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About The Polk County post. (Independence, Or.) 1918-19?? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1920)
W hat a M an Did By W IL L T. AMES (©. 1919, by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) This is a story out o f life— out o f the life that is liv e d ; that has its tragedy as well as Its sunshine; that comes to the huppy ending or to the sorrowful one as the case may be, and not as the narrator wills. I f It Is not Just the kind o f story you would wish it to be search through ancestries, analyze prenatal Influences and place the blame where It belongs. Do not blame me. June I'hillips was the daughter of her mother, and she o f her mother; and the mother’s mother the daughter o f still another like mother. And down that line o f motherhood had run a streak of lightsonj°ness, and no strain o f eager willingness. Knsy, smiling, gay was June, beau tiful with the beauty o f great tawny eyes, dnrk lashes and hair with the glint o f mellow sunlight in it. She was soft and warm and pouting. En dowed at once with the lavish lure of womanhood and with the pink and creamy freshness o f her scant seven teen years, she drove John lialllday half mad. John was twenty-three and might have been ten years more than that, by the settled, strong way o f him. In stead o f school he had chosen to take his education from an architect, af ter sixteen. Already he was a fin ished draughtsman and on his way to a place in his profession, under Holly, his watchful employer. To June fluttering breathlessly on the margin o f a never ending millen nium o f grown-up “ good times,” the attentions of the responsible, well- groomed young architect combined the virtues o f a continual social tri umph with limitless opportunity; for John delighted to take the girl about. A year o f this and then, because John was Insistent and the girl was the daughter o f that particular race of mothers and possessed keen Instinct for the easy road to easy circum stances, they were married. Tw o yeurs later John Halllday, knew, in the lottery that Is marriage, what sort o f prize he had drawn. What depth o f stormy petulence hid beneath the winsome pouting, he could have to ld ; but did not. What greed fo r admiration, what impish thirst to dabble In the shal lows along the shores o f the sea of passion, what eternal restlessness and hunger fo r excitement lay behind the tawny eyes had been revealed to him In long months o f disillusionment. But he was strong, and as patient as he was strong, and he bore with many things. Then, coming home after a two weeks’ business trip, he found her gone. She had left, the maid said, the day after his departure, only In structing the girl to remain and keep the house going till Mr. llalliday's return. John maintained the home until his lease expired, then sold the effects to a new tenant and went to live at a hotel. There were no babies. “ God, I thank you,” said John, "fo r that.” When John Halllday was thirty- three his professional opportunity came. It took him to a great city and to a profitable partnership. Still young, enjoying reputation and es tablished position, his earnings well In excess of his needs, life held much o f promise for him. Then it was that, walking home for exercise through a sparkling avenue in the orange sunshine o f a lute Oc tober afternoon, he met her— squarely face to face. A single glance was sufficient to verify the conclusion John Halliday long ago had arrived at concerning his wife. Everything nbout her— In the character o f her clothes, in the manner o f her coiffure, in the degree in which she had insulted with pig ment the God-given splendor o f her eyes and skin, in her carriage, in the way she held her head— was the mark o f the woman who has traded herself fo r the thing she calls “ life ;” and who is satisfied with the transaction and has no regrets. She was quite unabashed. "Hello, John,” she remarked, easily and with her ever ready smile. "H ave you come to life enough to visit the city? You’re looking so prosperous 1” “ So, if I may say so,” replied John, "are you.” “ Oh, I ’m having a perfectly lovely time. There’s no place like the big town, you know. You’ll like It if you ever come here to live.” “ I live here now.” “ R e a lly ! Well, you might come and see me some time— If you’ll tele phone ahead. The name Is Spencer— Miss Spencer; Selkirk apartments Fifty-first street. Now I must run along—Good-by!” With that she was gone; and John Halliday, unshaken, master o f his own nerves, proceeded on his way. Un convincing? Improbable? I think so myself. But, remember, I told you this was a story from real life. It was a full week after this that John was walking home '.gain, had almost reached his own street, when there was a commotion of fire appara tus and a crowd running toward where the whole front o f an apart ment house on the cross street was belching smoke and curious black-red flame. John followed the crowd. A swirl o f wind blew the smoke away from the main entrance and John saw the name “ Selkirk.” Something leaped up into