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About Heppner gazette. (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912 | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1909)
7Yie Great Tontine by HAWLEY SMART Author of 'Broltn Bonds," "Bound to Win." Eu. DBOQAfinQBaBQ I HE GREAT TONTINE is a fine work o fiction, embel lished with a truly wonder ful and fasci nating plot- It is a splendid story and deals with an original subject in a powerful way. The incidents of this sterling romance are cleverly drawn and full of great originality and interest. The characters are life-like and the serial one of the very best ever offered. CHAPTER 1. Herbert Phillimore, fifth Viscount Lak ington, had reached his twenty sixth birth day and the end of his tether. There had been no ho'der plunger on the race course. "The cleverest young one that has ever been oi't." muttered some. "How on earth dor-R he pet his information?" mur mured others. The bookmaker said noth ing, but continued doggel'y to lay him shorter od:'s than ever, l'b bubble soon burst, as it has burst many t time bs fore. Th Viscount was no more astute than his fellows, nor blessjd -ifth any ex traordinary sources of information. It Was simply luck. It did not occur to him to retire when the smash came, to turn over a new leaf, and attempt to live upon what was left of his income; but he quite recognized that something must be done, and that the sinews of war must be raised from other resources than his own in future. He fell back, as might have been expected, upon the usual expedient of unmarried nd impecunious nobility the marrying of money. A popular, good-looking fellow of eix-and-twenty, who can place a coronet on his bride's brow, has not long to seek for such opportunity. Lakington was fortunate. He carried off the great matrimonial prize of the Mason from a host 'of competitors. A quiet, lady-like girl, who, without being a beauty, was still quite sufficiently good looking : but whose greatest charm, prob ably, in the eyes of the world was that she was the only child of Anthony Lyme "Wregis, the great financier. To define what Mr. Lyme Wregis was, was pretty nearly as difficult as to say what he was jaot He seemed to have a finger In pretty nearly every big speculation that was afloat. His enemies declared that he was a "salter of diamond fields," promoter of "bogus" silver mines, phantom railways, and every description of bubble specula tion that filled the pockets of those that started them at the expense of the unfor tunate dupes that took shares in them. Ilowever, whatever he touched turned to gold. He had given a park to the people, built unto himself a palace at Fulham, and was rpputed to be worth more than a million of money. The Viscount's mar riage was to take place the week after Ascot, and the noble bridegroom, in con junction with three kindred spirits as reckless as himself, was at present stay ing in one of those pretty little houses that lie dotted around the village of Bracknell, and which had ben taken by the quartette for the races. . ' It is the evening of the "Cup" day, and the party are lounging at the open windows of the drawing room, and lan guidly discussing the results of the fierce combat they have waged with the knights of the pencil the last three days. "How did you come through to-day, Lakington?" asked Sir Gerald Fitzpat ri.k. "Only so so," replied the Viscount; "I had a pretty good win over Brown Duch ess in the New Stakes, but I knocked it all down afterwards, and a bit more be sides. I am fourteen hundred and fifty out. and shall have to bet in earnest to morrow if I am ever to get home." "I say," suddenly exclaimed Carbuckle, a rising barrister, "have any of you taken shares in the 'Great Tontine'? What does your tatljer-in-ia w, mat is to ne, rninn or It, lakington? Does the scheme com mend itself to the great financier?" "Well," rplied the Viscount, laugh ing, "as it so happens I did mention the subject to him. Now, as you know, he Is no racing man never troubles his head bout It, in short ; but, with a view, I presume, to suit my limited apprehension, he puts his opinion of that scheme Into turf vernacular. He described it as back ing a yearling entered for the Derby to be run when he was twenty years old, and remarked further that he looked to turn ing his money over a good many times, and making a good deal of It, between this and then." "Well. I don't know. I rather like the Idea myself. It commends itself to my mind as putting away something for one's old age." observed Fitzpatrick. "A very broken reed to trust to, Ger ald, and I most sincerely hope that you'll have a good deal more than that to fall back upon in the days to com"." "But what on earth is it?' exclaimed Fortescue. "Pray explain to me what is th meaning of the 'Great Tontine.' "The 'Grat Tontine, my