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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1937)
1 CHAPTER 1 Victoria Herrendeen came up from the beach with her sandy fin gers tight in her father’s hand. Those girls down there had been mean to her because she didn’t un derstand the French they were jab bering with Mademoiselle, and they had laughed at her. When Dad had appeared, with his usual smile, wearing his old blue coat and the loose old white trousers Mother sometimes let him wear on a sum mer morning, he had looked to his daughter like an angel of light. Here was her unfailing friend and cham pion. He came down from the San Francisco office when he could; not every week-end, but at least every other week-end, and when he was there Victoria had the companion she loved best in the world, and the best time any little girl ever had on a beach. Dad was a chemist—whatever that was—and worked in a labora tory with a man named Butler, who •was mean to him, and a lot of other men who were nice. Victoria knew about Butler because she had often heard her mother say, “Butler * wouldn’t put it over on me that way, Keith. I’d not stand it! I wonder what you do.” They loved each other dearly, she and her father. They were ex quisitely happy together. While she waded, and he made a beach fire They Went up the Path. and scrambled eggs and boiled co Vcoa, they liked to plan dim future days in which they two would live alone on a desert island and signal to the people on the shore for what they wanted. She was an odd-looking child, not pretty yet, but too small to worry about looks herself. Her mother, however, was extremely concerned about them. She had just begun to realize that Victoria might be quite I lovely some day—or striking, any ' way. distinguished-looking—and was watching her keenly for signs of it; but Victoria did not know that. Mrs. Herrendeen said to herself that if the child ever grew up to that big red mouth, and if the deep-set slate gray eyes opened a little more, and if the thick straight tawny hair were cut and curled into a becoming shape, and the dark, freckled skin cleared, she would be all right. But the big teeth had to be straight ened and the hair brushed . . . Magda Herrendeen might indulge in o little sigh about it, deep in her own soul. She was far too fond of Victoria, far too loyal to everyone she loved, her own small daughter included, to give the child any hint of it. Vicky’s life must be happy, confident, free; she must never feel any inferiority or shyness. Magda had had no trouble with her own beauty. It had been given her at about fifteen as a complete gift from the gods. It was flawless; it was only comparable to other perfect beauty. But it was not anything tangible or even descfibable about her that made her lovely, nor the firm straight body with its wide shoul ders and thin hips, nor the fine nervous hand and modeled arm. It was a glow, a fragrance, a light that seemed to emanate from her, * and that was somehow in her voice too, and in the clothes she wore. Victoria could not appreciate her beauty, even when new men were introduced to her and held her small sandy hand while they asked her the question all the other men had: “Do you know you have a very beautiful mother?” She would look at her mother on these occasions and smile shyly, pleased, but a little puzzled, too. Was it so important? Evidently it was very important. Anyway, for that reason or some other everyone did really make a great fuss about Mother. She laughed about it, but of course she liked it, too. Victoria’s mother always had flowers; men brought them when they came to tea, even in winter. The Herrendeens did not have din ner parties themselves, because the apartment was so small, but even I if Mother did not have a maid at any other time she always was in touch with a nice colored girl or a clever Japanese woman or a young Chinese in purple and gold and blue, who came in to serve tea. And men—or more often a man—came then, and whoever he was, he brought flowers. Orchids and gardenias, and great soft melting begonias in tones of peach and warm cream, and long stemmed roses and sweet dark vio lets—these were always in Mother's rooms. She said that she would feel really poor without them, and Vic toria suspected that Dad would do anything to keep Mother from feel ing really poor. He had confided to Victoria that they were poor, quite poor. He had been very rich once, and could give Mother those pearls, and furs, and everything she liked, and then she had had flowers—many more than these even, every day. And then she had had a great big house to put them in, and servants to find vases for them. Mother had had a maid, and Dad a valet . . . “And did joo like that, Dad?” Victoria might ask. Even when she had had nurses all to herself she had not liked them. Nurses liked to talk to cooks and to other nurses in parks and kitch ens and hotel dining rooms and on beaches; to a little girl they