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About The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 1902)
A STUDY IN SCARLET BY A. CONAN DOYLE. 2 t 2 2 CHAPTER VI Continued. After a very brief pause the detec tice continued ? "Of 'course, after that there was nothing more to be done. I found out where Lieutenant Charpentler was, took two officers with me and arrested him. When I touched him on the shoulder and warned him to come quietly with us, he answered us as bold as brass: 'I suppose you are arresting me for being concerned In the death of that scoundrel Drebber,' he said. We had said nothing to him about it, so that his alluding to It had a most suspicious aspect." "Very," said Holmes. "He still carried the heavy stick which the mother described him as having with him when he followed Drebber. It was a stout oak cudgel." "What Is your theory, then?" "Well, my theory is that, he followed Drebber as far as the Brixton road. When there a fresh altercation arose between them, in the course of which Drebber received a blow from the stick in the pit of the stomach, per haps, which killed him without leav ing any mark. The night was so wet that no one was about, so Charpentler dragged the body of his victim into the empty house.' As to the candle and the blood and the writing on tho wall and tho ring, they may all be so many tricks to throw the police on to (be wrong scent" "Well done!" said Holmes in an en couraging voice. "Really, Gregson, you are getting along. We shall make something of -you yet." "I flatter myself that I have man aged It rather neatly," the detective answered proudly. '"The young man vulunteered a statement in which he said that after following Drebber some time, the latter perceived him and took a cab in order to get away from him. On his way home he met an old shipmate and took a long walk with him. On being asked where this old shipmate lived, he was unable to Klve any satisfactory reply. I think the whole case fits together uncom monly well. What amuses me Is to think of Lestrade, who had started off upon the wrong scent. I am afraid he won't make much of It. Why, by Jove! here's the very man himself!" It was, Indeed, Lestrade, who had ascended the stairs while we were talking, and who now entered the room. The assurance and Jauntlness which generally marked his demeanor and dress were, however wanting. His face was disturbed and trou bled, while his clothes were disar ranged and untidy. He had evidently come with the In tention of consulting with Sherlock Holmes, for on perceiving his col league he appeared to be embarrassed and put out. He stood in the center of the room, fumbling nervously with his hat, ana uncertain what to do. "This Is a most extraordinary case," he said, at last "a most incompre hensible affair." "Ah, you find it so, Mr. Lestrade?" cried Gregson, triumphantly. "I thought you would come to that con clusion. Have you managed to find the secretary, Mr. Joseph Stangerson?" "The secretary, Mr. Joseph Stanger son," said Lestrade, gravely, "was murdered at Halliday's Private Hotel about 6 o'clock this morning." CHAPTER VII. Light In the Darkness. The intelligence with which Lestrade greeted us was so momentous and so unexpected that we were all three fair ly dumfounded. Grejrson sprang out of his chair and upset the remainder of his whisky and water. I stared in silence at Sherlock Holmes, whose Hps were compressed and his brows drawn down over his eyes. "Stangerson, too!" he muttered, "The plot thickens" "It was quite thick enough before," grumbled Lestrade, taking a chair. "I seem to have dropped into a sort of council of war. "Are you are you sure of this piece of intelligence?" stammered Gregson. "I have Just come from his room.' said Lestrade. "I was the first to dis cover what had occurred." "We have been hearing Gregson's view of the matter," Holmes observed. "Would you mind letting us know what you have seen and done? "I have no objection," Lestrade an swered. seating himself. "I freely con fess that I was of the opinion that Stangerson was concerned In the death of Drebber. This fresh development has shown mi that I was completely mistaken. Full of the one Idea, I set myself to find out what had become of the secretary. They had been seen together at Enston Station about half past eight on the evening or tne tmrd. At two in the morning Drebber had been found In the Brixton Road. The tmestlon which confronted me was to find out how Stangerson had been em ployed between 8:30 and the time of the crime and wnat naa Deeome or mm afterward. I telegraphed to Liverpool, giving a description of the man and warning them to keep a watch upon the American boats. 