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When the Colorado Burst Its Banks and Flooded the Imperial Valley of California Ednati Aiken ' Ospjnrlgta, MMbRO Oonptny CHAPTER XVIII--Continued. ft!" ' Bis eyes glued to the lurching ititfon- house, Babcock took a brownpaper- rolled cigarette from the proffered box. )• "Look," he cried. "There, ttaM go. See that--" There was a splash of splintering timber; a Niagara of spray as the building fell Into the flood. A minute later, a wreckage of painted boards was floating downstream. At table Babcock resumed his campaign. "The trouble with you all, too hare cold feet. You're all scared •ff too soon." Wooster, up from his nap, looked •cross the table. "Cold feet? So jron'd have If you had been up for Bights, wetting your feet on the levee, as some of us have, as Hardin has. Mine are cold all right." He lifted an •mazed foot "Cold 1 Look here, boys, they're wet I" The men looked to find the water creeping In--Babcock climbed on his chair. "This means the station," cried Wooster. Every man jumped. If the craters had got to them, It wouldn't be long before they were reaching the O. P. depot! The tracks would go-- They were piling out of the door when the telephone caught them. It Was a message from Rickard. A car was to be rigged up, papers, tickets and express matter taken from the Station. The river was cutting close to the track. The car would be the terminal, a half-mile from town. The situation looked black. Coulter, Eggers, began to pack their stock. The levee, it was said, would not hold •--half of Mexican was gone. Calexlco Would go next. Rickard's Indians were kept stolidly piling brush and •luffed sacks on the levee. This, the ' word ran, would be the fierce night-- •0 one expected to sleep. They were preparing for the big tattle, the final struggle, when the Kde recession passed tlie town. Krtacular as was its coming, there Was an anticlimax In its retreat. The water reached the platform of the depot, and halted. The town held tta breath. There was some deep that night * The next day, the nerves of the valley relaxed. The river was not cutting back. The men at the levee dropped their shovels, and went back to the discussion of their lawsuits. Their crops were ruined; too much water, or too little. Whatever way they had been hurt, the company would have to pay for Itl A small shift guarded the river. Kckard, in his room at the Desert hotel, and Hardin up the river, slept a day and a night without waking. The chair-titters picked up their argument where they had left it; was the railroad reaping a harvest of damage •hits when they should be thanked Instead? Faraday, the newspapers teported, was trying to shift his responsibility ; he had appealed to the president. Their correspondence waa published. The government was in no tarry to take the burden. A telegraphic sermon, preaching duty, distributing blame, was sent from Washington. Perhaps not Faraday himself Was more disturbed than the debaters •f the Desert hotel. "The railroad's no Infant In arms! It wasn't asleep when It took over the affairs of the D. R." Here spoke the majority. "A benefaction! It was self-interest! When the river is harnessed, who'll profit the most from the valley prosperity? It can afford to pay the obligations; that is, It could. It will find a way," the ravens croaked, "of shaking the Desert Redamatlon company's debts; of evading the damage suits. Look how Hardin was treated!" The feeling ran higher. For m«ny •f the ranchers were rained; there Was no money to put in the next year's crop unless the promises of the Ifrigation company were kept A fliw landowners, and others who had •ot completed their contracts, distrusting the good faith of the company, or its ability to pay, bad "quit" In disgust to begin again somewhere else. PatTish, and Dowker, and others of the "Sixth" scoured district had secured the promise of employment at the Heading. Work, It was expected, would be begun at once now that the danger to Calexlco had T puMedL 1 ' " ' £ * ^ - . ;:V# CHAPTER XIX. More Oratory. few men sat at a small table In • Cbrner of the crowded hotel diningfoom, in El Centro. Their names JBade their corner the psychological sfenter of the room. Marshall was always a target of speculation. Mac- Lean, straight and soldierly in his •mstard-colored clothes, was, as usual, the man of distinction. Black started the whisper going that the dark Ctranger was General de la Vega, the