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HORACE
HA'ZELTINE
SYNOPSIS.
Robert Cameron, capitalist, consults
Philip Clyde, newspaper publisher, re
garding anonymous threatening letters he
has received. The first promises a sample
of the writer’s power on a certain day.
On that day the head Is mysteriously cut
from a portrait of Cameron while the lat
ter is In the room. Clyde has a theory
that the portrait was mutilated while the
room was unoccupied and the head later
removed by means of a string, unnoticed
by Cameron. Evelyn Grayson, Cameron’s
niece, with whom Clyde is in love, finds
the head of Cameron's portrait nailed to
a tree, where it had been used as a
target. Clyde pledges Evelyn to secrecy.
Clyde learns that a Chinese boy employed
by Pliilatus Murphy, an artist living
nearby, had borrowed a rifle from Cam
eron’s lodgekeeper. Clyde makes an ex
cuse to call on Murphy and is repulsed.
He pretends to be investigating alleged
infractions of the game laws and speaks
of finding the bowl of an opium pipe un
der the tree where Cameron’s portrait
was found. The Chinese boy is found
dead next morning. While visiting Cam
eron in his dressing room a Nell Gwynne
mirror is mysteriously shattered. Cameron
becomes seriously ill as a result of the
shock. The third letter appears mysteri
ously on Cameron’s sick bed. It makes
direct threats against the life of Cameron.
Clyde tells Cameron the envelope was
empty. He tells Evelyn everything and
plans to take Cameron on a yacht trip.
The yacht picks up a fisherman found
drifting helplessly in a boat. He gives
the name of Johnson. Cameron disap
pears from yacht while Clyde’s back Is
turned. A fruitless search is made for a
motor boat seen by the captain just be
fore Cameron disappeared. Johnson is al
lowed to go after being closely questioned.
Evelyn takes the letters to an expert in
Chinese literature, who pronounces them
of Chinese origin. Clyde seeks assistance
from a Chinese fellow’ college student,
who recommends him to Yup Sing, most
f>rom!nent Chinaman in New York. The
atter promises to seek information of
Cameron among his countrymen. Among
Cameron's letters is found one from one
Addison, who speaks of seeing Cameron
In Pekin. Cameron had frequently de
clared to Clyde that he had never been in
China. Clyde calls on Dr. Addison. He
learns that Addison and Cameron were at
one time Intimate friends, but had a fall
ing out over Cameron’s denial of having
been seen in Pekin by Addison. Clyde
goes to meet Yup Sing, sees Johnson, at
tempts to follow him. falls into a base
ment. sprains his ankle and becomes un
conscious. Clyde Is found by Miss Clement,
a missionary among the Chinese. He is
sick several days as a result of inhaling
charcoal fumes. Evelyn tells Clyde of a
peculiarly acting anesthetic which renders
a person temporarily unconscious. Mur
phy is discovered to have mysterious re
lations wTith the Chinese. Miss Clement
promises to get information about Cam
eron. Slump in Crystal Consolidated, of
which Cameron is the head, is caused by
& rumor of Cameron’s illness. Clyde finds
Cameron on Fifth avenue in a dazed and
emaciated condition and takes him home.
Cameron awakes from a long sleep and
speaks in a strange tongue. lie gives or
ders to an imaginary crew in Chinese
jargon. Then in terror cries: “I didn’t
kill them.” Evelyn declares the man Is
not her uncle. Evelyn and Clyde call on
Miss Clement for promised information
and find that the Chinaman who was to
give it has just been murdered. Miss
Clement gives Clyde a note asking him to
read it after he leaves the mission and
then destroy fL It tells of the abduction
of a whito mnn by Chinese who shipped
him hack to China. The rnan is accused
of the crime of the “Sable Ixjrcha” in
which 100 Chinamen were killed. The ap
pearance in New York of the man they
supposed they had shipped to China
throws consternation into the Chinese.
The brougham in which Clyde and Eve
lyn are riding is held up by an armed
man. Clyde is seized by Murphy and a
fight ensues. Evelyn and Clyde are res
cued by the police and return home. They
find Yup Sing and the Chinese consul
awaiting them. Yup tells Clyde the story
of the crime of the “Sable Lorcha.” in
which 97 Chinamen were deliberately sent
to their death by one Donald M’Nish,
whom they declare Is Cameron.