his throat. Then at a win dow only a few floors up, John caught a glimpse of a face of the girl to whom, ten years ago, he had given all that a strong man can g iv e —the whole o f Ills heart. There were ladders, of course, many o f them, but there were many, many windows; the firemen were do ing yeomen service, battling frantic ally and skillfully to save life— but there were so very many lives to save. There were ropes and a cordon o f police. Through these John Halliday tore and beat his w a y ; into the burning building he struggled, leaving his coat in the hands o f a detaining fire man. I ’ast the useless, motionless ele vators, through the blinding, stifling black smoke to the slippery stone stairs; up and up and up and up, gasping, tearing short intakes of air out of the solid smoke with whistling lungs; guessing with an architect’s shrewd guess at the right door and hurling himself aguinst it until It ripped from the hinges, John H alll day staggered across the room to where a film o f belated daylight, shin ing wanly through the smudge, showed the window to be. She was there; choking, gasping, her tawny eyes filled with such hor ror as only the eyes o f such as she cun know, the pigments making ghast ly caricature o f her white face. It was a bad building, built in the bad days o f jerry construction, Its vaunted fireproofing a grisly joke. It was going under them. The floor o f the room was burning through. In a matter o f seconds the end would come. “ June! June, dear! It is I, John, I have come to be with you June, at the end. You won’t have to face It, girl, alone!” And as he took her In his arms there was a great, awful rending sound— clouds o f burning brands rushed roaring out of the white holes where the windows had been, and out In the street the heartsick multitude sobbed In the presence o f a holocaust. How could any one know what im pulse took John Halliday to his w ife ’s side there In the valley of the shadow? Again I must answer. This is a story o f life. And I knew the man. The negro Is supreme In Liberia. No one o f another race can own land or vote In the republic. But after consid ering the irritations that those who live In Liberia must endure, as Emory Ross outlines them In the Geograph ical Review, few people would care to share the negro’s privileges. Besides the trying conditions o f cli mate and disease, there Is a host o f pests, and little Irritations constantly occur. Moths eat up clothing; cock roaches devour bookbindings and nest In the cookhouse; rats climb to impos sible locations and leave nothing but the fragments o f what they have eaten there; white ants consume the sills of houses and the rungs o f chairs; driver ants sweep through the house and force every other living creuture there in, from the lord and master down to the lurking lizard, to flee even in the dead o f night or in the midst o f ra in ; jiggers bore under the skin o f the foot and lay their eggs; fleas bite; the heat produces a rash against which the lightest clothing feels likenerWes; and, to crown all. comes dhobie’s itch. These things and the proverbial one thousand and one others like them are real and Irritating at any time, but through the blur o f a “ touch o f sun” or the haze o f a burning fever they as sume proportions out o f all reason. The odors, the mists, the sights, the sounds get on the nerves; the heavy, drooping, silent. Impenetrable green forest everywhere shuts one In like a smothering grave; the mind grows sick, and the body follows. No one should stay on the west coast o f Africa longer than 18 months at a time. One-Half of Precipitation Evaporates, Two-Thirds Runs Off, One-Third Is Absorbed W ater power, or white coal, as It is called on account o f the white, tum bling foam at the foot o f a waterfall, Is full o f romance. It Is really amaz ing to think o f a city miles away from the falls being lighted by their pow er; but few, perhnps, realize whence the falls receive their energy, or how it may be measured before It reaches the powerhouse. The only source o f inland water supply Is virtually the precipi CLIPPED LOCKS CALLED FOR tation on the earth’s surface, which comes In the form o f rain or snow. Of Present D ay E m p h a tic a lly No T im e the total precipitation practically 50 fo r A n yth ing A pproaching E f- per cent Is evaporated, 33 1-3 per cent fem inan cy in th e M ale. runs off to the sea, and about 16 2-3 per cent is taken up by plant growth. A British brigadier general and for O f these the run-off Is all that Is avail mer Etonian was recently Invited to able, and a part o f this must be used visit his old school and Inspect the for domestic and municipal supply, a officers’ training camp that Institution part fo r artificial irrigation, a part fo r maintains. The officer was delighted manufactures, while the balance only with the bearing of the 600 and more Is available for water-power develop young officers o f the future and praised ment, and Is useful fo r that purpose If them till their necks grew pink with sufficient fall Is found In a reasonable suppressed pride, but— in concluding dlstnnce. In the United States the an his remarks the general spoiled It all nual precipitation varies from 150 by the direst of criticisms— “ Their Inches In the mountnlnous regions to hair was too lo n g !” 