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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1914)
'WARE OF DICTOGRAPH FROM I I BOX By ALVAH JORDON GARTH. (Copyright. 1914, "JNOl (rlend in the world!" said Rufus Deane, desolately, at six o'clock - la the morning. "A nest of comfort and true hearts to cherish me," he added that same evening. For years he had lived alone, occu- pylng a wretched attlo room with poor family In the slums. Long since he had lost the use of both his lower limbs. He had been confined to the one apartment, his wants attended to by his landlord, but living In the most narrow way. Somehow he managed to crape up the few dollars required to pay for board and keep each Saturday night. Then that day there had come to . his lonely habitation a pretty, neat, but plainly dressed young girl. ' "I am Rhoda Leslie," she said. was Rhoda Merrill. Do you remember the name?" "Merrill?" repeated Mr. Dcane, ought to! It was that of my best friend, Robert Merrill." "My father," said Rhoda, and her eyes were filled with tears as she noted the helpless condition of this once proud and wealthy man. "He never forgot, and I never will. inougni you m another country, or dead. It was only yesterday that I learned about you poor, an invalid, friendless. Oh, sir!" and her eyes ex pressed the genuine love and gratl- tude Bhe felt, "it seemed that I could not come quick enough to your side. You did everything for my father when he was alive. He told me that It was your money that kept me at boarding school for two years. We owe everything to you. See, sir, I am Startled at Conversation Going On Below. Just married to the dearest young fel low In the world. When I told him about you, he Instantly ordered me to remove you to our own little home. We will be as your children, tenderly caring for you all your life." ; Then the tears of the astoundod and overcome old man mingled with those of this bright angel of hope, who had come to his succor at the darkest moment of his life. ! She brought her husband with her that evening, a stalwart, honest-faced young man, wbb moved about and spoke at the behest of her suggestion, as though her sweet, loving voice were rapt, directing music. It was dusk when the closed carriage they brought conveyed the old man to his new home. He did not see that it was located In a poor street, he did not no tice that as they tenderly carried him up the stairs the lower apartmentB were furnished sparsely, Indicating rigid economy, If not a scarcity of money. As they placed hira In a wheel chair and turned on the lights a rapt cry came from his Hps, ending In a sob of mingled joy and gratitude, i "This is your home," said Rhoda, sweetly. "And welcome, thrice welcome, sir," spoke blunt, plain Ernest Leslie. "We realized how you could not got about freely and have tried to make it com fortable for you." Comfortable! The bedridden old In valid felt as if he had been lifted to a new sphere of perfect luxury. It was a large, roomy apartment, newly pa pered. Two neatly curtained windows looked out upon a pretty garden. There were soft, warm rugs on the floor, a fireplace, and as they brought up his evening meal all this attention and plenty reminded the old man of the ,day when he had wealth at his ready 'command. I "You are the best husband in the 'world!" said Rhoda, as they left their jguest comfortable and content In what :waa to be his own special apartment. "I love the old man because he was igood to you," answered Ernest simply. I "You are so willing to make sacri jflces for others, Ernest," said Rhoda jfondly. J "Oh, we are young, and tho pleasure lot seeing this dear old man happy and cotofortable will compensate for the loss of a few luxuries." "He must not know how poor we are, urged Khoda earnestly. He can not leave his room, you know, to find "Hit" "No, let him have the fond dream that we are able to surround him with the comforts he so appreciates and en Joys." Fond dream, indeed! To Rufue Deane there came a period of ease and comfort that made life one con tinuous round of satisfaction. Nevei were more ardent friends than th bright, happy couple who ministered to his wants as devotedly as though they were really his children. Ha told them mysteriously more than once that "they should not lose by it," but they paid no further heed to the remark than to feel that his grati tude well repaid them for their exer tions. Then came dark days. Ernest Les lie lost his position. It had corns about through the firm employing him 1 V RD Disraeli put It Justly