1 then set to work calling upon all the hotels and lodging houses in the vicinity of Euston. Yon see. I argued that If Drebber and his companion had become separated the natural course of the latter would be to put up somewhere In the vicinity for the night and then hang about the station again next morning." "They would be likely to agree on some meeting-place beforehand," re marked Holmes. "So it proved. I spent the whole of yeste'lay evening In making Inquiries entirely without avail. This morning I began very early, and at eight o'clock I reached Halliday's Private Hotel, it Little George street On my Inquiry as to whether a Mr. Stangerson was living there, they an once answered me In the affirmative. "No doubt you are the gentleman he was expecting, they said. 'He had been waiting for a gentleman for two days. " 'Where Is he now? I asked. 'He is upstairs In bed. He wished to be called at nine.' "It seemed to me that my sudden appearance might shake his nerves and lead him to say something un guarded. The Boots volunteered to show me the room; It was on the sec ond Boor, and there was a small cor rldor leading up to It The Boots pointed out the door to me, and was about to go down stairs again, when I saw something that made me feel sick l&h. in spite of my twenty years' ex perience. From under the door there curled a little red ribbon of blood, which had meandered across the pas sage and formed a little pool along the skirting at the other Bide. I gave a cry which brought the Boots back. He nearly fainted when he saw It. The door was locked on the Inside, but wa nut our shoulders to it and knocked It in. The window of the room was open, and beside the window, all hud dled up, lay the body or a man in nis nlfht-rirona Ha wna nultA dead, and bad been for some time, for his limbs were rigid and com. wnen we turned him over the Boots recognized him at once as being the same gentleman wrm find eni'AepA the room under the name of James Stangerson. The cause of death was a deep stab In the left side, which must hare penetrated the heart. And now comes me strangest nart of the affair. What do you sup pose was above the murdered man?" I felt a creeping of flesh and a pre sentiment of coming horror, even be fore Sherlock Holmes answered. "The word "Rache," written m tet ters of blood," he said. "That was It" said Lestrade, In an awstruck voice: and we were all silent for a wh'le. There was something so metnodicRi and so Incomprehensible about the deeds of this unknown assassin, that It Imparted a fresh ghastllness to his crimes. Mv nerves, which were steady enough on the field of battle, tingled as I thought of It "The man was seen, continued Les trade. "A mllkboy, passing on his way to the dairy, happened to walk down the lane which leads from the mews at the back of the hotel. He noticed that a ladder, which usually lay there, was raised against one of the windows of the second floor, which was wide niun Aftpr nnHHlne. he looked back and saw a man descend the ladder. He came down so quietly and openly tnai the boy imagined him to be some car penter or Joiner at work in the hotel. He took no particular notice of him, beyond thinking In his own mind that It was early for him to be at work. He has an Impression that the man was tall, had a reddish face, and thought it was early ror him to ne at wont, ne must have utAved In the roam some little time after the murder, for we found blood-stained water in tne Dasin, where he had washed his hands, and mirb nn the fihppt where he had de liberately wiped his knife." I glanced at Holmes on hearing the description of the murderer which tal lied so exactly witn his own. There was. however, no trace of exul tation or satisfaction upon his face. tsa vnn find nothing In the room which could furnish a clew to the mur derer?" he asked. "Nothing. Stangerson had Drabbets purse In his pocket, but It seems that this was usual, as he did all the pay ing. There was eighty-odd pounds In tt hut nnthW had been taken. What ever the motives of these extraordinary crimes, robbery Is certainly not one 01 them. There were no papers or mem oranda In the murdered man's pockets, except a single telegram, dated from Cleveland about a montn ago, ana con taining the words, "J. H. is in Europe. There was no name appended to this message." "And there was nothing else!" Holmes asked. "Nothing of any Importance. The man's novel, with which he had read himself to sleep, was lying upon the bed, and his pipe was on a chair be side him. There was a glass of water on the table, and on the window sill a small chip ointment box containing a couple of pills." Sherlock Holmes sprang from his chair with an exclamation of delight. "The last link." he cried, exultantly. "Mv case Is comnlote." The two detectives stared at him In amazement. "I have now In my