The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page A ThCm snT TTJT n a i i i tt rj ii II II s t wm WOO M ( 1 V Tr.X ' 3V li 1 1 j. A M J I III 1 n 1 1 I 1 X. , -V There It Lay Unnoticed, While the Skirts of Fashion Frou- (Froued Over It. HY should the luck of the Vanderbilts, Vhlch Is popu larly suppoaed to turn every- thing they touch Into gold, hsvs re-' Teried its magic to blight the happl bu of a Brooklyn bride? I By what token do talismans oper ate that this one, popularly the moat potent, should turn to dross the glad ness of Mrs. Lillian Oough, xf Flat bush, Brooklyn, New York? . When alchemy. once starts working backward, once the - Philosopher's Stone la rubbed the wrong way, it can turn things Into trouble faster than it ever turned them into gold. . Witness Mrs. Lillian Cough and the Vanderbilt necklace. ' The necklace, which holds some of Mrs. W. tK. VanderbiH'a favorite pearls, lay on the doorstep of the Rits-Carlton Hotel. Daintily ehod toes trod Its encasing envelope. Over It, through the rotary doors, streamed the frou-frou of fashion. While it lay there young John Jere Collins locked his desk in Mr. Vanderbilt's . New York Central freight offices, a few blocks sway, and tben started down town. By the time he had reached the RlU-Carlton the envelope con taining the pearls had been kicked , to the base of the eteps. The en velope had been torn also and the diamond pendant flashed a signal to his eye. Collins picked up the envel v ope and put it in his pocket. Here was a situation in itself. An bonest young clerk from Mr. Vander-. bllt's own New York Central Kali road office picked up Mrs. Vander bilt's lost necklace before Mrs. Van derbilt knew it was lost, at the very door of the Rita, where Mrs. Vander bilt's maid -had dropped it. But in the tangled skein of human fates Interwoven around the fortu nate finding of one of Mrs. Vander bilt's most treasured possessions there was another situation over m Flatbush, Brooklyn, where Mrs. Gough lived, and where, it happened, Collins .frequently called. For. from afar, ever since his boyhood, be had brought his friendship to the feet of the pretty young woman. Even now as he threaded his way through the lnpourlng throng of wealth of fashion at the door of the Rltz, he was bent on an errand which had her faapplness for its object and ts aim. ' ' "Oh. I so would like to aee that play," he heard her say the evening before when they were out together with friends, lie bad set oat after the day's work at the office waa ver to go te the theatre and buy tickets. How should be know that be was How It Lay Lost Under the Feet of Fashion Until One of Mr. Vanderbilt's Own Clerks Found It going to .stumble upon Mrs. Vander bilt's pearl necklace? How should he know that Fate, which has so strange a penchant for choosing jewels as emissaries of undoing, lurked In the sparkle of the diamond pendant that his eyes caught at the door of he Rltz? Least of all, bow should poor little Mrs. Gough, la her Flatbush home, seek evil portents in ber young ad mirer's discovery. Fortunate Mr. Collins saw ber that evening. "Oh, I round this thing," he said. He drew the necklace from bis pocket. "Beads," eald young Mrs. Oough. "Be careful how you handle them, John. It's so hard to string them." "Try them on," he suggested. She clasped them about her neck and looked down disapprovingly upon them. "1 don't like It," she said. "I wouldn't wear the $lg, clumsy thing." When she removed It they discov ered the "clumsy thing" bad a pen dant encircled by shining stones. . "The rest or it Is trash." she said, ."but that may be worth something." The pendant was a large oval, be neath which, on one elde, waa a min iature of a very young man, scarcely more than a lad. On the other was a lock of hair, probably from the thick, (waving mass on die head of the original of the mlntetare. As a matter of fact, the portrait was that of Mrs. Vanderbilt's son, Rutherford, who was killed In France some years ago. "Better watch the Lost advertise ments," advised a friend who was present. "The thing msy be worth something." "It is worth something to some body because of this," said the finder, looking at the pictured face. "Who ever he is, he is a manly chap." The next day there appeared in the Lost and Found columns an ad vertisement by a leading firm of Jew. elers, describing the necklace, nam ing the hour and place at which it waa loat, and offering $500 reward. The Jeweller looked up In surprise as Collins presented the necklace. J'l am commissioned to pay the 600 reward in cash," he said. And he handed eoross the counter five $100 bills. "By the wsy, bow much is that necklace worth?" asked the young roan, departing. "About $100,000 waa the reply. Collins gasped bis astonishment. But he was yet to learn at how much more than that Mra. Vanderbilt rated the value. He waa at work at his clerk's desk in the big freight oCflces of the New )York Central next day 'When he waa 'W't 4 W'Y '' J- told by ku oi nee boy that Mr. Van derbilt wished to see him. 