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About Estacada progress. (Estacada, Or.) 1908-1916 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1915)
Baking Powder Week W e have a large supply of high-grade W o r ld ’s Greatest Short Stories flaking Powder N o . IV . Prize A\edal Brand which we offer SPEC IAL for this week at 45c per can THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER By Edgar Allan Poe A valuable prize of crockery or glass ware goes with E V E R Y can, many of them worth nearly the price asked for the Baking Powder. « Every Can Guaranteed “The Quality Grocers” Waterbury & Chapman Estacada, • LL G A k m LLAN POE Oregon Wall Paper Clean Up Sale 28 rolls Muray ceiling paper roll 9 ” 20c Oiled kitchen ceiling; ” 50c 45 ” Kitchen papers 12c to 20c 63 ” Flowered papers 20c to 30c 71 Fancy bed room papers 15c- to 20c ” New Matting Rugs Just Received Ask to be shown our furniture bargains. Estacada Furniture C o , Green Trad ing Stamps $2. a day. Undertaker« $10. a week The Hotel Estacada Modern Conveniences One ol the most delightful Resorts on the Coast Local and Tourist Trade Solicited Quality is Remembered W e are in business to sell Good Goods at Lowest Prices. The mail order houses neither buy your pro duce, help pay your taxes or sup port your schools. Trade A t Home. Estacada Pharmacy * Twenty-four famous authors were asked recently to name the beat short story in the English language The choice of Gouverneui Morris was "The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, who won world renown as a short story writer P A R T I. TjpTl U R IN G th e w hole o f a d u ll. I J d a rk an d so u n d less day in th e I F a u tu m n of th e y e a r, w hen th e - — i clouds liiui); oppressively low iu th e h eavens. I had been p assin g alone on horseback, th ro u g h a sin g u la r ly dreary tr a c t of co u n try , an d a t length found m yself, as th e sh a d e s of evening g rew on. w ithin view of th e m elancholy H o u se of U sher. I know not how it w as, hut. w ith th e first glim pse o f th e building, a se n se o f In su fferab le gloom p e rv a d e d a y eftfrit. 1 looked upon th e scene tiefore m e— upon th e m ere house an d th e sim ple lan d scap e f e a tu re s of th e dom ain, upon th e bleak w alls, upon th e v a c a n t eyelike w indow s, upon a few ran k sedges an d upon a few w h ite tr u n k s of decayed trees, w ith an u tte r depression of soul w hich 1 can co m p are to no e a rth ly se n sa tio n m ore p roperly th an to th e a f te r d ream of th e rev eler upon opium , th e b itte r lapse Into every day life, the hideous d ropping of th e veil. T h e re w as a n iciness, a sinking, a sickening o f th e heart, a n unredeem ed d re a rin e ss of th o u g h t whl**h no goud- ing of th e im ag in atio n could to rtu re into a u g h t of th e sublim e. I reined my horse to th e precipitous brink of a black and lu rid ta rn th a t lay In un rutiled lu ste r by th e d w ellin g and gazed dow n, but w ith a sh u d d e r even m ore th rillin g th a n before, upon the rem odeled and in v erted Im ages of th e Kray sedge an d th e g h a stly tre e ste m s and th e v a c a n t a n d ey elik e w indow s. N ev erth eless iu th is m auslon of gloom 1 now proposed to m y self a s o jo u rn of som e w eeks. Its p roprietor. R oderick U sher, had been one of my I hkiii com panions iu boyhood, hut m any y e a rs had e lap sed since o u r las« m eet ing. A letter, how ever, h ad lately reached m e in a d is ta n t p a rt of th e c o u n try —a le tte r from h im -w h ic h , iu its w ildly im p o rtu n a te n a tu re , had ad m itted of no o th e r th a n a personal re ply. T h e m a n u sc rip t g ave evidence of nervous a g ita tio n . T h e w rite r s|»oUe of ac u te bodily Illness, of a m e n tal d is o rd e r w hich op p ressed him an d of mi e a rn e s t d e sire to see me a s his I test and. indeed, his only p erso n al friend, w ith a view of a tte m p tin g by the c h eerfu ln ess of my society som e al levhition of his m alady. A lthough a s hoys w e had ln*eii even in tim ate a sso ciates, y e t I really knew little of m y frien d . I lls