hands," my com panion said confidently, "all the threads which have formed such a tangle. There are, of course, details to be filled in, but I am certain of all the main facts, from the time that Drebber part ed from Stangerson at the station, up to the discovery of the body of the latter, as If I had seen them with my own eyes. I will give you proof of my knowledge. Could you lay your hands upon those pills?" "I have them," said Lestrade, pro ducing a small white box: "I took them and the purse and the telegram, In tending to have them put In a place of safety at the police station. It was the merest chance my taking these pills, for I am bound to say that I do not attach any importance to them." "Give them here," said Holmes. "Now, doctor," turning to .me, "are those ordinary pills?" They certainly were not They were of a pearly gray color, small, round, and almost transparent against the light. "From their lightness and transpar ency, I should Imagine that they are soluble In water," I remarked. "Precisely so," answered Holmes. "Now, would you mind going down and fetching that poor little devil of a ter rier which has been bad so long, and which the landlady wanted you to put out of Its pain yesterday?" I went downstairs and carried the dog upstairs In my arms. Its labored breathing and glazing eye showed that it was not far from Its end. Indeed, Its snow white muzzle pro claimed that It had already exceeded the usual term of canine existence. I placed It upon a cushion on the rug. "I .will now cut one of these pills In two," said Holmes, and drawing his penknife, he suited the action to the word. "One half we return Into the box for future purposes. The other half I will place In this wine glass, In which Is a teaspoonful of water. You per celve that our friend, the doctor. Is right and that It readily dissolves." "This may be very Interesting," said Lestrade. In the Injured tone of one who suspects that be Is being laughed at. "I can not see, however, what It has to do with the death of Mr. Joseph Stangerson." "Patience, my friend, patience. Ton will find In time that is has everything to do with it I shall now add a little milk to make the mixture palatable, and on presenting It to the dog you will And that he laps It up readily enough." As he spoke ha turned the contents of the wine glass into a saucer and placed It In front of the terrior, who speedily licked It dry. Sherlock Holmes' earnest demeanor had so far convinced us that we all sat In silence, watching the animal Intent ly and expecting some startling effect None such appeared, however. The dog continued to He stretched upon the cushion, breathing in a labored way, but apparently neither the better nor the worse for Its draught Holmes had taken out his watch, and as minute followed minute without re cult, an expression of the utmost cha- grin and dtsanpolntment appeared no on his feature i. He gnawed his Hp, drummed his rin gers upon the table and showed every other symptom of acute Impatience. So great was his emotion that I felt sincerely sorry for him, while the two detectives smiled derisively, by no means displeased at this check which he had met. "It can't be coincidence," he cried at last, springing from' his chair and pacing wildly up and down the room: "It la lmnnsnlblA that, la should be a mere coincidence. The very pills which I suspected in the case or urun ber are actually found after the death of Stangerson. And yet they are Inert. What can it mean? aureiy my wnoia rfinln n rASflnnlnflr cannot have been falsa. It Is Impossible! And yet this wretched dog is none tne worse, ah, I have it I have it!" With a nerfnet shriek of delieht ha rushed to the box, cut the other pill In two, dissolved it added mug, ana presented it to the terrier. ThA nnforttinste creature's toneUO hardly seemed to have been moistened In It before It gave a convulsive sniver In every limb, and lay as rigid and life less as If It had been struck by light ning. Sherlock Holmes drew a long breath and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "I should hare more faith," he said; "I ought to know by this time that when a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of deductions It invariably proves to be capable of bearing some other Interpretation. Qf the two pills In that box one waB the most deadly poison and the other was entirely harmless. I ought to have known that before ever I saw the box at all." This last statement appeared to ma to be so startling that I could hardly believe that he was In his sober senses. There was the dead dog, however, to prova that his conjecture had been cor rect , x , It seemed to me that the mists In my own mind were gradually clearing away, and I began to have a dim, vague perception of the