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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1937)
PAGE TWELVE MEDPOKD MATL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON. TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 21, 193T. the dartt ships BROADCAST By GLUYAS WILLIAMS STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX ror further proof address tha totfcer, taclottisg m stamped sralop tor iwprjr. Rag. TJ. S. Pal Off. BY HULBCRT FOOTMKR te&Mhfl STttlOPSls: riealati, fliuhy Pretcott fanntn? kidnaps Janet, Baltimon jirl, aboard hit vocht. Sne tends word to Net. I, a young federal agent 'jho lovet her. Ruehlno to Absalom'i Har bor, he boaTds the yacht and inds, in a locked cabin, Fanning shot dead and Janet in a faint, a gun beside her. Weill rows her to the disused liners kept up the river and hides her in the best suite. Back at the villaoe hotel, he re sumes his fisherman role to watch developments. The village is hys terically excited over the murder. Button Bfllinos, Justice of the peace, is called. Chapter IS Blood On Your Knee A TALL Haunt old man in de i cent Sunday blacks came down the companionway behind Neill and pushed through with an air of authority. He had a thin irray beard that waved with every movement and an expression of Sim piety, tie jooicea nxe a pic re out of an old book. This was Mr. Button Billings, justice of the peace. Neill breathed a little easier. No special danger here. As a matter of fact, as soon aa Mr. Billings entered the after cabin a conflict of authority arose. "What's this? What's this?" he wanted to know. "Why didn't you wait lor me? Virgil looked at him with a mix' lure of respect and exasperation. Ha tossed his badly chewed cigar through the porthole and stuck a fresh one in his mouth. "We are lust looking into the evidence, Mr. Billings. "That is mv iob." Virgil let him have his way. Mr. Billings stood in the middle of the cabin stroking his shaven upper lip, looking -down at the body, looking all around. He frowned at uie smitten siewuru on ute huih. "Did he do it?" he asked Virgil. The man jumped up with a cry. "No, sirl Nol It was me who found himl He was stiff and cold then. He " Mr. Billings silenced him with wave of the hand. "All in good time. We'll sit on him first." "That's not the way they do It," Virgil burst out. 'They collect the evidence first, and then hold the inquest." "It's nothing to me what's done to other places," said Mr. Billings, "we have our own ways. Always when a body is found we sit on it Immediately." ' "We don't know who he Is yet," said Virgil. "He called himself Barrett, but there's no proof of it." "Well, if we don't now who he Is, then he's an unknown person," aid Mr. Billings crushingly. "They'll call us hicks In the paper," muttered Virgil. The old man ignored the re- murk. "This place is too small to hold it here," he said. "We'll carry him ashore." "The evidence is here." "What evidence?" "The gun; the bullet that was hot out of it; the smashed door." "I will swear in a jury from among those present, and they can view the evidence." "We ought to take steps to catch the murderer first." Mr. Billings flattened him with a gesture. "We will proceed in due order, Virgil." A jury was duly sworn In Mr. Billings had a testament in his tail pocket and with difficulty steered around the little cabin. Twelve solemn - faced fishermen and clerks, they took their responsi bilities seriously. Mr. Billings then requested them to carry the body up on deck and to lay it in one of the skiffs alongside. The Jury's Verdict XHRGIL, desperately rolling the V cigar between his teeth, made another plea for delay. "Anyhow, wait till Mark Bonniger comes.' Mr. Billings drew himself up. "What's Mark Bonniger got to do with it?" "I have requested him to take eharge of the case." "Mark Bonniger Is not an of ficer!" "He's a student and a traveler," said Virgil. "He knows how these things are done." "You have gone beyond your self In this matter, Virgil, said Mr. Billings severely. "We all re spect you as a citizen, but you hold no office. I am the representative of the law in this district" Virgil flung up his hands. The cigar tossed like a ship at sea. Neill was well pleased to see the body carried ashore. The officious Mr. Button Billings was doing all he could to make the finding of the killer more difficult. A freight shed on Longcone's wharf was designated as the place to hold an Inquest. The solemn Jury and the witnesses disap peared inside and closed the door. While he waited, Neill circulated unobtrusively among the crowd, watching and listening for any thing that might threaten danger. He was startled when he acciden tally caught sight of his own strained face in the mirror of a slot machine. An hour later the verdict was announced: "Man unknown shot to death by person or p . .n known." Neill could scarcely be lieve his ears. Was it possible they were going to drop the whole thing? No such luck. When he saw Virgil Longcope's shrewd eyes and active cigar he knew it wasn't go ing