reserv e had been u lw sy s exceaalv# s u d h ab itu al 1 wan aware, however, that Ms very an cien t fam ily had been noted, tim e o u t of m ind, fo r a pectillur sensibility o f tem p eram en t, d isp la y in g itself th ro u g h long ag es in m any w orks of ex alted a r t an d m an ifested of la te in rep eated deed s of m unitlcent y e t u n o b tru siv e c h a rity a s well a s in a p a s sio n a te devotion to th e in trica cies, p er d o w s w ere long, n a rro w an d point»* I an d a t so v a s t a d ista n c e from th e bladk oaken floor a s to be a lto g e th e r in accessib le fro m w ithin. F eeble g leam s o f en crim so n ed light m ade th e ir w ay th ro u g h th e trelllsed p an es an d serv ed 10 re n d e r sufficiently d is tin c t th e m ore pro m in en t o b jects aro u n d . 1 felt th u t 1 b reath ed a n ut- m o sp h ere of sorrow . An a ir of ste rn , j d eep an d Irred eem ab le gloom h a n g o v e r | a n d p erv ad ed all. | Upon m y e n tra n c e U sher aro se from a sofa on w h ich he had been lying a t fu ll len g th an d g reeted me w ith a v iv acious w a rm th w hich had m uch iu it. I a t first th o u g h t, of an overdone c o rd ia lity —of th e co n strain ed effo rt of th e en n u y e m an of th e world. A glance, how ever, a t his co u n ten an ce convinced m e of his p erfect sin cerity . W e s a t dow n , an d fo r som e m om ents, w h ile he sp o k e not. 1 gazed upon him w ith a feelin g h a lf of pity, h alf of aw e. S urely m an had n ev er before so te rrib ly a lte re d in so b rief a period a s had R oderick U sher. It w as w ith difficulty th a t I could b rin g m y self to a d m it th e id e n tity of th e one being b efo re me w ith th e com panion of my e arly boyhood. Yet th e c h a ra c te r of i his face had been a t all tim es iv m ark a j hie. A c a d a v e ro u sn e ss of com plexion: I a n eye large, liquid and lum inous be- ! yond co m p ariso n : lips so m e w h at th*u an d very pallid, b u t of a su rp assin g ly b e a u tifu l c u rv e ; a nose o f a d elicate H eb rew m odel, b u t w ith a b re a d th of nostril u n u su a l in sim ila r fo rm atio n s: a finely m o ld ed ’ chin, sp e ak in g in its w a n t of prom inence, of a w an t of m oral en e rg y : h a ir of a m ore th a n w eb lik e so ftn e s s and te n u ity —th ese fe a tu re s, w ith an in o rd in a te e x p a n sio n ab o v e th e regions of th e tem ple, m ad e up a lto g e th e r a co u n ten an ce not easily to be fo rg o tten . T h e uow g h a s t ly p allo r o f th e sk in an d th e now m iracu lo u s lu ste r of th e eye. ab o v e all th in g s, sta rtle d and even a well me. ; T h e silk en h a ir, too. iiad been suffered to grow all unh eed ed , an d as. in its w ild g o ssam er te x tu re . It floated ra th e r th a n fell a t »out th e face 1 could not. j ev en w ith effo rt, connect its A rab esq u e \ ex p ressio n w ith an y Idea o f sim p le hu- | m uqity. j In th e m a n n e r of my frien d I w as a t once s tru c k w ith a n Incoherence - an in co n sisten cy , an d I soon found tills to a rise fro m a se ries of feeb le and fu tile stru g g le s to overcom e a n h a b it ual tr e p ld a n c y -r tii ex cessiv e n erv o u s ag itatio n . H is actio n w a s a lte rn a te ly vivacious au d sullen. Elis voice v aried rap id ly j fro m a tre m u lo u s indecision (w hen th e I an im al s p ir its seem ed u tte rly In alley - I an cel to th a t sp ecies o f en erg etic con cision—th a t a b ru p t, w eig h ty , u n h u rried an d hollow so u n d in g en u n ciatio n : th a t leaden, se lf b alan ced and p erfectly m o d u lated g u ttu ra l u tte ra n c e , w hich m ay be o b serv ed iu th e lost d ru n k a rd o r th e irre c la im a b le e a te r of opium , d u rin g th e p erio d s of his m ost Intense ex citem en t. It w as th u s th a t he spoke of th e o b ject of my visit, of his e a rn e s t d esire to see m e a n d o f th e solace lie ex p ect ed m e to afford him. H e e n te re d a t som e len g th in to w h at lie conceived to be th e n a tu r e o f his m alad y . It d is played itse lf iu a host of u n n a tu ra l se n satio n s. H e su ffered m uch from a m orbid ac u te n e ss of th e se n se s: th e m ost insipid food w as alone e n d u ra b le ; he could w e a r only g a rm e n ts o f c e r tain te x tu re : th e odors of all flow ers w ere o p p ressiv e: his ey es w ere t o r tu r ed by ev en a fa in t light, an d th e re w ere Im t p ecu liar sounds a n d th ese from strin g e d In stru m e n ts w hich did n o t In sp ire him w ith horror. T o a n an o m alo u s species o f te r ro r 1 found him a bounden slave. ” 1 sh all perish.