EVERY WRITER OF Consequence has had something to say about the flight of time. Few have failed to express at some time the longing that the march of time might be stayed, or that its course might be reversed and the days of youth brought back again. Oliver W e n d e 11 Holmes treats this phase of the subject with characteristic humor in his poem "The Old Man Dreams. The first three stanzas express a familiar longing: O for one hour of youthful joy! Give back my twentieth spring! 'd rather laugh, a bright-haired boy Than reign, a greybeard king. Off with the spoils of wrinkled age! Away with learning's crown! Tear out life's wisdom-written page And dash its troubles down! ' I One moment let my life-blood stream From boyhood's fount of flame! Give me one giddy ruling dream Of life all love and fame!

A LISTENING ANGEL HEARD the poet's prayer and offered tol grant it, but asked if there were nothing which the poet had learned , to love which he would wish tol jtake with him into youth. Thinking it over, the poet found that he would not wish to part from his wife and children, and asked that he might take them along. The angel smiled at the poet's wish that he might be a boy again and I yet a husband and father too, and the poet himself awoke, laughing, from an amusing dream, which he wrote, "to please the gray-haired boys." BUT THE COMING OF THE New Year has brought songs of more specific character. One of these, a very beautiful one, is Frank L. Stanton's "To the New Year:"

One song for thee, New Year, One universal prayer; Teach us—all other teaching far above— To hide dark hate beneath the wings of LOVA To slay all hatred, strife And live the larger life! To bind the wounds that bleed; To lift the fallen, lead the blind As only love can lead— To live for all mankind! Teach us, New Year, to be Free men among the free, Our only master, Duty, with no God Save one—our Maker: monarchs of the sod! Teach us with all its might, Its darkness and its light; Its heart-beats tremulous, Its grief, its gloom, Its beauty and its bloom— God made the world for us! MORE DIDACTIC, AND LESS poetic, are the lines of Susan Coolidge "The New Year," of which the last stanza runs: Every day is a fresh beginning; Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain ; And spite of old sorrow and old sinning,

And puzzles forecasted and possible pain, Take heart with the day and begin again. I SUPPOSE NO OTHER NEW Year's poem is as familiar or as often quoted as Tennyson's "Ring Out, Wild Bells, to the Wild Sky," I which appears in every anthology and in practically all senior school readers. Less lofty in sentiment, but more homely, and with an appeal of its own, is "The Death of the Old Year," also by Tennyson, and because it is less familiar than the other I quote it: THE DEATH OF THE OLD YEAR. By Alfred Tennyson. 'Full knee-deep lies the winter snow, And the winter winds are wearily sighing: Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow, I And tread softly and speak low, I For the old year lies a-dying. Old year, you must not die; You came to us so readily, You lived with us so steadily, Old year, you shall not die. He lieth still: he doth not move: He will not see the dawn of day. He hath no other life above. He gave me a friend, and a true And the New Year will take 'em away. Old year, you must not go; So long as you have been wit us Such joy as you have seen with us, Old year, you shall not go. He froth'd his bumpers to the brim; A jollier year we shall not see. But tho' his eyes are waxing dim, And tho' his foes speak ill of him. He was a friend to me. Old year, you shall not die; We did so laugh and cry with you, I've half a mind to die with you. Old year, if you must die. He was full of joke and jest, But all his merry quips are o'er. To see him die, across the waste I His son and heir doth ride posthaste, But he'll be dead before. Every one for his own, The night is starry and cold, my friend, And the New Year blithe and bold, my friends, Comes to take up his own. How hard he breathes! Over the snow I heard, just now the crowing cock. The shadows flicker to and fro: The cricket chirps: the light burns low: 'Tis nearly twelve o'clock. Shake hands, before you die, Old year, we'll dearly rue for you. What is it we can,do for you? Speak out before you die. His face is growing sharp and thin. Alack! our friend is gone. Close up his eyes: tie up his chin: Step from the corpse and let him in That standeth there alone, And waiteth at the door. There's a new foot on the floor, my friend, And a new face at the door, my friend, A new face at the door. A SHORT TIME AGO Announcement was made of the death of J. E. Andrus, of New York city popularly known as the "millionaire strap-hanger," because though a man of great wealth he took the subway to and from his office instead of using a more expensive conveyance Though extremely frugal in his personal habits he spent large sums every year in quiet and unostentatious phi1anthropy, In 1903 Dr. and Mrs. J. E. Engstad spent an interesting day with Mr. Andrus on the battlefield of Waterloo, concerning which Mrs. Engstad writes as follows:

"WE WERE STANDING AT the desk of our hotel in Brussels early one beautiful morning discussing with the clerk the best way to get to the battlefield, when a bewhiskered gentleman of perhaps 60 accosted us saying that he was looking for someone to share a diligence to the field, and invited us to go with him and share the expenses, remarking that in that way it would be cheaper all around. As he looked like a perfectably respectable elderly American tourist we gladly accepted. He then introduced himself as Mr. Andrus, of Yonkers.

'AN EXCHANGE OF CARDS soon disclosed the interesting fact that this was the Andrus of the well-known Arlington chemical company, whose circulars had been coming to my husband's desk for years. Furthermore a bond of fellowship soon sprang up between the two when it was disclosed that Mr. Andrus had studied medicine in his youth. AT THAT TIME WE KNEW very little about Mr. Andrus' standing in the financial world, though we were aware he was the owner of considerable valuable real estate in the city of Minneapolis, but there was nothing in his appearance to indicate that he was a multi-millionaire, and one of America's richest men. We have since heard much of his frugality and simple life, and can well believe it.

"WE SPENT THE DAY Together, driving the fifteen miles from Brussels to the battlefield. Joining a group of tourists we followed a guide to the principal points of interest, and tipped him the customary fee, after which we ate lunch in a cafe near the entrance to the grounds. Mr. Andrus' taste was apparently no more extravagant than ours, and his tip to the waiter not a whit bigger. At the end of the trip the diligence fee was shared pro rata.

"WE HAVE OFTEN TALKED of it since. Every time we think of Waterloo we are reminded of this immensely wealthy man, so modest so frugal, so unassuming, dressed not a bit better than the young j doctor from North Dakota with whom he fraternized so quietly, yet so cordially. We can well believe this man, whose fortune has been estimated at $300,000,000, shined his own shoes, that he habitually shunned the automobile and rode in the subway from his home in Yonkers to his offices in New York, thereby gaining for himself the nickname of the "Millionaire Straphanger."

"MR. ANDRUS NEVER Retired from active business. It is said that he always carried a 20-cent lunch with him in his pocket. All his life he practiced a thrift and frugality which might be a salutary lesson in economy to us poorer folk. We understand his contributions to charity were very large, but given without ostentation. He was to be buried in a marble mausoleum costing half a million dollars, which he built not for himself, but for his wife, to whom he was very devoted.

"SOMEHOW A GLORIOUS DAY n Belgium, an intensely blue sky, fleecy white clouds, a peaceful countryside, then Waterloo with its tremendous memories—La Belle Alliance, Hugomont, La Haye Sainte, Blucher, Grouchy, Wellington and Napoleon are all indelibly associated in our minds with the name of J. E. Andrus."

IN A RECENT HERALD Article by Win V. Working there was given an account of the attempted kidnapping of the self-styled "Lord" Gordon, which was one of the many incidents in the colorful history of the Canadian border. The article recalled to J. E. Stevens his own recollections of the event, and he tells the story as he was familiar with it at the time, giving a number of additional facts. Mr. Stevens writes: "I was living over in Becker county, Minnesota, at that time, and I read the story of the attempted kidnapping in our weekly paper, the St. Paul Press, and there was great interest in it in our part of the country because of the participation of Twin City men in it. The self-styled Lord Gordon—Gordon who proved to be the son of an English clergyman, must have been a slick one, as he was probably the only man who ever got the best of Jay Gould in a financial deal and to the extent of two hundred thousand grand.

"AFTER THIS ACHIEVEMENT Gordon immediately crossed into Canada, where he was safe from arrest, as at that time there was no extradition treaty between the two countries. However, Jay Gould, no doubt smarting under the I sting of being so nicely gypped by la young Englishman, offered a handsome reward to anyone who would deliver his lordship over to American officers. As I recall the facts now, Mike Hoy, of St. Paul, Loren Fletcher, of Minneapolis, who afterward served several terms in congress, and a Mr. Keegan attempted to get Gordon across the line, and had almost succeeded when they were stopped and arrested and returned to old Fort Garry—not Winnipeg, as there was no Winnipeg at that time—and confined in the old military prison.

"IN THE PRISON THEY WERE subjected to the usual military rules and regulations, which were very rigid. Though they had plenty of money with which to purchase such food and other articles as they desired, they were not allowed to do so, but were required to observe all the rules of a military prison. In some way Fletcher succeeded in getting a message through to friends in St. Paul, explaining the situation and asking for assistance. In closing the message he added this postscript: 'In a hell of a fix. Fletcher.' That became a sort of by-word among us and I often heard it used in a joking way.

"THE MINNESOTA MEN were released in due time, and returned without the man whom they had hoped to bring back with them, But it was not long before Gordon was arrested by a British officer who wanted him to answer for some crooked work he had pulled in England. When told what was wanted of him he told the officer that he would be ready to go with him as soon as he could gather up his belongings which were in his hotel rooms. When he entered his bedroom, imagine the surprise of those officers when they heard a revolver shot, and, rushing into the room, found his "lordship' prone upon the floor with a bullet in his brain and life extinct. Thus ended the career of the man who out-smarted Jay Gould.

THE QUEEN'S COUNSEL AT Fort Garry at that time was a man whose name, I think, was Taylor, who evidently was a hard-boiled fellow, or at least Mike Hoy thought so. When Taylor was succeeded by another he returned east, and had to go through St. Paul, which was the gateway to the northwest, there being no road from Fort Garry to the eastern section of Canada. In some way Mike Hoy learned just about when to expect Mr. Taylor, and when the ex-Q. C. stepped from the N. P. train down near the foot of Jackson street Mike Hoy extended to him the right hand of fellowship, but in such a manner that Taylor measured his length on the pave- ment, not a very dignified thing for a policeman to do, but no doubt it gave Mike Hoy a lot of satisfaction after having been rather roughly treated by the honorable Q. C. 'I HAVE RELATED THESE events just as I recall them from memory. If there are others of the vintage of 1872 who find I am not correct I will be glad to be corrected." HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE Prince of Wales—he surely rates all those capitals now—received a combination of New Year's honors such as never before were bestowed on one person at the same time. In the same ceremony he was made an admiral of the fleet, a general of the army and chief marshal of the air force at the same time. All that is needed now is to have him made a railway conductor and chief potentate of the automobile association to render him supreme in every form of transportation. THE PRINCE WAS ALREADY the owner of many titles. The title Prince of Wales, by which he is most commonly known, has been worn by the eldest sons of the royal family ever since King Edward I played that shabby trick on the Welsh. Having invaded the country and overwhelmed the natives, Edward promised as one of the conditions of peace that he would give the Welsh a prince born in their own country, who could not speak a word of English. That seemed fair enough, and was accepted. Then the king conferred the title of prince of Wales on his infant son, who had recently been born at Carnarvon castle, and who was too young to speak English or anything else. No wonder the Welsh bards sang: "Ruin seize thee, ruthless king! Confusion on thy banners wait! Though fanned by conquest's crimson wing They mock the air with idle state." HOWEVER, THERE ARE NO hard feelings against the present prince because of the duplicity of his ancestors. The first prince of Wales came to a bad end, anyway. In addition to his new titles the prince is a duke, an earl, a baron, a colonel of seventeen regiments, an officer of half a dozen orders of chivalry, a Knight of the Garter, a Knight of the Thistle and Master of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleet. When he succeeds his father he will be "King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."

