McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 4 May 1916, p. 6

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

NS-. - & "The thing is a fake," declared Bertram. He slumped heavily into a : chair, and scowled at Average Jones' well littered desk, whereon he had just tossed a sheet of paper. '"A fake," he reiterated. "I've spent a night of pseudo-intellectual riot and ruin over it." ' "You would have it," returned Aver­ age Jones with a smile. "And I seem to recall a lofty intimation on your part that there never was a cipher so tough but you could rope and tie in record time." "Cipher; yes," returned the other bitterly. "That thing isn't a cipher. It's an alphabetical riot.® Maybe," he added hopefully, "there was some mis­ take in my copy." "Look for yourself," said Average Jones, handing him the original. It was a singular document, this problem in letters which had come to light up the gloom of a November day for Average Jones; a stifflsh sheet of paper, ornamented on one side with color prints of alluring "spinners." and on the other inscribed with an appeal, in print. Its original vehicle was an envelope, bearing a one-cent stamp, and addressed in typewriting: Mr. William H. Robinson, The Caronia, Broadway and Evenside Ave., New York City. The advertisement on the reverse of the sheet ran as follows: ANGLERS--WHEN YOU ARE LOOK- ing faf "Bafts Tfiaf Catcli Flsli." do you Bee these spinners in the store wh^re you buy tackle? You will find here twelve baits, every one of which has a record and has iiU'raliy caught tons of tteh. We call them "The 12 Surety Baits." We want you to try them for casting and trolling these next two months, because all varieties of bass are particularly sav­ age in striking these baits late in the Mason. DKAI>ERS--YOU WANT YOUR Cus­ tomers to have these 12 Shoemaker "Surety Baits" that catch fish. This case will sell itself empty and over again, for •very bait is a record-breaker and they catch flsh. We want you to put in one of these cases so that the anglers will not be disappointed and have to wait for ,baits to be ordered. It will be furnished FREE, charges postpaid, with your order for the dozen baits it contains. The peculiar feature of the com­ munication was that it was profusely be-pimpled with tiny projections, evi­ dently made by thrusting a pin through, from the side which bore the Illustrations. These perforations were liberally scattered. "Yes, the copy's all right," growled Bertram. "Tell me again how you «tme by it." "Robinson came here twice and BMissed me. Yesterday I got the note from him which you've seen, with the fncloeure which has so threatened your reason. You know the rest. Per- haps you'd have done well to study the note for clues to the other docu­ ments." Something In his friend's tone made Bertram glance up suspiciously. "Let me see the note." he demanded. Average Jones handed it to him. Bertram read the message. "Of course the man is rattled. That's ob­ vious in his handwriting. Also, he has Inverted one sentence in his haste and said 'read through it,' instead of *read it through.' Otherwise, it's or­ dinary enough." "It must be vanity that keeps you from eye-glasses, Bert," Average Jones observed with a sigh. "Well, I'm afraid I set you on the wrong track, myself!" Bertram lifted an eyebrow with an effort. "Meaning, I suppose, that you're on the right one and have solved the cipher." "Cipher be jiggered. There Isn't any cipher. If you'd had the advan tage of working on the original of the halt advertisement as I have, you'd undoubtedly have noticed at once-- "Thank you," murmured Bertram. "--that fully one-third of the pin­ pricks don't touch any letters at all." "Then we should have taken the let­ ters which lie between the holes?' "No. The letters don't count. It's the punctures. Force your eyes to consider those alone, and you will see that the holes themselves form let­ ters and words. Read through it care­ fully, as Robinson directed." He held the paper up to the light. Bertram made out in straggling char­ acters, formed in skeleton by the per­ forations, this legend: ALL POINTS TO YOU TAKE THE 8H0RT CUT. DEATH 18 EASIER THAN 80ME THINGS. "Whew! That's a cheery little greeting," remarked Bertram. "But why didn't friend Robinson point out definitely in his letter?" Wanted to test my capacity per­ haps. Or, it may have been simply that he was too frightened and rattled to know just what he was writing "Know anything of him?" "Only tfhat the directory tells, and directories don't deal in really inti mate details of biography, you know There's quite an assortment of 11am H. Robinsons, but the one who lives