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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1934)
PAGE TEN MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORP. OREGON. THURSDAY, JUXE 14, 1931 CVUvuLut. at" MOCKING HOUSE BY WAITER C. BROWN BYSOfalH: Mio.alluJ ol tht murder ot two men in Pitrro Du- : Jreene't house hat turned up much information, but no meant ot iden tifying one ol the men or of deter mining how the murderer escaped without leaving traokt in the enouj. And when Sergeant Harper's at- . slstant, Detective Latferty, flret a test ehot from the murder gun in the basement, Dulreens remain Ssrtectly calm, while both ifr. and Jrt. Croytten art startled badly. The dctectivee art discussing tome threatening letters received by Du- frc" Chapt r 37 BATTLE OF WIT8 "I7HO knows?" asked Harper. "If ; the dead man wrote the letters, that will he all, but Just a minute ago you were ready to pin It on An drews. He's still very much alive and quite capable of writing letters If he wants to. Besides that, there may be a genuine Mr. X biding In the woodpile. It's at least possible that these threatening letters had nothing whatever to do with last night's affair." Latterly snorted. "Sure, and may be there weren't any murders here last night. For Heaven's sake, let's pinch somebody, then listen to them arguing tbemselves out of It. It would save a lot of wear and tear on ns." They grinned amiably at each other, but Harper went right on with place must have been more like a hotel than a private house." "By the way, Steve, what kind of reactions did you get when 1 Bred the test bullet In the cellar?" "Oh, to you picked that spot on purpose?" asked Harper. j "Sure. I heard voices overhead,) and I thought you were holding a seance, so I let go. You nover can; tell what may come from a sur prise." "Well, you nearly scared the Croy dens to death, but Dufresne never batted an eyelash. It gave me a good opening to break the news about finding the gun. I predicted the bul lets would check up, and they have. While I tackle Andrews again you'd better hop over to lira. Morlock's and see what you can gather there, but be smooth about It" Lafferty rose. "Don't worry about that, but I'll bring back the bacon Just the same. And don't you be too gentle with Andrews. It's about time we sat down on sojnebody and sat down hard. We've been doing all the talking up to now. Let's glvt the others a chance." After tbe detective had gone Har per gathered the letters into on pile. He rang for Andrews, and when the butler made his appear ance he walked over and closed thi door with an air of deliberation thai was not Inst on Andrews. "There Is proof that there was suoh a plot." bis analysis. The next point 18 the tact that each letter Is on a different color of paper, yellow, gray, blue, light green, and so on. A good qua! Ity paper, too, though a little soiled and faded." ' "It looks like a set of sample pa pers," Lafferty suggested, Harper nodded. "1 think you're right It Is also my Idea that they were written by a man ot consider ably higher Intelligence than their contents Indicates. Printing the words Is a dodge used by persons who are afraid that even a disguised handwriting may trip them up. This writer was shrewd enough not to overplay hla hand by the usual error ot weird spelling?1! Lafferty set forth a new angle. "How do we know Dufresne turned In all the letters he received? This business bas some of tbe earmarks of blackmail or a sbake-down stunt Maybe he Just turned In selected let ters and, when there was a chance, aettled the whole business In bis own way." "It wouldn't be out ot character, I agree, but there's no hint ot hush money or blackmail anywhere. There Is Just tbat same monotonous threat to kill running through the lght letters. The last Is practically the same aa the first It the writer wasn't crazy, what was bis game?" "Perhaps there was more than one In the plot and they got to scrap ping among themsolves, with the re sults we know. There are too many queer kinks In this case to charge anything off to coincidence. There must be a reason for all these odd things." "This Is what I can't get straight . ened out," Harper confessed. "Du fresne denies knowledge ot any en mity, publlo or private, that would aim at his life, In spite of the pecul iar hints he gave out at our first In terview. But crank letters are one man affairs, and this case Involves o many people. "For Instance, there Is the dead man, and the killer vho somehow scaped from the bo and that mysterious person wbtv hid behind tbe wall and watched, in did not come any nearer to the jouse. Al together too