THERE WAS SOME QUESTION as to the proper sequence of titles to be worn by the prince's revered great-grandmother, Victoria, when the title of empress of India was conferred on her. Until then she had been known as "Queen, defender of the faith," the latter indicated by the initials F. D. That title was conferred on Henry VIII by the pope as a reward for the publication by Henry of a vigorous treaties combating what he held to be the heresies of Martin Luther. Later Henry cast off allegiance to the pope, but retained the title, which has since been borne by his successors.

WHEN VICTORIA WAS ABOUT to be made empress the first thought was to have her titles run, "Queen, Empress of India, Defender of the Faith." Then there arose the question of what particular faith of India her majesty would be expected to defend, Hinduism, Mohammedanism, or what. The problem was solved neatly by switching the titles, and Victoria became "Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India," to which have been added certain references to the dominions beyond the seas',

OF ALL THE TITLES BORNE by the Prince of Wales that of duke of Cornwall represents the greatest practical value, for attached to that ducky are estates of immense value, which provide the incumbent with the greater part of his private income. Many of the other titles are liabilities rather than assets.

IN THIS COUNTRY THE newspaper that is able to celebrate its 100th anniversary is considered fairly ancient, and there are only a few in that class. But until its suspension the other day Germany had a paper, the Munich Augsburg, which was founded in 1609, and which was published continuously for more than 300 years. It has survived wars, pestilence and revolution, but Nazism was too much for it and it gave up the ghost. Catering to the cultured intellectual circles of southern Germany, the management will try to keep in touch with its former clientele through the continued publication of its literary supplement, known as "Collectors."

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF the beholder, and poetry is in the soul of the poet. Therefore the poet is able to clothe with dignity and beauty those things which to others are commonplace. Not all of us, for instance, are able to see poetry in a dust storm, but that is because not all of us are poets. In his poem "Spin Dance" Paul Southworth Bliss enables us to see with something of his vision a spectacle which has usually seemed far from poetic. The poem is the title piece of a little book of poems by Mr. Bliss with linoleum block decorations by Harold J. Mathews. The book is published by the Lakeside Press, Chicago.

"SPIN DANCE" HAS A Special local interest because many of the poems were written in North Dakota and about North Dakota scenes. The author, now field representative of the FERA in North Dakota, has had wide experience as newspaper man, soldier and social worker. He spent several years on Twin City newspapers, was a major of Infantry in the World war, and for more than a decade he has devoted himself to social work, serving the Red Cross and other philanthropic organizations. Harold J. Mathews, the illustrator, also prominent in social work has achieved distinction in the field of art, and his illustrations in "Spin Dance" form an admirable accompaniment to the text.

MR. BLISS FINDS POETRY just as he goes along—in the fields, along the roadside, in the sky, in a fallen tree or in budding foliage. His verses are accompanied by brief notes illustrating the text and usually telling to what particular place the lines refer. Several of the poems are descriptive of natural features in the beautiful Shaw Botanical gardens in St. Pious. Many of them are dated at places in North Dakota. To "Spin Dance" is appended the following note:

"OVER THE FALLOW FIELD comes the dancing wind. It touches the ground which leaps into its embrace. In a pretty swirl the two, partners spin over the field and disappear. The dance floor of North Dakota is a mighty one: few fields are less than forty acres." The poem follows: SPIN DANCE. Was there ever a dance Like the spin dance Of the wind And the April earth! It is full of joy Of living; It is spun Of the sheerest mirth!

Between two meadows that I know, I walked today as in a trance . . . I saw the April wind bend low And ask the fallow field to dance. They started slowly, full of grace, A gentle, old-time minuet; And now they danced a merrier pace, With many a turn and pirouette. Then danced they madly: none could say Which now was earth and which was air; And whirling thus they sped away— But I shall ne'er tell you where. Was there ever a dance Like the spin dance, Of the wind And the April earth! It is full of the joy Of giving; It is Wild As the spring's new birth.

A BEAUTIFUL FANTASY IS that of the dancing of the willow and west wind near St. Paul. "Rolla Red Rose," was inspired by the sight of wild roses, redder than any others, growing along the roadside between Rolla and Bottineau, North Dakota. "Prairie Sunset, descriptive of a glorious winter sunset seen on a drive from Williston to Crosby, closes with this stanza: So may the ranking gods be kind, And bring you ere life's done, To see a prairie sunset bind The east and west in one.

THE METROPOLITAN Theater is to be renovated and reopened. To the newcomer that means merely the refurbishing of an old building that has long been idle and out of repair. To those who were living here about the turn of the century and earlier it means the revival of pleasant memories, and it may revive the hope, long deferred, of the re turn of the legitimate drama, for which the screen, no matter how excellent, has proven but an imperfect substitute. We are told that the old play house is to be refitted for motion pictures and vaudeville, in which there is but slight suggestion of the return of the drama as it was in the days when the greatest artists of their time took their productions across- the continent, playing one-night stands, and bringing to many of the smaller towns dramatic entertainment as fine in every respect as the best ever seen on any metropolitan stage. In those days it was not necessary for the resident of Grand Forks to go to New York, or even Minneapolis, to see a good play. One had only to wait a little while and the play was sure to come to the local stage, with its own stage settings, and often with its original company intact. BUT, WHILE THE Immediate purpose of those in charge of this new enterprise is understood I to be to provide for motion pictures and vaudeville, the reopening of the Metropolitan at least I contains possibilities which will be welcomed by the old playgoer. The Metropolitan, when built, was the finest and best theater between Minneapolis and the Pacific coast, and for a long time it held that honorable distinction. Its stage, originally large for those days, was later enlarged, and is still adequate in size for the adequate presentation of many of the best plays now staged. Its seating arrangement is adequate , and the floor pitch gives a better view of the stage than is possible in most other theaters, old or new. A few years ago George E. Bachelder, one of the principal promoters of the building of the Metropolitan, paid Grand Forks a brief visit and looked over the old house which had meant so much to him. It was empty and shabby, with little remaining to suggest departed glories. But Mr. Bachelder had an eye to essentials. He said: "We were pretty proud of the old theater, and we had a right to be. And with a little touching up it could still be made a place of which Grand Forks could be proud. The main features are still there."

THE RENOVATED Metropolitan will be a standing invitation to the returned road show, if the road show ever does return, and of this there are some indications. The new management is seeking a new name for the house. I have a letter from a correspondent who expresses the hope that the old name will not be changed. To the younger generation the name means little, perhaps, but there are still quite a number of those who spent many pleasant hours in the house in the old days, to whom the name is a cherished symbol. For purposes of utility ,the name "Metropolitan" seems as ' good as any, and that name has 'associations which' no new name can have, and which mean much to those who cherish them.

TO MANY OF US ROQUEFORT cheese is something rather rare and mysterious, and there are current fantastic stories, many of them believed, as to the process of manufacture and curing and as to the reason why it is not manufactured in this country. For several years Professor W. B. Combs, of the University of Minnesota, has been experimenting with Roquefort cheese, and last year he produced about 10,000 pounds which is said to duplicate in every way the best that is produced abroad.

IT WAS THE CHANCE Observation of rust on a lantern that started Professor Combs on his series of experiments. Along the Mississippi near St. Paul the cliffs are honeycombed with caves of all shapes and dimensions. Some of brewery storage. Others are used them were used years ago for mushroom growing. Being shown through a series of mushroom caves in 1926 Professor Combs noticed that the lantern used was heavily coated with rust, and he was told that this was due to the excessive humidity of the caves. He knew of Roquefort cheese being cured in French caves of similar character, and he began experimenting with cheese in the Mississippi caves.

IN MANUFACTURING THE cheese, the milk is curdled. After the curd has set firmly, it is cut into cubes and is dipped into a rack to drain. Then it is placed in hoops the size and shape desired, and inoculated with pure culture of a mold known to produce the characteristic flavor of Roquefort. The curd is allowed to drain at room temperature for another four or five days after which it is transferred to the cave where it is salted. A week or 10 days later, numerous holes are punched into the cheese to admit the air conducive to mold growth. After about two or three months the cheese is re- moved from the cave and placed at a temperature where it is held until ready for market. At this time each cheese is wrapped in tinfoil to close the holes.

THE MOLD WSTH WHICH the cheese is inoculated is grown in bread following the system used in France. Loaves are placed in caves where the mold grows profusely. Later the bread is placed in drying chambers then ground to a fine powder which is applied to the green cheese by means of a salt shaker. Up to this time, only the tiny French village of Roquefort has produced the cheese by that name. The reason is the Roquefort caves with their consistently low temperatures and high humidity. The sandstone caves here closely approximate the Roquefort caverns where the tem- perature ranges from 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit and with humidity of 85 to 90 per cent.

PROFESSOR COMBS Believes there are enough caves in the Twin Cities to produce more Roquefort than is now used in the United States, including not only the true Roquefort but also the many varieties of Roquefort like cheese.

COPIES OF THE DUNNVILLE, Ontario, Chronicle, have been mailed to me by Hugh Reid, who, I believe, came originally from Dunnville, and who seems to be a regular subscriber for his old home town paper. Dunnville is a little Lake Erie town at the mouth of the Grand River, and, while I never visited the place, I lived in my youth along the same river some miles up stream. The late J. W. Scott, of Gilby, was a Dunnville man, and some years ago he revisited the old place and sought former acquaintances, some of whom had died while most of the others had moved away.

THE NEW YEAR'S ISSUE OF the paper records the fact that just 100 years ago, January 1, 1835, the first white child ever born in Dunnville, made his appearance. His name was John Alderay, and he was for many years a prominent and influential resident of the community. Ten years earlier the first settler, Solomon Minor, a New Englander, built his home on the present site of Dunnville. At that time all of that area belonged to the Six Nation Indians, whose territory is now confined to a small reservation along the river a few miles south of Brantford. As measured by the newness of the west, all that district seems old, as if it had always been the home of white inhabitants, yet there are those now living there whose parents were born about the time that the first settlers began to enter the district.

SETTLEMENT OF THAT Portion of Ontario was due immediately to the building of the first Well-and canal. For some years there had been agitation for a waterway to facilitate communication between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and when the canal project finally took shape laborers flocked in to perform their share of the work. A correspondent of the Dunnville paper says that most of the early laborers were Irish, about equally divided between Catholic and Protestant faiths. Fighting was prevalent among them, and the two groups were separated as a means of preserving the peace. This was fairlv successful, but there were two days on which the fighting spirit asserted itself. Those were St. Patrick's day and the 12th of July, the latter the day on which Orangemen celebrated the battle of the Boyne. On each of those two days the boys simply had to have a grand scrap. To do otherwise would have violated all the traditions.

