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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1922)
THE SUNDAY OPEGOXIAX. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 1. 1022 ShafenDown New Hold-Up Game on Country Roads Sends Automobilists Home With Empty Pockets ES." assented the amateur chauf feur to a friend who was con doling with him on the tribula tions of a Journey recorded in various little placards which beplastered the windshield, "these tickets illustrate auto philanthropy. You cannot go far in a machine nowadays without being a phi lanthropist in spite of yourself. The good people among whom you travel in sist on putting you in the' philanthropist class, because they insist on shaking you down for benevolent objects. "Let me tell you what happened on my last trip, and how I accumulated these little mottoes. I had with me my wife, my mother-in-law and my Aunt Matilda. We were surely an innocent and harmless little crowd. But on every road out of New York, and especially In adjacent states, you have to watch your step now adays particularly If you step on the gas . . . "We were buzzing along In a well known county we may call It Hickory county when out on us pops a time eneak from his lurking place like a cplder advancing out of a hidey hole on a poor fly. "Walt wait a minute!' he yells. 'I have been holding the watch on you.' " 'What of It?' I asked, stopping re ".uctantly. " 'What of it?' he echoed: 'You surely don't mean that . You may be pleased to hear that the sewing circlen etltute of Hickory county is giving its annual fair, proceeds to go to the Mata 'beleland home for aged Zulus. This Is a charity to which you should be glad to noble contribute. It will help to give Hickory county a place in the sun, with Its county seat, Hickoryville. The news papers of the metropolus will be bound to give Hickory county a wrlteup and carry the name In news .dispatches. Besides, the cause Is In Itself a worthy one. "The institute appeals to all true and patriotic Americans." "That's a kind of shorthand sketch of the first happening," continued the ama teur chauffeur. "I told the holdup I was still a true and patriotic American in spite of every thing, but did not see where the institute came in on my pocketbook or .why I should ba touched in behalf of aged Zulus. "My remonstrance evoked this state ment: 'Say, you heard me say we had been holding the wateh on you. The fine is $25 or 25 days' road mending- That used to be a chain gang stunt, but now we let you plug alon,- leg free, only, of course, you must not abuse your liberty. You must not slack. You must do your bit!' "Could you beat that?" demanded the amateur chauffeur. "That accounts for the little banner which read 'I am a Matabeleland Aged Zulu Home Sup porter.' "I put up that sign bo's to dodge a thin red line of bloodsucking Hickory county claimants scattered along the route until the county ceases to have a foothold on the map. Oriflamme No. 2 Kxplained. "The next oriflamme on the wind shield, friend, refers to the Saukus village fund for Indignant minors, to which I have also been a contributor, it says: Help the Helpless.' The fund for Indig nant minors is some kind of a kid con cern, I was told. The village managers have gathered up a bunch of indignant kids and crammed them into a ram shackle old castle, and they are doing big business on them. Yes, sir, them kids to a community without much industrial foundation is priceless. At Saukus vil lage the constabule awaited us. He said le had been watching us through a spy glass and had seen us iat a corner. He pointed to a benevolent deacon at his elbow who was picking his teeth in his go-to-meetings I should have told you all this was Sunday that's the busy day. He added: 'This is Brother Beadle; not the novel writer, but I guess a cousin of his am I right, Brother Bee?' 'You air, remarked Brother B. in a voice emerging from his lowest vest button. 'Either that old guy was tunneled or he was a natural born ventriloquist. " 'He is a magistrate,' explained the constabule, 'and he is holding a road court. Yours is case one, and we open it according to the ancient law of Oyer and Terminate. Yea, yea, yea, all ye that have anything to say about this here vio lation of the statues will take speech in hand forthwith or forever hold your peace.' Nobody took speech in hand ex cepting me, and all I said was: 'How much?' On the countenances of the hold ups there was general beaming, like sun shine after rain. . t " 'I guess you are a first offender in this court, and entitled to the benefit of every reasonable doubt,' says Brother Beadle, glowering at my passengers. 'So this time we'll let you off for $25. It won't cost you a cent more than that cash.' " 'Don't you want the machine and call it quits?' I inquired with marked sarcasm. 