had nothing at all to say. But this had been in the old days when they had the big house with Ferdinand in the downstairs hall and the dumbwaiter and the chauf feur. These had faded away, some where around the time of her sev enth birthday, and the big motor cars with them, and the Herren deens no longer went to great big hotels and lived in great big rooms with letters embroidered on the tow els, and telegrams and flowers in yellow envelopes and big green boxes. They moved to a small apart ment, and Victoria discovered to her ecstasy that her own bedroom was right next to a similarly simple room where her mother and her fa ther slept. Now she could go in her pajamas in the early morning and sit on their knees while they were in bed and talk to them. And now she was never lonely any more, for there was school and there was Dad every night. He taught her how to cook; choco late cornstarch custard and baked potatoes and apple sauce; it was all fun. On this hot August Saturday, com ing back from the beach with her sandy hand tight in his, she said: “Did Mother meet you?” “I don't think Mother knew I was coming.” “Oo, Dad,” said Victoria, fearful ly, “she likes you to let her know!” “I know she does, darling, and I did. But when I left the station just now the telegraph man came out and said: 'Are you going over to Cutters’V and I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Here’s a telegram then for some Mrs. Herrendeen—the tel ephone wires are down.’ And it looks like my telegram.” ‘‘Oh, yes, they are down,” Vic toria agreed eagerly, giving a skip of sheer delight because it was sum mer, and Saturday morning, and al most time for lunch, and Dad was here. "I know because she tried to telephone Johnny last night.” "Johnny?” "The polo Johnny.” "Oh, yes — Mr. Kendrick. It sounded like one of your friends.” "You’re my friend. Dad," Vic toria said, kissing his hand. They went up the path where the daisies and marigolds were stirring uneasily in the soft sea wind, and past the white gate that always looked as if it were washed and blown clean by the winds, and into the big wide-open porch door of the boarding house. Her hand was still in his as they crossed the hall and entered her mother’s room—an airy room, with flowers in it, and the good scent of the sea. "Not here,” said Keith Herren deen. "She’s playing golf, maybe.” "Well, what shall we do?” Victoria, feeling a little uneasily apologetic for her mother’s absence, regarded him hopefully. "What would you like to do?” "Let's have lunch first—then we can decide.” So they went out to the Salisbury steaks and the corn mufTins and the baked potatoes, and Victoria had two pieces of peach pie. “You'll get fat, Vic,” her fa ther said. “Salt air,” said Vic. They went to a little tent circus that afternoon; all the children were going, and Victoria was en chanted. The circus was wonderful, too, and Victoria was tired and blissful and quiet on the way home; but she did rouse up when she and her fa ther went into their big room to find Mother there stretched out flat on the bed with the powder-blue taf feta cover over her, sleepy, deli cious, affectionate. “Oh, hello, you darlings,” she said. She stretched a hand toward her husband, and he stooped over h«r for one of their quick kisses. “I knew you’d carried her off some where because the Kinsolvings’ nurse came up here half an hour ago,” she added, jerking her long lovely body over so that he could find a narrow ledge on which to sit. “Sit there, Keith. Did you have a nice time, Vicky?” Victoria burst into a very de lirium of reminiscence, but as she presently discovered, neither par ent was listening to her. Her father took off his coat and vest and col lar and began to walk back and forth between the bureau and the washstand; there was an old-fash ioned washstand in an alcove, and he washed his face and hands there, combed his wet hair, found himself a fresh collar. Meanwhile there was a little idle talk between him and his wife, and Victoria had an un comfortable familiar sense that something vaguely unpleasant was brewing. “Nice down here?” “Perfect days; that is, except Tuesday. ’Member that Tuesday was windy and foggy, Vic?” “It was cold in town," Keith Her rendeen said, without waiting for Victoria’s answer. “So someone was saying.” Mrs. Herrendeen bunched her beautiful shining fingernails and looked at them thoughtfully. “Great doings here for the Harwoods—the news paper people,” she said. “Tonight?” the man asked even ly, after a pause. “Small party,” his wife said lightly and briefly. “Bridge for Lady Cuthbertson. She’s here on the Harwood yacht. They’ve all gone mad over her.” “You’ve got to go, I suppose?” A pause. “You wouldn’t, I suppose?” An other pause. “No,” Dad said briefly and qui etly. “I suppose not. But—being bridge ...” Victoria’s mother began hes itantly. She looked at his face as she Spoke. “You feel you have to go?” “Well, Keith,” his wife began, with an eloquent shrug, “you see, it’s only two tables,” she went on making a fresh start. "That’s all right,” Keith Herren deen said heavily in a tone that be lied his words. “Da you play good bridge, Moth er?” Victoria asked, to lighten a certain heaviness In the silence that had fallen in the room. She was washing herself now. busily and ef fectively, the muddy soap squeez ing in great firm suds through her fingers, her wet straight tawny hair dripping on her shoulders. She took a comb and dragged the damp locks back severely. “Now take your fingers and soften that around your forehead, Vic.