9 Inches at low altitudes. In the valleys It was wrong, he said, fo r a Briton o f Idaho, fo r Instance, It Is 20 Inches, to allow his hair to grow so long that and on the mountains o f the eastern he could not see to fight. General range it reaches 40 to 60 Inches. Corkern— that was his name— then went into detail and said he had seen a number of the college lfcxers in set- Oldest Conductor in World tos the previous evening and many of Runs Southern Indiana Train them appeared in the ring with long locks neatly plastered buck from noble I f Doctor Osier were to visit Or brows. A fte r the first round, however, leans, Ind., with a side trip on the the spectacle was different, since the Monon railroad, he probably would re boys looked out as well as possible ceive a shock— not so much from the through a smoke barrnge o f dank, rumble o f the train but at John Bills, stringy locks that cut off their own age eighty-nine, alert and active. Its view but did not in the least hinder conductor. Bills makes the roiihd the enemy’s attack. “ Cut ’em short, trip three times each day between Or b oys!” was his injunction. leans and French Lick, a distance o f Regardless o f peace assurances from 18 miles. H e has been In the Monon the League o f Nations, Britain is de service approximately forty yenrs, hav termined not to sink back into military ing been a railroad man prior to that unpreparedness, and If the general’s time In the W est during the pioneer criticism may be taken In a wider days. Bills Is married, he and his w ife sense the entire island must keep its having made their home there for locks close trimmed and not again be many years. He not only performs the blinded by vanity and self-satisfaction usual duties o f passenger conductor, to what is going on In neighboring but nt times when It becomes neces countries. sary to turn the accommodation Into a Long hair may be esthetic and may mixed train, Bills helps out ns a brake- prove attractive to the opposite sex man. As the slow-moving engine picks through contrast, since the Indies Its way through southern Indiana hills themselves are going in for short hair John Bills frequently may be seen and self-determination, but the time sealing a box car.and riding atop his fo r luxury and long male locks has train. H e Is thp oldest active railroad not yet come, even if there has been conductor in the world. a momentary let-down o f masculine morale follow ing the cessation o f ac tual hostilities. WORTH REMEMBERING W e have seen as yet no symptoms o f Iongbairedness among our own Friendship rings truest in ad American youth, and trust we may versity. not do so, especially since, although Poverty need never fear that It is definitely over over there, it Is sunshine w ill be rationed. by no means done on this side of the Many a hero owes all to the Atlantic. The readjustment, unless all thought that he gave to his com signs fall. Is going to require quite ns rade. clear and close-cropped polls as did An unjust sentence Is never the conquest o f the Hun. known In the court o f con On the other hand, it must be re science. membered that longhairedness Is em The wrong we do to one anoth blematic o f anarchy and bolshevism er Is sure to return with Its and of those visionaries who out of sting. their fringed locks see society as I f the sum total o f health could through a glass, darkly. Therefore It only be calculated, there would Is doubly necessary fo r our young be very few who could truthful mnnhood to give Its eyesight free play, ly say that they are poor tod ay! safe upon the one side from the sleek tresses o f the effete and upon the other from the matted mane of the murder lovers.— New Orleans Tlmes- Picnyune. 3 Negro Supreme in Liberia, Miniature Trees Produced but Must Endure Conditions by Permanently Curtailing That Very Few Could Enjoy the Growth of the Roots Four Eclipses During Year. Here Is a little meteorological Infor O yster Shell Roads. mation fo r 1920 that may be o f Inter T w o great oyster reefs In the Gulf e s t It Indicates four eclipses will be o f Mexico, one at Sabine, Tex., the seen during the year. T w o will be of other at the mouth o f the Atchnfalaye the sun and two o f the moon. The river on Point au Fer, La., are to be first will be a total eclipse o f the moon used for surfacing good roads. The on May 2; the next eclipse will be a reefs are valued at $65,000,000. A partial eclipse o f the sun. May 17; the Galveston man has been awarded a next a total eclipse o f the moon, Octo contract to remove 1,000.000 cubic feet ber 27, and the last a partial eclipse of shells from the Point au Fer reef o f the sun on November 10. The In for use on the roads In that sectloa formation Is from the government o f Louisiana. weather bureau. Miniature trees used as parlor deco rations generally belong to species which under ordinary conditions grow to a much greater height. These