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thorneycrofrscurfc private john hardy was feeling very content late the assistant estate agent at darnalston but now private hardy he was on his way to spend a short six days leave with mabel thorneycroft who wore a dia mond ring for which hardy had paid the thorneycrofts lived at mead- strandatsea in a little bungalow mr william thorneycroft who had retired from his career as a timber merchant with a fair fortune was apt to become cranky at times but his two daughters knew how to manage him ns a rule the twohours railway joui rey was all too long for the impatient wooer but all his restlessness vanished as he saw mollie waiting for him on the platform hut somehow her greeting enthu- thiastic though it was disappointed jack she seemed nervous and irrit able he thought come on mollie im just in form for a twomile tramp jack said after the first exchange of compli ments and im not mollie retorted for goodness sake jack take me to the best hotel in the town and order the biggest meat you can im starving literally starving but i say jack began you dont really mean youre hungry dear 1 the bare idea appalled him but mollie was in dead earnest im horribly and atrociously hun gry she asserted solemnly youll probably find mab hanging around outside also hoping to get a big lunch its the sober truth jack were sim ply dying for food there isnt a de cent restaurant in mcadstrand and girls cant walk into an hotel very well unless theyve got a nice khaki thing like you beside them bst why on earth jack began again didnt i tell you in my last letter mollie asked dads going in for re form food reform i told you all about it yes i know but i thought you meant tariff reform or something like that jack excused himself weak ly how did he catch this latest complaint he went to london to attend one of his committee meetings a fortnight ago and that began it lie heard an address on east less meat and now hes taken up with the back to na ture system you cant eat anything cooked you have only to have one rneal of raw vegetables each day and drink as much cold water as you can njtjiigmoreiut coffee or anything hallo heres juab the younger sister greeted jack en thusiastically youve heard the latest trouble she asked come on where are you going to take us jack that question was speedily settled and over the excellent lunch provided by the landlord of the royal jack heard the full and harrowing story of the hardships through which the two girls had passed oh ill soon talk him round you cant feed a soldier that way jack assured them well go up there at once or your father will wonder where we are mr thorneycroft seemed pleased to see hardy hallo hallo he cried come in jack had a good journey good glorious weather isnt it what dyou say feel hungry ah i ex pect you arc i know all about that its unnatural artificial a craving caused by your habits of overfeeding ive written to the war office about it if they and you adopted a ra tional for a quarter of an hour jack lis tened to a brilliant scathing lecture on the evils of modern foods his chance remark about hunger had given mr thorneycroft his opening i fact during the course of the afternoon hardy found it quite impossible to touch on any topic which did not lead almost directly to the question of the hour- the need for food reform wait till youve been here a week mr thorneycroft declared youll be a different man jack youll not call your training pretty tiff youll think its childs play youre flabby tired and listless now an overfed mass of unhealthmess im not hardy interrupted never felt better in my- fife you think c mr thorneycroft laughed in a superior manner that irritated his future soninlaw but come and try your first rational meal hardy struggled hard to eat the first course two or three dishes of greenstuff and a plate of nuts com prised the full menu and salt or other condiment was strictly forbid den v thats the only meal we have the host remarked at the end but i think youll admit we all look well on it mabel is starving his young daughter interrupted dont be foolish her father told her irritably you know you are in much better health im not she answered unduti- fully mr thorneycroft rose and left the table in a short time jack followed him smoking n pipe tobacco at least was herbifcrous the head of the household looked at him pityingly j i dont want to be rude jack but if you dont mind id be glad if you would not smoke anywhere near this house the smell of tobacco has be come absolutely distasteful to me youll feel the same about it after a few days of rational diet i dare say jack answered but dont you think you are carrying the diet question too far i mean its always better to begin these things slowly the argument began with that at the end of an hour mollie came to in terfere but both her father and her lover advised her gently to leave them alone the little rift between mr thorney croft and hardy grew the following day by the end of the morning their arguments were almost devoid of theory and had become distinctly per sonal before lunchtime jack hrd spoken to mollie they called slab and she hurrahed the proposal put forward whereupon the three set off for town mr thorneycroft did not see them go as he was busy in the kitchen lectur ing the only maid