Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Springfield news. (Springfield, Lane County, Or.) 1916-2006 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1921)
V1AH' J" PAGE SIX THE SPRINGFIELD NEWS C5o QFTHE 1 -few SYNOPSIS. Warned by his physician that hs has not mora than six ironths to live, falling aits despondently on park bench, wondering where be should spend those sis months. A friendly squirrel practically decides the m "er for him. His blood Is pioneer blood, and he decides to end his days In the forests of Ore Con. Memories of his grandfather and a deep love for all things of the mild help hUn In reaching a decision. In a large southern Oregon city he meets people who had known and loved his grand father, a famous frontiersman. He makes his home with Silas Lennox, a typical westerner. The only oth er members of the household are Lennox's son. "Bill." and daugh ter. "Snowbird." Their abode la many miles from "civilisation." In the I'mpqua divide, and there Failing plana to live out the short span of life which he has been told Is his. Ills extreme weakness In the face of even a slight exer tion convinces him that the doctor had made a correct diagnosis of his case. From the first Falling's health shows a marked Improve ment, and In the companionship of Lennox and his son and daughter he file Into the woods life as If he had been born to It. By quick thinking and a remarkable display of "nerve" he saves Lennox's life and his own when they are at tacked by a mad coyote. Lennox declares he Is a reincarnation of his grandfather, Dan Failing I. whose fame as a woodsman Is a household word. CHAPTER III Continued. "Of course but sit down now, any way. I'm sorry that Snowbird Isn't here." "Snowbird Is" "My daughter. Sly boy, she can make a biscuit! That's not her name, of course, but we've always called her that. She got tired of keeping house find Is working this summer. Poor Bill has to keep house for her, and no wonder he's eager to take the stock down to the loner levels. I only wish he hadn't brought 'em up this spring at all ; I've lost dozens from the coyotes." "But a coyote can't kill cattle " "It can If It has hydrophobia, a com mon thin? In the varmints this time of year. But as I say, BUI will take the stock down next season, and then Snowbird's work will be through, and she'll come hack here." "Then she's down In the valley?" "Far from It. She's a mountain girl If one ever lived. Perhaps you don't know the recent policy of the forest service to hire women wh they can be obtained. It wag a policy started In war times and kept tip now because It Is economical and efficient. She and a girl from college have n cabin not five miles from here on old Bald mountain, and they're doing look out duty." Dan wondered Intensely what look out duty might be. "You see, Dan," Lennox said In explanation, "the gov ernment loses thousands of dollars every year by forest fire. A fire can be stopped easily If It Is seen soon after It starts. But let It burn awhile. In this dry season, and It's a terror a wall of flame that races through the forests and can fiardly be stopped. And maybe you don't jenllze bow enormous this region Is literally hun dreds of miles across. We're the last outpost there ate four cabins, If you can find them. In the first seventy miles Lock to town. So they have to put lookouts on the high points, and now they're coming to" the use of air planes so they can keep even a better watch. Snowbird and a girl friend from college got Jobs this summer os lookouts all through the forest serv ice they are hiring women for the work. They are more vigilant than men, less Inclined to take chances, and work cheaper. These two girls have a cabin near a spring, and they cook their own food, and are making what Is big wages In the mountains. I'm rather hoping she'll drop over for a few minutes tonight." "Good Lord does she travel ver these hills In the darkness?" The mountaineer laughed a de lighted sound that came somewhat curiously from the bearded lips of the stern, dark man. -"Dan, I'll swear she's afraid of nothing that walks the face of the earth and It Isn't because the hasn't had experience either. Sho's j dead shot with a pistol, for one thing. I, Tl -Or Sri. ; i .1-. . i. i She's physically strong, and every muscle Is hard as nnIK She used to have Sluig, too the best dog In all these mountains. She's a mountain girl. I tell you; whoever wins icr has got to be able to tame her!" The mountaineer laughed again. The call to supper came then, and Dun go! his first Might of mountain food. There were potatoes, newly dug, mountain vegetables thnt were crisp and cold, a steak of peculiar shape, and a great bowl of purple ber ries to be eaten with sugar and cream. Dan's appetite