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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1923)
E OF Brief Resume Most Important Daily News Items. COMPILED FOR YOU Events of Noted People, Governments and Pacific Northwest, and Other Things Worth Knowing. Miles Poindexter, who will retire March 4 as United States senator from Washington, was nominated and con firmed Monday as ambassador to Peru. Four negroes, a grandmother, daugh ter, and two grandsons, perished In a Brooklyn tenement fire Monday, bring ing to 51 the total of fire fatalities in Greater New York during the coldest week end of the winter. Investigation Into the ruins and cause of the disastrous fire which Sun day wrecked a ward of the Manhattan state hospital for the insane on Ward Island,. New York, billing 23 patients and three male attendants, was made Monday. Polish forces have invaded Lithu ania and attacked the Lithuanian troops, according to a dispatch from Kovno, issued by the Lithuanian lega tion in Paris. The dispatch added' that dozens of persons were killed and hundreds wounded, The bill of Senator McNary, repub lican, Oregon, providing for govern ment advances of $1,065,000 to the city of Astoria, Or., to replace munici pal improvements -lost In the recent fire was reported favorably Tuesday by the senate finance committee. Liberty bonds, stocks, corporation securities and other valuables totaling more than 200,000 were in the regis tered mall stolen a week ago from the First : National bank automobile by bandits, who shot and killed the negro chauffeur, Sam McGee, it was an nounced Tuesday. RInda Lad's Lady, a Jersey cow, owned by Sam J. McKee of Indepen dence, Oregon, died last week. She won the grand championship at the International livestock show last fall. She was valued at more than $5000. Mr. McKee carried an Insurance of $2000 upon the cow. The French senate, almost without discussion, Tuesday voted the bill al ready passed by the chamber author lzlng the government to issue short term treasury bonds to the amount of 13,000,000,000 francs during the present year. The bonds must be re paid within 10 years. Three prominent Salt Lake citizens were placed under arrest by deputy sheriffs in a downtown restaurant dur ing the noon hour Wednesday and a fourth man luter was named in a war rant charging violation of that section of the state antl-cigarotte law which prohibits smoking In publio places. Appropriations of $36,347,000 for the war dopartmout for the next fiscal year were provided under an agree ment on the annual army bill reached late Monday by the senate and house conferees. The amount is about $4, 000,000 less than provided by the sen ate and $3,000,000 more than those of the house. The Western Union Telegraph com pany has distributed to 35,000 of its 54,000 employes $1,775,000, represent ing 50 per cent of its 1922 earnings on its investment in excess of $11,500, 000. The award is equal to 474 per cent of each employe's salary for the month of July, 1922. Messenger boys received a flat payment of $17.50 each. Chicago. A reduction of from $80, 000,000 to $90,000,000 in current lia bilities was shown In the first state ment Bince the recent refinancing of Armour and company and Its subsld laries. The statement just made public was signed by F. Edson White, who succeeded J. Ogdon Armour as presi dent of the company. It covered the fiscal year ending1 December 31, 1922. An appeal to employers of the Pa cific northwest to hire rehabilitated war veterans when vacancies occur or new jobs are created is being mnde by the Seattle district office of the United States Veterans' bureau and branch offices at Portland, Tacoma, SDokane and Pocatollo. Several nun dred ex-service men taking vocational training under the direction of the gov eminent are scheduled to complete their courses this spring and an earn est effort Is being made by the em ployment service of the bureau to line up Jobs for these men to step Into upon their graduation, it was announced. WORLD HAPP CURRENT WEEK MAY ACT WITHOUT CONGRESS Harding Makes No Statement, But Quick Sale of Vessels Probable. Washington, D. C. The administra tion shipping bill was kept alive in the senate Monday by further debate, but executive officials, recognizing the end to be near, began formulation of plans for dealing with the govern ment's war impelled merchant marine venture without the aid of the legisla tion. Chairman Lasker of the shipping board conferred with President Hard ing, then met with the other members of the board and afterward announced that the policy of the administration would be worked out and made public before the end of the week. He de clined to give any indication of the plans under consideration beyond say ing they were of a "startllngly novel" nature. Hopeful until last week that the shipping bill would be enacted, admin istration officials have given no in dication of what alternative they have in mind. President Harding, in mak ing his final appeal for passage of the legislation in course of his address to congress February 7 on the British debt settlement, said that if the legis lative branch refused to approve the shipping bill or submit an alternative 'the executive branch of