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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1915)
Colonel Travers' Lemons By- H. M. EGBERT (Copyright, IMS, bj W G. Chapman) "Well, sir, you can take your two dollar offer for lemons to the most Infernal hot climate you know and you know where that Is!" snorted old Colonel Travers over the telephone. He hung up the receiver and turned to his daughter Molly. "That scoundrel Lemattre offers me two dollars a box two dollars for my lemons," he snorted. "I told him, sooner than come to such a price as that I'd let them rot on the trees." "But, father," the girl protested, "you know you tried the commission agents in New York last year, and they said there was no demand for Florida lemons, and they actually sent us a bill for Btorage charges." "Thy're all in league," the colonel snorted. "That rascal Lemaltre wouldn't dare to offer two dollars on the tree if he didn't know that the packers and commission men hold the whip over us. But I'll let the crop spoil, I'll cut down my trees and grow pineapples yes, sir, I'll do that!" Molly sighed. Her father was very hot-headed, and two weeks' confine ment to his room, following a fall from the mare, which broke his leg: had not improved his temper. "What is Fleming going to do?" snorted the colonel presently. "Why, father, as head of the Lemon Growers' association " The colonel went off again. What he said about the young New York man would certainly not bear men' ttoning. Yet he cast secret glances at Molly all the while. He knew that That Scoundrel Lemaitre Offers Me Two Dollars a Box" the capacities for temper which he displayed were latent in the girl. Once he had evoked them, and he had been afraid of her ever since and respected her the more, too. i All had gone well with the young Massachusetts man's lemon grove. He had bought it two years before and had at once realized that the packers and commission men be tween them held the control of the product. He had lost no time in form ing a Lemon Growers' association to keep up prices. . The first year had been a phenome nal success for the organization. Even the colonel, who hated the scheme as savoring of socialism, had been in clined to become a member. But the second year there was a glut on the market. Prices broke. Half the members fell away, anxious to make what little they could rather than sac rifice their crop for the good of the association. The colonel was particularly bitter against Fleming because in some way he associated the fall of prices with the new organization's doings. As an independent he, in turn, had borne the brunt of a good deal of criticism among his neighbors. That was cer tainly a bad time for Fleming and Molly to fall in love. When Molly told her father he was furious. He stamped out of the house to his neighbor's boundary, and, see ing him at work among his trees, shook his fist at him. "Don't you ever dare to cross my line again, or I'll set the dogs on you, and horsewhip you into the bargain!" he yeled. Bitter recrimination followed, tears from Molly that evening, when the colonel told her, and then Molly's own outburst which cowed her father. "I am willing not to see John Flem ing again as long as you live," she Bobbed. But I won't promise to give him np, and I think you are the most hateful old man I've ever known!" The colonel chewed that over his pipe. "Hateful old man." She was waiting for him to die to marry that scoundrel! He changed a good deal the next summer. A coldness had sprung up between himself and bit II II daughter, and he would give a good deal to have been able to recall his edict But he was too proud to do so. Secretly he thought a good deal ol young Fleming. Fleming had never crossed his line. The two men passed without speak ing. If Molly ever broke her prom ise, the colonel knew nothing of it. A week passed. He chafed at the illness which kept him indoors. He had obstinately refused to have his crop picked. The commission men were as bad as the packers, he swore; he would let the fruit rot on the trees, and cut them down that winter for lumber. He knew that a second year of fail ure would mean bankruptcy. The two dollars Lemaitre, the packer, ottered him would save him. But he was too stubborn to make the compromise of J2.25 which Lemaitre reluctantly of fered. That was in February. On the 20th of the month a norther came sweep ing down through the middle West, When It sent the temperature of Louisville to ten above the weather bureau began to telegraph warnings. When the colonel heard the telephone ring it marked 15 above in NaBhvIIle; Molly told the colonel so. "We'll get a gang and light smudges," answered old Travers. "I'm going to save that crop." "Then you'll sell, father?" "No, I'll let it rot on the trees. But I'll have the satisfaction of letting it ripen before it rots," he answered The telephone rang again. It was 20 above in Jacksonville, the lowest known since the "great freeze" of '95: which