par ticular examples owe their small size to the fact that their growth has been artificially stunted. The process is simple, according to Popular Mechan ics. Cut a thick-skinned orange In two, and remove the pulp from one o f the halves. Coat the skin on the outside with shellac to preserve It, and fill it with fine, rich soli. Plant two or three seeds o f some evergreen tree In the soli, und set It In a room where the growing plant will get plenty o f light. Be careful to prop up the skin In such a way that the shoot will grow vertically; do not allow the room where It stnnds to become overheat ed, and water the soil In moderation from time to time. When the roots force their way through the peel, cut them off flush with the outer surface, and In doing so be careful not to In jure the coat o f shellac. After the plant has attained matur ity It may be placed In a Inrge flower pot, and will continue to thrive there, but as its roots have been curtailed. It will be unable to draw more than a reduced amount of nourishment from the soil, and so its growth will be permanently stunted. Cedars, pines and even some fruit trees, endure this process remarkably well. THESE ARE SMILES Prediction Disproved. He (after popping the question)— Why are you crying, dearest? Did I o f fend you by my proposal? She— Oh, no, dear, it’s not that. I am crying from pure joy. Mother has always told me that I was such an Idiot that I wouldn’t get even a donkey for a sweetheart, and now I ’ve got one after all. N o t E n tire ly W e ll. "Doctor, how much do I owe you?” “ Now, don’t start worrying over financial mat ters. You’re not strong enough to be told that yet.” T h e L im it. Amateur Hunter— What If I should mistake you fo r a deer? Guide— I f I ’m more’n fifty yards away that’ll be all right. But If I hap pen to be any closer I ’ll come back and jo lt you on the jaw. Just a F orm of Speech. ’T v e got no use for that fellow ." “ Is that a good reason for scorning him? Surely you don’t confine your acquaintance to people you expect to have some special use for.” Vocational Names. The Call— Are you known as Mrs. Freemeter, your husband’s pen name? The Poet’s W ife— No, I ’m known as Mrs. Smith; that’s ray washtub name. W o uld n ’t Bite. The Customer— I want to get a pair o f merino socks. The New Clerk —Merino? That must be splggoty for marine. You can’t catch me on that gag. If I am a green clerk. Mex ican marines don’t wear socks. Too Serious. Mrs. Cunningham— Love laughs at locksmiths, you know. Cunningham— Love lias no business to laugh at anything. Women Are Not ‘Persons’ According to English Law “ Person” In the dictionaries Is de scribed as "an Individual human be ing.” But it Is not so In England from a legal standpoint, as women do not come within the class. This was re vealed when the Royal Astronomical Society o f London decided to admit women as fellows o f the councIL The plan was found to be Impossible until the society had Its charter altered. Eltgibles for election In the society's by-laws were described as “ persons," and when legal opinion was obtained It was decided that a "person” was strictly o f the masculine sex. The change was msde In the charter and the clever women who bad distinguish ed themselves In star gazing were ad mitted to the society. v a u d e v ille on a tr a ile r w as brougnt to the children of Washington during the holiday season by the D is tric t o f Colum bia com m unity service. T h e o u t fit had room fo r tw o dressing rooms as w e ll a i a stage, and three e n te rta in m ents w ere given each aftern oo n In d iffe re n t neighborhoods w ith o u t charge to the children. Sea Otter Now Is Extinct; Coat or Cloak Worth More Than Its Weight in Gold Hieroglyphic and Cursive Writing Unknown to Tribes Until Almost Modern Times Everyone who has ever done a day’s rabbiting knows the ferret. Not so many are aware that the ferret Is merely a tame albino variety o f the polecat or fitch, and that It is a near relation o f the stoat, the weasel and the otter. It Is from the weasel tribe, says Pearson’s Weekly, that the finest and most costly furs In the market are taken. First and foremost comes the ermine. Ermine, the royal fur, is noth ing but the winter skin o f the common stoat. This animal turns white In snow time, all but the very tip o f its tail, which remains black. The marten Is common in Canada, but nearly extinct In England. It Is n tree-climbing weasel, and it is this nnl- mal which supplies that Immensely valuable fur known ns "snble.” There are Russian and Siberian varieties of the marten. As Is the case with most other furs, skins from the fnr North are much more valuable than those procured In warmer latitudes. In southern and central Europe Is found the stone marten, the skin of which, though not equal to real sable. Is quite vnlunble. So, too, Is that of the Kolinsky marten, which Is found In Russia. The otter, It must be remembered, Is nothing but a large variety o f weasel that lias taken to the water for n live lihood. While the skins o f the ordi nary fresh-water otter have no particu lar value In the