at the bungalow but the girl had stood it long enough and insisted on having her wages to date then she went off a man came for her box later in the day so the head of the household wash ed the greenstuff himself and laid the table patiently he waited for an hour but no one appeared then he dieted in solitary state when the others did turn up to wards six oclock mr thorneycroft was suspicious oh weve just been for a tramp hardy explained in answ to his questions had our meals out then mab giggled that roused her father to fury he poured forth his scorn principally on jack i know perfectly well where youve been he stormed stuffing your self at some common lodginghouse you who ought to be doing every thing in your power to be strong and well my daughters were content enough before you came and were growing healthier every day but now i shall be quite happy to leave hardy interrupted a sudden flush had risen to his face then go i certainly wont detain you so far as i am concerned our friendship is at an end you have been guilty of meanness gross mean ness if mollie still holds her pro mise to you binding she must not ex pect me to recognize it thats all goodnight he stamped out of the room for half an hour jack and mollie discuss ed the situation then jack an hour later engaged a room at the royal hotel ii utterly ridiculous dr whiteman growled hell learn sense before long hardy had lost no time in hunting out the only medical man he knew in mcadstrand and was now unfolding his tale of woe to him of course jack agreed but meantime its uncomfortable for the two girls id like to bring him to reason quickly i wonder wonder what demanded the doctor if you could help jack returned quickly after that they progressed cheer fully half an hour later hardy went out with a much brighter countenance than when he entered in the morning he met mollie to her he gave brief explanations also a small bottle put half of it in the waterjug he told her and just warn mab to leave that jub severely alone today then as soon as you think it advis able suggest that the doctor be call ed ill be near your place somewhere about six tonight and mollie returned to the bunga low to carry out the instructions she watched her father closely during the next seven hours every time he drank a glass of water from his own particular jug she smiled at last the sign for which she wait ed came mr thorneycroft had strug gled against that horrible pain as long as he could but it was growing worse mcllie he gasped i i dont feel well i think ill fetch a doctor mollie answer ed you look horribly ill dad oh dear what- she disappeared without finishing the sentence or wailing for her fa thers protest a short way down the lane a man in khaki was waiting alls well go ahead she cried in something under an hour dr whiteman was entering the bungalow by this time mr thorneycroft would have seen anyone in the world be sides the pain he felt something had gone wrong with his eyes the whole room was swimming round him the doctor made a rapid examina tion whats the matter with me doc tor asked thorneycroft presently matter dr whiteman jerked i dont know seems to me a case for good food sheer lack of nourishment though you dont look like a man who starved- himself what do you eat i oh ive been experiment ing thorneycroft stammered try ing a rational diet you know experimenting the doctor al most exploded do you call it ex perimenting to try and kill yourself now then young lady he turned sharply to mollie just go and make your father some beeften and make it strong ill call and sec you to morrow meantime feed you un derstand feed and then dr whiteman went out j it was two hours later when jack hardy called mr thorneycroft had just got over the effects of a decent meal and was now puffing contentedly at a cigar ive called to apologise hardy be gan dont jack mr thorneycroft begged i want to apologise too it was all my fault of course but lets forget it eh im a bit of a crank at times you know and here try one of these cigars and lets be reas onable you must really stop here for the few days you have left and jack stayed london answers the city ok trebizond has an exceedingly picturesque and beautiful situation trebizond the important city on the black sea that the russians have tak en has a very checkered and very in teresting past originally a greek colony from sinope the city has been besieged and occupied by the goths the georgians the seljuks the turko mans and the present ottoman turks in turn it was at trebizond that xenophon rested his army after his rotreat from persia and a hill some few hours journey inland is still pointed out as the place where his tired hosts first greeted the sea with the famous cry thalassa thalassa the grand comneni founded an em pire here when the byzantine empire fell to pieces at the time of the fourth crusade and the ruins of the fortress and citadel they built are still in spite of turkish vandalism almost in tact the ancient town strongly walled and protected en the east and on the west by deep ravines with the only access to it from the land side along a narrow and exposed ridge is a fine mode of ancient warcraft and natural strength combined the outlines of the old harbor testify to amadmirable scheme both for defence and offence the palace of the comneni still