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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1924)
fncs!iiiin!imc3nmnmnr3fiimiRinnrT: irmommmnnimmainninmwinimiina 15he I Ragged Edge | Harold MacGrath f miiiiifiimmiiiiiiiiiiiriiillilHIllirillllllllliliHtlllilillllirililllllllfltmilllllllllinflllllllinn CHAPTER IX The IIong-Kong packet lay alongside the warehouse front age. Ah Cum patrolled the length of the boat innumerable times, but never letting his glance Stray far from the gang-plank. This was automatically rather than thoughtfully done; habit, llis mind was busy with a resume if yesterday’s unusual events. The young man desperately ill ind the girl taking care of him! ■Jf course, there could be only one ending to such a bout with liquor, and that ending had come perhaps suddenly but not sur prisingly. But the girl stood outside the circle of Ah Cum’s knowledge—r a lit or profound— of human impulses. Somehow logic could not explain her. Why should she trouble herself over ■that young fool, who was nothing lo her; who, when he eventually sobered up, would not he able to recognize her, or if he did, as Something phantasmagorical t Perhaps lie should not apply tho term “fool”; “unfortunate” Blight ho the more accurate ap plication. Besides, he was a Yale plan. He might be unfortunate, but he would scarcely be a fool. fThc Yale spirit! Ah Cum smiled whimsically. After fifteen years, to find that peculiarly Occidental /attribute—college loyalty—still Alive in his heart! A Western idea that had survived; an idea that was -merely the flower of youthful enthusiasm! With his hands still in his sleeves, his chin down in specula tion over this phenomenon, he continued his patrol. ‘ ‘ Hey, you! ’' Ah Cum stopped and turned. Framed in one of tho square ports of the packet was a fuce which reminded Ah Cum of a Japanese theatrical mask. One si le of the face was white with foamy lather and the other rud dy-cheeked and blue-jawed “Speak Englisht” boomed the .voice. “Yes; I speak English.” “Fine! I’ll be wanting a guide. Where can I get onet” asked O'Higgins. “I am one.” “All right. I’ll be with you In a jiffy.” Quarter of an hour later 0'Higgins stepped off the gangplank. lie carried a small bag. “This your regular busi ness!” “For the present. Will you be wanting me alone!” asked Ah Jum. “I generally take a party.” “What’ll it cost to have you all to myself for the day!” Ah Cum named the sura. He smiled inwardly. Here was one of those Americans who would make him breathless before sun clown. The booming voice and the energetic movements spoke plainly of hurry. “You’re on,” said O’Higgins. 4‘Now, lead me to a hotel where I can get breakfast. Wait a mo ment- I’ve got an address here.” O’Higgins emptied an inside pocket—and purposely let the battered photograph fall to the ground, lie pretended to be un aware of the mishap. Politely Ah Cum stooped and recovered the photograph. He rose slowly and extended it. An ancient smile lay on his lips. ' i ou iroiped this. sir. “Oh. Thanks.” 0’Higgins, bit ten with disappointment, return ed the photograph to his pocket. “Victoria; that’s the hotel.” “That’s but a short distance from here, sir. ’ “O’Higgins is the name.” T “Mr. O’Higgins. Let me take the satchel, sir.” “It’s light. I’ll tote it myself. Say, ever see any one t rembling that photograph I dropped!” “So many come and go,” said ,Vh Cum shrugging- “Few stay i lore than a day- And there are other guides.” “Uh-huh. Well, let’a beat it to the hotel. I’m hungry.” “This way, air.” “What’s your namet” Ah Cum got out his black bordered card and offered it. “Aw Come. That sounds kind •of funny,” said O’Higgins. Smil ing, the Chinaman gave the cor rect pronunciation. “I see. Ah doom. What’s the idea of the 9 black border!” “My father recently died, sir.” “But that style isn’t Orient al.” “I was educated in America.” “Where!” “At Yale.” “Well, well! This part of the world is jammed full of sur prises. I met a Hindu a few weeks ago who was a Harvard man.” “Will you be taking a pole chair!” “If that’s the racket- I naturally want to do it up in proper style.” “Very well, sir. I’ll be outside the hotel at nine-thirty.” Ten minutes’ walk brought them to the hotel. As O’Higgins signed the hotel register, his keen glance took in the latest signatures. “Anywhere,” he said in answer to the manager’s query. “I’m not particular about rooms. Where’s the dining room! I And, say, can I have some eggs! Thisjam-tea breakfast gets my goat. ’ ’ “Come this way, Mr. O’Hig gins,” said the manager, amused ly U Higgins followed him into the dining room. That register would be easy to get at; com forting thought. It did not mat ter in the least what name the young fellow was travelling un der; all James Boyle O’Higgini wanted was the letter H. There was something fatalistic about the letter II. The individual twist was always there, even in the cleverest forgeries. The eggs were all right, but nobody in this part of the world had the least conception of what the coffee bean was for- Always as black and bitter as gall. Cof fee a la Turque wasn’t so bad; but a guy couldn’t soak his breakfast toast in it Two women entered and sat down at the