dear For tescue," replied the barrister, "is a scheme for thf benefiting of society, as orig inated in the fertile brain of Mr. Salis bury, the great operatic impresario. He lias discovered that London has no opera bouse worthy of the greatest metropolis la the world. He proposes to at once remedy this stats ot things by erecting one completely furnished with all the newest median ical Inventions of the age, The estimated trifle of one hundred and sixty thousand pounds will be raised by the 'Great Tontine and that Is simply the Issuing of sixteen hundred shares of one hundred pounds apiece. For every hundred pounds share you take you must nominate a life, not less than sixty years old, that Is, you must give the name of some person who has attained that age any one you like ; but he or sho represent lng the hundred pounds share must have attained the sixtieth birthday." "And you may take as many shares as you please?" asked Fortescue. "Quite so," continued Carbuckle; "and name one life for the whole lot, or give a different name for each share. Now you see, it Is considered, that as all these lives start at sixty years of age, in twenty years there will be very few, if any of them, left." "And the holder of the last life takes the pool," cried Gerald Fitzpatrick. "It would be rather exciting to find one's self one of the last half-dozen left In. "Don't Interrupt, Gerald," exclaimed the barrister pettishly; "I want to make Fortescue thoroughly understand Mr. Sal isbury's great conception. The sixteen hundred shares being all taken up, and the names attached to them being all care fully registered, the 'Great Tontine be gins. With the capital thus acquired the opera house is at once commenced, ana in about two years should be finished and in full swing. As soon as that takes place five per cent per annum is to be paid to the shareholders. As the lives lapse nom inators lose all interest in the affair, and the rental is divided amongst those share holders whose nominees are still living; conseqently, those fortunate enough to have made long-lived selections find their infAma inrrensini? annually. The last eicht. for instance, will be drawing a thou sand a year interest on their nunorea pounds share; the last two will nave in creased to four thousand a years while the shareholder who has nominated the final life becomes the proprietor of the whole." "That is exactly what I say," interpos ed Fitzpatrick. "I call it making a very suitable Drovision for your old age. Any nf us. for instance, putting in our huu dred pounds now, there is a prospect of coming into eight thousand a year at nity or thereabouts." "A verv distant prospect, a very dim and hazy prospect," said Lakington, smil ing. "No, upon the whole, Gerald, I'd rather trust to picking out the winner of the "Wokingham's" to-morrow, and put my hundred on that, than put it into the 'Great Tontine.' " "Yes," rejoined Carbuckle meditatively ; hundred pounds is a good deal of money to put Into such an everlasting lot tery as this." "But. replied the ever sanguine ltz- patrick, "look what a price it is ! Treble events are nothing to this. I have my lit tle scheme, and it is worthy of Salisbury himself. What do you say, my Drecnren, to a pool at cards? Vie put in twenty five pounds apiece. Draw a card each of you ; the two highest first play togeth er, then the two lowest, and then the two winners: and I propose .tliat wnoever wins the pool be solemnly pledged to in vest that hundred in the 'Great Ton tine.' " The game was played, and Lakington won. "Remember, Lakington," said Fitzpat rick, "you are pledged to put that hun dred Into the 'Great Tontine. I have the strongest presentiment that you will even tually win it. It will be so like the luck of the Fitzpatricks to have chucked eight thousand a year out of window. Anyway, am the first of the family who ever staked as much on a hand at cards. And now I'm off to bed ; I can't do the family estates any more mischief after that I shall dedicate the next twenty years or so of my life to the framing of a compen sation bill to be presented to Viscount Lakington, the then owner of the new Royal Italian Opera House." CHAPTER II. Amongst the little knot of land dealers, builders, surveyors, architects and others who busied themselves earnestly about the development of Llanbarlym, there were none more keenly interested than Mr. Paul Pegram, a solicitor residing in a country town some twelve miles from the budding watering place. Mr. Paul Pegram, al beit a sharp and a somewhat unscrupulous practitioner, had arrived at the age of forty without in his own opinion having done much good for himself. He was not a popular man; and though the Welsh have the reputation of being a somewhat litigious people, they at all events put their litigation but sparsely into Mr. Pe gram's hands. He was a man