truth. "AH this seems strange to you," con tinned Holmes, "because you failed at the beginning of the Inquiry to grasp the Importance of the Bingle real clew which was presented to you. I had the good fortune to seize upon that, and everything which has occurred since then has served to confirm my original supposition, and, Indeed was the logical sequence of It Hence, things which have perplexed you and made the case mora obscure have served to enlighten me and to strength en .my conclusions. It Is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. The most commonplace crime Is often the most mysterious, because It pre sents no new or special features from which deductions may be drawn. This murder would have been Infinitely more ("Ifncult to unravel had the body of the victim been simply found lying In the roadway without any of those outer and sensational accompaniments which have rendered It remarkable. These strange details, far from mak ing the case more difficult, have really had the effect of making It less so." (To be Continued.) Thing That May Interest You. Over a million persons die yearly in Europe of consumption. Five hundreds nd eighty-seven dis tinct languages are spoken in Europe. Forty-five hours constitute a week's work for women and girls in New Zea land. Seventy-eight profit sharing schemes, affecting 53,526 workpeople, were in operation last year in this country. Madame Isacescu, the Vienese lady swimmer, is training for another at tempt to swim the English channel. Ont of 2,599 murders of Christians in Turkey last year there were only 61 cases In which the murderers were pun iehed. The longest railway run in the world without changing is on the Canadian Pacific, from Halifax to Vancouver, 3,662 miles. The biggest orchard in the world is near Santa Barbara, Cal. It covers 1,700 acres and contains 31,000 fruit and nut trees. The amount of beat generated by a man's body in a day's work is sufficient to raise 63 pounds of water from freez bing to oiling point. Lord Kelvin,-who is now 78 years of age, is entitled to place no less than 26 letters, indicating various titles of hon or, after his name. Geraniums bloom most satisfactorily when grown in comparatively small pots and soil which is termed rich, but not rank with excessive manure. In Portugal if the wife pnbliehea literary works without the husband's consent, the law frees him at once from all further matrimonial obligations. During the past ten years immigra tion to America from Germany, Ireland and England has decreased, while that from Italy, Asutria and Russia has in creased. ' Three are 6,000 mouks on the prom ontory of Athos. They pay to the sul tatn 2,000 pounds a year for the privi lege of boing allowed to govern them suives. The nnmber of ships in the Ameri can whaling fleet has fallen off in the last twelve years from 97 fo to 40, and much the same is the case with the Scotch whaling industry. One of Milton's biographers rays that nearly twenty years elapsed between the time he sketched out the plan of "Paradise Lost" and the completion of that work. The actual labor of compo sition was condensed into two or three years. Farmer Jones I am a-going tew take my son Hiram to a phrenolyiist tew find oat what he's best suited fer. Farmer Honk An' s'poain' he tells yew the boy ain't suited fer farmin' at all? Farmer Jones That's just what I want tew find out, so's I kin lick it ont ut him before he gits tew big. Yonnghnb There's nothing like mat rimony for teaching a young man the valne of money. Oldwed -That's right A dollar a man gives to his wife looks twice as big as the dollar he blew in on her during courtship. QUEER NIGHT THEFT. WEALTHY BANKER WAS ROBBED WHILE HE SLEPT. Through the Effort of Detective the Mystery of the Lowes Wee ' Solved in a. Manner Most Unex pected All Around. "Shortly after I was put on the 'fly force,' " suld the old detective, "the chief sent for me. On entering bis office I found there a man I recognized as a banker of repute. Since then he has become famous. The chief told me to listen to the story, for It was my case. The story was brief. The banker kept some personal securities In a safe at his own home and some were missing. They had disappeared one by one at Ir regular Intervals. The one singular thing was that on one occasion be had set out to watch the safe all night and between 3 and 4 bad dropped asleep for half an hour. In that half hour another had disappeared. The lock was a combination, the secret of which, so far as he knew, was wholly bis own. "I went up to bis house and made a careful examination without hitting on any theory that would seem to unraveH the mystery. So I said to the banker that he must go right along In bis mode of living, do nothing to let