The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, March 27, 1907, Image 3

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THE DELUGE
JIMVIDGSAHAM
J faam2K3ffi"J9ar9m
CHAPTER XXIX. Continued.
The first news I got was that Bill
"Van Nest had disappeared. As soon
as the Stick Exchange opened, Na
tional Coal became the feature. But.
instead of "wash sales." Roebuck,
Iangdon and Melville were them
selves, through vryious brokers, buy
ing the stocks in 'iarge quantities to
keep the prices up. My next letter
was as brief ad my first philippic:
"Kill Van Nest is at the Hotel
Frankfort. Newarx, under the name of
Thomas Lowry. He was in telephonic
communication with President Mel
ville, of the National Industrial bank,
twice yesterday.
"The underwriters of the National
Coal company's new issues, frijht
ned by yesterday's exposure, have
compelled Mr. Roebuck. Mr. Mow
bray Langdon and Mr. Melville them
selves to buy. So, yesterday, those
three gentlemen bought with real
money, with their own money, large
quantities of stocks which are worth
less than half what they paid for
them.
"They will continue to buy these
stocks so long as the public holds
aloof. They dare not let the prices
slump. They hope that this storm
will blow oier, and that then the in
vesting public will forget and will
relieve then, of their load."
I had added: "But this storm won't
blow over. It will become a cyclone."
I struck that out. "No prophecy,"
said I to myself. "Your rule, iron
clad, must be facts, always facts;
only facts."'
The gambling section of the public
took my hint and rushed into the
market; the burden of protecting the
underwriters was doubled, and more
and more of the hoarded loot was
disgorged. That must have been a
costly day for, 10 minutes after the
Stock Exchange closed. Roebuck sent
. for me.
"My compliments to him," said I to
his messenger, "but I am too bus'.
I'll be g'.ad to see him here, however.
"You know he dares not come to
you." said the messenger. Schilling,
president of the National Manufac
tured Pood company, sometimes called
the Poison Trust "If he did. and it
were to get out, there'd be a panic."
"Probably." replied I with a shrug.
"That's no affair of mine. I'm not re
sponsible for the rotten conditions
which these so-called financiers have
"produced, andj shall not be disturbed
by the crash which must come."
Schilling gave me a genuine look of
mingled pity and admiration. "I fud
pose you know what you're about."
said he, "but I think you're- making
a mistake."
"Thanks, Ned," said I he had been
my head clerk a few years before,
and I had got him the chance with
Roebuck which he had improved so
well. "I'm going to have some fun.
Can't live but once."
My "daily letters" had now ceased
to be advertisements, had become
news, sought by all the newspapers
of this country and of the big cities in
Great Britain. I could have made a
large saving by no longer paying my
sixty-odd regular papers for inserting
them. But I was looking too far
ahead to blunder into that fatal mis
take. Instead. I signed a year's con
tract with each of my papers, they
guaranteeing to print my advertise
ments, I guaranteeing to protect them
against loss on libel suits. I organ-
ized a dummy news bureau, and
through it got contracts with the tele
graphic companies. Thus insured
against the cutting of my communica
tions with the public, I was ready for
he real campaign.
It began with my "History or the
"ational Coal company." I need not
peai that famous history here. 1
ed recall only the main points how
proved that the common stock was
-tually worth, less than two dollars a
hare, that the bonds were worth less
"nan twenty-five dollars in the hun
dred, that both stock and bonds were
illegal; my detailed recital vof the
crimes of Roebuck, Melville and Lang
don in wrecking mining properties, in
wrecking coal railways, in ejecting
American labor and substituting
helots from eastern Europe; how they!
. had swindled and lied and bribed;
how they had twisted the books of
the companies, how they were plan
ning to unload the mass of almost
worthless securities at high prices.1
then to get from under the market'
and let the bonds and stocks drop
down to where they could buy them in
on terms that would yield them more
than 230 per cent on the actual capi
tal invested. Less and dearer coal;!
lower wages and more ignorant labor'
ers; enormous profits absorbed with
out mercy into a few pockets. ,
' On the day the seventh chapter of
this history appeared, the telegraph
companies notified me that they would
transmit no more of my matter. They
feared the consequences in libel suits,
explained Moseby, general manager of
one of the companies.