put back the orange area for 300 miles southward. "It's 37 outside, father." Almost immediately Lemaitre called him up on the telephone. "Colonel Travers," he said stiffly, "it's 36 in Tampa. We might have time to save half your fruit with smudge-fires. I've got a gang ready to work at my expense if you'll sell at a dollar a box." "Confound your Impudence!" roared the colonel. "Tell him that, Molly Molly softened it somewhat. But it was now 35 on the veranda. Three degrees lower and the frost would nip the tender trees. Six or seven de grees, and not a lemon would be worth anything but the flavoring In the rind. "It's too late to do anything," the colonel groaned. "But I'm not going to let Lemaitre make a penny out of me by any of his thievish tricks What'B that in the groves, Molly." Molly went out and returned. "Noth ing, father," she answered. "I thought I heard a man calling. You're sure it isn't Lemaltre's gang? "Quite sure," she answered. "The telephone rang again. It was Lemaitre. "Your last chance, colo nel," he called cheerfully. "I can get a third of your fruit picked before it's damaged. It's 33 outside my packing house. The gang's waiting. Fifty cents a box." Molly hung up the receiver In time to restrain her father from doing him self bodily damage in his effort to get out of his chair. It fell to 32. to 30. It fell to 26 that night before the norther disap peared. Next morning was bright and warm. But the colonel knew that his crop was Irretrievably spoiled. "Still, it's a comfort to know that Lemaitre hasn't got any of it," he so liloquized. In another week he was to be al lowed upon his feet. Meanwhile he learned that the frost had been gen eral throughout the lemon districts. Prices had gone up 50 per cent. The Lemon Growers' association had roped all the growers in the county and was doing fabulous business. The short age had enhanced prices sufficiently to bring affluence to all who had been forehanded enough to save their trees by fires. "I'd have cleared $7,000, Molly said the Colonel wistfully to his daughter. When he was allowed out he limped toward his lemon groves. As he an ticipated the leaves were wilting from the upper branches. But the trunks were strong and sturdy, and the low er branches showed promise of re maining sound. The colonel was not slow In discovering the reason. Round the roots of the trees were wrapped burlap protectors. And not a lemon remained on the twigs. Colonel Travers turned upon his daughter in fury. "Who's been here?" he shouted "It's that infernal Lemaitre. Where are the lemons, Molly?" "Come here, father," said the girl She led hlra into the barn. There, piled high from the floor to ceiling, were crates and crates of the fresh fruit $7,000 worth, and not a lemon spoiled. And in the midst of the crates, bend ing over them and examining the fruit, was Fleming! The young man turned around upon the astounded colonel. "Sorry to have disobeyed Instruc tions, colonel," be said, "but you see I couldn't let you lose all that money to gratify a whim. So I well, short, the day before the freeze, when it looked as though a norther was ex pected, I got together a gang and clipped the fruit for you. And I be lieve we saved your trees, too. I hope you don't mind, sir." The colonel's face, which had borne a terrifying scowl, suddenly softened. There was an expression on his daugh ter's which made him suddenly think of his wife, who had been dead 12 years. "John, I'm an old fool," he said humbly. "I beg your pardon. John come to supper tonight, and we'll talk ovr my joining the association,'' WONDERS I Pe Bosporus 1 C - ? V . J- NARROWEST PART T O the wonderful history of the Bosporus the great war is but adding another chapter, for its story runs back through the centuries into the age of myth. Concerning this strip of water that separates the continents of Europe and Asia the National Geographic so ciety says: One writer states that there is perhaps no other locality in the world surrounded by so many his torical Bouvenirs and adorned with so many varied gifts of nature; another that God, man, nature and art have together created and placed there the most marvelous point of view which the human eye can contemplate upon earth; still another remarks that upon this planet there is no other stream so wonderful that its equal can be found, If at all, only upon some other star. Dr. Edwin A. Grosvenor remarks that there is hardly a nation In the civilized world whose blood has not mingled with its waters; hardly a faith, hardly a heresy, which, by the devotion of its adherents and martyrs, has not hallowed its banks. Associa tions the most dissimilar, the moBt incongruous, the most distant, elbow one another in every hamlet and vil lage. The German emperor, William in 1889, disembarked at the same spot which tradition makes the land ing-place of that other leader, Jason, with his Argonauts in that sublime voyage of the fourteenth century be fore Christ Deep, Narrow and Swift. The