The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ve) a Te i “ profiteer green with envy. Even in mpire. © When I was @ laddie cnt fetes -* salary is not the first eonsid- seemed ‘to rigard 2 ag rail 0 Tn tact, many ministers. are having an easy job, a comfortable iM gadis i: practicaly With a beautiful not a generous income, and a few. faith in iumenity, especiall¥ in that; rights and privileges that wefe wor-j-part-of i: » hich belongs to their con- For example. he entered every home in the con- -gregstion 2 upon a- footing. not of €quality but of. honor, When he was to SS. dinner with a family “BD ibns were made. One}: of the stotten which went the roupds] in the good old days related to a hen which had raised @ clutch of chicks, half of them of the male per- suasion. Not content with perform- ing this service for *her country her ' goul began to yearn to coax a white door-knob into life, and her owner ‘was encouraged to place under her sheltering wings another. setting of eggs. Soon other chicks were fol- lowing her about the farm. When! 4 they also developed independence Biddy remembered: her other flock and sought them out. To her sur- prise she could discover no young roosters resembling her’ offspring. She inquired Of one of the pullets: “Where are your little brothers?” 1! seems that a Methodist Conference or a Presbyterian Assembly had oc- curred not long before, and many and various dishes were set before the brethren for the purpose of tempting the. clerical appetite. The little fledgling, with the terrible memories of t ‘at occasion filling her soul, gasped: “O Mamma! hey have entered the .ministry.”’ Old Biddy’s heart was full, but she man- aged to,say: “They would not have _made good Jay-men anyway." .Suc Were the stories which etgihaned my boyhood days. Recently I was asked: “Do you! 2 think that ministers are becoming mercenary?” Being Scotch, I did fot care to give a decided answer then and there, and being a minis- ters’ son, I did not desire to criticize the ministry unduly. So I have bean thinking the question over, and to day I am thinking out loud. My judgment is not infallible, but it has behind it the fact that I was brought up in a manse, am ac- quainted with a good many ministers) and their wives, can ‘“‘reminisce’’ ever a long period of years, fnclud- ing a time when the minister wa3 paid “in-kind,” and occasionalls was possessed of as many bags of potatoes as would make a moddern the good old days, I occasionally heard some old skinflint declare that the minister should preach not for money but for souls. These fellows appear to have wonderful ; longevity, and still worry the saints of the Lord. I recall with what ap- preciation I. heard in my boyhood days of a minister, who replied to One of these ‘‘unco guid" folks that, while he preached for souls. he could not eat souls; and, ‘‘besides,”’ he added, “your soul is s0 emalt that it would take @ good many of like calibre to make a meal for a decent. self-respecting minister.”’ There was always a regret in my soul that I had not been present at that interview. I do like to behold a minister righteously indignant. He is so delightfully human just then: and, besides, when his cause is just. you may depend upon it the Lord will aid him to “smite the Amala- kites hip and thigh.” Ministerial salaries have never been very liberal. There are tradi- tions in certain denominations to the effect that, if a minister is able to live in comfort, it is partly due ta the fact that a girl with money is as attractive as a penniless lass wi’ a sweet face. But that is mere gossip. The ministry is, like medical and teaching professions, a vocation rather than an avocation. a calling than an employment. The altruistic impulse is uppermost. The minister desires to be of service to others. If you could only read the record im- pressed. upon his soul, you would learn of a strange longing which deepened until he felt, ‘Woe is unto He me if I preach not the gospel.” ‘The emotional side of the major ity of people cannot be satisfied by Libraries, Gymmasiums, Play- grounds, etc. The love of moving the heeBthry body to the rhythm of music fit a g Fg , Me i 4 bie a a tf i Hh i alti sete a4; : i is i (Bye Edward John Stoo in-Maml & E| interpreted i “A God's call to. ‘the ministry. ~ To rd eminister to make all the sacrifice for | feeling cold, jriahish fe Ree , inuer~ “urge”. ~ nl they. frequently accept a salary whose-size might satisfy the needs of an anchorite, but is utterly insufficient to meet the demands upon the pa of a family of husky young