— Yes,” Mrs. Herrendeen said, jerk ing another pillow under her head. "I do play good bridge.” “Does Dad?” asked Vic. “He doesn’t like it. Nor dancing. Nor night clubs. Nor big cars and yachts and distinguished persons. Nor anything I like,’’ Magda might have answered from the sense of checkmate, of complete bafflement in her heart. But she said only the first phrase aloud. For the rest she lay there thinking, watching her husband’s face. “Victoria and I’ll take care of each other,” Keith said, in a hard voice. “I could telephone and say I’ll be up after dinner,” Magda offered. “What good would that do?" “Well, that’s just it; no good. They aren’t dining until nearly eight. ’Eightish,’ Sibyl said. You’ll be all through here by seven.” “We’ll take care of each other,” Keith said again. “There goes the dinner bell,” Vic toria said, leaping from rock to rock beside him. “Goody! Are you hun gry? I'm starving.” “Mrs. Herrendeen coming to din ner?” Emma said, giving them their napkins and setting two glasses of cut fruit before them. “No, she can’t come tonight.” Upon their return to their room immediately after dinner, Vic and her father found Victoria’s mother all ready to go. Her manner was the prettily careless one that dis guises in a beautiful woman a sud den touch of self-consciousness. “I wonder you’ll speak to me for being such a runaway!” she said to them with her appealing smile. She was always gentle; Victoria had never seen her mother harsh or angry. “You look lovely, Magda," her husband said. He said it without enthusiasm, almost wearily, as he sat down. The lovely vision stooped to kiss his forehead. She caught up the familiar wrap. Victoria had seen her catch it up a hundred times; it was her only one, except for the two shawls. And Mother said shawls were not really smart any more. And now she was giving to Dad and Victoria her familiar good-by laugh and nod, an excited, triumph ant laugh and nod, as if she said, “Now that I’m all ready I’m not scared; anyone who looks as I do must have a good time!” and she was running away. There was a young man in a light overcoat outside the French win dows; there always was. And there was a rakish low car waiting in the drive; that was always there, too. Mother met the one and ran down to the other, and there was the roar of a deep engine, and she was gone. Dad and Victoria went out to the front steps and sat there in the soft summer night. (TO HE CONTINUED) Romans Loved Cinnamon; Used It in Their Balms The strong fragrance of cinna mon greeting our nostrils, gives us pleasure even before we eat the food that it flavors. The human nose has always re sponded to this odor and the ancient Romans held it in particular es teem. They used it liberally in their ointments and balms as well as in their cooking, and as the ul timate mark of their appreciation of this spice they set it apart as the incense for sacrificial and ceremo nial fires. When a god was to be appeased, or the shade of a departed spirit was to be honored, it was the per fume of cinnamon wafted heaven ward on uprising clouds of smoke that carried the message. No Ro man doubted that an odor so pleas ing to man could fail to placate the Olympian dieties. The Roman media of atonement was not buns but bonfires, and their theory was that the more cin namon consumed, the greater the incense and therefore the greater the pleasure of the diety or the spirit who was being honored. mm VM KATHLEEN 7mr N© KRIS’ new serial... Tempestuous . . . poignant . . . deep with significance . . . the foremost story by America’s foremost writer is now ready for you in serial form. Read each install ment of this modern serial as it unfolds from issue to issue in these columns! ... don’t «M«"BEAUTy*S E AUG UTE E” HO$^RE 7/cwJSDAY / DR. JAMES W. BARTON T«llci About ® Treatment of Overweight. WHEN insurance figures definite ly show that in North Amer ica about two in every five of the adult population are overweight and that overweight is a handicap to good health, it is only natural that trying to prevent and reduce the overweight condition should be a matter of vital importance to a great number of people. Practically every overweight knows that the proper or scientific way to re duce weight is to eat less food and do more work. This simple method gives in return for the fat lost real healthy or vigorous muscle tissue which not only gives Ur. Barton strength