week In the Squires office In the village, or when he had nothing else to do and would walk or drive out to the mill, served for Caleb and the Squire to go over the books and keep their accounts regular. It was without misgivings that the Squire went away for several weeks. He had no fear the mill transactions would be muddled in Calebs memory and unique memoranda when he returned. And his faith was justified. asked the "Whats this, Caleb? Squire on his return, pointing on his to partners soiled what looked like a capital T lying horizontally. That? Why, thats lor a pick-ax- e Bill Hodges bought, was the reply. Ine Squire made a note of It and called Calebs attention to the next Item. Let me see whats this for? Something closely resembling a circle and which might represent the letter "O, obviously made with the unnecessary firmness of a hand unused to writing, looked up at them from the page. Caleb pondered. He also breathed a By BYRON WILLIAMS of Jesus, Christmas, the birth-tim- e Comes with its holly again Would that the world'a acceptation Guaranteed peace to all menl Christmas, the time to be merry! are when Christmas, garlands hung Why do we fall back to furrows After the bells have been rung? Christmas, the day of unbending! Christmas, when hunger is fed Why must it ever go wanting, Wasting and crying for breadf Christmas, bediademed season! Christmas, then sorrow and fearl who blessed us Surely the Christ-chilMeant it to last all the yearl , d , What Is the spirit that drives us Back to our hearthstones that glow, to perish Leaving the heart-sicOut in the cold and the snow? k t Let the glad paens of plenty Ring and reverberate long! Catch up humanitys chorus, Gladsome and great be the song! Sing It forever and pencil-marking- s ever. Throughout the aeons of Timet Carol it ever and always, 8ymphony blest and sublime! Twine with the mistletoe branches Love for the fallen and sad! Uplift with sanctified kindness Thoae who are lowly and bad! Live every day on the dial ' Just at God wishes we might! Making our Christmas eternal, Paving our way to the light) See that lovely golden wren creeping up the tree, hunting spiders. He does not seem a particle afraid of us. Hear that robin. They are much finer singers than the robins of our country. Here we find a dove's carelessly made nest, with two white eggs lying on the ground. This dove is very small, not much larger than a canary. That modest little gray bird Is the bulbul or nightingale, which keeps his sweet song for the night. Thera Is a tree that appears to be covered with balls of cotton, but Instead of cotton It is a flock of magpies sunning themselves. They drop their wings and fluff out the feathers of the back until they resemble balls of cotton. They are singular birds. One will catch a frog and run around before the others, apparently to tantalize them. When they bathe they jump into a pool of water, then out and Christmas in the South. roll In the dust, then Into the water Fireworks are being shipped Into all on each other again. They Impose by several hens laying eggs In the same parts oi the South for the Christmas nest. The eggs are very pretty, green and New Year holiday celebrations, Large and white mingled. Hear the mourn- says the New York Tribuno. ful call of the ralnblrd, a kind of consignments have been going out cockoo which calls almost Incessantly every day during the past three or the day before a storm while their Is four weeks, and these shipments will It no apparent evidence of Its approach, continue until after Christmas. yet they are unfailing. Here comes was estimated by two prominent local a scissors tail, another peculiar bird, dealers last week that not less than worth of Roman candles, $1,000,000 one of the flycatchers. rockPts, ptnwheels. crackers, torpedoes and colored fire powder will be set off south of the Mason and Dixons line during the last week of the dying year. In the South the Christmas celebration takes the place of the Independence day celebration, there being little demonstration there on the This has been true drug children so that they may kid- Fourth of July. nap them to offer as the sacrifice of for many years, both of the cities and the got without horns to the ser- country districts, but since the war the people of the pent god whom they worship. Cannibalism is said to crown the sacri- South have entered more heartily Into the noisy observance of the Fourth. fice. When the potion is administered to Colored folks will spend their last the little victim he falls Into a condi- dollar for firecrackers and rockets. tion so death-likthat he is believed to be dead, and is buried. At night the emissaries of the papaloi exhume the coffin, restore animation to the body, and take the child to the lonely groves where their rites are practiced. During slavery days In Haytl this Christ's Birthplace. crime