Heppner gazette., September 24, 1908, Image 6

The Qhauifeur
and the Jewels
Cuprn.-M. '.ov, br J. n. Liphincott Company.
Ali ritiht rwriftl.
CHAPTER XIII.
"Yon shall hear from me early in the
itiovnin::." I lie mock Prince del I 'i no had
told Mrs. Wiir ins hen ho left her at her
l!ons. ; iiinl then, turning his motor in
the direction of his hotel, he gave hi ins 'If
up to the business of the moment, nuking
iie nio of the brief time left to him.
It wn half-past ten when he stood out
side of n house in S street and consulted
'i's w il! eh.
Half-past ten. Very lite for a visit,
tr.i:l yet they were awake in the house!
Through the bowed shutters and open
windows came the sound of one of Chop
in's waltzes, phiyod by a girl's slightly
r.:n:itear lingers on a piano that was not
of the ls'.. But on that night of wi.'eh-(,-,.
in the silent lighted streets, the air
V, :rr,l o it with a certain graceful state
;ii"s. Curbing his impatience. Sarto waited
t'l.'il the last note of the phrase was
). hived, regardless of the Might of time,
rad then, mounting the steps, rang the
1 ell.
There was a little hesitation before a
light tread came along the hall and the
loot- opened.
"I ha 1 almost given up Your High
ness. s:ii(I Annette isancroii.
I let- visitor s.ood. hat in hand, look
ing up at her.
"1 mn all apologies for the lateness of
the hour." he began in a low voice. "Hut
I have been dining at Chevy Chase and
was detained longer than I thought. I
k'.i.i'l only stay a nioni'iit."
The girl led the way, without speaking,
into the drawing room, where two candles
were burning, -revealing the open piano
leaped wirh music. Behind it the win
dow stood open, letting in the light from
he street.
"Hoses!" ejaculated the mock prince,
lie daintily sniffed at a bowlful standing
o:i the center table. "Papa Gontier," he
murmured, lifting the heavy heads. "He
has good tas:e in flowers the English
Man." Annette made a faint acquiescence. She
had seated herself on the piano stool, a
phosvlike little figure in the half light.
Turning away from the table, Sarto
moved towards the piano.
"Ah, I had forgotten that!" he said,
speaking sotto-voee. "M. Puist remains
qftev I am pone. He has the best of it!"
"After you have gone!" echoed An
nette. She stood motionless, staring with part
ed lips and widened eyes into the face of
the man who bent over the piano, his
'lark, mobile features so near hers.
"Yes,"' he said, speaking in very quiet
tones, to which his curiously expressive
voice lent a certain pathos. "It is to say
pood-by I am come to-night. Before
morning I will have left Washington. I
fhall never sep you again."
The last words rang with an irrepres
sible melancholy that sent a shiver
through his listener. Turning, forgetful
of the all-rcv-iling lights in the street
below, she looked up into his face, her
own white with the shock of his words
Her eyes wide with the secret of her heart.
"Annette !" cried Lti lovic Sarto.
Love is a great mystery ! It
moves through the winding passages of
our cold, dark hearts so silently that we
never suspect its presence until suddenly
one day we see it for the first time mir
rored in the light of another's eyes.
At some time when the chauffeur
could not tell some Midas touch had
tuvne.l the gratitud-'. the friendship he
felt for this girl into the gold of his
lienrt.
And in this instant of miracles the
man's whole being, his double nature,
even tie- rl irk side which had achieved its
sinister triumph one short hour ago. seem
ed touched by that same Divine alchemy
the base metal in him transformed and
purified.
There are certain monvnts In this dull
life of ours when the froth is on the wine
moments of dazzling, diamond-like l.ril-lin-.u-e
moments as sweet as the first
taste of a nectarine ami as evanescent.
Even as Ludovic Sarto and Annette
Bancroft gazed ir.to each other's eyes, the
nio:i;e:it pissed by, never to return.