many performers for that bunch ot tight little alibis we've ad handed to us. Last night this "Have a chair, Andrews. We've a bit ot talking to do, you and I." Silently the white-haired man did as he was bidden, losing none ot his poise, evincing no nervousness or surprise. Each man sensed the an tagonist In the other as they meas ured each other with grave, level glances. "Andrews, do you keep a diary?" "No, sir." This unexpected In quiry aroused no more curiosity than a query about the weather. "How Is your memory for dates, Andrews?" "Not as good as It used to be, sir. As I grow older I find one day very much like another. That Is, until very recently," he amended, with sly Irony. "Try to cast your memory back. Does November 19th of last year bring anything to mind? Or Octo ber 10th?" Tbe level eyes remained locked, the butler's without the slightest flicker of Interest at mention ot the significant dates, the key numbers ot the early stages of this mystery. "November 19th f October 10th? I'm afraid not unless you can give me a further hint" Harper abandoned that line of In quiry to thrust the photograph of the dead man In front of Andrews. Do you still Insist that you never saw this man before?" he snapped. "Not to my knowledge, sir, and certainly never In this house." 'Andrews, you are devoted tc your master, and It Is difficult to be lleve that you would be party to a plot to harm him. But there Is proof that there waa such a plot, hatched right here In this house " With all due respect to you, sir, 1 don't believe It" Then how do you explain youi thumbprint on thla anonymoua let ter to Mr. Dufresne?" For the first time Andrews' aplomb deserted hlra. His Jaw dropped open and the lines of bis face seemed to deepen. You are wrong," he rasped. "1 swear to God I never touched that paper." (Copyright. ifSJ, by Walter C. Brown) Tomorrow, Andrews supplies Some InUrottlno Information. E NOT ALL 'GRAVY' SALEM, Ore. (UP) Following re ceipt of numerous Inquiries regard ing subsistence or part-time farming, the department of agriculture today Issued estimates as to the average amount of land desirable In different cases. The most practical type of subsis tence farming Is that practiced by employed men or families who raise part of their food In their spare time, the department estimated. Families attempting to make entire livings on marginal lands are likely to encounter many difficulties, It was said. About one acre of good land waa held sufficient for an employed or part-time employed family. That would give space for keeping poultry ancj raising as much garden produce as time probably would permit. If a family wishes to keep a cow, purchasing necessary winter feed, an additional two acres of good pasture land should be provided, officials said. , ' "Men employed only part time or short hours, and who have large families and small Incomes may find It economical to keep a milk cow. some milk goats and some pigs and raise the necessary feed In addition to having a garden and keeping poultry. This plan necessitates the use of horse or mechanical power and should be tried only after ex perience and careful consideration." Department officials cautioned that "Those who are Inexperienced often over-estimate the savings made pos sible by this way of living and un derestimate the costs in the way of labor and cash necessary for part time farming. MONTREAL itJV) Qlanders, a disease which strikes down horses In the same manner as "galloping tu- bcrculc9" hits human beings, is! threatening the lives of scores of valuable horses here. The disease has brought death by execution to many horses In the rural districts of the province during the last few months. Now, it is reported to be spreading to cities. Dominion and provincial sanitary experts are busy carrying out tests on horses throughout the city. The lives of many valuable thoroughbreds and prize winning stock depends on j the outcome of the tests. PUBLIC SPEAKING Phone 642 We'll naui sway you. refuse City Sanitary Service. 5ome ow folks! Si Ah'.g-ive it a whirl -don't GIVE IT A WHIRL Ufr THAT MAKE YOU THINK OF a I LR. By GLUYAS WILLIAMS SrtS DOWN 6K SftfiE VJlfH 6THER WHO ARE GAINS T PIECES, m rR. TERRiriEP FEELS BEftER OK SPtlf TjK6 TARENfS IH FRONT ROW WN&OVER LINES OF HER PIECE, A&5Ertf-MlrlDEDlY SCRrtTCHlMfe LE6 WHICH Tickles tree eaown; i6WM.' IHS AtWODSLY, AflASf REALIZING THEY MEAN -CO 5-fOP SCRATCHING BECOMES AWARE TMftf HER MIND HAS 60NE BLANK ON THE SECOND DME OF HER PIECE WHI&PERS FRAHIiCAliV To THE TEACHER IN THE WIN"65 WHO PEAK THE LIKE Off t& HER -XiinnEKlV REW.I7S SHE REMJZK tf'S HER TORN jac inc-f uro hmji-web- HKf. PERCHES ON EDGE CHIEF. WRI66VE5 UOUHD. OF CHAIR, TWlSUKS HAKW IO0KIK6 FOR lY. FiND5 AT KERCHIEF, AMICUS TO LAST SHE'S 61TT1N6 ON tT 6ET if OVER. Wifrl fe-tq. (Copyright, IBM, by The BtU BrndiaXt, Inc.) S 'MATTER POP By C. M. Payne I - ' I ( I 5 "1 V ( 1 CAU6-MT Va! I jyr r-esTp. v ? ; ill X. 4 M M fJBT AT ALU) f ouit --rZ " ' -(3 p t-l'- , Ifak . -4J fcfc J fc, "(Copyright, 1C34, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) -Jk TAILSPIN TOMMY The Mystery Becomes Complicated By Hal Forrest Kgpl$SSP KrT' HEABD 1 -lOEU., rtAXM (AN OO SfOU Hef W (SOLLY! 