A Political Vendetta
By
WELDON J. COBB
T IIIS is a new and engaging- work of fiction from
the iien of a DODular western author. It is a
story of the hour and deals with themes and
incidents of every-dav national life as we find it
about us. It is a story that goes into the depths
of tragedy and rises to the heights of strong emotion. It
is sentient with powerful humanity. Its central figure is
such a man as has been the model theme of many a timely
pen. The heroine is a lovely girl whom circumstance and
fate arm with the power to meet her destiny with a strong
devotion that gilds this great story with rare closeness to
the truth and courage of a noble nature.
The political element of the story is well devised and
hand ed in a masterly manner, showing how the field o
politics is one that can be used to advantage to themselves
and disadvantage to others, by schemers who know how
to control the voters of a community. The timeliness of
the theme will appeal to all readers, who at the present
time are int rested in the great national issues now so
prominently before the public
The reader will find this serial very entertaining in its
details and its plot motive is strong and intensely dramatic
He commend the story lor its peculiar originality of treat
ment and the satisfactory ending, while true worth is
rewarded and the plots of the schemer defeated. All
ehould read it. It is a rare work of fiction.
big vault has not been opened yet, bnt of
course those swindlers left nothing of
value there. Receiver going to break tho
locks this nfternoon."
The chief talked on, more to distract
his visitor's attention from his main
source of anxiety than anything else.
Gideon arose, with a sigh.
"Well, if you find any trace at any
time let nie know at once, he said
"Trust me for that !" assured the offi
cial. Gideon Hope was a man to tie to.
liesides, his magnetism really caught the
chief.
Hope went on to the political meeting
Soon he was the ceuter of attention and
pivot of action
Itulldlnjf a Dam.
I expect to build a dam on a creek
Around his table and for ,,.., mm. t)nm i.m iln hnf
chair on the right hand side of the stage. 100 fppt , f t t , fl ter
buzzed and flitted the captains of pre- . , . . . , , , .
icu icci. i. inn wouiu ne uie cneap-
ptains or pre
cincts, while the chairman rapidly rushed
business along, and the masses in the
hall harangued, bickered and perspired
The critical moment arrived. Masked
harmony had so far prevailed. Now came
the putting of the motion that Gideon
est way of building the dam? 2. Will
you give a plan of such a dam? 3.
What size of turbine would be neces-
ary to run a 48-Inch circular' saw?
Ans. The accompanying sketch
Hope must defeat, by a masterful strug- shows a cross-section of the stylo of
dam that would be required for this
purpose. Dams are sometimes con
strueted by a curbing of wood, mason
ry, or cement, the Interior being tilled
with dry stones. Such a dam Is called
a rwk-fill dam. If stone Is plentiful
could carry . the the dam may be built entirely of ma
sonry. The top should be laid either
gle, with opponents howling, battling for
existence. Each faction strove for the
floating vote, which, at the beck of caprice
or bribery, would turn the balance
Gideon sat watching for the instant to
arrive when, with a gesture of his power
ful arm, the enunciation of twenty im
pressive sentences, he
mob by storm.
CHAPTER I.
The great city -as looking for a man
a missing man.
The newspapers had published columns
concerning his mysterious evanishment
and printed his pi. -lure times without
number. Friends and acquaintances had
searched everywhere for him. and the po
lice dejMrtmeut, powerful, on-pressing,
had brought into play all its efficient ma
chinery for, back of the impelling mo
tive were the mandate, the direction, t he
influence of the master-will of a great
political "boss" Gideon Hope.
It was Gideon Hope's brother, Everett
Hope, aged 25, bright, buoyant, on the
threshold of smiling yet majestic man
hood, who had dropped from view as
though abruptly blotted out of existence.
He had left no trail like a bird in the
air, a srone in tne water, a simoon
breath in desert wastes. In the midst of
bustling activity, in Che very he;frt of
the mighty metropolis, in broad daylight,
ho had walked to some mysterious doom
that had buried, had obliterated hini com
pletely. From a certain public street cor
ner, at a definite hour and minute, he had
been lost to the sight of mortal man,
and there was no clue to motive, where
abouts or fate, although a full week had
passed by.
They were men of strength, courage
and character these Hopes. Gideon had
come to the city twelve years before, a
brawny, bronzed son of toil from the
northern rolling mills district, it was said.