The next a terrible realization came
Into the man's heart. "Wait a moment !"
he said hoarsely, "I I have something
o tell you !'
Turning sharply away, he took a few
turns up and down the room, grappling
with the ordeal that was suddenly upon
him.
l'or the girl must be told the truth
l.o-.v ! It was inevitable ! Alas! the dis
covery of her secret demanded the reveal
ing of his.
It vn a strange psychic fact that to
Sarto i! jm in spite of his slippery, di
verse nature, no otiier course occurred.
The man who loved Annette Bancroft
m l was loved in return could no longer
cn' behind the Prinze del 1'ino.
I.udovie must come forth and near his
1 es;,otis'.bi!itirs. The law of self-preservation,
whi b be had only acknowledged so
fa", had given way to another, diviner.
For the first time in his life the mer
curial chauffeur bent his head to the law
''. Self-slerifice.
Turning suddenly, he looked at the girl
st the piano.
Annette was leaning forward, facing
him. n faint nervous smile on her lips.
liM- i vi full of a dawning, shy expect
ancy. W.'it.diing her, his wonderfully keen
almost feminine perceptions dissecting
tli" gill's soul. Sarto saw, with shud lnr
i g. sickening horror and sclf-disgmi. all
tii it I he girl in her innocent romantic
soul v. as imagining. A fairy tale no less
fo dh enough! with a prince for its
'icro and for its heroine
The man who loved her knew, with an
inward recoil, that it fell to hirn to shat
ter this pretty little castle in the air
with its occupants.
Standing, before her, lie spoke formally.
"Miss Bancroft, tell rue, how long have
we known each other you and I?"
Annette raised her eyes to his, and a
virld color tinged Ler pale cheek.
By
fcjrA Morgan Willett
"Two weeks," she said, without the
faintest hint of coquetry or hesitation
"It was just two weeks ago to-night that
we met on board the Majestic."
"No!" Sarto shook his head. "'You
have known mo longer than that. Look
at me!"
He drew nearer, with sudden deter
mination. "Where have you seen uie be
fore? Think! Remember!"
But the girl only gazed at hinv with as
tonished, half-frightened eyes.
"Before?" she faltered; "I don't un
derstand." Sarto moved impatiently. The sus
pense was becoming unbearable.
"Think !" he urged relentlessly. "Of
whom did you say I reminded you? Have
you forgotten Sarto, the chauffeur?''
"You Sarto?" Annette half whisper
ed the word. "Sarto and the Prince del
Pino !"
Her irrepressible imagination was at
work again.
With a half groan Sarto turned away.
"No more fairy tales, child !" he said
roughly. "The book is closed now ! The
man you have known is not the Prince
del Pino." His voice vibrated. "Only
an impostor a miserable inrpostor. Lis
ten !" He hesitated, standing with his
liark to the window, a silhouette of a
man, looking at the girl between her two
candles as a lost soul might look at an
angel in heaven.
Then he told his story, from the mo
ment that he looked into Mrs. Waring's
trunk to the present.
Perhaps never in the course of his
checkered career had the chauffeur, past
master as he was in the science of the
tongue, acquitted himself so ill. By a
skillful suppression of a fact here, the
strengthening of an episode there in
fact, a little judicious light and shade
the tale might have made a very credit
able autobiography, iu which Ludovic
Sarto, the hero, would have shoue forth
in an adventurous, seductive "possibly an
heroic light.
To a lover all things are possible, per
missible. But for the time being Sarto
was not a lover.
He stood as it were in his confessional,
speaking to a hidden ear, dissecting his
conduct with the scrupulous exactness
of the penitent. And the pale girl sit
ting between the two candles was to him
a distant vision in a dim church, silent,
inspiring, uplifting! Only at the last,
the man looked out through the sinner's
eyes, with a faint satisfaction in his own
sin, an irresistible pride in his own per
formance. "I must say I played the part well !"