'Or perhaps you would like to have the machine thrown in for good measure?' I added, becoming even more sarcastic as the envenomed sting of un just circumstances gradually poisoned my blood. ' But would you believe it? That official rOad took it all in good honest seriousuess. - "'Um-hum!' says he: 'Wa'al, we might take it. Um-hum. Yes, we might ' "At this my wife, my sister-in-law and my Aunt Matilda shrieked unanimously, but I soothed them with: 'Ladies, be calm. You might as well know that you may soon have a chance of subscribing to the expenses of this outing, owing to the rapidly sinking condition of my funds ' " 'You don't have to pay,' puts in Mr. Constabule, briskly. 'At leastwise, not necessarily. Don't let the funds question worry you. As I have told you. we can take the machine, and would gladly do it rather than inconvsnience you. Or, if pah likA' and he fell into a wheedle 'if you prefer i you can put in about 25 - JT- U-r. ' " r-rr: :-'Jt X'V- fey ' 'WbW sssrt -Zzs&S ? V -k ' Bxr- f mrj . ' days road mendia', good hard work. Heaven's blessed boon to man and beast. How about it? . . . "Taint such a bad stunt, since we abolished the chain gang after-it had been run down two or three times because the poor boobs couldn't get out of the way of the traffio fast enough.' (Oho, thinks I to myself; so that's why there are no chain gangs any more. Truth, like the cat, will pop out of the bag! But not a word like that did I say.) '"I'll pay,' I snarled. - " 'Oh, very well,' states the constable. 'It you prefer to do so, on a ctih basis, why, it's entirely up to you. This is a fre,e country. There ain't nobody forcin' you to pay unless you want to. The cash goes straight to the fund for Indignant minors. A worthy cause.' "I dug, and after I turned over the booty the constable and Brother Beadle, the magistrate, counted it carefully, and Beadle said 'O. K.' in his basement voice, and the constable, muttering 'A worthy cause, a worthy cause,' stuck on the wind shield the oriflamme of the indignant -minors, with the phrase 'I help the help less,' which, as far as I am concerned, was one perfect He, seeing as how the Mining Means (Continued from Page 4.) finally succeeded in locating the place. Talking with Mr. Miller about the way ha found the old workings of the Bay Horse mine is almost like coming into contact with one of the "lost mine" stories we so frequently read of In fiction. All that is lacking is the "gun fight" with the vil lains supposed to be trying to steal the mine from the rightful owners. Since Mr. Miller "first found the Bay Horse it has been almost a continuous series o new discoveries. Shortly after ward the U. S. Metals company became interested in it, and now for a year work, has been continued there, with the result that the property seems to have grown larger all the time. CroppingB of the ledge show it to be an exceptionally large vein. Commence ment of actual shipments from this mine, several' months ago, all of them returning large checks from the smelters, may mean the commencement of- general improve ment in the mining industry of that sec tion. The Bay Horse mine emerged from the prospect to the shipping stage in a little over a year. Latterly it has been at tracting the attention of some heavy min ing investors, would-be-investors, shoe stringers, geologists, engineers and vari ous and sundry gentlemen said to be scouts for "smalters" and other interests. One of the latter is reported to have of fered a cold half million for the purchase of the property outright. Handling Charges Take Profits. The Bay Horse is one of the heaviest shippers at the present time from this section to the smelters. Rail rates and several handlings of the ore eat into the profits to such an extent that unless the rock is exceptionally rich it cannot stand the cost of shipping and reduction. This is where the plan to operate the Sumpter Valley smelter enters as a fac tor in the rehabilitation of the mining in dustry of the entire district. If the little smelter can be set in operation and can thereafter be continued profitably to the company owning it, and effect a prompt and fair settlement upon all shipments seat it from the district, in either small or fairly large lots, then a solution of the problem facing two-thirds of the mines of the district will be arrived at. Reduction in transportation on the lower grade ores and concentrates will be sufficient, it is believed, to make realization of a renewed activity possible, through availability of a large tonnage of low grade blocked ore as smelter feed, and which perforce would be otherwise forced to remain locked up underground. If there is one whole hearted and unanimous prayer of mine owners and prospectors of the Blue moun 'Haven't you got no eyes atoll? This is . halnlana Uplnpri tTiAmsAlvPfl nut nf m V helpless . Helped themselves out of my pocket. Some banner, ain't it? "But look at that one that's next it with the ornamental printed border. It says: 'Hogboro County Fair. Build Our Peace Palace.' It happened along Just like the others. We had no idea that Hogboro county was settin up its own peace palace Hog versus Hague, as It were. An Appeal for Worthy Hospital. "Wi were breezing into a burg that looked harmless enough and had Just skimmed by an old house-i-old colonial? Oh, must" have been older than that antediluvian, I should say and it had a wilted flag trailing on a wormy pole yes, I mean wormy; full of