was common, and, if one may believe the testimony of white men According to an article by Paul wno have dwelt there for many years, Caras In The Open Court, Chicago, the .t is still practiced in many parts of apocryphal gospels tell a somewhat the country. Recent criminal trials different story of Christ's birth from have brought to light Isolated cases, the canonical books. According to the and not long ago a woman connected with the papaloi was forced by the former, Christ was born in a cave and thence trasterred to a stable, where Haytian police to restore to consciousness a drugged child which was tne ox and ass worshiped him, while, according to the canonical gospels, supposed by its mother to be dead. The facts within my knowledge," the Nativity takes place in a stable. The apocryphal legends proved so says a former British Minister resiin spite of the canonical lead to the strong that dent at version of the story, a cave near Bethsupposition that the population Is belehem came to be finally regarded as ing eaten down by this society of the of the Nativity, and a which Is scattered churchplace was erected oh the spot to of the through every district commemorate the event and still stands as a lasting monument of this belief. Sleuths Celebrations the World Over e e chlldren-poisoner- An' onct mamma was very sick. The house was still and sad; It seemed as though we all had lost The only friend we had. We sent for doctor awful quick. But when he went away Why everybody brightened up An looked so kinder gay. I asked my papa why it was He seemed so full of Joy, But he just smiled at me and sald Tve got another boy! I didnt know Just what he meant. But when I went To kneel beside my upstairs mothers bed To say my evenin' prayers, I found a little baby boy All wrapped up fit to smother, A lying there so fast a.deep Clo&e snuggled up to mother! I guess thats why folks love Doc so. For some time or another Hes brought most every kid !n town A sister or a brother. An whistle which was neither a tune no, a noise to be heard very far awar So, truthfully, Caleb breathed , whistle, meanwhile standing with th same curveless and stubby placed beneath the puzzling circle, ju tilted forward and baokward on hu toes. In a moment he stood motion, less, lowered his chin to his chest, and. wltn a final wheezy wnistle looking not at the Squire, but straight at the circle he said: I think I think thats a cheese got let me see by er, um-Caleb now had to remove his hat, and win his free hand was exploring the bushy depths of his hair for some recolleo-tioof the obtuse transaction. At a matter of fact, the partnership did not But tne Squire hesinvolve cheeses. itated to make any blunt Interruption of Calebs process of He finally risked saying recollection. quietly: We havent sold cheeses, have w since why, I dont remember that weve had any since The Squirt reflective gave to his eyes a look, and mentally hoped Caleb soon would recall the item. "Thats so, we hevnt, hev we, slowly observed Caleb who had not removed his glance from the "0. No, we hevnt had no cheeses, thats ce- ' f far-awa- rtain." Patient the Squire had been waiWith his pencil he had been marking a dot on a piece of paper before him. The black dot saved the day. It was unconsciously made, but It gave Caleb the suggestion he wanted, though It was not In his nature to lose his restraint He remarked very composedly: Thats a grindstone, and Bruce Canter bought It. I guess I must hev forgot to mark the hole Into It The Squire knew his associate too ting. nt-mindedly well to confuse him In future papers" by making any comment on the preAll he said was, Oh, sent instance. yes, with an emphasis meant to it all was as plain as daylight which it was not. And they proceeded to the next item. New York Times. d The Old Family Doctor Our doctor, hes a jolly man. He's awful kind and good, d pills He gives me That taste like angel's food! An' onct when 1 was awful sick An had the stomach ache, 1 felt so mean and queer inside I thought my back would break, He didn t give me castor Ue Like some old doctors do I guess he members when he was A little shaver too! My sister had a rabbit onct. Twould sit up straight and beg, An one day it was jumpin round An broke its little leg. 5Yell, sister she just cried and cried As If her heart was broke!, But 1 just sat and swal.ored lumps Until 1 nearly chocked. At last we took it down to Doc, The Spirit of Christmas sometimes I have heard folks say What 1 dont understand. That doctors help folks into life And to the better land; But everybody loves our Doc, Hes getting old and gray. An onct when I was loatin round I heard the suy. That when ourpreacher good old doctor Went to cross the golden strand He knew Great Vhyslclan there Would leud him bv rw hand! Julia K. Galloway. Holly the Holy Tree. In the middle of the Forest