IN THE LEGIONARY, THE Organ of the Canadian Legion, appears the story of an incident which will be appreciated, perhaps, by many ex-service men, American as well as Canadian, who know of the awful carnage which populated some of the cemeteries of France. On a Christmas morning the narrator visited a military cemetery in France to pay tribute to the memory of comrades whose graves were there. Just ahead of him walked a stocky man who took his place near a group of graves and seemed to be reading from a

"I AM AFRAID MY CURIOSITY overcame the original intention of my visit,” continues the story, "so I drew nearer still, and although I moved very quietly, I am sure I made sufficient noise to make my presence known to the man. But he went on with his task—whatever it was—and I realized he was calling out the names of the men who lay sleeping at his feet. 'Parsons, Richards, Rumsey, Sadler, Sellers, Smith, F. Smith M Thorne.' Slowly the roll was called, presumably from the book he held in his hands. Eventually the names came to a finish; the book was closed and the elastic slipped over the ends. The man pulled himself together and gave a cock to the stick under his arm, then with a correct left turn, marched ten paces to his left, halted, right-turned, saluted, and in the clipped tones of the old-timer said: 'Company present, Sir. Three absent on leave.' "From my vantage point I could see that he was standing opposite the grave of an officer, and as I looked at the serried ranks of headstones, I saw they were all of men in the same regiment, and all had died on the same day— Christmas Day."

THE CORRESPONDENT round the stranger to be blind and almost deaf, but introducing himself he obtained the story that lay back of the strange procedure. In that vicinity there has been a fierce battle in which almost an entire company had been wiped out, and the narrative says:

"THERE HAD BEEN THRE, survivors from the battle—an officer, the corporal, and a bomber. All three had been wounded and a chance meeting after the war had led to the officer suggesting they should pay a visit to the cemetery one Christmas. The visit had been repeated and when the officer eventually died as the result of his wounds, it was found that he had left a sum of money sufficient to defray the cost of the pilgrimage each year, and until last year the corporal and the bomber had carried out the self-imposed task. "NOW THE BOMBER HAD gone and the blind corporal was left alone to call the roll. The many visits had taught him the road to the cemetery and he was quite capable of coming alone, but he had not counted on the gate being shut after him, which action on my part had rather spoiled his little ceremonial. I shouted my explanations and apologies and think I was forgiven, and we adjourned to the estaminet and drank a silent toast in 'vang blang as my new-found friend called it.

"I OFFERED TO SHOW HIM to the station but my offer was refused. He 'knew the way to the gar,' thank you, sir,' and 'all the 'froggies' round here knows me, so I'll be quite O. K. 'Bong jour' and good luck, sir,' and off he marched, his sturdy figure typical of his breed, a pilgrim of pilgrims a comrade.

"I HAVE ALREADY SAID there wasn't much of a story, but I like to think of the corporal calling the roll on Christmas Day morning in Blank Cemetery. I like to picture him saluting his company officer before dismissing, and every Christmas I pray that no fool closes the gate as I did. It takes a brave heart to tuck one's stick under one's arm and march through a narrow gate-way at the salute—as the blind corporal does, alone."

FRED L. GOODMAN IS A charter member of the Statue of Liberty society, and somewhere he has a parchment certifying to that fact. He 'is not quite sure about the name of the society, but it is similar to that given, and it was organized for the purpose of providing funds with which to build a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty which now holds its beacon aloft over New York harbor. Mr. Goodman thinks that it was in1882 that he paid a dollar into a pedestal fund and received a certificate in exchange. When he told me that we argued about the date, for according to my recollection it was several years later that a popular subscription was taken for a pedestal fund. But in the time which I recall, each person who contributed a dollar received a miniature replica of the statue and pedestal. Goodman, however, is quite sure that no bronze effigy was used at the time of his subscription. It seems likely, therefore, that two popular subscriptions were made, several years' apart, or that the original one was continued through several years, with the use of the little metal symbol in the later years. At one time they were quite common, and almost every what-not or mantel contained one.

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY enlightening the world, by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, was the gift of the people of France to the people of the United States in celebration of the 100th anniversary of American independence. Work on it was begun in 1874, but progress on it was slow, and the work of 60 men was required for nearly 10 years before the work was finished. In 1876 the hand bearing the torch was completed and sent to America, and other sections followed, the entire figure being completed in 1883.

THE SITE SELECTED FOR the great statue was Bedloe's island, a tiny rock in New York harbor, but for several years the great metal sections lay in storage, awaiting provision on this side for a pedestal. The delay was the occasion of some embarrassment, and of fear that the French people might feel that their generous gift was not appreciated as it should have been. Ultimately funds were raised for the pedestal, the sections were placed and riveted together, and the torch sent its beam of light across the harbor. For several years the torch remained unlighted for reasons of economy, but a few years ago the lights were again turned on. In addition to its sen- timental value the lighted statue serves as a beacon for air pilots.

WHEN IT WAS ERECTED the statue served as a symbol to-hundreds of thousands of immigrants yearly, welcoming them to the land of hope and opportunity. Few immigrants now arrive, but returning Americans often confess to a little moistening of the eyes and a tightening of the throat muscles as they see the uplifted hand of the statue upon their arrival from foreign journeys. To them the statue becomes the symbol of "home."

HOLIDAY GREETINGS BE-long now in the background, but here is something clipped from an eastern paper which seems worth repeating:

SIXTY YEARS AGO—WHEN eggs were thirty-six for a shilling, butter ten cents a pound; milk a nickel a quart, the butcher gave away liver and the hired girl worked for 2 dollars a week and did the washing. Women wore clothes, didn't powder and paint, smoke, play poker or Charleston. Men wore whiskers and boots, chewed tobacco and spat on the sidewalk, Beer was five cents and the lunch was free. Laborers Work ed 10 hours a day without a strike. Nobody tipped waiters and a hat check grafter was unknown. A coal oil hanging lamp and a stereoscope in the parlor were luxuries. No one was ever operated upon for appendicitis, or bought strange glands. Microbes were unheard of. Folks lived to a good old age, and every year walked miles to wish their friends A MERRY CHRISTMAS! TODAY — YOU KNOW—Everybody drives those gas buggies, plays golf, shoots crap, goes to the talkies every night, smokes cigarettes, drinks Honey Dew, buys all needs on the installment plan, blames the government, thinks he can beat the stock market, never goes to bed the same day he gets up, and thinks he is having a wonderful time. These are the days of suffragetting, profiteering, price-cutting and government control, and if you think life is worth living—we wish you A HAPPY NEW YEAR! THE DAKOTA FARMER, Published at. Aberdeen, South Dakota, has long been one of the best all-around farm publications circulating in the west. My attention has been called to a recent number which contains several articles of interest. One of these recites the experience of a western farmer who has found a way to rid Russian thistles of their spines. He simply threshes them. The process is said to knock off most of the sharp spines and leave a stock feed which is free from what has been an inconvenient and dangerous element. This farmer is also having good success in feeding silage stored in a pit and made of half thistles and half corn fodder. In all this there may be something of value to other farmers who have grown plenty of thistles and not much else.

THEN THERE IS A LETTER from a farmer who advocates a farm organization which will keep track of the production on each; farm and advise as to marketing in quantities as needed for a fixed1 price. The idea is not at all new, but the writer recalls the conditions of years ago when it was customary for each farmer to sell from each crop only what was needed for immediate expenses, and then to market the rest, perhaps three or four months later, as the price suited him. Agriculture was in a pretty secure condition when it was possible to have held on the farm a large surplus awaiting favorable prices. The trouble is that in late! years it has taken all of each crop, and more, to pay the cost of that particular crop. COMMENTING ON THE Townsend old age pension plan one correspondent writes: "It may be all right, but there are old farmers who would not know how to spend $200 a month. It would look good to an old man or woman who had lost everything, but if they had to take everything to get the money for that pension, what will the young folks do on the farm, when they lose their home, and how will the old people feel when they see the children lose their home?" The writer concludes that the money has to come out of the farm, anyway, and the pension system will make it that much harder for the young farmers who are left to carry on. IN SOME WAYS THE MOST interesting feature in the number-is the symposium in the Young Folks department on "Religion and Depression." In a former number a correspondent, "Whistler," had asked if we would have had the depression if it were not for the lack of religion in the country. Numerous answers were received, and they are given as follows, the names being those assumed by the writers and their ages being represented by the figures given: "WHISTLER ASKED IF WE would have had the depression if it were not for the lack of religion in this country. Here are some of the answers:

"THIS PAGE IS FOR Amusement, fun, etc., and somehow isn't the place for Holy Writ.—McSalty, 17. "GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO with the climate, and prayer will never help this drouth or depression.—Trixie, 20. "I DO NOT THINK LACK OF religion is the cause of this depression but we should believe and study the Bible.— Wildfire, 17. "WE WOULD NOT HAVE THIS depression if it were not for greed and if we followed the Golden Rule —Just Nellie, 17. "I DO NOT THINK IT IS THE lack of religion, but the fulfillment of the prophecy. We are nearing the end of time.—Happy Vera, 13. "I THINK IF MORE PERSONS prayed, this depression would no be. 'The mills .of the gods grim slowly, but they grind exceeding small.’—Shy Ola, 19. "JUST WHAT DOES Whistler mean by 'believe?' She thinks if more people believed, the depression would not have come. But is a belief without a right life any good?—Chinny, 19. "'IF YE WALK IN MY Statutes and keep my commandments and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase.' See Lev. 26:3, 4.—Country Kid, 16. "WHISTLER, EVERYONE HAS some sort of religion. What you mean is, more Christianity. I think if more people lived up to Christ's teachings, the depression would not be felt so much.—Kamawon, 16.

"THERE SURELY IS A Power greater than human power that controls our prosperity as well as the weather. It would seem there must be a reason for all of our depression and hard luck. It may be teaching us 'What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' We surely are finding out who are our true, friends and who are only fair weather friends.—Spud, 16.

"IF PEOPLE WOULD Practice their religion—really be charitable and forgive people, stop gossiping and lying and cheating, and omit the thousand and one other sins, then perhaps characters and nations, the world in general would start climbing back to noble heights. If we do the best we can, we'll come out of this depression with strengthened characters and make just as good men and women as those who have brought us into the world and created these conditions.—Ma Cherie, 16."

IN ALL THIS THERE MAY BE nothing very profound. Certainly there is a variety. But when it is remembered that these are the honest expressions of boys and girls in their teens, on the farm, on a subject that goes beyond the realm of bare economics, the symposium becomes decidedly interesting, and perhaps a little enlightening. WALTER ROBINSON,OF Juneau, Alaska, on his way to Wisconsin to visit his aged mother, is spending a short time in Grand j Forks with his brother - in - law, Earl Smith. Mrs. Robinson, who preferred to defer a visit to the old home town until warmer weather, will be remembered here as Fanny Smith, daughter of the late W. G. Smith. Mr. Robinson has been engaged in the fishing industry at Juneau for many years, an occupation which provides intense activity for about three months in the year, with not much to do during the remaining months. He operates his own boat, a stout 30-foot craft, and confines his attention chiefly to Chinook salmon which are found of high quality in the northern waters.

