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_LL1_ UIIMTPP—
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“Skirmish Line’’
By FLOYD GIBBONS
TODAY’S Distinguished Adventurer, boys and girls, is !
Charles Levine of New York city, an old soldier, and a ;
veteran of the Philippine campaign, Charley has an army
citation for gallantry in action—and here’s how he won it. j
It was the night of January 22, 1913, and word had come to the army
barracks at Jolo that a Moro stronghold had been located eighteen
miles in the interior. Charley Levine’s outfit—Troop H, Eighth Cavalry— I
augmented by two companies of Philippine scouts and one company of
naUve constabulary, started out after the insurrectionists. With them
went a "jackass battery" consisting of one three-inch mountain gun
hitched to four balky mules, and Charley was one of twelve men
assigned to that battery.
AH night long they forced their way through r.iatted jungle.
At daybreak they were in sight of the Moro retreat—a rectangular
trench, surrounded by a wall of bamboo palings, covered over
with a thick matting of cogan grass, and stocked with enough food
and supplies and ammunition to withstand a long siege.
The Skirmishers Went Too Far.
There was no time for rest. The Moros espied the cavalrymen
and discharged a blast of rifle fire. The Americans set up their moun
tain gun on a knoll five hundred feet away and let loose a rain of shell
fire as the rest of the men deployed in a long skirmish line and ad
vanced on the fort.
The skirmishers moved on—the mountain gun shooting over their
heads. Then, suddenly, the lieutenant in charge of the gun shouted,
"Hold it, boys. THEY’VE GONE TOO FAR.” The skirmishers, almost
to the fort now, had advanced into the range of fire of their own
artillery.
The bombardment ceased. "Somebody will have to go down there
and tell them to fall back,” the lieutenant snapped. A man was sent down
with the message. “We watched him plunge into the jungle growth
and strike off toward the line,” says Charley. "Suddenly a lithe brown
figure streaked out of the underbrush. A bolo flashed and the messenger
crashed into the sea of grass—DECAPITATED. It was over in a
moment.
“We gritted our teeth with helpless rage. Another man went
forward—to his death. The jungle down there was full of Moros.
Still another man went down—and again that macabre perform
ance was repealed.”
Charley Took the Suicidal Job.
It was sheer murder to send a man down into that Moro infested no
man’s land—sheer suicide to volunteer. But in the meantime the
skirmishers on the line were firing blindly at the bamboo walls, exposed
to the fusillades of the Moros, while they waited for the mountain gun
to open a breach. Something had to be done. Charley and a buddy,
Claude Underwood, volunteered to try it together.
"It wasn't much more than three hundred feet to the line,” says
Charley, but it looked like miles. The tall grass rippled sleepily in the
early morning breeze. Ahead of us lay the Moro fort swathed in swirls
of gun smoke which rose sinuously in the damp air. Rifles roared and
blasted.
“We darted and ducked through the cogan. The crepitation of the
grass under our feet—the drowsy rustling of the tall shoots—made us
grip our rifles hard and pivot from one side to the other in the direc
tion of the sound. Every movement of the undergrowth looked like a
* Moro—bolo in hand, waiting to pad out silently behind us and cut off our
heads, asxthey had cut off the heads of the others.”
But evidently no one Moro wanted to tackle two men. They got
through to the line. The line fell back and once more the gun on the
knoll boomed out and sent its shells screaming into the fort. Great
gaps yawned in the walls. The fire from the Moros became feebler
and feebler.
Surrounded by the Moros.
Charley and Claude stayed on the line until the order to charge
was sounded. Then they leaped forward with the rest. They stumbled
over a muddy creek bottom and swarmed through a gap in the wall.
The fort was deserted. The Moros hod slipped away—those that re
mained alive—leaving behind their dead, their supplies and their ammu
nition. The men started back to the knoll. Mopping their sweaty faces,
Charley and Claude turned to follow when—
Out of the jungle came eight Moros, spread fanwise, their
bolos poised for their work of decapitation. “We gripped our
rifles,” says Charley, “and retreated slowly, exchanging glare for
glare with the insurreetos. A scatter of rifle tire sounded behind
us. Cut off! sCKKOUNOKI)! ‘The creek bottom,' I roared to
Underwood. 'Let's run for it!’ We ran for that slimy asylum,
reaching the creek bed as another burst of gunfire crashed over
our heads.”
They hugged the floor of the creek, breathing hard. It was their
last stand. They peered through the grass, but there was no one in
sight. Where were those Moros? Why didn’t those birds with the bolos
come and finish their deadly work. And where were their own pals?
Didn't they see the predicament Claude and Charley were in?