when learning of his negotiations for a little 1 I he Ba'd that war does not solve, store. These fell through because ha ' I but complicates, writes a corre could not arrange for the payments !B spondent of the Chicago News required. from Bulgaria. This truth One month, two months, passed by ' was very clearly demonstrated In the and Ernest found no work. Bravely, Balkans in the last two bloody years, however, the devoted pair saw to It Tne Christian states were against the that their honored guest, the old man TurIc ln order t0 solve by force of upstairs, never suspected their real arms tne 'on8 mooted eastern ques condltlon. They denied themselves tlon- Tne result of tne struggle in every luxury. All they had to support themselves with now was what Rhoda earned by some fine sewing, and a baby was coming, too. The old man never surmised how hard the shoe of poverty was pinching until one morning, and then quite acci dentally. Under the kind ministra tions of Rhoda and her husband, good food and sanitary surroundings, Mr. Deane had got so that he could move slowly about the room. As he neared the open doorway that especial morn ing he was amazed and then startled at a conversation going on below. Rhoda was pleading with the land lord of the place for a respite of an other week on rent payment. Her hard-hearted creditor twitted her with keeping a lazy burden, not even a rel ative, upstairs. Amid her tearful emotion Rhoda told of the love and duty they felt towards her former benefactor. "The rent tomorrow, or out Into the street you go!" roared the implacable old landlord. ine coarse scoundrel my poor. little Rhoda!" raved Deane, and hob bled to a corner of the room, pulled open the top of his old trunk, and after fumbling over its contents, brought Into View a well-worn tin box. Then with this he stumbled to the head ot the stairs. He could hear Rhoda sobbing bitter ly, he could catch the rough censur ing words of the landlord. He started forward. A scream rang from Rhoda's Hps and her creditor gazed agape, as Mr. Deane lost his balance and came rolling down the stairs. The tin box came down with a slam and he on top of It Remarkably active was the old man. Excitement seemed to arouse his energy. He sat up, shaking his fist at the landlord. "You insolent ruffian!" he shouted. Rhoda, my dear, pay this man al up, and ahead if he wants it, and he'd better keep out of my way, after be rating you the way he has! And Mr. Deane opened the tin box and took out a roll of bills, and besides these there were a dozen valuable seeming documents. "Yours," he said, tendering Rhods the box as the landlord retired you brave, unselfish dear! I never sus pected that you were poor, and kept silent about the little fortune I had. It is all yours, now." And Ernest Leslie got his little store, and Rufus Deane saw to it that they shared the luxuries of life with him, UNABLE TO RESIST IMPULSE Solicitor, Refused Fundi, Showed Hit Resentment In a Decidedly "Cheeky" Manner. Business men are industriously pur sued by insistent people who make a trade of soliciting money for societies and movements too numerous to men tion, and sometimes a disappointed so licitor shows petty resentment when his demands are refused. Recently one ot them called on a well-known restaurateur of New York to obtain funds on some pretext, and gained admission to the private of fice. It is the habit of the distinguished restaurateur, who rejoices in a heavy beard, to play with his whiskers while talking Intimately to callers. On thli occasion he kept pulling his whiskers as usual while affably protesting thai tho solicitor's requests were impos sible. - Finally th"e caller became angry, Ha reached over and pulled the whiskers sharply several times. "What does this mean?" gasped the victim. "Mean?" echoed the caller airily. "It doeBn't mean anything. You cannot resist playing with your whiskers- neither can I." Bullock' Freak Appetite. A curious appetite has been dis played by a bullock owned by a North Lincolnshire (England) farmer. The farmer found the hair had apparently been cut off the tail ot six of his horses, and a constable was instruct ed to keep a special lookout Shortly afterwards the constable saw a bul lock eating the hair off a horse's heels It "cleaned' the heels, and then de voted its attention to the horse's tail, The tails of the other horses wer then found to show unmistakable signi of having been bitten off, and hair was found nearly all over the field. Philosophy and Manliness. Be a philosopher; but amidst al your