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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1936)
RANCH MYSTERY A Story For Children By Paula When Beth corn out West to upend a few month on her Uncle's cattle ranch the expected things would be pretty dull. In stead she found herself helping her Uncle and his sons, Ron and Tim, to find the gang of men who had been raiding the ranch and stealing cattle. It looked, for awhile, as though Uncle Walter was to be driven from his land. Then Beth dis covered that the very man who was urging her Uncle to sell and get out, was the man who had come on several secret trips to the ranch. (Beth found a rowel, lost from his spur, in a pasture.) The very deadline day for the sale (and Uncle Walter was tempted to be rid of the hard-luck ranch), oil was discovered in the pasture where drillers had been seeking water. Chapter 12 AFTER the discovery of oil on Uncle Walter's ranch, no one seemed to settle down to normal living:. Ron and Tim couldn't be dragged away from the activity at the well. They had to see all the "doings" and they asked a mllllon questions and had to be forced to do the chores at the barn. Ranchers came from far and near and the town people kept the road dustclouded. The place was filled with the rumble and rattle of cars. At the end of the second week, however, the excitement died down, and one night the family sat at the table long after supper was over. Beth had had a letter from her mother that day. "I think your mama misses you a lot, honey," said Uncle Walter. "Would you like to go back now?" "I like it here so much, Uncle," said Beth. Everyone looked at her and they noticed for the first time that she was a very different girl from the Beth who had come to them only a few months ago. She had filled out and she was as tan and healthy looking as either of the boys. Beth didn't exactly like the prospect of leaving all this great country that she had grown to love. She changed the subject. "Funny about those initials in the Almanac, wasn't it? Fellow of the Geological Society, huh? No wonder Mort Russell knew there was SOMETHING on this ranch besides sage brush." "Did Claude have anything to say about Mort today?" asked Ron. "Yes," answered Beth. "He said Mort left the day the oil came in SHELL MOUSE TRAP THERE was a strange case of mouse-catching in Perry, N. Y., the other day. It seems Silas Stev ens left some oysters in his cellar to keep cool. One of those oysters must have been pretty active, for when Stevens returned to the cel lar to get his oyster supper, he found one oyster had caught two mice. The mice were dead, caught In the oyster shell. SHIPWRECK We all know the old saying, "Rata will always desert a sink ing ship." But such was not the case with a little crew of three cats aboard the Greek steamer Strfanos Costnmenis. When the sailors were ready to leave the smklng ship, they looked CLASSIFIED FILMS DEVELOPED Rolls Developed SZSSZ FVrM Tw Print. TV nn. am PHOTO ItBVlCt. U CfWW. in MANUSCRIPTS WANTED WNT0: ORIGINAL POIMJ. SONOV MMM PtrOtn Dm AR. Slodio BM. f'tikd On. Norton and he told his foreman he'd write to him from the East." "That's okay with us." mur mured Tim. "We'll be here when he DOES come back." All this while Aunt Mary had been watching the girl. Now she leaned across and took her hand. "Beth . . . would you like to go back and bring your mother out here? Don't you think a little vacation would be good for her, too?" Beth was speechless with happi ness. She did want to see her mother, yet she hated having to leave the ranch. But, the thought suddenly occured to her, It would cost a great deal for such a trip and mother needed all the little she made. "I know what you're thinking, Beth," smiled her uncle. "You for get we ain't poor ranchers any more. We'll fix you up with money, and THAT, by the way, is the nicest speech I ever made." BETH flew around the table and elapsed her brown arms around the man's shoulders. "You're the very best man In the whole world, Uncle Walter." She could think of nothing that ex- pressed her feeling more truth fully. ' Three days later Beth waved good-bye to her Aunt and Uncle. Back she rode along the same road she had traveled with Tim and Ron. on that first far distant morning. Tim and Ron were with her now and there was no shy nessr rather there was a flood of rambling chatter. Plans were made for Beth's return, plans for her mother, plans for the things they'd do for Claude (maybe buy him a new horse and rig). Ron suggested a mail-plane for him, but he was hooted down. When Beth boarded the train, happy to leave because she knew she would return soon, happy to feel the secure feeling of the money her Uncle had given her (carried in a little bag around her neck). As she climbed up the steps of the pullman car, she turned to Tim and said, "This time I'll eat every meal in the dining car, and if there Is any boy or girl travel ing alone on the train I'll take them in to eat with me." She still remembered the flatness of the box lunch on her trip out. She ran to the rear platform of the train and waved until the little station and the boys were tiny specks in the distant haze. She did not have the lonely feel ing she had had when she left the East, because she was coming back, soon. (The End) for their cat mascots. They could not be found. The