f
Id
Mademoiselle Jolie's Hirrh C
By John Louis
(Copyright, by Dally
"Ah-b-h-h-h-h!"
The note was long, loud, clear, full
and smooth. With Its sudden, bril
liant attack and soft, gradual cadence
it disturbed fantastically the silence of
the night.
"As God lives." cried Angelo, "the
Hish C of my dreams!"
He rushed into the hall and knocked
staccato agitato on the landlady's
door. She knew that knock of An
gelo's. .
"I'm going to bed, aignor," she
called, cruelly. "Good night."
"One word, most merciful of land
Indies!" begged Angelo. "See, so as
not to wake your blessed and respect
able roomers, I fall on my knees and
whisper through the keyhole. That
High C-r-that heavenly HighC! Whose
was it?"
The landlady laughed most irrele
vantly and irreverently, thought An
gelo. "Mile. Jolie's," she answered.
"Mademoiselle caie here only to-day.
She's contralto soloist at the ten-cent
vaudeville."
'"Contralto!"' groaned Angelo. "But
that High C! Coloratura or nothing!"
"She's trying to raise her voice to a
soprano," explained the landlady,
"Walt, Signor Angelo-" and she
opened the door ever so little and
handed him a photograph. "Made-
moiselle's, in costume " with another
little laugh. "Good night. Feast on her
beauty In your dreams."
"Most charming of landladies," cried
Angelo, "I kiss your you withdraw
your hand? Then I kiss this blessed
keyhole and this thrice blessed pic
ture! Signora, good night." And An
gelo hurried back to his room.
For a long lime he sat in darkness
trembling with eagerness, with hope,
with despair. Then he dared light the
lamp. But even then he dared not
"When I Heard Your Heavenly High
C, Little One."
look at the picture. What if that dl-
(vine High C came from a throat not
shapely and swan-like? What if
mademoiselle had a bad nose, frizzy
hair, a Bet and implacable mouth?
Surely the gods
"Jolle," murmured Angelo, tenderly.
"With such a name she must be beau
tlful!" So he turned up the light and
looked at the photograph. "Thou art
beautiful, little one almost as beau
tiful aa thy supernal High C. Thy hair
it must be Titian. Thy skin it must
be as white as the moon. Thy little
nose no, It is not too retrousse. Thy
little mouth no, it Is not too big."
He rose tremulously and drew -the
frayed tapestry across the one window,
"No one must see us, little one and
no one must hear what we say." He
went to the door and stuffed his hand
kerchief into the keyhole, then re
turned to the picture, which he clasped
with eager fingers. "Little one, I in
troduce myself to you. I am only An
gelo but 1 had the bliss of being
born in Milan the musical, the di
vine. I have been in this terrifying
America long years trying to teach
the art of singing, trying to build
voices where there are none, trying to
create High C's halt as round and full
as yours. Alas, the unkind horror of
it all!" He hurried to the door, took
his handkerchief from the keyhole,
wiped the tears from his eyes, then
stuffed it into the keyhole again.
"Most exquisite of mademoiselles!"
he exclaimed, returning and pressing
the picture to his breast, "I am poor
frightfully. I am old dreadfully. I
am ugly unspeakably. But I cherish
a superb ambition! Listen, little one.
Almost one year ago I gave up teach
ing forever. I saved 'a little money
on which I planned to live one year
J one year to the day, the hour, the
minute. In this year I was to write
the great opera. The theme had haunt
ed me for a quarter of a century. It
had dogged, deafened, blinded, choked,
stifled me, demanding my life, my
soul, until I had to surrender myself
to it unreservedly. The great opera
had to be written. It had to write it
self through me. But alas where
should I find the voice? I began the
awful search. I went to operas,
musical comedies, churches and con
certs. The days, the weeks, the
months slipped by and I found it not.
1 hunted for it everywhere in the
street, in poverty's holes. In vain.
