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' ??/ k' :?? YO R KVBLLE^^ |^Q UBI31EI.nL t. m. GRIST'S SOHS, Pubii.hM..} i 4atnll8 gwspaptr: Jor the |romotion of th< jgoliUcat. Social, glflricuttniial and (Eontrogtial Jntmsts of th< |t?alf { TKS?VL?c?plri"?l.^YA'''!l' % E3fABLraHEbT855f ~~ YORKVILLE, 8. O., TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1909. JSTO. 987 Novelized by k Succesi ' j! ^sbpp thompsc k \ Fntok Thompson. Copyright. I9M, by CHAPTER IV. A Desperate Game. Lieutenant Sommers looked around at the complete little workshop In amazement. Besides the wireless outfit, he saw tools, models, sharps, a drawing table, a little workbench? everything. In fact, that It seemed to him a mechanical Inventor would noollv nAgzri "You use all these!" he exclaimed. "Why, of course!" she said. "That is my fun. I work up here on dark days, and we have plenty of those in Pittsburg, you know." The man could not have controlled his astonishment He examined several of the models. They were on Improvements in wireless telegraphy, various mechanical devices and on even the model of a little gun. ^ "Oh, I've patented them all! exclaimed Frances. "I don't know that any of them amounts to much, but I patented them Just the same. You see, you're not the only gun inventor, Mr. Sommers." "Then the Sommers gun has to compete with the Frances Durant gun?" he asked quizzically. - - She shook her head, smiling. "No; I'll tell you a secret. I wouldn't let them make a gun of mine if I could patent it, but that is just a litle model of the Rhinestrom gun, which Edward has great faith in. Marsh made the model for me." \ "Oh, the Rhinestrom gun!" said Somf mers, with lifted eyebrows. "I've / heard something of that around the ; pjw ' "Then the Sommert gun hat to compete J with the Prances Durant gunt* 00 works. Your man Marsh seems to have great faith in it. Who is this Rhinestrom?" Frances shjok her head. "I don't know. Think he must be some German Edward Just told me that we had DOught the patents and controlled them. But tnat doesn't affect your gun any, does it?" Sommers looked up from the model he had been studying. "Frankly," he said, "if this model is correct it won't affect my gun. The Sommers gun has the good points of ^ this one and a new principle which I V expect will partly revolutionize things for whoever manufactures it. "It all de;>ends on the forging. ir my gun is forged right and properly ? tempered, well"?he paused, then went * on with a confident smile?"I don't want to brag, but honestly I am not afraid of any gun that ever was cast. It will all be in the forging, and tomorrow will tell that. We'll put it through ^ tomorrow night." P "Oh, I hope it goes through all right!" cried the girl, "It must go through! It would be terrible to think of a failure." V"Yea," he said grimly, "it would." "It would mean," she asked, "the blasting of your hope?" He shrugged his shoulders. "That would be a minor consideration. It would mean death to the men who are handling the gun and court martial and disgrace for me. You see why I'm interested." "But there's no chance of a failure," she exclaimed, her eyes big with alarm. Sommers laughed. "Not of the Durant works, I think," he said. "That's why I was glad when the government decided to have a gun 4 cast here. Your father's plant there *-* -? nlnaj Has a repuiawun iui mc msuc? <.>uoa, most careful work, so I feel safe, even If you do own patents on the Rhlne. . strom g jn." "You'll be here for the forging?" she asked. "Of course," he replied. "I'll be down In the works superintending as much as I can." "And I." murmured the girl, half to herself, "will be up here waiting eagerly, anxiously, watching for you to come with the news that everything has gone right. Oh. what a pity it is 1r that you should invent this gun and not get anything for your brains and your labor!" He shook his head, smiling. r "No." he said; "it's right. That's part of the contract I made with Uncle Sam when he took me in at Annapolis. He educated me, gave me the chance to work, and I promised to devote my life to him. "We're all merely cogs in the big * - fnllAwa macnine, wisa l>ui am, ? <. from Annapolis and West Point, cogs I in the machine that makes the flag, and the flag's the biggest thing to us, It you know. It's hard sometimes, fearfully hard. We have to give up a lot. But it's duty, and duty is what we must think of." .-s*. The girl had been looking at him, admiration and Just a hint of something more showing in her face. "Yes," she said at last; "after all, you men of the navy and the army are TIRELESS I ' Thompson Bachaaaa From the ' | ifol Play of the Same Name 1 k HELL SMITH, FREDERIC IN and PAUL ARMSTRONG \\ fntoie Thompson. All Ki|hU Reserved. ' ( the real patriots working for your country. You seem to be about the only ones who do any real sacrificing1." Then her voice became more earnest "But I don't see why you should sacrifice everything." The man laughed somewhat grimly. "That's Just It you see," he said. "We try not to sacrifice everything. We always try not to sacrifice our self respect I think." "Self respect, fiddlesticks! It isn't self respect men won't sacrifice," she snapped. "It's generally selfishness. Oh, how you men do love to fool yourselves! You step back and stand on your dignity, so proud and hard and rigid, and you pretend you're suffering, that you are heroes who won't sacrifice self respect, and In reality you are nothing of the kind. You are simply stupid self deceivers who are willing to sacrifice your future, happiness, everything, on the altar of your own selfishness?really sacrifice yourselves