of Dean, In the rush of early morning. When the red burns the gray. And the wintry world through lies For the glory of the day, waiting Then we hear a fitful rustling Just without upon the stair. See two small white phantoms coming, Catch the gleam of aunny hair. Are they Christmas fairies stealing Rows of little socks to till? Are they angels floating hither With their message of good-will- ? What sweet spell are these elves weaving. As like larks they chirp and sing? Are these palms of peace from heaven That these lovely spirits bring? Rosy feet upon the threshold, Lager faces peeping With the first red ray through, of sunshine. Chanting cherubs come In view: Mistletoe and gleaming holly. Symbols of a blessed day. In their chubby hands they carry Streaming all along the way. Well we know them, never weary Of this innocent surprise; Waiting, watching, listening always With full hearts, and tender eyes. While our little household angels. White and golden In the sun. Greet us with the sweet old welcome "Merry Christmas, every one! Louise Alcott. Some Christmas Notes. In Silesia there is a superstition that a boy born on Christmas day must be brought up a lawyer or he will become a thief. Christmas mince pies In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were made with crust so shaped as to represent the manger. In the fourth century the celebration tf Christmas was fixed by the Latin church for December 25th. Before that time it had been a movable festival like Easter. In France It is a common practice to celebrate Christmas by giving an extra ration to domestic animals, on the theory that all creatures should unite in rejoicing at this season. In Sweden there is a superstition that the men of the extreme northern regions become wolves during Christmas week. England, there stands a building called the Speech House, around which grows a number of old holly trees. They were looked upon by the folk of the locality with so much veneration that, so recently as 1830. boughs were cut from them and used to take the place of the Testament In swearing In witnesses In the adjoining court. It Is said that the ancient Britons held the tree as sacred, and planted it round their villages In Cornwall. When holly came to be coupled with Christmas other notions prevailed. In Rutlandshire It was thought unlucky to bring It Into the house before Christmas. In the Western shires the branches were taken home from the churches which they adorned and Lept for luck during ihe following year. School boys used to make birdlime by chewing the bark. Because the leaves of its lower branches are more spiny than those of the upper, the tree escapes damage from cattle, which cause harm to most trees. Deer, however, attack it. Little Folks. h' i Trance s in A Swiss engineer, M. Ilg, In the employ of King Menelek, the ruler of Abyssinia, tells some strange things about that country and one of his most weird stories relates to the These lobasha, or crime discoverer. are boys not more than twelve years of age, who are put into a hypnotic trance, and in this state discover the unknown perpetrators of crimes. Of many of these almost incredible cases of the hunting down of criminals he had personal knowledge. In a cose of incendiarism in Adis Abeba the lobasha was called to the spot and given a cupful of milk Into which a green powder had been pnt and then was made to smoke a pipe of tobacco mixed with a black powder. The boy was then hypnotized. After a few minutes he jumped up and began running to Harrar. For fully sixteen hours he ran, and so swift was his pace that professional runners were not able to keep up with him. Near Harrar the lobasha left the road, ran Into a field and touched a Galla working there with his hand. The man confessed. Another case which Emperor Menelek and M. Hg investigated was that of a murder and robbery near Adis Abeba. The lobasha was taken to the site of the mnrder and put into his peculiar psychic state. For a while he ran around the place, then back to Adis Abeba to a church, which he kissed, then to another church, which he also kissed. some water water to Coming breaks the spell the boy woke from his trance. He was again hypnotized and oi he went, round some huts, and at the door of one of them lay down and fell asleep. The owner of the hut, who was not in, was on his return arrested. He stoutly denied his guilt, but some of the goods belonging to his victim were found in the hut and he ultimately confessed. The murderer was brought before Menelek, who asked him to detail hia doings after the commission of the crime. These were found to correspond with the movements of the He said that, overcome with remorse, he ran to two churches and kissed them. Menelek wanted to have another proof of the lobashas gifts. He himself took some jewelry belonging to the empress. A lobasha was sent