Hexlcaa commissioner, p, What was he doing In that group? f t : * ' water companies, and Brandon, through the valley Star, were pointing out that the valley's salvation depended on the Immediate control of the river; that the railroad, only, had power to effect It These conservatives were counseling caution. Only that morning, the Star had Issued an extra, a special edition pleading for co-operation. "If the river breaks odt again," warned Brandon's editorial, "without Immediate force to restrain It reclamation for that valley Is a dream that Is done. And the only force equal to that emergency is the railroad. Why deliberately antagonise the railroad? The Desert Reclamation company, it Is well known, Is bankrupt For the Instant the railroad has assumed the responsibilities of the smaller organization. Apply the same situation to Individuals. Suppose a private citizen Is In straits, and another comes forward to help him. Must every creditor assume that the Samaritan should pay the crushed citizen's bills? In the present Issue, self-interest should urge consideration. Better a small loss today that tomorrow may amply refund, than total ruin in the future." Hardin, from his morose unshared table, could see the anxious curiosity setting toward the railroad group. Over glasses, heads were close together. Near him, the talk ran high. Scraps of inflammable speeches blew his way from Barton's party. Hardin's mouth wore a set sneer. "Water company talk!" Black was haranguing his comrades. "Stand out against them. Don't let them bluff you. Marshall will try to bluff you. Stand together!" Barton's resonant organ broke through the clatter. "Marshall Is not going to bluff us." Grace and Black began to talk at once. Hardin's Up grew rougher. Where had they all been if it had not been for him? Why, he'd pulled them from their little farms back Blast, where they were tolling--where they'd be tolling yet They'd had the vision of sudden' wealth--they hadn't the grit to work for It to wait for It! How many years had he been struggling? He was a young man when he'd gone into this thing, and he was old now. Coffee and cigars had been reached of the midday dinner. Babcock was nervously consulting his watch. "Shouldn't we arrange the meeting?" he asked for the third time. The social and casual air of the meeting had teased him. What had the political situation In Mexico to do with the Important session confronting them? His fussy soul had n6 polite salons; office rooms every one of them. MacLean looked to Tod Marshall to answer. "I think it will arrange itself." His voice was silken. "It Is to be a discussion, a conference. You can't slate that" "We could program," began Babcock, looking at his watch again. 'I don't think well have to." Marshall smiled across the table. "You'll find this meeting will run Itself. There is not a man here who is not burning to speak. Look at them now! Drop a paper In that crowd, and see the blaze you'd get! You can open the meeting, Mr. Babcock, and I would suggest that yon call on Mr. De la Vega first" The eyes of the dining room followed the party'as they filed past the buzzing tables. Faraday was not In town; Marshall represented that power. As he walked out, bowing right and left, his right band occasionally extended in his well-known oratorical, courteous gesture. His black tie was "Yoa are going on the platform?" assumed the newspaper man. "No? Then will you sit with me?" "If you will sit upstairs," scowled Hardin, WI don't want to be dragged onto the platform." Down in the orchestra, Black from the Wistaria was haranguing a group of gesticulating ranchers. Phrases climbed to the men on the balcony seats. "Keep their pledges. Promise makers. Let them look at oar crops!" "If Marshall expects to coerce those men, I lose my guess. Then he's no judge of men," cried Hardin. "Look at those faces." The floor was a sea of impassioned features. "Something's going to drop," echoed Brandon. From the wings, Babcock's inquisitive glasses were seen to sweep the house. Hardin could catch the summons of an excited forefinger to the group unseen. There was a minute of delay. Then Babcock's nervous toddle carried him onto the stage. De la Vega followed Babcock. There was a hush of curiosity. The house did not know who he was. Behind him, soldierly, stiff, stalked Mac- Lean. Marshall's entrance released the tongues. There was an interval of confusion on the stage. Babcock, like a restless terrier, was