ttllU OUIIICIXIUCO She paused suddenly, aghast at what she was about to say. "And sometimes?" the man questioned unsteadily. "And sometimes girls talk more than they should," she ended sharply. Then she looked at him with a sudden smile and quick change of mood that baffled him completely. "I think it's time we went back to wireless telegraphy, don't you ?" Baffled, but still somewhat relieved at being saved from himself, Sommers turned to the wireless instrument "You can send and take well?" he asked. "Of course," she answered. "Edward taught me originally, but I've learned a lot since. He's quite an adept too. I learned really because I wanted to have a wireless plant placed on father's yacht Perhaps some time when I'm cruising on the yacht I may pick you up when you are on your battleship and have a little chat with you. Do you think you'd be glad to hear from me?" "I'd be glad to hear from you no matter where I was," he exclaimed eagerly, "and I'd recognize you, too, whether the message was directed to me or not" "I will send it to you," she said, witn meaning, "and you must recognize it." "I will; you may be sure of that," he agreed earnestly. "And now I think I must be going. It's late." He turned within the door and then started back to the drawing room. Meantime down in the drawing room Edward Pinckney had been having an uncomfortable quarter of an hour. Marsh had come up from the works determined to see Mr. Durant Pinckney had not told the master draughtsman of the contract which he had signed, and Marsh, thoroughly imbittered with the prospect of losing everything he had done, hurried up to the house determined to lay bare the whole matter before the owner of the works, throw himself on Durant's mercy and beg that at least he be given credit for the invention of the Rhinestrom gun. Fortunately Pinckney had been in the drawing room when the butler brought in Marsh's name and so had been able to intercept the man before he got to Durant. "I don't want to talk to you," exclaimed the inventor when he entered and found it was Pinckney and not Durant he had been shown in to see. "I don't want any more of your soft talk. You talk and promise, but you don't do anything. I ought to have known better than to trust you the other day when you fooled me down at the works with all that stuff about giving me. a chance. I felt in my heart you weren't going to do it; but, like a fool, I trusted you, and this Is what I get for It. You haven't made any contract. You haven't done anything but run ahead and perfect the patents, and now I am entirely at your mercy. I'm going to fool you. I'm going to put it up to the old man. He's on the level anyhow. He'll give me a chance and a little reputation ev ;n if he doesn't give me the money. I'm going to see him, I tell you. I'm going to stay here till I do." The voice of the man had risen until he was fairly shouting at the general manager. "Don't yell like that," protested Pinckney. "I don't wonder you want me to keep quiet," sneered the inventor. "You ought to want me to keep quiet." Pinckney had regained his wits now. He saw it was the time for diplomacy, not force, so he put on his blandest, most ingratiating smile. "Now, listen to me, Marsh," he pleaded. "You're up in the air with this because you've got an entirely wrong idea of me. Ever since that accident you've acted as if I were to blame." "I don't want to talk about that," exclaimed the inventor. "You can't sidetrack me with any talk like that." "But I want you to get a square deal," protested Pinckney. "I'm going to see that you do." Marsh looked at him with a sneer. "You call it a square deal to give the credit for all my work to anoth er?" "Of course It wouldn't be!" exclaimed the manager. "That's just It. I'm going to put it through for you if you'll only give me a chance." "After what you said the other day?" sneered the other. "And I've done it," snapped Pinckney. "You've done it?" "Exactly," he said. "The contract between Wllhelm Rhinestrom and the Durant steel works has been drawn up. signed by Rhinestrom and by me for the Durant steel works, but only waits for the approval of Mr. Durant, and I'll get that tonight." "Rhinestrom signed it!" gasped Marsh. "How could Rhinestrom sign it when there isn't any Rhinestrom?" Plnckney looked at him pityingly. "What do you care who signed It for Rhinestrom if you get the money?" he said. "This name on the contract is Wilhelm Rhinestrom." "You forged that name!" gasped Marsh. "Shut up!" snapped the other. "Don't be a fool; You can't forge a man's name if the man doesn't exist. Now take your money and be satisfied. Leave it to me. I'm your friend. I'm proving myself your friend, and here you go ahead and kick up a fuss and risk the whole thing. I've taken a little risk myself to put this thing through and give you a square deal, and this is what you do in the way of gratitude. Now, aren't you asham ed of youraeirr' Marsh looked at the manager apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Pinckney," he Bald. "I'm always playing the fool, It seems. You've been a good friend of mine, sir, and I want to thank you for helping me out. I'll be grateful. I won't make any trouble. I'll shut up." Pinckney slapped the old man on the back almost affectionately. "That's all right, Marsh," he said. "I realize you don't know anything in the world about business, realize that thoroughly, and I'm acting in this manner for the good of all. Now, you trust me. With this order we have from the government, It ought to keep us busy for a year?you'll be rich. You'll have a fortune, but If it were known who was the Inventor