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THE McHfiJCRY Fl,AINl>feAI.ER. McHENRY, IIX. Grandfather's Clock Tikcn from the Notebook of an Old Detective by Charles Edmonds Walk And With Name* and Places Hidden Published as a Proof That Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction r*:> - At an agreed upon hoar of the fore­ noon Felix Hazard and Helen Bertel foregathered at a certain loop res­ taurant, noted not alone for the ex­ cellence of Its cuisine, but also for the fastidious class of its patronage; the one not always connoting the other, by any manner of means. After a hasty luncheon they *ent in a taxi to the Union station, where they boarded the Washington drawing-room sleeper attached to the Broadway limited. Their sections were directly opposite to each other. Now it is worthy of note that all the time they were together this day, and until the event happened which startled them from their strained at­ titudes. their bearing toward each other was decidedly peculiar, to say the least. An observant onlooker even might have concluded that they strug­ gled with seething volcanic emotions, *, - • all the more turbulent and re- pa./ pressed, were it not absurd to attribute ' a betrayal of feelings so strenuous to jfsj-" these two schooled and seasoned op- eratives of the Sutherland Detective agency. 'However that may be, and whatever tike object of this seemingly clandes­ tine Journey, both carefully refrained from discussing anything save the mo6t ordinary everyday topics. The two, having stowed their light­ er luggage, sat in Helen's section/ Time and the train sped on. and their strained, alert, watchful attitudes did not relax until the train was flying across Indiana and nearing Port .. Uijne. - It was Just as they were leaving this ^ ' city that the bombshell exploded in po their faces. The Pullman conductor iff catered the car with two telegrams. IpJ "Telegram for Mr. Felix Hazard," lie announced. And Hazard started to • his feet as if propelled by a spring. But the next announcement made Ilk hhn drop back beside Helen in a state ^ t h a t m i g h t w e l l b e d e s c r i b e d a s b o r - • daring on collapse. The countenances of both betrayed the utmost consterna- tlon and chagrin. "Telegram for Mrs. Felix Hazard," Ssi- | . ifliued from the conductor. 111^;. I Hazard snatched the two yellow en- • . velopes from the outstretched hand. ' "With nervous, shaking fingers, they -- .j: i ware torn open simultaneously and v! & - their contents absorbed at a glance. The effects, though, of the two mes­ sages were vastly dissimilar. Whereas the man first groaned and next gritted Ills teeth in speechless rage, the girl, after a moment of confused, discon­ certed silence, burst into laughter. $ . The tenor of the two telegrams, ? • "When it is understood that both were ]. from Billy Sutherland, Hazard's and Helen's chief, will sufficiently account for their extraordinary conduct and r,4. discomposure. "You can't fool your Uncle Dudley." ? " Mtn Hazard's telegram. "You are due to get yours when you arrive at Wash­ ington. Report immediately to Pren­ tice." : Prentice was the Washington repre- ^, Mntative of the Sutherland agency. I- - Helen's message was couched dif­ ferently, but its import was much the same. It read: * • j "Your elopement is foiled. Revenge " ia sweet Report immediately on ar- tival at Washington to Jonas Hud- 3v, Witt, Interstate National bank. Fur- . ther Instructions will await you." y. After the two messages had been j; ^changed and considered--in glum '• pflence on Hazard's part, and in a pre- 1 'occupied, half shy, half sly way on Helen's, the former abruptly burst (forth: 1 "Report to Prentice! I will like-- wlike--like thundeH." Mrs. Hazard gave him a sidewise 'look from beneath her long lashes. "Go ahead and say it," she demurely Invited; "don't mind me. 1 can't help myself now. ... If we «ion't obey Orders, what then?" "Why, I--we'll resign, ill wire both Of our resignations in at the next stop. Then, somewhere betweeh here and .Pittsburgh or Washington, we'll quiet­ ly change our route and lose ourselves. I'll figure that out by and by." "Who is Jonas Hudnutt. do you sup­ pose?" Helen was sufficiently curious to wonder. But the response was not Informing. "Confound Jonas Hudnutt, Billy foitherland and the whole pestiferous breed! Just imagine malting a con­ silience of our honeymocn for Borne fool business the office happens, to /%ave in Washington juBt now! ' Or Imagine trying to trap UH into what­ ever celebration the chi»(f and Lon Prentice may have framed up! Watch Vs sidestep it." "How do you suppose they found it , out?" mused Helen. She was herwlf texed by the discovery, but had re- solved to accept it philosophically. % Her husband made an lnarticu'ftte > Boise which unmistakably indicated ' that his indignation had not in ihe v least cooled. "He's a wise old head, is the ctu.?r," be replied bitterly. "When did you ever know anybody to get