Sarto boasted. "My acting was success
ful as far as it went. I dare say there
are a score here who would say a good
word for me "
A wail crept into his voice. "Ah, the
irony of fate .' While they are applaud
ing the Prince del Pino out there in the
audience, the poor mountebank must
crawl off to hi le himself and his broken
heart. But 1 forgot" with a jarring
laiiTh "chauffeurs people of a certain
class are not permitted to have hearts!"
He stood, poor Sarto, very human anil
very much in love, his face working, his
heart rebelling at the bitterness of his
cup, the injustice that deprived him of
the fruits of his own triumphs the en
joyment of his own happiness.
And there was silence in the little
room, while from the street outside came
the smooth roll of wheels and a man's
tenor iu the distance singing the air from
Pagliacci, bird-like atoms of sound thread
ing the roar of the city.
At last Annette spoke. "What have
you done with the diamonds?" she asked
very quietly.
The man before her caught his breath.
"Ah. the diamonds! I hail forgotten
about them."
For an instant he stared at the girl
blankly. All this time Ludovic Sarto had
been thinking of himself as the chauffeur.
Surely that was low enough ! But now,
with a heavy, irretrievable sense of doom,
he saw in her eyes whence he had fallen
and how far! From the pedestal on
which she had placed the Prince del Pino,
down to the thief the robber of Mrs.
Waring's diamonds. What a descent !
And in the fall love, that brittle, deli
cate thing, lay shattered, broken into
fragments.
Sarto was suddenly face to face with
a judge, young, austere, implacable, in
whose clear tones there sounded an echo
of some distant Puritan ancestor ; in
whose glance he saw himself condemned.
"The diamonds," he repeated with an
effort, "go to Mrs. Waring to-morrow,
with a note of of explanation. I shall
see to it the first thing in the morning."
He spoke with the submissive imper
sonal air of a servant, his eyes on the
ground, and for a moment Annette list
ened silently.
"What are you doing here then?" she
asked suddenly. "Don't you know that if
Count Souravieff is after you, he may
be here at any moment?" Her voice rose
shandy. "Y'ou will be caught, impris
oned !"
But the chauffeur only smiled, with a
srarkle in his keen eyes which had not
been there before. Slight as it was, that
note of anxiety had not escaped him.
Though in fragments, still there was love
for him in the girl's heart.
"Oh, I am safe enough indeed!" he an
swered confidently. "My motor, in which
I led them a chase, is standing in front
of a pharmacie in F street at this mo
ment. For myself, I left my hotel an
hour ago and took my valise with its con
tents to" he hesitated "well, never
mind where. When one leads a double
life, Miss Bancroft, one finds it conven
ient sometimes to live in two places. And
th-nI came on here. Yes, it is quite
safe; but it is well that you remind me
that I must go."
"What will Income of you?" asked the
girl, almost in a whisper.
She still sat, her face turned away,
staring fixedly at the opposite wall.
Sarto moved toward tbe door.
"What will becoui f n?" ha echoed,
with his old fatalistic shrug of the shoul
ders. "Who knws?" His voice drop
ped. "1 have sinned, and I must do pen
nance, make expiation. There is much
ahead of inc."
lie opened the door abruptly and stood
hesitating. "Will jou not look at mo
before I go, and pity, forgive, forget?"
For the first time Annette met his
glance. She had been listening to the
leather-coated chauffeur, shriuking from
the thief; now, raising her head, she saw,
standing in the doorway, a curiously at
tractive figure, looking at her with wist
ful eyes. The man, after all, whom she
loved.
Half unconsciously, she leaned toward
him with a desolate little cry.
"Pity, forgive, yes!" she repeated,
"Yes. But forget? Oh. I cannot! , will
not give you up !"