little holes where the worms live. This Is a sort o' desecration of the Stars and Strripes. Patriotism draws tha line at hand-me-down flags, unless they're historic, and doesn't Jibe with riddled old poles. Eh? My opinion. Yours, too? Good! A tall man starts out of the old house and yells t us to stop, and when we politely slow down he Jumps toward ns brandishing a club, and hollered: " 'Haven't you got no eyes a tall? This Millions in Great Comeback tains, it is that the little snifter at Bumpter will be belching smoke irom its tall iron stack before the snow flies again. Construction of this smelting plant was started about 1902. The proposition was financed by Killen, Warren and Stewart, representing New York interests with money tied up in some of the properties of the district. It was turned over to a corporation known as the Oregon Smelt ing & Refining company, but this concern went into the hands of a receiver follow ing the panic of 1907. Rail Service to Help. Another link in the possibility of re vival of mining in Baker county is the Sumpter Valley railway, a narrow gauge line which extends from the county seat westerly into the John Day country. This road was built by the Eccles, wealthy Mormon capitalists, and was primarily constructed as a logging road. And trans portation of logs, by the way, continues its chief source of revenue. They are hauled down from the debouching can- yons of the Blue mountains to Baker, where the largest sawmills are situated. The first sections of the line were built in 1898, prior to construction of the smelter. Its latter day extension westerly in. the direction of Susanville has made available a larger territory from which to draw ores than existed when the smelter was formerly running. It is stated that the original outlay for plant, site, etc., was in the neighbor hood of $2,800,000. It is capable ot handling from 200 to 300 tons daily. Plant is equipped with two steam boilers. The engine has been removed and sold, but is no longer necessary, as electricity is now available for power, and at a lower cost than steam. Cost for electricity will figure out to 25 cents per ton for smelting at capacity. The most important unit is an Allis-Chalmers 300-ton rated capacity blast furnace, in the very best of condi tion, with two forehearths. Supplemen tary to this is the hot blast furnace. The flue chamber Is of brick and carries the fumes to a tall iron stack. As it is a pyritic smelter, roasting is unnecessary. The plant is fairly complete as to ladles, slag pots and cars, with gravity handling throughout. All the scales required are available, both for railway cars and for ore arriving by truck or wagon. The sup plementary equipment is in good shape. Smelter Ready to Run. Bins are back of the smelter, and the sampling works. Their capacity aggre gates 8000 tons, and there are 30 com partments. The sampling planHs very complete, consisting of all the rolls and crushers required, belt conveyors, dryers, the Hogboro hospital. Cain't yon see it? la tfi Hnrhnrn fcnRnftal. CAfn'f vmt is the Hogboro hospital. Cain't you see it? You have made too much noise in passing. I am a deputy sheriff and em powered by law to exact from you a fine of $25 for violation of the noise and speed laws ordinances. Consider your selves tried and convicted. No, ya ain't go no mor.e comeback than a hobbled mule. ... But, if you prefer it, you can try a little street making a genteel paving stunt for 25 days." " 'Well,' I said, scratching my head, "1 thought I had struck the limit on this trip, but the blamed thing ain't got a limit. . . . Say, fellow, you mentioned street making that would be by way of variety from road making, which Is my old forte, and changes are lightsome.' . "'Oh! Oh! Oh!' yelled my wife, my Eister-in-l'aw and my Aunt Matilda, si multaneously. 'Pay up! Pay up! We'll help you.' "And. as with one motion, they all be gan to paw around their stockin's. " 'Never you mind, old dears," I soothed. 'Your patriotism is wonderful, but I still have 25. bucks in my own sock. "'Say, fellow!' The way 1 pronounced 'fellow' would have wilted a bank rob- - a briquetting machine of 200-ton capacity, and a total of 55 bins, 19 of which are arranged for receipt of ore sent in by -truck or wagon, with a series arranged for direct dumping from ears on a spur track. All the assaying facilities required in connection are ready for nse. It is claimed that ample supplies of ore for keeping the smelter in continuous op eration after it is once started, are avail able, not alone in the vicinity of the smelter, and from points served by the Sumpter Valley railway, but from the Snake river section, the Cornucopia dis trict and various points in southern Idaho. The matte, of course, will have to be shipped to other plants for refining, and satisfactory arrangements can be made for disposal of that product. A con siderable tonnage of ore can be hauled in to the smelter direct by truck or cater pillar. A corporation is planned for trans portation purposes alone, and which will provide caterpillars and 'trailers for the handling of large and regular tonnages from the