philosophy, be still a man. Hume. A Wig als Peninsula Is well known to the 1 world. The Macedonian question, which was the real eastern question was not solved, but out of it sprang, in addition to it, an Aegean question, an Epirus question, a Thraclan ques tion, a Dobroudjan question, and last, but not least, the question of Saloniki. I need not touch upon the subject of the desolation and depopulation of the affected districts, which today have the appearance of a veritable wilderness. The recent Balkan wars cost the Balkan states $1,000,000,000 In money and a million lives, count ing the thousands of victims of racial persecution that died and are dying from exposure and famine. In Bul garia more than 350,000 refugees sought shelter from Macedonia, Thrace and Dobroudja. Flight of Moslems. Then followed the flight of the Turkish population from Macedonia and Novi-Pajaar district. In one week some 10,000 MoslemB passed through Sofia station on their way to Asia. All were natives of Novi Pajaar. The Turkish government re taliated and during the last several months tho Christians have been forced to flee from Thrace and Asia General view Minor. This affected chiefly the Greek element. Mr. Venizelos, in pro testing to the porte, declared that in Saloniki alone 5,000 Greek refugees arrived dally for some time after Easter. Had the Balkan states foreseen the terrible calamities that befell them as a result of their war with the Turk, I am sure they would have never un dertaken it. It is nearly a year since the last war was over; still life in Macedonia, Epirus and Thrace Is unbearable, the people are on the verge of starvation, the cities are decaying and commerce is dead. Adrianople, Monastir, Uskub and Saloniki, not to speak of the In terior, are merely shadows of their former state. Saloniki, the capital of Macedonia, has been declared by all to be dying fast. When it is remembered that in the days of the Apostle Paul Saloniki was a very prosperous city numbering some three hundred thousand Inhabi tants, and that ln Turkish times, too, it was second only to Constantinople In importance, one Is at a loss to ac count for Its stagnation and dilapida tion today. Many believed that the port in the hands of a modern state would fare far better than under the Turks. Decay of Saloniki. The reasons for the decay of Sa loniki are obvious to those who are versed in the history and conditions of the Balkans. During Turkish times Saloniki was a flourishing port because It served as a distributing port. It supplied with goods, not only Macedonia, but also Epirus, Albania, Thrace and even northeastern Bul garia and southern Servia, Saloniki goods were Bold even In Sofia and Belgrade. That was made possible because of the low tariff that existed between Turkey and those states. mammimmmmmmmmimmmmmm ! m i MIIIIBIIIil Mil If Will iHMMMMMBM But Macedonia alone would have been sufficient to feed Its capital, That is why it Is Bald that Macedonia could not exist without Saionlki and vice versa. Today, however, Mace donia Is divided between Greece, Servia and Bulgaria, Greece having the smallest part of It. Hence loniki has no border land of any ac count. That being the case, not only has the commerce ln and about Saloniki been hampered, but the adjoining states, Servia and Austria ln particu lar, nave found It necessary to de mand a free outlet at that nort, Meeting after meeting has been held and urgent requests have been made by the citizens of Saloniki to the Athenian government to find some way of preventing the commercial death of the city, but thus far in vain, The sugar and flour Industry, the shoe factories and nearly the entire manufacturing system have been al most destroyed. Business transac tions are tardy and Insecure and the exports and Imports for the year will not amount to one-fourth the average or rormer years. Two weeks ago another mass meet ing took place in the city which was attended by leading Greek merchants as well as others. It was urged in a resolution that the city be made free commercial town. Hard Problem for Greece. Under these circumstances one can understand why Greece granted servia a rree zone in that port. As soon, however, as the news of thai concession was made public Austria demanded the same right. But should s Saloniki Austria be permitted to have free ac cess to Saloniki it will be equivalent to making the city another Hamburg. Hence the question of Saloniki is now puzzling Greece. Greece is placed ln a difficult dilemma. She must choose between a dead Saloniki, thereby