of very humble extraction, his father having been a cattle jobber. He died very proud of having brought up his son as a "profes sional gentleman," and of leaving some four thousand pounds behind him. Paul Pegram threw himself heart and soul into the development of Llanbarlym. This was the sort of speculation that he had been waiting for all his life. It had special attraction for him. He was early in the held, foreseeing what the railway would do for the place. He determined to sink all the money he could lay his hands upon in this specula tion. Llanbarlym throve and grew in a manner that quite surpassed the expec tations of those interested in its exten sion. The annually Increasing throng of visitors had brought settlers in their wake. Lodging bouse keepers and shop keepers flocked from surrounding towns to start in business in the new watering place. The first hotel was already dwarf ed by a gigantic rival. Not only had Paul Pegram already made money, but he saw the land he ac quired Increasing rapidly in value. In short, should Llanbarlym continue to prosper, in the course of a few years he would become a rich man. One day there arrived in Mr. Pegram's office a dark, rather flashily dressed gen tleman, with a great deal of watch chain and a good deal of diamond ring about him; a dark, well-whiskered man of some five or six-and-thlrty, with a very glossy hat. He gave his name as Mr. Hem mingby, and curtly Informed the lawyer that he had come down to see if there was anything to be done with this new place Llanbarlym. Mr. Pegram natural ly Inquired what did the stranger propose to do for himself or Llanbarlym. "Well, you see," replied the other, "that is a thing I am not particular about I bars bad a turn at a good many specs one way or another tn my time. I have managed a theater, and 'run' an hotel, and may do either again some day, I have been in all sorts of companies. I have made my fortune, and 'bust up' half a dozen times. There is often a 'big stroke' to be done about a new place if a man has a head on his shoulders, and doesn't arrive too late. It's very possible I am that; but I heard a good deal about this place from a friend of mine last week, and said I would run down and look at it as soon as I bad two or three days to spare; and here I am." In due course the lawyer showed his new acquaintance over the place, expa tiating on Its advantages and future pros pects. Mr. Hemmingby rattled away with his usual fluency, Interspersing his speech with incessant questions. Mr. Pegram admitted to his new friend that he had been one of the very earliest speculators in buying up land round about Llanbarlym, and owned that he had made a very good thing indeed on the transac tion in various ways during the last three years, and that be fully expected to make considerably more during the next five or six. As for Mr. Hemmingby, he told wondrous stories, and darkly hint ed that he guessed that there were dollars to be made In Frisco, only ne naan i quite cyphered out tlhe "hang" of It as yet. Then Mr. Pegram told of his once winning the "Derby" lottery. "Lotteries !' exclaimed Mr. Hemmingby "If you are good at lotteries, guess you'll have to take a turn at the biggest thing of the kind that has been on hand In my day. You will have to take a ticket in the 'Great Tontine I " "AVhat is that?" inquired the lawyer. "I never even heard of it." Whereupon Mr. Hemmingby proceeded to explain the whole system of tnat eiaD' orate lottery to the best of his ability, It took some time before he made his companion thoroughly understand the scheme. It may be that the port wine had somethine to say against lucid ex planation on the one hand, and a clear understanding on the other, although neither of the men showed the slightest symptoms of their deep potations; but when Mr. Pegram had tnorougniy mas tered the details of the scheme he became deenlv interested in it, and finally inquir ed whether Hemmingby himself bad taken shares in it. "I've eot one." he replied, and 1 ve a great mind to take another; but it ain't so easy to find a life of sixty that you know and can do a bit with if he gets rifkPtv. Whv. if I found myself in it at last, and my man a bit ailing, 1 a can him round the world until ne got me cii- mntn he wanted." "Ah." replied Pegram, "I like tnat "capital idea life you can watch over, irn vnur eve on. that's the thing. I sup pose the life you have got is a man of whom you can take care host eved him keenly as ne repnea, "No; and that's just the reason I should like my second chance to be of that kind. No. I won' name him; but I'll give you a very fair Hip' if you think of venturing your luck. Do as I have done -pick out one of the most eminent statesmen of that age. In spite of the tremendous work they do, the balance of tfiem go very near living out the time." "I have it ! exclaimed