Rumor had it that, the scion of a mill
ionaire king of industry, he had dropped
with falling fortunes into the pit of hard,
manual labor. He had the air, the ap
pearance, the dignity of a man. who with
equal grace and deftness, could deal an
anvil stroke that would split a ten-inch
steel beam, or clasp a diamond bracelet
about the dainty wrist of a duchess.
Gideon had become the timekeeper for
a great .iron shop in the city, then its
superintendent, and then a man with a
nameless position, but extravagant salary
the censor, the directing magnate, who
Lired or discharged all employes at will.
One spring election he turned the politi
cal tide of municipal alTairs by marching
eighteen hundred laborers to the polls
and voting them as one man. Thence
forth he held the dominant party in the
hollow of his hand a giant playing with
an eggshell. The next year he was heart,
soul, center, of the most formidable polit
ical organization that ever controlled the
destinies of a great commonwealth.
Gideon Hope asked for no reward,
seemingly ; he demanded no office. With
his strong, ruling face and grim, set man
lier, he was content to lurk sinister at
the core of every political movement, to
hold the strings that controlled men and
millions his puppets. His word was
law, his will supreme.
This man, with his harsh, hard face
and crisp, repellent manner, however, had
one tender spot in his nature bis broth
er, Everett. His fellows had noted his
cold eye flicker when he spoke of him.
When, later, he introduced among them
a fair, delicate fiaxed-haired youth, all
gentleness and courtesy a strange con
trast to himself there were pride in his
eye and devotion in his smile. It seemed
impossible that they could be of kin, so
widely dissimilar were they.
And now. upon this fond brother, Gid
eon centered every hope, lavished all the
affection of a deep, repressive nature. He
had "worked the wires" for others too
well he knew the stejw that would lead
Everett Hope to the portals of sucross
and the companionship of millionaires.
He marked out his plan like setting the
stakes for a political campaign initially,
familiarity with business men and busi
ness methods, credit-man in a great trust
establishment, where Gideon had "the
pull" to place whom he would, a secre
taryship, and then care, cleverness, ma
nipulation, and Everett was a made man.
It was in pursuance of this plan that,
on a fair first day of June, Everett Hope
undertook the simple duties of a commer
cial re;orter, entering the service of the
great Dunstreet Agency. His routine
would throw him among mighty and
mall, the man of means and the one
truggli'ig to keep alive the penny-shop
enterprise it was as an outcome of this
same direct plan that, one bright after
noon in July, Everett Hope met a mvs-
tenons and mournful fate.
If Gideon Hope felt the terror and sus
pense of that awful week, when police
activity seemed ever on the verge of some
hideous discovery, he showed it not.
The city was flaming with the passion
and ardor of a great political issue. With
in the limits of twenty-four hours might
lay the ruin of the dominant wing of the
party. A schism had been provoked and
intensified, and the eye of every "heeler,"
as of every man of note, was fixed on the
movements of his political opponents. But
the adherents of the Hope faction were
sanguine. An able general, never yet
baffled or defeated, was at his post, they
well knew, and there might be a bitter
battle, but who could doubt the victory?
It was the afternoon upon which the
vote was to be taken that would make
Hope supreme in twenty-seven wards, or
master of none. He had his enemies, and
he knew it. He laughed them to scorn,
yet within the apparently cool, crafty
man of politics, there flamed a volcano
of hidden, consuming emotion. Above the
Medusa-head of strife and faction there
hovered to his fancy hauntingly, contin
ually the sweet, pathetic face of missing
Everett Hope.
As he passed through the city hall on
his way to the place of convention, Gid
eon rid himself of the servile throng at
his side and heels. lie turned into a
corridor, and past a door, the "Open
Sesame" to which was known to very
few of lower position than a 'county com
missioner. Gideon came Into the presence of the
chief of police in his private office, im
mobile and placid of face as wonted, yet
his lips crushed a sob as he threw him
self into a vacant chair.
"No news," said the official, promptly
and sadly.
"It is strange," replied Hope. t
The chief shook his head seriously.
"We are at a dead wall no clew," he
went on ; "we have traced your brother's
movements down to three o'clock in the
afternoon of the day of his disappear
ance." Gideon was shading his face, iron set,
with one palm.
