AUTOMOBILE SECTION
PART THREE
The
Omaha
Sunday;
Bee
AUTOMOBILE SECTION
PART THREE k
VOL. XLIX NO. 8.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 10, 1919.
1 -C
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS
BUTTERMILK
DRUNKS ARE
POSSIBILITY
SAYSJXPERT
Eating Flour Will Also Pro
duce .Desired Result in
Most Arid Region of
Prohibition.
Westfield, Mass., Aug. 9 Most
foods contain alcohol, and if a man
could distend his interior worker so
that he could eat several harrels of
flour, he could get a fine satisfying
jag in the most arid area in this
prohibition republic, according to
Prof. Lewis B. Aftyn, a resident of
this place.
Of course, Professor Allyn couches
his expressions in professorish
phraseology but that is his exact
meaning. Hear him:
Alcohol in Foods.
"Wherever there is sugar or
starch, and there are few articles of
food in which one or the other is
not present, alcohol is almost a cer
tainty," said Professor Allyn.
"The slightest fermentation pro
duces alcohol. There is a trace of it
in bread not enough to intoxicate
unless one were capable of eating
the equivalent of several barrels of
flour at a single meal, but still a dis
tinct trace." The blue eyes of the
noted food expert twinkled as he
added: "As for total abstinence,
'there ain't no such animal.' It is
practically a physical impossibility."
Professor Allyn holds no brief for
the brewers, nor does he imbibe in
ordinary intoxicants. . He has as
lively a repugnance as any man for
the evils existing from alcoholism,
and has even gone so far as to ex
pose the sale of liquors manufac
tured without grain and containing
poisonous matter.
Prohibition Won't Prohibit.
But, viewing the subject as a
scientist and with the knowledge
that the production of alcohol from
fermentation is so easy, he asserts
that any one craving alcoholic
drinks is not likely to be prohibited
by prohibition from indulging his
tastes. "Hard" liquors may be rath
er difficult to make, but the drinker
of beVr and light wines is by no
means necessarily placed in the
camel class through prohibition.
"Roughly speaking, some one in
vents a new substitute every hour,"
said Professor Allyn. He laughed
outright as he continued: "The most
promising substitutes for alcoholic
drinks seem to be those which con
tain a liberal percentage of alcohol
due of course to the unfamiliarity
of the inventors with the law of fer
mentation. "The presence; of alcohol in so
many foods leaves no reasonable
doubt that it is a food. The point
to determine is this: At what point
Hoe's it cease fo be a food and be
come injurious. This point may be
-the smallest fraction of 1 per cent,
or it may be a larger figure. It is
something I would not attempt to
determine myself."
Fresh Vegetables Clear.
Concerning the percentage of al
cohol in every-day articles of food
and drink. Professor Allyn said
there is none in fresh vegetables.
There is none in fruit as canned in
the average household and hermet
ically sealed, but once a can of fruit
is opened fermentation sets in, and
if allowed to stand 24 hours a small
quantity of alcohol is present. In
most instances buttermilk contatns
more than the one-half of one per
cent of alcohol permissible under
the law.
. Ifhe public has little idea of the
mfnber of products which are being
groomed for popular favor, Profes
sor Allyn says. Some of the most
remarkable concoctions are offered
for sale in states i which state pro
hibition has beeu in effect. In some
cases the base is a dry, powdery sub
stance which is labeled "non-alcoholic"
in conspicuous letters. In
more modest type it is explained
that the preparation can be made to
produce a drink with a real kick in
it. At present such preparations are
within the law in most states.
Federal Judge Scores
Criminal Who Fainted
Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 9. When
Peter Weimer, former patrolman at
Evansville, Ind., who was fined $100
and sentenced to six months in jail
in federal court for "winking" at the
transpcttation of liquor from Ken-
. tucky, he "fainted" in the approved
lm way.