com mands an extensive view of the wood ed heights surrounding the town lying on a low plateau on the shore of the black sea and backed by moun tain ranges of imposing height the town has an exceedingly picturesque situation the luxuriant foliage that the moist and equable climate of the region encourages makes the place beautiful as well before the days of regular sailings round the cape cf good hope almost the whole of the indian and persian trade came through trebizond but after they took batum the russians built a railway thence through kars to the persian frontier and this alter native route in spite of its heavy charges has robbed trebizond of much of the transport trade that the cape route and the suez canal had left it there are no manufacturers arid no in dustries native to the town and in recent years the value of the imports has always exceeded that of the ex ports from the district the difference being made up from the profits yield ed by the transport business the population in 1013 was estimated at nearly fifty thousand of whom the most were turks the rest were le vantine greeks armenians and a motley crowd of persian muleteers porters and passing merchants running parallel for some miles with the deirmcnderch river is the one and only road into the interior and persia constructed by european engineers this highway is an excel lent one for the east it is available right up to krzerum for wagons of any sort and only in two places are the gradients serious and the condi tions unfavorable it is the only road by which supplies can be carried to icdzerum the distance from trebi zond to erzerum as measured in the east is twelve to fourteen days by i caravan eight days by carriage and relays and three to four days by the turkish post soldier of fifteen gains battle record before mother has him discharged john charles bartably aged fif teen years of london england has a notable war record he enlisted in the seventh east surrey regiment when thirteen years seven months old and before he wasfourteen he was in the trenches he went to france after three months training in england and was in the trenches nine months then he was wounded by shrapnel and taken to a hospital it was discover ed that he was under military age and when he recovered he was sent to his home by the authorities soon afterward he ran away and enlisted again this time in the third east surrey regiment by the time his mother discovered where he was he had nearly finished another spell of training a letter from her reached the military authorities at dover just as the lad was starting again for the front in france and he wai discharged a second time belter face surgery surgery is making great advances as a result of the war w ii dolo- more president of the british dental association told his fellow members at the annual meeting that one of the lessons the war will teach will bo the correct method of treating injuries of the jaw and face photo graphs exhibited showed remark ably successful results in healing gun shot fractures of the jaw with a minimum of disfigurement war dogs in toe yosges they come prom alaska canada and labrador and do good service last year when the question of transport through the mountain snow had become a matter of urgent im portance the french authorities had the idea of using dogdrawn sleighs for carrying supplies several hun dred trained dogs from alaska northwestern canada and labrador were brought over by a french lieu tenant who had spent 14 years in alaska says a writer in the london times from the beginning of the year to april 21 with a short interval the snow in the neighborhood of the schlucht pass was deep enough for tho dogs to be able to render yeo man service they were able to drv heavy loads over almost inaccessible country and to supplement to a valu able extent the wheeled transport which would otherwise have been the sole means of rcvictuallirg the army of the vosges but their utility has not ceased with the disappearance of tho snow they are now being har nessed to small twofootgauge light railways which run everywhere be hind the front and they are capable of drawing the heaviest load up the steepest gradient eleven dogs with a couple of men can carry a ton up some of the most precipitious slopes in the mountains and i was assured that two teams of seven dogs each could do the work of five horses in this difficult country with a very great economy of men the kennels which i visited lie just below the crest of a certain mountain in the vosges it would be hard to conceive more amiable creat ures than the 250 dogs who welcomed our visit of them all there was only- one wild was passed by with the warn ing he bites three breeds are in service the alaskan the labrador and the can adian and the best of these is the alaskan as his courage ntver fails and he will work until he drops though he is perhaps the weakest of them they are all shaggy dogs with prick cars and bushy tails their color ranging from black to white bc- tweengrays and browns their chest development so necessary for haul ing is remarkable they are mainly fed on rice horseflesh of which there is abundance and waste military bis cuits and this fare appears to suit them admirably as they are always in splendid condition and disease is practically unknown a team of