adjoining table. After a while one began to talk. “The manager says there is still some doubt. The change will come to-day. Ah Cum had no business taking him into the city last night. The young man did not know what he was doing or where he was. O ’Higgins extracted a cigar from his pocket and inspected it. Henry Clay, thirteen cents in Ilong-Kong and two-bits in that dear old New York. He would never be able to figure out that: all these miles from Cuba, and you could get a perfect© for thir teen cents. He heard the woman talking again. “I feel guilty, going sway and leaving that ignorant child; but our days have been so planned that we dare not change the schedule. Didn h understand me when I said she would be compro mised! He won’t be able to leave his bed under four weeks; and she said she hadn’t much aoney. If she had once known him, if he were some former neighbor, it w’ould be compre hensible. But an individual she never laid eyes on day before yesterday! And the minute he gets up, he’ll head for the publio bar. There’s something queer about that young mas; but we’ll never be able to find out what it is. don’t believe his name is Taber.” O Higgins tore free the scar let band of his porfecto, the end of which he b't off with strong white teeth, and smiled. You certainly had to hand it to theso ; Chinks. Picked up the photo graph, looked at it, handed it back, and never batted an eyel The act was as clear as daylight* but the motive was as profound ly mysterious as the race itself* He hadn’t patrolled old Pell Street as a plain clothes man without getting a glimmer of the ancient truth that East is East and West is West. He would have some sport with Mr. Ah Cum before the day was over, slyly baiting him. But what had young Spurlock done for Ah Cum j in the space of twenty-four hours that had engaged Ah Cum’s | loyalty, not only engaged it but : put it on guard? For O’Higgins, S receiving light from the next table, had no doubt regarding the identity of the subject of this > old maid’s observations. A queer game this: he could not move directly as in an or dinary case of man-hunt. He had 1 certain orders from which on no account was he to deviate, llut this made the chase all the more exciting. What was the matter with Spurlock that was to keep him in bed three or four weeks? He would dig that out of the hotel manager. Anyhow, there was some pleasurable satisfaction in knowing where the quarry would be for the next three weeks. There was now a girl in the picture, so it seemed. Well, this was the side of the world where things like that happened. The boy would naturally attract the wojnen, if the women were at all romantic. Good looks, with k melancholy cast, always drew sentimental females. Probably some woman on the loose; they were as thick as flies over here— dizzy blondes. That is, if Spur lock had been throwing money' about, which was more than like ly. “As long as I live, I’ll never forget that dress of hers,” Pru dence declared. “Out of a family album, you said,” Angelina reminded her sister O’Higgins struck a match and lit his Henry Clay, thereby draw ing upon himself the mutual dis approval of the spinsters. “Beg pardon,” he said, “but isn’t smoking allowed in the din in or room?” “It probably is,” answered Prudence, “but that in no wise mitigates the odiousness of the procedure.” “Plumb in the eyel” said O’Higgins, rising. “I’ll tote the odiousness outside.” He was delighted to find the office deserted. He inspected the formidable array of rifles and at length walked over to the regis ter. Howard Taber. From his wallet he brought forth a yellow letter. Quickly he compared the Hs. They were so nearly alike that the difference would be due to a shaky hand. But for perfect satisfaction, he must take a peek into the bedroom. Humph. A crisis of some kind was toward. It might be that the boy had tak en one drink too many, or some one had given him knock-out drops. The Oriental water-fronts were rank with the stuff. But that Chink, Ah Cum! O’Higgins chuckled as he passed into the hall and rested his hand on the newel-post of the stair case. He’d have some fun with that Chinaman before the morn ing was out. O’Higgins mounted the stairs, his step extraordinarily light for one so heavy- In the upper hall he paused to listen. There was absolute quiet. Boldly he turned the knob of a certain door and entered. The mock astonishment of his face immediately became genuine. The brilliant sunshine poured through the window, effecting an oblong block of mote-swimming light. In the midst of this light stood a young woman. To O ’Hig gins—for all his sordid business he was not insensible to beauty— to O’Higgins she appeared to have entered the room with the light. Above her head was an aura »f white fire. The sunshine broke across each shoulder, one lance striking the yellow face of a Chinaman, queueless and dress ed in European clothes, the other face of the man he had journey ed thirteen thousand miles to find. He recognized the face in stantly. There came to O’Higgins the discouraging knowledge that up on the heels of a wonderful chase —blindman’s bluff in the dark— would come a stretch of dull in action. He