"Don't pick him up," said Judge
A.-B. Anderson to the deputy mar
shal. "He's just acting; others
have done it before. This man is a
good play actor. His name is
German, too. Great play actors
these Germans. The Hohenzollern
boys, the Bethraann-Hollwegs, the
Hindenburgs and Mr Weimer here
are all great play actors. Greatest
in the world."
Weimer soon recovered.
Death of "Big" Nell Recalls
Famous Police Gun Battle
Greed of Underworld Character Brought on Last Dis
play of Notorious Yeggman's Desperate Courage
in Which He and Detective Were Both Killed.
By FRANK LYMAN.
"Big" Nell, a character weft
known in Omaha's underworld ofa
decade ago, died last week in Kan
sas City.
Word of her death was brought
by a woman formerly a "sister" in
the Mother Lee rescue home in
Omaha.
"Big" Nell's death recalled the fa
mous gunbattle police staged with
Jack Curtain, last of the professional
safe blowers who made the middle
west their field of operations.
It was she who by her greed
brought on the last display of the
yeggman's desperate courage which
proved in the end a liability instead
of an asset. She was a barmaid in
an underworld resort in Omaha.
Killed Defying Capture.
You may find the story of Jack
Curtain in the police files, but it
will be chronicled without detail
and will merely state the fact that
he was mortally wounded in defy
ing capture.
Appended to the report of Cur
tain's capture will be the statement
that Policeman Smith was killed.
Curtain shot him.
But 4- was a woman's greed that
caused the death of both men on a
crisp January night in Omaha 11
years ago.
Curtain was a yegg. Also he was
the leader of a gang of cracksmen
known as the "High-hat" band, and
the one that boasted "Half-a-hand"
Kelly as a member.
Celebrating Latest "Job."
Eairly in the evening of the nigh!
that Curtain received his death
wound and Policeman ""Smith was
killed. Curtain sat at a table in "Chi
cago" Mayme's underworld resort.
He had been throwing off in an
abandoned orgy the remembrances
of the last job of Safe-blowing
"pulled" by the gang.
Drink had made Curtain boister
ous. His hilarity, in a resort where
hilarity was the usual, was marked.
But suddenly he was silent. The
drink he had been about to lift to
his lips was replaced untouched on
the table.
Curtain, his face flushing to an
angry red, leered at the painted
woman seated across from him.
Then he blinked unsteadily at a
small scattering of change lying be
fore him. The change was a few
cents short.
Habitues Take Notice.
A few habitues of the resort,
startled by Curtain's sudden silence,
watched him jvith almost rapt at
tention. He was known 'ky reputa
tion in the place.
The piano tinkled its syncopations
with a brassy tinge. Curtain bellow
ed for the barmaid.
"Nix on the circus stuff," he snap
ped. "Don't short-change me."
His tone was ugly. He glared
threateningly at the woman.
"Yer change is right," the maid
replied stolidly.
"You lie!" Curtain exclaimed, ris
ing unsteadily to his feet. "TRe rest
of the 1 change or I'll wreck the
joint!"
Chicago Myme took a hand in
the scene. From a divan where she
had lounged she approached the
yegg.
Threaten to Call "Cops."
"Get out or we'll call the cops,"
Vhe warned.
Curtain's answer was to snatch a
diamond locket suspended from a
chain around Chicago Mayme's
neck.
He lurched toward the door with
his prize. Mayme and xtwo other
women threw themselves at him.
With the screaming courtesans
wound about him like the tentacles
of an octapus he made his way to
i the street. H paused long enough
I to beat one woman off with a gun.
Y Then came the first result of the
! barmaid's greed. Policeman Smith
'attracted by the screaming women
I rounded the cotjier. He saw Cur- I
tain's descending arnT as he struck!
the woman with the butt of the gun.
; Smith reached for his pistol. But
l the sense which warns an animal of
the approarh of man must have
warned Curtain of the policeman.
Before the officer could fire Curtain
had dropped him with a single shot.
Flees to Railroad Yards.
The women relaxed their hold at
the sound of the shot. Curtain fled
(cast to the railroad yards.