So to-night with but one week
of my year left I had given up
hope when I heard your heav
enly High C,. little one and oh, the
jburden it lifted from my soul. In this
one little week I shall write the great
j 1 1
Berry
Story Pub. Co.)
opera but you must not fail me! For
at the year's beginning I -vowed that
if at its end I had not written the
opera and found the voice, I should
die. See, here is the pistol, loaded
here, beside you on the table Hush!
your High C again?" He listened. "No,
only my imagination. Well, I kiss your
lily hand anyway ah, you have no
hand? Your cherry lips, you say? No,
no, I am not worthy. Just the
hem of your garment ah, but I see
you haven't any cn! See, as a com
promise, I kiss the name of the pho
tographer. Thrice happy man to have
posed you!"
Angelo placed Mile. Jolie upon his
little old wobbly piano, draped a
wreath of withered autumn leaves
around her, blew out the light, drew
back the window curtain, then in a
moonbeam sat down to compose. The
Muses mukt have been aiting round
about, for in a moment he was playing
softly. The inspiration fairly flowed.
Angelo was in heaven. That greatest
of joys, the, joy of artistic creation,
was his. He played a long time un
til the moon went down. Then by
the yellow lamplight he wrote down
what he had played.
For two days and a night he slept
but little and ate nothing; the divine
fire needs no replenishing! The hap
piness that the years had denied him
was his at last to measureless extent.
Like Israfel's, his heart-strings were
a lute, and the Cosmos itself was
busy playing upon him!
The second night he felt a quite
earthly faintness within him. "I am
not hungry, little one," he said to
Mademoiselle Jolie, "it is simply my
stomach."
' Early next morning there was a
knock on Angelo s door. He knew the
landlady's peremptory tap, so, shiver
ing with terror, did not answer. But
the landlady knew Angelo, too. She
threw a little card through the tran
som and then laugned mat jarring
laugh of hers.
A ticket to the vaudeville to-night,
signor," she called. "Mademoiselle Jo
lie, who is much interested in you,
wants you to hear her new song."
Angelo sat motionless. With horror-
struck eyes he gazed at the ticket on
the floor. It was red. It seemed tc
burn. It seemed .to burn into him.
Vaudeville! A ten-cent show! In
stinctively he put on his goggles and
stuffed his ears with cotton. Go?
Never!
He awoke late the next morning.
The most golden of sunbeams lay
across him, but alas! the landlady's
strident voice was calling him through
the transom.
"Signor Angelo!"
"Yes."
"Mademoiselle Jolie was terribly cut
up because you weren't at the vaude
ville last night. She leaves for a swing
around the circuit the end of the
week and wants to see you before she
goes."
All that day he worked feverishly
unremittingly. mat nignt tne. com
passionate gods pressed down his eye-j
lids and made him sleep. In the morn-j
ing he dared write a little note tot
Mademoiselle Jolie stating that hel
should do himself the honor of calling
on her that night after the theater.
More singular still, he dared tiptoe,
down the hall and slip it under her.
door. '
That evening with the ending of An-
gelo's year came the finishing of An-
gelo's opera. The wretched little
piano was glad. So was Angelo's
scratchy pen. So must have been
the overworked muses.
In the remains of his ancient dress
suit Angelo, primped, pruned and
primed, waxed, polished and perfumed.
sat waiting. He was dreadfully ex
cited. He was hot and cold by turns
But he was resolute.
As the -clock struck 11 he heard)
footsteps on the stairs. They were
rather heavy, but whose could they
be but Mademoiselle's? He waited
awhile so she might . have time to
change her frock, then with a glacier
around his heart and a mountain in
his throat he went out into the hall.
Yes, there was the light under her
door. In a daze, a maze somehow
he moved toward it, knocked, esQered
and found himself face to face with
a vision of loveliness beyond the wild
est dreams of amorous sultans.
"Say, old man, this is too good,'
laughed Mademoiselle Jolie, in her
deepest contralto. "You're daffy on
me, ain't you? Well, look here.