was not as a rule par ticularly good. But evidently the long ride had a fleeted hlin. He simply didn't have the moral courage to re fuse when the elder l.onnox heaped his plate. "GoihI heavens, I can't eat all that.' he siild. as It was pnssed to him. But the others laughed and told him to take heart. He took heart. It was n singular thing, but at that firM bite his sudden confidence In his gustatory ability al most overwhelmed him. So he cut himself s bite of the tender steak fully half as generous as the bites that Bill was consuming across the table. And Its first flavor simply filled him with delight. "What Is this meat?" he asked. "I've certainly tasted It before." "I'll bet a few dollars that you haven't. If you've lived nil your life In the Middle West," Lennox an swered. "Maybe you've got what tho scientists call an Inherited memory of It. It's the kind of meat your grand father used to live on venison." Soon after dinner Iennox led him out of the house for his first glimpse of the hills In the darkness. They walked together out to the gate, across the first of the wide pas tures where, at certain seasons, Len- Standing In the Shadows, He Simply Watched Her. nox kept his cattle; and at last they came out upon the tree-covered ridge. The moon was Just rising. They could see It custlng a curious glint over the very tips of the pines. But It couldn't get down between them. They stood too close, too tall and thick for that And for it moment, Dun's only sensa tion was one of silence. "You have to stand still a moment, to really know unythlng," Lennox told him. They both stood still. Dan was us motionless as that day In the park, long weeks before, when the squirrel had climbed on his shoulder. The first effect was a sensation that the silence was deepening around them. It wasn't really true. It was simply that be had become aware of the little con tinuous sounds of which usually he was unconscious, and they tended to accentuate the hush of the night. He knew, just as all mountaineers know, that the wilderness about lilnj vas stirring and pulsing with life. Some of the Bounds were quite clear an occasional stir of a pebble or the crack of a twig, and some, like the faintest si 171 1 twitcntng or leaves In the onion not ten feet distant, could only be guessed at. - "What Is making the sound?" l.e asked. He didn't know It. at the time, but Lennox turned quickly toward him. It wasn't thnt the question had surprlsod the mountaineer. Bather It was the tone In which Dan had spoken. It was perfectly cool, perfectly self-contained. "The one right close la a chipmunk. I don't know what the others are; no one ever doea know. Perhaps ground squirrels, or rnbblis, or birds, and mnybo one of those harmless old black bears Mho Is curious about the house. And tell me can you siucll any thing" "Goh Lord. I.cnnox I I can smell alt kinds of things." "I'm glad. Some men enn't. No one can enjoy the woods If ho enn't smell. Part of the smells are of flowers, and pnrt of balsam, and God only know what the others are. They are Just the wilderness " Dnn could not only perceive the smells and sounds, but he felt that they were leaving an Imprint on te very fiber of his soul. He knew one thing. He knew he could never for get this first Introduction to the moun tain night. Tho whole scene moved him In strange, deep ways In which he hnd never been stirred before; It left Mm exultnnt and. In deep t ells of his nature far below the usual cur rents of excitement, a little excited too. Then both of them were Unrtled out of their reflections by the clear, unmlstnknble sound of footsteps en the ridge. Both of them turned, and Lennox laughed softly In the dark ness. "My daughter." he said. "I knew she wouldn't be afraid to come." Dan could see only Snowbird's out line nt first. Just her shadow against the moonlit hillside. His glasses were none too good at long rnnge. And possibly, when she came within rnnge, the first thing thnt he noticed about her wns her stride. The girls he knew didn't walk In quite that free, strong wny. She took almost a ni (in cize step; ami yet It was curious thnt she did not seem ungraceful. Dnn hnd a distinct Impression that she was floating down to him on the moonlight. She seemed to come with such nnnt ternbte smoothness. And then he heard her call lightly through the darkness. The sound gave him a distinct sense of surprise. Some way, he hadn't as sociated a voice like this with a moun tain girl; he had supposed thnt there would be so many bnrshenlng Influ ences In this wild place. Yet the tone was as clear and full as a trained singer's. It wns not a high voice; nn.1 yet It seemed simply brimming, as a cup brims with wine, with the rap ture of life. It wns a self-confident voice