of body but actually invites work or exercise, thus giving fur ther strength. However those of normal weight cannot grasp what cutting down on food and performing more work means to the overweight individual. He has been given this great de sire for food and up to a certain point he has been given this dislike for work or exercise. Further, ev ery time he performs a simple ac tion like walking or running he is doing perhaps 50 per cent more work than when this is done by one of normal weight. Thus to those of us of normal weight, if we wish to eat an extra slice of bread, an extra square of butter or a second dessert, we don’t give this extra food a second thought. To those who are over weight it means just that much ex tra fat added to their weight. Time to Try Other Methods. However, food can only be reduced to a certain point, and only for a certain length of time. When the time arrives when no more weight is being lost, and the individual is eating just the amount of food that should be eaten if he were of nor mal weight for his build, then if he is still a number of pounds over weight he would be justified in ask ing his physician about the use of thyroid, pituitary or other gland extract, or perhaps the new drug dinitrophenol. Drs. Leona M. Bayer and H. Gray, in the American Journal of Medical Science, report the methods used in 106 unselected overweight patients treated in an out-patient clinic. "One hundred were treated by diet alone at first. Then 51 were given thyroid treatment and 23 dinitrophenol. Better weight losses would have been achieved if the pa tients had cut down more con scientiously on their food, but of course when the patients only re port once a week or once a month this is to be expected. The results accomplished show that diet alone will take off an average of 15 pounds in less than three and one-half months. When dieting fails to get results, either thyroid extract or dinitrophenol appears to be effec tive in causing a further loss in weight." When there was no loss shown for a whole month, the patient con tinued for one more month on the reduced diet. If at the end of this time (two whole months) there had been no loss of weight then thyroid extract was given as long as the patient continued to lose weight. When the weight remained the same then dinitrophenol was used until there was no further loss; at which time it was felt that the limit of the reduction in weight had been reached. It was found that when 20 pounds had been lost by diet alone, an other 5 or 6 pounds could be tak en off by the use of thyroid extract or dinitrophenol. • • • Itching Pruritis. It has been truly said that "all the world itches, but for different reasons in different persons.” Thus the very cleanest and the very dirt iest individuals itch; those who i perspire too much or not enough, itch; those who are big eaters and those who are small eaters, itch. Itching, or pruritis as it is called by physicians, when it exists for any length of time has usually been re ferred to a skin specialist. How ever itching can be a symptom of so many ailments that it is really \ the work of the family physician, according to an article by Lord Horder in the British Lancet. He mentions among other causes of itching such ailments as diabetes, jaundice, leukamia (great increase in the white corpuscles in the blood) and uremia (waste products left in the blood that should have been removed by the kidneys). One of the commonest causes of itching is gout. That food and other substances to which individuals are sensitive can cause itching is very clearly shown in those cases where hives (urti caria) and eczema appear after eating foods or coming in contact with certain substances. Some organic ailments of the nervous system have itching as a symptom. The thought then is that itching may not be due to any skin condi tion but to any of the above men tioned causes. Copyright.—WNU Service. Records Help in Improving Sheep Systematic Check Is Urged to Produce Better Wool and Mutton. By L. K. Bear. Animal Husbandry Spe cialist. Ohio State University. WNU Service. One line of pencil work a year for each ewe in the farm flock may help materially in improving the re turns from wool and mutton, as a written record is a great aid in culling inferior animals. Profits from sheep depend a great deal upon producing lambs and wool which will bring top market prices and that is impossible if the breeding flock lacks uniformity. Fine wool ewes should shear from 10 to 14 pounds of wool which will grade Delaine or fine combing, and coarse wools should shear 8 to 11 pounds that will grade as combing wool. Records kept at shearing time will furnish a basis for taking out of the flock those ewes which have light fleeces or which produce wool of a poorer grade than the flock average. The owner of the flock knows at shearing time which ewes should be discarded but it is doubt ful if he can remember the fleece weights unless a written