Comrades to the Rescue.
The suspense was maddening They decided to make a break for
It—try to shoot their way out. The Moros weren’t much good as marks
men. They might make it. Another crash of rifle fire, and Charley
started to get up. An anxious voice yelled: “Get down, Charlie. Stay
down, Claude.” And Charley says that for the next ten seconds you
couldn't have slipped a cigarette paper between him and the ground.
Another volley or two and it was all over. The rifle fire had come
from the Americans, who had seen those eight bolo-swinging Moros and
were trying to drive them off by shooting over Claude’s and Charley’s
heads. Ducking into the creek had saved both their lives, because it
gave their buddies a chance to shoot over them and drive off the enemy.
Twenty years later, almost to a day, Charley Levine received the
army’s silver star citation—"for gallantry in action against hostile Moros
at Jolo, Philippine Islands, January 22, 1913.”
e-WNU Scrvlc*.
Lizards and Birds Can
Make Bodies Invisible
In Burma there is a brilliant liz
ard with a skin that almost rivals
the colors of the gorgeous king
fisher. The body is a glorious ul
tramarine blue, with reddish hin
der parts, while from head to shoul
der there are broad white bands.
If he thinks he is not being watched
by an enemy, relates a writer in
London Tit-Bits Magazine, you see
him in his wonderful dress, but
startle him. and you see what a
quick-change artist ca.i do
He runs down the trunk of a tree,
and the blue has disappeared, for
be is almost invisible against his
sombre background. He lands on
the ground, standing on bare earth,
and he is now clothed in a dull
brown coat which makes it difficult
to distinguish him. When he gains
confidence, he runs up the tree
again; he is once more in the sun
shine among the green leaves, and
his glory returns. No matter where
he is, his coat will agree with his
surroundings.
Birds that nest on the ground
seem to know that if they remain
motionless they will be almost in
-I
visible. The woodcock, as it sits
on its eggs laid among a mass of
dead leaves, is passed unnoticed
by most of us, but if the light falls
upon its big eye it resembles a bril
liant black diamond, and for this
reason the bird will sit with its body
flat on the ground, and its eyes
almost closed.
The same .applies to the nightjar.
As it sits on its eggs laid on the
bare ground, its eyes appear to be
closed, but all the time it is really
watching through two narrow slits at
the base of the eyelids.
As Rodent's Teeth Wear
When a rodent's teeth do not meet
and wear by contact with each other
he dies a slow and involuntary sui
cide. says a report by Dr. D. G.
Steele, professor of genetics at the
Connecticut State college, according
to Science Service. Unlike the
teeth of a man those of a rodent
grow through its entirn life. If by
some chance they do not meet each
other and wear down they often
grow up through the mouth and into
the nasal or brain cavities. The up
per teeth grow down into the lower
jaw. Extreme pain, infection and
death usually result.
Lace Goes Style High for Day W ear
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
C^HOOSE lor your
•* afternoon cos
tume a suit tailored
of lace and you will
have arrived at the7
dizziest heights of
fashion. We know of
no more all-important, ali-slgnifi
cant gesture that has to do with
current costume design than this of
tuning lace to general daytime
wear.
The grand part of the existing en
thusiasm for lace in the daytime
is that it is revealing as it never
revealed before the practical wear
ability for all hours and the as
sured adaptability of this feminine
beloved medium. Then, too, such
wide use of lace as it is now mani
fest, brings much anew of romance
and loveliness into the afternoon
hours of fashion.
Just recently a pageantry of lace
was staged in the ballroom of
one of the noted superb hotels in
Miami which presented a most en
trancing scene. At this gorgeous
lace ball, which seemed almost as if
it were a glimpse of fairyland, the
program unfolded with breathtak
ing beauty with a promise of style
futures that assured an unprec
edented vogue for lace. Notwith
standing the lure cf ravishing eve
ning creations of shimmering filmy
lace or of the very new printed
laces or of crisp starched lace sil
houettes, or of lace in the v-iry
new “pretty’' colors (cyclamen
pink, thistle, azure blue and such),
not forgetting smart black or white,
the big message comes to us of the
importance of daytime lace fash
ions, such as, per example, the suit
of dark lace centered in the ac
companying illustration.
This model by Victor St.ebel
(London designers are certainly
coming to the front this season) is
of navy wool lace lined with tile
red crepe. The shirt blouse is in
the same tile red crepe with pleats
at the front from yoke to waist. The
hat is designed especially to com
plement the suit, being of the iden
tical wool lace worked with felt in
the same colors.