snapping at the heels of the party. At last they were all fussily seated. De la Vega was given the place of honor. Marshall, Babcock put on his left, MacLean on the right * Babcdck raised his staccato gavel, hush fell on the house. His words were clipper and sharp. You have left your plowing to come here. You are anxious to hear what we have to say to you. You cannot afford to be Indifferent to it You acknowledge, by your presence, a dependence, a correlation which you would like to deny. Irrigation means co-operation, suffering together, strug> giing together, succeeding together. Yoa prefer the old Individual way, each man for himself. I tell you it won't do. You belong in other countries, the countries of old-fashioned rain. Yoa want to hear what we have to say to you, the company who saved the valley, the company you are suing. But you have also suits against Mexico. There is a gentleman here who has a message from Mexico about those suits. I have the honor, gentlemen, to Introduce, Senor de la Vega." "Ladies," bowed the MeHcan. "Gentlemen, Mr. Chairman. It is with an appreciation of the honor that I accepted for today the invitation of Mr. Marshall to speak before you, to speak to you; I must tell you first my thought as I sat there and looked at you, the youth, the flower of the Amep* lean people. A few years ago, we were calling this the great Colorado desert; now, the world calls It the hothouse of America. This theater is built over the bones of gold-seekers, who dared death In this dreaded desert to find what Was burled In those mountains beyond. The man, I say, who crossed this desert, took the hazard of death. It was a countryman of mine who piloted, fifteen years ago, a little band of men, across the desert Perhaps he camped on this Very spot It Is not impossible! It is here, perhaps, that he got his inspiration. He saw a wonderful territory; he dreamed to quicken It with the useless waters of the Colorado. You will all agree that it was Guillermo Estrada who dreamed the dream that has come true; that It was through him that some of your countrymen secured their privilege to reclaim this land. Later, when one of yoar countrymen found he could not fulfill his promise to you, the promise to deliver water to your ranches, he came to my nation and got permission to cat into the river on our territory. Most gladly did Porflrlo Diaz grant that raents will probably be made *o that the valley will be given water. I would like to take yoar answer to my government" It was several seconds before the house got Its breath. The import of the diplomat's words was astounding. Barton got to his feet, yelling with his great bass voice, "Betrayed!" His shrunken finger Indicated a youth with "R. S." in black letters on his collar. "The valley has been betrayed." In the balcony, the uproar was deafening. Around Hardin andferandon words were thudding like bullets. "Reclamation Service." "That's their game." "The concession!" "They won't get It" "Betrayed. We are betrayed." Downstairs. Babcock's gavel rapped unheard. Behind the excited figure wielding the stick, sat Marshall, his unreadable, sweet smile on his face. His eyes were on Babcock, who was vainly clamoring for order. "Program that meeting." Holllster was trying to make himself heard to Barton over two rows of seats, but his voice was like a child's on an ocean beach. Barton was surrounded by eager anxious men. The audience had split Into circles of haranguing centers. It was Impossible to get attention. Hardin could see Marshall pull Babcock by the tails of his coat Unwillingly, he could see Babcock allow the crowd five minutes by his consulted watch. Then again, the gavel danced on the table. Marshall was still smiling. Babcock's shrill voice split the din. "Order." The ocean of voices swallowed him again. « "We won't let them In," Grace was bellowing, "the valley won't stand for It" "Take your medicine,** thundered the big organ of Barton. "I warned you, Imperial valley." "Betrayal." groaned the crowd. Down In the orchestra. Barton was holding a hurry-up meeting of the water companies. De la Vega had stepped back and was consulting with Tod Marshall. Babcock pulled oat his watch, his gavel calling for attention. This time he was heard. De la Vega approached the footlights, a questioning look on his face. "We ask for a little time," began Barton. Instantly the house was on its feet "Withdraw the suits. Give him your answer. Give him our answer. We