cats hid some where on the vessel and went down with the craft. POLICE DOGS The headquarters for trained police dogs is In Munich, Ger many. The rings are really shep herds. Captain Max von Stephan itz formed the Society of German Shepherds 31 years ago. Now there are branches of this society all over the world. FIREFLIES Fireflies are not Just a pretty sight In the summer twilight In Japan and China. There they are an important industry In them selves. Expert firefly catchers are hired, and some of these workers have been known to catch as many as 3000 in a night The flies are used In the manufacture -of drugs In the Orient. Firefly grease Is used to make bamboo wood rigid. BUTTERFLIES We associate butterflies with flowers and warm days In a gar den, but these beautiful creatures have been seen as far north as the extreme Arctic regions. There Is a species of little butterfly liv ing in Ecuador at 18.500 feet elevation. Oregon s Highways Lead toVariedVacation Lands Dm-"- -v By way of magnlfioent Oregon hlgnways, tourists Journey to the unexcelled playgrounds of the Northwest. Above are two typical Oregon scenes. Top, skiing on Mount Hood. Lower, horseback riding along Cannon Beach at Haystaok Rook. This is one of the renowned Oregon publlo beaches. PAPUA MEDICS N" EW GUINEA recently wel comed home a group of native doctors 18 medical stu dents who completed their medi cal courses at Sidney University, Australia. Educated, scientific, these children and grandchildren of wild head hunters, formed themselves into the world's first Medical Scout Troop. In their regulation Scout uniforms, they will Invade the tropical New Guinea jungles, bring modern medical knowledge to their race. Which is only fair: when civi lization takes disease to the primi tive tribes, it can do no less than cure it ' CONTACT CLUB - Ry Don Roberts HI, HIGH fliers how are all your happy landings ? Just looking over a couple of issues of "Plane Talk," the little weekly publication of the U. S. 8. Saratoga the aircraft carrier, in case you get It mixed up with some ordinary run-of-the-mlne battle wagon. Here's a table explaining the Navy's way of marking her air planes from "Plane Talk." Maybe it will come In handy In Identify ing a squadron some day: V is for Heavier than Air H la for Ambulance O Is for Observation F Is for Fighting T is for Torpedo and Bombing S la for ScouUng P is for Patrol N is for Training B is for Bombing R is for Transport v VH VO VF VT VS VP VN VB VR - Army Identification Initials dif fer considerably from those of the Navy, so don't get them mixed up. - BEING in pretty much of a spring feverish mood today, we'll shirk too much work and dig up some dope: Well, first thing on the list seems to be an item that came to mind while we were scanning some old photos the other day. Everyone hangs "pants" on the undercarriage these days to cut down wind resistance through streamlining. But it's not a new stunt, as usual! The 1911 model of the G as tarn -bide and Mengln Antoinette mon oplane had "pants," in addition to complete enclosure and Inter nally braced wings. It was pro duced for the French Military trials and we Imagine, just off hand, that all the wise lad hooted at it. And then here's another curi osity from Russia the folding glider. Yep. the lads simply lug a lot of nsMorted bundles to the nearest hill, stick the hinged fu selage, wings, etc.. inside a flock of fabric and take off. And did you know they have two-plare gliders? Let's see now- hm, how about looping? Pilots do It to get In .'l'ajfr o4? . VIENNESE SYMBOL THROUGH revolution and hard ship, Vienna folk keep their joy In living. A short street car ride from Vienna takes you to Grinzing, where every season the making of new wine is an excuse for a festival. Wine growers are privileged to sell wine without licenses in their own gardens, without interference of whatever government may be in power. To indicate the elixer of life which they offer, a small bush is fas tened to the door of the home. Viennese say of this quaint sym bol, "Die Herr Gott steckt die Hand Hieraus" or, "The Mr. God puts His Hand about Here!" shape for breakfast nowadays. The spectators nearly dropped dead in September of 1013 when, at Issy, France, Pegoud made the first Intentional loop. Shortly aft erward, Anthony Fokker became the first German to do the trick. It's really easy and quite a safe, as well as useless, maneuver. In Los Angeles, the, Cornelius "free wing" experimental mono plane is flying all around the place. The ship has no ailerons; wings are hung to the fuselage in such a way that they rock back and forth, thereby keeping themselves and the ship on an even keel. Germany Is now testing her newest Zeppelin, designed for regular trans-Atlantic passenger flights, and soon will start con struction on a "sister" for the same purpose. (But the United States still has the only helium gas available In commercial quantities. ) While United States airlines did an about-face by cutting down the size and shape of com mercial liners, as well aa the number of motors, foreign coun tries still go in for three and four motored jobs. We were lucky enough to get a close-up view of the Junkers all-metal transport, "Von Hlndenburg," in Berlin. Double wheels on the landing gear are a couple of feet taller than a six-foot man. Four mo tored, It carries 50 .. passengers. (But has considerably less speed than, say, the Boeing, Douglas, etc., In use here.) IN MEXICO, none but Mexican born pilots may fly the airlin ers. That put a iot of American pioneers out of work but It's government order. Do you know what Is meant by "pulling up to 9 G's" In speaking of testing an army or navy ship? The "G's" represent, the force nf gravity, and at nine "G's" there's nine times more weight on the wings than In normal flight It's no rlnch. that test piloting. Milita.