would have to sit down here in Canton and wait, perhaps for weeks. Certainly he could not move now other than to announce the fact that he had found his man! “I beg pardon,” he said. ‘‘Got the rooms mixed.” The young woman laid a finger on her lips, cautioning 0 ’Higgins to silence. The detective backed out slowly and closed the door without sound Outside in the hall he paused and thoughtfully stroked his smooth blue chin. As he under stood it, folks saw in two or three days all there was to see of Can ton. After the sights he would have to twiddle his thumbs until the joints cracked. All at once he saw a way out of the threaten ing doldrums. Some trustworthy Chinaman to watch, for a small bribe, while he, James Boy I) O'Higgins, enjoyed himself in llong-Kong, seeing the spring races, the boxing matches, and hobnobbing with Yankee sailors. Canton was something like w blind alley; unless you were na tive, you couldn’t get anywhere except by returning to Hong Kong and starting afresh. Satisfied that he had solved his difficulty, he proeeeded to his room. At nine-thirty he climbed into the chair and signi fied to Ah Cum that he was ready. “You speak English better than I do,” said O’Higgins, as the coolies jogged across the bridge toward the gate. “Where did you pick it up?” , “I believe I told you; at Yale.” O’Higgins laughed. “I’d for gotten. But that explains every thing.” “Everything.” It was not uttered interrogatively; rather as though Ah Cum did not like the significance of the word and was turning it over and about in speculation. “Ye-ah,” said O’Higgins, jovi ally. “Why you pretended not to recognize the. photograph of the young fellow you toted around these diggings all day yesterday.” Many wrinkles appeared at the corners of Ah Cum’s slant eyes— as if the sun hurt—but* the rest of his face remained as passive as a graven Buddha’s. (TO BE CONTINUED) ’ Fullest Consideration. Prom the Wichita Eagle. Pussyfooting as the republican, were in Cleveland on the League of Nations and half-hearted as were the democrats in New York, the people of the country wlw know the Importance of the League to the per sonal fortunes of every boy in this land should Redouble their efforts in behalf of the League. Just as sure as the sun is to riae America can not permanently occupy a place of dominance among fhe nations of the world, and we do, and at the same time hold aloof from the ma chinery set up for keeping peace In the world. It can not be done. And it is appalling to think that this nation will wait for some catas trophe to prove it, appalling that one m«r^ American boy should be slain gbcause the nation failed to act in time. Newton Baker sounded a clarion note to America in New York, when attacking the scheme for a referendum on . the League he said; "So you see, the congress is first to provide for the referendum after full consideration; then the people are to vote after full consid eration; and then after the vote, the Senate and the president are to take it up again for fuller oonsld ation, or perhaps fullest consider ation; and then, some day, when my son is dead on the battlefield that I have been trying to keep him from going to, they will have reached fullest consideration. And somebody, somebody will put up a tombstone over that boy's grave and over the graves of the other boys—your boys, and on them there will be: ‘Died In battle after "fullest consideration”. ’ " Prehistoric Man in Asia. From the Ohio State Journal. The evidence of prehistoric man in Northern Asia so far obtained by the Roy Chapman Andrews expedition consists of a collection of flints which is now on its way to America. "It has not been established how old they are, but from a report I have received from our paleontologist I am of the opinion that they are about half a million years old, or about the same age as the Pithecanthropus Erectus,” Mr. Andrews said in a recent visit to Columbus, Ohio. "They are highly Important to science, no matter how old they are, because they constitute the first evidence of the existence of prtmeval man lh that portion of the world.” The expedition, conducted under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, Asia Magazine and a group of New York philan thropists, has produced more than 10,000 fish, reptiles and batrachians, some fifty cases of fossils and about two thousand mammals, including ing the fossalized skull of a baluchi therium, a sort of glorified rhinoceros, the oldest mammal that ever roamed the earth. High Taxes to Prevent War. From the Mining Congress Journal. There seems to be little hope for any substantial reduction in taxes for many years to come. Already an alarming percent of our people are op the Government payroll. The admin istration of the Adjusted Compensa tion Bill will require a substantial! army. If Senator Oddle’s conclusion!) concerning the Veterans Bureau are correct, as they apparently are, we need another small anmy to watch those who are called upon to admin ister these laws. Years ago Dr. David Starr Jordan, then President of Leland Stanford University, published a book giving a mathematical demonstration that a great war between any two of the stronger nations was impossible be cause o the impossibility of raisng money enough to finance suoh oper ations. Senator Rrookhart, of Iowa, seems to share the same general Idea. He regards the bonus victory as “really a great victory of genuine Americanism over the sordid princi ples of a doll&r.