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.