de priving thousands ot her citizens of their dally bread, or yield to the de mands of Servia and Austria and sub sequently of all interested nations to make it an International emporium,. BIG SPENDERS ARE SCARCE New York Hotel Man Says Patrons ol the Present Day Are Much More Economical. . "Hotels and restaurants are expect ing something more than usual from society this winter," said one hotel man, who is as well up on the restau rant situation as anybody In New York. "It is believed that fashionable people will do little entertaining in their homes. It will be cheaper and easier to invite their friends to a restaurant, w here they may have danc ing after the dinner. "As a matter of fact, the day of the lavish spender is gone, so far as New York is concerned. We shall nevet see again the era that ended nine ot ten years ago. Those were the days when men from Chicago or Pittsburgh vied with each other In the extrava gance of their entertainments. It waj nothing for a dinner to cost $25 a cover. Now a days, the average Is about $1.50. "The change In spending habits has forced the hotels to employ cost ac countants. The manager of everj modern house is now able to know, when a mutton chop is placed on the table, Just how much of each item oi the hotel's expenses that chop has ta carry." ALWAYS POSSIBILITY OF ONE'S WORDS BEING OVERHEARD. Widespread Eavesdropping Hat Be come a Common Thing Are Alto Being Used to Save Time In Commercial House. Wherever you go h6wadays there's very likely to be a dictograph listen ing to every word you say and trans mitting the sound of your voice to somebody whose ears perhaps you don't care at all about having your conversation reach. In New York city it is said 50 dictographs are purchased every week by Jealous husbands and wives, but the number ot these de vices used for such doubtful domestic purposes is small compared with those which are being Installed for com mercial purposes ln offices, stores and factories. The use of the dictograph to secure evidence in a number of sensational criminal cases has made the public quite familiar with the methods by which it makes widespread eaves dropping possible. The transmitter Is a little disk so small that only careful search will reveal it when put ln place behind a picture or some where else on the wall. This trans mitter is so sensitive that it will carry every sound uttered in a room for long distances. Carefully concealed wires connect it with the receiving end ol the apparatus, which is often dis guised as a paper weight or hidden away in a desk. The work of paying tellers In many large banks is greatly simplified by the use of the dictograph. When a de positor calls to withdraw a large amount the teller may not be sure that the account shows a sufficient balance to cover the withdrawal, but he does not like to offend by stating bis doubts. So the teller presses a button to sig nal a bookkeeper to put his ear to the other end of the dictograph system. whose transmitter is concealed In the teller's counter. Then the teller picks up the check and remarks casually but distinctly enough for the dicto graph to carry his words: "Two thou sand dollars. How will you have It, Mr. Blank?" This question is the signal for the bookkeeper to turn to the ledger and Bee if Mr. Blank's account is good for $2,000. If it is he quickly signals the teller by ringing a buzzer once; if it Is not, he gives two rings. In large safety deposit concerns much tiresome running back and forth Is saved by having the clerks in the vaults and the bookkeepers in the offices work with dictograph receivers fastened to their ears and transmitters on their chests. The wires connecting them run down their trousers legs and trail along the floor. Claim agents of many corporations find the dictograph of service ln de tecting fraudulent claims for damages. Each claimant his his witnesses are made to wait for a few minutes ln very completely "dictographed" room. If the claim is fraudulent they are likely to take this opportunity to rehearse their stories and agree on the testimony they are going to give. nut their every whisper is heard and taken down by a stenographer in an Inner office, and the best laid plans are often thus exposed by the conspirators themselves. Suggests Scotch Dish. An enthusiastic who would lowe. the cost of living suggests that Amer icans eat the Scotch dish called hag- mis philanthropist tells how It is made. First, get the stomach of n sheep, he says, and turn it inside out, wash it and soak it in salt water. Then