The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-05-30

myself sooner. I never knew but one
thing to deride In him, and q blizzard
was responsible for that. Once while
we was snOwbound in the mountains
he became prey to a kind of spurious
and uneven poetry, which may have
corrupted his demeanor"
ut has" says Mrs Sampson. Ever
since | knew him he has been reciting
to me a lot of irreligious rhymes by
some person he calls Ruby OFT and
who is no better than she should be,
if you judge by her poetry"
"Then Idaho has struck q new book"
says l, 'for the one he had was by
man who writes under the nom de
plume of X NJ"
He'd better have stuck to it." says
Mrs. Sampson, whatever it was. And
today he caps the vortex. | get a
bunch of flowers from him. and on 'em
is pinned note. Now. Mr. Pratt. You
know a lady when you see her, and
you know how | stand in Rosa sOcie-
ty. Do you think for a moment that
I'd skip out to the woods with Il man
along with a jug of wine and a loaf
of bread and 90 singing and cavort-
ing up and down under the trees with
him? | take a little claret with my
meals. but I'm not in the habit of
packing a jug of it into the brush and
raising Cain in any such style as that.
And of course he'd bring his book of
oil 1.
him go on his scandalous picnics alone
or let him take his Ruby OFT with
him. reckon she wouldn't kick un-
less it was on account of there being
too much bread along. And what do
you think Of your gentleman friend
now. Mr. Pratt?'
"Well. m" says I. lit may be that
ldaho's invitation was kind of po-
etry and meant no harm. Maybe it
belonged to the class of rhymes they
call fgurative. They offend law and
order, but they get sent through the
mails on the grounds that they mean
something that they don't say. Id be
glad on IdahO's account if you'd over
look it." says |. land let US eXtricate
our minds from the low regions of pc
etry to the higher planes of fact and
fancy. On a beautiful afternoon like
this, Mrs. Sampson" goes on, I'VE
should let our thoughts dwell accord
ingly. Though it is warm here, we
should remember that at the equator
the line of perpetual frost is at an
altitude of II 000 feet
"Oh. Mr.. Pratt" says Mrs. Samp-
son, tits such a comfort to hear you
say them beautiful facts after getting
such a jar from that mink of a Ruby's
poetry"
Let US sit on this log at the road
side" says l. land forget the inhuman-
ity and ribaldry of the poets. 1t is in
the glorious columns of ascertained
facts and egalized measures that
beauty is to be found. In this very
log we sit upon. Mrs. Sampson" says
I, sis statistics more wonderful than
any poem. The rings show it was
sixty years old. At the depth of 1000
feet it would become coal in 5000
years The deepest coal mine in the
world is at Killingworth. near New
castle. A box four feet long. three
feet wide and two feet eight inches
deep will hold one ton of coal. If an
artery is cut. compress it above the
wound. A mans leg contains thirty
bones. The Tower of London was
burned in lS41."
go on. Mr.. Pratt" says Mrs Samp-
son. Them ideas is so original and
soothing | think statistics are just
as lovely as they can be"
But it wasn't till two weeks later
that got all that was coming to me
out of Herkimer.
One night was walked up by folks