Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1913)
UCftfonides of Fletcher Robinson . MR COHAN'S ELECTION (Continued.) The local was Just steaming Into the station -when a fat, red-faced man came panting out of the booking-office. Peace gave my arm a squeeze as he passed. "That is Horledge, the chief sup porter of Coran's opponent In tomor row's election," he whispered. "So you have been making some new friends since I saw you last?" "One or two," he said, stepping In to a carriage. When we arrived at Brendon, the Inspector led me off to an Inn In the center of the town. It was a pleasant, old-fashioned place with black raft ers peering through the plaster of the celling and oak panelling high on the walls. The modern Brendon bad wrapped it about, but It had not changed for three centuries. Ton may find many such ancient Inns bout London, which watch the march of the red brick suburbs with a dig nified surprise, until one day the build er steps In, and the old coach and horses or white hart comes tumbling down, and a cheap chop and tea house reigns In Its stead. We dined early. At half-past seven, by the grandfath er's clock In the corner, Peace rose. "Mr. Coran's meeting does- not be gin until eight; but I want to be there early come along." The platform was empty when we arrived, but a score of people were already on the front benches. We did not Join them, seating ourselves near the door. Brendon, or the graver part of it, moved by us in a tiny stream. A few elders walked up to the platform with the air of those who realize that they are something in the world. The clock above them was pointing to the hour when, with a thumping of feet and a clapping of hands, Coran appeared, and shook bands with the white-whiskered old chairman, I It was while the chairman was in troducing "the popular and venerated townsman who had come to address them," that the red face of Mr. Hor ledge came peering in at the door. He stood there for a minute, and then modestly sat down on the bench be fore us. Peace touched my arm, and we moved along until we were Just Behind him. The chairman ended at last, and, amid fresh applause, Coran rose and stood gazing down at the little crowd with a benevolent satisfaction. Their respect and admiration was the breath of life to the man. Tou could see it In his eyes, in his gesture as he beg ged for silence. . "My friends." ' He had got no farther when Hor ledge sprang to his feet with a raised band. "Mr. Chairman," he shouted. "I have a question to ask the candidate." There was a slight outcry, a few hisses and groans; but the tide of lo cal politics did not run strongly In Brendon. Besides, everyone knew Horledge. He had the largest gro cer's Bhop in the town. "It would be better to question him after hla speech, Mr. Horledge," pro tested the old chairman. "I shoult prefer to answer this gen tleman at once," Coran interposed. SAVING THE ITALIAN BABIES Maternity Insurance In That Coun try Has Greatly Reduced Infsnt Mortality. Italy Joined in 1902 the few Euro pean states which have established laws for the better protection of wo men working in industrial occupations after confinement This law prohib ited women from working for a month after confinement, but contained no provisions 'about the collecting of funds from which the expenses could be defrayed. For this reason regu lations were generally disregarded, and women went back to work as soon as they were able to do so. At the end of April, 1912, a new law ame into force. All women In indus tries between fifteen and fifty years He stood with his hands, clasping and unclasping, before him, but nev er moved his eyes from bis opponent There was grit In the fellow, after all. "It would be simpler If you with drew," said the red-faced man, shuffl ing his feet uneasily. "That your party's candidate might be returned unopposed?" "Don't force me to explain," cried Horledge. "Why not withdraw r "You waste the time of the meet ing." "Very well, gentlemen, I say that Mr. Coran there Is no fit candidate, because" There is something unsettling In the official tap on the shoulder which the police of all countries cultivate, something which it does not take pre vious experience to recognize. Hor ledge's face turned a shade paler as he glanced over his shoulder at the little man who has thus demanded his attention. "And what do you wantr he growled. "I am Inspector Addlngton Peace, of the Criminal Investigation depart ment I warn you, Mr. Horledge, that you are lending yourself to an attempt at blackmail." The detective spoke in so soft a voice that I, who was standing by his side, could barely catch the words. "Bless my soul, you say so?" cried