the govern ment, may proceed as best it can to end the losses in liquidation and humilia tion." Inasmuch as the president has de clared one of the prime purposes of the bill to be to get the government out of the shipping business, it was generally believed that the adminis tration's policy contemplated quick and thorough liquidation. ' Members of congress conversant with shipping board affairs suggested that the ad ministration, through Invocation of Buch indirect aids as are contained in the merchant marine act of 1920, might endeavor to make operation of vessels under the American flag attractive enough to provide a sale for, the government-owned tonnage. , Mr. Lasker and Chairman Jones of the senate commerce committee have urged the president to carry out sec tion Si of the merchant marine act, directing abrogation of some 20 com mercial treaties with leading foreign nations prohibiting use by the United States of discriminatory duties against products brought to the United States in foreign bottoms. Because of the international aspects of the' matter, Mr. Harding, like President Wilson, has up to the present time refused to carry out the direction. Norway Receives Cash. Washington, D. C Payment of $12, 239,852.47, the amount of the award rendered last October by the tribunal of arbitration which passed on the clalniB growing out of the seizure dur ing the war of Norwegian ships, was made to Norway late Monday by the United States. Coincident with the payment, Secre tary Hughes in a note delivered to Norwegian Minister Bryn for trans mission to the Norwegian government, declared that while the United States supported the principle of arbitration, it felt obliged to make certain reser vations to the tribunal's action, as the award could jiot be regarded by the American government as possess ing an authoritative character as a precedent. . ' 85 Dropped By Baptists. Chattanooga, Tenn. At the annual church conference of the Baptist taber nacle, a leading church, Sunday 85 members had fellowship withdrawn from them. About two years ago the tabernacle withdrew from 298 mem bers, making 383 members dropped from its rolls within the last two years. The conference was called by the board of deacons and its chairman, J. W. Massey, stated that the deacons were also working on another list of about an equal number, and if the members could not be won back to the church their names also would be presented for discipline. Governor Assails Klan. Chicago, 111. John M. Parker, gov ernor of Louisiana, principal speaker at the opening session of a week of meetings known as the "all nations rally" held under the auspices of the American Unity League in opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, bade his hearers adhere to the advice of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. The advice of these men had been cast aside by the Ku Klux Klan, the gov ernor asserted. Pharaoh's Tomb Closed. Luxor, Egypt. Tutankhamen's tomb was finally closed to visitors Sunday afternoon. Several hundreds of per sons have inspected the tomb since the inner chamber was opened. Car penters are busy sawing lengths of heavy timber with which the whole shaft will be filled. U. S: MEMBERSHIP IN Message From President Hard ing Surprises Congress. RESERVATIONS ASKED Obligation Under League of Nations Would Be Disclaimed Plan Long Considered. Washington, D. C. Conditional i American membership in the interna tional court set up by the league of nations, was proposed Saturday by President Harding. In a message to the senate asking that it advise and consent to such a step, the president declared participation in the tribunal offered an opportunity through which the United States could demonstrate Its willingness to aid in preserving world stability without in any manner assuming "any legal relation to the league." Four reservations, .the first of which would specifically disclaim any obliga tions under the league, were suggest ed by Mr. Harding as necessary condi tions to membership in the court. The others would give this government a voice in selecting the judges of the court and in making changes in Its basic regulations and would provide that congress determine what part of the expenses of the tribunal are to be paid out of the American treasury. Although there had been intima tions that American participation In the court was favored In administra tion quarters, the president's message came as a complete surprise to sena tors generally, and all indications pointed to a delay In senate action on the recommendation until the session of congress which meets in December. Among the leaders of the "irrecon cilables" of the league of nations fight, in particular, there were predictions that nothing would be done until time had been given for mature reflection and comparative debate. A special meeting of the foreign relations com mittee was called to meet Tuesday to take up the president's proposal, but there seemed to be no hope that final action would be possible in the four days remaining thereafter before the present congress goes out of existence. The text of the reservations recom mended is as follows: 1. That such adhesions shall not be taken to involve any legal rela tion on the part of the United States to the league of nations or the as sumption of any obligations by the United States under the covenant of the league of nations constituting part 1 of the treaty of Versailles. 