air. - regram, next morning. "Uiu ivraooe s me man i want. He must be aoout sixty, ano. is n hale and hearty a man as I know. He's been clerk witih me now some seventeen years and never been ailing all that time. T can't call to mind his ever oeing a aay absent or five minutes late. Father did a good stroke of business when he got hold of him; ana, to ao mm juau, me iu dad was a mighty good judge of the points of either man or beast. Old Krabbe has been a good servant to me so far. 1 11 just ask him his exact age, and if that's about right, put him in. Let him live to land this stake, and he shall have a new rigout and live like a gentleman to the end of his days ; and he may take his oath I'll not see his valuable life endangered. That's settled. Yes, I'll put in for the Great Tontine,' and old Krabbe shall be my nominee. I'll write about it to-day." (To be continued.) The Bachelor' Excuses. At a wedding breakfast the bachb lors were called upon to give their rea sons for remaining single. The follow ing were among the reasons given : "I am like a frog in the fable who, though he loved the water, would not Jump into the well because he could not Jump out again." 'I am too selfish and honest enough to admit it." 'I prefer, on the one hand, liberty, refreshing sleep, the opera, midnight suppers, quiet seclusion, dreams, cigars, a bank account and club to, on the other hand, disturbed rest, cold meat, baby linen, soothing sirup, rocking horses, brend pudding and empty itockets." "I Lave a twin brother, and we have never had a secret from one another. He Is married." The Grandest. "What Is the grandest thing in the universe?" asks Victor Hugo. "A storm at sea," he answers and contin ues, "And what Is grander than a storm at sea?" "The unclouded heav ens on a starry, moonless night." "And what is grander than these midnight skies?" "The soul of man" a spectac ular climax such as Hugo loved and still, with all its dramatic effects, the picturesque statement of a vast and sublime and mighty truth. Lucky Youth. Dlggs Lucky fellow, that young Green. He went west last spring, you know. Biggs Did he do well out there? LMggs i should say so. Why, he was able to get back without writing home for money. Craay. Wigwag I believe there's a tinge of Insanity In all religious enthusiasts. Ilenpecke Yes; take the Mormons, for Instance. Any man that wants more" than one wife Is plumb crazy. Philadelphia Record. An attempt to establish a municipal brewery In Berlin resulted In a dis mal failure. It did plenty of business, but lost money. A Farmer's Enterprise. An Iowa farmer has succeeded in opening up a big field for his enter prise by applying an old method to a new service. He has gone Into the business of furnishing fresh eggs daily to a regular list of customers, after the fashion of the milkmen and bakers, This farmer Is a man who raises many chickens and markets a large number of eggs. These he had been selling to dealers, who in turn sent them to cold storage warehouses or to wholesalers Finally they got to the consumers, usu ally pretty stale and much the worse for handling, through the retail grocer or huckster. When eggs were plentl ful and the wholesalers were well stocked up, the farmer got little for them. When eggs were few and prices to consumers were very, very high, the farmer found that his eggs In the warehouses were still In competition with the producer. This man's egg route isn't an egg route exclusively, He sells dressed chickens and other farm produce, too, and when his egg wagon Is going about the driver takes orders for other things which are raised on the farm. Springfield Journal. Starting Early Celery. Celery growing on a 'commercial cale has received most attention In the "muck-bed" areas of Michigan and New York, where thousands of acres are devoted to this crop. California ind Florida have taken up the Indus try and during the winter and spring nonths provide Northern cities with arge amounts of celery. To secure an early crop the best plan for the amateur grower Is to fill i wooden tray 16 Inches by 24 Inches !n size with fine soil three Inches deep, rhls soil should be pressed down and :he seeds scattered either In rows or Droadenst. Cover the seeds by sprink GERMINATING BOX FOB CELEBY. ling through a fine sieve a small quan tity of leaf mold or sand. The win low of a moderately warm room with freauent sprinkling will provide the onditlons necessary for germination When the seedlings appear after two jr three weeks turn the boxes dally to keep the growth even. The illus tration chows the form of box used for starting the plants. Coat of Raising- a Calf. In an experiment to ascertain the cost of raising a calf Prof. Shaw of Michigan station took a dairy calf and kept an accurate account of the ex pense of feeding for one year from its birth. The amounts of feeds