peopl “But think of the minister’s per- quisites—the -manse, the wedding fees.” .I have not forgotten them. The manse: offers one advantage-—| permanency of-abode. But I cat remember manses, Which seem to have bee bought at a bargain, and had all the teok of some bargains! when the. glamor -has gone and you have reached home with them, All manses are not erected ft. an aver- age family. Som are 80 large that. the Siblieal injpnction “Increase and multiply and replen- ish the earth,” would be quite ap- propriate over the front door. Such a manse is rather discouraging to a young, bride, and a difficult proposi- tion “when the price of coal begins to so. i have not forgotten the wed- ding fees. There is a delusion abroad regarding the frequency of wed- dings in the average manse. About half a dozen couples seek the min- ister’s services each year. Of course. he is glad to see them, sometimes 80 glad that he buys a wedding present. But, then, think of the fee! If there is any time when even a stingy man might be expected to. be generous, it is upon his wedding day; and the man upon whom his generous im- pulses should fall in.the officiating minister. The tatter possesses the right under the law to declare the dear girl a wife, and under the Gos- pel to invoke the Divine blessing upon the union. Now what about that fee? An old marriage register shows that some years ago, the fee averaged less than five dollars in rural and city parishes. Being fear- ful lest I may be taken to task for quoting that as the average in the great and generous city of Toronto at the present time, I enquired of a ministerial friend. He replied: ‘‘You are quite safe in saying that five dollars is the average fee. In fact, a friend of mine had a church wed-; ding a while ago—a real smart af-) fair—but the fee was three dollars." Six weddings annually. ‘Ehree dollars: each.’ Shades of the Garden of Eden ; cover ye, the lady of the manse, whoa; receives the wedding fees as her spe-/ cial perquisite for dress! As a rule; the minister receives nothing for} officiating at funerals. } There have always been a few mer-; cenary souls in the ministry. They -late back to the time of Judas, who carried the bag. But I can honestly say, out of a long acquaintance with the ministers of yarious religious | bodies, that they are fn the ministry} because they love God and love bus; manity. They possess the spirit of | service, which led the Apostle Paul; to exclaim: “[ will not be a burden} to you for I seek not yours but you.” But, when Mary and the children begin to suffer want, there is placed before a man the alterna- tive of leaving the ministry and seeking to make a living in some other fashion, or of making his need known to the manager of the con- gregation. In etther case there is always somebody ready to accuse him of being a mercenary soul. The; charge is unjust. and I am glad to| say this word upon behalf of men. who often suffer in silence rather than utter a single syllable which might reflect upon the congregations of Which they are in charge. How- ever, it is one thing to suffer alone. and quite another to witness your loved ones suffer. It is that which has ied the ministers to call atten tion to the salary scale. I wonder what value a congregation really places upon the Gospel message, when it is quite ready to allow the the privilege of spreading it abroad? A nickel in the collection plate does ah seem to accord with the good old Fly. abroad thou mighty Gospel. ve be, filght to realms of day!" sthaling Clothes Of Your Back. One of the most daring forms of stealing furs conceivable has been practiced recently in the West End of London. In Regent ‘street, in broad daylight, a woman had the back of a valuable sable cut out as she stood looking into a shop window. Her loss is estimated at $2,000. An attempt on wnother woman, also in Regent street, nearly succeeded. The first woman stopped to look at a window during the popular hours for shopping, relates the . London Evening News. There was a crowd around her and she felt herself being “crushed by a foreign-looking man. She tried to shake him off, but the crowd was too great. On reaching home she complained to her maid of The woman suddenly exclaimed, — look at your coat!" It was then found that whole back, from the shouftiers down- wards, nm cleverly cut out with a very sharp fur knife. Some days later another woman Imost the tempt. to cut away the back, felt the thief breathing uncomfort- ably close_to her, and she left the ; but its coat of ashy brown is’ not brite ond any | par the