to be dropped. Virgil was the only source of in formation as to what was really happening. Neill was unable to get hold of him again, but the nature of his activities leaked out of the little office from time to time. Mark Bonniger, it appeared, was away from home, and they were telephoning all over for him. Meanwhile Virgil had got the gov ernor himself on the phone, and had arranged that as soon as Bon niger was found he should be sworn in as a special officer. Thus he got ahead of Mr. Button Bil lings, v Virgil had a keen sense of the value of publicity. He telephoned the news to the Washington and Baltimore newspapers and it was said that the reporters were rac ing down in a fleet of cars. "I'm going to have this matter handled right!" Virgil was heard to shout. "I'm gonna put Absalom's ' on the map!" Neill's breast tight ened, hearing this. He dreaded the reporters just now. This Man Bonniger XTEILL felt an anxious curiosity li concerning this Bonniger whose name was on everybody's lips. His fate and Janet's depended on the kind of man he proved to be. By keeping his ears open and asking an occasional question, he built up a mental picture of Bon niger. A quiet man. A widower In his middle forties, and the last rep resentative of a family tnat nao been prominent in the county since it was first settled. The Bon- nigers were not the sort of people tnat money stucK to, ana tne iam ilv estate had declined since the Civil war, but Mark still had good tobacco and corn land ana blooaen riding horses, tie lived alone in his old house. "Lordship's Grace," 20 miles up river. Mark Bonniger s neighbors re- ?arded him with a mixture of amiliarity and awe. They felt that he belonged to them though they rarely saw him. He was a great traveler and would be awav for months at a time without anybody knowing of it until he got back. He never went around, but he had good friends. Like Virgil. Virgil thought the world of him. Virgil had teen trying for years to get him into public life, like all the Bonnigers before him. Chiefly, however, the men spoke of Bonniger's insight into character. You can t fool Mark Bonniger! He will let you think you are fool ing him, but he is fooling you. . . Virgil Longcope, he made no mis take when he picked Mark Bon niger to solve tnis case. . . . Mark Bonniger can see further into a stone wall, than most men." And so on. And so on. All this was disquieting. Neill saw that in remaining on the spot he hact cast himself In a difficult role. His thoughts turned to Janet. He wished that he haa her nld- den further away. Too dangerous to try to move her now. He longed to be with her. Later he learned that Mark Bon niger had been found and was be ing rushed to Annapolis so that the governor could swear him in. As he was circulating in the hotel lobby, picking "up a word here and there it was only idle gossip to the crowd, b.ut to Neill it meant everything he hap- Cened to glance at the letter rack ehind the desk and was surprised to see a letter in his box. Upon his asking for it, a plain white en velope was handed him. Nothing but the room number was written on it. Inside he found a half sheet of nole-imper with a note pencilled in a clerkly nana: You been foinp round oil tnornina with blood on your knee. You better wash it out beort the investigator comet. It was like an unexpected icy shower. Taking care to keep his face, Neill went quietly up the stairs. In his room he stared at his reflection in the mirror. It was true! There was a brownish-red stain on his left knee as big as a quarter. He must have got It when he had knelt beside Fanning's body in the cabin of the yacht. Tha breeches were an old, soiled pair, and one spot more had escaped his notice. The thought of his careless ness brought the sweat out on him. A trained sleuth, it seemed, could be as blind a fool as anv crook when it came to covering nis own tracks. Ho slipped out of his breeches In order to wash them. An ugly anx iety made him set his Jaw. Who had written this note? It brought back to mind the unexplained happenings of the night before. Who was the sharp-eyed individ ual watching his every move? Who was there in Absalom's who knew so much about him? And hoio much more did lie know? fcwr,i, itrr. h HtiM rM Mark nonnlger takes rharfa of the invrtlcattnn. tomorrow. LEWIS ENJOYS P WASHINGTON, Sept. IS. (API John L lwli, chalrmnn of the committee for tmtiiMrial Orgamta tlon. mid alter e, White Houiw call Wwineaday, he had "a very pleaaaot ronri-renre with the prculdent." "We talked over a number of mat ters of mutual Inlrreat to the presi dent and myaolf," the heavy-set. bushy-browed labor leader wild. AiOird whether his rivent anewh. Interpreted by some a it nuking the president, had been mrnllrmr-d. Lrwli ' tald ha hmA "no furt hr ,mm,,nk - I In an addrcaa on September S, Lewis awrlwl that "It 111 behooves one who he anpprd at labor's table and who hae been sheltered In labor'a houce to curne with equal tcrvor and tllie Im partiality both labor and Ita adrer Mirlra when they become locked In deadly embrace." Prior to hie talk. Mr. ltooeevelt had need the Shakespearian quotation. "A plaue on both your house," with irtrrenoc to etremlta In the mimmer'a eteel Mrlkea In which the CIO waa Involved. Home Well I'okIn) martins raittY. o. rrr) Quaratine reflations have hit doub ly the home of Roy Stewart end his children. Two signs, one tor measles and one for whooping cough, are die-played. WINDOW OI.ABS we sell window .