I Thoroughly sobered by the occur
rence he picked, his way near the
smelter and then attracted by the
arc light on the Doughs street
bridge cautiously approached it.
He found the steos and mounted
i them. Reaching the top he brushed
! past two muffled figures before he
(heard the-cry 'hatt.' "
Two steps more brought the
"zing" of a bullet past his head. Cur
tain leaped behind an iron girder,
wheeled, and returned the fire.
The two muffled figures were De
tectives Heitfeld and Devereese.
Devereese crumpled to ,the ice en
crusted planking. Heitfeld in the
open, emptied his gun at the crouch
ing figure half concealed by the
eirder. The bullets sounded like
Igongs as they struck the iron.
rieitteia was now sinaing lowam
the yegg, braving the vicious spurts
of flame from Curtain's gun.
Bandit's Revolver "Jams."
A few feet still separated the two
men when Curtain's firing stopped.
Heitfeld could see the crackman's
hand still working the trigger of
the weapon, but the gun failed to
fire.
"She's jammed, damn it!" he
heard Curtain sob.
"Throw it down!" ordered the detective.
The weapon clattered to ihe iceT
,i Keserves called by tne toii-nouse
Keeper had already arrived. Cur
tain was found to be mortally
wounded. He died a few hours
later in a hospital.
Devereese recovered. Smith's
name is on the hemor roll of the
men killed in action, but few on
the department still remember that
a woman's greed caused his death.
BRITISH FEAR
DISASTER IF
COAL PRICE
SHOULD GO II
High Wages and Increas
Production Cost May Mai'
English Competition In
Coal Impotent.
Breath of Romance About
Golden-Haired Girl Qolonel
,
Pride of Russian Womanhood is Anarchist Leader Be
cause She Believes That Russia is Off Better With
out Any Government at All.
By ROBERT WELLES RITCHIE
Waff Correspondent Vnlversal Service.
London, Aug. 9. She's tall, hero
ically molded, with competent span
of shoulders and th depth of bosom
and generous curve of hips that-f
mark the primitive woman destined
to be a mother of men. Her eyes
are bine as the Calspain ruffled by
wind and the color of the great
masses of hair she wears coiled un
der an Astrakhan cap is crude gold.
This is the description of Col. Man- !
I. V-M L "I . !
usna :iKiirovua. me giri comman
der of the anarchist republic of Ber
diansk, which Dr. Broendsted, a
Danish physician, gives upon his
return to Copenhagen.
The Danish doctor met this Cau
casian girl colonel in command of
her troop? away off in a little island
of L'topia bounded by the unchar
tered seas of Bolshevism somewhere
in southeastern Russia.
Picture Fires Imagination.
The picture he brings back of this
free-striding Amazon with the bur
nished hair, herself directing the
handling of machine guns at drill
and correcting one of her under-offi-cers
when he made an incorrect pass
in exemplifying the deadly code of
the bayonet, is one to fire the imagi
nation of thetale writer.
"Sister Manusha" she is to all her
soldiers and to the strange citizens
of this republic without laws. She
speaks English and French: she eats
black bread with her soldiers at
mess hour and plays Grieg's "Anit
ra's Dance," with swift and sure
fingers after nightfall and when the
flickering light from a single candle
casts shadows cm the keyboard of an
ancient piano in her officers' quar
ters. " ,
A girl 'in the garb of a man
rough boots to hpr knees and belted
blue tunic buttoned to her full, round
throat, candle-light glinting from
the silver insignia on her shoulders,
from the low wave of raw gold drop
ping over her forhead, flying hands
that fit like pale bats up and down
the yellowed ranks of keys ah, the
Danish doctor brings back a picture
fim the Never-Never Land of Ro
mance, How "Sister Manusha" became a
warrior, how a colonel, Dr. Broend
sted does not know. She is not a
woman of the peasant class,-he says;
something higher and less earthy
than that. Of kin she has none; of
lovers a plenty, hut the colonel sim
ply flashes at these latter a chal
lenging glance from her mocking
eyes, and strides on her way with a
heart frfe as a gull.
