Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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^^ ??? " SEiaX-WEEJO:!/^^ T.k. grists sons, Pnburiier.,] 1 f[*?Hll INsjajcr: J[or the promotion ophe fjolittcal. fecial. Agricultural and (Eommectial Jntertsls of the fcojlc. {i*?V.V4V" K^VBLISHEirrsaa. Y0BKVILLE;S. C, TUESDAY, JAXUAHY 18, 1910. JSTO. 5. [ #> VIAJ * \ Novelized b; Succes I1 WftJ By winc ;! qbhp thomps( ^ 1 Fntek Thompson. Copyright. 15M, bj CHAPTER XVI. Getting at the Truth. The Inquiry at the Durant works to establish responsibility for the failure of the Sommers gun was simply organ^ ized. Mr. Durant put the entire matter In the hands of Bradley, giving him authority to question everybody connected with the work and If possible to bring out the entire truth. Besides ^ Bradley and Mr. Durant, Plnckney, Sommers, Frances and the stenographer, Mazle O'Brien, were the only ones allowed at the examination. "I want you to understand, Mr. Bradley," declared the steel man before they began, "that I and my plant are entirely at your service. I am as anxious as you to find Just where the blame lies, and if any men in my employ are responsible I can assure you ^ they will be punished." Bradley bowed. "I am convinced of your sincerity, sir," he said, "and I shall take full advantage of your offer." "Whom do you wish to question t first?" asked Durant. "Marsh," replied the secret service man promptly. The owner of the plant immediately A ? * /ieoiiffKtO sent a ooy iu can mc urau uiau0.n? man. "And after Marsh?" he suggested. "We might as well have the names of ? all the witnesses, so we can call them quickly. f Bradley smiled. "The second witness will also be Marsh." "And the third?" suggested the puzzled steel man. "Marsh again," came the grim reply. X Mr. Durant looked up surprised, a little startled. "You have settled on Marsh, then, as the guilty man?" Bradley shook his head. "Oh, by no means, Mr. Durant. I am merely getting at the truth." Pinckney had been sitting grimly, his brows drawn down, listening to the talk of Durant and the secret service man. Now he broke In with some Impatience: * "I don't think this Is treating Marsh fair, Mr. Durant This detective's attitude is apt to prejudice you against a capable ana provea rauniui wuramun. Mr. Durant turned on Pinckney, surprised. * "I don't think, Edward." he said "that I am apt to be prejudiced against a good workman merely because' he's "Marsh was not in charge of that Job." asked a few questions. Mr. Bradley may want to ask you some questions, but I don't think that can prejudice me against you." Before Pinckney could reply Marsh entered. He was in his shirt sleeves, having Just come from his desk, and he stood beside the door, looking about the room furtively, suspiciously, fearfully. Mr. Durant smiled in friendly fashion, for Marsh had worked many ? years at thep lant, and he liked him Immensely. "Marsh," began the steel man, "this is Mr. Bradley of the United States secret service. He wants to ask you some questions about forging the Sornmers gun. I want you to tell him everything you know in connection with that affair." * "Yes, sir," replied the head draughtsman, but his tone was so weak that Pinckney, fearful of his fellow conspirator's strength and courage, broke in almost angrily: "Marsh, was not in charge of that % Job, and consequently he"? Bradley turned quickly. His smile was Just as Hlo?/l Kn? in HIq vnlr?a th??rp u>fia a steely touch that showed that he would not brook interference. "I'll do the talking, if you please, Mr. Plnckney." "But, I tell you. he had nothing to do with it," insisted the general manager angrily. Bradley turned to Mr. Durant. "I understand that I was to have full swing here. Mr. Durant?" ^ The owner of the work3 nodded. Now. Marsh, who was in charge of that Job?" "Smith." replied the witness. "Was he drunk?" Marsh hesitated, looking weakly from Sommers to Pinckney. "Yes. sir, he was." came the admission at last frankly. Bradley's smile did not change as he ^ asked his next question in the same pleasant tone. "Why. then, was he allowed to be in charge ?" "Well, we were all there to keep watch of him." he faltered at last. ^ The questioner looked puzzled. "Whom do you man by we?" he asked. "Mr. Plnckney and me and"? The witness faltered, and Pinckney ended for him sharply: "And Mr. Sommers." WIRELESS 1 i Thompson Bncbaaan From tbo sful Play of the Same Name 1, HELL SMITH, FREDERIC )N and PAUL ARMSTRONG i Frederic Thompson. All Rights Reserved. ' "Yes, and Mr. Sommers," agreed Marsh eagerly. Tho smilp had left Bradley's face when he turned coldly to Plnckney. "I am not questioning you, Mr. Plnckney. I may question you shortly, and I hope when I do you'll be as eager to answer. Then he turned back to the rattled witness. "Was Smith discharged?" "I?I think so," faltered the head draughtsman. "He was drunk, and he was discharged, because Mr. Durant never allows that." "When was he discharged?" "I don't remember exactly." "But he's working in Meadvllle In your new plant now, Isn't he?" came the next sharp question that brought a startled surprise to Mr. Durant, because one of the cardinal rules of the Durant works was never to take back a man discharged for Inefficiency or drunkenness. The steel man turned in his chair to look sharply at Plnckney, for Plnckney was also acting manager of the Meadvllle plant. The question had thrown Plnckney Into a secret panic, while Marsh was openly flustered. If this detective had found Smith carefully hidden away under an assumed name In the Meadvllle plant, what might he not know ? "I?I heard he was in Meadvllle," faltered the conspirator under fire. He looked appealingly at Plnckney, but Bradley, the Imperturbable, gave him no rest. "What time of day did that gun go Into the furnace, Mr. Marsh?" Again Marsh looked hopelessly for the help that could not be given. "I don't know, sir," he said at last. Bradley lifted his eyebrows, surprised. "But you told Lieutenant Sommers it was going In at 6 o'clock," he said sternly. "Didn't you tell him that?" The witness was in a panic now. He did not know which way to turn. Mr. Durant was looking at him sharply. The shrewd steel man was beginning to realize that there was something back of all this, something discreditable, and he sat there, his face getting grimmer and grimmer and his Jaws setting harder with each sharp question and faltering reply?sat there sternly waiting to administer justice as soon as guilt could be proved. "I think I did," admitted Marsh at last. "But you don't know?" persisted Bradley. "Not for sure," the witness faltered. The detective said nothing to that, but his smile spoke volumes. Plnckney saw it and moved uneasily. Marsh caught it, and a cold chill began to race up and down his spine. But apparently Bradley was satisfied along that line, for the next question branched to another side. "If the gun had gone in the furnace at 6, when was it to come out, Marsh?" "About 2." "And It came out at a quarter past 12, so it must have gone in between 3 and 4, mustn't it?" "Yes, sir, I suppose; I believe it must sir," faltered the witness painfully. The next question was put like a shot. "Did you ever Invent a gun?" Marsh's mouth dropped open. His face became chalky. His eyes rolled about the room piteously, seeking for aid, but none was there. He saw only the grim, stern face of Mr. Durant, the hard eyes of Pinckney, with a terrible contempt and fear in back of them; the eager, determined look of Sommers, the anxious fearfulness of Frances, and, lastly, the cold, calm, deadly smiling man who questioned him. With a gasp and gulp he managed to collect himself. "No, sir," he said firmly. "What? You mean to tell me you never invented a gun?" demanded Bradley sternly. Marsh thought he caught a hint of disappointment In the tone, and it gave him courage. But the disappointment, if there was any, was hidden promptly by the sneering smile of the secret service man as he said: "Why, you surprise me, Mr. Marsh. Then you don't know Mr. Rhinestrom?" "No, sir," he faltered. Bradley merely smiled. "You've never seen him here, Mr. Marsh?" "No, sir." reiterated Marsh more firmly. Bradley's next question was still hurled at the same point. u'orl/u \f r nas lit* CVCI UCCII c\ t iiiv ? '/I n.