-y Jobs sre dived to "ter minal velocity," whlrh means, simply as fast as they'll go, then pulled out sharply until the "9 G" mark Is reached. It's some strain on the plane- and plenty, too, on the pilot. , s Cs Over the Captain's Coffee Cup Travel Tales from Everywhere By Whit Wellman rHIS spinning earth you live I on is an interesting planet- full of variety, full of obscurities, So much about it is still un- known, and explorers will be busy forever stumbling Into new dls- coveries every year. You can mock at eoloo-lsts- say that they tell the age of fos sils by the age of the rock con taining them, and the age of the rock by the eon when the fossil flourished. Like other professions, the study of the comparatively new world is also new we're continually finding uncomfortable facts to blast old theories. THEORY VS. FACT are the basis of a grand argu ment. One excellent theory ac counts for the formation of moun tain ranges: our two-billion year old earth cooled off and grew solid on the outside. As the In side became cooler and cooler, It contracted, leaving a vast and fairly thin crust a kind of sus pended arch without pillars to rest upon. Simple figuring showed that this crust cracked wide open from time to time settling down to relieve the strain. The process happened again and again, until once more it collapsed. Some seven great crumbllngs have been traced, which left in their wake mountains and valleys. So eas ily and satisfactorily are heights and depths accounted for in the ory. But facts have a habit of be ing stubborn In this case the fact of the Pacific Ocean, cover ing about half of the earth's sur face. Its size doesn't fit at all neatly with the "contracting crust" theory. It Isn't always wise to doubt accepted text-book laws but here goes! Why Is almost all of the land pushed Into one hemisphere? One school insists that the great Pacific depression was left when the moon was dragged out of It flung Into the heavens to dangle a few million miles above. If so, the earth was solid when this happened, and mathcmntlclnns say "No!" The moon, they say. only moved to Its present distance very gradually. Once It was closer to us or to our ancestors. Its capacity to raise tides Is estimated to have caused tides three miles high, which made deeper the already deep Pacific basin. Wa still aren't loo sure what made the mountains, or the Pa cific around the edge of which live millions who take Its exist ence for granted. But let's spec ulateif we don't solve anything. A SOUTHERN WRITER demands "in the name of Nrp liine and his sons, and his seven choir of memvilds, a full page - a blue page, to celebrate the doings of a great navigator, and his visit to the Pacini- Coast In 1.W7." Its a note from Frnnk Marlln of Ran Dirgo, a sailing master who has crqlsed nKire New Nasturtium Strain, 'Gleam', Brings Renewed Prominence to Flower Break From Old Types Improves Plants, Increases Their Beauty and Even Gives Them Perfume I By Cecil Solly " DURING the last four years, the advent of a new member to the nasturtium family has brought this much-used, but much-abused, plant Into prominence again. This new strain, com monly known as "Gleam." Is a distinct break from the types that our grandfathers and great grandmothers knew. It is most Cecil Solly amazing that such a break could have been made all at once, the way it has. Just study the de scription of this new type. Every color that the nasturtium family ' knows Is now found in the varie ties and hybrids that are fast be coming fixed. The flowers are in- " tensely doubled. They stand well above the foliage, an advantage which alone would mak It well worth while. Added to their won derful form and attractiveness Is the fact that this new strain is quite strongly perfumed. If you can compare its odor with that of the older types you will realize how good It la What a plant to suffer the harsh treatment that is usually meted out to It! Who ever thinks to study where and how nasturtiums should be planted ? No! Just drop than a hundred thousand leagues In all classes of vessels. He sends eight Interesting stanzas descrlb- lng the return to England of Sir V Francis Drake in the good ship Golden Hind . . , "completing the circumnavigation of the globe, " " "X Queen Elizabeth." Marlln'a' verse is well done, and here are the opening lines: "From far 'and near, to either shore, Such throngs as never seen bo ,fore Had come to see what they had never Beheld on their historic river A homebound ship, that bravely stems The lanquld current of ' the Thames: Home, from the longest cruise yet known I Had circumscribed the earth alone." A WANDERING FRIEND of early days has been down on Manga Reva for the last few years living among the panda nus trees and green parrots, swimming In the lagoons. He was walking along a road near the shore