the other. T should like a five minutes' talk with Mr. Coran and yourself. After that you may take your own course. Will you suggest It?" Mr. Horledge did not take long to make up his mind. He told the meet ing that he might have been misin formed. If they would permit It, he asked for a five minutes' private con versation with the candidate. The meeting received the sugges tion with cheers. It was something unusual in the monotony of such func tions. We walked up the central aisle between a couple of hundred pairs of curious eyes, mounted the platform, and followed Coran Into a small ante room, the door of which Peace closed behind him. "On June 15 the Brendon Anti-VM- eectlon society, of which yon, Mr. Horledge, are president, received the sum of tweniy pounds from an anony mous source," said the little detec tive. "Certainly." "That sum was extorted from Mr, Coran by the threat of revealing the secret which Miss Rebecca Coran told you this morning, and which you veri fied this afternoon by a reference to the old newspaper files in the British museum." "I had no Idea this is most sur prising. I is it illegal?" he stutter ed. "Blackmail for whatever purpose Is illegal. Further attempts have been made to extort money. It Is because they failed that you were placed In possession of the facts today." "It seemed a mean trick, anyway," said Horledge, penitently. "I wish I had never listened to the old cat But, Squaretoes I beg your pardon, Mr. Coran I mean our friend here has always been such a model that I thought it rather fun. He can win the election, and welcome, after this." "That is all, then. I want a word In private with these two gentlemen. Good night to you, and many thanks." "Great Scot! Inspector, but you of age belong now to an obligatory maternity insurance fund. The em ployer pays the dues of 20 to 40 cents a year, and Is allowed to deduct half the amount from the wages. These dues,, together with fines of employes for violation of the law and a govern ment subsidy, makes it possible to give In case of confinement $8. It does not make any difference whether the woman is married or not Mother and child are thus taken of for at least one month after the birth of the in fant The Italian law requires, furth er, that a factory with more than fifty women workers must provide a decent room in which mothers can at tend to their babies and nurse them. Frequently, large factories have a kind of day nursery with a trained nurse in charge. Infant mortality has been greatly reduced among Industrial workers. The Survey. gave me a fright I hope, Mr. Coran, you don't bear malice? That's all right then. Good night alL" . As be disappeared through the door the elder man dropped Into a chair, covering bis face with his hands. "This is shocking!" he groaned. "Oh, Mr. Peace, are you sure- it was my sister?" "There Is no doubt at all." "But what can I do now?" he asked, looking from one to the other of us, with a pitiable expression. "Shall I withdraw?" . "Nonsense," said the little detec tive, firmly. "Fight your election and win it sir; and the best way to begin is to go back and tell them all about It" "Go and tell them? Go and tell the meeting?" he cried. "Yes. They'll like you all the bet ter for it Do you suppose there is no human nature in Brendon? Are you going to keep this miserable scan dal hanging over your head all your life? If you stick to politics some one is sure to rake it up. Be a man, Mr. Coran, and get it over now." "I will." He had got to his feet his eyes sot with a sudden determination. He stretched out his hand to each of us, turned about and marched out of the room like a soldier leading a forlorn hope against a fortress. As the door slammed behind him, Peace looked at me with an expression in which sym pathy and humor were oddly mingled. "Take my word for it, Mr. Phillips," he said, "many a reputation for des perate valor has been won by a less sacrifice." It was not until after two days that I heard the arguments by which the Inspector had worked his way to a conclusion. They form a good ex ample of his methods. "It was evident" he said, "that the blackmailer knew Coran's character, his position as regards the election, and the details of his house and grounds. Those facts suggested a relative or close personal friend. The theory that it was a relative was strengthened by the newspaper cut ting. It was not a thing a casual ac quaintance would be likely to keep by him all these years. ' "From Coran I learnt that he had had differences of opinion with Miss Rebecca. In my conversation with her she spoke bitterly of his refusal to subscribe to her society for the pre vention of vivisection. She