2. That the United States Bhall be permitted to participate through repre sentatives designated for the purpose and upon an equality with the other statps members, respectively of the council and assembly of the league of nations in any and all proceedings of either the council or the assembly for the election of judges or deputy judges of the permanent court of international justice, or for the filling of vacancies. 3. That the United States will pay a fair share of the expenses of the court as determined and appropriated from time to time by the congress of the United States. 4. That the statute for the per manent court of international justice adjoined to the protocol shall not be amended without the consent of the United States. Light Brigade Man Dies. London, Out. Thomas A. Shaw, said to be the last survivor of the famous Light Brigade that charged to destruc tion on a Russian battery at Balaklava in 1854, died Sunday in Victoria hospi tal, a victim of bronchitis. He was 91 years old. In the charge of th'e famed Six Hundred Shaw was wounded. He was tendered by Florence Nightingale and said he carried that memory as his most cherished possession. He settled here 37 years ago. Petrograd Has Riots. London. Serious disturbances are reported among the unemployed In Petrograd, said a dispatch to the Ex change Telegraph from Copenhagen Red troops who were trying to quell disorders were received with shouts of "we had rather be shot down than starve to death." Sugar Still Going Up. Salt Lake City. Sugar prices went up again In Salt Lake City. Satur day's increase, 25 cents a hundred pounds, made the price to jobbers $9.99. Friday an advance of 40 cents was registered. The Marai Gras Mystery CHAPTER IX Continued. 14 "It can't be possible!" he muttered, bending farther over. "Such a thing happens too rarely " Ills heart pounded violently; ex citement sent the blood rushing to his brain in blinding swirls. He was gripped by the gold fever that comes upon a man when he makes the as tounding discovery of untold wealth lying at his feet, passed over and dis regarded by other and less-discerning men for days and years! It was oil, no question about it. An extremely slight Quantity, true; so slight a quantity that there was no film .on the water, no discernible taste to the water. Gramont brought it to his mouth and rose, shaking his head. Where did it come from? It had no connection with the gas bubbles at least, It did not come from the dome of water and gas. How long he stood there staring Gramont did not know. His brain was afire with the possibili ties. At length he stirred into action and started up the bayou bank, from time to time halting to search the wa ter below him, to make sure that he could still discern the faint irides cence. He followed it rod by rod, and found that it rapidly Increased In strength. It must come from some very tiny surface seepage close at hand, that was lost In the bayou almost as rapidly as it came from the earth depths. Only accidentally would a man see It not unless he were search ing the water close to the bank, and even then only by the grace of chance. Suddenly Gramont saw that he had lost the sign. He halted. No, not lost, either! Just ahead of him was a patch of reeds, and a re cession of the shore. He advanced again. Inside the reeds he found the oily smear, still so faint that he could only detect It at certain angles. Glanc ing up, he could see a fence at a little distance, evidently the boundary fence of the Ledanols land ; the bushes and trees thinned out here, and on ahead was cleared ground, He saw, through the bushes, glimpses of buildings. Violent disappointment seized him. Wns lie to lose tills discovery, after all? Was he to find thnt the seepage came from ground belonging to some one else? No he stepped back hastily, barely in time to avoid stumbling Into a tiny trickle of water, a rivulet that ran down into the bayou, a tributary so insignificant that It was invisible ten feet distant! And on the surface a faint iridescence. Excitement rising anew within him, Gramont turned and followed this riv ulet, his eyes aflame with eagerness. It led him for twenty feet, and ceased abruptly, in a bubbling spring that welled from a patch of low tree-Inclosed land. Gramont felt his feet sinking in grass, and saw that there was a dip in the ground hereabouts, a swampy little section all to Itself. He picked a dry spot and lay down on his face, searching the water with his eyes. Moment after moment he lay there, watching. Presently he found the slight trickle of oil again a trickle so faint and slim that even here, on the surface of the tiny rivulet, it could be discerned only with great difficulty. A very thin seepage, concluded Gra mont ; a thin oil, of course. So faint a little thing, to mean so much ! It came irom .the Ledanois land, no doubt of it. What did that matter, though? His eyes widened with flam ing thoughts as he gazed down at the slender thread of water. No matter at all where this came