Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, June 30, 1937, Image 12

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Medford mail tribune., June 30, 1937, Page 12, Image 12

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Newspaper Page TextPAGE 7LVE MEPFOKD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOkD, OREGON. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1WT. STAR PITCHER By GLUYAS WILLIAMS STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX For further proof "addreaa the author, -lncloatnf a stamped envelope for reply. Rec. TJ, B. Pat Off. maw mum ri I or A mysterious shot (ciU JucVBltnshop. m old tame, at the ((aft of our ttormy uecfc . end at e'arrinoton Bluff, bom a Michael' aunts. Slranaa attack! ybllots; then toe find the body of Michael's mad father below the bluff. Stout, Victorian Aunt Mar-. tha i (hot In the ehoulder and nearly finished with sleeping; poudere. The Skipper, Mike'e tall, tweedy younger aunt, disappears,' we find her lix houre later, bound in the lot, all but dead. A (hot draws ue to the room o Hippins, the butler, whom ue had strongly suspected shortly before. He ie 'dead, supposedly a suicide. ' Chapter 48 Murder No. 3 1 BLINKED dazedly. That was the question. What earthly reason could there be for HlBgins' amazing actions? A contented, gentle old man with tha rest of his life mapped out for him as pleasantly as anyone could wish, suddenly goes haywire and kills a girl be has known since her baby hood, a man whom he has spent a good part of his life caring for, and finally attempts to kill the two people who represent all the family and se curity that he has. It didn't make sense. There could be no question of money as a motive. I happened to know that the entire Farrltrgton for tune had been left In trust for Mi chael by his grandfather with a re quest that Hlgglns be provided for as long aa he lived. The only solution seemed to be Insanity. "It's a hopeless mess, William. Can you think what could have ailed him?" William ahook his head. "Must have been plumb nutty, I guess. Didn't seem like that, but he must have been. Funny. You know, when I was working for the Bllnshops 1 al ways thought Hlgglns was crazy about Miss Judith." I looked around that bare little room and shivered. Then I walked out very softly. My watch said 20 minutes past six. There waa little point In trying to hustle people off to bed. We were bound to be routed out again within a very few hours, and I knew from experience that a little sleep is wdrse than none at all. It was highly doubt ful that anyone would, be able to aleep anyway, .-. ' Snapping on the low lamp on the dresser, I turned out the glaring over head llghtJ1jjqtly I closed the door on Hlggins? Jsied made oft In the direction the main house. Cold showers,,! Wast ajsd a plan of ac tion wereY after. '' MIchsA otnwas empty, but In mine thai xr was still sleeping soundlA Jrsjr standing at the wlndowjf-w- i ' ... "Wherea'thaTothers?" 1 whis pered. rKK'y'. '.....' "I'm not sure. They went down the hall somewhere Mis.s Farrlngton's room, I guess. Jim are are you ure It's over?" "Absolutely sure, Gay. Waa the Skipper disturbed at all?" . "No." Her hands were restless. "Whatever possessed him? Does any one know? I drew her Into the next room. "1 doubt it," I said, "and 1 doubt If any. one ever wilL Now listen, kid. Go take a cold shower and freshen up. William will stir up some breakfast See that Aunt Martha does the same thing and send Mike along to me All the majesty of the law Is going to be loose around here in a little while and It Isn't going to be much tun.". "O.K." There was something about the Jaunty tilt of the kid's chin that I liked. I stopped her. "Gay," I aald, "there'll be a pretty big fuss over this In the papers. If Mike suddenly gets noble ldeaa about not soiling the hem of your gown, don't let him get away with It" She flashed me a grin that sent my spirits soaring. "Sonny." she said, "If he thinks he can get away from me now, he'll need the militia to help him." Michael Geti A Shower HER feet clattered cheerfully down tha hall. Hauling out clean clothes, I felt a little better. It waa over at last 1 was Jumping around