any. Inmate In the bouse suppose they were under sus picion or observation, and that I would conceal myself and watch the safe. For I was satisfied that the thief was one of the family, and I fancied It was the son, who was a high roller. "This the banker agreed to, and helped me rig up a place where I could conceal myself. I began the watching that night, but nothing came of It for five nights. On the sixth the banker went out to a dinner party, but he was back home shortly after midnight and the house quletetd down by 1 o'clock. An hour and a half later I beard a soft step in the room adjoining the li brary and presently a form stole lnte the room, and going to the safe, swift ly unlocked It ami abstracted a single security, closing the safe again. "The room was so dark that I could distinguish only the outlines of the form, but the darkness enabled me to follow the thief as he turned from the safe. I did so, aud with a step as stealthy as his own. He led me through the adjoining room, out into the ball, down the basement steps and Into a lumber-room, where there was an old box fur firewood. To this box the thief went and, lifting the cover, put the se curity in It. "Then he turned, and so quickly that he nearly struck me, and hurried up the stairs. I was close behind him and at bis heels when he climbed up to the second story, where there was a night lamp In the hall, giving sufficient light for me to recognize the features of the man who bad taken the security. From here he turned Into a room, closing the door after him. I went down into the library and found the easiest chair for a nap. "The next morning as the banker ap peared for breakfast I took him down stairs, saying to him: 'Examine that box and see what yon find.' "To his amazement he found every one of the missing securities and some papers besides which he had not missed. He was dumfounded. After a moment's hesitation he turned to me with a severe and most stern air and asked: " 'Who Is the thief?' " 'You are,' I replied, complacently. "He started violently, and for a mo ment I thought he would strike me. But he asked, instead, ferociously: "'What do you mean by that? " 'Only that you are a sleepwalker, I replied. 'That's alL I followed and saw you take the paper and place it here.' "He stood still, as one paralyzed. Then he said: " 'Keep my counsel. Say nothing.' "A week later he sent for me to his office to tell me that bis physician had told htm It was a case of dyspepsia, and that when he had come to look back he found that it was only after a late-course dinner that a paper had been missed. Then he added: " 'You've been discreet so far. Con tinue to be, and you will see that you will not lose by if "I continued to be, and that's the rea son why I have retired so early, can drive down the road just as fast & stepping pair as anyone does, and can have an automobile if I want one." Brooklyn Eagle. EFFORT OF MAPPING A BRAIN, Scientific Teste to Discover Control of Limbs and Muscles. Eminent surgeons have long endeav ored to find out precisely what parts of the brain control the various muscles and limbs of the body, with a view to ascertaining therefrom new ways of treating diseases of the nervous sys tem. Sufferers from such complaints, especially such as cause Interruption of the muscular action, may have rea son to bless the memory of certain great apes who have co-operated un selfishly with and without being con sulted by some British scientists and surgeons in a series of privately con ducted experiments to demonstrate new facts about the brain, says the London Leader. Though the scientific partnership was fatal to the apes, they lived ad mired and died universally respected, and their photographs will be handed down In medical history. Studies of the brains of the higher apes have shown that their composition was suf ficiently like that of man to Justify the belief that Investigations made on these brutes would furnish knowledge about the human brain. To understand the experiments thoroughly It Is well to re member that the brain may be roughly divided Into two great portionsthe frontal and the occipital which are separated by the fissure of Rolando. This fissure extends across the top of the human head and down on each side at about the region of the temples. All that part of the brain which lies In the front of It that Is, the brain that Is over the eyes and fills out the frontal region of the head Is known as the frontal lobe. This frontal lobe. It has been found, does almost all the work of ordering and controlling the motion of the body and the exercise of Its various physical functions. It Is the great central telephone exchange, or, to use another electric term, thl great power house where the subtle, In