JUNEAU MAY BE REACHED from Seattle by the outer or ocean route or by what is known as the inside passage, which follows a meandering course between the continental coast and islands which lie parallel to it. Along that pas- sage, which in most places resembles a large river, shipping is sheltered from the winds and high waves of the Pacific, and the voyage is unusually picturesque because of the massive rock formations on either side, often rising to mountainous heights, sometimes bare, and sometimes covered with timber. Occasionally, where wide channels give access to the ocean, the influence of the ocean waves is felt in a turbulent, choppy sea which is exceedingly trying to all but seasoned sailors.

IN A FEW PLACES TIDES flowing through the openings make navigation difficult and treacherous. One such channel is mentioned by Mr. Robinson in which a United States cutter was wrecked, and many smaller craft. On this trip Mr. Robinson came down on a large steamer, but on one occasion he navigated that channel in his own little boat and at an inopportune time. The proper time for passage, he learned, is about high tide, or a little later, when water inside and outside is equalized. At the time mentioned he was not aware of this and approached the channel at the wrong hour. He hailed a Japanese fisherman near by and asked if the channel was safe, and the fisherman obligingly responded "yes,” so Mr. Robinson entered the channel. Having entered he found, that it was anything but safe, but he was already in the clutches of a current from which he could not escape. He had to go on. The tide was rushing through the gap at about 20 miles an hour, and on each side the powerful center current there was a great eddy, and in the near distance an immense whirlpool which sailors afterward told him would suck down 40-foot saw- logs as if they were straws.

MRS. ROBINSON Accompanied her husband on that trip, and while the boat was in the grip of the current she asked him if he thought they could make it. He replied that he thought they could. "And if we don't?" she asked. "Then grab the heaviest thing on board and hang on," he replied. Fortunately the trip was made without accident. Returning another day Mr. Robinson chose the proper hour a little after high tide, and found the channel as smooth as a mill-pond.

MRS. ROBINSON ACQUIRED her taste for sailing as a girl on Maple Lake. Her father enjoyed a sail boat, and owned several of them. I recall that once my family enjoyed a sail with Mr. Smith and Fanny among a lot of islands east of what is now Maple Lake, where we landed and gathered hazel nuts. The channels through which we sailed have been hay meadows for years.

MR. AND MRS . ROBINSON have one daughter, who is now attending college in Washington.

WHILE RUSSIA HAS Officially adopted the Gregorian calendar, which is used on most of the rest of the world, there are still millions of Russians who cling to the ancient method of marking the passage of the years. To those January 6 by our calendar was Christmas, and the day was celebrated in Moscow churches in something of the old manner. A correspondent writes that while most of those in attendance were old or elderly persons, the number of young people was surprising. The authorities have done their best to stamp out everything suggestive of religion, but they are having a hard time doing it. There seems to be something inside human nature that demands something to worship. Take away the orthodox forms and people will substitute something else. In Russia it may be the five-year plan. Elsewhere it may be something else. But there is an apparently unconquerable tendency to cling to something. AWAY UP ON THE SIBERIAN coast is a lonely polar station called Mare-Sale which is visited by occasional steamers during the short Arctic summer as mariners dodge the ice packs and dash to the mouth of the Yenisei river to carry supplies to the northern Siberian population in exchange for timber. In a crude shelter in that lonely spot a party of Russian scientists are spending the winter making observations of Arctic phenomena. Wireless dispatches from that distant point say that the temporary settlers are being pestered by a plague of mice, or, more accurately, lemmings, which sweep over the station in such hordes that dogs and traps cannot cope with them.

THESE LITTLE ANIMALS, which are described as being larger than ordinary mice and" somewhat smaller than rats, have been driven from their usual haunts by blue foxes and other polar animals, and are moving by thousands. They are ravenously hungry, and the Russian scientists have had difficulty in protecting their food from the ravages of the little animals. Food has been stored on a platform supported by four poles planted in the ice, but the lemmings make valiant efforts to climb the poles.

AROUND THE ARCTIC OCEAN there are several species of lemmings, some of which are numerous in northern Norway and Sweden, and in those countries have occurred numerous migrations in which the little animals move by millions from the interior o the sea, into which they plunge and are carried away. The cause of these migrations is somewhat obscure, but the phenomena is generally attributed to occasional failure of food supply in the interior.

THE FIRST FRENCH Settlement Prince Edward Island was almost wrecked by what has been described as a plague of mice. A settlement had been established near the coast, and it was thriving well, with the harvesting of a big crop just in sight. Then terrified | messengers came from the outskirts of the little plantation saying that an army of mice was on its way. Soon the mice appeared by thousands and millions, and they could neither be destroyed nor turned aside. Failure of their natural food in the interior had driven them to the coast, where they devoured the crops of the settlers. From affluence the settlers were reduced for the time being to a state of famine. It is possible that those "mice" were one species of lemmings.

I HAVE JUST HEARD another story of Colonel Plummer which I must pass on before I forget it. Colonel Plummer was one of the established institutions of North Dakota forty years ago noted for his eloquence, his wit and his general irresponsibility. He could speak movingly, if not convincingly, on any side of any subject at any time, and with his flights of rhetoric he could carry audience away off into the blue empyrean.

ON ONE OCCASION COLONEL Plummer was speaking at a political meeting where the public debt was one of the important issues to be considered. The colonel spoke for some time without mentioning that particular subject, and a committee member seated near him on the platform, thinking that perhaps he had forgotten it, plucked his coat-tail and whispered "public debt." The colonel continued his oration without responding to the suggestion, and his prompter re- peated the pull at his coat-tail and again whispered "public debt, pubic debt." In an undertone the colonel replied impatiently, "All right, all right! How much is it and I'll pay it."

SINCE THAT TIME, OF course, we have added several ciphers to the public debt, but I have no doubt that if Colonel Plummer were with us now he would volunteer to pay the debt as cheerfully as he did in the good old days whose memory we cherish.

WITH NOTHING TO Indicate its source I found on my desk a copy of a song, "North Dakota,' presumably published recently, with words by, Katherine B. Mugford and music by Arthur A. Penn. I haven't heard it rendered, and am unable to judge of its musical quality, but the first stanza reads: Enriching our nation's flag with new glory, Increasing in splendor its luster and fame; Our state of the Wild Rose is bravely advancing, And painting on its hist'ry a glorious name. Chorus— Land of the Wild Rose, Land of the golden grain! Blooming and waving; O'er plains fair and free; Keen airs and sunny skies Wait on thy sturdy sons Who gladly and fondly Find a home in thee.

WHAT A WORLD OF TENDER sentiment and romance there was in that wedding gown pageant given at the Methodist church last week! There were shown specimens of the dress designer's art dating back more than a century, and so on down through the intervening decades, costumes familiar in our own land and time, some reminiscent of the ancient traditions of Norway, Sweden and Iceland, one from far-off India, others from Japan and China, and still others from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Silks, satins, wools, laces woven and shaped according to the styles of many periods and many decorated with the finest specimens of needlework or ornamented with beautiful designs in color. As a spectacle the pageant was both interesting and impressive.

BUT MORE APPEALING THAN interesting styles or daintily woven material were the associations which clustered around those garments and the recollections which their display revived. Those gowns were displayed by girls who were or might have been the daughters, grand-daughters or great-granddaughters of the original wearers. How anxiously and proudly had mothers seen to the shaping and fitting of them! What romantic passages had provided the occasion for their use! How hesitatingly, yet hopefully and joyously had their wearers approached the altar. How bright the future, at least for the moment, and how much of life has been lived since those gowns were first worked! Lavender and old lace! Beauty, hope, courage! And so the gates open into a new life.

A CORRESPONDENT ASKS two questions concerning which he has had an argument with a friend: (1) Was President Hoover impeached? (2) What is the exact meaning of the terms "impeach" and "impeachment?"

TO THE FIRST QUESTION the answer is "no." Andrew Johnson was the only president of the United States to be impeached, and upon trial by the senate, in accordance to the constitution, he was acquitted.

THE WORD "IMPEACH" HAS several applications, its general meaning to accuse or discredit. In the sense in which it is used to describe proceedings for the removal of a public official, as the president of the nation or the governor of North Dakota, it applies to definite proceedings which are prescribed in the respective constitutions. Upon the adoption by a majority vote in the house of representatives of a resolution of impeachment, setting forth the charges made against the individual, the senate is notified of the fact, and the charges are heard by the senate, together with the defense offered by the accused. A vote of two-thirds of the senators elected is required for conviction. In North Dakota the persons subject to impeachment are the governor and state and judicial officers except county judges, justices of the peace and police magistrates. Judgment may not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold office of trust or profit under the state, but the accused, whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. Impeachment, therefore, is not a statutory criminal proceeding, but a proceeding for the removal of a person from office because of proven unfitness for that office as evidenced by gross misbehavior of some kind. SOME TIME AGO THERE WAS published in this column the familiar Scottish dialect poem 'Bairnies, Cuddle Doon," together with some facts about the author, Alexander Anderson. A. G. Sheridan, of Park River, sends a clipping from a Scottish paper, the People's Friend, which gives some additional facts. The poet was a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and wrote for some years under the pen name “Surface-man." Many of his poems, including "Cuddle Doon," were originally published in the People's Friend. He is buried in the churchyard at Kirkconnel, where a monument has been erected to his memory. Recently admirers of his genius celebrated at Kirkconnel the eighty-fifth anniversary of his birth.

THAT WAS A FINE Entertainment given the members of the North Dakota Press association at Fargo last Friday evening. The affair lasted for several hours, during which there was not a dull moment, and the members of the Forum staff and those who assisted them merited fully the expressions of commendation which they re- ceived. One of the features was the singing of the Amphion Chorus, an organization of 125 Fargo and Moorhead men which distinguished itself at the World's fair in Chicago and which is to sing in Philadelphia this year. A miscellaneous program of vocal and instrumental solos by talented artists and of songs, dances and skits by girls from Fargo schools of expression added brilliance and variety.

ONE OF THE GUESTS AT THE party was Governor Moodie, who, as an old newspaper man, entered fully into the spirit of the proceedings and was the object of much good-natured banter. In a brief humorous talk a Minneapolis visitor said that he thought the people of Minnesota would be willing to exchange governors with North Dakota. That seemed quite an idea to Happy Paulson, who was acting as toastmaster, and he called for a vote. "All who are in favor of trading governors with Minnesota will say 'aye,'" he called, expecting, of course, a laud chorus of "noes.' Instead there came a unanimous and vociferous shout of "aye," which flabergasted Happy. Moodie enjoyed the joke as thoroughly as anyone. DURING THE LITTLE Revue a tall and clever girl acted as mistress of ceremonies, and at one stage of the proceedings she was interrupted repeatedly by a little girl who in her attempts to usurp the position of announcer got off some clever lines. At one point the little girl was rebuked by her elder companion, who said, severely : "You mustn't come on this way interrupting. This is an important meeting. It's a meeting of the North Dakota Press association, and the governor is here. We have a new governor now, you know." "Oh, a nice new baby one?" asked the child, indicating with her hands her idea of about the size of an infant governor. "No, no! Not a baby one. A regular one, full size." "Oh! How do people get to be governor?" "Why, the voters elect them." "You mean the voters vote, and the one that gets the most votes is governor?" "Yes. That's the way it's done." "In North Dakota, too?" "Well, we won't say anything about that. You just run along."