In the shower when I heard Michael come In. Grabbing a towel, I strode dripping after him. But if my spirits were up, his were bitting a new, all-time low He flopped down on the bed. "Don't be such a damned Polly annal" he growled. My spirits began to slide, "How's M. FaxrlnjtonY "How do you think? Jim, what the devil do you suppose ailed him? Why did he do 117 It s It's " "Cut it out, Mike," 1 said. "We don't know and probabl we never will. What difference does It make now? Get Into that shower. You're all In." Michael kicked at the rug. "It makes a lot of difference. Hlgglns never had a thing wrong with him In his life. And he never did a thing Civil Service For Attorneys Ft R. Aim WASHINGTON. June 30. (AP) President Rooflevelt asked congress today to enJJ5iisglslet.on to place attorneys (, experts ot the aoclaj eecurlty lx under tlvll eervlce. In a lej Ato the senate, Mr. Roosevelt' t sreaeed "regret" that the lnte 0 office appropria tion blllli stained a provlalon re quiring strtMte Vonllrmetlon of ap pointment f experts and attorneys receiving saKrles of asooo, or more, per year. Ancient Warehouse . Burns in S. F. Bay BAN rRANCISCO. June SO (AP) A apectcular fire awept through historic Mission Rock warehouse, a relic of the old aalltnts daya, Tuesday A watchman, only person known to have been on the rock, rowvd ashore Barely. Huge burning embera fell from me warehouse In the oenier of China Basin, waterway of dan Pranctsco'a Industrial district, and floated to ward Battleship Row where 94 war ahipe of the United Butaa fleet were moored. Tha watr quenched ' the embera before they endangered anything. in hie life but look after my damned family." , Michael has an Irish streak which calls for the noble and highly dra matic. Right then I had no answer for him. 1 felt rather like a person lost in the woods who knows there is an animal of some sort behind him, but doesn't dare turn -around- to look. Hlggins must have had a motive. But Just then I didn't care to turn around and look at It - "The police," I said, "will have no reason for thinking anything but that the poor old chap lost his mind. You haven't either. Stop, trying to , dig yourself up a family skeleton. Go take" i "The hell with your shower!" Mi chael exploded. "Who givea a damn what the police think? I've got to know why he did It I've got" - "to take a shower," I finished grimly. Picking him up clothes and all, I carted him, struggling, Into the bathroom. It was something of a Job to hold him, but be waa thoroughly doused before he managed to send me crashing on my ear and atalk out I threw him a towel, . "Take a rubdown ," 1 said. "You go to hell!" But he caught the towel with his bad hand. I grinned and set to work on my own dressing, leaving him to his fuming. The at mosphere was so natural that I could have whooped for Joy. I waa busy with my tie before he got to the point where he could directly address me. "Do you suppose there Is any way that they could leavo the aunts out of all this? If the story about my father hlta the headlines, Aunt Mar tha will never get over It Foster ought to be able to keep them away from the Skipper for a while, any way." 1 aald, "I think the best thing to do, Mike, Is for me to go Into the vil lage on the first boat that gets here. I'll go straight to Foster and leave it all up to him. Then, If he'll let me. I'll push on to the Bllnshops'; O ight to be back by seven tomorrow night, easily." - ' ' " , - ... . .-. Michael was silent for a moment "That'a decent of you, Jim." I climbed into my coat "Forget it," I sajd. "Keep your ear cocked for the Skipper. I'll see how the breakfast Is coming." , Splotch On The" Wall IN broad daylight, the effect of the electricity .in the hall was rather ghostly. The sooner we got all the lights out and the house nearly nor mal, the better - for everyone' con cerned. Switching them off as 1 went, I headed down the hall and Into the servants' quarters. At the head of the back stairs 1 remembered the lights in Hlgglns' room' and In Jude'a. 1 turned back. With my eyes averted from the bed, 1 made for Hlggins' dresser. And then something leapt Into my throat. Directly In front of me at the level of my eyes, was a splotch In the wall plaster, and within that splotch the bullet which had ended Hlgglns' life. Passing a bewildered hand over my eyes, I looked again There was no mistake. The bullet was there. Was my memory of the situation blurred? 