last month and saw an old Chinese come toward him a very ancient old fellow In tattered clothes which hung about him like a sack. My friend greeted him, but the old man Ignored him. The an cient's eyes seemed to look right through him, as he passed. My friend "turned after him, watch ing him walk slowly up the shadowed road. Suddenly the Chi nene was not there. He'd disap peared aa if the early mist had swallowed him. I went back to the village and asked questions." ' He was told there were no Chi nese on the Islands -had not been for many years, that Is no old ones. Two young ones ran a lit tlo store. What he'd seen, the na tives assured him, was Parqul tala, ghost of a once all power ful magician who tended a pagan altar until the - i!r n'onaries car.ie Then he grew dls:ournged and died but his bent form still roamed the Islands of his youth. "He is seen." my friend writes, "ever so often about once or twice a year. Being a skeptic my self, I don't know what to be lieve. I did see the fellow, but no one ha seen him since. Odd things happen down here that we don't even try to explain." IF YOU'RE BORED with cmiviled cities, those forgot ten Islands are a good place to go. Climate makes clothes unlm poilanl The native men wear a shnit p:iriii nnile of the bsi k of the hresilfnilt tree. If a girl grows tired of an old dress she goes out and makes a new one from the leaves of the tl plsnt. A necklace of orange blossom and a crown of hibiscus - and the cos tume Is complete. Natlvo pearl divers have an In the seed and a satisfactory re sult Is Invariably obtained. Do we realize how good-tempered and handy this plant Is, giv ing us the dwarf or bush varieties with both green and red leaves for borders, edgings or beds; and the pole types, also with the two color leaves quickly covering porches, arbors, and. last but not least, the unsightly garage? USEFUL CLIMBER Of the climber not much has even been written, but what a great aid it is to us In covering up bare places! It will grow well If planted with other kinds of climbers in almost any situation and is especially adapted to plant with climbing plants which have an open or bare stem near the ground. It fills these blanks in and avoids bareness such as is exhibited by the climbing rose. One of the great uses "on the othor side" is to plant dwarf and climbers together along the bank of a river, especially If the bank is of stone or concrete. A most beautiful effect is obtained by a ' big elongated bed of the dwarf ones with the climbers nearer the water and trailing down and touching the stream or river. One of the most lovely sights seen by the writer was at Canterbury, England, the Cathedral City, where there la a stretch of all colors of nasturtiums every year. Window boxes overhanging the river are planted with them, also. Mirrored In the river, a most pleasing effect is obtained. When this flower becomes again more popular here we will use it more and more for our window boxes and hanging basket. On the Pacific Coast, ganjen and community clubs have been working for years to beautify the highways, using all kinds of flow ers In profusion for this purpose, but they seem to have forgotten this nasturtium. Its one groat ad vantage la that It self-seeds most productively and would volunteer In great quantity every year and keep down most of the weeds. AS A RELISH In Europe the nasturtium often Is used as a vegetable. Seeds are picked, full size, while yet green and pickled in vinegar. It is a most tasty relish, being known there as Indian Cress. The leaves, while young, are delicately pungent and are a very fine addition to the mixed salad, usually served chopped with other greens, and they also make a tasty dish boiled. The cultivation of the nastur tium is so very simple, to line the words of an old country gar dener, "Just poke 'em In anywhere." In colors, the nasturtium can produce flowers from puro white through all the shades of cream, pink or orange to scarlet und crimson and also shows some de cided lavender and mauve shades, but no blues.. A not nor of the great assets of this plant la Its practically total Immunity from insect pests and diseases, only being troubled by a few aphis and leaf eaters. Aa a ground cover crop It ha few equals. Imagine, for Instance, a bed of the dwarf varioty In a bright cerise color with many spike of a lovely bright lavender gladiolus like Charlos Dickens spaced In It. 8eeds planted early In the year In the tulip or hyacinth bed will fill in the brown spaces quickly and leave a ground cover under .which unsightly dying bulbs may be tucked In May or June. Idea that constant motion In the water frighten away the sharks that they will not attack a moving object. Sometimes It works, sometime It doesn't sharks do not always observe the rules, and tragedies occur when leaat expected. IF YOU HAVE questions to ask about far-away places, drop a line ... or If you want to see one of your own ex perience In thla column, write to The Captain, Flva Star Weekly, 4S0 Mill Tower, San Francisco, California. eR! rfirty. Pro, ii up .-a ) dnicn. D rlimata mt.is. fthlc. (.MM lilt la) tn twain Mart. IW ill jyou ri. Vt'ritf l-f IH'r it bnoC todjr. AMMIK.AN K( X AN NINO CO tpl. KM 6l N OrUtnfc Li. BOOH V il'ts START Ji Ury. BACKYARD r C IS o'tjwni poMibill. I un ' md lapi io.. m ii t-it. rron PAGE SEVEN'S