seven dogs was harnessed to a makeshift truck formed of am munition cases to take us along one of the twofootgauge railways the harness consists of a chest strap and a wooden bar behind which takes the place of a horses kicking strap it is extremely simple and can be put on or taken off in a minute no whip was used and order was maintained sim ply by commands shouted in english as soon as they were hitched io the truck the whole team gave tongue and began to pull with obvious delight they soon got up speed and in a few minutes we were jolting along over the rails with seven bushy tails wav ing vigorously in front of us the experiment of transporting these dogs to france has shown that they can be of real service in moun tainous country and represent a real economy the care of a car the care of a car is largely a mat ter of common sense and we feel sjre that every farmer can exercise this faculty to far better advantage than bis city brother because of his ac quaintance with machinery and its needs after you have driven your car heme make arrangements for a wash rack this should be located in a shed or barn but if such a build ing is not available any shady spot will do make sure however that the place selected is not reached by the sun as the cleaning of an auto mobile in the bright rays of obi sol would scon dull the varnish and kill the lustre if you have a satisfactory building see that there is a vent in the middle of the floor in order that the water may be run off to some place where the earth can absorb it sloping down to this vent yoo should haco slatted boards in order that the dirt may be carried away without neesessary trouble the big es sential for preserving the appearance cf your car is water this can be arranged for by a pipe from a wind mill or a pump these sources of supply not being haivay the water should be brought up in barrels as an unlimited quantity is absolutely necessary the preliminary ar rangements having been made and the car placed upon your rack cover the engine with thick oil cloth or other water resisting material you are now ready to proceed throw the water either with a hose or a bucket all over the car from end to end and side to side if a large quantity of dirt has adhered to any part give separate treatment but do not in any event 1mb tho earth except in a flow of water as fine particles of grit are sure to scratch the paint a 1 enamel when all the dirt has been removed give another application of water and follow the spray along with a sponge having been completely assured that ail foreign matter is removed rub down the car with chamois leather and when it is dry move it out into the sun but under no circumstances allow any hot rays to strike the mach ine until every drop of water has been nibbed off if this system is follow ed with regularity your automobile should present a spick and span ap pearance years and years after tho date of its purchase but neglect will rapijlly throw your investment into quick depreciation as long as your engine is covered no possible dam age can come to any part of the motor and tires are built to withstand water under every condition use plenty of oil automobiles requires liberal quan tities of oil and grease the agent from whom you buy your car will advise you the level for the oil in the crank case do not exceed the point- he indicates because then there will be a large amount of burnt oil exhausted from the back of the ear and your driving will become a source of in convenience perhaps you have no ticed upon many occasions the great volume of smoke that is thrown out on the roail by a passing mach ine this is always due to an excess of oil you should also have your agent advise you regarding the grease cups which necessity demands should be turned down at regular intervals in order that the lubricant they con tain may be allowed to work to the best advantage if upon looking under the hood you find that there is not a place provided for an oil can buy or build a little bracket yourself in order that the oiling of the engine may be brought constantly to your at tention naturally any piece of machinery constantly becomes cover ed with the products necessary for its easy operation but an oily greasy mechanism of any kind never looks attractive so do not hesitate to use large quantities of rags or waste in wiping down the engine if you make visits to city or town garages it might be well to ask for a coal oil or gas spray shoot the mixtures in to all the externa pa ts of the motor and by subsequently rubbing it down the power plant can be kept bright and shiny do not however start your engine until the gas and coal oil have been wiped off as there is some times an element of danger there are many ways of keeping the leather in firstclass shape but it seems use less to waste any words of advice upon farmers in this respect as their vocation has always called for skilled service in the maintenance of harness and kiiidrcd products when the top of your car s down make sure that the envelope has been pulled over it snugly in order that the dust may not fill the creases and never under any circumstance- operate your automo bile if this envelop has been removed should you do so your top when next erected will present an inferior ap pearance that will not impress your guests upon