The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1899-12-23
SeasOnable StOrp.
CHRISTMAS GOALS OF FIRE.



Il Is onlv human kind that can express
To perfection the various emotions and
conditions Of the mind, although animals
gOnerally appear 10 have some method OF
indicating pleasure pain aud hatred. \
bird sings wben il Is happy a cat purs, a
dog wags its tail and horse nsighs 4
ca, gruwls when she Is angry or displeasej
dog barks, a horse stamps aud kicks,
while bind has It's own ways Of showing
displeasure, but only mAn can d,fierentiate
the finer and coarseT phrases Of emotions.
A sorlid, sour temperament Is, perhaps,
the ns,st repcllent that can be imagined,
add vet such vas the temperament pos
scssed by old josiah Harmon. He WAS,
in fact, comparatively young, but his
neishbors aud Others always alluded to
him as odd Mr. Harmon He did not
sutsis, on pickles, as might be thought,
but he was peculiar, not to say eccentric,
man in many respects. He was wealthy,
had fine house and dressed well, as did
his wife and their three children. As for
.ivin. hi. children and spending money
that was out Of the question. Il worked
hard 20 amasS money, let others do the
same, was his dicizm. For that reason
he would never help the poor except when
circumstances compelled him, and then
grudgingly. He seldom attended church,
because he thus avoided the contribution
box. To SUN up his character in few
words, he was misery aud grinding. He
put of having fires built in his heaters
until the weather was freezing. The hu
man system, be argued, was already heated
up 10 ninety eight degrees and fraction,
aud it was merely waste of material to
burn fuel. On the same line be held that
il was useless 10 run up big gas bills when
persons could 90 to bed early. As re
suit. there was comparatively little pleas
urc or comfort in the Harmon household.
Perhaps, it is claimed, such character is
overdrawu. Far from it-there are just
such persons today, and probably ever will
be, unless the millennium comes along
ahead of schedule time. Such types may
be rare, but they exist, and it is not neoes-
sary to 20 very far to find an example.
Mr. Harmon was of that sour, grasping
temperament which has been mentioned,
and vet when alone he smiled compliment
ly as he thought how he had made ten
dollars to his neighbor' $ one. When he
came home from business in the evening,
and sat down with his wife and children to
dinner, he had very little to say, and the
moments seemed more agreeable when he
was away. He dressed his children well,
because he wanted them to present good
appearance, but by exacting heavy dis
counts he made somebody else pay the
bills. Such was Mr. Harmon, and the
less notoriety given to him perhaps the
better, but then, to certain extent, he is
the central figure in this narrative, and
for that reason cannot well be left out. 1t
is possible to transform such individuals,
though not always probable There are
lots of incidents, so it is said, of persons
in their old age developing new set of
teeth, or getting their second sight, so that
they can read fine print without the aid of
glasses, but there is no record of any per-
son once having an arm amputated devel-
oping new one in its place. 1t is easy
enough fguratively speaking, to put an old
head on young shoulders, but when it
comes to putting young head on old
shoulders the operation is more difficult,
but such things occur. Anyhow, Mr..
Harmon was not beyond redemption. His
nature required some soothing influence to
oil his ossifed heart, to bring it to that
mellowy condition when it would be cap
able of taking impressions. Up to this
time everything had failed, and it really