Rising to her feet, she stood, her hands
clasped tightly, her lips parted, gazing at
him with the soul itself shining in her
eyes. But Sarto did not move. He stood
looking at her standing between her can
dles, the sculpted image of a saint carved
in stone, and a very wistful look came
into his face.
"There is a lighted shrine in my heart,"
he said, speaking as if to himself, "and
the flame can never go out. The eandto
will be burning there always through the
long, lonely pilgrimage and at the end
"I will be waiting," said Annette very
softly.
For a long instant their eyes met. Hers
were full of tears, but into the man's
there came a far-off, ineffable look as of
one who sees visions and dreams dreams.
"Some day the pilgrim will come back
to you," he said.
And, with love burning triumphantly
at the candles of his shrine, Sarto went
out into the night.
At 10 o'clock the next morning, while
Mrs. Waring was sitting up in bed and
sipping her chocolate, her maid brought
her a flat, square, bewrapped parcel, just
arrived by a messenger boy.
Giving a glance at the address, written
in a delicate, foreign-looking hand, Gus
sue tore open the wrappings with excited
fingers, pulled out the orthodox cotton
wool so suggestive of a jeweler, and re
vealed a chamois glove-case!
Pinned to it was a card on which was
engraved. "II Principe Hoderigo del Pino,
and underneath, in pencil, "Better, known
as Ludovic Sarto, Mrs. Waring's ex
chauffeur, begs to send her the enclosed
jewels, as a slight return for the many
kind favors wh'ch have rendered his mem
orable Washington sojourn so agreeably
diverting."'
About a week after Mrs. Waring's very
sudden departure for England. Town Tit-.
Bits had the following paragraph:
"Frinee Roderigo del Pino so the pa
pers have it only arrived in New York
yesterday on the Scotia, and is to give
Newport's summer colony a glimpse of his
titles and millions to-morrow.
"Can it be possible that there are two
Roderigo del Pinos? If not, may we ask
the identity of the mysterious Italian no
bleman, who disported himself in Wash
ington two weeks ago in the train of that
noted society leader, Mrs. R d W ng,
whose rumored engagement to the Karl
of L y, we understand, is an undoubt
ed fact?"
(The End.)
I WOMAN LAWYER'S CHANCE.
If there is any hint of a moral at
tached to the New York Sun story be
low it is that to establish clearly their
legal and judicial equality women law
yers must learn to regard untidiness
as philosophically as do men lawyers.
This is the story, as one of the hun
dred women lawyers in New York City
tells it:
In the early days of my legal stu
dentship I was in a Wisconsin town
spending my vacation, and Judge X,
the great man of the place, an old
friend of my father's, gave me the
privilege of his library.
Like many other private law libra-
rios in small nlnees I have visited, this
was unsurpassed in milliner or volumes
and value by any I have ever known
about in New York, whore space is so
precious that a lawyer must perforce
depend on outside help for his refer
ences. In a smaller town yon must own the
books yourself or go without. The
judge owned his, and I browsed with
wonder and delight about among the
shelves, which filled three good-sized
rooms, and I realized for the first time
what the law really meant, and how
tremendous an undertaking It was for
a young woman like myself to seek to
make any headway in it.
These, however, were only rofloe
tions, by the way. My insistent
thought was one of horror at the dirt
and disorder that reigned supreme.
I set to work, and finally, after fin
ishing up the outer rooms, I invaded
the sanctum, where the old judge had
gone on day after day without taking
the slightest notice of me and my dust
ing. When he did become aware that
something so unprecedented wtis taking j
place, he nearly had a stroke.
To think that I. an Insignificant flj
on the dictionary of wisdom, had dared
to disturb the accumulation of sacred
dust! Kven his old-time courtesy was
for a while sadly shaken.
Finally lie gaspul out n question as
to whether I did not respect the su
perstitions of the profession I was
studying to enter, one of which was the
hide-bound rule that no volume should
have its place changed or Its face
altered, though the dust might be
Inches deep.