filling a car with gas oline it is always advisable to cease smoking and under no circumstances allow the presence of a naked light as a breath of wind may blow the vap or in the direction of the flame and cause instant trouble of the most serious character auto in farm ers advocate result of carelessness canadas annual fire less exceeds s23c00gc0 in war time and while many inter ests are urging thrift and economy the canadian people arc burning up their created resources at a much greater rate this year than last during the first five months of 1910 the fire loss in canada has exceeded that of january to may 1915 by ap proximately 3000000 or 000000 per month at this rate of increase our fire loss will exceed that of j 915 by 7200000 canada has need of all her financial resources she is borrowing money to carry on the war and is paying ij per cent interest thereon the additional fire loss of 1910 would therefore pay the interest charge on the recent war loan of 100000000 and would pay 2200000 of the principal canadas average annual fire loss of over 23- 000000 would pay 5 per cent interest on approximately half a billion dollars our fire loss is however something for which we are receiving no value either financial or patriotic it is sim ply a tax due in great parqt to care lessness which canadians appear will ing to pay and which they as awhole are doing little to avert homesickness the recruit walked into the bar- j rackroom and inadvertently left the door open an old soldier immediate ly yelled shut the door you fool where were you born in a barn the youngster closed the door then dropping down on his cot buried his face in his hands and began to weep the old soldier looked somewhat un comfortable and rising finally walked over to the weeper and tapped him on the shoulder look here boy he said i didnt intend to hurt your feelings i just wanted the door closed the weeper raised his head and grinned comrade ho said im not crying because you hurt my feel ings but because you asked me if i was born in a barn and every time i hear an ass bray it makes mc feel homesick stops that count even the comma may be the cause of laughter and tears the unconventional sky pilot who was made to say i will wear no clothes to distinguish me from my fel lowchristians only meant to say he objected to a clerical collar and vest but it was a little embarrassing to find a comma in such an odd place but perhaps he had less cause for complaint than the scottish divine whose sermors were eagerly listened to in glasgow even though he preach ed temperance this good manwas made to say in the morning paper only last sabbath my dear friends a young woman died within a stones throw cf this very church with awful suddenness while i was endeavoring to preach the word in a state of beast ly intoxication at a wellknown fashion and fancy publishingoffice the nursery expert nearly got fired the other week for letting her eagle eye fail to observe the absence of a very neces sary comma one of her master pieces of domestic chat ended up when the baby has done drinking it must be unscrewed but even this was not quite as bad as the classical example if the baby refuses cold milk boil it a wellknown writer nbout country rambles was made to say recently the good farmer having finished milking his cow offered to show me the way across the fields as the writer is a lady it is perhaps safe to say she would not relish her escort a leader of new york society camo an awful cropper in the papers lately through no fault of her own and it is so difficult to get a verdict for libel against a misplaced or superfluous punctuation mark this fashionable dame had gone to a great reception at the palace of a multimillionaire in a dress more re markable for taste than show and one of the disappointed frock fanciers pre sent on behalf of her paper wrote afterwards mrs castor wore noth ing in the nature of dress that was remarkable that was all right until the com positor spoiled it he made it read for all america to laugh at mrs castor wore nothing in tho nature of dress that was remarkable advertisements often err in this way there are the clnssic examples wanted a piano by a young lady with nicely turned legs and want ed a boy to open oysters with a refer ence examples of the comma that wasnt there but perhaps this instance may be news to most of our readers want ed a boy to attend to pigs with a reli gious turn of mind talking of dashes a student in one of our colleges was asked by the eng lish professor how he would punctuate the sentence i saw a beautiful girl as i was passing along the street the student replied with much good sense i should make a dash after the beautiful girl sir- london answers news from england news bt biail about johs bull and his peopl occurrences la the land that rclsnj 8upremo la tho commer cial world five hundred and fifty women are now registered for farm work in northumberland the devonshire applo crop has been greatly reduced in many dis tricts by blight eighteen old boys of the imperial service college at windsor j gained the military cross birmingham watch committee de cided to license women as taxicab drivers being the first ciy to do so the king a patron of the ym ca has congratulated the associa tion on the successful results of its war work last year 1304 