Likewise, the daytime dress tai
lored of lace declares its practi
cality as well as its flattering, pre
possessing looks The two-piece
model to the left in the picture,
being smartly tailored, bespeaks all
that one could wish for to wear to
any afternoon occasion from spec
tator sports to the cocktail hour.
Just now it is proving highly ac
ceptable for cruise or resort wear.
It is wearable, also, under the fur
coat or a new spring topcoat, if you
are faring north. It has puff sleeves
and high pockets on the blouse, both
of which features are pet topics
with young girls this season.
The suit illustrated to the right
speaks in dramatic terms of the use
being made of val lace edgings this
season. The shops are showing
daintiest of blouses thusly fashioned
of val and the neckwear depart
ments are making a big showing of
ravishing collar and cuff sets, bibs,
vestees and the like of this type
lace worked row-on-row on net
foundations. In this model we see
a winter resort fashion such as is
to be taken seriously as a forerun
ner of a style-to-be when summer
comes north. This stunning suit of
shirred val lace on a net back
ground tells better than words of
the whole-hearted way in which de
signers are emphasizing lace this
season.
And have you seen the new lace
frocks with all-around pleated
skirts! If not you have a revela
tion of super chic and charm await
ing you There is a fabric type
of lace suggesting eyelet embroid
ery that yields most graciously to
this treatment. Printed laces are
immensely important
® Western Newspaper Union.
’TEEN AGE FROCK
Ilv CHERIK NICHOLAS
Special emphasis is being put on
dresses for the 'teen-age girl. Tail
ored girl fashions such as this are
designed to avoid the "awkward
age.” They are youthful but not
childish, simple but not plain. Here
is a charming tailored girl dress.
It is made of gaily patterned crink
led cloquassay cotton and is one of
the many cunning models of this
material that is being shown in the
shops and ’teen-age dress sections
this spring.
HAT CROWNS LOWER
AS SKIRTS SHORTEN
Skirts are climbing higher and
higher and now rest between 14 and
16 inches from the ground. In or
der not to present an awkward sil
houette, the big couturiers are ele
vating waistlines and thus preserve
symmetry. Daytime dresses have
high waistlines and evening gowns
go even higher with Empire or 1910
waistlines.
Ha: crowns are tumbling as skirt
lengths climb. The flowerpot crowns
of last season have come back to
normal in order not to look ridicu
lous with the shorter skirts Many
crowns are normally rounded while
some are squared and others irreg
ular in shape.
It is difficult to say what width
and proportions spring skirts will
take. Some houses show tight, nar
row and short skirts, similar to that
which was so popular earlier in the
season. Still other houses show
skirts that are slim and straight in
front but leave much back fullness,
inspired by the Directoire silhou
ette.
Hand-Knit Goods Suited
for Day or Night Wear
Expert workmanship has now
made it possible for women to wear
hand-knit clothes for every hour of
the day or night. Knitted clothes
being shown in Paris come in a va
riety of weaves and threads Hand
knitted coats made of warm, heavy
woolen threads are used for winter
sports while lacy weaves of silk
threads make cobwebby evening
gowns. Some of the clothes are knit
ted directly on the needles to fol
low a certain pattern, but the
greater part of the materials are
knitted in great lengths so that the
material can be cut, tailored and
fitted more exactly to the styles of
the day.
Black Still Leads
Black remains the popular choice
for street wear, although colors are
shown for sports or afternoon wear
'ltrwv\hd about
“Benefit” Promises.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF.—
Maybe “benefits” are be
ing overdone—indeed, some
are rackets wearing the mask
of charity—but even so, if a
good trouper has promised to
show up, you’d think he would
prove he’s a good trouper by
showing up.
There have been cases out
here when there were listed
enough notables to make a
whole constellation of stars,
but what resulted was a milky
way of amateurs and un
knowns.
Those last-minute alibis for non
appearance are not always true
ones. The real facts
may be:
A night club cutup
has been unexpect
edly taken sober
and so isn’t funny.
A darling of the
screen thinks he did
enough when he al
lowed the use of his
name, so he spends
the evening congen
ially posing for pro
file photographs. lrvin g. Cobb
An actor is busy
trying to decide whether he’ll sell
his yacht and buy a racing stable
or sell his racing stable and buy a
yacht.
An actress suddenly remembers
she has an engagement over the
Arizona line to be married some
more.
Staying at home to post up the
diary used to be an excuse, but
diary-keeping is now out—oh, abso
lutely!
ft * ft
Talking Fish.
pROF. ISAAC GINSBURG of the
* United States bureau of fisheries
solemnly vows he has heard those
tiny aquatic creatures known as sea
horses communicating with one
another by speech and he suspects
other species do the same thing.