CHAPTER XXil.—Continued.
"McNish escaped, I presume?” I
asked the question more to relieve the
tensity of the silence -which ensued,
than because of any doubt on this
point.
“McNish escaped,” he echoed.
"And no one else?”
“The Eurasian cook escaped, too.
He broke out of his galley. Hastily he
patched together a raft and reached
land a week later, more dead than
alive.”
"And all the rest—those ninety-sev
en deluded, tricked countrymen of
yours—perished?”
"To a man.”
“Then the graphic description you
have just given me, came—how? From
whom? Certainly not from the cook,
who was locked in the galley?”
“Partly from the cook, yes.” he an
swered, unmoved. "And partly from
one to whom McNish, himself, de
scribed his own crime.”
The Vice Consul here added a word.
“Moreover,” he said, and his accent
was in marked contrast with the mer
chant’s perfect English, “we have cor
roborative evidence. It happened that
the lorcha sank in what you call
shoal water. Six months later, she
was declared a menace to shipping.
Under ordinary conditions she would
have been dynamited where she was.
But because of the tragedy, she was
raised, and examined; and the hole in
her bow proved the truth of what we
had heard."
In spite of the seriously impressive
manner of my informants I was far
from credulous. Such a crime might
have been perpetrated, but I ques
tioned that the perpetrator, for his
skin's sake, if for no other reason,
would ever have admitted the deed.’
much less have truthfully detailed the
manner of its commission.
But. even admitting that there was
neither invention nor misrepresenta
tion in the narrative, I was now more
than ever convinced that Robert Cam
eron had no part in it, and that in
placing even the slightest blame upon
him an egregious error had been com
mitted.
“What you tell me,” I said, at length,
“is very interesting, but I do not see
just how it applies to my tortured and
now missing friend.”
The Vice Consul In an unguarded
moment forgot himself.
“You no can see?” he queried, laps
ing for the nonce into the vernacular.
"I certainly can not.”
Mr. Yup Sing Indulged in the shadow
of an icy smile.
“Your friend. Mr. Clyde,” he said,
with a brief impressive pause between
each word, “and Donald McNish are
one and the same man.”
Up to this point I had maintained
my poise. I had listened with feigned
respect and denied myself the satisfac
tion of interruptions. But at this pre
posterous claim, I could contain my
self no longer. Before the slowly
spoken sentence was complete I had
sprung up, restless with impatient in
dignation, my blood throbbing in my
temples, my hands Itching to throttle
an honest man’s traducers.
“That,” I cried, hoarse with exas
peration, "is a damnable lie!”
If I expected retaliation I was disap
pointed. Yup Sing's seamed yellow
face continued an immobile mask for
whatever emotion he may have felt,
and Cheh Mok placidly consulted his
memoranda.
“Robert Cameron,” I went on, my
passion whetted by their indifference,
“has been a gentleman of leisure and
fortune always. Of all men in the
world he Is the last to be accused of
such a crime as this. A seafaring man!
A smuggler of coolies! It is too pre
posterous even for discussion. And
I want to tell you now, Mr. Yup, and
you, too, Mr. Chen, that I shall leave
no stone.unturned to bring to justice
■*hose who are guilty of having made
(his unthinkable mistake. Hitherto I
have been unable to get a clew. But
what you have said tonight does away
with that difficulty. Both of you shall
answer, now, to the authorities.”
As I spoke I edged toward an elec
tric push-button, at the side of the
chimney-piece, and at the last word. I
pressed it.
That Checkabeedy, following my in
structions, had remained within close
call was demonstrated by his prompt
appearance.
“Telephone the police station,” I
commanded, “to send two officers here
at once.”
CHAPTER XXIII.
A Tattoo Mark.
Though I spoke in my ordinary tone,
the visiting Celestials gave no sign
that they heard me. I had expected
protestation. I should not have been
surprised had I been forced to restrain
them—to make them prisoners, in fact,
until the arrival of the police But
neither of them either moved or spoke,
until the silence, in my nervously ex
cited condition, becoming unbearable
to me, I demanded:
"By what right, Mr. Yup, do you
make the assertion that my friend and
your enemy are one?”