at the Caronia appears to be a commission-merchant on Pearl street. As the Caronia is one of the most ele­ gant and quite the most enorfnous of those small cities within themselves which we call apartment houses, I take it that Mr. Robinson is well-to- do, and probably married. You can ask him, yourself, if you like. He's doe any moment, n6w." Promptly, as befitted a business man, Mr. William H. Robinson arrived on the stroke of twelve. He was a well-made, well-dressed citizen of for- ty-flve,. who would have been wholly ordinary save for one peculiarity. In a room more than temperately cool he was sweating profusely, and that, de­ spite the fact that his light overcoat was on his arm. He darted a glance at Bertram;, then turned to Average Jones. "I had hoped for a private inter­ view." he said in a high piping voice. "Mr. Bertram is my frien<| and busi­ ness confidant." s "Very good- You--you have read it?" '"Yes." "Then--then--then--*' - The visitor fumbled, with nerveless fingers, at his tightly buttoned cutaway coat and. after a moment's effort, drew a paper from his inner pocket which he placed on the desk. It was a certified check for one hundred dollars? made'paj'- able to A, Jones. "There's the rest .of a thousand ready, if you can help me," he said. "We'll talk of that later," said the prospective beneficiary. "Sit tight until you're able to answer questions." "Able now," piped the other in his shrill voice. "I'm ashamed of myself, gentlemen, but the strain I've been under--^ When you've heard my story--" "Just a moment, please," interrupt­ ed Average Jones, "let me get at this my own way. What are the 'some things' that are worse than death?" Mr. Robinson shook his head. "I haven't the slightest notion In the world." "Nor of the short cut* which you are advised to take?" "I suppose it means suicide." He paused for a moment. "They can't drive me to that--unless they drive me crazy first." He wiped the sweat from urder his eyes, breathing hard. "What are 'they'?" Mr. Robinson shook his head. "Mr. Jones. I give you my word of honor, as I hop^, to be saved from this perse­ cution, I don't know "any more than yourself what it means." "Then--er--I am--er--to believe," replied Jones, drawling, as he always did when interest, in his mind, was verging on excitement, "that a simple blind threat like this--er--without any backing from your own conscience --er--could shake you--er--as this has done? Why, Mr. Robinson, the thing--er--may be--er--only a raw practical Joke." 'But the others!" cried the visitor. His face changed and fell. "I believe am going crazy," he groaned. "I didn't tell you about the others." Diving into his overcoat pocket he drew out a packet of letters which he placed on the desk with a sort of dis­ mal flourish. "Read those!" he cried. '"Presently." Average Jones ran rapidly over the eight envelopes. WTith cne exception, each bore the im- -int of some firm name made familiar ty extensive advertising. All the en­ velopes were of sottish manila paper varying in grade and hue, under ene- cent stamps. Which is the first of the series?" be asked. "It isn't among those. Unfortunate­ ly it was lost, by a stupid servant's mistake, pin and all." Pin?" Yes. Where I cut open the en­ velope--" "Wait a moment. You say you cut it open. All these, being one-cent postage, must have come unsealed. Was the first different " "Yes. It had a two-cent stamp. It was a circular announcement of the Swift-Reading Encyclopedia, in a sealed envelope. There was a pin bent over the fold of the letter so you couldn't help but notice It. Its h$ad was stuck through the blank, part of the circular. Leading from it were three very small pins arranged as a pointer to the message." "Do you remember the message?" "Could I forget it! It was pricked out quite small on the blank fold of the paper. It said: 'Make the most of your freedom. Your time is short. Call at General Delivery, Main P. .0., for your warning.'" "You went there?" "The next day." "And found--?" "An ordinary sealed envelope, ad­ dressed in pen-pricks connected by pencil lines. The address was scraw- ly but quite plain." "Well, what did it contain?" "A commitment blank to an insane asylum." Average Jones absently drew out his handkerchief, elaborately whisked from his coat sleeve an imaginary speck of dust, and smiled benignant- ly where the dust was supposed to have been. 'Insane asylum," he murmured. 