for. He first ran about In the empress' rooms, then Into Meneleks own and finally fell down on Menelek's bed. M. Ilg can give no explanation of this wonderful gift, which seems to be confined to a certain tribe, or perhaps racial confederation, the members of which are distributed over the whole of Abyssinia. It is also worth remembering that a very similar method of discovering crimes was ascribed to the old Eg7f tians 4,000 years ago. Marriages in Syria Celebration at Lima, Feru. Probably the most gorgeous Christmas spectacle In the world takes in Lima, Peru, where a wonderful procession several mites long winds through the streets, bearing figures of hundreds of saints and tne sacred pictures of the cathedral. Many thousands of soldiers in their bright uniforms, Indian women, decked witt ribbons and flowers, and asses heavily laden with choice fruits and harnessed with strings of golden bells all appear in line, and on stands passed by the parade are representations of scenes from the Nativity, At the whole city makes merry withnight guitars, castanets and weird native dances, and the celebration ends with great public feases where rich and poor exchange greetings. It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold; Peace on the earth, good-wii- l to men. From heavens King; The world In solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled; And still their heavenly music floats Oer all the weary world; Above its sad and lonely plains They bend on hovering wings, And ever oer Its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing. O ye, beneath life's crushing load, Whosi forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow) Look now, for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing; Oh, rest beside ti-- weary road, And hear the angels sing. A marriage In Syria, as In every other land, is made an occasion of feasting and merriment. When a sheik of the druses, a religious sect of the Syrians, wishes to marry he asks permission of the father, without having seen the daughter, says the Montreal Family Herald. If the father consents he Informs her, and if she consents the suitor sends his fiancee a present of clothing and jewelry, which remains In her hands as a pledge of his fidelity. She is described to him as a person of marvelous beauty and perhaps his mother and his aunt visit the bride-to-band bring reports, of the one he Is not permitted to see. The contract Is signed anJ a week is given up to the marriage festivities before the bride goes to the house of her future husband. Then she Is escorted to his home by a retinue of her family, mounted on fine horses, amid the firing e of musketry and general rejoicing Having received the caresses and coir gratulations of her near relatives, sM Is conducted to a chamber apart, when she is to meet her husband. In thll chamber, with a tray of sweetmeat before her, she awaits his coming alone. At last the door opens quietly. US her lover appears, sP1 attended, proaches her, lifts the veil from her face, looks at her for a nw ment, replaces the veil and wit- Returning to the grandat reception room, he takes his place the head of the divan amid the vited guests, maintaining an lmpertur able silence. He is supposed to M absorbed In the contemplation of hi bride and utters no word expresslv of his feelings regarding the hitherto unseen one, whether of approval o mid1 disapproval. It Is generally past night when the party breaks up. hdraws. 1 Pursuit of BeautyJ By the study of Art the mind of the rising generation may be developed not only along natural, as opposed to artificial lines, but toward that appreciation of beauty which Is a priceless possession In itself, since it fills every waking moment with a Joy which noth- ing can destroy. The mere fact that ordinary people have pictures of some sort in their homes should not In Itself be taken as evidence of taste. Art Is the drawing of the best Art has moved the world more than anything else. Without It the world would have been a desert, and our own knowledge a little more than a blank. What, for Instance, should we know of Egypt if we did not go to the Art of Egypt? How evanescent have been the politics of Greece! Tet ' Its Art survives. The Constitution of Rome and the policy of the Caesarf are seen only In the Art of Rome and the buildings they made. EverythinI we touch is Art; and when politics dead Art remains, and must lw? remain, alive, for though pol1" works for the moment Art works v all time. , Uncle Reuben Says. I believe I feel de misfortunes of as much as anoddefi my feller-mebut I also feel dat Ize got to draw I line sumwhar! When I wake up de night to find a burglar In mf dat dr house, an he complains mT n nuthln to steal, an regards it s benevolent duty to pay fur lost tlmft I drew de line right dar an' Junipf de ole baseball bat Detroit Free Press. |