And she took off her golden hair, her
bosom and her hips. "Say, grandpa,
I'm just a nice, clever little half-way
decent man, that's all WiUie Wil-
kins, the greatest female impersona
tor on earth!"
No "Peaceful" Boycott There.
This significant news item relative
to the ending of the Chinese boycott
against Japanese goods was printed in
a Shanghai newspaper: "Although or
der has been restored in Hongkong,
the fear struck into the hearts of own
ers and employes of shops in Can
ton and Macao selling Japanese
goods has been such, owing to the
conduct of the secret Bociety men In
Hongkong, that in both cities the
shops in question have taken down
their sign boards. The 'Do or Die'
men have, however,, given out that
they are ready to cut off the ears of
all offenders the moment they are dis
covered trafficking in the forbidden
goods."
MEMBER OF GERMAN EMBASSY
nifyj., ; i ... II
'holograph copyright by CHnedlnst, Washington, D. C.
Count von Wedel, newly appointed
at Washington, who recently arrived in this country. He succeeds Count
Hatzfeldt, who has been promoted to the post of minister to Cairo, Egypt.
KEEPS RIVAL IN JAIL
BUT IT COSTS BELLEVILLE, ILL.,
MERCHANT $1.50 A DAY.
Competitor Happy in Cell Takes
Plenty of Tobacco Along and Is
Willing to See Other Man
Pay Costs.
Belleville, 111. The board and lodg
ing of Harry Joseph, a prisoner for
debt in the Belleville jail, is being
paid for at the rate of $1.50 a day by
Harry Rosenberg, whj had put him
liiere.
They are rival clothing merchants
at Lebanon, 111. Rosenberg sued Jo
seph for $2,000, alleging that Joseph
slandered him and said things about
him which injured his credit as a mer
chant. Before the case went to trial there
was an agreement by which Rosenberg
accepted a judgment of $50 against
Joseph. But he didn't get the money.
Joseph refused to i,ay, alleging that
he did not have any property above
the valua of $400, which was exempt
from judgment under, the law.
To make matters worse for Rosen
berg the court decided that as Joseph
had no seizable assets the costs in the
case, amounting to $28.30, would have
to be paid by the plaintiff.
So, instead of being $50 ahead as a
result of the litigation, Rosenberg was
aut money.
"Isn't there any wa? I can get even
with him?" he asked his lawyer.
"Yes, you might use a capias ad
satisfaciendum on him."
"Is that a single-barreled or a
double-barreled weapon?"
j "Single, I think. I'll look it up," said
the lawyer.
Rosenberg told him to go ahead. Too
pate he learned that the weapon was
:double-barreled.
' Under the authority of an old statute
the capias was served on Joseph. This
iprovides that in a case where a debt
is contracted through a violation of
jthe law the person to whom the money
is owed can have the debtor impris
oned for a term not to exceed one
year. But be must pay the debtor's
board to the state.
Joseph was taken to the Belleville
jail and locked up. He kissed his wife
and baby toy good-by and took with
Ihim a plentiful supply of smoking to
bacco, books and magazines.
. As he was being taken into the jail
he said:
' "All right. I'll stay here as long
as Rosenberg pays the bill. Business
'is bad anyway, ojid 1 might as well
Joaf in jail." "
. Joseph'? imprisonment has pre
sented a utrange legaj tangle to mem-
jbers of the Belleville bar. It is the
first time tbe statute has ever been
jenforced in St. Claire county and law
yers are talking of nothing else,
j Joseph himself is not asking for
egal advice. "I'll stick and make Ro
senberg spend his money on me," he
rays. "
' "What could I do?" said Rosenberg
to a reporter. "He wouldn't pay me.
i "Yes, I've got to spend money for
liis board. But when I get mad I don't
care for money.
"He talks bad about me. I sue him.
:We compromise. He owes me $50
and he hangs the costs on me, too.
Vouldn't that make anybody mad.
"I can't get my money, i put him
in jail. Yes, I pay his board. That's
the only way I can keep him in jail."