With a supercilious arrogance of
manner that maddened me to the limit
of self-control, he made reply.
"1 was coming to that, Mr. Clyde,
when you so unfortunately lost your
temper. In stating the purpose of our
visit I think I informed you that it was
two-fold. In the first place, we came
to give what you had asked for—infor
mation. In the second place, we came
to request something from you—as
sistance. The motive of the threaten
ing letters which Mr. Cameron re
ceived, I think I have made clear. For
sixteen years my people, the kinsfolk
of the victims of the Sable Lorcba,
have searched the world for the fiend
who brought upon them a sorrow be
yond any that you of the Occident can
understand. To us of the Celestial
Empire the tombs of our fathers are
very dear. McNish robbed these men
not only of life but of decent burial."
“That Is all very well,” I exclaimed,
impatiently, “but can’t you see that a
terrible mistake has been made? Why
under heaven you should fancy that in
Mr. Cameron, a gentleman to his fin
ger-tips, you have found this outlaw
McNish is incomprehensible.”
Once more Yup Sing smiled his icy
smile and the Vice Consul made as if
to speak, but thinking better of it, ap
parently, maintained his stolid silence.
“You were coming to that,” I urged.
“The man to whom McNish boasted
of his deed was the man who identified
him. They had been partners in the
Far East in the trade of smuggling
coolies. The one, 1 have no doubt,
was no better than the other; yet we
believe that our informant was neither
directly nor indirectly concerned in
the particular piece of brutality of
which I have told you. Eventually, he
and McNish quarrelled and parted. For
some years he lost all trace of him;
and then by accident, one day he came
upon him, here in America, living in a
palace on Long Island Sound and mas
querading under a new name.”
“A resemblance!" I cried, in a pas
sion of indignation. “A mere resem
blance! And on that you and your
people conspire to torment and ab
duct a purely innocent man. Was ever
such an outrage heard of! Every one
of you shall pay dear for this error.”
I might have been the fire wood
sputtering on the hearth for all the ef
fect my vehemence had upon that
precious pair of Mongolians.
“We understand,” the spokesman re
sumed, “that your friend managed In
some way to escape from his captors,
and is now in this house.”
“Yes,” I resumed, hotly. “He’s here,
more dead than alive unfortunately;
but he is coming around slowly and
will be quite able to testify when the
time comes.” •
“Mr. Chen Mok,” he proceeded,
calmly, “has communicated with the
State Department at Washington, and
the United States authorities are now
only waiting our word to put your
good, gentlemanly friend under arrest,
Mr. Clyde, for the crime he commit
ted on the high seas, sixteen years
ago.”
For a moment I stared at them in
silent amazement.
“You’re both mad,” I exploded at
length, “both crazy. Do you think for
one moment I believe such rot as
that? Even if what you say were pos
sible—and it isn’t—you would have to
identify the accused by something bet
ter than the mere word of a man who
hadn’t seen him for years. Of what
use would such an identification be
against the testimony of Mr. Cam
eron’s life-long friends T”
•
“Since you doubt our ability to
identify,” was Mr. Yup’s prompt re
joinder, "I may add that there are two
marks of identification, which must, I
think, convince even yourself.”
I laughed grimly. So that was their
game! For nearly a month Cameron
had been their prisoner. In that time
they had examined, inspected, Inven
toried him. His scars, moles, birth
marks had been listed, and were now
to be used to identify him with a rene
gade murderer of Chinese coolies.
I told my slant-eyed visitors that
their trick was transparent. But they
only looked at me with an expression
which seemed half pity and half con
tempt.
"Did you ever observe a tattoo mark
on your friend’s left forearm?” asked
Mr. Chen Mok.
“Never,” I answered.
“He has one there.”
“I am willing to wager something
valuable he hasn’t a tattoo mark any
where on his person,” I retorted, “and
I’ll prove it in five minutes.”
“We shall be glad to have the
proof.” said Yup Sing.
Once more I pressed the button at
the side of the chimney-piece, and
once again Checkabeedy appeared in
the doorway.
“You telephoned?" I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Very good, now send Mr. Bryan to
me here, at once.” Then turning to
Cameron's accusers, I explained: “Mr.