we'd get nothing. You see that?" Marsh nodded. "I understand, sir, "All right, Marsh. Then be good," advised the manager. "Now you'd better go." The little man had got almost to the door when he paused and turned back. "Just one thing more, Mr. Plnckney." "Well?" said Plnckney Impatiently. "It's about the casting of the Sommers gun tomorrow." "What about It?" asked the manager sharply. Marsh hesitated. "It's just this, sir. I understand that you're going to put Smith In charge of the works. You know what sort of a fellow Smith Is?" "Smith Is a good man," said Plnckney sternly. "Don't criticise fellow employees, Marsh. I am responsible, and I know what I'm doing." Still the little man. honest at heart, felt compelled to protest "Smith has been drinking for several days, sir, and he's already ugly. The last time ha was charged with important work fee ruined the gun and cost us a lot of money, besides throwing and hurting one of the men. "Now, Sommers, I understand intends to be down at the works to superintend forging these guns. If he and Smith get together there'll be trouble and the gun may be ruined, and that will cost us a lot more money." "Seems to me, Marsh," he said, "that the Inventsi? of the Rhinestrom gun totaking an awful Interest In the gun of his rival. What do you want to do? manage the business yourself and spoil ^ OH somraers gun : "Mr. Pinckney," exclaimed Marsh Indignantly, "you haven't any right to talk that way to me. I was telling you something for your own good and the good of the works." "Look here, Marsh"?Plnckney's manner had grown suddenly stern?"I am the general manager of the Durant works, and I don't propose to take any interference from you or any other employee. I have ordered Smith In charge of that work, and he's going to be In charge, and he's going to do it right. "If there's any danger of Sommers coming down there and raising a row, we will simply slap the gun In a few hours ahead of the schedule, and it'll all be over before he gets there. Now, you go attend to your own business and keep your mouth shut. Good night." Thoroughly cowed, Marsh turned and left the room just as George Durant entered by another door from his study, where he had been dictating. CHAPTER V. Honest Man and Knave. "I wish to talk to you, Edward," began Mr. Durant. His manner was serious, and Pinckney, who had known him so long, realized that he was seriously put out about something. At such times there was only one way to handle the steel magnate?that way was absolute obedience and prompt replies to his questions. Plnckney became all attentions at once. "Yes, sir. What is it?" he asked. Durant consulted the paper in his hand. "The royalty on this Rhinestrom gun," he asked?"am I correctly informed about it?" "How much did you think it was?" asked the manager. "According to the papers, we pay a royalty of $6,000 for every gun six inches or under and $1,000 an Inch extra for every one over six. So for these twelve Inch guns we are to forge we must pay $12,000 each." "That's correct, sir," said Plnckney. "It's too much," declared the steel magnate sharply. His manager ventured a protesting gesture. "I wrote you," he said, "and cabled you before I signed the contract. It was too risky waiting until your return." [ "I don't see why," exclaimed Durant impatiently. "I think you've made a mistake this time, Edward?a grave mistake. That royalty I consider outrageous." The manager had to make a fight. "I'm very sorry, sir," he said apologetically, "but you know I have your Interest at heart, and it seemed to me the only thing that could be donb. You have trusted my judgment. I had to exercise it. The government liked this gun, and it meant an order that will keep us busy for a year. If we controlled the patents they were obliged to give us the contracts. There was no competition, you see, and then our price to the government leaves us a very fair profit even after this big i- U royauy is paiu. Durant shook his head. "Penny wise, pound foolish. I think it. Edward. To make a profit we have to charge the government a tremendous price that doesn't help our future business. It will give us a black eye when we want work next time." "Wejl, I'm sorry, sir," said Plnckney apologetically. "I was working only for the best. I wanted to insure our contract with the government As It is, you see, we do not begin work for two months, and there'll be a lot of wire pulling and hauling first" Durant nodded. "Yes, if they find a gun they like better they can countermand our oqder." Plnckney hesitated. He felt he had to go cautiously, but it would not do to let Mr. Durant guess his hand. "Yes," he said slowly, "this fellow Sommers is here to have a gun forged that he's invented. He's got some pull at Washington, I'm certain of that" "Don't see what difference that makes," replied the steel man. "Oh," protested the manager, "sup pose after they test the Sommers gun they give it preference over the Rhinestrom gun and countermand our order." Durant nodded, pleased. "I wish they would," he said. "We could still get the business and not gouge the government. Sommers is an officer in the navy and can claim no royalty. It would reduce the cost of every twelve inch gun $12,000." Pinckney bowed in agreement, then suggested. "You are partly right, Mr. Durant, but if they took his gun there would be no certainty about our getting the order. We would have to compete in the open, and some one might underbid us." "We can't help that," replied his chief. "Is Sommers' gun better than ours?" Pinckney looked up indignantly. "Of course not," he exclaimed," "but Sommers has influence, and