-a-year capitalism ” The Senator also regards the expend iture of public money as a potent cure for war and says “the lovers of peace also should rejoice, because there is no cure for war so potent as to compel those who profit out of war to pay for it. I hope it will be the forerunner of a liberal pension syst em that will strip the war fortunes of all their lllgotten gains.” The public will alwayB approve and willingly pay whatever tax may be necessary to do full justice to its soldiers, but it will hardly approve a plan to so impoverish the country by taxing It for unnecessary purposes that it will be unable to defend it self against possible encroachments upon its liberties as a nation. 1 ---- Mt _ Some Folks Are Natural “Murderers,” Her Theory London.—"There seems to be a race #f human beings who lay themselves out to be murdered—they are, to coin a word, ‘murderees.’ ” This striking original point of view Is put forward by Miss Tennyson Jesse In a book she has Just pub lished on ‘‘Murder and Its Motives.” She advances the theory that ‘‘when the laws of attraction and repulsion are more fully understood than they are at present It will be discovered that murderers and ’murderees’ send out wave-lengths that correspond as do the wave-lengths of wireless be tween two stations.” Miss Jesse divides the motives for murder Into six classes: Murder for gain. Murder for revenge. Murder for elimination. Murder from Jealouy. Murder from lust of killing. Murder from conviction. RADIO HORN DOOMED, SAYS Loud Speaker of Future Will Be More Compact, En gineer Predicts New York,—“The radio loud speaker* of the future will not have a horn, nor other ‘sound box* and will be so compact that It may be carried In in the pocket conoealed within the average receiving set Itself, or disguised as some unobtrusive bit of fric-a-brac on the living-rooih table. The horn Is not onl ugly, but It la sc!entl.’!cally unsound," says Ilarry F. Tapp, consulting engineer for the Ra dio Research Corporation. "Most of the distorted sounds em anating from a radio set ipay be at tributed to the ‘loud-squawker* rather than to any fundamental shortcom ings of the set Itself,’’ says ’i’app. "Experiments toward this end which we have made in our labora tories prove beyound doubt that it will be possible before long to design a simple mica diaphragm, with soft. Iron center, wbtoh, supported betaeen two synchronised coils, will Impart a mellowness to radio muslo thus far considered Impossible. “A device applying these general principles has been built, on a larger scale, but bag not yet been employed for the privately owned radio set. “The average horn actually con tributes nothing to the volume of sound originating In tho diaphragm of the loud-speaker. It merely concen trates and. Incidentally, distorts, these sounds In the same way that a megaphone appears to magnify and twist lno almost unrecognisable squawks the sound of the human voice. "Physicists know,*’ declares Tapp, "that you can’t get out of any me chanical device any more energy than Is Imparted to it. You merely change Its form. That’s what the horn does —changes the form of the found until It bears little resermblance to the original. Paris Must Have Jazz; Want American Players - t Paris.—Paris cannot do without jazz! The threatened expulsion of sev enteen American jazz musicians on the ground that by working they were contributing to breaking the quota law, by which only ten per cent, of each orchestra may be for eigners, aroused such a storm of protest that the expulsion orders were withdrawn. American jazz was introduced In* to Paris by the White Lyres Orches tra of demobilized American soldiers Immediately after the Armistice. Since that time dozens of French orchestras have vallently striven to acquire the peculiar talent required to interpret Jazz rythm, but their ef forts, according to Americans who have tried to dance to them, have been unsucceessful. There are at present eleven Am erican orchestras In Paris. The or ganizer of the White Lyers, Bill Hen ley, who recently took a jazz-band Into Asia, Is called the "Paul White can of Europe." He has a number of bands playing In various smart es tablishments of the city. Remarkable New Blood Discoveries Are Made London.—Remarkable and far reaching discoveries about the hu man blood hav been made as a re sult of recent resarches, according to scientific authorities. It is stated that tests Initiated Bhortly after the World War have conclusively proved that the human race is divided into, roughly, four main blood groups, and that this discovery will have a vry Import ant bearing on blood transfusion, an operation which 1s becoming more and mor frequent In cases of dire necessity. Scientists also believe that the new discovery may throw fresh light on the ancestry of man, and will also possibly hav some bear ing on the proving or disproving of Igltlmaoy. __ TKACH LAW IN HEBREW Jerusalem.