Bryan, for whom I have just sent, is
nursing my friend. He would natural
ly know if what you say Is true.”
To my surprise they made no demur.
Yup Sing, however, asked that he
might be permitted to put to the nurse
the necessary questions, and as I was
perfectly confident that no incriminat
ing answers could be given, no matter
what the form of catechism, I willing
ly acceded.
Had 1 not played tennis and golf
with Cameron scores of times on hot
summer days when, with shirt sleeves
rolled above his elbows, his forearms
were bared to view? Could there by
any possibility have been a tattoo
mark there, and I not have seen it?
Mr. Brvan came quickly, a little puz
zled, seemingly, at being called to
such an audience. Purposely I kept
silence, merely waving an introductory
hand toward the two Chinamen.
Yup Sing tactfully explained the sit
uation.
“A question has arisen, Mr. Bryan,”
he said, with more of suavity in his
tone than I had hitherto observed,
“whether by any chance your patient
has a mark of any character whatever
tattooed upon his left forearm. If you
have observed such, we shall be glad
if you will kindly describe it.”
The nurse flung a questioning glance
at me, and I nodded reassuringly. I
did not wonder that he was surprised
at the question.
“Is there, or is there not, such a
mark?” the Oriental urged.
“There is; yes, sir.”
l tninK, involuntarily, I started for
ward. I know that for just a breath I
thought my ears had played me a
trick. Then, suddenly, there swept
back across my memory that expres
sion of Checkabeedy’s: “Who between
you and me, sir, I don't trust, nohow.”
Could it bo possible that Bryan was in
the conspiracy? But only for the
briefest moment did this doubt sway
amid the welter of my thoughts. Into
its place rolled an amazement that
shocked and stunned; that checked
me all standing, as it were; for Bryan
was amplifying, was telling about the
mark, which he had first noticed he
said, on the night of his arrival, and
which he had examined more closely
on several occasions since.
“It's evidently a representation of
some sort of sailing vessel,” he ex
plained, “with a curved hull and a
single broad sail. And below it are
three letters: D. M. N.”
Blindly I clutched the back of a
chair with both hands, for a sense of
unreality oppressed me, and the room
Itself became waveringly unsubstan
tial.
It was not true, of course, this that
Bryan was saying. Nothing was true.
Nothing was real. It was all a night
mare; and the two gloating yellow
masks were horrible dream faces.
“And you have probably noticed a
scar—a long livid scar?”
It was Yup Sing's voice I heard. He
was still questioning the nurse. And
now Bryan would make another pre
posterous answer, just as persons al
ways do in dreams. I knew’ he would.
So when he said: "Yes, sir, just be
tween the left shoulder blade and the
spinal column. It looks as though it
were the mark of a deep, and vicious
knife slash,” I was not in the least sur
prised.
Checkabeedy brought me back to a
realization of time and place. He
spoke my name in a half-whisper and
I awoke again to realities with a start.
“The officers are here, sir,” he in
formed me, matter-of-factly.
“The officers?” I repeated, and then,
memory reasserting itself, I added:
“Oh, yes, of course. Ask them to wait
just a moment, Checkabeedy.”
Into the mental marshalling of facts
which ensued there came a vivid mem
ory of that weird scene in the sick
chamber when Cameron had raved in
a strange tongue, mingled with words
of pidgin-English and a few phrases—
incriminating phrases, in the light of
tonight’s revelation—of vigorous ver
nacular. If what Bryan had said was
true—and for him to lie about a mat
ter as readily demonstrable w’as hard
ly to be considered—I must conclude
myself beaten at all points. From first
to last, then, I had been defending a
creature unworthy of defense.
It was difficult to accept this con
clusion. Mind and heart alike were
arrayed against It. Yet, thinking
clearly now, I recognized fully the po
sition In which I had placed myself. I
had been willing to swear, to wager,
there was no tattoo mark, and the best
evidence—my own witness—had
proved me wrong. Certainly I could
expect no mild judgment from these
Asiatics. Honest as I had been, they
must believe that I had known, and
had meant to deceive them. They
probably thought that I had signalled
to Bryan to endorse me In my lies, and
that the nurse had either misunder
stood or openly rebelled.
Before Checkabeedy had reached the
door, I recalled him.