anything on bim? We should have known tetter than to have tried." Spoke Helen then, with i$- though quiet determination: "You shall do no such silly thing as V wire back our resignations. We'll do m- This story throbs with real­ ism in the word's narrowest meaning. It Is a faithful ren­ dering of an authentic experi­ ence in the career of a h«gh official of a detective agency whose name is a household word throughout the English- speaking world. Real names of persons and places are some­ times disguised. In all other re­ spects the amazing, often thrill­ ing, always gripping facts are recorded just as they happened. S»aS$$S$S$SS$i "Together wanted it!" -as we have always abrupt one of the best-known operatives of the United States secret service. V ^Biactly *8 these telegrams cc'.imand. I have an idea that we can g»t back f at the chief much mere effectively fe ; than by Straying his confideiffce !» us at the eleventh hour." , However, very shorfJy something •/. .toPPened that put an entirely <Jiffer- complexion upon the matter. Some- > • 'fSp-:'. -^n6 cooled Ha7ard's ire and -made him grow by degppes serious and thoughtful. fiomettiingHhat made .-.Helen furtively flip by hand into Ills 'SsW&t murmur cryptically n. The event which determined the course of the elopers fell at I-afayette. Here a second, and this time a long telegram was handed them, and Haz­ ard, with the aid of a little red leather- bound book, translated its phrases. For it was composed in that one of the several Sutherland codes that "was used only in cases of the most ex­ traordinary gravity and importance. As finally rendered the code message read thus: "Neither my former message nor thi? one is a command, but an appeal: first, to your sense of loyalty to us, and next, to your patriotism. "For the matter on which you are so urgently wanted at Washington is of no less gravity than being one that vitally affects our government, our national honor. "Prentice will advise you fully. "It is the opportunity of your life­ time. "I rely on you. "Am not fully informed of all par­ ticulars of Mrs. Hazard's assignment. A woman operative Is wanted, and neither the Washington nor Pitts­ burgh offices can meet the call Just at this time. Understand the work is agreeable and will suffice to occupy her time pleasantly during the ordeal of an enforced separation. "Will expect an immediate favorable reply. Congratulations and God bless you both." When Helen perceived the lean, hawklike features of her consort hard­ en, and the dark, intense eyes take on the old keen look of concentration and capability with which long asso­ ciation had made her familiar, she in­ dulged in a covert, enigmatic little smile and for the second time surrep­ titiously squeezed his long, sinewy fingers. It is enough to say that a favorable reply, albeit laconic to the point of curtness, was flashed to the anxiously waiting chief back in Chicago. Arrived finally at Washington with­ out further incident, Hazard first dis­ covered that he was not obliged to look up Prentice; that gentleman was at the station awaiting him. And then if the bride and groom wanted anything further to emphasize the seriousness of the affair that had so unceremoniously obtruded itself into the midst of their new­ found happiness, it was plainly mani­ fest in the sober, absent, hurried fash­ ion with which Prentice offered his con­ gratulations and best wishes. All during their brief colloquy he seemed worried and uneasy. "Felix;" he said abruptly at last, ' i don't want to seem rude, but it won't do for us to be seen together too much. "Take a taxi and ride round a half- hour, then come to the office. Meet you there. I'll start Mrs. Hazaard toward the Interstate National. Her job's easy. Something like the Dav- enant case, only there's no bloodthirsty dog to be afraid of. Old Jonas Is wait­ ing." "And who, pray, is 'Old Jonas?'" Helen wanted to know. Prentice stared. "Why," he exclaimed, "<lon't you know? Lean closer so's I can whis­ per . . . He's the army and navy expert that analyzes and passes on all explosives." III. Mr. Jonas Htidnutt Jlelen found to be an elderly though vigorous man, haid-eyed and hard-featured, Aid brusque both of speech and manner. Yet he did not appear very formidable. His first words were a question, fired at her in a <^y, hard voice. "Young womar, do you know the difference between central tnd east­ ern timtf?" Surprised by this fcraa of catechism, for a moment Helen was at a loss to reply. "Why, yes," she returned at length. "Eastern tixe is one hour faster than central." A short Jerk of Jonas Hudnutt's iron-gray bullet head signified his ap­ proval. Said he: "Very good. You appear a capable youn/» woman. I'll instruct you In your duties as we ride down to Black- water. Country estate of a--er--of a friend of mine, across in Virginia. 