'The Big Boss?" breathed Collins in surprise that was half dismay. He walked briskly Into Mr. Vanderbilt's private office. "Mr. Collins." said the millionaire, "I hear that you found a necklace belonging to Mrs. Vanderbilt and re turned it. I ask you It you would rather have $500 cash or five one thousand dollar bonds of the railroad.' "I'd prefer to leave that to your Judgment, sir," eald Collins. " "Well, here, then," said Mr. Van derbilt, handing the young clerk five one-thousand-dollar bonds of the New Vork Central "Here is the $500." said Collins. "Oh. you may as well keep that" By which token It would appear that so far, at least, the talisman of the Vanderbilt touch of gold held good. It did for Collins. But what of poor little Mrs. Lillian Oough? (Hearken now to what it brought to her. ' For ten years Collins bad known her, and all that time bad loved her. His patient, awkward, 'boyish love apparently made little impression upon, the- belle of hie neighborhood in which they lived In Brooklyn, r He had many rivals. From among them she chose Joseph Gough, a mas-' ter machinist, of Newark. Five years ago she wedded him. Two years ago a little daughter was added to their borne. In business Joseph Gough pros pered. But la business, cards often bear the inverse ratio to success in love. There were rumors that the Oough s were not wholly happy. He was faithful. She was true. He at tended to his business in the shop, she to hers in the home. Yet there was not perfect accord- Neighbors whispered the long word, covering much unhapplness. "incompatibility." Meanwhile the clerk plodded stead. 11 y on In his office. He saved bis money. He hoped for bappler times. And now and then when Mrs. Oough paid a visit to ber family or friends in Flatbush be called upon ber and occasionally bad the happiness of es corting her to the theatre. Then enter the pearl necklace. Followed the catastrophe to the Mrs. Joseph Oough. ) "She told me a fellow la Brooklyn was going to get ucaets ror i win Beds,' and on the way be found the necklace It belonged to Mrs. Van derbilt, and be got a reward for It," testified ber friend, lira Nellie V. Wordley, in the suit that fallowed. For her hue band, a master machinist. having found a letter written by the 'clerk, waxed indignant and ordered Copyright, 115, 1 it t Mrs. W. KT Vanderbilt the $100,000 Necklace, Actual Size, and Below It Mrs. John Gough, Whose 'Home it Broke Up. his wife to leave his borne and never more return to It. The Vanderbilt necklace bad been lost and found the first week in De cember. Her forced departure from What Becomes W HAT becomes of the boles In a sheet of postage stamps? Sounds like a ellly question, doesn't it? But wait a minute. . On a concrete platform outside the Burea uof Engraving and Printing la Washington a few days ago some barrels were , being "headed up." They were filled with queer-looking stuff which anybody lmgbt well bsve been at a' loci to Identify. It cer tainly wasn't a mineral; It didn't look like a vegetable. Many colors red, blue, green and yellow seemed .' to be mixed in the small particles of whloh it wss composed. "Whit on earth is It?" asked a ourloua passerby, pausing to take a look. "Just boles In postage stamps," re plied the man wltb the hammer. Then, In explanation, he grabbed out a handful of the staff and showed that It was composed of tiny disks of bX the Star Company. Great Britain- her husband's home' followed Jan uary 6. ' "Joe thinks I wore the necklace to the theatre. I didn't. You know perfectly well that after I tried it on It stayed in that cabinet drawer until John left, and then be had to be re minded of it or he would have forgot ten it," sobbed Lillian Oough. "I never thought of wearing the old thing." ' ; . "You did say you wouldn't wear the clumsy thing," affirmed a friend. But Joseph Gough was Immovable as one of the rivets in the machine he operates. He produced a letter written by the clerk, a missive which he designated as' "slushy, but con vincing.",' This letter, 'which' was signed "Jere," ran as follows; "Dear Sweetheart Girlie 1 am Just aching to bold you in my arms again. It seems like an age since 1 saw you last. Am trying to picture you over there pining and worrying away, and I can't bear to think about it, so I am coming over to, Newark every evening, if It is possible, even if I can only Jee you for five minutes. For, you sweet girlie, five minutes with you is like a year In heaven, if we believe what Is preached. ' "But, for me, beaven Is Just you and 4, and for me to sed you happy of the Holes in Our Postage Stamps paper, some red. some yellow, some blue, some green.' Others were of yet other colors. It appears that the material In question is a by-product of tbe ma chines through which the sheets of postage otampSfgo to be perforated. As tbe UUle boles sre punched out of them the tiny paper dUUs fall into baskets beneath, while later on are emptied Into barrels. Every week day in the year tbe Bureau of En graving turns out in this way a barrel and a half of "hole." Tbls means nine barrels a week, or 403 barrels