1 rushed to the bed and flung back the blanket . ; v ' Hlggins lay on his back with his arma flung out at his sides, the revol ver tightly clenched In the right hand. In his right temple was the bullet hole, and in tha left, the nasty gash made by the bullet tearing through. But the mark In the plaster was In the wall on his rlghtl Ideas began bouncing through my head. A man falling In a faint or for any reason other than ,a blow, falls on his face. Unless. Hlggins had been sitting on the bed, he could never have landed In that position. Could he have been Bitting? I crouched un til my head was approximately at the level of a person Sitting on the bed. For a bullet to have passed through both sides of the man's head and landed where it had. It must have passed right through the top of his skull. And Hlgglns' wounds were in his temples. Much as the Idea of the old man's guilt hurt 1 wanted the whole thing to be over with. Perhaps, I reasoned frantically, the impact of the bullet spun him around. Perhaps My next ralliatlon sent me staggering against the wall. The revolver was In his right hand, and Hlgglns had been left-handedl Murder number three! Right then and there my atate of mind clarified. All along I had been nearly as much afraid that we would catch the murderer aa I waa that wa wouldn't But 1 thought of that tor tured old face aa I haJ last seen it alive. 1 took one more look at it aa It waa then. And 1 wanted that mur derer. If It waa Michael himself, I waa going to sea him die before my own eyes. My mind began to work aa coldly aa If It were dealing with a problem In bridge. Not the Skipper. 1 had been sitting beside her when the shot waa flred. Furthermore, the murderer had put her behind that chest Higgins must have aeen them, to his undoing. CepifrtffM. .IMT.'sTsMer Tultr) I devise a trap fer the murderer, to morrow. Astoria Prepares , For V.F.JV. Session ASTORIA, Ore., June 30 (AP) The Astoria post of the Veterans of Ftoretgn Wars completed arrangements today to greet the Oregon depart ment at 1U 17th annual encampment Thursday through Saturday. State Commander R. L. Preston of Rose burg will open the business ses sion at 0 a. m. Thursday. A banquet, drill team competition and military parade will freture the cnventlon. Election of officers and selection of the 1038 meeting place take place Saturday. Land Bank Measure Passed By Senate WASHINGTON. June 30. (AP) The senate compleUtd congressional action today on a bill to extend for one year the 914 per cent Interest rata on federal land bank loeua. At the end of one year a 4 per cent rat win become effective. The measure also would reduce the rata on land bank commissioner loans from 0 to 4 per cent lor two yars, The bill now go to the White tfouae, Prealdeut Roovelt has ex pressed his opposition to It and ad ministration Ir-adert said he might Dnughters of Their Husbands. Early Roman law held women In complete disdain. Under Its provi sions members of the fair sex were excluded from holding civil or pub lic office, could not sign wills or make contracts, were not aiiowed to act as witnesses and could not in herit property from anyone dying In testate other than their brothers or husband a. Because of their "imbecility" (the word actually used by law), women were given certain privileges. Under special circumstances they were al lowed to plead Ignorance of the law when they ran afoul of It and were exempt from torture. In tlie eyes of the law, a married woman was the daughter of her hus band. All property was owned by the husband. In the event that he died MARY McCORMIC FILES DIVORCE APPLICATION CHICAGO, June 30.