'You won t have jnuoh to do, though, besides taking care of the old clock! Old family heirloom, you know. Much prized and revered." Nelen wondered whether she had to do with a lunatic; but th* expensive, high-powered motor that was to speed her on her short Journey, together with the purposeful air of strength and efficiency that stamped the chauf­ feur and his companion, whose nar­ rowed eyes flashed her a penetrating look of interest when she appeared, resolved her doubts and raised her <.u- rlously to the Nth degree. \ She recognized in the companion IV. Felix Hazard as yet had not the faintest inkling of the nature of the affair whose urgent gravity his chief had been at such pains to emphasize. He knew only that the emergency must have arisen within the last 36 , hours, else he would have had some hint of it before leaving Chicago. His thoughts were imbued with Helen; he was impatient of the sep­ aration, however brief it might prove to be, and he saw little enough of sights already familiar to him. The building that housed the Suth­ erland offices was distinguished from all its newer neighbors by having entrances on three streets. Hazard's taxi drew up at one of the main entrances, and at the ap­ pointed minute he sprang out and hur­ ried in, to find Prentice Impatiently waiting for him. "Something's happened since you showed up," said he with an air of un­ corking himself. "All our plans are changed; the man you are to see will corue here--should be here now--in­ stead of us--" The almost breathless explanation was rudely broken in upon by the harsh rasp of a buzzer indicator. Prentice snatched up his desk tele­ phone. "Bet that's him now," said he. He listened a moment, then a utrange, awed expression overspread his features. "Show them right in," he Jerkily Commanded, slamming up the receiver 6nd running over to open the door. A man presently entered, the dig- ttttv of whose position brought Haz- ?ird instantly to his feet. 11 was the president. Close behind him followed two oth­ ers in whom he recognized the sec­ retary of war and Curtis, head of the raited States secret service. Before any sort of introduction could be made the secretary at once explained to Prentice: ' We decided it ^ould be'more ad­ visable for us to come here than for y(<u to come to us. eurtis and I ar­ rived singly and waited for the pres­ ident, whose deep concern would n&t allow him to wait for our report. Every entrance, hallway and elevator is closely guarded by Mr. Curtis' men, so there is little like- lihxid that we shall be unpleasantly intruded upon." Then Hazard waB presented and the party at once got down to business. Thn secretary took it upon himself to lay the case before Hazard. "On the eighteenth of last March- nearly a year ago--an American in­ ventor named Colewich came to Gen­ eral Harker, head of the Army bu­ reau, with a new type of explosive. Colewi«;h's claims were so extrava­ gant that the ordnance department was very skeptical regarding them; but following their customary policy not to disregard any possibility of ad­ vancement in any branch of the serv­ ice, Colewich was promised a thor­ ough trial of his invention, and later he w*as notified that the fleet day had been set. "it is enough to say of this explo­ sive that it more than Justified its inventor's claims. It proved so pow­ erful, as a matter of fact, that if it is not lost to the world it will re­ duce the possibilities Of future war­ fare almost to nothing. Its possibili­ ties for destruction are simply be­ yond the power of words to describe. In shells of ordinary field-type artil­ lery, the solidest and most modern of fortifications become as houses of straw. "It is obvious that such a terrible instrument i of destruction should not be allowed to fall into the possession of any other nation; but, alas, it seems as though It has. "however, that's neither here nor there now. Very little time was wast­ ed iu coming to terms with Colewich, of whom 1 can confidently assert that he was quite patriotic in uniting with us to keep his formula secret. But during the course of the rigid tests he expressed a belief that he was being shadowed. He was--by Cur­ tis' men. But he maintained that the espionage had begun before eVer he had made himself known to us. "We doubled our precautions. Cole­ wich already had taken extra care to safeguard his precious formula, which waa in the safe deposit vaults of one of New York's largest banks. "Well, to sum up this phase of the matter in a nutshell: Despite our most resolute and energetic precau­ tions, between the time Colewich ob­ tained the formula from the bank and the time he was supposed to arrive with it here in Washington, both he and it vanished as effectively as if a charge of his own explosive had wiped them both out of existence. We have never found the slightest clue that even remclely suggests what became of him. And as for the precious for­ mula--well,15 unless one of the powers engaged in the present war was ap­ prised of Colewich's--" "However, that is too v^gue and im­ practicable to consider. The formula has been lost