IN A MEMORIAL SERVICE held Friday afternoon an impressive tribute was paid by Walter L. Stockwell to the memory of Grant S. Hager, founder of the St. Thomas Times and for many years publisher of the Walsh County Record, of Grafton. From their early manhood the two men had been friends and companions, intimately associated in business, in professional work, in social life, in their common interest in public affairs, and in the work of the Masonic order in which both held high positions. In every way Mr. Stockwell's address was worthy of his subject, and it made a profound impression, CHARLES EVANS, A Reporter on the Herald staff a few years ago, but for some years engaged in commercial printing in California, dropped in a few days ago and left for inspection samples of printing done by this company, the Compton Printing company, of Compton, Cal., in which is used a new process of making cuts. The reader who is only slightly familiar with the printing craft may yet be aware that most of the illustrations used in newspapers are printed from cuts made by what is known as the half-tone process in which light and shadow effects are brought out by the size and grouping of small dots in the picture. These dots are made by a process of chemical etching in zinc, preparatory to which the picture is photographed on the plate through a fine screen.

FOR FINE PRINTING ON specially prepared paper a fine screen may be used, but for the newspaper, which is printed on coarser paper and at great speed, a coarser screen is used, the result being a relatively coarse reproduction. The process used by Mr. Evans' company permits the use of a fine screen for newspaper work, giving a much better reproduction in the newspaper. The process is the result of experiments which have been conducted for several years.

SEVERAL, OF THE SMALLER towns in the western part of the state have launched a campaign in protest against what they believe to be disregard of their rights by highway engineers in laying out new road routes. The campaign was started as a result of the letting of a contract for a highway one mile south of the towns of Wilton, Regan and Still, which it is alleged will result in the abandonment of Highway 36 along the McLean-Burleigh county line; touching the three towns.

IT IS MAINTAINED THAT the new routing will practically destroy three towns, and local people are asking co-operation from other parts of the state in an effort to have all but main arterial highways run through rather than past the smaller towns. Caustic criticism of highway officials is made in published material sent out in support of the complaint. LIKE MOST QUESTIONS THIS one has two sides. Those who use the roads are interested in having them as direct as possible, and with as little as possible in the way to interfere with regular and con- tinuous movement Usually if the driver could arrange it he would have no city or village between his starting point and the end of his journey. On the other hand there are those who demand that every highway in the vicinity shall be routed right through the main street of their village.

NATURALLY ALL CANNOT be accommodated, and the usual tendency is to route roads in as direct line as possible between places of considerable size, even when this involves avoidance of smaller places. Not all residents of small towns which to have highways routed directly through their streets. Especially where gravel surfaces are used the main highway through a village involves problems of dust and street maintenance, as well as the problem of safety, which is of still greater importance.

IT IS OF IMPORTANCE TO any community that it can be reached by good roads, but there are business men in many of the small towns who prefer to be a little off the main highway than directly on it. They say that the through traffic is not of sufficient value to them to compensate for the undesirable features, that little business is brought to their towns by persons who have not originally intended to stop there, and that those who have business with them are not deterred by the fact that the town is a mile off the highway provided the connecting road is good. IT IS A FACT THAT IN MANY sections of the east the tendency is to route highways through as few towns as possible, using suburban streets around large cities rather than main streets through them.

THE SECOND WEDDING GOWN pageant, given in response to the desire of a large number of persons for whom there was not room I at the first, violated tradition in being, like the, original, a complete success. Repeaters are tricky things, and it is seldom that one proves satisfactory. This was a fortunate exception. There were some who attended the original pageant in some trepidation, fearing that there might be introduced an element of comedy which would have spoiled it all. The management was careful to avoid even a suggestion of anything which would have detracted from the simple beauty of the display. Nothing could have been in better taste. In that connection I am reminded by contrast of mock weddings. In the course of a fairly long life it has been my fate to attend, I think, two of those, each time reluctantly, and each time with a sense of shame at being a spectator at such a performance. I have no intention of being present at another. There are some things too sacred to be burlesqued. ONE OF THE GOWNS WORN at the pageant was the wedding gown of Rebecca Tupper, great-grandmother of N. B. Knapp, of the High School faculty. Mr. Knapp furnished some further facts culled from the family records. Ichabod Tupper, father of Rebecca, was a corporal in a Connecticut regiment during the revolutionary war. With a small group of men he was taking some horses to camp when the little party was captured by the British. Corporal Tupper was placed on a British ship, where he was kept for about four years, working as a common sailor. The rest of the crew became so accustomed to his presence that it was forgotten that he was a prisoner. EVENTUALLY THE SHIP came back to American waters, and off the Maine coast the prisoner escaped and worked his way back to his home in Connecticut. There he found that he had been given up for lost. His funeral sermon had been preached and his sweetheart was wearing mourning for him. He was welcomed home and the long-deferred marriage took place. His daughter Rebecca wore the gown that was recently shown. I HAVE A NOTE FROM Arthur Dixon, formerly of Rolla, North Dakota, and now of Pasadena, California, enclosing a letter of his in a Pasadena paper in support of the Townsend pension plan. Mr. Dixon is president of one of the numerous clubs organized for promotion of the pension plan. THIS COLUMN IS NOT Intended for controversy, but I cannot refrain from noting in passing two features which have impressed me in connection with Mr. Dixon's letter. Mr. Dixon refers to the thousands who have reached the age of 60, who are out of employment and can never hope to be re-employed, and whose savings are exhausted or approaching exhaustion, and urges that the Townsend plan be put into operation for their sake. THE PLAN CALLS FOR THE payment of $200 a month to every man and woman over 60, regardless of the present circumstances or future prospects of the individual. Thus several million persons whose condition ranges from comfort to4 affluence would be given hand some salaries which they do not need in order to provide for those who are in need. Under the plan John D. Rockefeller would be entitled to the pension equally with his poorest neighbor.

FURTHER, NO ATTENTION seems to have been given to the fact that among the pensioners would be those to whom two hundred dollars is a sum as incalculable as a million is to others. By means of a pension of that size such persions would be lifted suddenly into a situation in which they have had no experience and in which they would be completely lost. The person who has reached the age of 60 cannot readily be taught new tricks in the spending of money or in anything else. We have seen something of what sudden wealth did to Cherokee In- dians on whose lands oil was struck, and whose use of the money was both grotesque and pathetic. AN OUT-OF-TOWN Correspondent questions the accuracy of my statement a few days ago that President Hoover was not impeached. He recalls that a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Hoover was presented by Con- gressman McFadden, of Pennsylvania, and he assumes that the member's action constituted impeachment. As pointed out in an other paragraph in the column the word "impeach has several applications. Its general meaning is to accuse or discredit. Thus we may impeach a witness, or impeach the honor of an individual. But when the word is used in connection with an attempt to remove a public official it relates to a specific legal proceeding, all the steps in which are definitely set forth. In Section II, Article I of the federal constitution it is provided that "The house of representatives . . . shall have the sole power of impeachment." Obviously the making of charges or the offering of a resolution by an individual member is not impeachment in the sense in which that term is used in the constitution. For that purpose affirmative action must be taken by the house, and the house did not take such action on Mr. McFadden's resolution.

HUEY LONG HAS BEEN brushing up on his reading. In a radio speech the other night, holding before the people of the United States the awful prospect of himself as president, he quoted from Nehimiah, the apostle Paul, Shakespeare, Emerson, Pope Pius, Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, and about a dozen other worthies. He listed the poet Horace as among our more modern writers, but Horace wouldn't mind a little thing like that.

INASMUCH AS HUEY HAS taken to reading the scriptures, he may some day stumble across this and find edification in reading it: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. "Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil."

A FRIEND HAS JUST Handed me a copy of the "last will" of Charles Lounsbury, a document which has been published and re-published, and which now makes its appearance in leaflet form. Somewhere I have read a sketch of the author, but I recall none of the facts. If any reader has them I shall be glad to receive the information. I am presenting the "will" itself because in its poetic beauty and human spirit there is something which seems to fit peculiarly into the needs of this time:

A LAST WILL. "In the Name of God, Amen "I, Charles Lounsbury, being of sound and disposing mind and memory (he lingered on the word memory), do now make and publish this my last will and testament, in order, as justly as I may, to distribute my interests in the world among succeeding men. "And first, that part of my interests which is known among men and recognized in the sheep-bound volumes of the law as my property, being inconsequential and of none account, I make no mention 1 of in this my will, "My right to live, it being but a life estate, is not at my disposal, but, these things excepted, all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath.

"ITEM: AND FIRST, I GIVE to good fathers and mothers, but in trust for their children, nevertheless, all good little words of praise and all quaint pet names, and I charge said parents to use them justly, but generously, as the needs of their children shall re-quire.

"ITEM: I LEAVE TO Children exclusively, but only for the life of their childhood, all and every the dandelions' of the fields and the daisies thereof, with the right to play among them freely, according to the custom of children, warning them at the same time against thistles. And I devise to children the yellow shores of creeks and the golden sands beneath 'the waters thereof, with the dragonflies that skim the surface of said waters, and the odors of the willows that dip into said waters, and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. "AND I LEAVE TO CHILDREN the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways, and the Night and the Moon and the train of the Milkey Way to wonder at, but subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers; and I give to each child the right to choose a star that shall be his and 1 direct that the child's father shall tell him the name of it in order that the child shall always remember the name of that star after he has learned and forgotten astronomy.

"ITEM: I DEVISE TO BOYS jointly all the useful, idle fields and commons where ball may be played, and all snowclad hills where one may coast, and all streams and ponds where one may skate, to have and to hold the same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows, with the clover blooms and butterflies thereof; and all woods, with their appurtenances of squirrels and whirring birds and echoes and strange noises; and all distant places which may be visited, together with the adventures, 'there found, I do give to said boys to be theirs. And I give to said boys each of his own place at the' fireside at night, with all pictures that may be seen in the burning wood or coal, to enjoy without let or hindrance and without any encumbrance.

"ITEM: TO LOVERS I DEVISE their imaginary world, with whatever they may need, as the stars of the sky, the red, red roses by the wall, the snow of the hawthorn, the sweet strains of music, or aught else they may desire to figure to each other the lasting-ness and beauty of their love. "ITEM: TO YOUNG MEN jointly, being joined in a brave mad crowd, I devise and bequeath all boisterous inspiring sports of rivalry. I give to them the disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their own strength. Though they are rude and rough, I leave to them alone the power of making lasting friendships and of possessing companions, and to them exclusively I give all merry songs and brave choruses to sing, with smooth voices to troll them forth.

"ITEM: AND TO THOSE WHO are no longer children, or youths, or lovers, I leave Memory, and I leave them the volumes of Burns and Shakespeare, and of other poets, if there are others, to the end that they may live the old days over again freely and fully, without tithe or diminution; and to those who are no longer children, or youths, or lovers, I leave, too, the knowledge of what a rare, rare world it is."