mines to the railway or smelter, handling the output at a minimum of cost. This is to be financed by Spokane people and is entirely independent of the smelting company. It is an important adjunct to the general scheme, as unsat isfactory and costly preliminary trans Flour Becomes Better as Age la Increased. Aging ltt Commercially Feaalble, for Cowl la T Ureat. FLOUR when . it ages turns whiter and Increases in the quantity of acidity, writes Dr. Frederick L. Dunlap of Chicago, in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. As flour ages it becomes a better flour, for it produces a larger and better loaf of bread. Freshly milled flours do not produce the best of which . they are capable. A great advance was made in the milling art by the Introduc tion of a method for treating.flour in the mill whereby such freshly milled flour at once took on the properties of a properly aged flour, so that the flour could then go to the consumer in condition to ren der at once its highest baking value. The aging of flour is not commercially feasible. The cost Is against it. for one thing. ' Another objection, from a com mercial standpoint, is the impossibility of following the condition of the aging flour, especially if one wishes to catch it at its peak, for stored flour 13 constantly varying in Us baking capacity, finally ber, but the auto highwayman didn't even blench. May I be corned and pickled Mdefyin' Mr. Volstead) if the rascal didn't somehow think he was in the right and a great, good man. 'Say, fellow! Who gets this money?" " 'Who gets it? Who should get it?' he asked. 'This is for the Hogboro peace palace. It's a great cause. Come through or come down and get your shovel.' " 'But, said I, counting out the money very slowly and sadly. 'Might I asjf a question? How many poor nerve-racked patients are in your hospital at present? If I have really disturbed them, let me apologize. How many are there?' " 'How many?' emitted this unblush ing pirate. 'Nary one. Empty's a sieve. Hut there might be a crowd by the next time you come along especially If you stay on the road. Here's your receipt,' and he slaps on the placard. The End of the "Century." "That fourth ticket, with the pole for Cammelsvllle printed on It, Is red, white and blue, you'll notice. Quite orna mental. It cost me the concluding sec tion of a century and rounded out my perfect day. That is the flag of the portation has long been a handicap to . the district. According to the officials of the state mining bureau, the "blowing in" of the Sumpter smelter will have a great deal to do with the rejuvenation of eastern Oregon. There is ample room for a new tart when their figures show that the pretrnt production of the region Is about one-;enth of normal. The activ.ly on the Bay Horse was quoted at some length beeause it Illustrates something of the possibilities of the region, but this is not tae only proeity that is being worked. Such mines as the Baker Mines com pany's holdings, the Last Chance and trany others, including all thoso shown on this page, are actively under develop ment. ' Mining men suffer a great deal from unjust criticism reflected by dishonest operations of a few of their number. However, they do claim that mining, like farming, is a true productive occupation, giving something to the world . where there was nothing before. Prcprly han dled, it's a clean business. Mining sup ports other industries, not the least of which Is agriculture. All that i3 neces sary to make mining successful is expert engineers, hacked by ample capital. Granted these, the eastern Oregon min ing region cannot fail, tor the prospects are there in abundance. reaching an optimum and then beginning to decline. Hence any method which the miller can employ, assuming for the mo ment that it is unobjectionable from a health standpoint, which will instantly convert a flour to its optimum baking valeu and then stabilize it is of great mo ment to the public. . This state of affairs is brought about in flour by'treating it with chlorine, and the general result is known as "matur ing" i. e., the general effect of "matur ing" flour is that which nature produces in aging flour-a whitening effect, to gether with greatly Improved baking qualities. - The yellow coloring matter of flour is carotin, which is also what gives carrots their color. Chlorine oxidizes the carotin, which then loses its color. Symptoms Much Alike. "Either Speck's going to marry Yvette or be ain't, and I'll be John-browned if I know which!" agitatedly confessed He loise of the Rapid Fire restaurant. "Hey, wake up!" briskly ejaculated Claudine of the same establishment. "How do ya get that way?" "Well, he's quit spending money on her, and that means that he's either got her cinched or is going to shake her, one or the other." Cammelsvllle fund for Arctic exploration, which is being created out of fines for violations of the Cammelsvllle anti-automobile law. Cammelsvllle's road method Is strong and frank. All you've got to do at Cammelsvllle is to occur, and they'll nail you for the pole. "'Now I don' give a hoot for Arctle exploration. The only arctics I know any