Undoubtedly so. I can confirm
this discovery by a story Drury
Underwood used to repeat. Drury
said a gentleman ordered whitefish
in a Chicago restaurant. When the
portion arrived the patron sniffed
at it and then, in a confidential un
dertone, began talking, seemingly
to himself.
The waiter ranged up.
“Anything wrong, sir?” he in
quired.
“Oh, no,” said the patron, “I was
just talking to the fish.”
“Talking?”
"Certainly. I said to him: ‘Well,
how’re tricks out in Lake Michi
gan?’ And he said: ‘I wouldn’t
know. It’s been so long since I left
there I can’t remember anything
about it.’ ”
• • •
The Race to Arms.
ITALY sees Britain’s bet of $7,500,
000,000 to be spent on war de
fense during the next five years, and
raises it by decreeing militariza
tion of all classes between the ages
of eighteen and fifty-five, which
means a trained fighting force of
8,000,000 ready for immediate mo
bilization, adding as a side wager
the promise of “total sacrifice, if
required, of civil necessities. . . for
attainment of maximum. . . mili
tary needs.”
This means, of course, that
France and Germany and Russia
must chip in with taller stacks than
before, and thus the merry game
goes on until some nation, in des
peration, calls some other nation’s
bluff and all go down together in a
welter of blood and bankruptcy and
stark brutality.
The world has been 5,000 years
1 patching together the covering
called civilization, but experience
shows that this sorry garment may
! be rent to tatters in an hour.
• • •
Maniacs and Motors.
Dispatches tell of a slaying
automobile which chased a cit
izen clear up on the sidewalk and
nailed him. This is a plain breach
of the ethics governing our most
popular national pastime—that of
mowing down the innocent bystand
er.
Among our outstanding motor ma
niacs it has already been agreed
that once a foot passenger reaches
the pavement, he is out of bounds
and cannot be put back in play un
til somebody shoves him into the '
roadway again. Otherwise the pe
destrian class would speedily be ex
terminated, whereas its members
are valuable for target practice
when an operator is building up
to the point where he is qualified
to sides\lipe a car full of women
and children while going seventy
miles an hour, or meet a fast train
on equal terms at a grade cross
ing.
By all means let us clarify the
rules so that the sport of destroying
human life on the highroads shall
not sufler through the overzeal of
amateur homicides. Remember our
proud boast that we lead all the
wor'd in traffic horrors.
IRVIN S. COBB.
©—WNU Service.
I
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Hidden Genius
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By STANLEY CORDELL
© Associated Newspapers.
WNU Service.
|
THE Alpha, Alpha, Alpha, Alpha
fraternity at Boynton university
is responsible for the fate of Perci
val Oakes. It happened this way.
During his freshman year the
AAAA’s pledged Percy to member
ship, and initiated him into the mys
tic three R’s. (Rites, rituals and
regulations.) Percy took it like a
man. When ordered to imitate a
dog howling at the moon, he did
his level best. The result was aston
I ishingly successful.
The brother AAAA's cheered
loudly and clamored for encores.
Percy obliged a second time and a
third. He was immensely pleased
; with the applause and the attention
j he attracted.
The next day, en route to class,
Percy was stopped by a grave
faced sophomore and asked to give
his imitation of a dog howling at
the moon. For a moment he hesi
tated, conscious of a circle of grin
ning faces that had silently formed
about him, faintly resentful of the
fact that the brothers of the AAAA
had made public the discovery of
his hidden genius. He glanced once
more into the grave face of the
youth who had accosted him and
then threw back his head and bayed
lustily.
A mighty roar of applause greeted
the rendition. There were cries of
“More!” “More!” Percival obliged
a second time and then once more.
He was ready and willing for a
fourth delivery when the bell on "T”
hall tolled forth its mellow note
and the gathering dispersed.
Percy hurried on to class alone.
He was not displeased with his morn
ing’s work. He had been at college
four months, and this was the first
time he had attracted any atten
tion.
Returning to college in the fall,
Percy had completely put from his
mind the cause and fact of his last
year’s popularity. There were other
and more important things to oc
cupy his interest. He was now a
sophomore, with all the rights and
liberties and sensations of impor
tance that are synonymous with that
lofty position.
Chief among these, the one which
had proved the sharpest thorn in
his bed of roses, was that which
had prohibited or limited his asso
ciation with coeds. Now, unen
cumbered by this fetter, Percy’s
first act as a sophomore was to join
a group of classmates in eating
lunch at the Commons for the ex
press purpose of looking over the
incoming stock of freshman lassies.