'Was--er--the blank--er--filled in?" Only partly. My name was pricked in, and there was a speciflcr.tion of dementia from Jlrug habit, with sui cidal tendencHwK With a quick signal, unseen by the visitor, Averafe Jones opened the way to Bertram, who, in a wide range of experience and study had once spe­ cialized upon abnormal mental phe­ nomena. "Pardon me," that gentleman put In gently, "has there ever been any de­ mentia in your family?" "Not as far as I know." '"Or suicidal mania?" "All my people have died respect­ ably in" their beds," declared, the vis­ itor with some vehemence. "Once more, if I ihay venture. Have you ever been addicted to any drug?" "Never, sir." "Now," Average Jones took up the examination, "will you tell me of any enemy who would have reason to persecute you?" "I haven't an enemy in the world." . "You're fortunate." returned the Wl1" other smiling, "but surely, some time in your career--business rivalry--fam­ ily alienation--any one of a thousand causes?" ^ "No," answered the harassed man. ' Not for me. My business runs smoothly. My relations are mostly dead. 1 have no friends and no ene­ mies. * My wife and I live alone, and all we ftsk," he added in a sudden out­ burst of almost childish resentment, "is to be left alone." The inquisitor's gaze returned to it the packet of letters. "You haven't complained to the post-office authori­ ties?" • /. "And risk the publicity?" returned Robinson with a shudder. "Well, give me over night with t ese. Oh! and I may want to 'phone you presently. You'll be at home? Thank you. Gppd day." "|sTow," said Average Jones to Ber­ tram, as their caller's plump back dis­ appeared, "this looks pretty queer to me. What did you think of our friend?" "Scared but straight," was Bertram's verdict. Average Jones pushed the collec­ tion of advertisements aside and- re­ turned to the opening phase of the problem, the fish-bait circular which Robinson had mailed him. So long after, that Bertram hardly recognized it as a response to his last remark, the investigator drawled out: "Not such--er--impenetrable dark­ ness. In fact--er--Eureka, or words to that effect, Bert--when does the bass season end?" "November 1, hereabouts, I believe." "The postmark on the envelope that carried this advertisement to our friend advises the use of the baits for 'these next two months.' Queer time to be using bass-lures, after " the sea­ son is closed. Bert, it's a pity I can't waggle my ears,," "Waggle your ears! For heaven's sake, why?" "Because then I'd be such a perfect jackass that 1 could win medals at a show. I ought to have guessed it at first glance, from the fact that the ad­ vertisement couldn't well have been mailed to Robinson originally, any­ how." -- ".Why not?" "Because he's not in the sporting goods business, and the advertisement is obviously addressed to the retail trade. Don't you remember; It offers a showcase, free. What does a man liv­ ing in an apartment want of a show- nmlllne indulgently at the end own nose. "Dare say you're right--er--In part, Bert. But I've also a hunch that our man Robinson is himself the delusion as well as the object." "I wish you, wouldn't be cryptic. Average," said his friend pathetically. "There's been enough of that without your gratuitously adding to the sum of human bewilderment." Average Jones scribbled a few words on a pad, considered, amended, and handed the result over to Bertram, who read: "WANTED -- Professional envelope eraser to remove marks from used envelopes. Experience essential. Ap­ ply at once.--A. Jones, Ad-Visor, Aa- tor Court, Temple." "Would It enlighten your gloom to see that in every New York and Brooklyn paper tomorrow?" inquired its inventor. "Not a glimmer." "We'll give this ad a week's repeti­ tion if necessary, before trying more roundabout measures. As soon as I have heard from it I'll drop in at the club and we'll write--that is to ssay, compose a letter." ^ "To whom?" "Oh, that L-don't know yet When I do, you'll see me." Three days later Average Jones entered the Cosmic. club, with that twinkling upturn of the mouth corners which, with him, indicated satisfac­ tory accomplishment. "Really, Bert," he remarked, seek­ ing out his languid friend, in the laziest corner of the large divan. "You'd be surprised to know how few experienced envelope- erasers there are in four millions of population. Only seven people answered that ad­ vertisement, and they were »mostly tyros." "Then you didn't get your man?" "It was a woman. The fifth appli­ cant. Got a t>in about you?" A & nuutrils; the mouth showing toth the soft contours of, sensuality jand the hard, fine lines of craft and cruelty. The man's eyes were unholy. They stared straight before him. and ^f|»re dead. With his entrance there was infused in the atmosphere a sense of something venomous. "Mr. Alden Honeywell?" said Aver­ age Jones. "Yes." The voice had -refinement and calm.' ' "I want to introduce jroa; to Mr. William H. Robinson." The newcomer's head turned slowly 4o his right shoulder, then back. His eyes remained rigid. "Why, the man's blindt" burst out Mr. Robinson in his piping voice. "Blind!" echoed Bertram. "Did yon know this, Average?" "Of course. The pin pricks showed it. And the letter mailed to Mr. Rob­ inson at the general delivery, which, if you remember, had the address pen­ ciled in from pin-holes.