I do not trust him. I think he'd be capable of any dirty trick to have our gun turned down." ?' Durant laid his hand on the young manager's arm in kindly fashion. "Now, now. Edward," he said meaningly. "I like your enthusiasms It's good for the business, but you must not let your enthusiasm lead you to foolish hatred. This young Sommers seems to me to be a very decent sort of young fellow. I never saw him before tonight, but I was quite favorably Impressed. Frances also seems to like him very much." "So you've noticed that, too, have you?" sneered the manager. Frances' father looked up sharply. "Yes; have you?" he asked. Again Pinckney hesitated. It was time for careful work now. He could not afford to make an open rupture nr say anything about a direct explanation, so he began using all his diplomacy, suggesting by look and gesture rather than by open accusation what he meant. "Yes, I have noticed it, Mr. Durant," he said. "I hODed I was mistaken. I would hate to see anything like that, because you know my interest in everything that concerns you, and particularly in Prances." He hesitated for a moment,, wondering just how to g* on. - /v- ' "Yes, I understand your interest," said Durant kindly. "I understand that." "Thank you, sir," exclaimed Plnckney gratefully. "You know, then, how hard it Is for me to see her associated with such a fellow as Sommers and what a blow It would be if he were to make her fond of him." Durant looked at the younger man keenly. "Do you mean there's anything against this young fellow," he asked? "any reason why .Frances should avoid him?" "I?I'd rather not say, Mr. Durant," hesitated Plnckney. Durant was a straightforward old fighter who liked to have people come right out. "If you can't say right out, why do you intimate, Edward?" he demanded sternly. "I don't like people who beat about the bush. If you have anything on this young fellow, come right out and say so. Be prepared to prove It and don't beat about the bush and suggest all sorts of things against him merely because he's paying attention to Frances." Pinckney rose and drew himself up to his full height. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Durant, that you should think me capable of such a thing," he said with dignity. "I thought my Interest was too well proved for you to think thaf I would do anything underhanded. I say nothing against this fellow Sommers now, because I'm not prepared to prove It; but, remember this, Mr. Durant, he's no good, and sooner or later you'll find It out. I only hope it won't be too late." Durant looked at his young; manager keenly. He had no reason to suspect that Pinckney would lie or do anything maliciously underhanded merely to put a rival out of the way. He had known Edward from a boy and found him always apparently devoted to the Durant Interests. All this made him judge kindly when from another man he would not have tolerated mere backbiting. "All right, Edward," he said kindly. "You've proved yourself devoted to me. I think this is Just a little over enthusiasm In the Durant Interests. As a general rule. I've found these naval chaps straightforward, decent young fellows, and I'd hate to believe otherwise. However, we'll watch him and see. Come to me if you get anything on him, but you know I will not stand for mere rumors and suspicions." He -stopped abruptly, for the door opened and the man of whom they were speaking, with Frances, came in. The quick eye of the girl caught her father's angry mood. "What's the matter, dad?" she asked. The old man turned to her, with a smile. "Nothing at all, little one, except Edward's been saying some things that interest me greatly, and to show him what 1 think I'm going to ask him iu uuuif iu iuc siuu^ aiiu uuuuwuc nit* conversation. I'll leave you to entertain Lieutenant Sommers if you'll excuse me. "Mr. Sommers was just going," said Frances. "Yes," broke in Sommers, "that bad time when I must say good night has arrived." "How much longer will you be in Pittsburg, Mr. Sommers?" asked Durant. "Only until my gun is forged," replied the lieutenant. Pinckney looked up In surprise. "Oh, then you intend to remain to see the forging of the gun yourself?" Sommers smiled at him. "Is that surprising? I'm somewhat interested, you know." "We're glad to have you, of course, Mr. Sommers," spoke up Durant. "Everything Is at your service. Good night, sir." The steel man shook hands and, turning, st.rted to his study. Plnckney remained a moment behind. "Of course," he began rather cautiously, "we are glad to have you, as Mr. Durant says, Mr. Sommers, but with your gun so well under way I don't see how you can possibly be of any help to us." Just a slight hardening of his tone made Pinckney's speech mean only too plainly, "There's no use in your staying, because we don't want you" But the naval man overlooked entirely the implication. Instead of taking offense he smiled courteously. "I had no idea of being of any help, Mr. Pinckney. I only wan' to be on hand when the tempering is done." : "You mean at the work in the furnace room?" gasped the manager. Sommers smiled. "That's it exactly." Pinckney was beginning to lose his temper. "May I ask why?" he said sharply. Sommers continued to smile. "Only to be sure It Is properly done,"' he explained. Frances was standing by, watching the men and In her mind comparing them. She saw Plnckney, big, aggressive, strong, an iron man, used to overriding all who opposed him, now matched and held by this quiet, smiling man, whose coolness and evident pliant strength reminded her more than anything else of the finest tempered steel, tough, elastic, unbreakable, that