INFORMATION HAS BEEN received from Cavalier that Mrs. Charlotte (Grandma) Dumas, 91 years old and Pembina county's oldest pioneer, is seriously ill at the home in Cavalier of her daughter, Mrs. Eli Traillon. Although she endured the hardships of pioneer life and on many occasions suffered because of the lack of almost necessary conveniences and despite her years; Grandma Dumas enjoyed good health until a week before Christmas when she contracted a severe cold. She apparently recovered but later she again became ill and has been confined to her bed since January 10.

BORN AT FORT GARRY, NOW Winnipeg, December 14, 1843, Mrs. Dumas attended a convent at St. Norbert until she was 16 years old when she was married to Cyril Dumas. Until 1870 they lived in the Winnipeg vicinity and then came to Pembina county in a Red river cart. They took up a claim in what now is Felson township and later filed on a pre-emption and tree claim. After living there for more than 40 years they moved back to Winnipeg where Mr. Dumas died in 1928 at the age of 88 years. Since then Mrs. Dumas has made her home with her daughter in Cavalier.

GRANDMA DUMAS IS ONE OF those pioneers who went through every conceivable hardship without a murmur to make a home in North Dakota. When the couple first came to the state in 1870 their closest neighbor was Charles Bottineau who lived two and one-half miles away, John Dease who lived at Leroy, seven miles away and a Mr. Neche, five miles away. The latter was the man for whom the town of Neche was named. A few pioneer traders traveled back and forth during the summer and there were a few buffalo hunters, but none of these had taken claims. Winnipeg was their headquarters in the winter and the next summer they would go to new fields.

FOR DAYS AT A TIME MRS. Dumas would be alone while her husband would be absent trying to earn a living wherever he could get work, for there was no occasion to raise grain and other crops except for their own use, as there was no market. However, a few years later the advantages of the district became known and new- comers came flocking in. Among them were Joseph Letreault, Joseph Amercoult, Captain and Joseph Aymond, and later the Dupreys, Gilmores, Champaignes and Hughes and others who settled just west of the Dumas property.

WITH MORE NEIGHBORS life became brighter for the Dumas family and Mrs. Dumas became a leading figure in the community. Old and young people began to bring their problems to her and she was always ready to assist. There were no doctors in the district and Mrs. Dumas, who had gained considerable knowledge in the use of home remedies, administered to the sick. She would set broken limbs, treat persons ill with fever and aid at the time of childbirth. In those pioneer days she brought more than 100 infants into the world and has a perfect record for never having lost either a new born infant or its mother. DURING THE EARLY DAYS Mrs. Dumas taught catechism to neighboring children. Among her students were several boys about 18 years old who never had had schooling and knew little of the Bible. Her students came from far and near, some staying with her for weeks at a time. To further a real community spirit Mr. and Mrs. Dumas organized a choir and they were the leaders. The group sang in the old Catholic church at St. Joe which is now Walhalla. MR. DUMAS BUILT THE FIRST house on the Maxine Duprey property and it was in that structure that they lived and proved up on their claim. The building later was sold to Mr. Duprey who moved it to his claim.

WHEN QUESTIONED Recently regarding her trip to North Dakota Mrs. Dumas emphatically corrected a statement that she came in a covered wagon. She traveled, she said, in a covered Red river cart. There were few wagons. The only one existing in the district at that time was one given to Samuel Rurald by the Indians, and it afterward was sold to Charles Bottineau. GRANDMA DUMAS' MEMORY is good and prior to the time she was taken ill she kept busy knitting, crocheting or piecing quilts. When asked what she thought of the depression as compared to pioneer days, she said: "If people would stop to think, and pity themselves less, things wouldn't be so bad. There is always a way to look at things in the right light. Be happy. "When we were young conditions were far worse but we found consolation in helping those less fortunate. I think people have been spoiled in time of plenty," THROUGH SOME STRANGE oversight the house of representatives neglected in adopting its impeachment resolution to charge Governor Moodie with drunkenness, habitual or spasmodic. Every other offense mentioned in the constitution as a cause for impeachment was included. But even at that, the governor must have been busy man in only two short weeks to render himself chargeable with “crimes, corrupt conduct malfeasance and misdemeanor in office.” That couldn’t have left time for much drinking.

IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL convention, where the present constitution of North Dakota- less several amendments- was framed, careful consideration was given to drunkenness as a cause for impeachment, and there was shown a sympathetic attitude toward the weaknesses and frailties of humanly. James F. O’Brien, delegate from Ramsey county, chairman of the committee having in charge the sections relating to impeachment reported in favor of making habitual drunkenness an impeachable offense. Elmer D. Wallace, of Steele, wondered why the word “habitual” was used. He thought if a governor got drunk he should be impeached.

MR. O’BRIEN EXPLAINED that the committee did not believe that an occasional slip should subject a man to impeachment, but that action should be confined to cases in which the official by following a bad habit rendered himself unfit to perform the duties of his office. Mr. Wallace thought that there would be no desire to impeach for an “accidental thing.”

M.N. JOHNSON, DELEGATE from Nelson county, and afterward congressman and United States senator, who will be remembered by many as a sturdy and uncompromising enemy of alcohol in all its forms, nevertheless took a tolerant view of the official who might imbibe too freely under great provocation. He said:

“YOU WILL DOUBTLESS SEE very good men in your community in election times, if their party has carried the election, who will be beside themselves for a while. I heard one of the most temperate men say last fall- he is an honored public official- ‘If we carry this election,’- he said it in a public meeting- ‘I am going to give $25 worth of wood to the poor people in my neighborhood.’ That was not an unreasonable alternative. It was a sentiment that called forth the applause of his hearers. They would have been equally divided as to which they should expect. Many good citizens have gone on a big drunk.” Therefore Mr. Johnson approved the idea of making drunkenness impeachable only when it was habitual. There is a lot of human nature back of our constitution.

MR. JOHNSON, AS I RECALL it, was a Methodist, and on one occasion he was a delegate to an important gathering of his church, probably a Methodist general conference. At that time communicants of Protestant churches sipped the sacramental wine from a common cup. The use of individual cups as a sanitary measure was a new idea. The movement was gaining headway, but it was opposed vigorously by some who thought, it merely a foolish notion, and by others who saw in it the violation of a sacred injunction and cited Scriptural passages in support of their position.

JOHNSON WAS A CONVERT to the new idea, and whatever he approved he supported with all his might. He got the floor and delivered an extended address in support of the individual communion cup. It was a long time before he heard the last of that. He was denounced and ridiculed as blasphemous, sacrilegious, snobbish, high-hat, silk-stocking, and a lot of other discreditable things. But he lived it all down and was elected to the senate. And individual communion cups came in general use.

FRANK DANIELS IS DEAD. He died last week at Palm Beach at the age of 74. Few of this generation ever heard of him, and of those who lived in the golden age of the theater few had know for years that he was still living, for in him was presented the rare case of an able and successful actor retiring from the stage while in his early fifties and still a stage favorite, and never returning to it. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Daniels attended public schools in New England and then started out to be a wood carver. Having a flair for comedy he took part in amateur theatricals, and at 19 he gave up wood-carving for the art of making people laugh. His first professional appearance was in "The Chimes of Normandy," and during the next thirty-five years he played comedy parts in perhaps as wide a variety of plays as ever fell to the lot of a comedian.

HE STARRED FOR SEVEN years in a play called "Little Puck," now forgotten, in which the name part fitted him accurately because of his diminutive size. He ran through most of the list of Gilbert and Sullivan plays, and played about everything in "Pinafore," from Sir Joseph to Dick Deadeye. He appeared in Grand Forks in 1899 in "The Idol's Eye," and in 1903 in "Miss Simplicity."

IT IS CONCEDED THAT People will talk. Most of us do. And years ago somebody made some verses about it. A friend asks me if I remember some lines in which each stanza ends with the words "For people will talk," or something to that effect. I do remember that much about it, and something about the general trend of the verses, but that is all. Does anyone recall the lines?

AWAY OVER IN BUDAPEST Ai baker had a dairyman haled into court on the charge that he had given short weight in his butter. The baker testified that when he had ordered and paid for ten pounds of butter he had received but nine. He brought witnesses to prove the charge. The dairyman pleaded not guilty. "Have you scales to weigh the butter?" asked the magistrate. "I have scales1," replied the defendant, "but I have no weights, and I am too poor to buy any." "Then how do you know that you deliver just ten pounds?" "It's like this,", said the dairyman. "Each day I buy ten pounds of bread from the baker. I put the bread on one of the scales and put enough butter on the other to balance it." "Dicharged," said the court.

ONE OF THE PERSONS WHO has an active part in the Hauptmann trial at Flemington, N. J., is the pastor of a near-by parish who spends his days there in the courthouse operating a telegraph instrument and devotes such time as is left to his pastoral duties. He studied and practiced telegraphy before going into the ministry and when the depression struck his little parish he got a part-time job with a local telegraph company When the trial began he was assigned to work at the courthouse

MY LAST VENTURE INTO checkers did not bring much response, but one player, Joe Brule, of Crookston, is still interested. He would like to see the subject resumed, and sends in three original problems which he would like to have other players solve. They are: (1) Black 12, K 22 and 24. White 6, 15, 19, 20. White to move and win. (2 Black 21, K 14, 17, 24. White K 16, 26, 30. White to move and win. (3) Black K 10, 29, 30. White K 9, 13. White to move and draw. WHETHER OR NOT THE fact that the Metropolitan theatres was about to be reopened reached Fred Redickc out on the Pacific coast and prompted him to write, I do not know, but something caused Fred to recall old days in the theater and to write about one stirring incident in the old house. Fred is operating a filling station at Tarzana, just out of Los Angeles, and occasionally I hear from him. He played a flute in the old Military band under Will I Hall, and often served as a member of the Metropolitan orchestra. Introducing his subject with the question: "How many remember Dan Sully?" he writes:

'PERHAPS THE QUESTION will not interest many of the present generation, but to those who sat in the Metropolitan theatre in the early nineties it will bring back the memory of the night he averted a panic that in a few seconds would have been under way and might easily have resulted in a great loss of life.

'ON THAT NIGHT THE Theater was packed, as it always was when Dan Sully made his yearly visit to Grand Forks. I was playing in Hall's orchestra, and shortly before 10 o'clock heard the fire wagons go out from the south side fire sttion, situated directly back of the theatre on Fourth street. Others heard the sound, but nothing happened until several firemen and policemen made a hurried exit from the theatre.

'THERE WAS QUITE A STIR in the audience, and some must have got the idea that the theatre was on fire, for in a few minutes, or seconds, it seemed, many of those in the audience were on their feet, when a hurried call was made for Dan, who was evidently in the wings. He rushed out, cool and collected, but under suppressed excitement, held up his hand and cried in a loud voice: "STOP! The fire is a mile away." This stopped the stampede instantly and within a few minutes the audience had calmed down and the show proceeded.

"I KNOW DAN SULLY SAVED dozens of lives that winter night, and averted a panic that might have equaled the Iroquois disaster in Chicago, in which some 175 persons, mostly children, were burned or trampled to death. How many present residents of Grand Forks were there that night? Not many, I guess."