take the liver, lights and heart of the same sheep, boil them till they are cooked all the way through, after which mush them up, mix with chopped onions and powdered oat meal cakes, and season with pepper and salt. Take this mess and put it In the prepared Bheep's stomach and pour in a cup of gravy. Sew up the mouth of the stomach and punch little holes around in it and boll it for four hours and a half. After which it in Mton 'It was a brave man who ate the first oyster," said Bomeone, but the Amer ican who will eat this thing called hag gis will be entitled to one of t.h kaiser's iron crosses New York Let ter to the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Polncare Is Head of the Armw. When M. Poincare visits the French troops in the fighting line he does nothing in the way of directing their movements. He is, however, entitled to do so, if he cared to exercise the powers conferred on him. One of the articles or a law passed in 1875 enacts that the president shall rank as re sponsible head ("chef agissant de sa personne") of the army and the diplo matic service, and, further, that in time of war he may, if he so pleases, take supreme command of the troops in ac tion. This clause was inserted in the constitution on the express demand of Marshal MacMahon, and has never been modified in any way. Temperance Conundrum. "I can't understand finance, thing puzzles me extremely." One vnats that?" "If they put so much water ln the Btocks, how can money get tight?" Too Much Love. "Darling, I think of you every mo ment in the day.'' "Law sakes, Tom, give some atten tion to your work or you'll get fixed." 1 FT TAKE TIME I TO i ffScmi JUST A TRIFLE FASTIDIOUS M. de Fouquleres, Arbiter of Elegance In Pari, Wouldn't Even Eat Candy Cigar In Ladle' Car. A Newport woman, apropos of tha Duchess de Gramont's crinoline ball, was talking about Andre de Fouql eres, the arbiter of elegance ln Paris, "M. de Fouquleres is too meticul ous ln his elegance," she said, with a witty smile. "When a duke visits him, he advances 18 steps. When It's a baron, he advances six steps. When it's an equal he does not advance at all, and when It Is an inferior an American, say he actually recoils! "Oh, yes, M. de Fouquleres Is ridic ulously meticulous. Once, en route from Paris to Trouvllle, when he was a little boy, a lady gave him a choco late cigar. " 'And what will you do with It?' the lady asked. "Little Andre put the end of the chocolate cigar ln his mouth and rose. " 'I'll go Into the Bmoklng compart ment and eat it,' he said." Minneap olis Journal. Rich Pickings. The British naval officer was on hl way to the bank with several bags of prize money. "Hallo," exclaimed a friend, "what have you there?" "These," replied the Britisher, "are the fortunes of war that you've so often read about." Boston Evening Transcript. Unpatriotic. "Henry writes that he's Joined th Alpha Beta Etas," said Mr. Dawkins a self-made man. "What's that?" "It's a Greek letter fraternity," an Bwered Mrs. Dawkins. "Umph!" snorted Mr. Dawkins. "I'd like to know why he couldn't Join something American, Instead of tafc ing up with a lot of foreigners." The Brighter Side. "This war in Europe Is terrible." "I agree with you. Still, I'm mon fortunate than some people." 'How is that?" "I'm not acquainted with any re tired military men who insist on tell ing me how It ought to be fought." A Slow Pupil. There's many a slip betwixt th cup and the Hp, you know." 'Yes. I've heard that quotation be fore, but lately I've been Impressed bj the fact that there Is many a sIId be tween the Initial tango lesson and th attainment of a certain degree of pro nciency as a tango dancer." A Stumbling Block. "Well, did you settle your areumenl with Colonel Whiffersby about th Russian campaign against the Aus trians?" 'No. We decided to suspend our an gument until we learned how to pro nounce Przemysl." AND 8CARCE, TOO. Customer Bring me an extra good steak, and have it very rare. Waiter Boss, a extry good steak it dig heah restrant's alius very rare! Preclou Finance. "Johnny!" exclaimed the careful mother. "You have shaken nearly all the money out of your tin bank! " "Yes'm. I'm not taking any chancer on having my little bank bawled oul for hoarding the stuff." Superficial Estimate. "You can't Judge a man by his coat "No. But in the light of present styles, it la more generous to Judg him by his cnat than by his hat." About Gone. "How is W'asserby's credit in town' "It must be very low by this time Whea I was here three years ago h waa giving it oxygen."