I shook my head, and In answer
proudly displayed the completed cata
logue, where code volumes and common
law had their resKftive jmsltions. j
Finally me numor oi me situation
came to l.is relief, and lie said:
"Well, I have often wanted to know
what women were going to do when
they entered the legal field, and now J
know. They will dust the books."
Staek Cover.
The accompanying illustration shows
ft cheap device for covering a stack
of clover hay, whore there Is no slough
grass at hand to put cm top.
In making this cover common boards
may lie used from 12 to It! feet long,
a foot or more wide, putting one on
top of the stack first, then slipping one
on each side under the top one, about
two Inches and fastening by driving a
common fence staple over a smooth
wire Just at the edge of the upper
hoard, so as to mnke a sharp bend in
the wire over the edge, and so on
down as far as wanted. Six or eight
boards on each side will generally he
sufficient : then fasten a iost. stone or
STACK COVER.
weight of some kind at the end of the
wires and the thing Is done. This ar
rangement also saves the trouble of
putting on hangers as it answers tin.'
same purpose. Two wires to each length
of boards, about two feet from the
ends, and as many sections as may be
needed for the length of stack, putting
the middle section on last with the
ends lapping over the next one. Is all
the material that Is needed. In using
the hay a section of this cover may be
taken off by drawing out the staples
and the stack cut down so as to leave
the cover on the remainder. The same
boards can be used over and over again
'or a number of years.
Get After the Fir.
Flies are one of the most aggravat
ing pests we have on the farm. If
we give them a breathing spell the
poor cows, calves and horses have to
suffer and tho supply of -milk will run
short. It is either "fight or lose." It
is not sufficient to Just spray the ani
mals with a fly-repelling mixture in
the morning and then turn them out to
oasture.
A few hours later, when I go to look
after them In the pasture, they are
often covered with blood-sucking flies
again, so I take a hand-sprayer loaded
with a liquid of which kerosene forms
a large portion nlotig and spray this
right upon the flies on each animal.
The cows soon learn that spraying
means relief and they will hold still
while you spray. The flies quickly let
go of their hold and fall to the ground
when the kerosene touches them. Vis
iting the animals once or twice a day
In this manner is n great help to them
during the fly seasou. L. R. Johnson,
Illinois.
Guide for Drnit Sawn,
A very simple method by which one
man can manipulate a drag saw to
cut down trees has been devised by a
Western timber
man. In using
these saws two
men have hereto
fore been neces
sary, one at each
end of the saw.
The arrangement
of the drag-saw
guide is shown In
the illustration.
guiues the saw. nesting against
the tree Is a rod, from which is sus
rtended a cord. At the end of the
cord is an adjustable clamp, to which
one end of the saw Is secured. At the
other end of the saw Is a handle. In
operating the saw to cut the tree, the
end opposite the handle is supported
by the cord In the same position as if
operated by hand. With the employ
ment of this guide the necessity of an
extra man to manage one end of the
saw Is eliminated.
Farming on Arid Land.
Successful fanning on arid land with
out artificial watering has been
brought to the notice of the Agricultur
al Society of Germany, with an expla
nation of thfc method. In Syria and
Palestine, with practically no rain
from April to October, the fields In
July have a flourishing abundance of
watermeionB, cucumbers, tomatoes and
ether products, and plants continue
green and thriving until autumn. The
secret lies In so plowing that the win
ter rains are absorbed and retained In
the eulwoll. The plowing Is shallow,
averaging only 4 to C inches In depth,
and after the full harvest it follows
each heavy rain an soon as the ground
begins to dry. the purpose being to keep
a loose and friable surface to take up
the water from the subsoil. In the
Fprlng the land is plowed to a depth of
about 6 Inches. The seed Is dropped
by the plow upon' the moist mibsoil and
tt covered by the closing jip of the
loose soil. Protected by the loose cov
ering, the subsoil furnishes sufficient
moisture for plant growth during tbe
eatlr dry -esson.