—The Government Law School—the first school where mod ern law is taught In Hebrew, the language In which the ancient laws of Judaism and Christianity were promulgated, held Its first com menoement here recently with Im pressive exercises. There were 4¥ graduates. 80 Jews and IB Arabs Addresses were delivered In Hebrew by Sir Herbert Samuel, British High Commissioner, and Colonel Norman Bentwlch, Chief Juetloe of Palee Bne. IRELAND WANTS FEWER SALOONS Public Is for Reasonable Re duction, Sponsor of Bill Declares Dublin.—Because there are 15,000 saloons in the Irish Free State— Otherwise, one saloon to every 200 of the population, men, women and children—the Irish Free tSate Gov ernment believes that the time has come when there might well be some reduction In their number. Kevin O’Htgglns, Minister of Home A-ffalrs, has Introduced a bill Into the Dali dealing lw the ques tion and has delivered a strong warning to the liquor Interests. He said that he Is not a prohlbltlonst, hut that It Is obvious that publlo opinion Is running strongly In favor of reasonable temperance reforms, end If these suggestions are not met in a reasonable way by the liquor Interests, then more far • reaching measures might be brought forward. The bill now under discussion doe# not meet, for the moment, the wish es of the Temperance Pcrty that there should be a drastic cut In the number of licensed saloons, although the Government admits that the de mand le a reasonable one. At pres ent the Government Is going no further than proposing to appoint a commission to Inquire Into the Whole situation, at the same time pointing out that there Is a salooon In Ireland to every 200 of the popu lation, as against one to every 400 In Kngland and one to every 69b In Scotland. Without doubt the government will pass the present bill—as a forerunner to further legislation— quite easily. But the debate In the Dali showed disparities of opinion on the subject. John Daly, Independent Laborlte, said that under the bill they were asked not to taste a drop of liquor at all upon St. Patrick’s Day, and "oar fathers would turn In their graves If they heard It!" Major Bryan Cooper demurred to the Implication that everybody on ®t. Patrick’s Day “by custom be came partly ’boozed’." It was a general holiday, and he thought It X hardship U a naan could not get a glass of beer unless hs went to a hotel. The hill Is scheduled for further debate in the Dali. 4 Ford touring car from G. C. Holn ley. __ College Graduates Will Have to Hunt for Jobs Syracuse, N. Y.—Eight hundred Syracuse university seniors graduat ed in June will not be handed posi tions on a platter this year, but will have to get out and hustle for their jobs, it was announced recently by the university appointment office, under the direction of Mrs. Minnie Partridge. Thirteen hundred letters sent out to manufacturing and business con cerns throughout New York, New England, Pennsylvania and New Jer sey brought only mediocre responses. The few replies received were largely In reference to positions as sales men. \ Unsettled business conditions throughout the east is believed to be the cause of the slackness in the demand for university graduates. That Syracuse is having no harder time than other schools to place Us graduates in good positions, is the belief on the Hill. Teachers for high schools, public schools and preparatory schools are In demand, but few members of the male sex are interested in this type of work. * New War Rocket Rains Molten Metal on Foe London.—A new terror to the air raider of the future is revealed by the announcement of the invention of a new incendiary rocket, which it is claimed, will spread a rain or molten metal over an area of five to eight __ miles on bursting. The inventor, Ernest J. Welch, declares that the bursting of the rocket would destroy any aeroplane or anything else in range, penetrat ing even steel or asbestos. At a test in which the rocket on a small seaie was used, privileged onlookers saw bursts of molten lead scattered far and wide Immediately after the rocket burst, giving a grim Indication of what rockets on a larg er scale would be able to accomplish. Fuller tests on behalf of the Brit ish Government are to be made in the near future. It Is stated that the British, American and French Gov ernments are Interested in the In vention, and that a definite offer has been received from the United States DIVERS FOR SEWER JOB. Los Angeles.—Ueepsea- divers are being employed here to lay down the end of ! his city’s new $12,000,000 ■ewer system. In placing the sewer pipe in the ocean a deep trench la being dug by huge “clam-shell’' dredges, and the divers are assisting in this task. Says Civilized Nations Are the Best Fighters London.—Nation* that are the most highly civilized are the best fighters, according to Professor Gil bert Murray. ‘It Is a strange thing,” Professor Murray said in an address at a conference of the League of Nations Union, “that on the whole the races that have come to the top In civiliza tion and which have produced the greatest contribution to the nobler life of mankind, are tfee pugnacious races.”