tangible fluid of thought Is converted Into a tangible working force and thence transmitted at varying pressures along the feed wires of nerves to tbe various engines of the heart arms, legs, eyes, mouth, nose aud other organs. GOOD Short gtqfie$; On one occasion at a dinner at Balllol the master's guests discussed the ca reers of two Balllol men, one of whom had just been made a judge and the other a bishop. "Oh," said, one, "l think the bishop Is the greater man. A judge, at the most, can only say, 'You be hanged,' but a bishop can say, 'You be damned.' " "Yes," tersely remarked the master, "but If the Judge saye 'You be hanged,' you are hanged." Sir Henry Irving declares that once, when he was playing "Othello" in a small town in the then Washington Ter ritory, his audience was composed for the most part of miners. "When we came to the handkerchief scene, where Othello demands the handkerchief of Desdemona many times," he says, "I noticed that the audience was becom ingly exceedingly nervous. About the third time the demand for the handker chief was repeated a large Irishman In the rear of the house shouted: 'Wipe your nose on your alaive, you nayger, and let the play go oa.' " Frank Rellly, a track-walker, was the victim of a peculiar accident at Port Costa recently. He was standing near a switch to a siding on which freight trains generally wait for the passengei trains to pass. He saw a young lady walking on tbe siding, and, believing her to be in danger, gesticulated ve hemently to cause her to step from be tween the rails. She, In her turn, see ing the oncoming freight train, mo tioned back to him that he was In dan ger. As the train came nearer both became tbe more earnest In their shout ing and gesticulating, while neither thought of stepping off the tracks. Rellly proved to be In the wrong. The freight, Instead of taking the siding, went straight through. While he was still trying to cause the young lady to get out of the way of supposed dan ger, the train struck him from behind, hurling blm from the track and break ing his right arm in two places, badly cutting bis head and bruising his side. He will recover. Apropos of the death of John W. Mackay, the New York Herald remarks that one of the notable episodes of the residence of the Mackays in Paris was that which connected them with Mels sonler. The great French artist was commissioned by Mr. Mackay to paint a portrait of his wife for the sum of seventy-five thousand francs. When It was delivered the Mackays decided that it was entirely unworthy of the sub ject and of the painter. "I wanted a Melssonler," be said, "not Melssonler painting a slovenly imitation of Ca baneL" This criticism was indorsed by some artists who bad seen the picture. It was said that the French artist deeming anything to be good enough for Nevada, took no pains with the work, that he had produced it after an Insufficient number of sittings, and had hastily painted In the hands from one of his models. Furthermore, the por trait showed a woman ten years older than Its subject Many French artists, however, Indorsed the work. His friends gave Melssonler a dinner as a vindication, and the French press and public were for a time clamorously in dignant The Indignation rose to a cli max when It was reported that Mrs. Mackay bad thrown the picture Into the fire. This was not true. It was hung In a small room, with Its face to tbe wall. To-day It hhs an abiding place In Carlton House, Mrs. Mackay's London mansion. The Knocker. She had a little hammer, She used it with a will, She knocked at everybody They couldn't keep her still; She knocked about her neighbors If they were friends or foes, She knocked about the table, And knocked about her clothes. She knocked at hubby's smoking, About his snoring, too; She knocked about his whistling, And so, perhaps, would you; At last the Reaper claimed her, Her course on earth was run; Her husband then considered Her knocking days were done. But hubby went one evening To see a spirit show, Where always in the gloaming, The spirits come and go, He heard a spirit knocking "My wife," he said, "I'll betl Now, isn't she a wonder? By gosh! she's knocking yet!" -Youkers Statesman. Many Uses of a Banana. Immense fortunes have been made out of the banana business. Revenues do not accrue alone from tbe sale of the fruit for the leaves are used for packing; the juice, being strong In tannin, makes an Indelible Ink and shoe blacking; the wax found on the under side of the leaves Is a valuable article of commerce; manila hemp Is made from the stems, and of this hemp are made mats, plaited work and lace handkerchiefs of the finest texture; moreover, the banana Is ground Into' banana flour. Tbe fruit Is to be sold ; for dessert is ripened