"Well, he's got me, all right," said
Joseph smiling. "Jail isn't such a nice
place, but I can stand it. I wasn't in
business for myself. I opened a store
'in Lebanon for Harry Shapiro of St.
Louis. That made Rosenberg . maVl.
He didn't want competition in the
clothing business.
"I got mad, too, and I Laid some
1
counselor of the German embassy
thing about him and he had me ar
rested. Maybe it was slander. I don't
know.
"We settled for a $50 judgment.
When I told him I could not make
good he offered to take $20. But I
wouldn't give him one cent.
"I don't know how long I'll have
to stay in jail maybe six months. AH
right. I'll stick till Rosenberg gets
tired of paying my board. I've got it
fixed so my wife and children will be
cared for." '
PUBLIC PRINTING COST GREAT.
Bill
fer Year 1905 Over $7,000,000,
According to Report.
Washington. Constant growth of
cost of public printing has increased
this item of public expense from $200,
000 in 1840 to more thann $7,000,000 in
1905, according to the report of the
printing investigation commission,
created four years ago, which recently
submitted to congress a report cover
ing its extensive inquiry. The com
mission consists of the two commit
tees on printing of the two houses of
congress, and Senator Piatt is its
chairman.
The report states that under recent
legislation 279,598,837 printed pages,
including such expensive publications
as the Congressional Record, the pub
lications of the geological survey and
the year book of the department of
agriculture, were eliminated from the
surplus printing which had formerly
been piling up in warehouses to be
finally condemned and sold as waste.
This printing was an undistributed
surplus, these copies being equivalent
to 559,197 volumes of 500 pages each
for the year 1907. These publication;:
had been piling up until there were
more than 9,500 tons in storage,
enough to fill an ordinary railroad
train more than three miles long.
Rent for that portion of these publi
cations stored outside of government
buildings was more 1 than $13,500 a
year.
Is Oldest Funeral Goer
Pennsylvania Woman, Now 81, Has
Attended 4,007 Obsequies.
Pottstown, Pa. A peculiar fascina
tion to attend funerals, that seemed to
have . charmed her when yet a lfttle
girl, and which she has been unable
to resist in her long life of more than
81 years, has given Mrs. Rebecca Went
zel a reputation far and wide as a
mourner for everybody's dead. "Laugh,
and the world laughs with you; weep,
and you weep alone," does not apply to
her, as her record -of attending 4,007
funerals attests.
In her-carefully kept diary she has
noted that of these funerals there were
17 double ones of children, 11 where
husband and wife were buried togeth
er, and seven where three persons of
one family were interred at the same
time. In one of the latter cases a
mother and two of her children were
laid in one grave.
In talking of one of the triple fu
nerals, Mrs. Wentzel recalled a cloud
burst many years ago that resulted in
the drowning of three members of
one family at Mauger's Mill, near this
town. Mrs. Joseph Went'zel, daughter
of Jacob Mauger, the proprietor of the
mill, had gone from her home here
with her fi e children to help pull flax
at the old homestead. A cloudburst
about eventide had swollen the mill
race, but Mrs. Wentzel's brother,
Henry Mauger, felt confident he could
drive her and her children across in
safety, so they could reach home; but
the waters engulfed the rig, and three
of the children and the horse were
UNEARTH AN OLD LEDGER.
Order for Sword from Gen. WinflelfJ
Scott Found in Records.
Chicopee, Mass. An ld ledger 'dat
ing back to 1836 has been unearthed in
the attic of the Ames Sword Company,
and is a striking commentary of early
times. - From a glance' through the
pages of the ledger one would think
the whole country was being armed for
war. The early struggles of Texas as
an independent state can be traced bit
by bit by orders recorded in the book.
One of the most famous swords
turned out by the firm was one de
signed for Gen. Winfteld Scott; The
order was sent by the Mexican war
hero December 11, 1843. The sword
was of the very finest steel and was
heavily finished with gold mountings.
The famous old Washington Light
infantry of Charleston, S. C, presented
on of Its captains, Henry Ravenel,
with one of the Ames swords Febru
ary 22, 1837. Capt. James Armstrong,
one of the family of famous American
sea fighters, purchased a navy sword
September 1, 1837, while two years
later the citizens of St. Augustine pre
sented Lieut. W. R. Hanson, U. S. A., with
a sword costing $150.
Orders for swords from foreign
countries are noted in the ledger and
large quantities of ordinary swords
were sent to Texas and Mexico. Sev
eral noted bells are also included in
the list of orders. . The ledger covers
a period of eight years.
HIS STOMACH A JUNK SHOP.
Human Ostrich Swallows Many Indl
gestible Things.
Ottawa, Ont. As showing the extent
to which the human stomach can be
made the receptacle of articles not of
the ordinary food list, Dr. Burgess,
medical superintendent of the Protes
tant Hospital for the Insane, Montreal,
reports a remarkable case that recent
ly came under his care. The patient,
who had been an inmate for nine
years, was so secretive about his ab
normal taste that it was entirely un
suspected by his attendants. The ar
ticles taken from his stomach were:
Three bundles of broom fiber, one
piece of whalebone, eight inches long;
one piece of insulating tape, seven
inches long; one bundle of hair, one
four-inch nail and a piece of wire,
bound with string; one three-inch
nail with a piece of cloth attached, one
piece of wire, four inches long; one
button hook, six pieces of tobacco pipe
stem, 21 tobacco tags, 39 small pieces
of wire, four screws, one paper fasten
er, one boot-eye, two pium stones, one
piece of twisted picture wire, nine
pieces of glass, nine pieces of iron,
one steel spring, one iron nut, one
piece of stone half an inch square, an
other piece an inch long, half an inch
wide and half an inch thick; 27 pins,
five one-inch nails, 52 two-inch nails,
seven 2-inch nails, 32 three-inch
nails, one five-inch nail, one horse
shoe nail, four tacks and four hairpins,
"COFFEE HABIT" GRIPS AMERICA,
United States Leads World in Im
portation of That Commodity.
Washington. In the consumption of
coffee and cacao the United States
leads the world, while it holds third
rank among the nations in her im
ports of tea. The imports amount to
more than one-third of the coffee, near
ly one-fourth of the cacao and about
one-seventh of the tea entering the
world's markets.
The "coffee habit" has evidently
grown upon the people of the United
States, the per capita consumption of
this article in 1878 being 6.24 pounds,
while in 1888 it was 6.81 pounds. In
1898 it had increased to 11.68 pounds,
and in 1908 it was 10.04 pounds, ac
cording to figures of the bureau of sta
tistics of the department of commerce
and labor.- During the same period the
annual per capita consumption of tea
decreased from 1.33 to 1.07 pounds. In
cacao the importations in 1908 were
more than three times as large as in
1898.
drowned. After a thrilling struggle
the lives of the other two children,
their mother and the driver were
saved. ,
Despite her advanced years and
increasing decrepitude, Mrs. Wentzel
is still a familiar figure at funerals
hereabouts and says that as long as
she is able she expects to hear the
preacher's solemn "Earth to earth.1
STORK BEATS GRIM REAPER,
French Race Suicide Scare Is Finally
Ended.
Paris. Has the French birth rate
taken a turn upward at last? For the
first time for very many years the
last statistics show a considerable in
crease.
These cover the first six months
of 1908, as half-yearly returns are now
made. Compared with ,the first half
of 1907 the corresponding period of
last year denotes a remarkable im
provement. In the first six months of
1907 the death rate showed an ex
cess of 55,007 over the birth rate.
If that proportion continued the
French people must necessarily die
out. But the corresponding period of
1908 has turned the tables. In those
six months births exceeded deaths by
11,066. The difference is due not only
to the fact that the death rate was
lowered from 457,000 to 390,000, but
also to a net increase of births, which
rose from 402,000 to 411,000. , Sociolo
gists who have long raised the alarm
of depopulation rejoice, and cry that
the tids has turned at last. -
HER
PHYSICIAN
ADVISED
Taking Lydia E. Pinkham's
Vegetable Compound .
Columbus. Ohio. "I have taken
Lydia E. Pinkham'n Vegetable Com-
pounu uuriug
change of life. My
doctor told me it
was good, and since
taking it I feel so
much better that 1
can do all my work
again. I think
Lycua is. iinKcam s
Vegetable Com
pound a fine remedy
for all woman's
troubles, and 1
never f orjret to tell
my friends what it has done for me."
Mrs. E. Hanson, 304 East Long St.,
Columbus, Ohio.
Another woman Helped.
Graniteville. "Vt. "I was passing
through the Change of Life and suffered
from nervousness and other annoying
symptoms. Lydia E. Pinkham's vege-
tame uompouna restored my neaunana
strength, and proved worth mountains
of gold to me. For the sake of other
suffering women I am willing you
should publish my letter." Mrs.
Charles Barclay, B.F.D., Granite
ville, Vt.
Women who are passing through this
critical period or who are suffering
from any of those distressing ills pe
culiar to their sex should not lose sight
of the fact that for thirty years Lydia
E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound,
which is made from roots and herbs,
has been the standard remedy for
female ills, in almost every commu
nity you will find women who have
been restored to health by Lydia E.
Pinkham's Vegetable Compound.
Bad Breath.
A well-known physician, who
undoubtedly knows, declares that
bad breath has broken off more
matches than bad temper.
There are ardent
lovers who must
sometimes wish
their sweethearts
presented sweeter
mouths to be kissed.
Good teeth cannot
prevent bad breath
when the stomach is
disordered.
The best cure for
bad breath is a,
cleansing' out of the
body by use of
Lane's Family
. Medicine
.' (called also Lane's Tea)
the tonic laxative. N
This is a herb medicine, sold in
25c. and 50c packages by drug
gists. It saves doctor bills.
It cures headache, backache, in--digestion,
constipation and skin
diseases. 25c. at druggists.
RHEUMATISM
I want every chronic rheumatic to throw
away all medicines, all liniments, all
plasters, and give MCNYON'S RHEUMA
TISM REMEDY a trial. No matter what
your doctor may say, no matter what
your friends may say, no matter how
prejudiced JOU may be against all adver
tised remedies, go at once to your drng-
flat and get aTottle of tne RHEDMA
ISM REMEDY. If It f alia to give satis
faction,! will refund yoar money. Manyon
Remember this remedy contains no sal
icylic acid, no opium cocaine, morphine or
otuer barmrui drags, it is put up unaer
the guarantee of the Pore F9?4 SbA.??
For sale by an druggists. ' trice. 25c.'""
SICK HEADACHE
Positively cured by
these Little Pills.
CARTERS
They also relieve Dis
tress from Dyspepsia, In
digestion and Too Hearty
Eating. , A perfect rem
edy for Dizziness, Nau
sea, Drowsiness, Bad
Taste in the Mouth, Coat
ed Tongue, Pain In the
Side, TORPID LIVER.
ITTLE
IVER
PILLS.
They regulate the Bowels. Purely Vegetable.
SMALL PILL. SMALL DOSE. SMALL PRICE.
Genuine Must Bear
Fac-Simi'e Signature
CARTERS
tjittle
If IVER
1 1 PILLS.
aCaaLaaBiml
REFUSE SUBSTITUTES.
nrriAlirr CTARPII easiest to work with and
ULMftnbt 9 1 HIH.I1 .tarcbea clothe. nlcut-
Stop Coughing!
Nothing break, down tba healduo
quickly and positively aaapersistent
cough, if yon have a coush aire
It attention now. Yon on leliem
it quickly with PISO'S CURE.
Famous for half a century a. the
reliable remedy for caught, cold,
hoarseness, brachial, asthma and
kindred ailments. Fine for children.
At all druggists', 2S cts.
- iJl )
3f f