returned to the subject several times, mention ing the financial difficulties in which the local branch, of which she is the secretary, was placed. Those facts impressed me. "Before Appleton arrived last night I had carefully searched the summer house. In a corner of the woodwork I discovered a note from Miss Emily. The place was the lover's letter box. Indeed, I had been expecting that young gentleman's appearance long before he came. I did not however, tell this to Mr. Coran when he pressed for an arrest It would hardly have been fair on the girl. I do not imag ine that they will find the old gen tleman so stony-hearted after to night As for the young man, In the Inquiries I made concerning him, I found nothing that was not straight and honest I put him out of the list at an early date. "Who the person may have been that listened at the window I cannot say; but I conclude it was Miss Re becca. She certainly did not attempt to carry off the parcel. "This morning I discovered that an anonymous donation of twenty pounds was sent to Miss Rebecca's society the day after the first successful attempt at blackmail. I kept an eye on the bouse, and shortly after midday she walked down to Horledge's shop. He Is the president of ber society. . They remained for some time together, and then Horledge took a train to London. I followed him to the newspaper room In the British museum. Things were becoming plainer. "I have now no doubt that Miss Re becca guessed who we were from the . first She told the secret to Horledge, who was, you remember, one of her brother's chief opponents In the elec tion, out of sheer feminine spite. I suspected the man would attempt something at the meeting on Friday night My suspicion was correct as you saw." "And the election T" "He won his seat on the council. I think he deserved it. Mr. Phillips." (CHRONICLES TO BE CONTINUED.) MODESTY NOT STRONG POINT Both Schopenhauer and Auerbach Had Excellent Opinion of Their Place In the World. Schopenhauer, the great German philosopher, afforded one of the most remarkable examples of self-compla cency that has ever been known. His naive eulogiums on his own produc tions are almost beyond belief. In writing to his publishers of his work, he says: "Its worth and Importance are so great that I do not venture to express it even toward you, because you could not believe me," and he pro ceeds to quote a review "which speaks of me with the highest praise, as the greatest philosopher of the age, which Is really saying much less than the good man thinks." "Sir," he said to an unoffending stranger who watched him across a table d'hote, where he acted the part of the local "lion" habitually "sir, you are evidently as tonished at my appetite. True, I eat three times as much as you, but then I have three times as much mind I" Auerbach, the German novelist, also had a great appreciation of his own powers and work, and many stories are told of the obtrusive way In which THIS 15 SHOCKING' HE GROANED. ' he displayed his vanity. A German writer says. of him: "Every year Auerbach visits three or tour fashion able watering places, at each of which the following episode occurs at least thirty times. The novelist indulges in small talk with the little children of the natives, and invariably ends the conversation thus: 'Knowest thou who haB been talking with thee? Tie. hold Auerbach! -Tell that at home!" Good Conversation. I heard someone planning a lunch eon lately, and she said she'd selected her topics what the people would talk about She said she intended to "keep the ball rolling." Not a dull minute. Everything spicy and spar kllng and bubbling. Talk about one thing and then about another. Ring the bell and change the course. Press the button beneath the table and bring on your spicy story, as the maid brings on the salad. Lord! Lord! what a luncheon that must have been! Who, alas, can be spicy to order? Or bubble or sparkle or be brilliant or even bright? These gifts are of the gods. Sometimes we are and some times we are not, but it's a cinch that none of us are brilliant when we try to be. Good conversation consists in talk spontaneous. It has its source in a full mind and a full heart Do I hear some one saying, "And in a full glass?" Ah, but even the full glass brings out in talk only the native wealth or poverty of the talker. I'm sure that must have been an awful luncheon. New York Press. Success. At a luncheon In New York the topic under discussion was the arrest of Mayor Lunn and the Rev. Algernon S. Crapsey of Schenectady for street speaking during the Little Falls strike. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., without praising or blaming either the two men or the strike that they advocated, gave utterance to an epigram that every young business man would do well to paste above his desk. "Success," said Mr. Rockefeller, "knows no eight-hour law." Motor Measure. First Motorist How far did vnn drive last night? Second Motorist I did avantwm road nouses. ' ' ''' FOR THE WARM DAYS NOW 18 A GOOD TIME TO FIX VP PORCH FURNITURE. Demands a Little Time and Trouble, But Effect Is Well Worth While Best Method of Staining New Articles. It Is time to get out the porch furni ture. This sounds like a task easily accomplished, but in reality it entails a good deal of work. The furniture cannot be Just lugged down from the attlo or up from the cellar and de posited as it is on the veranda. It must be cleaned and freshened up. Some of it needs a new coat of stain or enamel, some of It needs new cushions. Perhaps It must be replen ished, and that means careful shop ping. To begin with the cleaning, this can best be done out -of doors, with a garden hose and plenty of hot water. For each chair have a pailful of hot suds, softened with borax. Apply this to the seat of the chair with a stiff whisk broom, and scrub it about vig orously. Then scrub the back, sides and under part of the chair in the same manner. Dash whatever suds remain over the chair, and then rinse it with plenty of fresh, clean water from the hose. Clean tables and all other pieces of furniture in the same way, and let them dry out of doors In the sunshine, or else near a fire. The cleaning process described may brighten the furniture sufficiently so that no additional stain or paint la needed. If the furniture does need a fresh dressing apply the finish decid ed on without scraping off the old paint The result will not of course, be perfect, but it will be sufficiently good to make the time saved seem worth while. Most, porch furniture Is hardly valuable enough to spend hours over with sandpaper and paint removers. New furniture should be carefully stained or enameled. It can be bought, of course, already colored, but as the price of most articles Is a dollar less when they are uncolored, and the work Is easy to do and pleasant any cheap, it can advantageously be done at home. Enough varnish, enamel or stain for a chair or moderately large table costs from 15 to 25 cents. Many decorators now give willow furniture a dull instead of shiny finish. To accomplish this apply a flat finish oil stain. Put it on evenly, and allow the first coat to dry before putting on a second. If the stain Is not dark enough when it has dried a second coat can then be put on without danger of cloudi ness, stickiness or thickness. Another way to get a dull finish is to put on a varnish stain and rub it in as you put it on with a cotton cloth. This method makes the stain dry dull. Salad Francois. Chop fine a bunch of parsley, two shallots and half a dozen anchovies. Lay them in a bowl and mix with them salt and mustard to taste, two table spoonfuls of salad oil, and a gill of vinegar. Stir all well together and then add, two or three at a time, some very thin slices of cold roasted or broiled meat, not more than three or four Inches long. Shake the slices well as they are put In the dressing.' Cover the bowl closoly and let it stand for three hours before serving. Served garnished with parsley and Borne slices of the meat, with a little fat on them. Cheese Cake. Take two quarts sour milk, pour into a cheesecloth bag and let drip 24 hours, after which time turn it into a dish and season with Bait, adding one cup thick cream. Then add one cup sugar, four eggs, one tablespoon melt ed butter, one-half cup cream or milk and currants. Mix Ingredients well and bake in a deep pie plate lined with rich puff paste. Lemon Toast Take the yolks of three eggs, beat them well and add one and one-half cup sweet milk; take bakers' bread (not too stale), and cut into slices; dip them into the milk and eggs and lay the slices In a spider with suffi cient melted butter, hot, to fry a nice, delicate brown; take the whites of the three eggs and beat them to a froth, adding a half cup of white sugar; add the Juice of one lemon, beating well, and serve over the toast as a sauce and you will find it a very delicious dish. Lyonnalse Potatoes. Melt one tablesDoonful of buttr in a spider, add one tablespoonful each or nuncea onion, vinegar and water; fry until the onion is tender; now add one pint of diced cold boiled notatoa and stir until somewhat browned; add one level teaspoonful of parsley and serve. New Wsspon. Binks had an idea. Taking the phonograph horn he attached it to the vacuum cleaner. "Now,", said he, let your files come on!"