from the main point was proven by It! There was oil here for the finding, oil down in the thousands of feet below, oil so thick and abundant that it forced it self up through the earth fissures to find an outlet! "Instead of going down five or six thousand feet," he thought, exultant ly, "we may have to go down only as many hundred. But first we must get an option or a lease on all the land roundabout all we can secure! There will be a tremendous boom the min ute this news breaks. If we get those options, we can sell them over again at a million per cent profit, and even If we don't strike oil In paying quanti ties, we'll regain the cost of our drill ing! And to think of the years this hag been here, waiting for some one " Suddenly he started violently. An abrupt crashing of feet among the bushes, an outbreak of voices, had sounded not far away just the other side of the boundary fence. He was wakened from his dreams, and started to rise. Then he relaxed his muscles and lay quiet, astonishment seizing him ; for he heard his own name men tioned in a voice that was strange to him. CHAPTER X. .The voice was strange to Gramont yet he had a vague recollection of having at some time heard it before. It was a jaunty and Impudent voice, very self-assured yet It bore a startled and uneasy note, as though the speaker had Just come unaware upon the man whom he addressed. "Howdy, sheriff!" It said. "Didn't seeiyou in there what you doin' so far away from Houma, eh?" "Why, I've been looking over the place around here," responded an other voice, which was Ury and grim. "I know you, Ben Chacherre, and I think I'll take you along with me. Just come from New Orleans, did you?" "Me? Take me?" The voice of Chacherre shrilled up suddenly In By H. BEDFORD-JONES Copyright by Doubled&y, Page A Co. ss alarm. "Look here, sheriff, It wasn't me done it! It was Gramont" There came silence. Not a sound broke the stillness of the late after noon. Gramont, listening, lay bewildered and breathless. Ben Chacherre come here? Gramont knew nothing of any tie between Jachin Fell and Cha cherre; he could only lie In the grass and wonder at the man's presence. What "place" was it that the sheriff of Houma had been looking over? And what was It that he, Gramont, was supposed to have done? Confused and wondering, Gramont waited. And, as he waited, he caught a soft sound from the marshy ground beside him a faint "plop" as though some object had fallen close by on the wet grass. At the moment he paid no heed to this sound, for again the uncanny silence had fallen. Listening, Gramont fancied that he caught slow, stealthy footsteps amid the undergrowth, but derided the fancy as sheer imagination. His brain was busy with this new problem. Houma, he knew, was the seat of the parish or county. Tills Ben Chacherre appeared to have suddenly and unex pectedly encountered the sheriff, to his obvious alarm, and the sheriff had for some reason decided to arrest him ; so much was clear. Chacherre had nothing to do with the "place" did that mean the adja cent property, or the Ledanois farm? In his puzzled bewilderment over this Imbroglio Gramont for the moment quite forgot the trickle of oil at his feet. But now the deep silence became unnatural and sinister. What had happened? Surely, Ben Chacherre had not been arrested and taken away In such silence! Why had the voices so abruptly ceased? Vaguely uneasy, startled by the prolongation of that Intense stillness, Gramont roue to his feet and peered among the trees. The two speakers seemed to have departed; he could descry nobody in sight. A step to one side gave Gra mont a view of the land adjoining the Ledanois place. Tills was cleared of all brush, and under some immense oaks to the far left he, had a glimpse of a large summer cottage, boarded An Abrupt Crashing of Feet Among the Bushes, an Outbreak of Voices, Had Sounded Not Far Away. up and apparently deserted. Nearer at hand, however, he saw other build ings, and these drew his attention. He heard the throbbing pound of a motor at work, and as there was tio power line along here, the place evidently had Its own electrical plant. He scrutinized the scene before him ap pralsingly. There were two large buildings here.. One seemed to be a large barn, closed, the other was a long, low shed which was too large to be a garage. The door of this was open, and before the opening Gramont saw three men standing In talk ; he recog nized none of them. Two of the talk ers were clad In greasy overalls, and the third figure showed the flash of a collar. The sheriff, Ben Chacherre, and some other man, thought Gra mont. He would not have known Cha cherre had lie encountered him face to face. To him, the man was a name only. The mention of his own name by Chacherre Impelled him to go forward and demand some explanation. Then it occurred to him thnt perhaps he had made a mistake; It would have been very easy, for he was not certain that Chacherre had referred to him. There could be other Gramonts, or other men whose name would have much the same sound in a Creole mouth. "I'd better attend to my own busi ness," thought Gramont, and turned away. He noticed that the motor had ceased Its work. "Wonder what rich chap can be