"On second thought,” I said, "the of
ficers need not wait. Tell them that
it was a mistake. 1 shall not require
them.”
Turning to Yup Sing and his com
panion, I added:
"What Mr. Bryan has told you is the
greatest surprise to me. Even yet I
can scarcely believe it, unless the
mark and the scar were obtained while
my friend was a prisoner in the hands
of your countrymen.”
"Tattoo marks and scars show' age
no less than faces,” the merchant re
plied. "Both of these are years old.
Any capable judge of such things will
tell you that. Possibly Mr. Bryan can
tell.”
“The scar is not a fresh one,” said
the nurse. “As to tattoo marks, I am
not experienced; but I shouldn't think
the mark on Mr. Cameron's arm was
put there recently.”
"Gentlemen,” I said, making a final
stand, "while I do not question Mr.
Bryan's entire honesty in this matter,
nevertheless I prefer to see these
marks of Identification, myself. If you
will excuse us for five minutes, I shall
not be longer.”
At the foot of the grand staircase,
Evelyn joined me. Bryan, at my sug
gestion, w-ent to the elevator and as
cended that way. while she and I slow
ly climbed the broad, velvet-carpeted
marble steps to the floor above.
“I thought you were never coming
out of that room.” she declared, nerv
ously. "Once, I was on the verge of
going after you. The first time you
rang for Checkabeedy, I mean. . .
What did you have him telephone for?
He absolutely refused to tell me.
Was it the two policemen? . . .
What did you want them for? . . . .
Why did you let them go away again?
. . . Aren't those Chinamen ever
going? . . . What on earth did you
want with Mr. Bryan? . . . What
are you going upstairs for, now?”
How tactfully I answered these ques
tions and others I shall not attempt to
decide. I know- only that I set my
teeth to guard the one problem which
absorbed me, and which for worlds I
would not have her know.
"It is all right, Evelyn.” I assured
her, over and over again. “There is
not the smallest danger. . . . They
came to give me information. . . .
You must be very tired, little girl.
. . . Go to bed, now, and forget it
all until morning. . . . Yes, I’ll
tell you everything, then.”
I wonder how many women there
are who, burning with curiosity as she
was, would have obliged me as she
did! Is it pardonable, then, if again I
say that throughout all this trying ex
perience she proved herself a girl of a
thousand?
Eryan was waiting for me in the
passage outside Cameron’s door.
“I left him sleeping,” he explained,
"and, if possible, I don’t wish to dis
turb him; so we’ll go in quietly, to
gether.”
Slowly and with infinite care lest
he make the least noise he turned the
knob. Quite as cautiously he opened
the door, and tiptoeing softly, we en
tered.
It was the first time I had been in
the room since the day of that terrible
outburst, and it still held for me an at
mosphere as grewsomely forbidding
as that of a tomb.
Only one lowered light burned, over
a tall, antique bureau between the
darkly curtained windows; the cham
ber was in semi-gloom. But scarcely
had I passed Bryan, who stopped to
close the door with the same adroit
silence with which he had accom
plished its opening, than a Btealthily
moving white figure defined itself, is
suing, apparently from a massive
carved wardrobe, which stood against
the wall opposite the huge, testered
bed.
The spectacle was at least arresting.
I know I halted abruptly as if stricken
all at once with total paralysis. For a
heart-beat or two I think I stopped
breathing. But my eyes meanwhile
were strained fixedly upon the appari
tion, and seeing it pass with almost in
credible swiftness beneath the one
dim light above the bureau, I recog
nized Cameron.
At the same moment the room was
flooded with a sudden glare. Bryan too,
had seen, and had switched on the
electrics. Simultaneously he flashed
past me and was at his patient’s side.
"What does this mean ?” I heard him
say. “What did you want? Can’t I
trust you alone for ten minutes? I
told you, Cameron, that you must not
leave your bed unless I am with you.”
I saw Cameron cower under the up
braiding. In his eyes I read terror,
and all my sympathy was aroused on
this instant. Bryan might be carrying
out Dr. Massey’6 orders, but he ap
peared to me unnecessarily harsh.
“What were you doing?” he insist
ed; and then I saw him roughly grasp
his patient’s arm, and hold it up, re
vealing a tightly clenched hand.