^' "When you have quite done discuss­ ing my personal misfortune," said Honeywell patiently, perhaps you will be good enough to fell me which is William Robinson." "I am," returned the owner of that name. "And do you be good enough to tell me why you hound me with your hellish threats." "That Is not William Robinson's voice!" said the blind ma,p. "Who are you?" "William H.'^Robinson." "Not William Honeywell Robin­ son." "No; William Hunter Robinson." "Then why am I brought here?" "To make a statement for publica­ tion in tomorrow morning's newspa­ per," returned Average Jones crisply. "Statement? Is this a yellow jour­ nal trap?" ; "As a courtesy to Mr.-Robinson, I'll explain. How long "have you lived in the Caronia , Mr. Robinson V "About eight months." "Then, some three or four months before you moved in. another William H. Robinson lived there for a short time. His middle"'"heme Was Honey­ well. He is a cousin, and an object of great solicitude to this gentleman here. In fact, he is, or will be, the (hief witness against Mr. Honeywell in his effort to break the famous Holden Honeywell will, disposing of some ten million dollafsT~Am I right,. Mr. 'Honeywell?" "Thus far," replied the blind man composedly. • "Five years ago William Honeywell Robinson became addicted to a patent headache 'dope.' It ended, as such habits do, in insanity. He was con­ fined two years, suffering from psy- chasthenia, with suicidal melancholia and delusion of persecution. Then he was released, cured, but with a super­ sensitive mental balance. "Then the messages were intended to*", drive him out of hiB mind again," said Bertram in sudden enlighten­ ment. "What a devil!" "Either that, or 'to impel him, by suggestion, to suicide or to revert to the headache powders, which would have meant the acylum again. Any­ thing to put him out of* the way, or to make' his testimony incompetent for the will contest So, when the ex- lunatic returned from Europe a year ago, our friend Honeywell here, in some way located him at the Caronia. He matured his ' little schema. Through a letter broker who deals, with the rag and refuse collectors, he got all the second-hand mail from the Caronia. Meantime, William Honey­ well Robinson had moved away, and as chance would have it, William Hunter Robinson moved in, receiving "Am i Right, Mr. Honeywell?" case to keep artificial bait in? What we--er--need here is--er--steam." A moment's manipulation of the radiator produced a small jet. In this Average Jones held the envelope. The stamp curled up and dropped off. Be­ neath it were the remains of a small portion of a former postmark. "I thought so," murmured Average Jones. "Remailed!" exclaimed Bertram. . "Remailed," corroborate^ his friend. "I expect well find the others the same." One by one he submitted the en­ velopes to the steam bath. Each of them, as the Btamp was peeled off, exhibited more or less fragmentary signs of a previous cancellation. "Careless work," criticized Average Jones. "Every bit of the mark should have been removed, instead of trust­ ing to the second stamp to cover what little was left, by shifting it a bit to­ ward the center of the envelope. Look; you can see on this one where the original stamp was peeled off. On this the traces of erasure are plain enough. That's why manila paper was selected; it's easier to erase from." "Is Robinson faking?" asked Ber­ tram. "Oh has someone beet rifling his waste basket?" "That would mean an accomplice In the houBe, which would be dangerous, think it was done at longer range." Drawing the telephone to htm, he called the Caronia apartments. "Hello! Mr. Robinson? This Is Mr. A. Jones. You hear me?" "Yes, Mr. Jones. What is it?" "Is there, in all your acquaintance, any person who never goes out with­ out an attendant^ Take time tc; think, now." ! '/Why--why--why," stuttered Rob- lnsbn, r.nd fell into silence. From the deaths of the silence he presently ex­ humed the following: "I did have a paralytic cousin who always went out in a wheeled chair. But she's dead "And there's no one else?" "No. I'm quite sure." , "That's all. Good-by.