Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 1938)
PAGE ETflHT MTTlFOTCD MATL TTITRUNT:, MEDFORI), OREGON. TUESDAY, AUGUST 0. 1938. LOVE ON THE RANGE BY NEUON C. MYE. . iiu Story So Far Under the turn of Abe Street er, quick-fire Ankrom :aket a job . on the troubled Ratter T ranch to help lovely Lee Trone. Colonel Struthen and nil daughter Betty come to oliit, and Anfcrom recog nizee Strutheri at an Impoiter, Kelton Drean. Drean ihot and Bettv ellpi Ankrom her gun, lav ing 'he did It. Batchford, the burl iherlfl, holde them all of questioning, including CUydell, a . neighboring rancher. Accidental ly, Ankrom dropi Bettu'e gun on the floor. Chapter 14 Question! IN PLAIN sight, blue and cold and grim It lay. The surprise had frozen tnem an 10 a rigia ieno ni Antrum thought the DOUnd ing of his heart must surely shake mm. "Weill" the sheriff drawled at last. "Well! What parlor trick Is this. Streeter? Ankrom erinned with a mirth. lessness that showed the whiteness of his teeth. "Shucks." he said. "I feel downright ashamed to call that weaklin mine. "I ehouldn't wonder." With heavy irony Ratchford stooped to pick the weapon up. Yet even as his fingers spread to grip it, An krom covered the pistol with his foot. Grimlv Ratchford straightened, The head on his thick neck came forward until his heavy features ' uiArn within ten inches of An krom's. Unblinking, the smoking eyes stared balefully. His words were low. spaced wide apart: "wrier did you gel mat run; Across Ankrom's mind came the vision of the girl from Peso Pinto rising from the crumpled form of Kelton Drean wltn one nana noia Ing papers, a pistol in the other This pistol I H overt It warllv. Had the spu rious Struthers' life been snuffed with this? He let his glance rest upon the sheriff s. By your tone, he tola him, "a mar would figure it was a crime to own more'n one gun In Texas?" "Never mind airin' your opin. Ions. I want to know where you got this gun. "I don't know that It's any of your business. Ratchford. "I'm making' It my business." "Boot Hill is filled with fellas that had that habit" "Damn you!" Ratchford swore. "You answer my Question an' an swer it quick or I'll slap the brace lets on you an' take vou in for this killin'r "What evidence you got that 1 downed Struthers? Law says you got to have evidence before you can arrest a man for i thing like this." "Yeah? Well, that law don't cover you. The laws ain't made for driftin' snddle tramps that go round stirrin' up trouble. Talk fella talk, or I'll take vou inl" Ankrom stood there, his eyes like tempered steel, the lean cheeks drawn taut. Troublt, he told himself, was like his shadow. He could not escape it wherever he turned his eyes, there lay trouble waiting. To move amid scenes of turmoil seemed to be his portion. There was no escape . , . save death. Very well, then: he was through trying. He would serve these trouble-bringers what they asked for. He would give them all they wanted from here on out: he would hurl it In their teeth. As the sheriff's voice stopped Ankrom's right hand shrank into a hard fist. He took a forward stride as the sheriff stepped back a pace and stood. His eves held Ratchford like a grip: thev were palely blue like ice. thev were baf fling, mocking, hateful. "What was it you wanted. Ratchford?" Who Hired You?' CAUTION clouded the sheriff's glance. "I wont to know where that gun came from." "From the waistband of my trousers." "Where'd you get It?" As Ankrom was about to make answer, from the tail of his eye he caught a warning gesture. Just a tiny movement of a hand it was: a girl's hand Lee'sl Then she was not completely indifferent to htm: the thought crossed his mind like light Evidently she 'ealized as did he himself, that Ratchford was out to find a goat and meant to find one before he left this room. But Lee's cautioning gesture no longer held the force it might have held this morning. Stooping swift ly he came up with the gun his foot had covered; cairn- up so sud denly the sheriff had no time to guess his