outlasts iron every time. Now Plnckney was losing more of his temper. "Have you any Idea we are not competent enough to handle this job?" he demanded. QAmmaro o+tll amlla/1 UUllllll^tO lilt ulllllVUi "Oh, no, of course not, only I prefer to see for myself, that's all. Ah!" He turned to see Mrs. Durant, who had entered. "Mrs. Durant, I fear I must say good night, much as I hate to. Thank you for a splendid evening." Mrs. Durant shook hands cordially. "Good night, Mr. Sommers. I hope you'll come up often while you're In town." Sommers bowed. "Thank you. You may be sure- i'U come as often as I d're," he said. Then he turned and helu out his hand to Frances. "Good night, Miss Durant." The girl shook her head. "I'm going to see you out," she said. He smiled gratefully. "Thanks." Next he turned to Pinckney. "Good night, Mr. Pinckney. What time will that gun be in?" Pinckney hesitated a moment. "Two o'clock sharp. Good night" Sommera bowed, turned and follow ed 'Frances out into the hall, leaving the girl's mother and Pinckney standing in the doorway staring at each other. (To be Continued.) THE COTTON TAX. Story of a Great Outrage Perpetrated on Southern People. Partly to raise money to carry on the war against the south, but chiefly to punish the southern people, congress, in June, 1861, levied a tax of one cent a pound on all cotton held or owned by any person on and after October 1, 1862. The tax was successively raised to two and to three cents a pound, and was abolished in February, 1868. It is this tax which hundreds of southern people have been living in the hope of seeing refunded by congress. We know of one man who lived in Charlotte who went to the postofflce daily for ten years or more in expectation or getting a check for $60,000 refunded cotton taxes. He died In the expectation, and his next best friend is even now keeping his papers In hand. It is explained by The New Orleans Picayune that at first the tax could only be collected in such districts as were permanently occupied by the Union forces, but as the war closed In April, 1865, and the tax was continued through the balance of 1865 and the whole of 1866 and 1867 over the entire country, it Is easily seen that all the cotton districts of the south suffered this unjust burden that was inflicted on the people of a section and not upon the entire country in proportion to population. David Y. Thomas, writing in the North American Review for November, notes that by far the larger part of the tax came from the lower south. Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee and South 'Carolina paid $58,000,000 out of a total of $68,000,000. In 1867 the corn crop of the United States was worth $610,948,390; the wheat crop, $42,796,460; the hay crop, $372,854,680; yet all of these were tax free, while cotton, worth $201,470,495, paid a tax of $22,500,947.77. He declares that this cotton tax for extortion by a conqueror out aid tne lu per cent tax ieviea on tne Holland Dutch by the famous or Infamous Spanish Invader, the Duke of Alva. In some Instances it amounted to as much as 30 per cent. In 1861 a tax of J20.000.000 was levied on lands and dwellings and was apportioned among the states according to population. There was no question about the legality of this act; yet, thirty years later, the amount collected under it, less cost of collection, $14,000,000, was returned as a gratuity to the states whose citizens had paid it. The fact that the tax had operated on only one section of the country, the seceding states paying very little, undoubtedly was one cause of the repayment. May not the same principle be applied to the cotton tax At the time the south was paying tins tax?oniy about $3,000,000 was collected before the close of the war?it was also paying its share of all other taxes. It is all interesting history, but it is true, as the Picayune says, that the reviving of the cotton tax question is like disinterring a mummy. It is only a relic of the past, and has no other value than as a mere curiosity to put in a museum. The cotton tax can be hung up with the French spoliation indemnity.?Charlotte Observer. Dogs kept solely for the guidance of blind persons are exempt from tax. Miscellaneous ^fading. ROOSEVELT IN AFRICA. An Astounding Story of What Is Beiievod to be the Real Purpose of the Ex-President's Mysterious Journey to the Dark Continent. William Buckey, In Leslie's Weekly. That Theodore Roosevelt, while apparently in Africa on a hunting expedition, killing tigers and fleas, is in reality carefully investigating conditions to ascertain if it be not possible and practicable to establish in the Sudan country a second empire of Liberia, and thereby solve forever the negro question of America, is the disclosure made by a United States Federal attorney, in charge of a southern district who relates the aunnosed olans of Roosevelt In all their details. The plan as revealed by the former president's confidant is "to stake out a good section of the country in the Sudan, north of Congo Free state and west of German and British East Africa: hoist ud the Stars and Stripes at the four corners, have Uncle Sam declare protectorate, organize the native tribes Into a suzerainty of the United States of America, and then will come the expiration of the negroes from this country to the new empire In the heart of Africa. In the rounding out of the plan, a wedge will be formed by a nation under the coiitrol of the United States, that will prevent the expansion territorially or commercially of Germany and will make the United States a factor in the balance of power among the nations of Europe