I WAS ONE OF THOSE IN the theatre on the night of which Fred writes, and I remember the incident well, and I think I have mentioned it in this column. On I one point my recollection differs from Fred's namely, as to Sully seeming cool and collected. I remember him as one of the most excited Irishmen I ever saw.

I HAD RUN ACROSS TO THE office between acts, had seen and heard the fire wagons and 1 learned that the fire was in the Benner and Begg store at the corner of DeMers avenue, apparently' a minor blaze. Re-entering the theatre I found that the play had been resumed, and as I stood back of the rail a few persons were moving out. Suddenly everybody seemed to start, and some in the center of the auditorium began to climb over the seats. Sully, as I remember it, was speaking his lines, and continued for a moment, but nobody paid any attention to him. It was then that he stepped out of his part, held up his hand and stammered something like this: "Good people, stop! You mustn't do this! This fire, this fire they're talkin' about—it isn't within a mile of us!"

IT WAS SULLY'S Excitement rather than his coolness that saved the situation. He hadn't the faintest idea of where the fire was and everybody knew it, and the spectacle of a man as excited as he Vas trying to calm an audience was so funny that everyone burst out laughing. That broke the tension, the house quieted and the show went on.

REVIEWING THE HISTORY of the Welland canal the St. Catherines Ontario, Standard, says:

"ONE HUNDRED AND TEN years ago on the 30th of November, the first sod for the first Welland Canal was turned at Allanburg. Ten years ago a cairn was unveiled to mark the spot. That was man's first conquest of the mighty and insurmountable barrier of Niagara Falls. Champlain, La Salle, Joliette and other great explorers had portaged to the Great Upper Lakes in the quest of a route to the Orient. Today the great carrier of 200,000 bushels of wheat reaches from one lake to another, a difference of level of 326.5 feet in eight hours. The third and the last Welland Ship Canal is reduced to 25 miles from the original 27 ½ . It has eight mammoth locks instead of the original forty, and each lock 829 feet instead of 110. The Ship Canal was completed and opened in 1931. It will convey almost every type of ocean steamer except the great de luxe passenger liners." THE ONLY OBSTACLE NOW remaining to prevent the passage of all but the very largest steamers between the Atlantic and Duluth is the series of rapids along about 50 miles of the St. Lawrence, an obstacle for the removal of which only the ratification of the St. Lawrence waterway treaty is necessary.

LIKE MANY OTHERS I HAVE been studying quite a bit on that $200-a-month pension plan for persons over 60. It has interesting possibilities. The estimate is that there are 8,000,000 persons who would be immediately eligible for the pension There would remain roughly 120,-000,000 inhabitants of the United States, or some 24,000,000 families, from whom the pension money would have to be obtained. In other words, it would require three families to provide the pension for one person. As the pension is $2,400 a year, each of the three families would have to contribute $800 a year to the pension fund for the maintenance of one pensioner. In my immediate family there are two persons over 60, both of whom would be eligible. Six other families must contribute $800 each per year to keep our pension going. I have been looking over the families of my acquaintances with a view of selecting the six who shall chip in $800 each per year to keep my family pot boiling in good shape. I have made a few tentative selections, but the list is not quite complete, and I should be glad to hear from volunteers.

IN DELIGHTFUL, AND Pathetic contrast to the expansive ideas that some people have on the subject of pensions is the modest desire expressed in a letter which I have just received. The source of the letter is unknown, for it is unsigned, an omission which is overlooked because of its obvious genuineness and sincerity. It is written on paper which is carefully lined with pencil. The hand that fashioned the characters is tremlous and unaccustomed to the pen. The thinking has been in Norwegian, which has been so imperfectly done into English that it makes difficult reading, but with the exception of a few words whose meaning is not quite clear, here is a free transcription: "I NEVER HEARD SO about pensions. I think people is getting crazy. I think if they would give $30 a month it would be good. I am born den 6 of March 1857 and I will be 78 next March and neer got a cent from the government, so if a man live to be 75 he should get a pension so he wouldn't go to the poorhouse as I will if I am not able to work any longer. I have made my living since I was 11 years old and took care of my father and' mother. My father was sick six years and my sister and brother. I have been working all times but now I am busy paying taxes. I have paid taxes since 1883. They had me up to $125 and down to $54 then up to $90, and I am only got one house and lot. I think I will be able to work pretty soon. If I don't it will be bore bad for me and wife. This is truth and nothing but truth, old timer. That would be good if I had get $30 a month ven man be 75, don't you think so, good old timer. You make that motion and I will second it."

I WISH I COULD REPRODUCE, or even suggest the impression that letter made on me. For full appreciation of it there is needed inspection of the letter itself, with its cramped characters, its broken English, and the simple honesty that stands out in every line. Here is a man 78 years old, who has done his part, honestly and faithfully, who is now incapacitated but who hopes soon to be able to work again, who seeks no luxury, who makes no demands, who hopes for no extravagant appropriation for his benefit, but who thinks modestly, that "if they would give $30 a month it would be good" when a man is 75. For such a case as that I would gladly make the motion, and, if I had the power, I would have it carried into imme- diate effect.

DR. WILLIAM OSLER WAS credited with the statement which he never made and never meant, that people should be chloroformed at the age of 60. Dr. Townsend has improved on that plan by providing that while such persons are to be withdrawn from industry, they are to be permitted to live on and encouraged in habits of luxury in order to create demand for the things that other people produce. A paragraph listing the ages of a number of British statesmen seems to cast some- doubt on the propriety of making 60 the jumping-off place. Ramsay MacDonald told his constituents the other day that when the next election comes around he will invite them to send him to parliament again. He is 69. Stanley Baldwin is 67. Neville Chamberlain is 65. John Simon is 62. Gladstone staged his great comeback at-71. Lloyd George at 72 is launching a new campaign which makes Conservatives, Laborites and Liberals sit up and take notice. But some of the moderns may reply that Britain would have been better off if all those old dodderers had been put out of the way years ago. AN ASSOCIATED PRESS Dispatch says that Queen Marie of Rumania and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge were bequeathed boxes of candy in the will of Rockwe11 Sayre, of Chicago, for their co-operation, real or supposed, in his effort to rid the world of cats, About 150 similar bequests were made to prominent persons all over the world. Mr. Sayre died in 1930. The probate court has been assured by a candy manufacturer that the boxes of candy are on their way, and the estate has been closed. Rockwell Sayre was a successful Chicago real estate man and perhaps the world's most pronounced and irreconcilable enemy of cats. He had large interests in the north west and for many years he spent considerable time in this territory each year, making his headquarters in Grand Forks. Few who talked with him on the subject of cats would suspect him of being the shrewd business man that he was. He would talk cats by the hour, and he always carried a sup ply of leaflets in which the cat was held up as an evil monster, the destroyer of birds and the spreader of disease. Much of his printed material was devoted to estimates of the number of birds killed annually by cats. But while he was undoubtedly a friend of the birds, his hatred of cats seemed to be the stronger influence in his life.

A GIRL -REBUKED BY HER mother for turning down the pages of a book she was reading explained: "But, Mother, I can't find my place if I don't turn the page down." "My dear," said her mother, "if you can't tell by looking what you've read and what you haven't, it doesn't make a bit of difference whether you find your place or not. It will be all the same whether you read it over a dozen times or don't read it at all."

A BILL HAS BEEN introduced in the Colorado legislature providing for mental tests of prospective legislators prior to election. According to the bill, the grades obtained in such examinations would be printed beside the name of each candidate on the ballot, and hence, theoretically, at any rate, the voters would be able to select candidates according to their brain content. A sarcastic commentator writes that no measure has yet been introduced which would guarantee voters of sufficient intelligence to cast their votes in accordance with the candidate's I. Q. No, I'm not going to make the obvious wise-crack about the desirability of an intelligence test down at Bismarck.

THE CITY OF HELENA, Montana, may find itself defendant in suits for claims aggregating $473,000 as a result of a typhoid fever epidemic in 1929. In a recent decision the Montana Supreme Court upheld the award of $1,500 by the district court to a Helena -resident who alleged that he contracted fever at the time of the epidemic because the city negligently delivered him contaminated water. It is estimated that if similar damages were awarded to all the fever patients in that epidemic the city's bill would run close to half a million dollars.

AT LEAST ONE NEW Commercial occupation has been developed as a result of hard times. Years ago almost everyone was solving crossword puzzles—or trying to. Then interest abated, and this form of entertainment seemed likely to go the way of many that had preceded it. Then there was a revival because so many persons had nothing else with which to kill time. Recently a New York newspaper launched a $15,000 crossword puzzle and the people are eating it up. Several experts in that sort of thing have taken to working out the puzzles and offering complete solutions at $5 per puzzle, and they are said to be doing a land-office business.

WE ARE STILL- CLOSE enough to the turn of the year to make the following lines from the New York Herald- Tribune's Conning Tower timely, and there is a spirit in them which fits any season:

OUTCRY IN DECEMBER. By David Morton. Nothing is broken here That will not mend; This is the turn of the year, Not the world's end— Though the dim gods on high, Who do not care, See smoke against the sky, And ruin everywhere, See the dark, smoking mound And the skeleton trees, The truth may not be found In such as these. Although the world must seem In the gods' slow gaze The end of another dream Of nights and days, It is not so ... not so; A million springs Have pledged it. is not so A million springs . . . Nothing is broken here That will not mend— This is the turn of the year, Not the world's end. ONE BIT OF TESTIMONY IN the Hauptmann case in New Jersey shortly before the state rested suggests an experiment. A member of the staff of the federal forestry service said that one piece of wood used in the construction of the ladder found at the Lindbergh home immediately after the kidnapping came from the attic of the def en d a n t, Hauptmann. It has formed, he said, part of the attic floor. His reason for this conclusion was that when four nails were inserted in the nail-holes in the strip of wood they were found to fit exactly corresponding nailholes in the attic joists, and when the strip of board was thus placed on a spot from which it was evident that a board had been removed, its edge was parallel with that of the next floor board.

NOW FOR THE EXPERIMENT: Let the amateur carpenter, or a professional one, either, take a board three or four inches wide and nail it with four nails to timbers spaced as the joists of a dwelling are. Then pry the board loose and remove the nails so that only the holes are left in the joists. Then take another board of the same size, and without comparison or means of measurement drive into- it four nails. Then apply those protruding nails to the nailholes in the joists and see how nearly they fit. Those nailholes could not be matched by accident or coincidence in billions of attempts. It would be next to impossible to match them even by careful measurement, for not only must the position of each nail be accurate in every direction to the merest fraction of an inch, but the slant of each nail must be an exact duplicate of the original. The probability of error is so great that it is safe to say that no four nails ever driven since the beginning of time would fit the holes in those joists unless they were passed through the bit of flooring that belonged there. If those nails fit the holes, as the witness- described, that bit of lumber came from Hauptman’s attic floor. A written document, a 'photograph, a thumb-print or the testimony of a dozen unimpeachable eye-witnesses could not be more conclusive.