purpose before the pis tol's muzzle held him in grim focus as Ankrom backed to the wall be side the outer door. "It didn't come from no dead man's hand, if that's what you're insinuatin',' Ankrom drawled. "If you're aimin' to find a goat for this night's work, Ratchford, you bet ter pick on someone else." "Any man can talk behind a gun," the sheriff sneered. With a blur the pistol left An krom's hand and no one saw where he had sheathed it. White teeth gleamed coldly behind his parted lips. His attitude was a challenge to big Tom Ratchford. yet Ratchford did not move. Ankrom sai. . "What caliber gun did the colonel use. Miss Struth ers?" "Why ... a thirty-two, I be lieve." "The pistol I Just picked up was a thirty-two. It came off the shell has been exploded. Do vou know, Ratchford what caliber slug it was that killed the colonel?" "A fortv-flve." the sheriff's voice came back. "I cut it out." A moment's pause, and then: "Like the gun I took out of your hand a while ago." "Did you?" Ankrom said. The sheriff shrugged. His lids AnnnnUfl lUa Bvnraitinn v htu bUIIVCCICU WIS SAr" .nae vi eyes. "All right then," he said. "like the tony-nve you gave up at my request a while ago- -ii it make vnll fpl nnv hotter to have put it that way." "It does. No man ever took a gun away from me vet. Ratchford" "Hard hombre, eh? I've seen your type of drifter before the kind that hires out Its guns to the rii0hft hiHHer. Who hired vou to gun the colonel?" "I didn't gun him. I told you tnai before. Now let me ask you one: ..... ).... U 1..m tUa i iu w u yuu nnuw oiuk h.o, downed him was a forty-five? iwignin i 11 nave oeen a turiy-four?" Where Were Your "T ISTEN," Ratchford said testily. 1 "I've fooled around guns long enough to recognize whether a chunk of lead was thrown from a fortv-four or forty-five, no mat ter how badly it happens to be bat tered. Thercs a dilrrence in tne weight. Besides, this slug was pretty smooth. It was like the ones your gun the one you give me shoots." "That doesn't mean anything," Ankrom said. "You've got a forty- five yourself. It's slung in that shoulder holster under your coat Mr. Trone may be packin one too, for all I know. Claydell. here, pro duced a thirty-eight at your in sistence, but he may likewise have a forty-five cached about him some place. I don t see any guns on tnese two cowboys, but if I was to tudge them by the rest of you I'd say they was each packin' a forty-five, at least. For a country thats shucked its irons " "Never mind the sarcasm. Ratchford broke In roughly He turned toward the two girls: "Miss Struthers.uihere were you when your ol' man was shot?" The unexpectedness of the ques-. tion brought a startled breath from Lee Trone. Her eyes flicked wide and darkened. Instinctively they sought Ankrom's. Me gave ner a reassuring quirk of the lips and turned his glance on Betty. The sheriff's procedure elicited no sign of dismay from her. She had her wits about her every min ute of the time. Ankrom reflected sardonically. "A girl that has all the answers," he summed her up. When she sooke her voice held that amount of huskiness genuine grief for her father's death might have caused. I I let me see. a white hand went to her forehead, rumpl ing the golden curls: j tiny pucker grew between her thoughtful eyes. there. Father had asked me to meet him out beneath that pepper tree; he said he had something private which he wished to talk to me about . . ." She bit her lip: her thoughts seemed far away. I m trying to recollect it seems to me I had lust stepped out the door and crossed the veranda. I was leaning against one of those funny posts ' uome. come Miss btrutners, the sheriff exclaimed impatiently. 