now struggling to retain and enlarge their footholds in Africa. The Federal attorney who disclosed what he asserts was the Intention of President Roosevelt to solve the negro question while in Africa, bore out his declaration with a buttress of facts that dovetail with the movements of Roosevelt both previous to his departing for Africa and since he has penetrated beyond the reach of the newspaper arm. "His plan to cross a territory not at present under the flag of any European nauon, conunueu me Federal attorney, "his determination to take with him men known to be expert agriculturists, capable of judging soil conditions; his skill in surrounding himself with representatives of the civil and military arms of the government, and above all, his persistent refusal to allow any newspaper men to accompany his expedition?all these acts and facts lead me to believe that Roosevelt went to Africa to carry out the plan he discussed with me when gathering data on the negro question. He has taken with him a large quantity of trinkets with which to placate the natives with whom he first would be obliged to deal before mapping out the country to be populated by the negroes. He has kept his plans absolutely secret, because every nation of Europe, at the first whisper of his Intentions, would direct a dozen detachments to dog his footsteps and prevent another Fashoda maneuver. "With Roosevelt, long before he devised his scheme to deport the blacks to, Africa, the negro question always has been a paramount Issue. He. told me that the criticism ne received irom all parts of the country when he entertained Booker T. Washington caused him to come to the belief that It would be utterly impossible to educate the negro to a standard of social equality with the white race, and that he saw clearly that no Inferior race could exist for any length of time and prosper in a Republican country. Roosevelt said the attitude the south assumed toward the Charleston postmastership confirmed his belief, and that it was this, bed on other facts he had gathered, some of which I gave him, that led him to form his plan to I OCC 11 U1C XJiHJ lugiuai oviuuvu v?. w??v negro question ? deportation ?could not be brought about successfully. Through Federal officers scattered throughout the south he ascertained that a condition existed that was leading to one certain end, and that would be the extinction of the negro element by a method other than race decay. His data correctly informs him that the negro as a laborer in the south wus fast being replaced by the negro as a thief, and that even such menial positions as waiters, street cleaners and day laborers on public improvements all were being filled with whites, while the negro, having no employment left open to him, was gradually becoming more and more accustomed to support himself by t^'ver nd to consider himself at war with the whites. All through his trips to the south Roosevelt sought information concerning the negro question, and the Information he received. I believe, is the basis for hts expressing himself so freely and assorting It was his belief that the existence of the negro In Noith .America had become a question of the ability of tho south to continue to Ltar a burden that was becoming excessive. "The police chiefs of every southern city will assert that the negro Is the guilty thief in foity-nlne cases out of every fifty. The penitentiaries are full of negroes, and the southern cities are clamoring for relief from negro ex-convlcts from the convict faims and prisons." The t'an outlined by Mr Rnnspvelt and which took him to Africa to complete, contains a solution to every vexatious question connected with this problem. The fact that the negro now Is a citizen of the United States and Is a property owner, and all the difficulties, legal and otherwise, entailed in the execution of this plan, all are solved In the explanation of " Intontlnna tn rlpnnrt him. as disclosed by his confidant. "Theodor< I'.oosevelt relies on his popularity as Napoleon did on his," asserted the attorney, "to carry him through all his difficulties in his novel scheme to deport the American negro to Africa. He believes that it will be easy to persuade the nation to abrogate the Fifteenth amendment, and then the negro win nave me same icmuuna w the Federal government aa the Indiana, and they were ejected from their lands handed down through centuries of ancestors and forced to migrate thousands of miles, as In the case of the Seminoles. He relies on the support of the south for the financial burden necessary to carry out his plan, provided his reports of conditions In Africa are favorable. If it Is pointed out to him that the territory he would annex, practically is far inland and not accessible, he will point to the success of the Mormons in making a fertile valley out of Utah, when they were obliged to cart all their material and supplies overland from Kansas City. "Roosevelt will burst from the Jungles of Africa next April and say, Here, I have done it; now help me. I have risked my life for a year to find a solution to your negro problem. 