too, wholly unaffected and sin cere, and wholly without embarrass ment. Then she came close, nnd Dnn saw the moonlight on her face. And so It came about, whether lu dreams or wakefulness, he could Bee nothing else for many hours to come. The girl who stood In the moonlight had health. She wns simply vibrant with health. It brought a light to her eyes, nnd ft color to her cheeks, nnd life nnd shimmer to her moonlit hair. It brought curves to her body, and strength and firmness to her limbs, and the crnee of a deer to her car riage. Whether she had regular fen tures or not Dnn would have been un able to stnte. He didn't even notice. They weren't Important when health was present. Yet there was nothing of the coarse or bold or voluptuous about her. She was Just a slender girl, perhaps twenty years of age, and weighing even less than the figure oc casionally to be wad In the health mngazlnes for girls of her height And she wns fresh nnd cool beyond all words to tell. And Dun hnd no delusions about her attitude toward him. For a long Instant she turned her keen, young PAINTED OVER COURT FINERY Ruse by Which Nuns Had Queen De pleted as a Member of Their Religious Order. Through a chance discovery In the gnrret of a ducal palace In Madrid, a three-hundred-year-old romance of a wonderful Velasquez has been re vealed. Hidden for three centuries as a picture of a nun, this portrait of Queen Isabella of Spain, the first wife of King Philip IV, has recently been restored In London. In the disguised picture practically nothing but the face and hands of the original was left uncovered, and the secret was first guessed at owing to the paint peeling away from the nun's hood, when there was revealed the fringe of a lace collar. Princess Isabella of Bourbon was married to Philip In 1015, and In 1024 was staying In the convent of the nuns belonging to the order of the Descal cos. As a mark of the kindness she there received she presented the nuns with this Velasques portrait of her self. Later Isabella wished to enter the conveut, but the pope would cot con eyes to his white, thin fncej end st once It became ahunduntly evldmt thnt beyond N few girlish speenlntlons l.e Ml no Interest In hliu. After single moment of rather strained, po lite conversation with Dan Just enough to sntlsfy her Idea of the con ventionsshe began a thrilling girl hood tnle to her father. And she vns still telling It when they reached ths house. Dnn held n chnlr for her In front of the flreplnce, and she took It with en tiro naturalness. He wns careful to put It where the Art-Hunt was at Its height. Ho wanted to see Its c fleet on the flushed cheeks, the soft dark hnlr. And then, stnnding In the shadows, he simply wutched her. With the eye A nn artist ho delighted lu her gestures, her rippling enihnslnsm. her utter Ir repressible girllsbness thnt nil of time hnd not years enough to kill. Bill stood watching her, his hnnds deep in his imckcts, evidently n com panion of the best. Her father gnscd nt her with amused tolerance. And Dan he didn't know In Just what wny he did look at her. And ho didn't hnve time to decide. In less than fifteen minutes, nnd wholly without warning, she sprung up from her chnlr and started toward the door. "Good Lord!" Dnn breathed. "If you make such sudden motions as thnt I'll hnve heart failure. Where are yn going now?" "Buck to my watch," she answered, her lono wholly lacking the personal note which men hnve learned to ex iHi't In the voices of women. And an Instunt Inter the threo of them inw her retreating shadow as she vanished among the pines. Dun had to be helped to bed. The long ride hnd been too hard or. his shattered lungs; nnd nerves nnd body collupscd nn Instant after the door was closed behind tho departing girl. He laughed weakly and begged their pnnlou; uud the two men were really very gentle. They told him It wns their oun fault for permitting him to overdo. Lennox himself blew out the caudle In the big, cold bedroom. The neat installment of "Th. Voice of the Pack" im. parts to Dan Failing the exist ence of an organised band of outlaws. tTU Ufc. CONTINUKD.) Ths Roman Coliseum. Tho Boiiinn col Neil m was the Inrgest and most splendid of the buildings known In architecture as nmphltheu ters, which the Komnns Invented for exhibiting gliidlatorlnl combats, fights of wild beasts mid other spectacles. Tho repetition of arch beyond arch and story over story gives this amphi theater Its Imposing grandeur. This principle of reduplication of purls, of which the Gothic architects after wurds made so much use. Is carried to a greater extent than In any other Bo man building. It did not have n roof. The tipper story Is not arched like the three lower stories, but solid and with pilasters. Some urchltects