lu a twelvemonth. How many holes go to make a barrel full? Nobody ever took tbe trouble to count, but It may be reckoned approximately without much dlulrulty. The bureau prints in a year 12,000,000,000 postage stamps. Allowing for tbe fact that a row of perforations serves for the stamps on both sides of it, there are twenty-one of them for each stamp. This would mean a total of 252,000,000,000 holes Rights Reserved. How Received - Reward BUT How It Also Broke v Up the Home of the Girl He Ad mired 1 "' j . "He Clasped It Around Mrs. She and bave that sweet little smile oa your face always. ' "As I write this your ring on my finger k6eps staring me In the face, . and It seems as if the lion were say ing, 'Your girlie wants you.' And that Is Just the way it is. Whatever I am doing, wherever 1 am, my first thoughts are 'Whatever is my poor little girlie doing now?' "But be of brave heart and cheer up. Things are bound to chanfe, and the sooner they do the better. I will be over In Newark to see you to-morrow night 'Will call you up some time after 6 p. m. II you are not in, will' leave the telphone num ber where you can reach me. I had a telephone conversation with Mr. C. and it will be all right for yon to see him in his office to-morrow, Tues day, afternoon at 3 o'clock. "So, girlie, go down and aee him; explain everything to him and aak bis V advice to the limit. Waa talking with your mother this afternon. The baby is fine and dandy. Heard her running around and playing while I was talk ing. Everything and everybody else is all O. K., so don't worry on that. "Well, my sweetheart girl, and I know you are mine and mine only, and I am not afraid I am In a dream and will be waked up. When thoae aweet lips of yours told me that you loved me, then I knew that it was no dream, but a reality, and I was filled to overflowing. "Sweetheart, words cannot express made by the machines. Wltb a total output of 468 barrels of holes for the twelvemonth, It Js obvious that the contents of each barrel would amouut to about 588,461,033 boles. Astronomers aay that there are In the universe not fewer than R00 billion starts and not more than 1,000 billion, the exact number being comewhere betweeu the two. It ap pears then that the Bureau of En graving in a perled between two and four years turns out enough boles la postage stamp to equal the number of tbe starts. Now, what becomes of all thee holes? Have they any value? , The enswer to the latter question Is. not the slightest. They are carried off, in the barrels, to tbe city dump. Many sheets of pontage stamp are spoiled in tbe making. Thousands of other sheets, gummed together by hot weather in tbe Bummer time, nibbled by mice, or in other ways rendered unsalable, ere returned to the bureau to be replaced with new ones. Such sheets, of course, bave a casb He . . & His IS ' : Gough's Neck. Said. , HV Clumsyi the feeling. Neither can I describe, it Will do everything I ean to show you la time to come. Mncb as 1 bate to say It. will bfeve to say good by until to-morrow night, 'sweetheart girlie of mine." ' ' On the strength of the affidavit el Mrs. Wordley and on this letter be responded to her suit for separate, maintenance with a counter emit Of course, it Is hardly fair to blm young Collins' alleged infatuation. fo Mra. Oough on the Vanderbilt neck lace, but if It bad not been for the. necklace Incident, and the repetition of it by Mrs. Wordley to Mr. Gough, the breaking irp of the Gough) borne, might perhaps have been averted. This time the proverbial Vanda bilt luck has been reversed. O Undoubtedly the proverb of th Vanderbilt good luck held for Mrs. Vanderbilt Problematically for th clerk. But It failed for the young woman of tse dtrldel homes la New i ark and Flatbush. For ber the necklace was her w doing. That a young roan found 1 necklace and, placing it about het seek, took ber to the theatre, wa( enough evidence for the breaking u of ber home. Though the wife ha explained and the clerk has said hi . will talk matters over with him a any time, the master machinist It obdurate. For Mrs. Joseph Gough the Van derbllt necklace was her undoing. value; they must be destroyed, like redeemed paper money. For this purpose they are packed in boxes and seqt In a wagon to the Washington Navy Yard, where they are burned, under the official eye of a Govern ment committee, in a big furnace. Formerly the spoiled stamps were boiled to a pulp, like tbe old paper money, in a tank with water and acids. But whereas tbe paper money pulp wss sold, as U still the custom, for paper vtock, being derived originally from line linen ragw, the h tumps, of woodpulp paper, went into the sewer, being not worth jarlng. As for the hole in a postage stamp, it seems to be a very trifling thing; yet, as a matter of fact, it represents an extremely Important invention. When stamiw were first used they had to be cut apart with scissors, which was highly Inconvenient It is said that $10,ooo'was paid to tbe man who originated the idea et perforating the sheets, for sue privi lege of using It