fur market, the pelt o f the true sea otter Is today the most valuable of all furs. The sea otter Is. or was, found off the const o f Alaska, bnt It has been so relentlessly hunted that It Is now nearly. If not quite, ex tinct. A coat or cloak o f sea otter would he worth much more than Its weight In gold. Hieroglyphic writing preceded the art o f cursive writing, and the latter, being at first regarded as sacred, was confined to the priesthood. Before the Invention o f either, communications between Individuals, tribes and nations were made by means o f the Inter change o f material objects, which were regarded symbolically, and a code of signals was thus devised for the trans mission o f Important messnges. For Instance, Cooper In hla “Travels o f a Pioneer o f Commerce,” says that a piece of chicken liver, two pieces o f chicken fat, and a chill wrapped in red paper, m eant: “ Prepare to fight at once.” Cursive, or even hiero glyphic, writing was unknown to many savage tribes until almost modern times. About 1295, Toktnl, a Klpshak prince, sent a symbolical declaration of war to Noghal, one of the most Influ ential o f Mongol princes. It consisted o f a hoe, an arrow, and a handful of earth, which Noghal Interpreted as meaning: “ I f you hide In the earth, I will dig you o u t; If you rise to the heavens, I will shoot you dow n ; choose a battlefield.” The ancient Peruvian Indians used n system o f small stones, by means o f which they learned the words they desired to remember. Late Experiments Upset Old Theory That Chilling of the Body Is the Cause of Colds The question o f how we catch cold even now awaits final judgment. The common cold— be It one disease or sev eral— Is how regarded ns an Infection, and colds from Infected persons are surely known, but there are still vic tims who trace their troubles to wet feet, or sitting In a drnft. An Infer ence has been thHt the disease bacteria may rest Inert on the mucous mem brane o f the throat until stirred to ac tion by the chilling o f the body. A familiar explanation Is that chilling o f the skin drives the Mood to the In ternal organs, and by congestion less ens their resistance, bnt the late 8t. Louis experiments o f S. Mudd and 8. R. Grant have shown that there Is no such congestion. The temperature of the skin and mucous membranes actu ally falls with chilling of distant parts o f the body surface nnd rises again when the person Is warmed externally. The Investigators conclude thnt inter ruption o f the circulation may bring Infection by upsetting the equilibrium between host and micro-organisms In such a way as decreasing the respira tion o f the cells, retarding waste re moval, or lessening the local supply of the antibodies o f Immunity. Kangaroo Farming. Kangaroo fnrmlng Is an Important Industry In Australia. The hides are valuable and the tendons extremely fine; Indeed, they are the best mate rial known to surgeons for sewing up wounds, and especially fo r holding broken bones together, being much finer and tougher than catgut. .. ■ , I. TIPS FOR THE POULTRY GROWERS Culling the flock of poor laying hens should be done by daylight, when yel low and white can be readily distin guished, according to Roy E. Jones, poultry specialist for the extension service of the Connecticut Agricultural college, at Storrs. No one need hesi tate to catch and handle hens In day light If they are not unnecessarily frightened. A convenient and easy wny o f hold ing a hen for examination Is to place the breast hone In the palm o f the hnnd, with the fleshy part o f the legs held firmly each side of the fore finger. , The feeling o f the breast bone In the palm o f the hnnd at once Indicates the qunllty o ' the hen. W ith the other hand It Is easy to measure the dis tance between the pelvic bones, nnd from the pelvic bones to the breast bone. While doing this, look at the plumage, comb, shanks, beak, ear lobes nnd vent, nnd the examination Is complete. It Is not safe to judge a hen by any one o f the Indications of production or non-production alone, advises Mr. Jones. There are exceptions to all rules, and It Is only by giving each point due credit that a correct conclu sion can be reached. Most Oriental Nations Write From Right to Left Most oriental nntlons, particularly the Semitic, write from right to left, whilst the Aryan nations write from left to right. The Chinese write [>er- pendleutarly from top to bottom, be ginning on the right-hand side o f the sheet. The ancient Greeks used at one time to write In alternate direc tions, the first line from right to left, the second line from left to right, and so on ; whnr*. the ancient Mexican» wrote In u circle, beginning from the center. 225 Isles in Fiji Group. The FIJI islands Include about 22!l Islands, of which some 80 are Inhab ited. The main Island Is Vitt Leva, on A Worth-While Lake. which Snva, the capital, Is situated; but there are othera o f Importance, The famous Trinidad asphalt lake such ns Vnnua I.evu, Tuveunl, Knn- has been found o f uniform character davn. Ovalou and tho Yasawas and down to 150 feet below the surface. I Lau groups.