"Go on," he said, In a tone strangely
subdued, for him.
"Your brother started out on his work
at ten o'clock. He had his ctistomary
grist, comprising eight inquiries as to the
credit standing of as many business firms.
He went to seven.
"To seven," murmured Gideon, mechan
ically. "Yes," bowed the chief; "we traced
him, found that out positively."
"And the eighth?"
"We do not know."
1 1 "J w .
The official repeated his declaration.
"Why do you not know what was the
eighth firm?"
"The Consolidated Silver Company."
Gideon looked up, shrewdly.
"The rotten stock corporation tiiat
dragged in half a million and went to the
wall?" he quickly inquired.
"The same a stench in the nostrils of
every honest man ! You know the game?
They hired a big vacant factory, fenced
it in mysteriously, and proceeded, accord
ing to popular supposition, to make silver
to order. They were closed up the day
after your brother had them on his list
next evening, officers and manual equip
ment disappeared, leaving a few useless
machines, some 'bogus' metal mixtures,
and a big load of debts."
Gideon moved wearily. The public
prints had detailed the giant failure In
a spectacular way, and the particulars
were still fresh in his mind.
"My brother went there that day?" he,
half-consciously, murmured.
"We don't know that," explained the
chief; "and, perhaps, hardly. You see,
it was shut up tight practically aban
doned. Some of the officials were flitting
about the premises, off and on during that
day, but we have no reason to think your
brother really went there. I visited the
place. It's empty enough. They haven't
found a thousand dollars in assets. Th I
He had superb confidence in his ability, with plank or cement.
His eye was awake, every sense on the
keen alert, lie sat waiting for his cue.
A toucti caused him to turn.
"What?" he said, sharply, as though &
dagger-thrust had touched his vitals, for
he read disaster in the interruption.
His hands trembled slightly, and a dull
As the Illustration shows, the dam
Is laid on bed-rock, the bed rock being
blasted out sufficiently to secure n key
and n solid footing generally. With
a ten-foot dam the base should be ten
feet wide. On the upstream side, the
stream, so as to present a concave sur-
pallor wreathed his firm-set lips. It was natter or slope or the dam Is about 1
his friend, the chief of police, who stood In 4, and on the downstream side the
by his side. upper part of the batter Is about 1 In 3
"You told me to come at any time, and the lower part 1 In 1. The dam
you know," he stammered apologetically, throughout Its length should curve up-
ies: yes: nait wnisperea uuieon, nis
tone quite eager and harsh, cracked and
dry.
"We've found out something."
"What?"
The query came with pistol-shot quick
ness
"Or, rather, we have found somebody."
"Whom?"
The word wras a hollow gasp.
"Your brother."
Gideon Hope swayed then, recover
ing, sat stiff, erect again.
"Dead?"
"Dead."
"When where? Tell me!"
The bodv of the hall was in riot. The
chairman was pounding with his gavel-
what were they, the interests of politics,
the guidance of a commonwealth, to Gid
eon Hope at. that supreme moment? Some
men were tumbling over chairs and tables
to reach their leader.
"Tell me!" again said he, fixing his
eves on the erave-faced chief, with a
shudder.
The official bent over whispered ten
words in Hope's shrinking ear. The great
BfO SOCK
DAM FOR SAW MILL rOWEB.
face to the pressure of the water. The
masonry work should be constructed
of rubble with cement mortar, and all
the work should be very thoroughly
done.
A necessary provision In connection
political boss cowered like a child and with a dam Is sufficient wasteway for
hid his white face in his nerveless, pow- water not utilized for power. The com
erless hands. mon form of wasteway is a tunnel
"Hope!" through the dam sufficiently large to
"guick are you oatr, man; provide for the maximum amount of
Political leaders naa rencneo nm ..,, watpr be ,red tQ
pouring into nis ear cne vua. announce- n,,,m, ' ,, 'fM
ment that the question of the hour had " , , ' " fc"
been put, and the opposition were press- i u.i. uv
ing them sorely. vl "aler wou,a 1)0 conironeu. ine
Check the stampede up on your feet, wuier ro oe uinizeu tor power may De
man your old sell! pantea a oreamiess rai i nn iu lire vt iicui uy menus ui 11
Congressman, "or the day is lost! Hume. A fifteen-Inch turbine wheel
They tore away Gideon s shielding would provide from 8 to 10 horse pow-
hands, revealing a face grown gray, and er wnich would be sufficient to run a
dusky, and old in a moment. His gaze 8nw of tue slze mentioned. Montreal
was vacant, uncomprehending. He swept f
out one hand and waved them aside.