catbird, so its later iat ory will have no interest for us The cowbird or cow biackbira 1s, 3 great -shirker among -birds ot this continent. It buiids nest and! it assumes no reeponatellity for the! care of its young. It simply places an egg. in the nest of another bird and pot its wey, leaving the other bird to attend to the hatching ase feeding. And the cowbird In and mnuitiplies. It seems to be the pk ly bird on this continent that never bufids.a nest. There are said to. be other birds that occasionally’drop an egg in a nest not their own; but they do build nésts. The only other bird commonly ‘known which builds no nest is the ‘European cuckoo, Its habits have been under careful observation for some time, and it is possible to speak of them with reasonable certainty. According to recent authorities it do- es not lay its eggs originally in any nest. It lays it on the ground, and then carries. it off in its beak to a convenient nest that has, no doubt, been spfed out in advance. The cuc- koo’s egg is very small in proportion to the size of the bird, as if nature had intended it to be carried in such a way. Moreover, the nest chosen is usually that of a small bird. Here again nature seems to be engaged in a mean conspiracy. The young cuckoo usually appears on the scene a short time before any of the rightful oc- cupants of the nest, and almost im- mediately begins to make room for itself by dumping both eggs and young ones over the edge. In a short time it becomes the sole occupant, or almost the sole occupant, and receives the whole attention, or nearly the whole attention, of the bird to which the nest belongs. Curiously enouglt the owner of the nest does not seem to resent the presence of the intrud- er, but devotes herself like a slave! to satisfying the nieeds of =e young glutton. The story of the cowhbird is some- thing like that of the European—cuc- koo. Usually the nest of a much smal- ler bird—a chipping sparrew or 4a yellow warbler—is chosen. although. as we have seen, the catbird is occas- fonally favored. Usually the young birds belonging to the nest are forced over the side and allowed to die-of starvation. Us- ually the owner of the nest becomes} a slave to the voracious appetite of the intruder. It is a queer sight, part- ly comical and, partly tragical, to sot a little chippi sparrow trying to feed a young cowbird ever so much jiarger than itself. Wherever the lit- tle sparrow goes the young glutton js at its tail, and no matter how hard the sparrow works there Is no let- — to the cowbird’s cry for more and for more sti The cowbird gets its common name from its habit of associating with cat- tle, attracted, no doubt, by the flies and insects which also associate with the cattle. It is a small blackbird. The male is distinguished by its geal- black head and neck. The female do- es not look unlike a large sparrow; marked by streaks or spots. There is not much to be said for the cowbird. The European cuckoo, in spite of its bad habits, has always been a favor- ite with the poets. The poetry it has inspired would make a large volume. Since early days it has been associat- ed with the coming of spring, and its call, especially in the early part of the year, is always a welcome sound. But the cowbird has no song, and it has not inspired any poet to sing. In addition to béing a loafer and a shirk- er it is a polygamist. And yet there are those who main- tain that the cow blackbird is not quite so black as it is usually painted. ItAs habitually parasitic, of course; but a large part of its food consists of weed-seeds and harmful insects. It might, indeed, be listed without question-among the useful birds, were it not for the fact that every cow- bird reaching maturity means aimost certainly the elimination of a whole family of other birds, most of them quite as imp6rtant, perhaps, from the point of view of utility, and much more important from other points of view. For the polygamist habits the blame may, perhaps, be not unfair); placed on nature. The number of fe- male cowbirds seem to be greatly in excess of the number of males, mak-; ing polygamy necessary. Of the moral, aspect of the matter it is not neces-| NEURITIS emt was Temiletoi’s : w does.the law yelopmeat Dy natural selection | ply._-Woodstock Sentinel-Review. FLOWER SUPERSTITIONS. They “Are potting eines: tage With. i bdieailaass hakleyl respect to fow- ers are world-wide. —-The —bride carries a bouquet of fared roses, all uneonscious of the fact. that some- where on_the earth are people pos- sessed of the notion that to smell white