don't want the Service. The valley don't want the Service. Withdraw the suits." Barton's moon face looked troubled. "We can't apswer for all the ranchers." "Yes, yoa can," screamed Grace, that today, yoa are his, I am told. Is your The Ranches Were Ruined. +. Jiabcock completed a combination V, which encouraged speculations and '# :fiead-shaklngs. The room was Jammed If * JjWlth valley men. The meeting of the if: " < ifanchers and the several water com- ^ranies had been called for that afterp| jnoon, the summons signed by Fara- 0fri '-day himself. Nothing else had been rjf; „ talked of for a fortnight. > •" It was known throughout the valley that the work at the Intake was not yet begun; that Rickard was waiting there for orders; that Faraday and ' the president of the United States were iMOived In correspondence as to 'the reiPbnsiblllty for the future control of tbe river. Faraday's eagerness to shift his buVden was looked upon as suspicious. It was in the air that the officers of the Overland Pacific would demand a recall of the damage suits before they would complete the protective works at the Heading. Tbe jMn of too* vision, members of the stringing down his shirt front; his black clothes were the worse for his lunch. But no one, save the Eastern girls, saw 8pots or tie. The future of that valley lay in that man's hand, no matter how Black or Grace might harangue. In five minutes, the dining room was emptied. As snow gently falling, had gathered the first damage suits of the ranchers. The last flood had precipitated a temperamental storm. Men were suing for the possible values of their farms, impossible values ot crops. Not alone the companies had been blanketed with the accusing papers, but. against Mexico the white drifts had piled up. Mexico! No one knew better than Hardin how absurd it was to accuse the sister country of responsibility. A pretty pickle they were lnl Where *?as It all going to end? In the lobby, Hardin ran up against Brandon, wh# was following a news scent. Through tbe volley it was being rumored that subscriptions were to be asked for the completion x>f the wotfc. If this were the IuUsuUwa, there would | be a hot meeting. privlleg' suing complai His pause betrayed a confused muHH| of voices. De la Vega's polite ear^med to differentiate the phrases. There was a jumble of sound. De la Vega looked inquiringly at Babcock, who waved him on. "It has nothing to do with the history, but I would like to say In passing that so assured were your people of our frendly feeling toward you that they did not wait to receive permission from Mexico to make the cut Your people Were In a hurry. Yoar crops were in danger. First the lack of water, then too much water damaged your valley. A few acres--1 A voice from the crowd cried out "A few acres? Thousands of acres." Instantly others were on their feet. "Thousands of acres. Ruin." One man was shouting himself apoplectic. Babcock's gavel sounded a sharp staccato on the table. "Thousands of acres." De la Vega was unruflled. "And more than that The valley, It must be remembered, does not stop at the line. Mexican lands, too, have been scoured by the action, the result of the action of your irrigation company. It was a mutual," he paused, and a quaint word came to his need. "A mutual bereavement. It did not occur to us to accuse you of our troubles. Your damage suits pained and astonished us. But they gave as also a suggestion." The rustling and the murmurs suddenly ceased. A prescient hash waited on De la Vega. "You have been advised to sue us. To sue us for giving you that concession. Therefore, the only answer Is for us to withdraw that concession! You accuse us. for giving it to you. That concession is valuable. What else can we do? Before your damage suits were filed, we were approached by others for the same privilege. If you do not withdraw your suits, my n|tlob sends word to you that you may ngt^rnke water from the Colorado river through Mexican soil. You will net be without water probably long; I have said that concession Is valuable 1 Other arrange- In straits. Faraday promised his help on the condition that the affairs of the Desert Reclamation company would be controlled by bis company. He took the control. He Inherited-- what? Not good will. Threats, dankage suits. Do you think that snowelide of complaints is going to encourage him to gfi on? This is what I came here to talk to you about. You ranchers don't want to cut your