persons were killed and 9208 injured on railways com- pared with 1115 killed and 7850 in jured in 1914 london and southwestern rail way has suspended the service of trains between addion road ken sington and richmond owing to the worrying of their sheep by dogs farmers in certain districts of tho isle of wight liavo suffered considerable loss liverpool school children have col lected in savings boxes issued by the lord mayor 2720 in aid of the fund i for war widows and orphans j the dead body of mr g r oakcs i a nottinghamshire magistrate and a j member of the county council has been found in a wood near ridding- the death has occurred at his resi- dence in putney of mr walter joyce a veteran of the stage whose fame was obtained close upon half a century ago tho hammersmith council are pro posing to grant free bathing facilities at the swimming bath to wounded soldiers receiving treatment at the i local military hospital a notice posted at emmanuel church cambcrwell road invites soldiers and sailors who have been i wounded to rest in the gardens at the back of the church i the leeds city council has decid- t ed to make a special grant of 10- 1 000 for the provision of arms and equipment for the leeds battalion of i tho volunteer training coips j the color of the ribbon suspending l the long service good conduct medal and the meritorious service medal is to be changed from crimson to crim son with white edges mr joseph duveen has placed 50- 000 at the disposal of lord and lady esher for the purpose of helping the wounded and stricken territorial sol diers of the county of london l mr george robcy the wellknownjr canadian- acted as auctioneer at smithfield market in aid of the meat trades red cross fund where a donkey fetched the sum of 1050 seventeen persons were injured in a tramway collision at nottingham caused by a car running the points and so running into a single line sec tion en which another car was travel ling owing to the increase of juvenile crime in middlesex all tho boys re mand homes are full and the wille den magistrates have been compelled to send boy offenders to tho work house valiant women many have been decorated for their heroism in war since napoleon founded the cross of the legion of honor on may 19th 1 1802 france has publicly recognized the heroism of some twenty women i napoleon himself decorated at least seven women for distinguished con- duct in warfare the chief of these be- ing anne biget a sister of mercy i who earned the cross of he legion of honor for her devotion to the sick and j wounded for whom she constantly risked her life i another frenchwoman who earned the cross was mile dodu a postmis tress of pithviers a village which had fallen into the germans hands she destroyed a message which she had been ordered to transmit and was of course eourtmartialled and condemn ed to death on the arrival of prince frederick however she was released tho prince himself commending her for her heroism there was a russian woman named kirtshays who joined a mounted regi ment as a man to fight against the japanese she took an active part in an engagement with the chinese res cued several wounded comrades under fire and defended them till the end of the battle for this magnificent heroism she received the military or der of the fourth degree a practical gift wifey what shall we give sister as a wedding present something we may want to bor row i should say the calves should be sprayed with the fly rcpellant also weeds not all pests many are useful and some are very beautiful most of our troublesome weeds have come to us from tho old countrie one may truthfully go further and say that most of the troublesome weeds are universal before the days of steamships and railroads our weeds were cur own but the constant inter change between countries in all parts of the globe cf grains minerals and goods of various kinds has spread tho weeds into alien lands that the weeds have lived and thriven is due to he very quality i which makes them weed- their hardihood and ability to flourish and reproduce under adverse circumstances make them a peet under favorable conditions a wild carrot seed shak- en from a passing train and falling 1 upon the stone ballast of the railroad l track germinates and matures and spreads ht seeds far and wide where a primrose seed would die if the wild carrot seed can fulfill its mission in life which is to reproduce its kind in the barren rockballasted railroad track it can easily be seen wdiy it is a pest in the farmers rich acres many cf the weeds are useful plants in spite of their terrific hardi hood and fertility the dandelion i nightshade jimson weed and many others are used medicinally the vari- i ous clovers including even the rvnk sweet clcvcrs are valuable not only as forage crops but as coil renova tors for they draw nitrogen into tho ground many of the weeds edible narrowleaved dock chicory corn salad dniuleliois and rome of the mustards when used as greens last but not least the aesthetic valiio of weeds should not be overlooked every season brings its change of gay and flaunting weeds which cover rubbish heaps and waste places with verdure and blood wild carrots mustards sweet cloveis fleabanes daisies milkweeds asters and gold- enrods furnish a beauty to the land scape which cannot be perlookcd