One among them caused Percy’s
brain to swim. Here was loveliness
and intelligence and femininity all
combined. Unhappily, it took him
a fortnight to negotiate an introduc
tion. Her name was Delia Winter,
and she was as popular as she was
beautiful. This was discouraging
and disheartening. Percy could of
fer nothing; she had her pick of the
college.
It was at one of the Saturday
night informal dances at the col
lege gym. They had been dancing
together for perhaps sixty seconds
when Delia looked up at him and
said: “Aren’t you the boy who can
imitate a dog while howling at the
moon?” Her eyes twinkled.
Percy reddened to the ears. He
felt a chill, a horrible apprehen
sion. “No,” he bleated. “No!”
Whoever told you that is crazy!”
Delia didn’t press the subject, but
Percy knew he was sunk. He let
a month slip by before he could
conjure enough courage to ask for
a date, felt pitifully grateful when
she assented.
No mention was made that night
of his genius, but Percy sensed it
was on her mind; gloomily knew
that the miserable experience of
last year was the seal of his doom,
the closed door to his future happi
ness.
Within the following month he
kept five dates with Delia, but it was
always the same; the “thing” was
always there between them. She
thought, must think him ridiculous.
She pitied him.
During the intermission at the
Dartmouth victory dance, Percy
and Delia strolled out onto the now
dry ice-skating rink and sat down
on the bulwark and looked up at
the moon. Because of his great and
hopeless love Percy was moody, un
happy, thoughtful. Suddenly he was
j startled by the petulant tone of his
| beloved.
•‘I think it must be wondertui,
she said.
“What must?” asked Percival.
“To be able to imitate things. I
mean, anyone can play football, or
learn to skate, or dance well, but it
takes genius to be able to imitate
things.”
“Do—you mean that?”
“Why, of course I do! I’ve al
ways admired people who—have
creative ability. Genius. Of course
I mean it!”
She looked squarely at him, and
the last trace of doubt vanished
from Percy's soul like mist from a
river bed before a rising sun. He
stood up, he threw back his head,
he looked at the moon and from
his throat there came the cleai\
deep, rich tones of a baying hound.
There was in them a note of joy, of
triumph, of fullness. They rose and
fell and reached a new quality of
perfection. Watching, the eyes of
Delia Winter glowed and shone and
sparkled in delighted admiration.
'Happy Bluebirds'
Motifs for Linens
Bluebirds are for happiness—so
runs the legend. This dainty pat
tern in 10-to-the-inch crosses will
add a cheery touch indeed to your
towels, pillow cases, scarfs or
cloths. Do these simple motifs in
natural color, or two shades of
Pattern 1315
one color. Pattern 1315 contains a
transfer pattern of twc motifs 5y4
by 12y4 inches; two motifs 6 by
73/4 inches and two motifs by
7 inches, and four motifs 3ys by 5y4
inches; color suggestions; illustra
tions of all stitches needed; mate
rial requirements.
Send 15 cents in stamps or coins
(coins preferred) for this pattern
to The Sewing Circle Needlecraf*
Dept., 82 Eighth Ave., New York
N. Y.
Write plainly your name, ad
dress and pattern number.
Foreign Words ^
and Phrases
Sine qua non. (L.) Without
which not; an indispensable con
dition.
In extenso. (L.) Fully; at
length; unabridged.
Ex parte. (L.) Of or from one
side only.
Non est inventus. (L.) He has
not been found.
Pax vobiscum! (L.) Peace be
with you!
Statu quo ante bellum. (L.) As
it was before the war.
Sur le tapis. (F.) On the carpet;
under consideration.
Absque hoc. (L.) Without this.
Vinculum matrimonii. (L.) The
bond of matrimony.
Keep your body free of accumulat
ed waste, take Dr. Pierce’s Pleas
ant Pellets. 60 Pellets 30 cents. Adv.
Knows the Value
He who knows most grieves
most for wasted time.—Dante.
The Correct Thing
V Copying those who are well
behaved is never a mistake.
LIGHTS INSTANTLY-NO WAITING
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A Real Instant Lighting Iron ... no heating
with matches... no waiting. The evenly-heated
double pointed baseirons garments with fewer
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Ironing time is reduced one-third. Heats itself
.. use it anywhere. Economical, too... costs
only Vii an hour to operate. See your local
hardware dealer.
FREE Folder —Illustrating and telling all
about this wonderful iron. Send postcard.
[6819]
THE COLEMAN LAMP AND STOVE CO.
Dept. WU319. Wichita, Kans.; Chicago, IU.|
Philadelphia, Pa.; Los Angeles, Calif.
THE CHLERFUL CHERUB
My culture isnt very
deep —
it looks.
I simply rea.d
reviews
And the r\
pretend Ive
re^d tke
books.
MW