for months when an hour v.ould suffice to transcribe it The possibility of keeping it to our­ selves was abandoned long ago. "But here's the point. Whoever may have stolen it, we do not want to share in it; we don't want to lose the secret utterly, and we stand In a fair way of doing so unless a certain plot, which we \iave the best of rea­ sons for suspecting the existence of, can be frustrated. "And prompt, determined action alone will be of avail. It has re­ duced itself to a matter of minutes, and 1 am acquainting yod with the facts with a brevity that mutt not be considered discourtesy---" Hazird interrupted, brushing away . the attempted apology with an impa­ tient gesture. He could be aa quick to act as governmental heads. "One question before you go furth­ er," said he. ."If the formula never came to you, how can you expect--" He In turn was interrupted. The secretary continued: , "I was coming to that. For the pur­ pose of the tests a considerable quan­ tity of the explosive was manufac­ tured. Several government chemists assisted in various stepB of the pro­ cess, though certain details Colewich would permit no one hut himself to witness; and what they thus learned, together with the success of the analysis by the army and navy expert, we have reason to feel assured that soon we shall share the secret with at least one other great power--the one that stole it. Our success all depends upon one thing: If we lose the small quantity of powder on hand our efforts are balked utterly. "Now, some weeks ago Information came to Mr. Curtis of another plot, one aimed to destroy the modicum of powder--less than two pounds, but sufficient tQ wipe out a city block--all that we have remaining. It is vitally important that our chemist proceed with as much despatch as possible, for once we know the process the loss of our little supply of course will not matter. For that reason the supply at all times must be kept eas­ ily accessible. And in any event, even if no plot to destroy it were hatching, we could not force it into anybody's custody. "It is the silence and invisibility with which the plotters are working that fills us with the gravest concern. We are morally certain respecting the identity of the conspirators' head and director: one of the capital's distin­ guished. . . ." He learned forward into a haven of tranquillity. Indeed, 'inside the house the only sounds one was conscious of were from the crack­ ling logs In the wide hall's old-fash­ ioned fireplace and the sedate ticking of the ancient grandfather's clock that stood against a wall of the living room. __ Here, of all places in this house of many spacious chambers, a sitfk-room had been prepared; for the master of the house was mortally ill--or so the celebrated specialist, arrived that day from Chicago, had pronounced. And Joseph Harmon had expressed a dying man's whim to pass his last hours in a room where he had \nown so many pleasant ones. Ill he unmistakably was. But the two tense figures who re­ garded each other across his bed seemed paying but scant heed to him. One was the specialist; the other a tall, strikingly handsome girl In a nurse's uniform. Just now her fine, wide gray eyes are tragic with the emotions they mir­ ror. The clock ticks on purposefully with the dignity of age. "I tell you," the girl whispers, "it is the most dreadful thing, the most splendid example of unselfish courage, that I ever heard of. He deliberately innoculated himself with the virus as the only way he could find to achieve two ends--that he might advance a reasonable, plausible excuse for being removed to this room and remaining here constantly, and that we might oome here in roles that place our mo­ tives above suspicion, that make our presence natural and regular. . . . But, poor, poor man!" The sick man ventured a feeble pro­ test, which was firmly though gently hushed by the nurse. "I can't help it, Mr. Harmon," she spoke earnestly. "The doctor is com­ ing, and that's an end of it. Men may be as cold-blooded as they Jlke, but It is not in any woman's nature to stand Joseph Harmon Had Expressed a Dying Man's Whim to Pass His Last Hours in a Room Where He Had Known So Many Pleasant Ones. and whispered the name in Hazard's ear. 'But we have been unable to con­ nect him with it definitely enough to take proper action with the power he represents. "The bald truth of the matter is: if our theory is correct, the nation con­ cerned has committed an act of war that cannot be disregarded. That hor­ rible possibility must be avoided if it is within the power of human en­ deavor so to do. "There, Mr. Hazard--you se^ the task we have set for you. Foil this plot. Discover the plotters and fix their guilt upon them in such fashion that we may deal with them secretly, as they deserve. Preserve for us the secret which may, at a critical pe­ riod, mean no less than my and your country's salvation." Hazard was stirred by the speaker's undisguised show of ^ feeling. He asked a question: "Where are the experiments being made?" The secretary of War and the pres­ ident exchanged glances. Then for the first time since entering the room the president spoke. "On the estate of a close personal friend of mine, Mr. Hazard; at 'Blackwater,' belonging to Mr. Jo­ seph Harmon. It is on the Virginia side of the Potomac, not many miles from here--a delightful automobile ride." , The secretary again addressed the detective: "It Is one of the blessed privileges of this great free and enlightened country that anybody's business is everybody's business. There were, unquestionably, leaks at every step of our negotiations and dealings with poor Colewich, else the plotters could not have acted with such unerring assurance. The loy­ alty of one or two men who may be absolutely trusted is more depend­ able, gives more and better assurances of security, than serried ranks and battlemented walls. Hence our re­ liance upon Mr. Harmon and a select­ ed few of Mr. Curtis' operatives in this critical emergency." "And who is tne cnemist making the analyses?" "Our chief ordnance expert--Mr. Jonas Hudnutt" Night, and a violent spring storm raging along the Potomac. Now a stinging, powdery snow, that bit the flesh, was driving before a furious northeasterly gale. To enter ihe old Harmon home­ stead was. to step from pandemonium idly by and see anybody deliberat"y make a martyr of himself, even if it Is for his country's sake." The man beside the bed, who bore a curious likeness to Felix Hazard, spoke. "Again I must ask you," he queried, "are you sure Miss von Hellwlg re­ ceived the signal tonight?" "Yes; I distinctly overheard her tell the German butler. And she is now nearly frantic because she has been denied admission to this room tonight --claims that her position, as Mr. Har­ mon's private secretary entitles her to be present. "She has been trying all sorts of pretexts to get in, just as Schmidt has been trying to get into the cellar. She even .threatened me; but I be­ lieve I have settled her for the time being. When she learns that It will be quite as difficult to leave the house tonight as it is to gain admission here --heaven alon% knows what will hap­ pen." At this Juncture there sounded a light rap on one of the doors. The nurse, her eyes flashing with sudden fire, glided swiftly but noiselessly over to it and opened it. Then the nurse deliberately and violently pushed the intruder away, went into the hall and softly closed the door. A subdued murmur of voices came to the man beside the bed. He was morbidly sensible of the slow tlck- tock, tick-tock of the tall old clock. The sick man's regular breathing was plainly audible. In a little while the nurse returned, unruffled, cool, capable. "The Von Hellwlg again"--in answer to. the tall man's look of Inquiry. "She insists now upon knowing the time-- by this clock." "And you told her?" "I did. She nearly fainted. . . . Y«u are sure, are you, Felix, that there can be no hitch?" "Positive. Do you think I would let you be imperiled? The wires are dis­ connected at two points; at the con­ tact behind the clock dial, and right at the coherer where it Is Jammed against the powder In a potato barrel in the cellar. "You know, Helen, there was a theory advanced at the ime that the French battleship Republlque's maga­ zines were exploded by means of some advanced wireless method. Doubtless it was oaly an imaginative story. But this apparatus works, beyond dou' \ Four times it has failed. Four times Miss von Hellwlg has stolen In here and set back tli£ circk an hour so that Schmidt ml(Hj^Kg^ an opportunity to tinker xvith^eMHlJI and adjustments in an effort correct its de­ fects. 1'. is nHSnEif tluit some of the other servants have been bribed. . . . Well, we'll know who they are when the panic starts. . . . There!" A woman's piercing scream shat­ tered the silence and persisted with a hopeless note that froze the blood, There were men's muffled, strangled curses, sounds of desperate struggle arid combat from various regions of the house. And then the old clock began strik­ ing eleven. VI. Some weeks after the strenuous night at Blackwater Felix and Helen were once more back in the Suther­ land's shabby, rambling old suite of Fifth avenue offices, where the ele­ vated roars all day and all night. The noise was music in their ears. The burly chief's features were quite as illegible as usual; but Helen was eye­ ing him intently ^rith a little puzzled wrinkle between her brows. "I have it, chief," she explained, "though ordinarily it would require a clairvoyant to plumb the depths of your inner consciousness and fish up any trace of feeling that might be ly­ ing dormant there. But the fact is-- I have Just discovered it--that you are genuinely glad to see uc back again and don't know how to say so." The chief cocked a shaggy eyebrow at her and his dull eyes lingered on the happy, flushed face a moment. "Yes," he admitted. "And I'm glad that we are not going to lose you, either. I'll tell you all about It after I've heard the balance of the details of your stirring honeymoon adventure. It is something, you know, that can never be embodied in a written re­ port." It was Hazard who replied. "There is little more to tell than you know, chief. That very day Hud­ nutt discovered the process for mak­ ing the 'hellpowder,' as he very ap­ propriately calls it, so the plotters would have gained nothing by having succeeded. "The only place Curtis' men fell down was in a lack of technical knowledge. Not that I'm an electri­ cian myself; but when Helen told me about the Von Hellwlg woman's med­ dling with the clock, why, I guessed pretty close to the truth. Her in­ timacy and heart to heart* talks with Schmidt, the butler, Implicated him, and, barring that they were uncannily shrewd to suspect our motives, the rest was easy. Mr. Harmon took des­ perate measures to blind them, and I'm glad to know that he will get well. "There was a panel in the wall be­ hind the clock from which Schmidt-- who is really a finished electrical en­ gineer--could work without much fear of discovery. The wires were so ar­ ranged that after an outside connec­ tion was closed, when the clock hands got to eleven a contact was made, the circuit completed, and the powder would have been exploded--of course completely wiping out every, trace of the cause. . . . What became of the two? I've been miles away from thinking of them." The <chief shrugged his shoulders. "I can say only that they will never be heard of again," said he, soberly. "Their memory is blotted out. The count was recalled from Washington rather suddenly, I understand. And thus that end of it closes." "What do you mean?" asked Helen. "That tomorrow morning Felix will move into the office of the first assist­ ant superintendent. Curtis goes to London. Lord knows I wish you'd take my place--If it would be any in­ ducement for you to stay." "Don't worry," she cheered, with one of her rare smiles. "I'll be butting in every now and then--if only to take care of Felix." (Copyright, 1915. by W. Q. Chapmen.) The 8abine Women. Tfte story of the Sabine women is one of those vague legions of prehis­ toric times that cause some moderns to regret the passing of the so-called classic period. The Sabines were an ancient tribe of Italy, supposed to have been named from Sabus, one of their deities. Little is known of their history, except that there was chronic war between them and the Romans. As the story goes, Romulus, the myth­ ical founder of Rome, endeavored to increase its population first by mak­ ing it a city of refuge for criminals, and, secondly, by inviting a lot of Sa­ bine women to a banquet and then seizing and distributing them as wives among such Romans as were inclined to matrimony, but were too busy mak­ ing war to prosecute matrimonial schemes in the usual way. So the Sa­ bine women who attended the banquet were seized and handed out as prizes. While there Is no reason to suppose that the women were a party to the plot for their seizure, tradition says they accepted the situation gracefully and soon adjusted themselves to their new surroundings. In the freeh out­ break of war which followed such an event, some of thepa acted as peace­ makers between th<5 Romans and the Sabines. Midnight 8un. The phenomenon known as "the midnight sun" Is literally the shining of the sun at midnight, which takes place within the arctic circle at and near midsummer. At that time the sun skirts the horizon without dipping below it. The further north one goes, the greater the number of days on which one finds the "midnight sun" visible. The cause of the phenomenon is, briefly, the inclination of the earth's axis to the ecliptic. For the elevation of the pole at any given spot is equal to the latitude of that spot; and the sun's polar distance on a midsummer day being 66 % degrees, it will follow Shade for Light. For the electric light in the bou­ doir or bedroom there is a useful nov­ elty in the way of a shade. This Is r.n exquisite little lady dressed in rose silks and gold lace, after the style of the ladies of the court of Louis Quinze. The skirt forms the shade and the light shining through iliti satin and lace takes on a lovely soft glow. FIGURES IN HISTORY r^v1, if; ' ^ LMH • REteOWtoED FOW >ffANY CENTURIES. ^ Tv*o Thousand Years Ago ft Wm mk Central Point for Which Armiw Contended--Cathedral the A* miration of Travelers. ~ behind the German lines, to one of the pieasantest towns of north­ ern France, says a description issued by the National Geographic society. Founded by the Celts, it felt the early waves of Teutonic invasion more than 2,000 years ago; and greater and lesser waves have followed in varying succession ever since. With Laon as a base, Celt and P.oman car­ ried civilization across the Rhine; taught the rude warrior folk to the north the refinements of ancient em­ pire; and brought them weights, money, letters, improved