^ "What was "that about an attend­ ant?" Inquired Bertram, as his friend replaced the receiver. "Oh, I've just a hunch that the send­ er of those messages doesn't go out' unaccompanied," "Insane? Or semi-Insane? It'does rather look like delusional paranoia," As i.early as Imperfect humanity may, Average Jones appeared to be Bertram took a pearl from his scarf. "That's good. It will make nice, bold, inevitable sort of letters. Come over here to this desk." For a few moments he worked at a sheet of paper with the pin, then threw it down in disgust. "This sort of thing requires prac­ tice," he muttered. "Here, Bert, you're cleverer with your fingers than I. You take it, andl'll dictate." Between them, after Several fail­ ures, they produced a fair copy of the following: "Mr. Alden Honeywell will choose between making explanation to the post-office authorities or calling at 3:30 p. m. tomorrow on A. Jones, Ad­ visor, Astor Court Temple." This Average Jones inclosed in an envelope which he addressed in writ­ ing to Alden Honeywell, Esq., 650 West Seventy-fourth street, city, aft­ erward pin-pricking the letters in out­ line. "Just for moral effect," he ex­ plained. "In part this ought to give him a taste of the trouble he made for poor Robinson. You'll be there to­ morrow! Bert?" "Watch me!" replied that gentle­ man with unwonted emphasis. "But will Alden Honeywell, Esquire?" "Surely. Also Mr. William H. Rob­ inson of the Caronia. Note that 'of the Caronia.' It's significant." At three-thirty the following after­ noon three men were waiting in Aver­ age Jones' inner office. Average JoneB sat at his desk sedulously polishing his left-hand fore-knuckle with the tennis callus of hiB right palm^ Bertram Jounged gracefully In -the : big chair. Mr. Robinson fidgeted. There was an atmosphere of ten­ sion in the room. At three- forty therfc came a tap-tapping across the floor of the outer room, and a knock at the door brought them all to their feet. Average Jones threw the door open, took the man who stood outside by the arm, and pushing a chair toward him, seated him in It The newcomer was an elderly man dressed with sober elegance. In his scarf vai a scarab of great value; on his left hand a superb signet ring. He | carried a heavy. ^ gold-mounted stick. His face was curiously divided against Itself. The fine calm forehead and the deep setting of the widely separated eyes gave an impression of intellec­ tual power and balance. But the low­ er part of the face was mere wreck­ age; the chin quivering and fallen from self-indulgence, the fine lines of the nose coarsened by the spreading the pin-prick letters which, had they reached their goal, would probably, have produced the desired effect" "If they drove a sane man nearly crazy, what wouldn't they have done to one , whose mind wasn't quite right!" cried the wronged Robinson. "But since Mr. Honeywell is blind," said Bertram, "how could he see to erase the cancellations?" "Ah,T That's what I aaked myself. Obviously, he couldn't. He'd have to get that done for him. Presumedly he'd get some stranger to do it. That's why I advertised for a professional eraser who was experienced, judging that It would fetch the person who bad done Honeywell's work." "Is there any such thing as a pro- fessional envelope eraser?" asked Bertram. "No. So a person of experience in this line would be almost unique. I was sure to find the right one, if he or she saw my advertisement. As a matter of fact, it turned out to be an unimaginative young woman who has told me all about her former employ­ ment with Mr. Honeywell, apparently with no thought that there was any­ thing strange in eriaslng cancellations from hundreds of envelopes--for Honeywell was cautious enough not to confine her to the Robinson mall alone--and then pasting on stamps to remail them," "You appear to have followed out my moves with some degree of acu­ men, Mr.--er--Jones," said the blind schemer suavely. "Yet I might not have solved your processes so easily if you had not made on$ rather--if you will pardon me--stupid mistake." - For the first time, the man's bloated lips shook. His evil pride of intel­ lectuality was stung. "You He!" he said hastily. "I do not make mistakes." "No? Well, have It as you will. The | point is that you are to sign here a statement, which I shall read to you before these witnesses, announcing for publication the withdrawal of your contest for the Honeywell millions." "And if I decline?" "The paipful necessity will be mine, of turning over these instructive docu­ ments to the United States postal au­ thorities. But not before giving them to the newspapers. How would you look in court, in view of this attempt to murder a fellowman's reason?" Mr. Honeywell had now gained his composure. "You are right," he as­ sented. "You seem to have a singular faculty for being right. Be careful It does not fail you--sometime." '"Thank you," returned Average Jones. "Now you will listen, please, all of you." , He read the brief document, placed it before the blind man, and set a pin between his finger and thumb. "Sigh there," he said. Honeywell smiled .as he pricked In his name. "For identification, I suppose," he said. "Am I to assign no cause to the newspapers for my sudden action?" 