down here at his summer cottage this time of year? May be only a caretaker, though. I'd better give all my attention to this oil, and let other tilings alone." He retraced his steps to the bayou bank and turned back toward the house. As he did so, Hammond ap peared coming toward him, knife in hand. "I'm going to cut me a pole and land a couple o' fish for supper," an nounced the chauffeur, grinning. "Got" things cleaned up fine, cap'nl You won't know the old shack." "Good enough," said Gramont. "Here, step over this way ! ' I want to show you something." He led Hammond to the rivulet and pointed out tiie thin film of oil cn the surface. "There's our golden fortune, ser geant ! Oil actually coming out of the ground! It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen and this is one of the times. I'll not bother to look around any farther." "Glory be!" said Hammond, staring at the rivulet. "Want to hit back for town?" "No; we couldn't get back until some time tonight, and the roads aren't very good for night work. I'm going to get some leases around here perhaps I can do it right away, and we'll start back In the morning. Go ahead and fet your fish." Regaining the house, he saw that Hammond had Indeed, cleaned up in great style, and had the main room looking clean as a pin, with a fire pop ping on the hearth, He did not pause here, but went to the car, got In, and started it. He drove back to the road and followed this toward town for a few rods, turning In at a large and very decent-looking farmhouse that he had observed wfylle passing It on the way out. He found the owner, an intelligent appearing Creole, driving in some cows for milking, and wn a little startled to realize that the ,i:ternoon was so late. When he addressed the farmer In French, he received a cor dial reply, and discovered that this man owned the land across the road from the Ledanois place that his farm, In fact, covered several hundred acres. "Who owns the land next to the Ledanois place?" Inquired Gramont. "I sold that off my land a couple of years ago," replied the other. "A man from New Orleans wanted it for a summer place a business man there, Isidore Gumberts." Gumberts "Memphis Izzy" Gum berts! The name flashed to Gra mont's mind, and brought the recollec tion of a conversation with Hammond. Why, Gumberts was the famous crook of whom Hammond had spoken. "I saw the sheriff a while ago, head ing up the road," observed the Creole. "Did you meet him?" Gramont shook his head. "No, but I saw several men at the Gumberts place. Perhaps he was there " "Not theje, I guess," and the farm er laughed. "Those fellows have rent ed the place from Gumberts, I hear; they're Inventors, and quiet enough men. You're a stranger here?" Gramont introduced himself as a friend of Miss Ledanois, and stated frankly that he was looking for oil and hoped to drill on her land. "I'd like a lease option from you," he went on. "I don't want to buy your land at all ; what I want Is a right to drill for oil on It, in case any shows up on Miss Ledanois' land. It's all a gamble, you know. I'll give you a hundred dollars for the lease, and the usual eighth Interest in any oil that's found. I've no lease blanks with me, but if you'll give me the option, a signed memorandum will be entirely sufficient." The farmer regarded oil as a Joke, and said so. The hundred dollars, however, and the prospective eighth Interest, were sufficient to induce him to pnrt with the option without any delay. He was only too glad' to get the thing done with at once, and to pocket Gramont's money. Gramont drove away, and was Just coming to the Ledanois drive when he suddenly threw on the brakes and halted the car, listening. From some where ahead of him the Gumberts place, he thought instantly echoed a shot, and several faint shouts. Then silence again. Gramont paused, indecisive. The sheriff was making an arrest, he thought. A hundred possibilities flit ted through his brain, suggested by the sinister combination of Memphis Izzy, known even to Hammond as a prince among crooks, with this se cluded place leased by "Inventors." Bootlegging? Counterfeiting? As he paused, thus, he suddenly started; he was certain that he had caught the tones of Hammond, as though In a sudden uplifted oath of anger. Gramont threw in his clutch and sent the car Jumping forward he remembered that he had left Ham mond beside the rivulet, close to the Gumberts property What had hap pened? He came, after a moment of impa tience, to an open gate whose drive led to the Gumberts olace. Before him, as he turned in, unfolded a startling scene. Three men, the same three whom he had seen from the bushes, were standing In front of the low shed; two of them held rifles, the third, one of the "Inventors" In over alls, was winding a bandage about a bleeding hand. The two rifles were loosely leveled at Hammond, who stood in the center of the group with his arms in the air. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Dont Fill It A hot-water bottle should never be really filled. If It is to be put In a bed to warm it have it only about three-quarters full.' Forty-six miles of shelving are re quired for the collection of ?,000,000 books In the British museum.