used In that time were 381 pounds of whole milk, 2,508 pounds of skim milk. 1,202 pounds of silage, 219 pounds of beet pulp, 1,234 pounds of hay, 1,247 pounds of grain, 147 pounds of roots, 14 pounds of alfalfa meal and 50 pounds of green corn. The grain ration consisted of three parts each of corn and oats and one part of bran and oilnieal. At the end of the year the calf weighed 800 pounds at a cost of $28.55 for feed. The naif was a Ilolsteln. Oreg-on Apples for King Edward, What are considered the finest apples ever grown in the United States or any other country passed through Bos ton recently On their way to the table of King Edward of England. They are known as winter banana apples, and are two and a half times the size of the ordinary apple to which one Is ac customed. These apples are grown at the Beulah land orchards. Hood River, Ore., by Oscar Vanderbllt, an expert orchardlst, and they are considered the highest development In the cultivation of this fruit. Their color Is perfect, the rosy blush blends with the green In the most luscious manner Imagin able. In flavor and texture they are a good as they look. Salt Water to Kill Weeds. Salt water for killing weeds has been extensively used during the past season on the Oregon Short Line rail way, and very satisfactory results have been reported. Water for the purpose Is taken directly from Great Salt Lake, which is approximately 22 per cent salt, and Is merely pumped Into tank cars and hauled over the line. To Revalue State Lands. That all the homestead lands In Michigan have been withdrawn from the market Is announced by State Land Commlsioner Huntley Russell. The lands will be kept out until they have been reappraised, as provided by a res olution recently introduced In the lower house of the state legislature. Tremendous Cost of Prairie Dogs. In the state of Texas alone prairie dogs eat aunually enough grass to sup port 1,502,500 cows. Utterly useless, the little animal 1b a pest so dreaded that the forestry service has undertaken his extermination. Poison Is killing him, wherever he now flourishes and another resource of the farmer is safeguarded. Who would think that the prairie dog, the shy and amusing little rodent that we like to watch before the door of his burrow at the Zoo, would ever be come the subject of the government In tervention or endanger the success of stock raising? Yet such is the fact, says the Technical World Magazine. Out on the national forests which Uncle Sara is guarding for the use of the pub lic, expert hunters have gone after the prairie dog with zeal, ingenuity and poison and literally exterminated them in great numbers, because some of their choicest bottom lands have had the grazing ruined for stock by the indus trious burrowing of the "dogs." A Gate That Never Sag-a. I have used this gate for many years and never spent five minutes repairing It. Countersink two pieces and pin them together. Then set up two 2x4 pieces 2 ft. higher than the gate so it can be raised In winter. . Mortice and set in between the crosspleces, which 5 3 WIRE-COVERED OATK THAT BALANCES. are 12 in. apart, . the board, a, and fasten a cap to the top of the frame, The gate is 10 ft. long, 12 ft being for the gateway and 4 ft. for the weights to balance It. The frame Is of 2x4's, Cover the 4-ft. end w,lth boards and fill with enough stones to balance it when hung. Cover the gate with wire fenc ing and hang by a chain. Put a bolt through the lower part of the frame into the crossplece, a. A. J. Fraser, In Farm and Home. How to Grow Potatoes. Director Woods of the Maine agricul tural experiment station summarizes his suggestions as to succesful potato growing as follows. What he Bays about thorough preparation of the soil Is applicable to that to be used for any crop. Select highly fertile land, so situated that it will suffer as little as possible from either excessive rain or from droughts. Thoroughly prepare the soil and fer- ttlize liberally. Keep the crop free from weeds and the surface of the soil loose during the whole season. Do not let anything prevent the po tato field from receiving constant care. Vastly more failures in potato grow ing can be traced to neglect of crop than to lack of knowledge. How Many Hens. Have you pondered the fact that It requires very little more labor to keep a flock of 100 birds than a flock of 20? There is a hint there as to getting the proper return for your labor. Also the expense of housing and yard ing the larger flock is but little more than for the smaller. These are the two Important outgoes, aside from feed. It follows that your profit will be greatly Increased by the enlarged flock without a corresponding Increase of expense. By all means, If it will pay you at all to keep chickens, it will pay you to keep not less than seventy-five. When and How to Prune. It Is very