record is kept or the culls are marked. Many of the light lambs that are not ready for market when the oth ers are ready for sale are late lambs caused by shy breeding ewes or they are unthrifty lambs from ewes which are poor milkers. Ewes in either of these classifications should be discarded, and, again, a written record will help in identi fying the culls. Simple record forms that provide means for keeping a check on each ewe in the flock have been prepared by the departments of animal hus bandry and rural economics. One line across the sheet provides space for all the records needed on a ewe for a year. County agricultural agents can supply these flock rec ord forms upon request. Seeds Should Be Kept Dry While in Storage Crop seeds protected from damp ness in storage will have a better chance of germinating and produc ing strong plants even when handi capped by unfavorable weather. Dampness in storage has a tend ency to start the germinating proc ess. and this weakens the seed, ex plained Dr. R. F. Poole, plant path ologist with the North Carolina Ag ricultural Experiment station. Irish potatoes stored in banks should be aired frequently to pre vent decay. Corn, small grain, and other seed should be kept in lead-proof build ings with adequate ventilation to prevent the accumulation of too much moistur<i However, this does not mean that the seed should be openly exposed to infestation by insect pests. Dr. Poole cautioned. ____________ Vaccination for Mastitis We have not found vaccination for mastitis to be satisfatory. There seems to be no satisfactory treat ment for this disease because nu merous kinds of drugs, vaccines and other treatments have been relative ly inefficient. The acute attack of mastitis probably is best treated with hot applications, or, if neces sary, a suspensory bandage. Most essential, however, is the preven tion of the disease. It is contagious, and infected animals are danger ous to the rest of the herd. Animals infected with mastitis should be seg regated at one end of the barn and milked last. The hands of the milker should be carefully cleaned and dis infected following the milking o f each animal. Platforms on which the animals stand should also be disinfected. —C. P. Fitch, chief. Di vision of Veterinary Medicine, Uni versity Farm, St. Paul. Reed Canary Grass Reed canary grass is higher in feeding value than timothy hay. In a trial carried on at University farm, St. Paul, it was found that fillies made larger gains with less grain when fed canary grass than when fed prairie hay. Prairie hay is just about as good, if not a little better, than timothy hay for horses. I do not know whether canary grass would excel alsike clover hay for horses, but I think it would be almo as high in feeding value. Alsike clover might prove a little more val uable than Reed canary grass for young stock because it is a little higher in crude protein. If Reed canary grass is not too coarse, it is excellent hay for horses.—A. L. Har vey, Division of Animal Husbandry. Higher Farming Costs Labor and products bought by the farm in 1937 are predicted by the Department of Agriculture to cause a sharp increase in the cost of farm ing. Price for feed for live stock and seed will stay high until the crop of the 1937 season replenishes the present drouth-reduced supply. Farm machinery, fertilizer, and building supplies are expected to advance some in price due mostly to the increased cost of labor and material. Wages on the farm have increased materially from the low in 1933, $14.77, to the average of $22.51 per month. Ask Me Another # A General Quiz © Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service. 1. To what relative does "avun cular” refer? 2. What man who later became President fought at San Juan Hill? 3. In what country did the Ming Dynasty reign? 4. What is bisk? 5. Who was the first Roman em peror? 6. What hero was inspired to further action by a spider’s per severance? 7. What flag was called "the jolly Roger”? 8. To what was the term "shin plaster” applied in American his tory? 9. What does "azoic” mean? 10. Where is Lake Constance? 11. When it is noon in Philadel phia what time is it in Yokohama? 12. An English king was once crowned on a Sunday. Who was he? Answers 1. An uncle. 2. Theodore Roosevelt. 3. China. 4. A thick rich soup. 5. Augustus Caesar. 8. Robert Bruce. 7. That of the pirates. 8. To fractional paper money. 9. Without life or with organic remains. 10. On the border of Switzerland and Germany. 11. Two a. m. the next day. 12. King Edward VI on Febru ary 20, 1547. Don't Sleep When Gas Presses Heart If you want to really GET RID OF GAS and terrible bloating, don’t expect to do It by Just doctoring your stomach with harsh, irritating alkalies and “gas tablets." Most GAS Is lodged In the atomach and upper Intestine and is due to old poisonous matter In the constipated bowels that are loaded with Ill-causing bacteria. 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