8Wr
(.fill V r '
ran
ii ii i
J)etryiiK Weeds.
iu destroying annual weeds one
method Is to disk the stubble fields,
causing the weed seel to germinate,
after which they can he killed by sub
sequent cultivation or by frost. Anoth
cr iiieiiiod is to turn live stock, espe
cially sheep Into these stubble (leids to
eat up the weeds and weed seeds. The
value of cultivated crops, rotations and
summer fallows Is also discussed.
The eradication of perennials is mor
dltlieult than in tho case of annuals.
For th.ese they tried smother crops,
hare fallow, chemicals and tnr paper.
For small areas of quack grass, cover
ing with tar paper was found effective,
but -was too costly for field applica
tion. As quack grass Is similar to Ber
muda grass in its habit of spreading,
and It equally persistent, this method
may !e of Interest to those who wish
to kill small areas of Bermuda.
A Help In Fruit ricking.
In commercial orcharding it Is gen-I
orally most economical to have pick
ing and packing work going on concur
rently. This saves putting the apples
on the ground and having to handle
them again. A portable sorting table
upon which pickers can empty their
bags Is placed on low truck wheels and
a single horse can move it to any de
sired point as the work proceeds. It
should be made large enough to hold
not less than two barrels of fruit.
The rear holster is higher than thai
at the open end, so that the culls can
bo rolled out. A long, heavy plank Is
placed on the ground on each side of
this table on which the barrels are set
for filling. The culls are allowed to
roll into a pile from the lower end of
the grading table.
The Hore' Teeth at Nine Year.
At nine years the mark in the cornet
teeth of the upper Jaw is clearly de
fined; the mark Is still visible In the
middle teeth, but has almost disap
peared from the nippers.
A side view of upper Jaw at nine
years. The point I is the indentation
usually seen in corner tooth.
Preserving the Morten n Horne.
Colonel Battell of Mlddlebury, Yt,
Is entitled to the honor of preserving
the Morgan horse from extinction. He
has enlisted the Fnl ted States Depart
ment of Agriculture In the work of re
storing to its old-time standard this
beautiful horse, and for that purpose
has deeded to the government Wk) acres
of pasture and woodland. The horses
now on the farm are headed by a stal
lion that cost $4,0(10.
Xoten A ho nt tho Form,
The hens ought to have a little grain
every day all during the summer.
Feeding heavily on whole corn has
a tendency to Induce hens to become
broody.
Try to arrange to give each horse on
the farm a three weeks' vacation on
grass.
Keep the stables and the yards clean,
so that flies and Insects have no breed
ing places.
Beets or mangel wurzels make fine
food for poultry. They should be
chopped fine.
See that all the hogs have plenty of
fresh, clean water to drink, especially
during hot, dry days.
Do not put away the whitewash
brush in the summer time. Keep it
going summer and winter.
Do not fail to provide a shelter un
der which the young chicks can scurry
In case of sudden storms.
Boiled eggs should never be fed to
very young chicks and should never
be fed more than twice a week.
The poor cow seems to be continual
ly with us. Get rid of her and thus
reduce the cost of production.
Acidity in milk Is Incipient decom
position, and it Is the most delicate
flavored oils which suffer first of all
among the fats of which butter is com
posed. Kvehy successful breeder has some
hobby, some originality that leads him
to Improve some particular character
istic of his cows and Improve them In
some one particular point
Never dose a healthy horse. All he
needs is good care and good feed. The
good care Includes, of course, regular
exercise. It is Just ns bnd for a horse
to be all the time taking medicine as It
is for a man. Do not do It
If the horse flags, and his legs be
come unsteady, unhitch at once, put
cold water on his head and on the back
of his neck and rub with coarse cloths.
If near a drug store inject forty or
more grains of quinine. Sponge his
mouth with cold water
THE WEEKLY
124S Construction of the Cathedral of
Cologne begun.