1 have organized a friendly federation of tribes in the most fertile country of Africa. I have prepared a place for the negro, where each can have a hundred and sixty acres of land. This is not the pestilential coast of Liberia, but the very heart of Africa, The colonizing of this country will also pre vent the expansion of our commercial enemy, Germany." And then, exerting all his Influence, he will run through legislation and strike while the iron is hot. He plans, If necessary or possible, to have the Individual states issue bonds to finance his migration and expatriation proposition, in proportion to the negro population In each, supplemented by a bond guarantee by the Federal government. As a la~t resort he relies on the attitude of the south to raise the money, if necessary by popular subscriptions, feeling sure every county and locality throughout the south will open subscription lists and that the money will pour forth In abundance. "There Is one more problem and Roosevelt seems^ to think he can solve V.lo a lan inil that < > tha naaaullv r>* being able to persuade the negro to migrate. State legislation Roosevelt knows he can control if its object is to settle the negro question; but by offering the negroes peace and safety, freedom from conditions that are now humiliating by offering each a farm with a bonus with which to make a new start and buy the tools of husbandry, by acclaiming that he is the friend of the negro and always has been, and that his solution will improve them as a race and as individuals, by these means Roosevelt hopes to overcome the situation without compulsory legislation, unless it might be by a remote time limit of, say, twenty years. If he does -not And conditions over there as he expected as he has not announced publicly his plans, he can withdraw gracefully and no harm has been done; but I feel sure he will do his utmost to put the deal through. It is the kind of an undertaking he likes." What is Roosevelt really doing In Africa? Strong evidence is now being brought to light which affirms the rumor that he is there to solve the negro question. Did Roosevelt, a man who has kept the world in a turmoil for seven years, go out to Africa with dreams equalling those of the Coralcan, expecting to reverse the laws of ethnology and turn the tide of migration back from west to east? Did he expect to succeed where Monroe had failed, to combat the lust of European nations for every inch of soil on the dark continent? Did he expect to be able to accomplish that which the sacrifice of a- million lives In the Civil war did not? And if this has been his real game, Instead of lions and tigers, will he burst from the jungles of Africa next April, expecting with one hand to push back the nations of Europe, and with the other to beckon to the Ishmael tribe of North America and point it the way to a promised land? What is Roosevelt really doing in Africa? A TEXA8 SNAKE FARM. Where Kattiers Are Kept For scientific Purposes. Emerson somewhere says, "A fly is as untamable as a hyena," and no doubt he is right; but every now and then some new sort of animal is brought into subjection to the mental ascendancy of man, and it is hazardous to say that there is any sort of living creature which absolutely cannot be "tamed." F. B. Anthony, of Brownsville, Texas, is described in the Wide World Magazine as in a fair way to make the deadly rattlesnake amenable to discipline. His establishment, known by the name of the "Rattlesnake Ranch," is on the Mexican border, within a mile of the city of Brownsville. The ranch consists of a tract of land surrounded by a high fence of boards, so tightly fitted together that nothing can get through, not the slightest crack being allowed. There are no doorways or any kind, entrance being effected by means of ladders over the top. Inside, the space Is divided into three enclosures for the safety and comfort of the snakes, some species of which are deadly enemies to others. Brush and dried grass afford hiding places and shade. In these pens, and In boxes in which the snakes are shipped, hundreds of snakes, many of them monsters in size, are kept in stock. The snakes are captured by Mexicans all over Texas, Mexico, Arizona and other states and territories, and are sent in with the certainty of sale, for Mr. Anthony has a market for them. The Mexican sr.ake hunters punch the snake with a stick until the infuriated reptile colls to strike, meantime keeping up a rattle which sounds like a clock running down. A loop of leather attached to the top of the stick is deftly dropped over the snake's head, and from that time, rattle he ever so fiercely, he Is a helpless captive, mis captor then drags him lgnomlnlously to camp, where he Is handled with an 'Immense pair of wooden tongs. It takes a strong man to negotiate an enraged rattler when fully aroused and writhing with his immense power of muscle, for the creatures weigh many pounds, are from six to nine feet long, and sometimes as thick as a man's leg. The snake is next put into a box with a sliding lid. This lid is carefully drawn back until the snake protrudes his head, and is then shot forward so as to clench the neck behind the head. The snake's head Is now forced back over the side of the box until the jaws open; a glass is held conveniently, and the head released, whereupon the jaws close on the rim of the glass just as if the snake had struck. This is done to collect the deadly virus, which runs down the side mio the glass and is bottled for sale to physicians and chemists for experimental purposes. Cattle raising is the chief industry of Abyssinia. .t'7"A fly bacteriologically examined has been found to carry one hundred thousand bacteria. VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE. Man Is Worth $80 at Birth and $4,000 at Twenty Yaars Old. Religion teaches that a man cannot ^ give more than his life for another. The scientist after cold calculation says that the gift of a life cannot be more than a gift of $4,100. That Is something for every person who loves his own lire or someDody eises to tnina about The scientist adds that he must be In his prime, 30 years