roses is ‘!bad for the hover ” Nor recks she, as she sees the same bouquet torn apart by her girl friends in the d seramble for it, that’ to pull a flower io pieces—as is in- evitable under the circums @ sure sign that you will-die of con- sumption. Had she’ worn no véil it would have bad itick -to show any flowers at all in the hair. Tube- roses the bride must not wear, as they portend mourning; in Scotland bluebells are barred, as bringing on insanity. Again; happy is the. bride who sees white flowers first on her wedding morn; if they be fed, ‘ook out for sorrow and care. . A lucky marriage may, however, be guaranteed by putting some flow- ers on the bee-hives and “telling the bees.” Certain of the most curious super~ stitions as to flowers have to do with the seemingly innocent matter of bringing them into the house. If one keeps a scarlet geranium in the house all the year round some one will surely die in that household, they say. Evidéntly this fear is not current in some of the seacoast towns,. because there it is a common custo. to main- tain’ scarlet geraniums indoors all summer, as the winds are not con- ducive to bedding out of doors. Nor would the Mohammedan theory that the scarlet geraniam is really a swal- low converted into a flower by touch- ing Mahomet’s robe be accepted. In Scotland bringing a flowering haw- thorn into the house foretells a death in.the family. In northern Germany it is the cornflower, which used to be-the kaiser’s own bloom, that is barred from the house, lest the bread mold. In England Devonshire folk hold that it mean death to bring into the house a single daffodil, when this flower first appears in the spring. There must be a bunch of them, and the cowslfp is similarly hedged in by superstition. A hydrangea in the house “brings troyble,” and snow- drops. are “unlucky,” while wild flowers generally prevent ‘the “ffst« brood of chickens from hatching. If one wishes a plant indoors to snow a large and profuse bloom he must place in the flower-pot some fresh earth from the grave of an infant ee within twelve months. No y w bloom should be brought into the hetne in May. The house with bergambt near it is never free from sicknéss. A plant of heliotrope in church will keep in their places any untrue wives in the congregation. Beware of being “overfond” of flowers; you will never marry. Be- ware also of picking the red field lily; it will give you freckles. This- tles, although highly decorative, must not be gathered, since the-act fore- tells “folly, approaching dispute." In- general, however, it is good luck to gather flowers. To pick roses is a happy omen, and as for violets, com- plete success in all undertakings fol- lows. Yarrow is a flower that will enable a girl to see her true love, but she must pluck it from the grave of a young man. If she finds saffron instead on the grave, that is a good -omen for some one; if there are three yellow lilies the man has been un- justly executed. In England there is a superstition that if a bride and groom eat periwinkle leaves together they will love each, other. Should he, after marriage, prove recalcitrant, here is a way to win him back: Tak a piece of the root of a wallflower and a partridge’s heart, roll them into a ball and make the man eat it. if you want to learn whether your lover loves you, crush some bleeding heart. If the juice be red, he does; if it be white, he does not. Witches, of course, must be exclud- ed from the house. The Chinese bring this about—or think they do, which amounts to the same thing—by sus- pending bunches of herbs and ie plants over the door. In Englan hawthorn uséd to be hung over the entrance to a house in May to ward -off witches. On May Day the witches, as well as the fairies, are in the gorze, so choose some other time for burn- ing it. If you don’t believe there are any witches there are Dutch fol<who will tell you to carry a fourSeat aon on Christmas Eve and let your wn eyes convince you. It is good tuck to eat ‘the first may- flower you see in the spring. If it is a crocus. let it alone; in Austria they say it draws away one’s sir Nor must you dig up a cuekoo flower and — luck by moving a wild isy imto the garden. In Egypt th anemone “8 one of the lucky flowers of spring; wrap the first one red eloth and, if not disturbed, it will cure disease. On the French ceas it is useless to try to catch fish uh- less the waters are first strewn with flowers <e the fishermen’s wives and da In Devonsh ire they regard it as Sutaoky to plant a bed < of lilies in the course of twelve months. The corpse is } to ald the soul pegs an ae |} be the theme of strange thoughts by - , el ae @ Al ] LP. mre i me _ Bp paleo. 