1 asked you where you were when you heard the shots. I'm not inter ested in the history of your rrove ments from the time you fin ished supper. upon the big sherm the tin from Peso Pinto turned wide blue eyes in which there shone the hurt ex pression of a child who has been unjustly reproved. VBut Mr. Ratchford, that is what I am try- ng to teH vou. I had stepped out on the veranda when I heard two sharp reports" 1 hen vou did not see the cun- flashes?" the sheriff growled. "You couidn t say from which direction the reports came?" The airl shook her head. Tin afraid not. I was looking" Yeah. Ratchford cut her off. He swung round upon Lee Trone: "Lee," his eyes were on hers prob Ingly. "what were you doing under the pepper tree when Colonel Struthers got shot?" IfWml 10.U. Kttim C. ) More bad aewt for the Raiter T, Monday. W.C.T.U. LEADER BAN ITRANCISCO, Aug. P. rTr Motion pictures wrre declared by MlAfl Mauds M. Aldrtrh tn report to the Womon't Christian lmpranc Union convention today "probably the most powerful medium in puttlnn the clgaret between the Hp" ol American women. MlM Aldrlch ol Oresham. Ore., na tional motion picture department di rector (or the W. C. T. U.. tlto blamed the film for "dulling the precept! n of many a to th unwomanllnejs and menor In the use of alcohol; In creating standardi of dress and conduct which complete ly Ignore the acrrdnes of person, and In spreading tt:e cheap com pro mlslng Ideas of Isve. marriage and home life so prevalent t.-xlay.' The report urped the convention to support "proper regulation" of mo tion picture. SHELL EMPLOYES TO GET PENSIONS ST. LOtU. Aug. 9. The flhell Shell Petroleum and Pipe Line cor porattone announced today ti:e adop tion of the retirement pe union plan for Its 37.800 employes in the United States and Canada. Upsn retirement, an employe will receive a pension equal to 40 per cent of his annua wage, during the pre vious five years Normal retirement will he 00 for men, and 65 for wo men, although retirement at these ages will not be compulsory, the companies painted out. Disability pensions for employes under 00 will be 62 4 per cent of the full pensions, it waa announced. Alexander Fraser. president. naJd M e plan, which will date back to Jan. 1, la "deainate'd to round out a board program of social benefit al ready in frce." The pensions will be provided by the companies without contribution by employes STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX For farther proof address the author, loeloilnf stamped envelope for reply. Res;. TJ. 8. Pat. OS. LIVSPlNft GASMASK FoR mil nkxjj' I A PACK Of W0W4, fRA)VELlN6THRoUQrtTre -6M0W. limi ONW OHSItoML J .. 1 ?s )$M 4 N&lL M I iff ylwss IP. ' .JiT II 7U is Mi J low toit&fts, I J- Wwa If li$hhjei$f& Ch3mpiort, WAS KNOCK ZD OUT. PYA PUNCHING rte rWlTSortbRD fen- om him Casey Junes A nagro engine wiper in a Vaughan. Mississippi, roundhouse one spring day In 1900 crooned this little ditty as be worked: "O Casey Jones, he was all right, He stuck to His duty both day and night, They loved to hear his whistle and the ring of Number Three. As he came Into Memphis on the old X. C." A tow days before, the wiper, Wal lace Saunders, hod bren shocked by newa of t'.e death of his idol, John Luther "Casey" Jones, engineer on the crack "Cannonball Express" of .0M Ml YOU PtoUHDfTGS IP Voil WfcNTTn 1HS SlbRY" Of h BRAVE ENGINEER; N Cteey Jones was Trie rounder's name, . ON A31X-EI6HT Wrtt6lftoS,rl6W0N HSfAM CASEY J0N$ REAUYUVSd AM EM6INEER ON THE ILUNOlS CENTRALS ' "ChNNONBhLL eXPRESS," Hl5 f AMoU5 FARBINEtt TRIPTo THE PROMISED LhND" IWIQ ScuTM op MEMPHIS, 7emt WHEN HrS UJCOMoTlVt CRASHED ft FREIGHT IRftlN. SUBURBAN HEIGHTS ltVVtut eB4feat& the Illinois Central Chlca-New Or leans run. . Jones' method of "wulppoorwlll Ing" his engine's whistle had oaptl vated Saunders, and the song young Saunders created1 was a fitting me morial to his friend. The same ssng, rewritten and set to music by Song writer Ed Newton, became a national hit. Nicknamed "Casey" because he hailed from the town of Cayce, Ky.