“Mr. Bryan!” I cried in remon
strance. “Gently, gently. Remember—’’
But the nurse paid small heed to
me. He was busy opening the doubled
fist.
I stood now where I could look Cam
eron squarely in the face, but my gaze
was elsewhere. It was his left hand
over which Bryan was engaged, and
from his wrist to his elbow the sleeve
of his white night robe had been
pushed back, exposing a sinewy fore
arm, marked precisely as Bryan had
described it.
bcrutinizingly I bent forward. The
tattooing was indisputable, and, as the
nurse had said, it bore no evidence of
being recent work.
Up to that moment I had hoped
against hope that in some way or oth
er a misconception had occurred. I
had hoped, I suppose, for the perform
ance of some miracle which would ex
onerate this man. And now that hope
was obliterated by those blue-pricked
letters D. M. N. beneath an almost ex
act facsimile of the black smudge
which had taken the place of signature
on each of the three threatening let
\ ters—the black smudge, of which Cam
j eron, wearing it then indelibly upon
the cuticle, had dared to feign utter
ignorance.
And yet, I asked myself once more,
how was it that I had never noticed
it before? Again and again I had seen
that forearm bared. Surely I would
have observed so odd a mark; certain
ly I would have been perplexed by
those three unfitting initials.
“There, now!” Bryan was saying.
"Back to bed with you, Cameron. What
did you want this letter for, anyway?
If it was necessary for you to have it,
couldn’t I have got it for you?"
“Give it back to me!” Cameron was
pleading, piteously. “Give it back to
me! It is a private matter. Give it
back to me, or destroy it before my
eyes. Burn it, here, before me.”
“Let me have it, Mr. Bryan,” I
asked, and turning to the unhappy gen
tleman I said: “You’ll trust me, won’t
you, Cameron? I’ll destroy it, unread,
if you wish it.”
“No, no no,” he objected, earnestly.
“Give it back to me.”
But even as he demanded it, Bryan
put it in my hands; and spreading it
out—for it had been crumpled to a pel
let in the invalid's clutch—I was about
to humor him, when the superscription
caught my eye and held it.
The envelope bore the name and ad
dress; "Donald McNIsh, Taylor’s Ho
tel. New York City, U. S. A.”
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
New Spelling in England
Board of Reformers Are Planning t«
Deliver Lectures Throughout
the Country.
A campaign In favor of spelling
form is to be conducted in London
and the provinces in the autumn and
winter.
Mr. William Archer, under the aus
pices of the Simplified Spelling soci
ety, is to conduct a lecturing tour on
his return from the east, and lectures
will also be delivered by many other
well-known men throughout the coun
try.
The lecturers will advocate the re
form of what they regard as the pres
ent “chaotic spelling,” which they de
clare is so remote from pronunciation
that it is no guide to the English lan
guage at all, and tends to degrade our
speech. \
The society desires to fix a standard
of pronunciation of the English lan
guage throughout the empire.
It has been stated that the English :
people over seas, particulaihy in Aus
tralia and South Africa, are deviating
so seriously from the general stand
ard of speech prevailing in the mother
country that the time might come
when visitors from these parts of the
empire might fail to make them
selves understood in London
Mr. Tate, director of education in
Melbourne, has suggested several
spelling reforms to which effect has
been given by the official papers Is
sued by his oepartment. Discussions
have taken place and the council of
public education in Melbourne is ad
dressing a letter to the president of
the board of education in London urg
ing upon him, In the interest of edu
cation, the necessity of a general
adoption of a simplified reform spell
ing.—London Daily Graphic.
Marvelous Surgical Feat.
An ex-soldier, named Blomquist, has
just been pronounced cured, in Stock
holm, Sweden, after one of the moat
remarkable operations on record. A
year ago Blomquist was accidentally
shot in the head during the maneuv
ers, and it was found that one half of
the brain had been injured, and that
the only chance of life for the patient
lay in its removal. After much de
liberation by the doctors the perilous
operation was performed, with the
marvelous result that within a few
weeks Blomquist recovered. He was
in full possession of all his faculties,
but on being tested in the matter of
reading and writing, he was found to
have entirely forgotten the meaning
of the alphabet and numerals. One of
the doctors undertook to re-teach him
all the forgotton lore, and after a net
very considerable time and much in
dustry, Blomquist is again able to
read and write. He has now left the
nursing home, where he has been
under the care of the doctors, and re
turned to work on his farm. He is
robust in health and shows no trace
physically or mentally of the ex
traordinary experience he has had.