0 yephageeke HAMILTON, CAN, B dd ITY HARD WARE AS - =— ous \ sian QUALTVY HARDWARE... What Makes a Good Hardware Store? Not alone the large plate glass windows on the main street, nor the fine showcases inside, nor even the genial, friendly proprietor. The QUALITY OF THE GOODS sold is what really tells, and brings you back again next time. That's just the case with the famous Hobbs Gold Medal _ Line. _ “Phe store that carries aes Se to trade atu ring this mark is “Look forthe Gold Medal label on Harvest Tools, Garden Tools, Lawn Mowers, Sewing Machines, Washers and Wringers, Refrigerators, Cutlery, Binder Twine, Roof- ing, Safes, Sporting All Sensible Farmers Insist Upon » etc. “GOLD MEDAL” Harvest Tools For Sale by C. Zilliax & Son, Listowel SA re aie What Henry Ford’s Paper Thinks Of Harding As Republican Choice (Dearborn Independent) One convention has passed, and every vote that was cast in any prim- are with a view to directing the action fiat convention was disregarded by the party managers. The prim- aries were a sop to the voters, the convention a sop to the party, the re- sult was just what six or seven men wanted it to be. There never was such-an absolute- ly “managed” convention as that which adjourned at Chicago on the| sweltering night of June 12. Most) humiliating. of all to honest Repub-| licans is the fact that the convention. was managed by outsiders—financiers | whom no convention would elect as tally clerk, runners from the “big interests’’ who manage, the Demo- cratic party, and certain‘fat men who sent their orders by special wire from seaside resorts. If anything were needed to confirm the suspicion, now of long standing, that party fealty doesn't matter any more; because both parties are con- trolled by the same upper groups and for the same purpose, that confirma-} tion was given by the manner in which this convention openly—open- ly!—permitted and availed itself of the services on the spot of financiers and Democrats. The nominee is a man who was and still is practically unknown to the people. He was unheralded in the convention itself. These would al- most mark him a man of destiny, were it not for other facts. Never has his word on a single public affair been heard by the whole nation; never even for an instant has he flash- ed before the pubjic eye in the pose of masterful leadership; never on moral or economic issue has he taken an attitude that marked him out a man of conscientious independence. He has always been “‘icily regular, splendidly null." «His selection must the discarded candidates—Wood and} Lowden The tate of General Wood and dov-| cane ernor Lowden illustrates the power of public opinion to prevent but not to initiate. The disclosures of lavish expenditures of money in the cam- paigns of these candidates roused eo public sentiment against them which even the convention bosses, it seems, could not disregard. But there the power of public opinion stopped. It could prevent a nomination, it could not force one. And so it was perfect- ly easy for the bosses to trot out the inoffensive Senator Harding. It was a good move for the managers, too. For now they owe no one anything on Harding's behalf. The money was ; spent and the promises were made on Wood and Lowden. The- bosses simply put Harding over clean; no one but themselves has any strings on him! One bright spot may be found, however: it is the selection of Calvin A. Coolidge for Vice President. On vital issues thé declarations of the convention come as near zero as is consistent with having a legible plat- form at all. The say seems sto‘have dried up in that sturdy tree which grew up Under The Oaks at Jackson gy Penrose and Lodge, financiers of the tipper group of would-be world rul- ers, bi-partisan tricksters who write planks for the platforms of all the parties—-and get them adopted too! — these.are the men who have ringed the old tree, until it stands as if dy- ing. The next session of this national force will be called at San Francisco. No one can say that Senator Harding will be the next President of the United States until it-is seen what San Francisco does. Two weeks be- fore the Chicago convention anyone would have said offhand that the Re- publican nominee would be the next President. -That statement is hardly made now, and where it is made, the certainty has gone out o€ it. © Bammer will be $2.00 a year ster duly ine Better see now that subscription is paid a year in -. roe Ri gi a HE pith“