physical features of the Bos porus are described by the same author In striking terms. He says that in its swift flow it Is a river, and in its depth a sea yet many a sea is less profound and many a river spreads wider and has a less rapid current. Its average depth is about 89 feet. At no point in the channel Is the depth less than 147 feet. So sharply do its submarine banks descend that large vessels, hugging the land too closely, though In deep water, often run their bowsprits and yards into houses on shore. The Strait of Gibraltar, which wrests Africa from Europe, is sixteen miles wide; even the Dardanelles expands from one mile to four. But at its widest the Bos porus is only one and four-fifth miles. The length of the Bosporus is less than seventeen miles. Each Asiatic side indenture finds a convex bend on the European side; each European bay is met by an Asiatic promontory. Tradition goes back to a time when, countless ages ago, titanic forces here rent Asia and Europe asunder; when the pent-up, resistless waters of the Black sea tore through valleys and leveled mountains, in their Budden southward rush to the Mediterranean. The volcanic origin of the region con firms this tradition. Great Place for Fishing. Seventy edible varieties of fish sport In the waters of the Bosporus. They are mostly migratory. The strait is the only line of communication be tween the Black sea and the Mediter ranean, their summer and winter homes. In their migrations countless shoals succeed one another at Inter vals of days, and never did the men in the crow's nest of a battleship scan the horizon more earnestly for an enemy than the lookouts for the fish ermen peer into the deep for signs of a fish migration. As soon as the ad vanced guard arrives, a signal is giv en, and immediately the Bosporus be comes black with fishing boats, So regular are the fish in their habits and so unchanging In their ways, that Aristotle's account of their movements penned twenty-two centuries ago, Is still an accurate description of the va rieties and their migrations. A hundred years ago Constantinople and the Bosporus hung In the balance. Doctor Grosvenor relates how, after the treaty of Tilsit, Emperor Alexan der of Russia had insisted to Napoleon upon the absolute necessity to his country of the possession of Constanti nople. He declared there was no price so great, no condition so hard, that It would not be gratefully accorded by him for the city's acquisition. Napo leon gazed In silence, earnestly and long, at the map of Europe, of which he was at that moment the autocratic OF THE. S05P0RUS arbiter, and then exclaimed; "Constan tinople, Constantinople! Never! It is the empire of the world!" Sea of Marmora. The Sea of Marmora, which is the connecting link between the Darda nelles and the Bosporus, is a quiet sheet of water. Nature has been more than generous in her provisions for guarding this sea between Asia and Europe against hostile power. The Bosporus, its approach from the Black sea on the north, is a deep, water filled, twiBtlng valley, whose surface almost all the way is at the mercy of the enclosing mountain heights. In the south, the Dardanelles, while of greater breadth than the Bosporus, forms an easily defended channel, 47 miles long and commanded by Us shore heights. Marmora sea is a wonderful amphi theater for a modern naval struggle. An elliptical bowl of bluest water, it is enclosed by a hilly shore line, which is bold and steep upon the Asiatic side. From east to west, the sea is 175 miles long, while its extreme width is about fifty miles. It bas an area ol 4,500 square miles. Constantinople lies tucked away near the northernmost point of Mar mora, at the opening of the Bosporus outlet. In the west and south are several considerable Islands, of which the largest, Marmora, has been fa mous for its alabaster and marbles since the days of Grecian sculptural and architectural glory. The Sea of Marmora is one of the most famous and important seas ol passage in the world. Behind Us wa ters, along the northern shore of the Black sea, are the most fertile and favored provinces of the Russian em pire, Russia's granary; while on the eastern Black sea coast lies Russia's greatest oil port and her famous oil bearing hinterland. This sea is the most important avenue of Central Asia's raw materials western transport and of the West's manufactures foi consumption In the central East. Benzol and Toluol. Dr. Rlttman's production of toluol and benzol from petroleum is also ol importance if the process is sufficient ly cheap to be of commercial use. In this regard, too, the doctor was no ticeably cautious not to commit him self. Professor Lletnll made "benzene and toluene" (benzol and toluol) In 1877 from Russian petroleum. Later the Nobel brothers did the same thing in their laboratory. In 1904 V. Oglo- biin described the preparation of ben zene, toluene, xylene, etc., in consid erable quantities, from the Russian crude oil. It should, perhaps, be