An Anarchist But
She's an anarchist, because, as
she says, herxpeople have tried every
form of government since the revo
lution and have discovered they can
live happiest with no government at
all. "Fathej" Makhno, a clever peas
ant, enjoys the position of dictator,
though none will admit he's more
than a "father" over the million and
more people of the republic. The
army of 10.000 is. used not to spread
the anarchist doctrine, nor to plun
der neighbors, but just to warn away
aggressors.
Berdiansk has found one spot of
sunlight in the gloom that shrouds
Russia and is contented to remain
there while the clash of war dins on
all bides
' ' ' - t
By FLOYD -MACGRIFF,
International Ne Service Stuff C
uponilent.
London, xAug. 9. "Dearer
means disaster."
That headline, carried by
'Daily Express over the most heal
edly debated subect in England to
day, sums up the opinion on
sides.
Big British business men say it
means disaster for industry which
cannot meet foreign competition,
especially that by America and Ger
many. Radical labor leaders say it mean;
disaster for the coalition govern
ment.
Anti - nationalization plugger.
hope it means disaster for the min
ers' campaign to force state owner
ship and operation of the coal
mines.
And the poor consumer, who wi
have to pay $11.25 a ton for his
coal, besides higher prices all around
for everything else, is very certain
it means disaster for his own per
sonal finances.
Increased-Charge $292,950,000
"The increased charge on coal
which the government asserts is
necessary to meet higher wages and
shorter working hours for British
miners, will be some $292,950,000.
The increase authorized has fol
lowed, a succession of others
throughout the (war which has prac
tically doubled the cost of coal.
Responsible big business men sec
British industry sorely handicapped,
with these immediate prospects:
American coal interests will sup
nly Spain. Italy, Mediterranean and
South American ( markets- which
heretofore pot their coal from Great
Britain. the 1913 exportation
amounting to 77.000 000 tons.
American iron and steel interests
will undersell British companies in
every market of the world, includ
ing the British home market.
American textile interests will
have a greater opportunity of meet
ing British conmetition.
American shipbuilders Vill have
an advantage over British yards, not
only in construction, but in opera
tion, because of cheaper American
coal. British steel will be increased
$5.50 a ton, and the price already is
higher than in America.
Increase jin Freight Rates.
In addition to, these and other
advantages reacting toward American-industries,
British concerns will
be further handicapped by increased
freight rates, the government hav
ing decided to take off the $300,000,
000 annual subsidy and substitute in
creased rates. On to this huge sum
will be added a further sum equal
to the increased cost of coal used
by railroads.
Then the British factories will be
faced by steadily increasing wage
demands, for the worker will have
to pay higher transportation fares,
higher prices for food and other
necessities, the increase in the gas
rate being about 10 per cent.
If any British export trade is
diminished at this time when it is
so essential for Great Britain to in
crease steadily ana quickly her for
eign business so' as to meet her war
debt charges, then disaster is ahead,
For decreased foreign trade means
unemployment at home, when every
effort is now being made to get
some 700,000 men and women back
into industry and thus eliminate the
government unemployment dole.
The government has guaranteed
every mine operator a profit of 26'
cents a ton on coal, though we'll
suated mines may earn far more.
On the basis of a production of 217,
000)00 tons tor 1919, this would
mean a guaranteed profit of $57.
505 000. -
Frank Hodges, miners' secretary,
cites figures. certified to by Sir
Arthur Lowes Dickinson before
the coal commission, that during the
war the government and the coal
operators between them received
810.000.000 in taxes and profits
from the coal industry, which was
$125,000,000 more than the total pre
war capital invested in the busi
ness. And Hodges declares the
miners' increased pay and shorter
hours can be continued without
adding anv further charges on the
consumers' bill. And he cites the
fact that a 60 cents' per ton in
crease authorized a year ago to aid
poor producing mines simplv re
sulted in three-fifths of that charge
poing in'- the state treasury as ex
r profits and in making a free
o-ift of some $6 001000 to alreadv
rvt-ncr,eroii mines Thus some $75.
fjVlonn ,?c t'-eti out rf he con
sumers' pockets without cause.