own throats. Now, there's a good deal going on about which yoa are In tbe dark. Faraday's got a right to feel he's shouldered an old man of the sea. He's been trying to dislodge It He's appealed to the president Ever since we came into this, the cry from Washington has been, 'Do this the way we like, or we'll not take It off yoar hands.'" A murmur of angry voices started somewhere, swelling toward the balcony, I "We don't want the government--" began the rising voices. Marshall's voice rang out: "But the government wants--you I Unless you will help save yoar own homes, the government will have to, In time. It's got to. Up there at Laguna, have you seen It? There's nothing going on. They're watching as. That's a useless toy If oar works are washed out. Faraday says this to you--" Not a sound In the stilled house. "Unless you withdraw your damage suits, he won't advance another damned cent" Sharply he sat down before the audience realized that his message was finished. The house had not found Its voice, when Babcock's gavel was pounding again for attention. The question, he felt had not been put to them completely. Perhaps, they did not gather the full Import of Mr. Marshall's message. Mr. MacLean would follow Mr. Marshall. . MacLean's superb figure rose from a tree-paneled background. "He should sing 'Brown October Ale,'" suggested Brandon to Hardin humorously. Hardin's eyes were on MacLean. What did he know about It? What could he tell those men that they did not know? MacLean was a figurehead in the reorganized Irrigation company. Why hadn't they called on him, Hardin? He knew more about the Involved history of the two companies than the whole bunch on the stage down yonder. He could have told them, he could have called on their Justice; their memory-- MacLean was speaking. "Mr. Marshall has likened the river project to the old man of the sea. He has It on his back, while It la busily kicking him in the shins! "Mr. Marshall has given you Mr. Faraday's message. He has asked you to dismiss your damage suits. I ask you to do more than that Put your hands In your pockets! Come out and help us. You don't want the government I. am told that Is the sentiment of the valley. When you called to them, they wouldn't help you; they wouldn't give you an adequate price. Congress will soon be adjourning. What is Mr. Faraday to say to Washington? Is he going to close that break? That depends on you. Withdraw your suits. Do more. Stop fighting against us. Fight with us--" The audience stirred ominously, angrily. Before MacLean was done, a voice screamed from the balcony. You can't quit. That's a threat You're in too deep. You can't fool us. You've got to save yourself. You've got to go on. Tell Faraday to tell that to Washington." The uproar was released. Black, from the Wistaria, jumped on his Marshall's Voice Rang'puf. jumping up and down like a baboon. If you don't I'll answer for them. Don't you see, It's a trick? It's a trick. I see the hand of the Q.'P. In this." Friendly hands pulled him down into his seat The audience was chanting. "Withdraw the suits. Take your medicine. --Don't lose the concession.--Lord, the Service I--Give them the answer now." Barton held up a withered hand. The undeveloped body was dignified by the splendid head. "Don't withdraw your concession. I think I con say that Mexico will not be sued." Again, the shout went up. "Answer like a man. Think I Good Lord I Say we withdraw the suits 1" "We withdraw the claims against Mexico." Barton sat down to a sud den bush. The first blood bad been let Once more Babcock's glasses swept the house. He rapped the table. "That's not all. We've got more to say to you. Gentlemen, Mr. Marshall." Marshall stepped forward to a si' lence which was a variety of tribute." He bowed. "I will be brief. Mr, Faraday has asked me to take his place here this afternoon. It's only fair. If It were not for my interference, he would not be Involved In this situation. I think you will grant that It Is Mr. Faraday's company which can save the valley?" To save Its own tracks 1" yelled voice from the balcony. Marshall sent a soft smile heavenward. "Incidentally. And its traffic. Why don't you say It? We don't deny that. The Overland Pacific's no altruist" There was a Jeer which rose Into a chorus. "Altruist 1 Octopus. That's what It Is." Marshall's hand went up. "If you want to beer me?" He waved away Babcock's descending gavel. "I was told it would cost two hundred thousand