noted that the Russian crude oil differs somewhat from that of Pennsylvania, being rich in hydrocarbons of the naphthene se ries, instead of those belonging to the parafflne group. Plainly none of these early inven tions was of commercial importance, for the bulk of the supply of benzol and toluol still comes from coal tar. The value of Doctor Rlttman's proc ess depends almost solely upon Its cheapness. Small Leaks. A writer in the Scientific American has figured what we lose by a leaking faucet If a faucet leaks to the ex tent of two drops of water a second the leakage would amount In a month to a little over eighty-four gallons. If the water rate is twenty-five cents thousand gallons, the money loss would be about two cents a month. the leak is from a hot water faucet, the loss would of course be larger, for fuel has been wasted in heating the escaped water. If coal costs $5 a ton, the loss In water and heat will be nearly ten cents a month. "The fact that the loss is small," says the Scien tific American, "should not allow us to neglect small leaks, because by disre garding them we tend to become slov enly In all things. Furthermore, small leaks do not stay small. The constant leakage of faucets wears small pas sages through the seats, and makes tightness Impossible. The next thing Is a new faucet with the accompany ing plumber's bill, which Is notorious ly not small." Youth's Companion. WHERE SHE GOT BOUQUET Madeline Careful to Obey Instruc tions Forbidding the Picking of Flowers. Her name was Madeline. She was colored dusty black, as lean, flat, an gular as a lath, and she was about seventeen years old. The distinguish ing feature about her face was her eyes; they were large and round and white, and they invariably expressed the last degree of startled innocence. Madeline worked days for Mrs. Judge Gentry. She went home nights. One morning she appeared with a large bouquet, which she presented to Mrs. Gentry before she began work on the breakfast dishes. To Mrs. Gentry the flowers seemed somehow familiar. "I'm very much pleased to think that you should bring me such nice flowers, Madeline," said the white woman. "Does your mother grow them at your home?" Madeline became, If possible, more Innocent. "No'm, my mammy washes; don' grow nuthln'. I jes' picked dat bouquet outen a white lady's yard." With a few questions Mrs. Gentry established the fact that the flowers came from the yard of her friend Mrs. Gordon in the next block. "Did Mrs. Gordon give them to you for me, Madeline?" she persisted. "No'm," countered Madeline, "but Bhe aln' said I couldn' pick 'em.". "Well, what did she say?" went on Mrs. Gentry, Madeline gave close attention to her work. "I dunno Jes' what she say, She wasn't there." Mrs. Gentry spent a busy 15 min utes in an effort to impress upon Madeline the difference between mine and thine. Madeline agreed to every thing, and professed her complete understanding and appreciation. And the next Thursday morning she ap peared with another, larger bouquet, which Bhe presented with an air of guileless nonchalance. "You didn't take these beautiful flowers from Mrs. Gordon's yard, did you, Madeline?" Mrs. Gentry asked, striving to mask her suspicion with kindness. "No'm," returned Madeline. "Yo' told me not to take flowers from white ladles' yards." "Did some one give you these?" con tinued Mrs. Gentry. wo m, answered Madeline, no body didn't give 'em to me." "Then how did you come by them?' Madeline's eyes expressed the last degree of innocence. "I jes' seed 'em, and I jes' picked 'em. Mrs. Gentry was determined. "Did you go again into some white lady's yard and take her flowers?" "I done said yo' told me not to take flowers from white ladies' yards," re plied Madeline, conclusively, "and I ain' never no mo'. I jes' picked dis liyah bouquet outen a cullud lady's yard. YeBsum." ' Details Can Walt. A patriotic Welshman was asked what emblems and distinctions ha thought the new Welsh battalion of the British army ought to wear. The traditional emblem of Wales is the leek, but he thought this probably would be inappropriate. Mr. Lloyd- George has recently put forward the claims of the daffodil as the Welsh na tional flower, but that seems to lack historic confirmation, so it was agreed that it was most likely that the Welsh guard would wear a distinguishing badge of the Prince of Wales' feath ers. But Wales has other emblems; the red dragon of her flag, for in stance. That might be used, and aB for cap band, the national color of Wales is a dark green. But probably these nice little details of parade and cere;nony will not worry the new guards very much. They will be born into the all-leveling uniform of khaki, and there will be plenty of time to arrange the other little details of scar let and buttons. Invectlve Carried Too Far. An unusual suit for slander, brought by a clergyman against members of his church, is reported by the Michi gan Law Review as follows: "Plaintiff, a minister of the Gospel, and