think It was meant wholly for the purjmso of supporting nnd working tho great ve larium or silk nwiilng thnt covered the arena during the representation, which mny not hnve been attempted when the umphlthciitcr wns first erect ed. Different Kinds of Hickory. Twelve kinds of hickory tiro found In the world, eleven of them Indige nous to the United Stntes east of tho Uocky mountains, nnd onu Mexican species. Previous to the Ice ago, ex tensive forests of hickory existed In Greenln nd. Getting Results. "When It comes to Impressing the popular mind," scld Senator Sorghum, "a party platform Is quite likely to prove less Important than the rear platform of a special train." sent The Inmates of the convent culled In a painter, and secretly In structed him to paint out the Queen's court dress and the Ince handkerchief In her left hand, and to present her In the complete gnrb of a professed nun. Playing the Game. "How must I conduct my cam piilgti?" asked the Inexperienced can didate. "IVoiiilse 'em anything," suld the manager. "But suppose I promise something I enn't icrform and the. public holds me to strict accountability?" "If you get elected you'll want to run again, won't you?" "Of course." "Kxuctly. When your first term U erded you can tell tho voters you (JUln'l have time to put through all the great reforms you had set your heart on, nnd tli-y must send you buck to finish the Job." Birmingham Age- Hern Id. Lots of women worry themselves old trying to look: young. Womun's Inhumanity to man makes the divorce luwyer liuppjr GOOD HIGHWAYS PNEUMATIC TIRES ARE BEST Cause Least Damage to Road Surface, According to Tests by Dureau of Roads, (Irireit by the l in Hod mates Depart hient or Agriculture I Mnnv minis not originally Intended to carry heavy traffic were seriously dam need during Ihe period of the wnr by the Impact of heavy motor trucks. The nutural result or this was to wnrn highway engineers of ths ImiNirtimce of planning all future ronds with reference to the kind of traffic thut Is likely to use them. Ths engineer responded Immediately by building thicker rnd nnd ronds of more durable mnterlnl ; but In ths absence of definite knowledge of lbs probable strength of Ihe Impact they have not known exnetly how thick or how strong the ronds must be made. Recent tests of the Impact of motor. trucks niinle by tho bureau of public ronds, United Slates Department ot Agriculture, develop tho facts that when a solid tired truck strikes a Pneumatic Tires Save Highways. one-Inch obstruction, the Impact may be as high as seven times the loud, an average being about four times. The tests show, however, thnt the Impact depends largely upon the kind and condition of the tire. Pneumatic tires cuuso tho least dnmage to the road surfnee, the cushion of nlr re ducing the Impact so thut It Is sel dom greuter thnn 1'4 times the static load on the wheels. Although the Impact Increases with the speed of the truck, nnd It Is therefore highly desirable to limit speed by strict reg ulatloti, the use of pneumatic tires would make higher speed permissible. The tests of the bureau of public roads have pointed the wny to more scientific designing of roads for mo tortruck traffic, nnd there Is every as surance that engineers will now be able to build roads with practical cer tainty thut they will withstand the blows of heavy vehicles. Further reassurance In this rcspict lies In the Information that manu facturers are Miot building ns many trucks exceeding flvo tons capacity ns formerly. The number of Industries In which very large trucks enn be kept continuously working Is x tremely limited, so thnt the likeli hood of forthcoming motortruck dam ago to public hlghwuys Is consider ably reduced. GOOD HIGHWAYS ARE COMING Federal, Stats and Local Authorities Join Hands for Great Good Rosds Campaign. The federal government, the state governments, and the locul authorities have Joined hands for the greatest good-roads cumpalgn that has ever been undertukeu anywhere In the world. We are told that during tho next five years there will be at the disposal of the state hlghwuy departments n grand total of not less thun $3,000, 000,000. No fewer thun 22 greut na tional highways are under construe' tlon or planned for eurly develop ment The aggregate projects call for the expenditure of $000,000,000 during the present year. APPROVES OUR ROAD SYSTEM Imperial Commissioner of Japanese Govsrnment Recommends Our Typs for Building. Prof. T. Tukakuwa of Klrlu univer sity, In Tokyo, and Imperial commis sioner of the Japanese government, sent ubroud to Investigate types of hlghwuys In Europe and the United States, approves of the type of roud way used In this country for the Im provement und roud building program la Japan. ' . .--" - efirir