by the dryj warmth of flaring gas jets la the stor- j age places In which it Is kept and care has to be taken to prevent soften- j Ing or overrlpenlng. Tbe Island of Jamaica yields great crops of this use ful and moply-maklng fruit Whs They Don't 8 peek. Stella tea, my age is in the family Bible. Bella Then, I presume, it must be In Revelations. A man likes to hear a woman say she has never been kissed, even If be doesn't believe It THEY ARE LOOKING FOR THINGS. Persons Who Go Along the Street Watching tho Sidewalk. "The 'lost and found columns of the newspaper Is responsible for a rather peculiar habit" said an observant citi zen, according to the New Orleans Times-Democrat, "and it produces a rather singular mental condition. It has caused a great many persons to snake a rather close study of the side walks of the city, and no doubt many of them live in tbe constant hope of picking up sometbiug very valuable. They have all sorts of wild dreams about finding Jewelry, more or less val uable, and big rolls of money aud things of that sort I am not speaking of the unhappy and extremely unfortu nate class whose life Is spent in search ing the sidewalks and the gutters for whatever trifle they may pick up. I have In mind a different sort of people, people who are more cultivated and more refined, and whose minds have by degrees bent Into the groove. Maybe some of them have found something at some time or other, and this has caused them to search, more or less diligently, the sidewalk as tbey rush along the street I know of one case of this sort a young man who has been so Influ enced by the habit that be goes along the street with his head down, often passing his nearest and closest friends without seeing them. He made tbe statement to me a few days ago that during tbe last year he bad found six silver dimes on the sidewalk, and he had gradually drifted Into the habit of searching the sidewalks with his eyes as be passed along the streets. 'Be sides,' he said, 'I am always reading the lost and found column In the news papers, and tbe thing has a sort of fas cination for me. It has produced a perpetual condition of mental excite ment, and of course I get a great deal of pleasure out of it' Now, here is a J curious thing. Men for some time have Indulged the foolish uabItof counting cracks in the sidewalks or telegraph poles, and touching things with their bands, but few of us have been aware of the existence of a class of men who are constantly trying to find something as tbey brush along the street When we have found men looking Intently at the sidewalk we have supposed that they were counting cracks, or trying to keep from stepping on cracks, or mak ing some sort of curious study of the sidewalk's topography, but Instead we now learn that they are actually look ing for wealth, trying to find some thing that somebody else has lost What strange flights fancy doth take In these latter days!" MISSION OF THE CHEAP CIGAR. Method in the Madness of Selling for Absolutely Low Prices. - "So you are going to try to force us retailers out of the business!" ex claimed an Irate little cigar man, bris tling with Indignation and addressing the manager of one of a number of cut-rate cigar stores. . "Nothing of the kind," replied the manager, bustling about his work. "And tbe tobacco-trust has put you up to this and Is footing the bills!" was the cigar man's second explosion. "Now, see here," said the manager, taking the angry little man by the buttonhole and leading him out of tbe way of customers, "you don't under stand the game. We're Increasing the consumption of tobacco. We're build lug up your business." "Don't see it," said the retailer, "when you sell a standard 5-cent cigar five 'for 12 cents." "That's just the way we're doing it" replied the manager. "The man who smokes two 5-cent cigars a day comes In here and takes five for 12 cents and smokes them all in a day. A few weeks of that, and he wants his five cigars every day. He gets tired of coming around here to look for bar gains, and in a few weeks he begins to stop at your stand, as be used to do, but Instead of buying 10 cents' worth of cigars, he leaves a quarter in your cash register and carries away half a dozen cigars. We've Increased your trade 150 per cent" "I hadn't looked at It that way," said the retailer, calming down. "And here's another scheme of ours," continued the manager. "Hundreds of smokers never treat themselves to a 10-cent cigar. We offer three 10-cent-ers and three fivers for a quarter. The smoker takes them and gets the taste for the better cigar. When he comes back to yonr shop be wants a 10-cent cigar." "By Jove! It's a great scheme," said the cigar man, quite appeased. New York Times. FARMS AND RAILROADS. Profits on