Scarcity of Opium Felt.
Codeine, a very largely used nar
cotic, is more than twice its normal
value, owing to the scarcity of
opium. Carbolic acid continues to
advance in price, and it is not at all
unlikely that the cost of household
disinfectants may be increased. The
most noteworthy of the few articles
which have declined in value is gly
cerin, which, after a long period of
high value, now shows signs of com
ing down in price.
An Economic Consideration.
Fair Visitor—I suppose you find con
stant inspiration in the flowers of the
field, the sighing of the breezes, and
the singing of the birds, and for that
reason prefer to live in the country?
Poet—Not at all, madam. The real
reason is that board Is cheaper out
here and 'V>stage costs uo more.
BUILDING OF PUBLIC ROADS
j Old Idea That Highways Should Be
Constructed and Maintained by
Farmer Is Disappearing.
I That the movement for federal par
ticipation in highways construction is
not confined to motorists, but is also
being agitated by the farmers, is one
of the most hopeful indications of its
ultimate success.
On this point the recent convention
of the National Grange, Patrons of
Husbandry, the oldest and most in
fluential of the farmers’ organizations,
took a decidedly favorable stand. Hon.
Oliver Wilson. Master of the National
Grange, in his annual address stated:
"The public highway is a matter of
general concern. The old idea that
the country road should be construct
ed and maintained by the farmer has
disappeared. It is now recognized that
good roads are of as much importance
to the consumer as to the producer, as
anything that lessens the cost of trans
portation is a benefit to the consumer.
“The Grange stands for and advo
cates federal aid for road improve
ment. There can be no good reason
given why the government should not
appropriate money for the maintain
ing and the improving of the public
highway, the same as for our public
Good Road Along Tioga River.
water works. Seventy-five per cent,
of the product of our country must
pass over the public highway before it
can be transported over our railway
or water systems. While the govern
ment has spent millions of dollars for
highway improvement in our foreign
possessions, it has never appropriated
one dollar to be used on the highway
in continental United States.
“The Grange membership is unani
mously in favor of congress making
suitable appropriations for highw'ay
construction and maintenance. This
appropriation should be expended by a
national highw'ay commission or
board, working in conjunction with
similar commissions from the states.
“The legislative committee of the
National Grange should be instructed
to use all the influence of the Grange
upon congress for the passage of a
bill appropriating a sufficient sum un
der proper regulations for the im
provement of our public highways.”
'HIGH VALUE OF GOOD ROADS
Sufficient to Justify Construction as
Rapidly as Possible Under
Economical System.
No one questions the statement that
good roads have a high money value
to the farmers of the nation, and it
may be said that this alone is suffi
cient to justify the cost of their con
struction as rapidly as practicable un
der an efficient, economical equitable
system of highway improvement.
The big point in favor of this ex
penditure is the economy of time and
force in transportation betw-een farm
and market, enabling the growers to
take advantage of fluctuations in buy- !
ing and selling, as well as enhancing
the value of real estate. It is esti
mated that the average annual loss
from poor roads is 76 cents an acre
while the estimated average increase
resulting from improving all the pub
lie roads is $9
The losses in five years would ag
gregate $2,432 for every section of
land, or more than enough to improve
two miles of public highway. The
necessity of good roads is obvious, as |
is would enhance the value of each
section of land about $3,760, or more
than double the estimated cost of two
miles of improved highway, which
constitutes the quota for 640 acres of
land.
Making of Mudholes.
For want of a good culvert, several
rods of road is often converted into
a mudhole and remains a mudhole un
til'the sun and wind dry it up. It is
poor policy to do a good piece of road
grading, then spoil it by neglecting
the culverts.
Benefits Universal.
Good roads benefit every class and
every section.
Mortgage Lifters.
Hens are helping to lift a good
many mortgages nowadays.