4Ta|twinkle of malice appeared In Average Jones' eye. "I would suggest waning mental acumen," he said. The blind man winced palpably as te rose to his feet. "That is the sec­ ond time you have taunted me on that. Kindly tell me my mistake." Average Jones led him to the door and opened it. "Your mistake," he drawled as Ji® sped his parting guest into the grasp of a waiting attendant, "was--er--in net remembering that -- er -- you mustn't flsh for bass in November." (Copyright, by the Bobbs-MerriU Com­ pany.) POSTSCRIPTS M electrical heating attachment tor . V'v" automobile wind shields has been in-„ vented to keep portions of them dry and clear while rain is f6llinjp%n litem. . , ' *< . £ ^ I • " . *» * ' * ' Bo that pa*aters can do atftpwf ae-. curately a tool has been invented that resembles dividers, one leg consisting' of a fountain pen to hold paint and the other serving as a guide. German motion picture makers are providing films of noted conductors leading orchestras in playing certain * compositions which can be displayed to lead any orchestra In the same mu­ sic. mmm J ** " By experiments with dogs kept awake for several days two French scientists demonstrated that both nerye cells and muscles lack oxygen when tired and secrete a poisonous acid. • Nebraskan after eleven years of experiments has invented a device that enables a user of a party tele­ phone line to Identify any other sub­ scriber who may be, listening to his conversation. • • V No waiters appear In the dining room of a new French hotel, the guests telephoning thglr orders from their tables, to which the food Is delivered from a kitchen below by electric ele­ vators. TREASURE IN EARTH #- Buried Timber & Source of Im­ mense Revenue. Parts of New Zealand Particularly Rich In Deposits Which Have More Material Value Than Coal or Gold. It appears that the recovery and use of buried timber is no new thing. For hundreds of years the wood of buried and submerged trees has been recov­ ered and worked among the Swiss Alps, and many an English farmer of the western counties can point with pride t<Slkn old cabinet or carved four- poster of black bog oak. ,But, accord­ ing to Prof. D. W. Fagan. who has given much study to the subject, it Is doubtful if anywhere else in the world there is so vast an area of buried tim­ ber of immense size as in the Papa- kura valley, near Auckland, New Zea­ land. 4 ^ Beneath the surface of peat, where the soil has shrunk in drying or has been blown away, the trunks of in­ numerable kauri trees lie exposed to view. For centuries they have been covered by the Bemiliquid peat until their branches and crowns have de­ cayed and disappeared. Nothing but the splid heartwood of the inighty trunks remains, and these lie in order­ ly Bwaths almost as regular as wheat stalks in a newly reaped field. The thousand heads 611 point in one direc­ tion, as if the forest had fall,en under the sickle of some giant reapeto Like the branches and crowns, the fpoft sapwood that once surrounded the solid heartwood of the living trees has long since disappeared; so in estimat­ ing the original size there must be made a considerable addition to the present ^measurements. Many of the logs today sh,ow a girth of over sixty feet and a length of eighty or ninety feet of straight timber free from knot or branch. Everywhere about the swamp there are excavations where workmen are uncovering the timber. They scoop pita in the peat on each side of the trunk for the sawyers to work-In. The men wi«l«l huge cross saws and cut into shorter lengths for the miii. i neo the grips of a "forest devil" are at­ tached to owe of the sections. There is a rattle and clank of machinery. * groan and strain of pulleys, a roar of steam and the great log is ^™ f om its bed'fcf centuries, swung on a trolley and hauled away on its last Journey to the niills.' The cut timber Is perfectly sound and of excellent quality. It differs from the kauri timber that is cut from the living tree only in its color, which is a dark reddish brown, like ma­ hogany. The peat is full of fossil gum shed through countless centuries by the tr6es that are now being