dollars to close that break of yours. Do you want the actual figures? It has eaten already a million, and the work Is not yet doncL You know the history of the undertaking. Tta Desert Reclamation company was chair. Ml api speaking for the valley. We can't help. Yon know it We're stripped. We're ruined. You think to threaten us with the government--if we wait for the government to decide, the valley Is gone--and the railroad's money with it I tell you, your bluff won't go. We want justice. We are going to have Justice." "Justice!" came from tta surging ranchers. "Fair play," yelled Black. "You can't trick us. We were not born yesterday. We have rights. The company brought us here. What did we give our money for? Desert land? What good is thla land without water? We bought water. Give us back the money we've put in--that's what we're asking for. We won't be scared out of our rights." There was a growling accompaniment from the back rows, heading together, "Order," cried Babcock, thumping his gavel. "Let Mr. Black tar* tta floor." Black had not stopped. Wildly his hands cut the air. His speech, though high-pitched, had a prepared sound; it worked toward a climax. He gave individual Instances of ruin. "Grace, Wlllard Grace, his crop gone, his place cut in two. Holllster and Wilson of the Palo Verde, the ranch a screaming horror. Scores of others." He would not mention his own case; and then he Itemized his misfortunes. Parrish, his place scoured beyond all future usefulness. What had they come Into the valley for? Who had urged them? There were pledges of the D.. R., water pledges. That was all those ruined men were pleading, the redemption of those pledges. Individual ruin, what did it mean? A curtailing of luxuries, of personal Indulgence. "I tell you, It means food, bread, potatoes; milk for the babies; or starvation." Black had touched the deep note. This was the answer. This was what they wanted to say. "You ask us to help you, us, we who are taxed already to our breaking point You say your company won't go any further. What does that help mean to you? Poverty? A few thousands, a million to the O. P., a corporation , what does a loss mean to them? Poverty? I tell you, no. A smaller dividend, maybe, to whom? Yes, to whom? To the men who live in Fifth avenue, whose wives are dragged about in limousines. Withdraw their suits ? Help Faraday, and ruin men like Parrlsh? Men of the valley, what Is your answer to Faraday?" The crowd was on its feet, swaying and pushing. The air was fetid with breaths. Wilson's crowd had forgotten its lorgnettes. "No," yelled the ranchers. "We say, no." A boy made his way from the wings, a yellow envelope In his hand. Babcock waved him on to Marshall. The audience was crying Itself hoarse. Babcock lost control of the meeting In that minute of turning. Holllster, of the Palo Verde, was striving to be heard; Babcock's hammer sounded in vain. But Marshall's eye had cabght a spark from the yellow sheet He sprapg forward, throwing the dispatch toward MacLean. His excitement caught the eye of the crowd. "The river!" There was a sudden hush. "The river's out again!" A groat swept through the house, there waa a break toward the doors. (TO BE CONTINUED.) California Leads In Beans. According to government figures* California last year produced mora than half the beans in the United States.--Pittsburgh Dispatch. POTATOES v». OIL ""H THE PLAETDEALER, MCIIEXRY, • ft SEEMINGLY IMMUNE TO PAIN Australian Aboriginals Suffer Little Inconvenlenee From Even tta •; Moft 8evere Injuries, sight of their own bl send Australian aboriginals Intjo hysterics, writes a correspondent In the Australian Bulletin, but I am convinced they feel little or no pain from even the severest Injury. On one occasion, when dragging a young girl from a shark that bad her foot In Its Jaws, she looked up and remarked casually, "Mine tlnk it dat shark been tak it mine foot!" The sight of the blood upset her for a while; but a few hours later she was playing euchre with the rest of the camp. The wonder Is that wounded blacks don't more often bleed to death, for they take no special means to prevent It The most approved method used to be to cover the wound thickly with fine mangrove ash, apd over that a layer of damp clay, which was not removed for several days. I never saw them wash a wound, their theory being that the blood heals the wound. In later years they all learned to go to a doctor when Injured, but thirty