( AP) Mary McCormlc, the opera star, filed suit for divorce today, charging Homer V. Johannsen, a l.wyer, knocked her TA1XSPIN TOMMY Into the T AMDING HIS "PLAne in a pasture- on THE- ErDGt OF THtr CITY Of TULSO, TOMMY MAKE'S F-inAL PRE-PARATIONS TO PtntTRATt THE" HE-AD-QUARTfcR S OF THt ESPIOMAGt ORGANIZATIOn.. BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER THE NEBBS Honey Face? C eee. homey FAce.sxxi LOOK SWELL INJ THAT f THt LA0TVH0VJ Do ( "0 SOU WaUT I OF MaU ) YOU DO, )TO HEAR ABOUT J I UtAB,T, J AMW. oVHk 6WAO OUT RT A.NJO 1 LIKE. YOUR TIMES AKJO IT5 TWE MAT- IT'S A BIT DiMlcy view itbtoM:- .or THEIR 1tH of i&fc PKesiPeisTs of Trie UNiTeo etwes at before his wife, s'.ie came under the guardianship of any man named by her husband In his will. Unmarried women were under the perpetual guardianship of their fath ers or nearest male relative. Modern Cave Town. On the banks of the Loire river In southern France Is Troo, one of the strangest towns In the world. Carved out of a rock cliff, It homes are a combination of the ancient days of the cliff dwellers and our own days of electricity and modern conveni ences. "Main Street" In Troo con sist of a stairway leading past the town's cave homes. Presidential Slave Owners. Strange as It seems, two of the United states presidents who owned down last March 17 and threw her across a table six days later. The singer, alleging cruelty, asked a divorce and return of her maiden name. She did not ask alimony. They were married lat Novembor 20 after a brief long-distance court alitp. They separated March 35, she said, because of his alleged cruelty. Enemg Carry) 1 Tessle Tuttlngton f MOT MUCH its fumnsN-i wad If! YTUS OUTFIT OKJ MAkN RRSTTIMe.YOU MOTICElO LOOK A BIT PRETUBBEO KXXlVI LOST25 A IT- - 1 -JBEUEVE VOU'KE . 1 fJL,(-i--tr-1 TRYlW TO TAIK ME op Kwri .AntfftNToWN Of,, uve in ewes cquiiw ; C0MHlHC, INCLUDING a w-rVa a .T I WSClKHeWlM slaves played major parts In the free ing . of the slaves. One was U. B. Grant, commander of the Union forces during the latter part of the Civil war. The other was , Andrew Johnson, vice-president and successor to - Abraham Lincoln, the "Great Emancipator.' ' ' Other slave -owning presidents were Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Mon roe, Jackson, Tyler, Polk and Taylor. "Pester" derivation. "Pester," , derived from the Latin word "pastorlum," originally meant "to shackle or clog a horse," came to mean "to encumber or clog" gen erally speaking, and eventually ar rived at Its present meaning, "to annoy." Tomorrow: Political Hodgopodire. 8 Treaties Ratified. WASHINGTON, June 30. (AP) The senate speedily ratified today eight Pan-American "Good Neighbor" treaties signed last December . at Buenos Aires. Closing time for Too hut to Clas sify Ada Is l :30 p. m. TO TEU.-TO&Y 60T VT . FROM A Ya.MK.6C UcTOOK W&OUtR. " AT GETTYSBURG) -VJt'VJE USED IT tVER 6iwict - I'LL VJB.VTt VT DOVMM FOR, VOU, YOUV1G WAU- AW&a. &ICL, I'M KJOT EWOU5W TO VOOOUI YOU'RE TUllOKISJ' PUTVCU DO IUITW IT MD (-Ore 1 WAVE , OUT 100KS W CMCHER FoR REClVKSl6WMroR CMfcHER SI6KAIA FOR. CfffcHER SISKMA FOR S16WM. OU-f-COWE, AND&HAKE4 AM IN-SHOOY. A&RlH CUT-DROP. HODS Iri AP" HEAD FROM SIDE ft S1PE SHAKES HEAT? fROVAL AND START'S WIND-OP CATCHER CA115 E0ERV- CRIES OF'PLAV BRU." REfilRNSfoTlfcHER'S 1tilK6 OFF AhlD WALKS ARlSlKG, TEUS' EtfErW B0)k, MX) NotS CON - 0)i To HOlJ) WHISPERED ONE To SHOT UP, WHO'S FlRMATlON OF SIGNAL COHSOtfATiOtf Wrfn HIM PlTcHINSTrllS 6RME, TOR SCREW-BAU. , AKYWAV S MATTER POP 'OH, 1 WOULDN'T VJAUT TO ;--VirlEN Some-one's 'r "r-- IGfr 0 (Copyright, 1'837. by The EtH Syndicate, Inc.) ' I IGfr -H m (Copyright, 1837. by The EtH Syndicate, Inc.) ....... By HAL F0RREP'n 6E.T OUR. 6AKER TO FOU.OVW IT AW5 6AKi U OAAfc FOR. Alfc AT THE IF O CATCHES OW, VD WAUT SOME OF WW YOU FOLKS CSMARr M07 YOU scr LUMAT Na4- TO DO 5INCECELYI trW M wec wiusoMEjH' FDR. icrrrH inr w A (Copyright, 183T, by The Btll Syndicate. TAKE IT JU9T ) V THAT, SUH, b AUD AH SHALL IV4 SEEW6 THAT THE BREAD Af.UlFjjpe. STOR.E.-AWD A OEC.ERVE3 TO SHARE IM 50RWY AVJD TLL PAY AS SCONJ AS T. CAM -MAYSH MEkT K. S.D trsavul w n WlHD5 OP ELABORATELY AND DELIVERS ONLY BAU HE KNOWS -A ilOVJ, strai6ht ball, Which he occasionally 6eys over -frit "PLATE Inc.) By 0. M.. PAYNP By EDWIN ALGER A 6EUEROU5 FROPOCil- PER.SOWALW ASSIST YOU AMD WDES?REA0 f0PULARTV Bv SOt HESS meveo. mikjd tu.t aw -J v k.i j. ivj) - motuik;- 0 YOU FTDSl OVF5 A !UrE. Vf 1 LOAS ALLTUFUrnic-v LUCRDS "TO YOU THAT OU CALL ME.Tl-ESHEPiFT:- mm. veto tha measure.