*' said he. "I m u st p erish in th is d ep lo rab le folly. T h u s. th u s, and not o th e rw ise , shall I be lost I dread th e ev en ts o f th e fu tu re , n o t In th em selves, b u t in th e ir resu lts. I sh u d d e r a t th e th o u g h t of an y . even th e m ost triv ia l Incident, w hich m ay o p erate upon th is in to le ra b le ag ita tio n df soul. 1 h av e Indeed no ab h o rre n ce of d a n g e r ex cep t in its ab so lu te effect—in terro r. In th is u n n erv ed , in tills p itiab le coudi- J GOUVERNEUR MORRIS h ap s even m ore th a n to th e orth o d o x an d easily recognizable beau ties, of m usical science. 1 had learn ed , to«», th e very re m a rk a b le f a c t th a t th e stem o f the U sher race, all tim e hon ored a s It was. h ad p ut fo rth a t no pe riod a n y e n d u rin g b ru n c h —in o th e r w ords, th a t th e e n tire fam ily lay In j tin* d ire c t line of d escen t an d h ad a l w ay s. w ith very triflin g an d very tem p o rary v ariatio n , so lain. It w as th is deficiency, perhaps, of co llateral issue a n d th e co n seq u en t n n d e v ia tin g tr a n s m ission from sire to son of tin* p a tr i m ony w ith th e nam e w hich had a t len g th so identified th e tw o a s to m erg e th e original title of th e e s ta te in th e ip iaiu t an d equivocal a p p e lla tion o f th e "H o u se of U sher” - a n a p pellation w hich seem ed to in clu d e in th e m inds of th e p e a s a n try who used it both th e fam ily and th e m ansion. W hen I a g a in u p lifte d m y ey es to th e house itself from its Im age In th e pool th e re g rew In m y m ind a stra n g e fancy. I had so w orked upon m y im i ag in atio n a s really to believe th a t a b o u t tiie w hole m ansion an d d o m ain th e re h u n g a n a tm o sp h e re p ecu liar to th em se lv e s and th e ir Im m ediate vicini t y - a n atm o sp h e re w hich had no affin ity w ith th e a ir of heaven, b u t w hich bad reeked up from th e decayed tre e s an d tin* gray w all an d th e sile n t tu r n — a p e stile n t an d m y stic vapor, dull, sluggish, fa in tly d isc ern ib le and leaden | titled. S h a k in g off from my sp irit w h a t m u st h a v e been a d ream . I sc an n ed m ore n arro w ly th e real asp ect o f th e b u ild in g Its principal fe a tu re seem ed to he th a t of a n ex cessiv e an tiq u ity . T h e disco lo ratio n of ag es had been g re a t. M inute fungi o v ersp read th e w hole ex terio r, h a n g in g In a fine t a n gled w ebw ork from th e eaves. Yet all th is w as a p a rt from an y e x tra o rd in a ry d ilap id atio n . P erh ap s tile eye of a sc ru tin izin g o b se rv er m ight h ave d isc o v er ed «*i barely percep tib le fissure w hich, e x te n d in g from th e roof o f th e b u ild ing in fro n t, m ade its w ay dow n th e w all in a zigzag d irectio n until it be cam e lost iu th e su b e n w a te rs of th e ta rn . N oticing th ese th in g s, I rode o v er a sh o rt cau sew ay to th e house. A se rv a n t in w a itin g took my horse, an d I e n te re d th e G othic a rc h w a y o f th e hall. A valet of s te a lth y ste p th en ce co n d u cted m e in silen c e th ro u g h m any d ark an d in tric a te p assag es In my p ro g ress to th e stu d io of his m aster. O b a s ta irc a s e I m et th e p h y si cia n o f th e fam ily. H is co u n ten an ce. I th o u g h t, w ore a m ingled ex p ressio n o f low' cu n n in g an d perp lex ity , l i e a c costed m e w ith tre p id a tio n an d p assed on. T h e v alet now th re w open a door an d u sh ered m e in to th e p resen c e of his m aster. T h e room in w hich I found m y self w as very large an d loftv. T h e w in /