old, to be worth $4,100. The chances favor his being worth only $2,900, for that is the value of the average life in the United States. How many would sell themselves to death for $2,900? Almost every one Indignantly denies that he would sell himself so cheaply. The scientist replies that In 1907, 52 per cent of the deaths In the United States were unnecessary at the time. They could have been prevented or postponed If the victims had known what they might know about the care of their health. These heartless facts have been given publicity by the United 8tates government in a pamphlet by Prof. Irving Fisher of Tale university, on "National Health." Prof Fisher has reduced life, death and Illness to a matter of dollars and cents In an effort to prove the economic wisdom of teaching the Inhabitants of the ^United States* how to live long and keep well. He bases his computation of the value of the average life on a table prepared after similar tables made In England. His table Is founded on the estimate that the average worker In America, considering all grades, from railroad presidents to day laborers, earns $525 a year. His value la then the capital that would earn $525 a year at prevailing Interest rates, averages as to length of life and revenue yielding actively being considered. A youth with 40 years of work ahead Is worth more than an old man near retirement. Calculating from this. Prof. Fisher finds a baby just bora is worth $90. Man Is most valuable at 30, when he reached $4,100. Then he declines until at 80 he is only an expense and his value is placed at $700, less than nothing. Such is the trivial worth of the Individual life, but the grand total value of the 86,000,000 of us in $260,000,000,000, making the men, women and children worth more than all the other national wealth. How many of us would trade our individual lives for the cash value of the lot of us? But sickness and preventable death come In and take a toll approaching every year $2,000,000,000. 'They steal what we say we wouldn't give up for millions. Of those who die 42 per cent might have lived if they had profited by what is known about the care of health. There were 1,600,000 deaths in the United States In 1907. Of these $80, 000 might have been prevented or postponed, and by such postponement 630,000 lives worth on the average 91, 700 each, saved. t t -'wf In other words, unnecessary- deaths every year cost the nation $1,000,000,000 in capitalised worker's earnings. In addition to that 1,000,000 workers are ill every year, and the wages lost during their illness amounts to $600,000,000. Illness and death also collect a heavy toll in the bills of doctors, nurses, druggists and undertakers. The United States commissioner of labor finds that the average American workingman's family spends $27 a year for the care of death and sickness. Since there are 17,000,000 families in the nation, the total coat of doctors, drug*lata, nurses, and undertakers is $460,000,000. Dr. Biggs of New York, arguing that tuberculosis cost the patient $1.60 a day, and other diseases more, places che total cost of the care of illness and death of $1,500,000,000, three times the figures accepted by Prof. Fisher. Illness and death then, not including loss of wages after death, create a total annual loss in the care of patients and loss of their earnings during illness of $460,000,000,000, plus $5,000,000,000, or $960. Add to this the total toll of $1,000,000,000 taken by preventable death and the grand total national cost in money values of preventable deaths and illness is $1,960,000,000. Tuberculosis costs $1,000,000,000 every year in loss of earnings through 111n?"a in nnuihU Mmlnn Htonned by death and in the expenses of sickness. At least three-fourths of these costs are preventable. The consumptives must bear 1660,000,000 of them person- , ally; the remaining $440,000,000 fall upon the public. Typhoid fever, says Dr. George Kober, costs $360,000,000 a year in the United States. Dr. L. O. Howard estimates the load from malaria at $100,000,000 and from insect diseases at $200,000,000. Care of the feeble-minded ai:d insane make a tax of $86,000,000 according to Charles Lk Dana. Dr. George M. Gould estimates that death and sickness altogether cost $1,000,000,000 a year in the United States. One-third of this is preventable, he believes. "The trouble is the public does not believe in this waste from 'just poorly' and 'so as to be about,'" he argues, "it has no conception of the difference between working with a clear brain and steady hand and with a auu, nerveies# tool. They must be convinced somehow."?St Louis Dispatch. The Jews.?"If the Jews of America were all gathered together In a community where there was no other creed or people they could not live by their own efTorts 48 hours." This declaration was made by Samuel Alschuler, a Jewish scholar, in an address to the Kadlmah, a Jewish society of research. "In such a community,H he declared, "there would be representatives of every profession and none of trades. There would be a Jewish doctor for every Jewish patient There would be many Jewish lawyers, civil engineers, more Jewish merchants than customers, and many Jewish pawn-brokers, but where would you And the man to drive the nails, to build the homes and till the soil? You could not find them, because the Jewish parents object to 11?aAlltncf tholr Hanrla men wuuutcii oviuub ??v?. "There should be less of this spirit, amonj? the Jews. There should be more Jewish farmers." <t? Artificial legrs may cost as much as two hundred dollars each. >.t*' There are sixteen cables across the North Atlantic ocean.