Iowa farmers are making a fight to
get appropriations from their state
legislature to erect serum stations for
the fighting of the hog cholera, which
this year is expected to cost them $12,
000,000. Iowa raises more hogs than
any other equal section of the world,
nearly twice as many as any other
3tate. and the farmers insist that their
interests should be guarded.
Costs Less Than a Two-Cent
Postage-Stamp
An average of less than a cent and
a third a pair is paid fa* the use of all
our machines in making two-thirds of
the shoes produced in the United
States—assuming that all our ma
chines are used. The most that can
be paid for the use of all our ma
chines in making the highest-priced
shoes is less than 5% cents a pair.
The average royalty on all kinds of
shoes is less than 2 2-3 cents a pair.
From this we get our sole return for
the manufacture and use of the ma
chines, for setting them up in facto
ries and keeping them in order. You
pay two cents for a postage stamp or
a yeast-cake and five cents for a car
fare and don’t miss it. Where do you
get more for your money than in buy
ing a machine-made shoe?
Write us and we will tell you all
about it. The United Shoe Machinery
Company, Boston, Mass.—Adv.
Not the Same.
They were strolling through the
woodland.
“Yes,” the youthful professor was
saying, "it is a very simple matter to
tell the various kinds of trees by the
barks.”
She gazed at him soulfully.
"How wonderful!” she exclaimed
"And can you—er—tell the various
kinds of dogs that way?”—Lippin
cott’s.
Parcel Post Adventure.
“I had a tough time delivering the
mail yesterday,” declared the post
man.
"How was that?”
"Had a bulldog and a chunk of livet
in the same delivery.”
Suffer Little Children.
"He says he loves little children.”
“Ho ought to. He employs about
2,000 of them and they are making
him rich.”
Red Cross Bali Blue will wash double as
many clothes as any other blue. Don’t
put your money into any other. Adv.
When a woman runs after a man he
tries to lose her, but when she flees
he is quick to pursue.
Get
“In the Game”
but remember you must, be
strong and robust to win. A
sickly person is the loser in
every way; but why remain
so?
HOSTETTER’S
STOMACH BITTERS
will aid digestion and help
you back to health and
strength. Try a bottle to
day. Avoid substitutes.
Your Liver
Is Clogged Up
That’* Why You’re Tired-^Out of Sort*
—Have No Appetite.
CARTER’S LITTLE
LIVER PILLS A
will put you right Jffip
in a few days. vtoBS
They d ojfSQje#.
tneir auty.
CureCon-^
stipation, •
Biliousness, Indigestion and Sick Headache
SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE, SMALL PRICE.
Genuine must bear Signature
ALBERTA
THE PRICE OF
BEEF
IS HlfiH AX1) 80
IS THE PICIC1& OF
CATTLE.
For years the Prorlnce
of Alberta (Western
(anada) was the Bl»
Kaiu-hingConn try. Many
of these ranches today
nro Immense grain Helds
and the cattle have
fftrenplace to tho cultivation of
"heat, oats, barley and flax: the
change has made many thousands
of Americans settled on these
plains, wealthy, but It bos In
creased the prl ce of live stoc«.
There Is splendid opportunity
now to get a 1
Free Homestead
an°thoras a pro
emotion) In tho newer districts
a ata.prodnce ^It-her cattle or grain
1 he crops are always good, the
climate Is excellent, schools and
churches are convenient, markets
splendid, in either Manitoba, Sas
katchewan or Alberta.
Send for literature, tho latest
information, railway rates,etc., to
W. V. BENNETT,
Bee Building, Omaha, Neb.
or address Superintendent of
Immigration, Ottawa. Cud.,
Store Managers
Wanted
in Nebraska towns of500and over. Add.
Consumers Syndicate, Omaha, Neb.
HORRORS OF CYCLONE,
STORM AND FLOOD
m Ohio, Indiana and Nebraska. Told bv sur
Postpaid to any addresson r^linT’o? nJi™
A (tents wanted. Sample ixxik^inf
sttttj&Gr&jZiSiSssS
AfiFMK Elthfr ^ write us quick
■•I ■ I O for circular of our cssysdl*
ing article. Unlimited demand. Best ever
WJK. SHERMAN & CO. 318 S. St. Lonis Are. Chicago, m.
PATENTS