weapons, manufactured products, and the glow­ ing wine of the southland. Remigius, who baptized Chlodwig, appointed a bishop to Laon almost be­ fore the Christian morning in Trans- Alpine Europe had it dawning. The Normans swept over the town in 882. and the next few centuries saw many another horde of wasters follow the same path. 3y the beginning of the fourteenth century, however, Laon was a world-city, guarded by strong walls and towers, and garrisoned by the choicest adventurers of the em­ pire and of the low countries. Henry iV reduced the city in 1594; and, in 1814, the citadel on the flat rock on which the city stands was successfully defended by Russian and Prussian soldiers against the de­ spairing thrusts of the great Napoleon. In 1870, here in Laon, was performed one of the most renowned of aU the valorous deeds of the Franco-Prussian war. . As the Magdeburg Jaeger stormed into the citadel, crowding back the small French garrison ahd filling the inclosure, the French blew up themselves and the victors, selling the place at un unexpected heavy cost. Where the walls once stood--Im­ pregnable defenses in the old days be­ fore the use of gunpowder and the high explosive shells, today are situ­ ated beautiful shaded promenades. Everywhere in the older town, that part upon the hill, are interesting me­ morials of the city's gray past. In the lower town are the concessions made to modern times--the railway station, the gas works, beet sugar fac­ tories and abattoir. The Laon artichoke is blue-ribbon winner among vegetables, and it finds its way only into the most exclusive kitchens of Paris and London. More­ over, it is an edible of literary fame; for, in popular European romances, its presence on the table is the writer's way of marking dinner and surround­ ings as quite out of the ordinary. The cathedral at Laon, a wonderful structure that many tr&velers deserv­ ing of opinion treasure even beyond those of Reims, Paris, Orleans, Rouen, Noyon and Amiens, dominates from its stocky towers all Picardie for miles around. Around the cathedral In the upper city are scattered a num­ ber of structures of long pasts and Xaacinatlng reminiscence. Multiple-Disk Phonograph. Playing two or more phonographs at a time as a means for increasing sound volume has often been tried, but gen­ erally with poor success. Only a slight difference in the speeds or tim­ ing of the two disks results in throw­ ing the melody into a Jarring discord, for one record soon playB far ahead of the other. To obviate these difficulties, and still secure the larger volume of sound resulting from the use of two or more records at the same time, a Paris in­ ventor has devised a phonograph of a type different from the ordinary kind. All the records are attached to one vertical driving axis, and because of this mechanical connection, must necessarily remain in unison through­ out the placing of any given piece. Each disk is provided with its own needle and reproducer. All the sound goes into a common horn by means of suitable connecting arms properly pivoted at the large ends.--Popular Mechanics Magazine. 1 February. j February is the calendar's only shortage in all its weary rounds of great and small business routine. In tpite of Its Gregorian reformation Feb­ ruary turned out bad. Of the year's family of twelve, the second was des- tined to be the black sheep. As to Just when its shortage first occurred we do not know, and it would require a pilgrimage to the encyclopedia to find out--so let It go, but suffice to say that it was finally discovered bK an unexpected examiner that dropped in and demanded the books. < In prison he was known as "28" and called "Feb" for short. It may be added to the month's cred­ it, however, that although its life is fraught with hard and bitter experi­ ences, it brought us Washington and Lincoln. It showed the world that it could make good--and it did.--No. 9031 in the New Era, federal^ pent-' tentiary, Leavenworth. 8teals Tire, Buys Wrapper. When David Stanton of Hdlly avo* nue went to take out his automobile he discovered that the car was shy a that in the latitude 66ft degrees the.~ , • . . , sun will barely graze the horizon. ^|re" wlth rim atta^ed. ^ An inyestiga- North of that latitude the midnight sdn is observed for some days about midsummer time, and at the North cape, latitude 73^4 degrees, the mid­ night sun is visible from May 12 to July 29. tion revealed the fact that a stranger walked Into a store in the center of the town around noon with a tire and rim over his shoulder, asked for paper and cord and coolly wrapped up the stolen articles, paid for the wrappings and asked the way to the railroad sta­ tion. His nerve saved the stranger from arrest, as no one suspected him. --Pitman (N. J.) Dispatch Philadel­ phia Record. Wise Precaution. "Good-night, Jinks. What ara yon stuffing all that raw cotton into your ears for?" "Well, I was told not to stay est late, and 1 believe in preparedness."