"He's stricken, gentlemen," explained For Feeding Stock.
the chief, in a low tone "he's heard bad A Ducuet or peculiar construction,
news, and " designed especially to be used by farm-
"What's that to yonder. mob!" howled ers and dairymen In feeding slop to
a palpitating alderman. "Are we sold-
did he sell us? One word, and he could
have staved the tide! And now! "
A yell like that of a pack of hungry,
victorious wolves rent the air. The oppo
sition had split the party. Gideon Hope's
power was gonehe was buried deep
fathoms deep in the oblivion of discredit
and neirlect, in a single moment. .Never
again to lift his face with its old proud
cxoression as king and leader never
again to raise his voice in eloquent de
fense of party principles.
He walked from the hall like a man
n a dream, rorevermore naunrea wit ti
he horrible picture the whispered words
of the chief of police had conjured up.
For that official had told him that the.v
had burst open the massive steel door of
he vault of the rotten, exploded Consoli
dated Silver Company, to find one asset
lead, murdered Everett Hope!
(To be continued.)
Where' Priced Run High.
"The late II. O. Havemeyer," said a
sugar jobber of New Orleans, "possess
ed in a marked degree the kindly vir
tue of charity. On my last visit to
New York it was some months before
the panic I spoke harshly of a million-
ire who had been accused of double
dealing In connection with a bank.
"'Well now,' said Mr. Havemeyer,
let us not condemn this man unheard.
Remember that his guilt has not yet
been proved, nor has he told his own
side of the story.' Then Mr. Have
meyer laughed and said that In the
most untoward conditions accused men
were often able to clear themselves.
He said a young girl a week or so after
Christ mas complained bitterly to her
mother :
'Mamma, I doubt If I shall be hap
py with George. I fear he Is deceptive
and false.'
"'Why, darling, what do you mean?'
the mother naked.
" 'Well, mamma,' said the young girl
earnestly, 'you know that collarpin he
gave me for Christmas? He swore to
me that he paid $25 for it, but In Blf
fany's to-day I saw Its exact counter
part for $5.'
" 'Ah, but my child,' said the mother
with true charity, 'you must remember
how very religious George Is. Undoubt
edly be bought the pin at a church,
fair.'" ...
Vermont gets the credit of being tho
granite State, but Pennsylvania leads
in the production of stone, with nearly
14 per cent of the total to ber credit.
'4
stock and In the
handling of fluid sub
stances Is the inven
tion of a Michigan
man. It serves in a
sense as a dipper.
The arrangement
is such that It can
be filled by forcing it
bottom downward in
to a receptacle of
fluid substance, the
hinged portion of the
to jiennlt the
NEW BUCKET.
bottom being opened
bucket to be filled and closed to hold
the contents until carried to the place
of feeding. The contents can thus be
discharged Into a trough without
wasting It and without the liability of
spilling It upon the clothes of the
operator. The hinged portion of the
bottom of the can Is operated by a rod
extending above the top, which term
inates Into a handle. As the bucket
Is carried by the latter, pressure Is
always maintained upon the bottom to
keep It closed. When it is desired to
discharge the contents the handle Is
pushed downward.
Vltt Money In Wanto Land.
The woven wire fence is revolution
izing the hog Industry in the whole
country, and when farmers learn to
utilize every bit of waste land for pas
ture for their hogs the herds will be
healthy and the cost of production will
be decreased many dollars. It won't do
to allow the pigs to He In the shade of
the corn cribs or to allow them only a
run of pasture. Feed a little corn all
of the time that the pigs are running
In the pasture. The grass-grown pig
does not appear so attractive with his
working clothes on, but when he Is well
developed nnd ready to be fitted he
makes the pampered pets look like 30
cents. He makes a flue appearance and
s a credit to his owner and feeder.
Portable Canning Machine.