Agriculture Not Bo Bmell After AIL A special census bulletin gives the value of farm property, Including am cblnery and live stock, as $20,514,001, 638. The total value of farm prod ucts for 1889 was $4,739,118,752, and the gross income from tbe farms was 1754,177,700. making 18.3 per cent on the value of tbe property Invested. A gross Income of 18.3 per cent would not yield a large net Income, when the heavy expenses for labor, material, maintenance, etc.. Is considered, re ports the Buffalo Express. Unfortun ately, It Is not practicable, probably Impossible, to secure accurate statis tics of net Incomes, which alone might show how the farming Industry stands In comparison with others. It Is Inter esting to note, however, that the steam surface railroads of the United States show an Investment of $12,708,910,837, counting all assets as a part of the In vestment. This makes the Investment In railroads three-fifths as great as In the most Important of all producing Industries. Tbe gross Income was In 1901 $551,020,400, which would be only 4.2 per cent on the Investment and out of this expenses must be met which are at least as great proportionately as the expenses from tbe agricultural Industry can be. On the whole It would seem that the profits from agri culture can hardly be so small as to Justify the discouragement which has become almost habltuafwlth American farmers. On the contrary. It Is a mat ter for surprise that tbe Industry does not attract more of the capital that Is so eagerly seeking Investment In trans portation and manufacturing lines. Selling lee at a profit of 1U0 per cent is certainly a cold snap. GEO. P. CROWELL, iPiioeessor to K. L. Smith, published House lu the vslley.J DEALER IN Dry Goods, Groceries, Boots and Shoes, Hardware, Flour and Feed, etc. This old-established honse will con. tinue to pay cash for all its goods; it pays no rent; it employs a clerk, but does not have to divide with a partner. All divHends are made with customers in the way of reasonable prices. Lumber Wood, Posts, Etc. Davenport Bros. Lumber Co. Have opened an office in Hood Kiver. Call and get prices and leave orders, which will be promptly filled. Regulator Line STEAMERS Regulator and Dalles City Between The Dalles and Portland Daily Except Sunday. Leave Dalles 7 A. M. Arrive Portland 4 P. M. Leave Portland 7A.M. Arrive Dalles 5 P. M. Leave Hood River (down) at 8 :S0 A. M. Arrive Hood River (up) at 3:30 P.M. W. C ALLAWAY, General Agent White Collar Line Portland -Astoria Route Str. "BAILEY GATZERT." . Dslljr round trlpi except Sunday. TIME CARD. Leaves Portland T:00 A. M Leaves Astoria 7:00 P. M Through Portlsnd connection with Steamer Nalicotta from llwaco and Long Beach points. White Collar Line tickets Interchangeable with O. K. k N. Co. and V. T. Co. tickets. TheDalles-Portland Route STEAMERS "TAHOMA" and "METLAKO" Daily trips except Bandar. Str. "TAHOMA." leaves Portland, Mon Wed., Fri T:M A. M Leaves The Dalles, Tuea., Thura. Set, 7:00 A. U Str. "METLAKO." Leavei Portland, Tues., Thu., Sat 7:00 A. M. Leaves The ballet Won.. Wed., Fri 7:00 A. M. Landing and office: Foot Alder Street. Both ehouea Main 361. Portland, Oregon. AGENTS. JOHN M. F1IXOON....! The Dallas, Or A. J. TAYLOR. Attoris, Or 1. 1. LACKEY Hood River. Or WOLFOKD & WYER3 White Salmon, Wash J. C. WYATT ...Vancouvor. Wash R. B. GILBRKTH .. Lyle. W ash JOHN M. TOTTON' ........8tevenion, Waili HKNRY OLMSTED.. Carson, Waih WM. BUTLER Butler, Wash E. W. CRICHTON, Portland. Oregon OREGON JOST LINE and union Pacific fits! . UBS SCHEDULE ..--ptf,T fortune. Or. Aaaivs Chicago Bait Lake, Denver, 4:30 p.m. Portland Ft. Worth.Omaha, Special Kansas City, 8t. t-.uoa. in. Lmils.Chlcagoaud via East. -Huntington. At antic V alia Walls twls- S: 10 a.m. Express ton, Spokane, Min 8:60 p.m. neaiinlis.Kt. Pant, via Duliitli. Mliwau- Huntington. kee.ChlcagoAKaat St. Paul Fait Lake, Denver, 7:00a. m. Fast Hall Ft. Worth.Omaha, ;15 p. m. Kansas City, Hi. via I.uis,Caicagosiid pokana Eaau OCEAN AND RIVER SCHEDULE HIOM PORTLAND. Ml p.m. All sailing datea :00p.m. aubject to change For Ban Franctsco bail every a days Dally Cerumbla Klvsr 4 00 p.m. Kx.nunrtay Itsaaiers. Ix. Sunday H:Uu p.m. t-eturday To Astoria and Way It) o p. m. La nd int, :tte.a. Willamette lnr. :p. m. Mon., Wed. W ater permitting. Ex. Suadaf and Fri. Urrson City, New berg. Kaleui, Iiide- feiKleure, Cnrval isand Way lud- in ga. 1:00 am. Willamette snd Vast- I SO p. m. Tees., Thur. mi airare. Hon., Wsl and Sat. Water permitting. sad Fri. Oregon City, lsy. ton, A Way Land- , logs. Lv. Ttlparle Snake liver. Lv.Leeiatoa 4:06 a.m. 7:00 a. m. Daily except Rlparia to Lewiston Daily except Monday. j Monday. A. L. CRAIQ, General Passenger Agent, Portlaad. Or. A. K. SOU, Ageat. Hoed Kiver. o