Important that the healing process should start soon after the wound Is made, otherwise the cambium will be killed back quite a distance from the exposed surface, and healing will be greatly retarded. For this rea son winter pruning should be avoided, particularly In frosty weather. In the early fall or late spring the cambium is active and wounds made at this time start to heal at once, and there is lit tle or no dying back of the cambium. A I'seful Farm Implement. A useful but much neglected farm Implement the shaving horse. Orchard Sugarest Ions. As a rule apples from orchards that are In sod culture are better and more highly colored than those from tilled orchards, but this Is not necessarily so. The peach requires good culture, but this culture should not be continued too late In the season or the wood will not harden by the time winter sets In and the tree will be Injured. pJLh THEVEEKLY RIAH 1009 Lord De La Warr appointed Gov ernor of Virginia for life. 1643 Indians of lloboken massacred by the Dutch. 1676 Indians made a raid on the town of Weymouth, Mass. 1724 The Rhode Island Assembly passed an act requiring a property qualifi cation for becoming a freeman. 1763 William Franklin, last colonial Governor of New Jersey, took office. 1704 Rhode Island college was ineorpo- rated. 1778 First salute to the American flag by a foreign government. 1783 First United States bank char tered. 1789 The Cayugas sold their lands to the State of New York. 1S19 Arkansas territory formed from Missouri. 1820 "Missouri Compromise Bill" pass ed. 1S27 Charter for Baltimore and Ohio Railroad granted. 1829 The Alabama Legislature protest ed against the tariff. 1833 "Compromise tariff" bill passed the House of Representatives.... George Mcintosh Troup of Georgia resigned his seat in the United States Senate. 1830 Declaration of Independence of Texas signed. 1837 The United States Senate resolved that the recognition of Texas as an independent nation was proper and expedient. 1845 The President approved a bill for the annexation of Texas. 1847 Americans defeated the Mexicans at battle of Chihuahua. 1848 Louis Philippe of France abdicat ed. 1854 American steamer, Black Warrior, seized by the Cuban authorities at Havana. 1S57 Congress authorized the people of Minnesota to form a State govern ment. 1803 Union force defeated by the Con federates at Battle of Falmouth. 1504 Ulysses S. Grant made a lieuten ant general. .. .Kentucky University destroyed by fire. 1505 John Young Beall, Confederate spy, hanged on Governor's Island, New York. . . .Transylvania Univer sity consolidated with Kentucky Uni versity. .. .United States Senate passed the $000,000,000 loan bill. 18CS Disraeli became' premier of Eng land, succeeding the Earl of Derby. 1S71 Meeting at Washington of joint high commission on Alabama claims. 1873 Alexander H. Stephens elected to Congress from Georgia. 1873 Fernando Wood moved in the House for the impeachment of Vice President Colfax. 187 Rev. George D. Gillespie conse crated bishop of the Episcopal dio cese of Western Michigan. 1877 New American theater, in Phila delphia, destroyed by fire. 1S79 President Hayes vetoed the Chi nese restriction bill. 1S87 Scores of lives lost in the burning of the steamer W. H. Gardner near Gainesville, Ala. 1S89 Congress appropriated $3."0,000 to aid American workingmen thrown out of employment by the stoppage of work on the Panama canal. 1890 Pan-American Congres voted for an international railway. 1891 Charles Foster of Ohio qualified as Secretary of the Treasury. 1894 War between Nicaragua and Hon duras ended. lgf)5 Postmaster General Bissell resign ed and was succeeded by William L. Wilson of West Virginia. ... Express train on the Houston and Texas Cen tral road held up and robbed near Dallas. 1903 Aldrich currency bill defeated in the Senate. .. .United States Senate passed the Philippine currency bill. 1905 Five million dollar dock fire In New Orleans. 1900 Iowa State Senate passed bill pro hibiting Sunday Dase nan. 1908 Sew York State Senate refused to remove Otto Kelsey, State Superin tendent of Insurance. .. .The first of the tunnels under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey was opened. .. .United States Su preme Court decided in the Great Northern Railroad case that the El kins rebate law was not repealed by the Hepburn act. Wireless for Balloons Nest. The Aerial Navigation Company which, under the direction of Charles J. Glidden of Boston, is constructing sev eral airships to be used in regular t raffia between Boston and New York, is ar ranging to install a system of wireless telegraphy for this new air line. The ob ject is to communicate with any aerial craft carrying wireless apparatus that may be flying anywhere east of the Mis sissippi. Special sending and receiving stations are now being constructed as Boston. IMISIiP