.the Alley Garage
'A JLJXLJ- If- I WIN "A- 7 V j I
fWl WON'rtlAVt TO ) i
C Wf T-HIS 1$ SOMfcgmf BUy ANV fAJ Jyf
W'A Poke noMi T-qr f oT,Avy
YJ'mmwm ZLTTrfyA this SvRwr-UoR-r KJ
t'
Costs- Lqs&r A Ctcuok qp CrsouiNt-
Girl Walks for Blocks on Bottom of the Sea
Without Diver's Suit; Watches Submarine
Inventor Catch Fish 22 Feet Below Sea Level
i m
Ears Hurt When Human Beings Enter Diving Chamber of Submergible to be
"Pumped Into Neptune's Dominion With Aid of Simon Lake's Latest Under
sea Vessel, One Can Salvage the Raw Materials Sunk During War Estimated
at 22,000,000 Tons of Cargoes and Ships at a Value of $6,000,000,000.
(Editor's Note Miss Ruth Byers, the
writer cf this article, Is a former Omaha
girl. She is th daughter of Mrs. Kmma
LJyfrs, for several years general aeertlary
of the Y. W. C. A., under whose manage
ment The present Y.. W, C. A.home wk
built 'Miss fiyers is a graduate of Omaha
High school and did her first reportorial
work on local papers.)
-I By RUTH BYERS.
(Iniversul Service Special Correspondent.)
Bridgeport, Conn., Aug. 9. I am
the first girl who ever walked on
the floor of the seas without a
diver's suit. Down on the bottom
of Long Island sound, the incred
ible thing happened a few days ago.
In my bare feet, with a pair of
overalls rolled up to my knees, I
stepped out of. a salvaging subma
rine with that wizard of the under
seas, Simon Lake, its inventor, and
sauntered at will over the smooth,
cool bed of the sea.
It was just noon when we started
down beneath the waves. The en
trance way yawned black and for-
bidding as I started to descend. Mr.v
Lake showed me how to catch a
foothold in the opening which swung
in between itwo jutting Sides of the
mother ship.
"Keep your head down, Fritzie
hoy,' some one sung out as I dop
ped out of sight. "You'll get an
awful bump if you don't."
But I was too excited to notice.
A cold, damp wave of air hit me
and, suddenfy looking over my
shoulder, I saw the stairway slip
ping back from the place where I
stood, dark and cool right into the
sea. Above my head the hot sun
poured a blaze of light that stopped
abruptly just where the tube
dropped into the ocean.
"You'd better back down those
stairs," Mr. Lake's voice was reasv
suring. "The men were right about
keeping your head down."
Slowly my hand slipped'along the
railing on either side as,,crept into
the darkness back of me.t No one
spoke for a few minutes. I think,
just at first, it came to us who went
down in the submarine that this
thing that we were doing was an
epoch-making event. Here, in our
regular vork-a-day clothes, we were
literally climbing down to the floor
of the sea as a nonchalantly as we
would climb down from a hay loft.
The railing stopped abruptly and
steel ribbings steadied our clutching
fingers. The stairs sloped steeply
now and the metal, as we touched.it
was cold, damp and clammy to the
touch. An electric light hidden away
at intervals revealed great drops of
water covering everything.
"Now you are down," Mr. Lake
called out unexpectedly. "Stop a
minute and look."
A round hold just big enirnh to
ndmit a nun's body opened out vl
the sides of the stairway just where
it ended abruptly against the wall of
the submarine. On the right a little
room was filled with machinery. On
the left Mr. Lake crouched on his
heels, laughing at my amazement.
"This is the entrance to the div
ing chamber," he said i "Come in"
Down a narrow passageway, h
through aydoor of cast iron or steel,
down a few" steps beyond that and
I was actually in the diving com
partment. We could feel the waves r
surge around us as a boat passed
over 'our heads. A tiny electric
light showed still more machinery
but that did not interest me. ,Only
one thing caught and held me
breathless. It was the sea.