or forty years ago one saw dreadful deformities resulting from accidents and fights. On Fraser's island in the seventies there was a man whose leg had been broken in two places below the knee. Neither fracture had knitted, and he was a most grotesque object to meet The doctors wanted to mend him, but he kept out of the way. Another case was an old woman whose arm had been broken between the wrist and elbow. She used to pry the bones one against the other, and she could give a terrible blow with the loose hand. LIVE FOR WORLD TO COME Inhabitants of Monasteries on Mount Athos Takf No Thought of Mundane Things. You Oughta Know That, Uncle. „ "fine dog you have there, my little man," remarked the kind old gentle* man. "What do you call him?" "Dont hufta to call him," answered my little "He goes every place I do." peninsula tapering south- •ward from the busy city of Salonlkl ends in three Irregular prongs like a misused trident of Neptune. Ou tta end of the easternmost of these pronga, almost surrounded by the sea, stands the Holy mountain, or Mount Athos. It la given to men whose thoughts and doings are all directed with a sole thought of the world to come, so that the war agony which convulsed this earth hardly caused a ripple In their quiet existence. The slopes of Mount Athos are covered with monasteries large and small. It Is a little world In Itself, this hit of ancient Greece. It lives to a quiet ordered tempo in an atmosphere where noise and strife are almost unknown, where all the little doings of the day move to a thousand-year-old rltuaL There are men here who have not wandered a mile from their cloister In twenty years, willing prisoners of their own convictions. It Is a place of kindly, dreamy life, free from heartburnings and Jealousies, where each man 1® the equal of his fellow, despite the castes and ranks of the order equal in a common infinite littleness befors the majesty of divine omnipotence and eternity. No woman Is permitted to visit tne sacred ground of the mountain, not that the order looks down on woman, but rather in tribute to her power to draw, the thoughts of men from the eternal things. Despite the prohibition, however, there are rumors of women disguised who fled to Athos and found sanctuary there in the time of tta Greek revolt and the war with the Turks. It is whispered, too, that the daughter of an English admiral accompanied her father on an official visit In the uniform of a midshipman, "r Five thousand bushels of potatoes In one year is better from even's banker's standpoint than 5,000 busYiels of potatoes In ten years. Where, then. Is the harm in getting rich quickly? Is It In potatoes? No one thinks it a crime to get rich quickly In potatoes. Why Is oil "frenzied finance" more than! potatoes? Oil is as useful, as respectable, aa reputable as the Irish tuber. Prejudice is dishonesty. Honesty in oil pays better than honesty in potatoes, and neither oil nor potatoes pay without honesty. Four acres of proven oil land in any of the five best oil fields In Texas will pay better than 400 acres of potatoes In any land. See U. S. statistics- Compare oil In Texas In labor, time, land as producer of $5,000 worth ofl oil with same items of time, labors land In the production of $5,000 worth of potatoes. Admitting that the expert producers of oil and potatoes are equally honest, is the potato with all Its eyes a conservative investment and the oil a speculative investment because it helps us break the silly laws that man must earn his living by the sweat of his brow? Who made such a lacking, limited law? Is an honest oil proposition "frenzied finance" or a get rich quick scheme of speculation because it la oil? Is the honest potato slow In results. the modest Murphy, though In bumper crops aud under the most con- : servative management--or honest oil, bounteous, quick in results (because so much more useful than the potato), a sure solution of the much "overdone scarecrow" of "high living?" Which will break the superstitious spell regarding the question, which is- best for the Investor* the so-called conservative or speculative Investment? Potatoes come out of the ground, so does oil. One In bushels and pennies, the other In barrel* and dollars, yes, thousands of dollars In a single day-- perhaps tens of thousands. A year Is consumed In producing one crop of potatoes, however large or small, I* this because the farmer, the granger, the agriculturist, is more honest or stupid