out. The value \>f resin makes another industry profitable--the recovery of dossil gum. In some parts of the swamp area as many as five successive layers of gum have been found. , Need of Abe Hour. It Is because the organization of nar tional life is so eminently Important, because its absence is one of the main sources of our peril, that we should be Interested primarily in the develop­ ment of a national consciousness and a discipline, which are good for peace, and which can be forwarded now by the peril of war if statesmen of vision can be found to give the movement leadership. Any reaction of opinion which tends to retard or frustrate that development is a national peril. The lack of just that kind of leadership today is conspicuous. The time is rifee for the development of a disci­ pline adapted to and expressive of the phllosophhy of democracy for a defi­ nite and concrete program. Instead of such statesmanship, we have noth­ ing as yet which is constructive, un­ less a propaganda for large expendi­ tures on purely military and naval matters deserves the name.---George W. Alger, in the Atlantic. Two Kinds of Emulsions. Milk and butter are both emulsions. Prof. F. O. Donnan of University col­ lege. London, defines an emulsion as a distribution of one liquid in an­ other. A little oil shaken with much water gives an emulsion in which the particles of oil have a diameter of about a thousandth of a millimeter; such an emulsion is milk. A little wa­ ter in much oil gives particles of wa­ ter even smaller; such an emulsion is butter. Helpful Information. "I \yant a pair of pants for my sick husband,!' exclaimed-the woman. "What size?" asked the clerk. "I don't know, but I think he wears a 14 Vi collar." Early Japanese Metalwork. The earliest examples of Japanese metalwork are two-edged bronse wea^ ons. * HERE AND THERE Practically every Japanese follows the trade of his father. There are over three hundred newspapers in France. iiy The tip of the tongue Is the most sensitive part of the human body. In a hurricane blowing at 80 miles an hour the pressure on each square foot of surface is 31% pounds. The Vatican, the palace of the pope, contains no less than 1,000 halls and ro6inB, and covers 14 acres of ground. Guinea pigs are born with all their fur, their eyes open and with sufficient teeth to enable them to eat solid food at once. In times of peace the Italian army consists of under 275,000 of all ranks; In war she can call on close to three million men. SAYS THE OWL Set a bad example and it will hatch out mischief. Courage is a thing that en* ables us to forget our fears. Patent leather shoes never re­ main as black as they are pol­ ished. • lBhed. *• o * > ' ^ -- o Human nature makes us at- tribute the success of others to chance. A natrow mind overlooks a charlttble act and looks for the motive. , _ Some men who pay their bills 2 promptly expect a lot of credit 1 1 . . . . . GLOBE SIGHTS A man can't become efficient by spending, all of his working hours talk* ing about efficiency. When it is said of a man that "he means well," that is an Indication that he Isn't doing very well. Short skirts also reveal that ther® are a number of girls who aren't prop­ erly built to wear them. The number of unemployed would be less If there weren't so many men la search of light employment. Do your work as well fcs possible, and remember that is the way bushers break into the big league. It is the hardest work in the world to look pleasant When you feel mad enough to bite a nail in two. An optimist may be described as a person who believes that a wolf is go­ ing to be captured during a big wolf hunt.--Atchison Globe. FROM THE PENCIL'S POINT It's always to a man's credit to pay cash. "What's yours?" is a question that usually provokes a smilV And occasionally a wife can read her husband Uke a blank book. * Many a charity fund owes its •no* cess to a competition of vanity. Methuselah had the distinction of ing the original grand old party. It (i useless to try to get a small boy to work while * brass band ia passing. Making other folks miperable is one enjoyment of the victim of chronic dyspepsia. - About the time you break in a pair of new shoes they begin to break out. Nearly everything that glitters has been offered as an inducement for peo­ ple to part with their money. An Ohio clergyman denounces Sun­ day funerals. Most of us favor the postponing or tnem indefinitely. To prevent your hair from turning" gray, cut it off. wrap it tip carefully in tissue paper and store it away in.tlM bottom of the trunk. \<V, • .+ .»«•!.»», •. h ;,I, • • Hf

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy