The daily Alaskan., 1912-09-11
A NEW
 TIN PAN
Il, Nj. QUAD
Copyright inz by Associated Lit-
 erary Press.


 The house belonged to Deacon Rush. On the back steps. seated side by side, were the deacbn's wife and her nearest nelghbor and best friend Mrs Burt
 "Tinware. lahicsy' he asked. Every thing new and bright. Finest milk pan in the country for only i0 cents
 I've aiway,I paid i5 cents for milk psus." replied the dpaconS wife
 ''Yes. and I've So!d cm as high as IS. but thry have got new way of mak. ing em. and in giving you the l'enetit of t. I'h bring one In The pan HiTiNcd. new and shiny. and stood all the irsts 1t was rut to. No leaks. and II would almost serve as a mirror. X dime was borrowed tc pay for it, and after little more talk 1t was left on the steps whi'e its owuer made a cail ai another house and the deacons wife entered her own to mnke up the bed that had been airing.
 Now came the COW. She belonged to man at the other end of the village. There was grass In plenty. but she Ionged for garden truck She Ieaped the back fence and helped herself. In her stepping about she approached the Kitchen door and saw that new pan.
 She saw thu reflection Of her face and became astOnished and indignant A crop cared. one horned critter gazed at her in a defiant manner. and as she was a bovine that had never taken a blufT she bumped up her back and sailed in.
 An hour later Mrs. Burt came back after her pan. and her first yell brought the dcacou's wife out of the house Tbere lay the once shapely and shiny pan in the dirt, trodden as hat as pancake It might do to stop hog hole In the back fence, but no artisan could never mold it into pan.
 Lands alivelr exclaimed Mrs. Burt
 "Mercy on mer' exclaimed Mrs. Rush.
 "That COW did itr'
 "She must haveT
 And you let herr
 Sarah Burt. don't you say anything like that to mel [ didn't know there was a COW In the garden"
 But you ought to have known. if you'd keep your fences Ike other folks the cows couldn't get in Look at that pan that cost me 10 cents an hour agoF'
 Was to sit out here and watch ityr protested the deacon's wife.
 You ought to have heard the COW when she was tromping It"
 You ought to have taken It home or carried 1t along with you"
 That's nothing to do with it It was left here, snd it's destroyed, and rn be switched If l ever pay you the 10 centsF'
 "If you don't I'll sue your
 "You dasn'tr'
 There 1t was, you sec; he first real quarrel between ueighbE,9s the village had had In many lonG years. The happy minded psddler and the fighting COW disappeared from the scene. but the quarrel remained. It did more than that The news spread and within two hours Mrs. Henderson was saying:
 Mrs. Burt shouldn't try to lay the blame Of on Mrs. Rush When wo- mans busy making bed she ain't thinking of cows l hope Mrs Rush sues for the 10 cents"
 And in the house right across the street Mrs. Holiday was saying:
 "rd let her sue and be hanged to herl When a new 10 cent milk pan Is left on my back steps by neighbor it's my duty as q Christian woman to go out there every few minutes and see that it's all right I shall certain- ly advise Mrs. Burt not to pay the 10 cents"
 By the next day the village was about equally divided on the question. though some few were inclined to blame neither the petldltT nor COW. It was all talk for a day or two. and then came action. The factions no longer Dor rowed nor lent They bowed stifIly to each other or not at all on the street They revived gtrssip that had been dead fifteen years and rolled it under their tongues. Carried into the church. esf Of course It was. When thing Ike that gets started in village there's no telling where 1t will end. It drew the elders and deacons and two ministers in. and It made the attend ance at sermons and prayer meetings mighty slim. To all pencemakers the deacon's wife would reply:
 q wasn't set here on this earth to look out for other folks milk pans, and jest won't do itI''
 And the reply of Mrs. Burt would be:
 "She ought to have known about the COW. and I'll never pay that 10 centsT'
 It was a quarrel and division that lasted five years and might have gone on for another i've but for providence taking q hand in the game. A tramp who bad the measles headed that way, and he simply handed the town an epidemic. Not score of people were spared. While none died, all went to bed to, be doctored and to do heap of thinking. and the result was that as fast hs they could crawl out they eased their consciences by confessIng their errors and asking for forgiveness.
 Here Is the 10 cents" said Mrs. p,,-k aa efo to4farnd avar fo tho Hoa-