A machine by which the farmer can
prepare and can his fruits, tomatoes,
corn, beans or any other farm produce
which can be canned. In the fields or
orchards In which the vegetable or fruit
Is growing. Is described In Popular Me
chanics. Mounted on a wheelbarrow
arrangement the machine can be pushed
from one orchard to another or from a
tomato patch to a cornfield as necessity
requires. Water for the process Is heat
ed by a kerosene burner.
Salt for Live Stork.
Why salt should be regularly sup
plied to stock is thus put by a famous
English authority: lUvnuse In the
blood of nnlmals there Is six or seven
times more sodium than potassium, nnd
that the composition of the blood Is
constant. To keep animals In good
health a definite amount of common
salt must be assimilated. The excess
of potassium salts In vegetable foods
causes by chemical exchange an ab
normal loss of common salt. This Is
proved by the fact that the craving of
an animal for common salt Is most no
tlcenble when the food contains a large
proportion of potassium salts, such as
wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, beans and
pens. The addition of salt to animal
food Increases the appetite, promotes
the repair of tissue by- its searching
diffusion, through the body, and stlinu
lates the rapid using up of its waste
products. Ilousslngault's experiments
showed that salt Increases muscular
vigor and activity, nnd Improves their
general apienranee and condition.
The nitfht IVay to Pack Fruit.
If the fruitgrower simply tumbles
his apples Into the barrel without sort
'ng and without arrangement, in order
to get the greatest number Into tho
barrel, bonds it up and ships to jii.i
ket, he will discover when he gns his
"h ck that his fruit has been so'd for
the lowest price. The only way to get
the top prices for fruit is to sort it
according to grades, arranging In bar
rels or boxes In layers placing each
apple in by hand, and selecting for the
top layer fruit of the same color. The
top layer should be made up of apples
all of the same size if possible, and the
fruit should come Just to the top of
the staves. Then the heading should
be carefully placed on top nnd gently
pressed down until It slips into the
chine. This can be done better by the
use of a block placed under a lever.
Nitrate of Soda.
The value of nitrate of soda applied
to barnyard millet at the New Jersey
experiment station was stated by the
experimenters as follows: Amount ap
plied, ICO pounds per acre; yield un
treated acre, 7.03 tons; treated acre,
13.38 tons; gain by use of nitrate,
5.75 tons; per cent of gain, 75.4; value
of gain, at $3 per ton, $17.25; cost of
nitrate per acre, $3.G0. net gain per
acre by use of nitrate over cost, $13.05.
The crop was seeded on June 10 on
well-fertilized land at the rate of three
fourths bushels of seed per acre, after
a crop of oat and pea forage had been
harvested, which averaged six tons per
acre. The nitrate was applied soon af
ter the plants were well rooted and
capable of absorbing, food rapidly.
THEV7EEKLY
Cow Stall.
The stall as shown here Is four feet
over all, but can be made less. Cow
when eating will stand with her hind
feet Just behind the 2 by 4, leaving the
droppings behind it
When she lies down she will be com
pelled to lie In front of the 2 by 4
cow STALL.
with her head under the feed rack. It
s not necessary to have a gutter In
a stall of this kind. There should be
short partitions, however, to keep the
cows from turning around.
For building, use 2 by 4 for bottom
feed rack ; bottom of rack 3 feet above
floor. Strips of 1 by 4. 0 Inches apart
form the rack, and should slope back
00 degrees. From 7 to 8 feet from front
of stall place 2 by 4 on edge; if set in
dirt use stakes.
Chemical Action ol Manure.
Although cultivation is necessary and
will Increase your crops, no matter how
much you cultivate, or how you labor,
It should be remembered that the plant
food In the soil is the vital element of
crop production. The crop removes this
element, but by applying manure It Is
put back again. Manure not only en
riches soil with the elements of fertil
ity, but also renders the stored plant
food of the soli more available, Im
proves the chemical conditions, makes
the soil warmer and enables It to re
tain more moisture and to draw It up
from below.
Farming Note.
Remember the Importance of the
kitchen garden.
Some genius has figured out that a
bee will on a busy day draw sugar
from 120,000 different clover heads.
When mustard Is a serious pest the
fields are sprayed with a solution that
kills the weed, but does not harm the
crop.
The government spent $10,000 this
last spring planning ways to destroy
the green bug In Kansas, Oklahoma
and Texas.
One hundred and thirty-nine cows,
comprising the best of thirty-six Illi
nois herds, produced an average of 301
pounds of butter fat last year.