( Jones worked for the B. As O. and for the Mablle and Ohio reads before Joining the Illinois Central. Casey's "farewell trip Into thi promised land" took ptace on" the night of April 29, 1900. with his fire man, C. M. Webb, r-.e pulled Into Memphis on the 638, hauling thn "Cannonball." Learning that the southbound engineer was sick, Jones and Webb volunteered to double back and take over the run. The train rounded & long curve Just above Vaughan and roared down hill about fifty-five miles an hour. It was 30 minutes behind schedule Suddenly a freight train loomed ahead, pulling onto a siding. With a craj. the train plowed through the boxcars. The engineer had Jumped clear, but Casey stuck to his post and was killed. Tomorrow: IV hat famous sate ha been unopened for nearly 500 years? MORE SUMMER PUPILS IN OREGON SCHOOLS EUGENE. Aug. 9. (JP) Summer study has Increased at Oregon Insti tutions markedly over last year ac cording to peroentages submitted by Chancellor Frederick M. Hunter for the Oregon board of higher educa tion. The percentage Increase over lost year for summer school post session: Eastern Oregon normal, 72,3; South ern Oregon normal, 39.2; Oregon nor mal, 25.7; University of Oregon, 14.3; Oregon State, 120. OREGON JOB INSURED GET HIGHEST BENEFITS SALEM. Aug. 9- P) Oregon's Job less Insured are receiving larger week ly benefit checks man those of any other state, according to a compara tive report received from the social security board by the state unem ployment compensation commission. It placed the Oregon average for total unemployment checks during June at a 11.84. New York was second with 911.80. By GLUYAS WILLIAMS The paper-bdv added fuel To The teud beiweew FRED PEPIEV AND THE MAN NEyT T?00R WHEW HE ABSEtff M1NDEDW SKIPPED HIM SUNDAV M0RKIN6 j BECAUSE FRED, KNOWING THrVT HIS NEIGHBOR WAS AWAV, iHOUfiHrf lUKf HIS PAPER HAD BEEN LEF-f ON HIS STEP BV MISTAKE AND WEWf OVER FOR T, UNAWARE THAT THE . NElSHIJOR HAD RETURNED THE N(5HT BEFORE .Swfe (Copyright, 1938, by Th BtU gyaiicVte, Inc.) W)LLIt)l7$ S MATTER POP Bv 0 M PAYNE The official languages of the League of Nations are French and English. Any representative wishing to speak In another language must provide a translation of his speech In French or English. Y lt"sryuti. Comsat j ' I in CNoW, S v Cfm Cawwitjal s , (OopTrigbt, 1938, by Th SeuBjnSk&rG- lr A TAILSPIN TOMMY More Dirty Work I By HAL FORREST kl 111 A3 TOMMY, BEAOINO AN "OFFICIAL OKAY FROM THE REGISTRAR, ARRIVED AT THE WEIGH-IN HANGAR TO QUALIFY FOP HIS 3TAQTIMG NUMBER, SNOOT LOUDLY PROTESTED AGAINST THE ENTRY OF TOMMYS MERCURY IN THE RACES IB UT THE OFFICIAL STARTER IGNORED THE COMPLAINT THEN SNOOT LEFT IN A HIGH DUDGEON, DECLARING HE XJLD FILE ANOTHER PROTEST WTTH THE RACE COMMITTEE . BUT THESE MEN CERTAINLY 00 NOT look like N.AA. officers BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER The Warning I I'LL HAVE TO LEAVE EVERY-1 U THING UP TO YOU FE.LLOW5I IVC I lJ DC If, "C IN AN HOUR. I DO VOL! UNDERSTAND WHAT TO DO? TI .SllQP SNOOT. M.WE gotcha! UNDERSTAND WHAT ""Vl tiuXS- faf r3H STMfEP. SetF-ADOMMEP IMSE f MV'ELOFf s, K?v --i cJ' WS? 1 TO HtVL FoRBtST, 9t THIS PATER, PoR MODEL iiJ;Mv- - riAK5 of th& pouqlas p.s.t. plane SLUGGER GIVES THIS W YOU GET GUY, TAILSPIN, Th NOTE.V THE DOUGH IF HE AGREES. OKAY A AFTER IF MOT..cra!PT 7t THE RACES! CURTAINS! lfirtlAJ PAY-OFF EITHER 6P' ?2wLliM WAY IS TWO I ilL ''ROLL YOUR TOM KINS !VOEp;: AND ATThTwEIGH-II , J IM HANGAR . , fjyMjJorTgY By EDWIN ALQE" WHERE TO NOW, SON? ( BCK to "V1?! I honest to sosh.briarsieH I SPL why, that's dr. jed I Toason jones, i"m sick WllSlpP I THE FARM-H II 1 J IT'S ALL I CAN DO TO LjM M KILEVS CAR -WONDER AN TIRED Of THE WAV J TV CTlT I WT KEEP FR0M BAWUMS WHY HElS HERE? c-J YOU'RE CARRYING ON! J JNl lj ' ? "WTrS NJOME OF. VJUV SWOUUD IMTEREST " IpTlM LALXsUIMG.! A. TCW OAVS 4. I I S e?VA?!!lSE T VOUCi eJSiMESS g MVSELP? IP WETS GOT TWE. KTIMO N f AfeO VOU ALMOST HAD TUE PlP ' 3 IS GGXTlNje MI&UTV R WRV SMOULD I fj OF DOOC3U WE SAYS WE HAS, 'M I UJHEM VOU THOU&WT 5TEVE WAS SERIOUS, AMD 1 PONT VOU INTTEREST i MIS OML-V UVINJG RELATIVE AMD 1 f 601M6 TO CLAIM A PART OFAUUT J VLGJTr VOUf5SELF?y A5HOOLO SIT OM THE SIDE-LIMES OPWEUAS ESTATE-KjCUJ VOL) WAMT 7iCfrX lai,H, )- '' VAWO GIVE -THREE CHEERS WJHENJ THE I 'V TO COT IM OM HIS. VOU'RE AS " I iM f THE NEBBS Know Thyself By 80L HESS 4