-lass and will replace your broken windows reasonably. Tronbrtdas Cab- tntt Works. war 4affL 1 Q vnkl rw eri 'eetee . . I -. I 1 1 ft. I W. CftRPENTeR, . Cincinnati, An, New tort, ML MM MH l& BODY- "YsT UteK an? it ofcKWNaw feed -yifltVUl iXWWei. UtHMibl Intlata. It4 Battle of Gettysburg. "For want of the nail the shoe was lost: For want of the ahoe the horse was lost; For want of the horse the rider waa lost; For want of the rider the battle was lost; For want of the battle the kingdom waa lost; And all for the want of a horseshoe nail." Thle nursery Jingle, with a few al terations, might well have been writ ten to lit the event surrounding the battle of Gettysburg, strange as It seems. It waa for want of ehoea that the battle waa started and tor want of victory that the cause of the Confederacy was lost. With many of his men either bare footed or poorly shod. Major General Heth, commanding a division of Confederate troops, sent a brigade tinder Pettlgrew to Gettysburg for supply of shoes on June 30. 1863. They were about to enter Oettysburs when 'advance eoouto discovered the presence of Yankee troops. Pettlgrew hastily returned to Con federate headquarters and reported his discovery, whereupon Lee march ed hie army on Gettysburg to find out what union force waa there. In doing so he precipitated the battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the civil war. 9 aaV I THIS IS STATION B-A-B-Y BESIKM1N6 THE RE6UIAR NIGHTLY1 BROADCA&f IN WHICH K5 STAR WILL EHfCR-fAlM Wrfrt VOCAl RENDER1MS6 Is s i of the old Familiar sows "I'm . 10NELV " AMD " I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANT, BOT 1 WANT It" Followed by " I wont go-To sleep -and that impassionep ballad "oh DAPDV, COME AND WALK WITrl ME!" AND CONCLUDING WITH frtE WlSTFOL. SONS " WOH'T S0MEB0DV PAY SOME rVfreNTiON 0 ME ?" (Copyright, 1937, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) STATION B-A-B-Y NOW SI6NIN6 OFF JNTiL TOMORROW NI6HY AT THE USUAL "TiME 7-3 S "MATTER POI By 0. M PAYN Ivan Turgpnltf. BuMtan arletoorat of the 19th century considered it degrading to speak the language of their own country. Their children were usual ly tutored In French, German and English, but no Russia n waa taught them. Such was the case with Ivan Turgenlef, ranked one of the world's greatest novelists. His knowledge of Russian, the language, with which he won his greatness, was almost entire ly picked up through associating with the family servants. Tomorrow: Where Are Birds Vscd an Christian Missionaries? T HEARNGSLATED GRANTS PASS, Sent. lfl.fAP. The Interstate commerce commission has designated Examiner Molster to conduct hearings October 13 Jn Port land on three phases of railroads from the Rogue river valley to the 6e. C, H. Demaray, receiver of Califor nia to Oregon Coast railroad, said the applications of the city of Grants Pas to acquire, the remaining Inter est In that road and to continue It to Crescent city, Calif., would be heard. Also before the examiner will come the case of the Gold Coast railroad, which Gilbert E. Gable would con struct from Port Ortord to a Junc tion with the Southern Pacific at Le land, north of here. Phone 643. We'll haul awoy your refuse. City Sanitary Service. F( Ilu-puul yen A:do ( NO&E- out y Toor J f IT f 3)o A 1 V-Am' let-tut Swat5 " V t J IT J ij!opyrifht, IPSTTThepIl Syndicate. loc ) vjjl XAILSPIN TOMMYSkeoter Acts Mysterious! By HAL FOEEI" WE LEPT TOMMY H1J OtllT-UCJU FLYIMG THE LITTLE BOf nD HIS tKDG BACK TO ORETOWM, AFTER TOMMY HAD UNEARTHED TWO IMPORTANT CLUES IN CONNECTION VMTM THE MYSTERY OP MRS. BENTLY's DPATH. Meanwhile, at THREE-POINT, THE TRANSPORT, FLOWN BY SKEETER AND A NEW CO-PILOT AND STEWARDESS, HAS JUST LANDED. BE NWEBSTER'S CAREER "Apple Blossoml" i i i - -mmmw IS I By EDWIN ALOSS W FR.ST , MAN LtT VOU , A WCtURt 1 AFTER. fl VOUWE LOOKED n OVER II VVL 60 OM- ' C CtRTAIULN. I 7 " I I r fiEF. CiWP CrfCF-. Vc,up.'c, PWPQVTUIklAl I Jl'iA uco aduimaiuu xvirs 1 I V AAA.. S II "s I I-! IC(wI-1JPIV (I ILI TUP WDinTt ItlCn I'U UCD MIIU DO i.Tiucun,!1,. I I JOaOAM- J s. I K L00WW6 6IRL.' IS ME, SOW- t ' JUST LOOKED AT JULItT JOIiDAM RELL m a SUA m THE NEBBS Just Wit and See It' Hrf' V0KATj f I SOT A SOOD PICTURE OF X F 1 CAu OViLV V LE4VE THAT PT S e'mmtO ?.1krP?MT) I TWOUSMT t TMIM TAXEM AT TME MAX-LUTHEr) SET OMe OF HIS JTO ME.UBRIM& MtvRftV NEe&'S AKry PART OF WIS 71 ABOUT HIM hi V BATTLE ITS A GOOD ' PlWSER PftlMTS MV YNOU HIS F1WGER.- ( ' IT FOR A THIRD PA!3TY. J YL St 1 , 1 v.JIU SET HIS RECORD IT WILL LOOL1KE victoRvdaumowT MAX 3AVS Hes CROOKED --.ZZ X-i ( U J KsLlP HE MAS ONE HE POSED FOB 7 p" 1 By 80t HF