A cow owned by William Maher of
Sheffield, III., gave birth to three good
sized and perfectly developed calves.
She "Is half Jersey, and raised the
calves the first three weeks on her
own milk.
1705 Riot In Boston on account of tin
stamp act.
1775 Continental army under Gen,
Montgomery arrived at Ticonderoga.
177(1 British defeated the Americans in
battle of Long Island.
17S5 Lord George Germain, the irreeotv
citable foe of America in the cabinet
of Ixrd North, during the Revolu
tion, died. Horn Jan. 20, 1710.
1705 French directory established.
1808 British under Sir Arthur Wellesley
defeated the French and Spanish
forces at Vimiera, in Portugal.
1814 British evacuated tho city ot
Washington The city of Wash
ington burned by the British.
1818 The Savannah, the first steam ves
sel to cross the ocean, launched at
New York.
1819 The Duke of Richmond, governor
general of Canada, died of hydrophobia.
1S20 Copper discovered at Galena, 111.
....Warfare between Colombia and
Peru ended. .. J'Mrst temperance so
ciety formed in Ireland.
1835 Sir John Gosford. Earl of Col-
borne, sworn in as governor of Canada.
1S3C Opening of the Buffalo and Ni
agara railroad.
1810 Annexation of New Mexico to th
United States.
1847 Republic of Liberia inaugurated.
1848 Trials of the Chartists began In
Iiondon.
1851 The yacht America won the new
famous cup at the international re
gatta at Cowes, England.
1857 Port Huron, Mich., incorporated a
city .. .Beginning of a financial panic
in the United States, which culmi
nated in an almost entire suspension
of the banks.
1858 First treaty signed between Great
Britain and Japan.
1800 Victoria railway bridge at Mon
treal opened by the Prince of Wales.
1SG5 Thomas Chandler Haliburton,
noted Canadian writer, died. Born
171M5.
1800 First Confederate soldiers' monu
ment unveiled at Griffin, Ga.
1878 The indeiM-ndence of Servia, pro
claimed at Belgrade.
1880 William J. Kendall, clothed in a
cork vest, swam through the Niagara
whirlpool rapids.
1800 Maj. Gen. Sir F. I). Middleton re
tired from the command of the Ca
nadian militia.
1801 Decennial census placed the popu
lation of Cnnada at 4,823.344.
180 A tornado swept the shores of the
Sea of Azof and caused the loss of
1,000 lives.
1807 President Borda of Uruguay assas
sinated at Montevideo. .. .Congress
of Salvador adopted the gold stand
ard.... Gen. J. P. S. Goliin of Penn
sylvania elected commander-in-chief
of the G. A. R.
190-1 Battleship Louisiana launched at
Newport News.
1907 British House of Lords passed the
bill legalizing marriages with a de
ceased wife's sister, thus settling a
long pending question.
or
Owing to the failure to secure advan
tageous railroad rates between Salt Lake,
Utah, and Ely, Nev., filie proposed bout
between Battling Nelson and Joe Gans,
scheduled for Labor Day at Ely, has been
called off. -
Forty-three strikeouts is the record
which was established in a remarkable
game at Buffalo Lake between the home
team and the fast Olivia team. The con
test was prolonged for twenty innings,
during which Olivia used one twirler.
while Buffalo Lake used two. Olivia won.
At a meeting of the executive commit
tee of the Central States Rowing Asso
ciation It was decided to present the
grand prize f.r the highest merit to the
South Side Rowing Club of Quiney, III.,
and the association will have a duplicate
prize made to present to the Mound City
Club of St. Ix)tils. The original prize is
a handsome bronze plaque presented by
the Burlington Boating association. The
Mount City and the South Side clubs tied
(or first honors.
At the close of the Olympic games in,
London, the American athletes were cov
ered with medals. Queen Alxandra hand
ed out fifteen gold medals to the Yankees
at the stadium. These with a tray full
of silver and bronze emblems of victory,
made by far the most imposing array of
"jewelry" awarded to any nation. Amer
ica's victory, 114 1-3 to England's 0(5 1-3
was by the biggest margin on record. At
Athens two years ago the count was
75 1-10 to 41 In favor of America. Th
Americans came within ten points of scor
ing as much as all the other nations com
hined.