defendants were members of the Colored Baptist church. During a campaign for state prohibition plain tiff opposed the adoption of the consti tutional amendment to that effect. De fendants, at various conventions of said church, made statements to the eircct that plaintiff was a rascal, a whisky agent, a disgraceful saloon puller, etc., and introduced resolutions expelling him from membership. Held, that the occasion was quallfiedly priv ileged, and that in the absence of mal ice being shown no action could be maintained; but that the statements made were so intemperate and the epithets applied so vile as to be alone sufficient to carry the question of mal ice to the Jury." Holds Wife Is Kitchen Boss. The wife holds full sway In the kitchen and the husband has no right to invade these premises and Inter fere with her work. This point was settled In a divorce suit decided by Judge Morrow at Portland, Ore. On the grounds that he "butted in" and criticized her kitchen work, Mrs. Sarah V. Reese received a divorce and $300 alimony from William B. Reese. These were the main con tentions for the charge of cruel and inhuman treatment made by Mrs. Reese. Go to It. Bill Have you a class for chiropo dists in your vocational school? Jill Oh, yes; and every one wants to go to the foot SAVE LIS AT SEA Lighthouse Keepers Worthy of the Highest Praise. Arduous Duty, Demanding Extreme Self-Sacrifice, Cheerfully Per formedExamples of Bravery That Are Without Equal. Although the pay is small and the life often lonely, the lighthouse serv ice attracts as a rule an excellent class of faithful men, willing to take large risks in doing their duty and also In helping those In distress. There are many cases of faithful service and bravery. There are a number of woman light- ers. One of these, the keeper of Angel Island light in San Francisco . bay, reported that after the machin ery of the fog signal was disabled on July 2, 1906, she "had struck the bell by hand for 20 hours and 35 minutes until the fog lifted," and that on July 4, when the machinery was further disabled, she stood all night on the platform outside and "struck the bell with a nail hammer with all my might. The fog was dense." A widely known woman llghtkeeper was Ida Lewis, who died about three years ago. She lived at Lime Rock lighthouse, on a ledge In Newport har bor, for 67 years, her father having been appointed keeper when she was twelve years old. She was keeper of the light for 32 years. There are re ports of her having rescued 13 per sons from drowning. On one occasion It Is said, she saved three men who were swamped in attempting to pick np a sheep, and then she rescued the Bheep also. Because of the difficult life, keepers at Isolated stations are granted shore liberty and leave 72 days a year, and crews of light vessels 90 days a year. The first lighthouse on this conti nent was built by Massachusetts, in 1715-1716, on an Island in the en trance to Boston harbor. The first class light and fog signal stations are located at the more prom inent and dangerous points along the seaboard, and on a well-lighted coast such stations should be sufficiently close that a coasting vessel may al ways be in sight of . a light. The smaller lights are placed to mark har bors, inside channels and dangers. Along the navigable rivers numerous post lights are maintained to indicate the channels. For New York harbor and immedi ate approaches alone 268 aids to navi gation are required, including 46 shore lights, two light vessels and 36 lighted buoys; there are 192 buoys of alt classes and 37 fog signals, including Bounding buoys. Among the lighthouses of the coun try may be found examples of great engineering skill and of dignified and simple design. Some of the tall light house structures are of beautiful architecture, suited to the purpose, and set off by picturesque location on headland or rock overlooking the sea. The tower must be built to give the light a Buitable height above the wa- One of the Cape Hatteras Lights. ter, and hence tull lighthouses are re quired on low-lying coasts. A light must be 200 feet above the sea level to be seen from the deck of a vessel 20 nautical miles distant. Be yond that distance the curvature of the earth would prevent a light at this elevation being seen. Hitting a Brother Barrister. In the Stokes trial A. B. Boardman, Stokes' attorney, said. "My client is tired of lawyers. They have cheated him enough, and now he prefers to put the matter before a jury." "I hope," said Joseph H. Choate, the opposing attorney, with that every day smile and suave tone so well known, "that my brother has done nothing to forfeit his client's confi dence," and even the grave justices had to smile, while Boardman bit bis lip. Calculation. "She said she would be content with love In a cottage," said the young man with a calculating mind. "That's a line sentiment." "Perhaps. But I can't help wonder lng whether a cottage is the best her father Intends to do for uk. '