thing about are the kind you wear In hard winters. Crazy galoots and such like who go putting themselves on ice. It may be for years and it may be forever, in attempts to prove the exactly true north pole, which has never been reached in spite of all contrarywlse assertions and proofs, have no charms for me. Anyway, if in this advanced age they havent sense enough to hop into an aryplane and light on the north pole from overhead, I'm not saying nothing. But when I tried to tell all or some of that to three bearded hus kies who held me np and fined or as sessed me for pole money at Cammels vllle I got nothing but derisive laughter in way of reply, and the longest bearded of the three, raising his whiskers so'a I could peek below them and see he wore neither collar nor tie, remarked: , " 'Uncle, I'm the sitting road magis trate of Cammelsvllle. I am now in ses sion. Beware of contempt of court, sir; beware of contempt. I beg to inform yon that the sum in which you are assessed, namely, $25, will be handed promptly to our Arctic exploration fund, one of the noblest objects ever presented to the pub lic. The pole for Cammelsvllle is our motto; and never was Cammelsvllle known to turn back when she once got agoing Jeemlnl! As for the factand it is a fact that you are vlolatln the anti-automobile law. Into that I cannot go, not being disposed to argufy a self starter, as you might call it, or a self-evident proposition, as we Jedges and law yers call it. Twenty-five dollars. Come boss, so boss! sa sa!' '-' 'Twenty-five dollars, eh? And the alternative?' I demanded. " 'You'll have to go to a drug store for that,' he assured me gravely; 'and there ain't one within five good mile. So never mind it for the present you can worry along, I guess Jest keep yer hand on yer stummlck to kind o' warm it. And fork, over 25 little Buckin Bronchoes, or ' " 'Or what?' I roared, white with Just rage. 'That's what I was asking you about. Bone Head.' " "I don't think I ever was really as mad in all my life before or since as I was just then. It was awful. " "Or,' he stated, perfectly cool, 'as the sitting road magistrate I shall have to put you to work for 25 days and nights, excepting your sleepln' time, and an eat now and then, extracting the cobblestones out of Logan's lane over yander and mak ing it fit for the new style traffic You cull out the cobblestones one by one, un derstand? In fact, they are handplcked. No machinery allowed, for fea?r It may spoil the shape of the stones.' '"Did I pay up? Well, you see the ticket. That's my receipt. I'm a polar bear, I am." "And then what?" I asked as the ama teur chauffeur paused to allow some ac cumulated Indignation to evaporate. "Then what? Then I turned around and druv home," he said. "The placards took me through the traffic holdups going back, for they appty to traffic both ways. . . . Say," added the amateur chauffeur, brightening up, "you don't happen to be thinkln' of travelin' over that route, do you?" "No," 1 said. "Why?" - "Well, I was Just thinking I might fix up a deal with you. I can let you have them placards if you can get them off with hot water and I guess you can and you can paste them on your machine before starting out. I'll let you have them for just 12.50 apiece just half what they cost me and you'll be that much ahead of the game, besides not having to waste your time stopping to talk to the gazaboes." It was a tempting offer; so I told hint I would think about it. "You'll have to think quick, friend,' cried the amateur chauffeur.' "It you don't take them I'm going to scrape them off, pronto. They're no more nse to me never again will I go over that route and I'm sick of the sight of them." "Cheer np. You are a regular philan thropist," I consoled. ... "An auto-phllantbroplst," he improved. "Sure, Mike, I am that. And It's further proof of my generous nature when I offer all right and title tt them passports for SO per cent cash." 1 didn't close the deal; but unless the amateur chauffeur carried out his threat and washed off the stickers his offer still holds good. A LITTLE CURE FOR BACHELORS (CotiUnw" From PK t but showing very plainly Indeed that he wanted to escape. "Not a bad idea at that," said Mallory, reflectively. "Acts as a kind of intro ducer, you, know. After all," he put bis finger in his mouth, a childish habit to which he was addicted, "it's never too late to mend. ... I say, Jim, would you let me have the dog?" Todhunter.half way up the stairs, pass ing the dog without looking at it, turned round, "Have the dog? Why, of course. Whatever do you want it for? I thought you didn't like dogs." "O, I don't know." Mallory shifted from foot to foot. "Just an idea that oc curred to me. Take hlm'out for walks in the park, you know. That sort of thing. You'll let me have him?" "Why, certainly!" cried Todhunter, disappearing. Mallory went up to the dog and stroked it, felt the whole of his heart warm to the responsive wriggle that the dog gave. "Come along, old man," said Mallory. "Yu belong to me now. You may do me a good turn one day. Who knows?" Thy left the house together. (CowritftH. liii. by tbc Cbiuto Trtbua.)