THE IMPEACHMENT OF Governor Moodie, begun in the house, but not completed, has drawn unfavorable comment from many quarters because of its irregularity and its obvious purpose to cause the temporary suspension of the governor for a purely political purpose. I clip this from the Miles City, Montana, Star, not because it differs greatly from other comment that has been made, but because the owner of the paper, J. D. Scanlon, was at one time a member of The Herald staff: "The despicable methods adopted to prejudice the position occupied in North Dakota by Tom Moo-die, is illustrative of the fact that no man is safe in any position any more. A bunch of high-binders with their truculent satellites, defeated in successive attempts to destroy those upon whom they vent their spleen, can do more to cause confusion, which is done purposely to cover up their movement.."

SCANLON WENT TO Montana from Grand Forks, prospered in business and became an important figure in the politics of the state. For some time he has been chairman of the Montana Republican state committee. I am not sure whether or not he and Moodie were with The Herald at the same time.

HENRY McLean OF HANNAH sends the following solutions to the three checker problems recently offored by Joe Brule of Crookston: (1) 6-1, 22-18, 15-10, 24-15, 6-1, 15-6, 1-10, which gives the winning position. There seems to be an impossible repetition here of 6-1, but that is according to Mr. McLean's copy. (2) 30-25, 21-30, 16-20, 30-23, 20-9, wins. (3) 9-14, 10-17, 13-22, forces draw. Mr. McLean also submits the following problem: B 8, 11, 12, K 14. White 19, 20, 23, K 2. White to play and win. It is only fair to prospective solvers to warn them that the solution given by Mr. McLean is fairly long. DISCUSSION IN THE senate at Bismarck is a proposed constitutional amendment which provides that legislative authority in the state of North Dakota shall be vested in a single chamber to be composed of 50 members serving for four years, with terms so arranged that half of the members shall be elected at one election and the other half at the next, the plan corresponding to the present plan of electing state senators. This amendment is said to be modeled on the one recently adopted in Nebraska after a long and strenuous fight waged for it by its sponsor, Senator Norris. The subject is popularly regarded as new to this state, just as the proposal of Senator Norris in his state was regarded as new, extraordinary, revolutionary, heretical and fraught with exceeding danger. It will probably be news to many persons that this subject was quite thoroughly discussed in the North Dakota constitutional convention in 1889, long before Senator Norris became known as a public man.

IN THAT CONSTITUTIONAL convention there was introduced for consideration in committee of the whole the following resolution: Resolved, That the constitution provide that the legislative authority of the state shall rest in a single body, to be called the "Legislative Assembly," which shall consist of not less than one hundred members, to be elected by the people; provided, the legislative assembly may from time to time increase the number of members, as necessity may require."

THE ARGUMENT FOR THE resolution was opened by R. N. Stevens, of Ransom county, whose oration on the subject must have made the rafters of the convention hall ring. Mr. Stevens went back into the history of Phoenecia and Athens, cited the experience of the Swiss confederation and the kingdom of Norway and Sweden in sup port of the single chamber, pointed out that the bi-cameral system had been inherited from Great Britain, and while applicable to our federal government had no place in the government of a state. His argument was replete with brilliant rhetorical passages, and he closed with these thrilling words:

"IT HAS BEEN URGED THAT, should this resolution be adopted, we would stand alone in the galaxy of states with such a provision. The firmament of heaven is thickly studded with brilliant stars, but the man lost on the open prairie or in the tangled wood; the weary mariner when lost upon the trackless ocean, intuitively looks to the north star alone, and from it takes his bearings to guide him to a place of rest or a harbor of safety. Let North Dakota set an example by the adoption of this resolution and he who shall at the end of a quarter of a century turn his eyes to the northern boundary of our union will see not only a united, happy and prosperous people whose flocks and herds graze on a thousand hills, and whose millions of acres of golden grain wave in the breezes of heaven, but he will also see on the pages of this day's history a reform that will stand out in bold relief as if the Angel Gabriel had dipped his fingers in the sunbeams and painted it in letters of living light across the vaulted arch of heaven."

I DON'T SUPPOSE ANY Member of the present North Dakota legislature can improve much on that, especially the part about the Angel Gabriel painting with sunbeams across the vaulted arch of heaven. Those who never heard R. N. Stevens when he was in good form missed a lot.

DEBATE ON THE RESOLUTION continued for two days. Nobody matched Stevens in rolling periods and florid rhetoric, but there was animated discussion in which many members took part. Further notes on the debate are reserved for another day. SEVERAL GRAND FORKS residents have left, or expect to leave, for southern points by car. Weather is tricky, and road conditions today give no assurance as to what they will be tomorrow. However, the conditions as they exist are always in week, right interesting. Last middle of the cold spell, L.E. Penniwell, district manager of the New York Life Insurance company started southward and a card just received from him says: "Wednesday, January 23, we left by auto for Omaha, 541 miles. We took the Minnesota side and followed Highway 75. Sportsmen will be in- terested to know, I think, that we saw 956 ring-neck pheasants (or should I say Hungarian?) on the way down. On Friday in Omaha the water was running in the streets and people were on a golf course playing, I should say 'water golf.' "

DR. CHARLES MACLACHLAN, superintendent of the North Dakota tuberculosis sanitarium at San Haven, would like a copy of Edgar Guest's poem, "Nowhere to Go." Can any reader supply it? Dr. MacLachlan also inquires for another poem, and concerning that I will let him present his request and tell the story himself. He writes: "DO YOU KNOW THE NAME of the author of the story in rhyme of 'Newsboy Jim' or where it can be found in print? I heard it given by a platform speaker in Peel county, Ontario, about 1870 and later saw it somewhere in print. Subscribed as ‘anonymous.’ I remember the great part of it but have lost a few connecting lines here and there. I will recall it to your mind by reciting a few lines running it in prose to save space. Newsboy Jim. "Only last year at Christmas time, while walking down the city street, I saw a tiny ill clad boy, one of the many that we meet. As ragged as a boy could be, with half a cap, with one good shoe; just patches to keep out the cold. I know the wind blew keenly through. A newsboy with a newsboy's lungs shouting his extras oer and oer; pausing at times to cheat the wind within some alley, by some door. At last he stopped, six papers left, tucked hopelessly beneath his arm, to eye a fruiterer’s out-spread store. Here products from some country farm with their confections all adorned with wreaths of clustered leaves and flowers. He stood and looked with wistful gaze, all a child's longing in his eyes, then started as I touched his arm and turned in quick mechanic-wise said, ‘Papers Sir, the Evening News.’ He brushed away a freezing tear and said, 'Oh Sir don't refuse.' (Lost .here.) A square Scotch face an honest brow and eyes that liked to smile so well they hadn't yet forgotten how. 'How many have you? Never mind, don't stop to count. I'll take them all, and when you pass my office here with stock on hand give me a call!' He thanked me with that broad Scotch smile, a look half wondering and half glad. I said, 'You seem a little lad to trudge about in streets like this.' 'I'm ten years old on Christmas day.' 'Your name?' 'Jim Hanly'; 'Here's a crown. You'll get change there across the way."

(THEN HE FORGOT ABOUT the incident until when putting on his hat to leave the office for the evening he noticed the papers.) 'Why where's the boy and where's the change he should have brought an hour ago? Ah well! Ah well! they're all alike, I was a fool to trust him so" * * and deemed distrust of human kind the only lesson of the day.

"JUST TWO DAYS LATER AS I sat half dozing in my chair I heard a timid knock and called in my brusk fashion, 'Who's .there?' An urchin entered barely seven, the same Scotch face the same blue eyes, and stood half doubtful at the door, abashed at my forbidding guise. Said, 'Thir, if you pleathe, my brother Jim, the one you gave the crown you know. He couldn't bring the money Thir, because his back got hurted tho. He got runned over up the Sthreet, one wheel right acrotht hith back and tother forewheel mahtehed hith feet. the money got lothed, but he sent hith coast, it-th torn and dirtied pretty bad but then you know it-th all he had. "He takes the boy in a cab, rushes to the hospital where the nurse checks his loud and hasty steps as he approaches Jimmie's bed, but he's too late. When smoothing the hair from brow and cheek, 'The boy is dead. Dead! Dead so soon. How fair he looked a streak of sunshine on his face * * Poor boy! Well it is warm in heaven. No need of change and packet there."

I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION of the poem, but some reader from back east may recall it and may have a copy. I shall be glad to receive a copy if anyone has it, and to forward it to Dr. MacLachlan.

SHEDDDING A LITTLE Further light on the possibilities of the Townsend plan, a correspondent writes: "Being a little over 60, I have been interested in the Townsend plan, and I have been puzzled as to how it would affect me. I happen to be one of the fortunate ones who have been regu1arly employed, and whose income, while reduced, is still more than $200 a month. When business picks up it will be considerably more. My wife and I could retire on $400 a month, but I like my job and do not wish to give it up. I have found the solution. My wife, also over 60, is not a wage-earner, and has no job to give up She will take the $200 pension to which she will be entitled and will keep my pleasant job with its larger income. The Townsend plan certainly should commend itself to those situated as I am."

I AM NOT COMMENDING THE ethics of the correspondent's plan but I have seen nothing in the official statements that come from headquarters to indicate that 11 can't be made to operate in just that way.

A RECENT ISSUE OF THE Bell, California, Industrial Post has a portrait of City Judge George R. Robbing, with announcement of his election as president of the Bell chamber of commerce. Judge Robbins is an alumnus of the University of North Dakota. He practiced law in Grand Forks, and for several years he was a member of the firm of McIntyre & Bobbins. Some years ago he moved to Bell, California, with his wife and daughter, Jean, and there he has been an active participant in public affairs. His election to the presidency of the Bell chamber of commerce was by unanimous vote of the directors' of that body.

A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK Review correspondent asks for the source of the following quotation: "Let not he who has sojourned in distant lands give way to his longing to revisit the scenes of his youth and retrace the walks of his childhood. Let him keep the mountains and the sea between himself and the land of his birth.”

I KNOW NOTHING OF THE quotation, but the thing that first attracted my attention when I saw it was a form of grammatical construction which has often caused me to scratch my head in doubt. "Let not he who, etc." The Bible has an apt illustration of the discriminating use of objective and nominative in this single sentence from First Kings: "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off."

AS TO THE SENTIMENT Expressed in the quotation, it doesn't fit all cases or occasions. The person who revisited the scenes of his youth after long absence may have some of his illusions dispelled and his dreams shattered. The rivers will have shrunk. The hills will have flattened out. The swimming hole will have been drained and the trees among which he hunted squirrels will have been cut up for firewood. And the people—the older ones will have disappeared, and of those of his own generation who are left, and of whom he thinks as in the heyday of youth, they are old, and gray, and wrinkled, like himself. Yet, if he has not allowed his own spirit to grow stale, the old scenes may be reconstructed and the old companionships revived. In that case a visit to the old stamping- ground is an inspiration and a delight.

EDWARD EVERSON OF Niagara submits solutions to Mr. McLean's problems, and sends this which he thinks will "hold the best of them:" Black, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 19. White, 17, 21, 25, 26, 31, 28. White to move and win. Mr. Everson is an old settler who came to North Dakota in 1882.