It was all around me. Over me,
under me everywhere. The beauty
and mystery of it brought something
closely akin to profound quietness
and peace. . Out through a narrow
slit of glass about a foot from the
floor, I could see the-waves, green,,
grey, ceaselessly moving. Twenty
two feet under the surface of the
sea it was so perfectly normal I
forgot to be afraid.
Suddenly a door banged. Somer
one hammered it into place. Be-,
fore I was fully aware that we were
shut tight in the diving' .compart
ment a shrill rush of air deafened
me. Compressed air tilled the nar
row chamber. Louder and shriller it
screamed in my 'ears,, while every
thing around me grew indistinct
with a fog that choked tne and beat
against my eardrums until they
ached. Great drops of water stood
out on my forehead.''
"Swallow; then it won't hurt your
ears," Mr. Lake cautioned.
One of the engineers -stepped to
the telephone and ordered the sub
marine lowered two t feet. The
shrilling blast of air stopped. An
othar engineer stooped down, raised
the bottom of one-half the. diving
compartment floor and there was
the ocean! No water came in. We
were 22 feet under the sea, half the
diving floor was opened out into
the sound and not a drop came in.
The pressure of air absolutely bal
anced the pressure of the water out
side. Mr. Lake, a fishing yrfpear in his
hand, leaned over the opening.
"Look," was all he said.
. And there before us unrolled the
magic pageant of the sea. As we
passed slowly over the bed of the
ocean, only a foot above the sands,
we saw a new world slip past our
bewildered eyes There were crabs
down there, .huddled in sleepy little
mounds. Tiny oysters, clinging to
larger shells, long since empty and
nseW and scraeg'' ' r?or back
shells (.vtij v.hiie. Vc saw same
thing dart past; "the water roiled
and was" still. i
"These flounders stay on the Bot
tom, hidden in sand," Mr. Lake ex
plained. "That one was too quick
for me. I'll get the next one."
And he did. There was, a short,
sharp struggle. A wee -moun4 of
sand suddenly scattered itself in the
waves, and Mr. Lake triumphantly
held up a wriggling, flopping fish.
"Fishing new style," I ventured.
Just slip upon the fish, catch them
by their tails and take them home
for dinner.
fr. Lake grinned back. "That's
the way," he assented. Nice way to
get crabs, too. Watch me get that
fellow." V , .
Up he came, fighting with all his
claws, struggling-desperately to get
away. There were other fish we
didn't catch (this is "a true story)
and always back of everything there
was the wonder of the clean, gleam
ing sands. It looked as if they had
been swept and garnished for our
coming. Holding to the sides of
the boat, we walked over their shin
ing coolness for blocks. No human
foot had ever stepped on those tiny
shell, bedded loosely in the firm,
clean ocean bed. The man behind
me, walking along with me, said
nothing of all this but I listened
to him with wonder not unmixed
with awe. He had conquered the
sea in such a simple way. Down
through the centuries men have
dreamed as Simon Lake dreamed
years ago of recovering treasure
hidden under the waves. They tried
and failed. The ocean kept its se
crets guarded well.
Down there today we walked
along easily enough.. T.he pressure
of the air Was forgotten when we
really stepped into the water. And
then it was that we suddenly knew
that this one man, of all who had
tried down through the years, had
caught and made practicable the
dream Jules Verne knew some day
would come "true.
SimonXake's submarine cas bring
back, the raw materials sunk during
the war. The steel, iron and cot
ton these Ihings can be reclaimed.
It was a staggering thought that
came to me as I walked those
"blocks" of smooth sand on the
ocean bed 22.000.IXX) tons of car
goes and ships went down during
the war. Thev represented more
than $6,000,000,000, and now they
could be
The telephone rang.
"They want you to come hack
You have been down 55 minutes."