14(11 Louis XL of France crowned at
Rheinis.
lG45r-Peace concluded between Sweden
and Denmark.
1070 J(ohn Dryden created Poet Lau
reate of England.
1741 Retiring, the navigator, discovered
East Cape.
l"rl Fort Oswego captured by the
French under Montcalm.
17(m Pontiac's war for the extermina
tion of the English in America came
to an end.
1775 Liberty Tree in Boston conse
crated. 1770 Constitution of Maryland adopted.
1780 Americans defeated British and
Tories at battle of Musgrove Mills.
1802 Bonaparte invested with jower to
nominate his successor as ruler of
France.
1804 Work begun on the first public
road between Georgia and Tonnes
see.
1807 British nrmy Invested Copenhagen.
1S30 British Parliament passed the Dis
senters' Marringe Act.
1S.TS The first I'nited States exploring
expedition sailed undar Commander
Wilkes.
184(1 Gen. Kearney took traceable pos
session of Santa Fe, Mexico.
IStiO The Prince of Wales (now King
Edward VII.) arrived at Quebec.
1S(.8 Cahul recovered by Shere Ali.
1S.84 Mme. Patti sued for divorce from
Marquis de Caux.
1S.8R More than 100 lives lost in col
lision of the German steamers Thing
valla and Geiser off Sable Island.
1801 Between .TOO and 400 lives lost in
earthquake in Martinique.
1803 The Behring Sea arbitration
award was delivered.
1004 Russian and Japanese warships en
gaged in battle off Vladivostok.
A trial week of dispatching trains by
telephone from the stations of the Lack
awanna system has resulted in the adop
tion of the phones.
The line of the Wisconsin Central road
from Ladysmith to Superior lias been
completed as far as the Northern Pacific
crossing within the Superior city limits.
Several hundred thousand freight cars
may he standing idle, ns the railroad
managers tearfully protest, but some Kan
sas grain dealers complain that they are
unable to get box cars enough.
In tho Circuit Court at Chicago Judge
Kohlsaat enjoined the issuance of trans
portation by the Chicago, Indianapolis
and Louisville railway to the publishers
of Munsey's Magazine in exchange for
advertising. lie held that the contract
under which this transudation was is
Fiied is in violation of the Hepburn rate
law. The railroad company gave notice
of an appeal to the United States Su
preme Court.
At Helena, Mont., legal representatives
of the government began suit against the
Northern Pacific Railway Company, the
Rooky Fork Coal Company and the
Northwestern Improvement Company to
recover title to valuable coal lands which
It is charged were procured through mis
representation. Tho lands in question
contain coal mines from which the rail
way obtains great quantities of coal
through its control of the subsidiary com
oanies. Presumably due to the industrial de
pression of tho past year, the death rate
from accidents by rail appears to be on
the deerense. The Accident Bulletin of
the Interstate Commerce Commission for
the first ' quarter of 10OX kIiows a total
of 12.1 jwissengers and employes killed,
as compared with 220 such deaths in the
preceding quarter, and with 'M in the
one before that. The latest record is the
smallest since these statistics were first
collected in 11)01. During the first qnnr
ter of this year the number of deaths of
pnsscngers and employes from all causes
was 72.S, against 1O02 in the preceding
quarter. In the same period the numlKr
of casualties was l.",441, the least within
three years.
The right of shippers to combine small
quantities of freight of various ownership,
either by arrangement among themselves
or by a forwarding agency, was confirmed
by the Interstate Commerce Commission
'n a decision recently rendered.
The Interstate Commerce Commission
has published tfie final figures of the In
come of the railroads for the last fiscal
year. The total net earnings amounted
to $840,5X0,044, which is an Increase of
.(KKl.SOO. The toul number of em
ployes on the pay roll on June 30 wtui
1.C72.074, against 1,521,355 m ytar ago.