77AS rVEG'- C H 10 AS S1U!0i0 1111 7 tsssg 4&oarr- got saae uhei Jzz aqout the mcdea7 nuootro svvsrtr&v J&oee vocs5-,ao Otxs 7V1-YOU rT-i- pVT 4e"7 V K'CArED UftK CtTOF jf COAtPiCQTSO CC 'ST SOT A ffiirVCH REneneei fk-fg ) wtiigl Abound sea gjS MS RAOo OF&ce.? r- the- 3ur he dd not 00 r- -- lAsruecK-- zipy to do r itP fUBDeeeo mca- ? f 0iSt Jp iy.. oa you a? A'O VOL AB.B To SotV THIS MYSTER V BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER Luke Receives Support I By Edwin Alger fiHft HE KNOWS AN' HE'S TELL1N' UAS PLAIN A5 THE NOSE ON ME FACE.THAT SOMEBODY'S BEEN HERE 8LTT THAT, WHUEVfcK HE 15, HE AIN'T ACCEPTIN' VISITS FROM THE LIKES Bv Sol Hess LEGAL WIZARDS FRAME TRICKY INSURANCE FOR FLY-BY-NIGI FIRMS BALEM, Ore. (UP) Insurants Com missioner A. H. Averlll today cited an analysis of an accident policy Issued by an unauthorised Hollywood. Cal.. tlrm as typical of those by com. panics not licensed to do business In Oregon. The purchaser ol the policy, slter studying Its provisions, wrote. In psrt, to the company as follows: "After a careful analysis of the terms of this marvelous product of the brain of some legal wlcard, I can think of but ont Inttsnca when the benetlclarj haa a chance. "That Is If the assured, while sit ting In Seat B, Tier T, Section 33, at an afternoon performance of ' Bsrnum & Bailey's three-ring circus ' should be struck on the left temple by a dill pickle thrown by msllce aforethought by a man on a flying trapera suspended on a seven-eighths Inch hemp rope with a two-Inch white oak cross bar, and should die within eight seconds after the pickle left the hand of the trapeea artist. "Then, In that case, the benefic iary should be entitled to one-halt of one per cent of the one-tenth of the one-third of the principal sum. If any, provided tor the first six months fntalltlee but should the ' pickle bounce off the temple of the 1 assured and fall on the lady In front 1 of the SAaured and soil her whit 1 sstln waist, then no liability of any I nature shall attach to the company, j "I believe If you will add thla j elsuae to the terms of your policy I you will httve an alr-tlght contract tor Use oompany." t P iBUT THIS NOW.LOOK1E HERE, DAVE JONES fNOT A SIGN OfW OOA' BR.IARSIE THAT'S WHFUO,YZ HOUSE IS 1 TLL TAKE VDUR WORD ABOUT ANVF30DY IN RT HAS 1 "E II A . w ABSOLUTELY f WHAT GOES ON BENEATH THE g THIS HOUSE- -Wm. BRIAR! M2v3t ANYONE I VERY THER m DESERTED- A WATER. AN' YOU BE AFTER TAKIN' I VE BEEN ALL mmZL-t? BEEN IN $ WINDOW- ME WORD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS 1 THROUGH IT- WPt HERE? Jm -r-r-dr MMMtmrTrM on land, espeoally when i see i ?k mmmrm fp Eiwmm?4 i t own eyes-i ruricpw' 'wmmmm t 7jzsr 1 Himr-ytYxn s. tiv1 w 1 1 i"saiisa ttsm,, rrnmetn! k mi'tTkysev sst-Ui!MvsrssH KtBawia.wja THE NEBBS Minnie, Where Art Thou? ter-S -ZT 1 EtUTT save op tvie. miHT' tvn teamdeo aul ovecs tovasj some il ty 1 suess i made a mistake luwenj X '.F&yMPPtir- i 1D OP MIKJtvJIE'S COMIMS jl iTO EEBW PLACE NA7E USED TO SO c2 VWAV.KED OUT ONJ HER - MO MXNJ S WOULD V KrS II iTO TME MOTEL POR MAIU W e,UT rJO OtOS. MAS SEEK! MER.tM V BSO ANY PLCB WHERE WE 1SKJT SUSE WE CAM , ' WW-WSSA I AtOO WE CHASED ALL H MAKIKJG. A FIRST CLASS EUMMV OP f STW.AMD TMAT MOOkl USED TO SE J iVj' I OVER -TOVAJKI IOOKIMS j I MYSELF L GUESS 1VB 6EEM OKIE ALL J? 1 AVJ EMBLEM OPRESTAWO Jf- W'&-.&7m OvW? J'iPOR "est. VWITM KIO yfn JV upe fUT IT OUST lUEEDEO A Bw QUIET FOR ME AlsJD MOW ?J' :'Mt liCMv) N ns. RESUV-TS U litwORCUMSTAKJCe LIKE TWIS TO rT'r L GU- UJMEM THS SUM ; j ((" - M vtfNIhkts. r' Trrrn nr 1! liHTm ?srt prove rr. y7 . , Jcmases it awav Vi DOnintud nn n. mnnn m n ha.mi oainuinu ur rntnen. oy vtcorge uicmauus P 1 COULD OMLV COMVIMCE 1 I WELL-I'VE LOOKED AT ( IF YOULL COME INTO I "1 I I I nikiTV I MP r O Dai ' 1 vFP' am'1 " MACCIE THAT ITS uELES THE AOARTMEMT AMD THE OFFICE NOW-l'LL DINT T TtV. AN FWUSTOMOVEIMTOAM I'VE DECIDED TO . INTRODUCE YOU TO MOORE1 ARE TOU THE APART ME NIT I'D BE VERY -blCNI THE LEASE' , l The OWMER OF lliwwr-.c OVJNJER HAPPY- b- t-fCVsH THE BULDir-IG- CCU I T MANAGER TOO- 1 f