The engineer broke the spell that
held me. I didn't want to go back,
but I knew the tim had come.
Sciambling onto the floor of the
BUSINESS OF
CITY ALMOST
DOUBLED IN
SIX MONTHS
C, of C. Figures Show Re
markable Increase in Pop-.,
ulation and Various In-'
v dustries of Omaha. 1
Omaha's business has alniQSt
doubled during the first six month;
of this year in comparison with the
same pt-riod of 1918.
The tltureau of publicity of the
Chamber of Commerce has com
pleted the compilation of some data
showing what Omaha did in a hunt
ness way during the first six months
of this year and for the sake of
comparison, lie has procured figures
that tell the story of the same line?
of business and industry during the
first six months of 1918. m
Population Now 225,000. ;. ,
To begin with, it is estimated
that at the end of June of last yeat
was. around 180,000 to 190,000. A
survey of residences, apartments
hotels and boarding houses furnish
es pretty conclusive proof that tht
population of the city at the end o'
June, this year, was not far fron.
225,000. By some it is believed U
be considerably more than this.
During the first six months ftr--.
last year 124 new industries ant
lines of business came to the cit
During the corresponding perioc
of this year there were sii, an tn -.
rrease nf 322 ner rent .
High prices of labor, and materia; "
had a tendency to retard Ihe.bfltW"
ing operations, but notwithstandinf
this, during the first six montjj'or
this year, 988 permits to build wert'
issued, as .against 467 for the cor
responding .period of one year-ago.
The cost .-of the structures repre
sented by the permits this year ag-s
gregated $2,688,727, as against $2,-s
081,815 last year. ' .
Many Real Estate Transfers.
During the first six months oi
this year, transfers of city real es
tate numbered 5,253, as against ,
3,245 for the same period of last'
year. This year's transfers indi
cate the value of the property sold
to have been $17,441,361, whereas
the total of the sales for the six
months of last year aggregated $9,-"
461,295. The gain of this year over
last was 84 per cent. '.
Bank clearings are said to indicate
the condition of the business pulse
of the city. Grant this to be a fact,
the business pulse of Omaha is fully
up to- normal, for during the first
six months of the present year" the
clearings aggregated $1,442,509,154,
as against $1,380,701,715 for the cor
responding period of 1918 or a gaiir
of 5 per cent. ,
Postoffice receipts for the first
half of this year totalled $1,168,987.
or 5 per cent more than during the'
corresponding period of one year
ago when they were $1,109,494.
Banks Show Big Gain.
And while the bank clearings and
the postoffice receipts were show
ing substantial gains, the same was
true with the bank deposits. Dur
ing the first halff last year depos
its aggregated $114,666,763, while
during thet first half of this year
thev climbed to $123,765,708, a gain
of 8 per cent. ' .
That there were large sums o!
money deposited with the building
and loan associations is apparent
for during the first six months ot
this year, the dividends on such
investments aggregated $841,938, as
against $805,890 at the end of June,
one year ago.
Everything considered, "'Chamber -of
Commerce and other business
men are enthusiastic over . the
strides made by Omaha during the
first half of the present year and
have no hesitancy in predicting
that thef pace is to be maintained
for a long time.
Hebrew Takes Castor
Oil, Saying "Thank You'
Atlanta. Go., Aug. 9. American r
Red Cr6ss workers m Palestine re
port, among other findings, an un
failing observance of "manners of
oriental children. One youthful cit
izen of Jerusalem was taken to an
American dispensary and castor oil
was prescribed. He watched sol
emnly as the dreadful dose was
measured out. Then he swallowed
heroically. Then he gasped and
then he said: ,kThank you!" Bear
ing in mind the customary howling
of American childhood confronted
by. this treatment, the small Hebrew
might he rewarded as deserving the
D. S. C.
diving chamber. I hurried into the
entrance way The great door swung
into place. Once again fog filled
the air and my ears hurt terribly.
We were getting back to normal.
Then a second door opened and we
were on the stairs, climbing back to
the bunlisln
I