than the oil operator? We need oil, and we need potatoes. Will you continue to be a potato plodder and an honest brow sweater, but In addition become now an equally honest oil investor? Who would Invest In potatoes except a speculator? You don't produce potatoes for fun, but for money--that Is exactly the position of the honest oil producer. I wish to make the two points only, honesty and money, and they should be one. Oil Is worth now, such as we mean, $2.25 a barrel. What does the farmer get for his hard earned potatoes a barrel, and how many does he get from a four-acre tract of land? We might get at the price oil Is now as high as $25,000 from four acres of land, and all this in one day. We know of several ln Texas that gushed from 5,000 to 10,000 barrels Of oil per day. Now think, and think hard. Hereafter, shall all your money £0 Into potato ground, or shall some of It go Into our oil groundj Our polley is quick honeety not etow honesty. Potatoes are gambled In. like oil-- crop Is short, a failure, frozen, stolen, rotten, and lost, but is that a proof of anything wrong with the same old friend, the potato? Why not accord the same just treatment to our greater and equally honest friend, Oil. The tongue of a dishonest potato operator Is quite as oleagenous as the tongue of the oil operator. If you wish a practical demonstration of the safety and profit in oil comparison with our dearly beloved potato, make an Investment in the Bill Davis Oil Association, a company named after W. D. Davis, Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, who Is also president of the company, while James Liston, secretary of the city of Fort Worth, Is secretary of our oil company, and over 150 associates, many of whom have made a success in Oil. Invest your money with these men and you will get as square a deal as if you Invested in your own, potato plot, while the difference in your profits will convince you It Is just as honest to get rich quickly from an Investment in oil as slowly in potatoes. Send for free map and prospectus. Thoroughly responsible agenta wanted. BiLL DAVI8 OIL ASSOCIATION. Temporary headquarters In tta Director's room of the Continental Bank, Forth Worth, Texas. Lilverty bonds not taken. ' Copyright applied for. • n • > CALIFORNIA Pacific Grove--with Its Ideal Hnriat#--famous summer and winter report city on charming Monterey Bay--128 miles soutfe of San Francisco. Wonderful fishing; worldrenowned auto drive® aiding rugged shores and In beautiful pine, oak and cypres forests. Free literature. Address Caambsr of Commerce, Pacific Grove, Csl. u: V Cobnt 'Em Again, Old Topi ^ From an English story: "He'll have him ln the Fleet prison, as sure a« ever a dlca ba*. toor aldJMCSfJBoaton Transcript. P" •'A"';-. • Dally Thought. ' i The silence that accepts merit the most natural thing ln the world. Is the highest applause.--Emerson. Repair work absorbs about 40 p cent of the labor and Machinery * British shipyards-- Cuticura Soap Is Easy Shaving lor Sensitive Skins N*w Up-to-data Caticmi HitM A girl is eager to add ten years to her age when she's twelve, but when she's twenty-five it's diffei»R£> THE MEN IN CLASS A1 A sound, healthy man is never a hack j number. A man can be as vigorous and' able at seventy as at twenty. Condition,1 not years, puts you in the discard. A system weakened by overwork and careless living brings old age prematurely. The bodily functions are impaired and unpleasant symptoms apuear. The weak apot is generally the kidneys. Keep them clean and in proper working condition and you will generally find yourself in Class A. Take GOLD MEDAL Haarlem Oil Capsules periodically and your ay stem will always be in wofkinc order. Your spirits will be enlivened your muscles supple, your mind active, and your body capable of hard work. Don't wait until j ou have been rejected. Commence to be a first-class maa now. Go to your druggist at |nc>» * Get a trial box of GOLD MBpAIj Haarlem Oil Capsules. They are ifcaoe of the pure, original, Imported Haarlem Oil--the kind your great - grandfather used. Two capsules each day will keep you toned up and feeling ana. Money refunded if they do not help you. Remember to ask for the imputed GOLD MBDAL Brand. In three ttaam. sealed packages. --Adv. U a man never makes mlstAfis ta never makes anything else. EydMs, Your^t^,^ Ey®»SfsS uk&ly relieved by I No8martiag» Comfort. At Four Drags"™ °L ** COc per Bottle. For Seek el (he «&• free write V-V