"But I guarantee to protect you,
said I. "I will give bond in any
amount you ask."
"We can't take the risk. Mr. Black
lock." replied he. The twinkle in his
eye told me why. and also that he,
like every one else in the country ex
cept the clique, was in sympathy with,
me.
"My lawyers fovad an honest judge,
ad I got an iajaactioa that compelled
the companies to transmit under my
contracts. I suspended the "History'
for oae day, and sent oat in place of
it aa account af this attempt to shut
me of from the public. "Hereafter."
said L la the test paragraph in "my
letter. 1 shall end each day's chapter
with a forecast of what the next day's
oorsztinz?
chapter is to be. ir ror any reason it
fails to appear, the public will know
that somebody has been coerced by
Roebuck, Melville & Co."
XXX.
ANITA'S SECRET.
That afternoon or, was it the next?
I happened to go home early. I
have never been able to keep- alive
anger against any one. My anger
against Anita had long ago died away,
had been succeeded by regret and
remorse that I had let my nerves, or
whatever the accursed cause was,
whirl me into such an outburst. Not
that I regretted having; rejected
what I still felt was insulting to me
and degrading to her; simply that my
manner should have been different.
There was no necessity or excuse for
violence ia showing her that I would
not, could not. accept from gratitude
what only love has the right to give.
And I had long been casting about for
some way to apologize not easy to
do, when her distant manner toward
me made it difficult for me to find
even the necessary commonolaces to
"keep up appearances" before the
servants on the few occasions on
which we accidentally met.
But, as I was saying. I came up
from the office and stretched myself
oa the lounge in my private room ad
joining the library. I had read myself
into a doze, when a servant brought
me a card. I glanced at it as it lay
upon his extended tray. "General
"'FOOL!' SHE FLARED AT ME..
OFM
.Monson," I read aloud. "What does
the damned rascal want?" I asked.
The servant smiled. He knew as
well as I how Monson. after I dis
missed him with a present of six
months pay. had given the news
papers the story-or. rather, his ver
sion of the story of my efforts to
educate myself in the "arts and graces
of a gentleman."
"Mr. Monson says he wishes to see
you particularly, sir," said he.
"Well HI see him," said I. I de
spised him too much to dislike him.
and I thought he might possibly be in
want But that notion vanished the
instant I set-eyes upon him. He was
obviously at the very top of the wave.
"Hello. Monson." was my greeting, in
It ao reminder of his treachery.
"Howdy. Blacklock," said he. "I've
come on a little errand for Mrs. Lang
don." Then, with that nasty grin of
his: "You know. I'm looking after
things for her since the bust-up."
"No. I didn't know." said I curtly,
suppressing my instant curiosity.
"What does Mrs. Langdon want?"
'To see you for just a few minutes
" whenever it is convenient"
"If Mrs. Langdon has business with
me. I'll see her at my office," said I.
She was one of the fashionables that
had got herself into my black books
by her treatment of Anita since the
break with the Ellerslys.
"She wishes to come to you here
this afternoon, if you are to he at
home. She asked me to say that her
business is important and very pri
vate." I hesitated, bat I could think -of ao
good excuse for refusing. "111 be
here aa hour." said I. "Good day."
He gave me no time to change my
mind. Something perhaps it was
his curious expression as he took him
self oa made me begin to regret
The more I thought of the 'matter,
the less I thought of my having made
any civil concession to a woman who
yZwTI' BgH'Wtf ; Mlll. QgHgaglgBBigaHgagHglPiffVVf I 1 1'
- 1 v "' jkf
'had acted so hadly toward Anita aa.
myself. He had mot heea gone a
quarter of an hour before I west to
Anita la her sitting room. Always,
the instant I entered the outer doer
of her part of our'houee, that power
ful, intoxicating fascination that she
had for me begaa to take possession
of my senses. It was in every gar
meat she wo.-e. It seemed to Hager
In any place where she had ben, for
a long time after she left it She
was at a small desk by the window,
was writing letters.
"May 1 Interrupt?" said I. "Moasoa
was" here a few minutes ago from
Mrs. Langdon. She wants to see me.
I told him I would see her here. Then
it occurred to me that perhaps I had
been too good-natured. What do you
think?"
I could not see her face, but only
.the back of her head, aad the loose'
coils of magnetic 'hair and the white
nape of her graceful neck. As I be
gan to speak, she stopped writing,' her
pen suspended over the sheet of
paper. After I ended there was a
long silence.
"I'll not see her." said I. "I don't
quite understand why I yielded." And
I turned to go.
"Wait please," came from her ab
ruptly. Another long silence. Then I: "If
she comes here, I think the only per
son who can properly receive her is
you."
"No you must see her." said Anita
at last And she turned round in her
chair until, she was facing me. Her
expression I can not describe it I
can only say that it gave me a sense
of impending calamity.'
"I'd rather not much rather not,"
said I.
"I particularly wish you to see her."
she replied, and she turned back to
her writing. I saw her pen poised as
if she were about to .begin; but she
did not begin and I felt that she
would not With my mind shadowed
with vague dread. I left that mysteri
ous stillness, and went back to the
library.
It was .not long before Mrs. Lang
don was announced. There are some
women to whom a haggard look Is be
coming; she is one of them. She was
much thinner than when I last saw
OH; -THE FOOLS WOMEN MAKE
EN,"
her; instead of her former restless,
petulant suspicious expression, she
now'looked tragically sad. "May 1
trouble you to close the door?" said
she. when the servant had withdrawn.
I closed the door.
"I've come." she began, wltnout
seating herself, "to make you as un
happy. I fear, as I am. I've hesitated
long before coming. But I am desper
ate. The one hope I have left is that
you and 1 between us may be able
to to that you and I may be able to
help each other."
I waited.
"I suppose there are people," she
went on, "who have never known what
it was to really to care for some one
Necklace From Thames
Lost .for Year, Recovered by Work
man Who Didn't Know Its Value.
4
A valuable fjfcarl necklace lost In the
Thames over a year ago by a lady
of title has Just been recovered by
Its owner, says the London Tribune.
Some months ago a Henley-on-Thames
workman walking by the side
of the river, near Shiplake Ferry, saw
something glistening in the water,
and getting' the object out he found
that it was a pearl necklace. Think
ing the gems, however, were oaly im
itation, he casually carried the
necklace home ia his pocket and gave
It to his wife.
. She occasionally wore It but never
dreamed of its real value until some
little time ago. whea she broke the
clasp aad took it to a local jeweler
to be repaired. The jeweler at once
saw that the pearls were valuable,
and. not satisfied with the woaiaa's
story, he seat for the police. . The
pearls were handed over to the cos-
They would despise me far
cllngiag to a man after he has
me that that his love.has-
"Pardon me. Mrs. Langeoa." I in
terrupted."" "You apparently thiak
yor husband l-aaa 1 are ' intimate
friends. Before yea go any farther,
I must disabuse yoa of that Men,"
She looked at me ia opea astonish-
ment "Yob do not kaowwhy my
husband has left me?"
"Until a few minutes ago. I did not
know that he had left you," I said.
"And I do not wish to know why."
Her expression of astonishmeat
changed to mockery. "Oh!" she
sneered. "Your wife has fooled yoa
iato thinking it a one-sided affair.
Well. I tell you. she is as much to
blame as he more. For he did love,
me whea he married me; did love me
until she got him ander her spell
again."
" I thought I understood. "Yoa have
been misled, Mrs. Langdon," said I
gently, pitying her as the victim of
her Insane jealousy. "You have "
"Ask your wife," she interrupted
angrily. "Hereafter, you can't pre
tend ignorance. For I'll at least be
revenged. She failed utterly to trap
him into marriage when she was a
poor girl, and "
"Before you go any further," said
I coldly, "let me set you right My
wife was at one time engaged to your
husband's brother, but "
"Tom?" she interrupted. And her
laugh made me bite my lip. "So she
told you that! I don't see how she
dared. Why. everybody knows that
she and Mowbray were engaged, and
that he broke it off to marry me."
All ia aa instant everything that
had been confused in my affairs at
home aad down town became clear.
I understood why I had been pursued
relentlessly in Wall street; why I had
been unable, to make the least im
pression on the barriers between
Anita and myself. You will imagine
that some terrible emotion at once
dominated me. But this is not a
romance; only the veracious chroni
cle of certain husman beings. My
first emotion was relief that it was
not Tom Langdon. "I ought to have
known she couldn't care for him."
said I to myself. I. contending with
Tom Langdon for a woman's love had
always made me shrink. But Mow
bray that was vastly different My
respect for myself and for Anita rose.
"No." said I to Mrs. Langdon, "my
wife did not tell me, never spoke of it
What I said to you was purely a guess
of my own. I had no interest in the
matter and haven't I have absolute
confidence in my wife. I feel ashamed
that you have provoked me into say
ing so." I opened the door.
"I am not going yet," said she an
grily. "Yesterday morning Mowbray
and she were riding together in the
Riverside drive. Ask her groom."
"What of it?" said I. Then, as she
did not rise, I rang the bell. When
the servant came, I said: "Please
tell Mrs. Blacklock that Mrs. Langdon
is in the library and that I am here,
and gave you the message."
As soon as the servant was gone
she said: "No doubt she'll lie to you.
These women that steal other wom
en's property are usually clever at
fooling their own silly husbands."
"I do not intend to ask her," I re
plied. "To ask her would be an in
sult She made no comment beyond a
scornful toss of the head. We both
had our gaze fixed upon the door
through which Anita would enter.
When she finally did appear. I. after
one glance at her, turned it must
have been triumphantly upon her
accuser. I had not doubted, but
where is the faith that is not the
stronger for confirmation? And con
firmation there was in the very at
mosphere round that stately, still
figure. She looked calmly, first at
Mrs. Langdon. then at me.
- "I sent for you," said I. "because I
thought that you, rathe than I. should
request Mrs. Langdon to, leave your
house."
At that Mrs. Langdon was on ner
feet and blazing. "Fool!" she flared
at me. "Oh. the fools women make of
men!" Then to Anita: "You you
But no, I must not permit you
to drag me down to your level. Tell
your husband tell him that you were
riding with my husband in the River
side drive yesterday.
I stepped between her and Anita.
"My wife will not answer you." said
I. "I hope. Madam, you will spare
us the necessity of a painful scene
But leave you must at once."
She looked wildly round, clasped
her hands, suddenly bust into tears'
If she had but known, she could have
had her own way after that without
any attempt from me to oppose her
For she was evidently unutterably
wretched and no one knew better
than I the sufferings of unreturned
love. But she had given me up;
slowly, sobbing, she left the room I
opening the door for her and dosing'
It behind her.
"I almost broke down myself." said
I to Anita. "Poor woman! How can
you be-so calm? You women in youi
relations with each other are a mys
tery."
(To be Continued.)
tody of the police, and in due course
were' advertised by them as found.
A few days ago the necklace was
identified and claimed by a lady well
known in fashionable circles, who
had dropped it into the river while
staying at a Thamesside mansion near
Henley.
The pearls are valued at 49 or
50, and the man who found them
has received a check for five pounds
sterling.
Thoughts Were Elsewhere.
Chancellor James R. Day, of Syra
cuse university, in a discussion of the
craze for athletics that sometimes be
comes too rampant in the univer
sities of America, said with a smile:
"Why, I know a young clergyman
he had been aa excellent first base
man at college in his time who, after
reading a portion of the scriptures,
said solemnly as he closed the Bible
one Sunday morning in the hasrhall
"'Here eadeth the second inning.' j
ENGLISH METHOD IS GOOD.
Hew Wallpaper Is Cleaned -A
the Water."
Aa English method of cleaning wall
paper is oae well worth knowing, for
it is simple and better than any dust
ing. Make a paste by mixing four
pounds of1 common wheat tour and
two pints of cold water; knead this
iato a stiff dough and form into two
or three balls. Wipe the" paper all
over with it aad as the dough be
comes dirty work the soiled parts iatc
the middle aad the clean parts out
side. This quantity will be sufficient
to clean a very large room. Begin
at the top of the paper and work down
ward till all is freshened. -
It takes -up the dirt Jike a charm
and will not injure the most delicate
color. Only the quantity required for
one "cleaning should be made, for the
outside will harden If allowed to stand
and this crust worked into the mas?
would scratch the paper.
Flatirons that are put away for a
few weeks often get rusty, and the'
best way to prevent this is to rub a
little wars grease over the surface
and then wrap in brown paper. When
taken out dip into hot water that has
had a small piece of soda dissolved in
it. rub dry. and then put them to heat
in the usual way. When they are
ready to be used on the ironing board
have a piece of brown paper with a
little powdered brick oa it. and rub
the surface of your iron with this. It
seems rather a lengthy process, but it
really does not take long to do, and
housewives will be rewarded for the
trouble they have taken by finding the
irons delightfully smooth and easy to
use, and when they are like this the
work can be done twice as quickly.
CARE OF CUT GLASS.
Sensitiveness Makes Precaution a
Matter of Necessity.
Owing to the deepness of the
grooves made in cut glass, is is very
.sensitive to changes of temperature.
Never hold a cut glass bowl that has
contained cold salad or dessert under
the warm water faucet to rinse. Do
no even take a piece of good cut glas9
from a hot room into a cold one sud
denly. Always temper -a cut glass
dish before filling it.
if it is to contain Ice cream, have
it previously filled with cold water,
then cold water with ice, and do the
same tempering in the opposite direc
tion, when it is to contain hot things
Be careful that chunks of ice in a
punch bowl do not hit the sides of
the bowl too hard. In cleaning cut
glass wash with mild soap and saw
dust, brushing the crevices with a
brush procured for that purpose.
Never Dress in a Hurry.
Never let it be your boast that you
can dress in five minutes, says a
writer. No woman who has any re
spect for her appearance or .her
clothes will attempt to dress in even
double that time. It is as true in
dressing as in anything else that
where there is the more haste there
is the less speed. It is particularly
trying, for a woman to dres3 in a
hurry.' She gets flurried and in her
.attempt to fasten her brooch the pin
sticks into her finger. She gets cross
over this and then everything goes
wrong. Buttons come off shoes n
laces break, gloves and veil are not
to be found until boxes and drawer?
have been turned upside down, and
then the missing articles have been
found on the dressing table. When
she does at last get ready she is con
scious of appearing at her worst be
ing hot and angry with herself anc
everybody else.
In the House.
Wall space is often added to a room
by swinging the door to open intc
the hall instead of having it open back
into the room. When the hallway It
wide enough to admit of this plan it
will be found to work satisfactorily
In crowded quarters doors are a neces
sary evil, and the perplexed furnisher
sometimes wishes that they could be
slid back into the wall, as is often
done with double doors. As time goes
on, if houses keep on growing smaller,
some such plan will probably be adopt
ed, iut at present no 'such general re
lief is available. It has come to be
quite a custom to hang a portiere at
the bedroom door so as to insure suf
ficient privacy without .having the
door shut The portiere is raher ao
addition to the room than otherwise;
and is easier to handle than a screen.
Home-Made Ointment
An excellent remedy for eczema and
other skin diseases may be made by
working flower of sulphur into vase
line. This ointment may be easily
manufactured at home by turning a
plate bottom side up and putting up
on it about half a spoonful of vaseline
and then adding the sulphur, a little
at a time, and working It into the
vaseline with a broad-bladed knife, un
til of the right consistency. It will
have the appearance of a bright yel
low salve when the molding process is
completed. It may be kept in one of
those ordinary small glass boxes with
metal tops to be found in every house
told, and will keep indefinitely.
t. t
J Date read. ' '
Make a sponge with one quart of
lukewarm water, half a yeast cake,
one teaspoon salt, one and' one-half
pints flour. Set it to rise in a warm
place. When quite light and spongy
add one-half cup each of sugar and
molasses and sufficient flour to knead.
Work in. two heaping cupfuls of
coarsely chopped dates, knead and apt
to rise again. When light mold into
loaves, and when well risen bake
for three-quarters of an hour in a
good oven.
To Relieve 'Rheumatism.
Take half an ounce of pulverized
saltpeter and mix with half a pint
of olive oil. Bathe the affected parts
and cover with warm flannel. Anoth
er remedy is to heat a flat iron ami
Bver with a flannel which has been
moistened with vinegar. Place as
aear as possible to affected part- Rck
peat two or three times a 'day.
Jumper Waist in Faver. j
Tneeimie "jumper waist is to be
duplicated in linen next summer aad
girls who do fancy work are busily
embroidering for themselve? dainty
examples of this mode.
SEE WHAT YOU BUT
DO NOT TAKE THE CATALOGUE
" STATEMENT FOR IT.
CASE OF A UAMMDUL WXGi
"he Purchaser Was Ashamed ts Use
It and SeM It e Hie Hired
Man It Pays te aUiy
at Heme
Copyright by Alfred C. Clark.)
The East End of London is aa ex
ample of what the city does for hu
maaity ia creating poverty. Bjdsery,
disease.' druakeaaess and crimed Jef
ferson was right whea he said: "Great
cities are great sores upon the )ody
politic." Is it any wonder that. levers
of their kiadare horror-strickea at
the grinding 'of these gigantic mills
whose grist is the bodies and souls of
men?
But there is another movement con
nected with this current setting city
ward "which, like it, is full of grave
menace to the welfare of humanity.
This is the dry rot now invading thou
sands of villages and towns. It is not
lack of capital or business energy in
the towns, or discrimination in
freights or exhaustion of the soil in
the surrounding country that is bring
ing about this change, but a new and
dangerous form of competition; and
the caprices of those who buy. Go
Iato these towas aad you will find
them at a standstill or going back
ward. Inquire of their business men
or commercial travelers aad you will
learn that busiaess is aot as good as
formerly aad- that the prospect is for
a continued shrinkage ia trade. An
observant commercial traveler said
to the writer: "I believe the day of
the village aad town is over. The big
fish are everywhere eating up the lit
tle fish. A few small lines of business
that cannot be done by mail, such as
'W
"X aVHIBIgDHilBHgfljkk JgBagaftHgamgPgmaBBu
''
The mail-order habit will cut the limb of local prosperity front the tree
ef national life and drop you and your community into the bettemless pit
of business stagnation. Are you wielding the saw that insane certain dis
aster to you and your community?
barbering. blacksmithiag or the serv
ing of soft drinks and ice cream may
survive, but such lines of trade can
not sustain a decent town." The
cause of this widespread loss of busi
ness is the aggressive and destructive
competition of the catalogue houses
in the big cities. It has been possible
for 40 years or more to buy of some
houses in the cities, if oue felt that
the merchants of his town were ex
acting too much profit, but this effort
of the mail order houses to cut the
retailer altogether is a new thing, the
growth of the past few years. Start
ing with a few lines of trade, this
form of competition has come to cover
almost everything that can be sold in
a couatry town and it is even asserted
that a savings bank department is to
be added by one of the catalogue
houses.
The claim that the mail order
houses of Chicago are doing an an
nual business of over $200,000,000 may
seem large, but one house alone has
sold goods to the amount of $29,0f0,
900 in the past six months and is now
incubating a new plan to increase its
enormous business by selling shares
of stock to thousands of people in the
hope of making them regular cus
tomers. The skillfully worded advertisement
and the big catalogue, with its pic
tures of articles In a hundred lines of
trade, are very alluring to buyers,
most of whom are not familiar with
prices and qualities. Some of the
articles below the usual prices are of
an inferior quality, while the average
price, is usually fully up to what would
be paid to the home dealer. As was
shown last winter in a speech in con
gress, articles for the mail order trade
are often misbranded at the request
of the mail order people with delib
erate Intent to deceive. One of the
instances given by this congressman
was of some thousands- of finger rings
stamped "fourteen carats" when they
were in reality only ten.
The buyer who orders from his
catalogue, or from an advertisement,
does not see the articles till they
come and is often disappointed in the
quality of the most of them, but there
Is no redress as there would be if be
bought at home. He does not like to
own that he is disappointed, so he
makes the best of it and tries to per
suade himself that he has saved
money. In many instances he is not
well enough informed in values to
know that he could have bought as
cheaply and selected much more sat
isfactorily at home. On a rural route
with which I am familiar and over
which most of the incoming letters
are from mail order houses and the
outgetag bacs carry back money or
ders, lives a friend of mine who
bought a watch from the catalogue at
what he considered a rare bargain.
The watch came, to be sure, but it did
not go, that is at the right speed,
aad. although money enough was
spent oa it to bring the price up to
a good figure, it was no better as a
timekeeper thaa that
of Cast. Cattle's.
bought a buggy at S24 aad '
over his purchase until it
elated
he saw that the top was very
ary article of oil cloth, hwtead ef
leather, and he was se ashamed ef It
that he sold it at a loss to his hired
maa aad bought a better eae ia a
aeighboriag town. A lady, aad her
two daughters bought shoes from the.
catalogue aad whea asked why they
had trouble with their feet said it was
because of iU-fittiag shoes. But such
instances of the bad effects of buy
iag "sight uaseea" are daily occarriag
all over the couatry. It is only natur
al aad inevitable that such tillage
should happen.
Let us see what will be the effect
of this formidable diversion of trade,
if carried to Its logical conclnsioa.
Nearly all the busiaess houses 5? the
smaller towns will become baakrapt,
the value of town property will de
cline, churches and schools will re
celve a feeble support and the towns,
instead of being centers of business
and social activity, will almost cease
to exist. The country in geaeral will
become like many portloas of the
south where the large plantations, by
getting their supplies ia the cities,
have kept the aeighboriag towas
dowa to the cross-roads type dreary,
unpainted little places of a half dosea
ramshackle houses. The evil effects
of this loss of trade aad destruction
of the valae of town property will re
act upoa the value of farm property
by cutting off the home market They
will add to the taxes oa leads by re
ducing taxable values ia the towas.
Surely it is aot to the iaterest of aay
body, except the bloated corporatious
carrying oa the mail order business,
to see the towas aad villages fall iato
decay. A live town is aot oaly of
value to the lands surrouadiag it, but
Its well stocked busiaess houses are
a coBveaieace aad a beaefit to the
buyer. Evea if moaey could, ia the
long run, be saved by orderiag every
thing from the city, the inconvenience
and uncertainty of it would always
make such shopping uasatlsfactory
OrderiBg from a catalogue is a leap
ia the dark, except ia the case of s
few articles whose color, shape aad
quality are always the same.
To the maa who caa soberly look;
on both sides of the question aad whs
can put himself in the place of "the
other fellow" the query will come:
Is it best from mere whim, or even
for a certainty of saving from one to
half a dozen dollars ia a year to turn
my back on the old, convenient ways
of doing business, aad to do my part
toward ruining the busiaess of my
old acquaintances and friends, and of
destroying the value of property in
the town where my friends live?
F. B. MILLER.
RICHEST WOMAN IN BRITAIN.
Miss Emily Charlette Telnet ef Wales
Has DistinetJeti.
It will probably surprise most peo
ple to leara that at the preseat mo
ment the wealthiest British woman
living is a Welshwoman; more; that
she is siagle. Miss Emily Charlotte
Talbot was oae of the three children
of Mr. Christopher Talbot, a ponulai
M. P. of the mid-VIctoriaa era. The
oaly sob died ia early youth, and Mies
Talbtt's sister, somewhat younget
than herself, became the wife, jnst 4
years ago, of Mr. Fletcher of Saltouh.
Miss Talbot remained at home, keep
iBg house for her father at beautiful
Margam Abbey. Glamorganshire, and
oa his death, which took place some
16 years ago. his devoted elder daugh-'
ter found herself left his sole execu
trix, and owner of all the Talbot real
estate, ralued at about a mlllien aad
a half sterling, as also of a reversion
ary interest- in a huge trust fund in
consols.
Didn't Suit Him.
People who patronize the cars run
ning out to Forest Hills are familiar
with Conductor Crowley, the maa who
wears six service stripes on his
sleeve, says a writer ia the Boston
Herald.
On the afternoon -of electioa day ia
November one of his passengers was
an -Id man who had bees imbibing
entfdgh to make him go to sleep in the
corner of the car.
Just before it reached Dudley street ,
the conductor announced with his
usual rich roll of the r, "Clr-rcuit and
Guild."
"Yer a liar! It's John B. Moran!
shouted the sleepy one, waking up
suddenly.
New Metric Chart. .
A new metric chart representing
geographically measures of the inter
national metric system of weights and
measures has been prepared by tan
bureau of standards of the department
of commerce aad labor, aad will The
furnished free to any school trsrnlac
the system.
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