-, A.*.. Marsh?" Marsh looked about again wildly. "I don't know," he blurted at last. "Ah, very interesting," smiled Bradley. "You don't know Mr. Rhineatrom? You've never seen hiin? You don't know whether or not he's ever been at the works? You've never invented a gun yourself, of course. And the one thing you do know is that Mr. Khinestrom is the inventor of the gun you are in charge of forging. You are sure of that, aren't you, Mr. Marsh? Take your time. Don't be in a hurry with your answer. All we want is the truth. Now, you know Mr. Rhinestrom is the inventor of the gun, don't you?" There was so much satirical contempt in the way the question was put that the cold sweat broke out on Marsh. He looked helplessly at Pinckney and in his hard eyes read desperation, but not despair. Pinckney. crooked though he might be. still had all the courage j of the really big villain. The sight of nis courage nnpeu ?<? ? > i?? his answer. "Yes, sir." The next question was entirely unexpected. "What royalty does Rhinestrom receive for the pun, Mr. Marsh?" There was a long pause. Marsh looked about helplessly. Quite ob vlously he was going to pieces. Plnckney knew that question must not be answered. It meant everything. If Marsh told what he thought the real royalty might come out and the true Inventor, In desperation and anger, would blurt the truth. It must be stopped. Pinckney sprang to his feet "This is ridiculous," he exclaimed. "These questions are all silly. What does Marsh know about all this? 'How can Marsh know anything about royalties?" Bradley turned to the owner of the works. "Mr. Durant, will you kindly tell Marsh what royalty you pay this Rhlnestrom?" The steel man looked puzzled, angry. He did not understand the drift of the questioning. He had not the slightest suspicion that Marsh was the real in venior 01 uie niiiiicsiium ?>" '. auu quite naturally, he looked on the questions regarding royalty as entirely unnecessary prying Into a business secret. For a moment he did not reply, and Bradley repeated his question. Then Pinckney broke In angrily. "I thought Mr. Bradley came here to Inquire Into the Sommers gun," he sneered. The secret service man kept his temper as he turned to Mr. Durant, to speak In a tone of polite regret. "You Invited me here, Mr. Durant, to ask such questions as I saw fit to get at the facts concerning the destruction of a gun. Do I understand you refuse to answer the first question?" Mr. Durant hesitated. "But this Is a private business matter," he protested at last. "I see no bearing in that question on the matter In hand." Bradley shrugged his sftouiaers. "I'm sorry," he said regretfully. "I ask It only for Mr. Marsh's Information." "What has Marsh got to do with what I pay for patents?" exclaimed Durant angrily. Bradley, still unruffled, turned to Marsh with a smile. "Suppose you tell him, Marsh," he suggested. "Nothing at all. sir," the Inventor muttered hastily. Plnckney would have broken In again, but the detective stopped him sharply with a gesture. "Wait! Marsh, can you tell me straight to my face that It would mean nothing to you to know that Mr. Durant pays a royalty for the Rhinestrom gun of a thousand dollars an inch?" An expression of amazement swept over the fact of the badgered witness. "One thousand!" he gasped; then he stopped short, looking at Plnckney venomously. The chief conspirator caught the look and realized its danger. "Marsh won't believe," he cried hastily. But again Bradley cut In, stepni"* Mtvppn Pinrknev and the wit ness so that neither could see the other. "Keep quiet, Mr. Pinckney," he demanded sternly. "I can prove what I say. Now, Marsh, what do you say to a royalty of a thousand dollars an inch?" The little man was past the stage of fear now. He saw the whole trick. He realized how he had been duped. He had only to tell the truth and ruin both Pinckney and himself, but then he hesitated. To tell the truth?what would that mean? It would mean state prison possibly and disgrace. And Marsh was not big enough to take a great revenge. Finally he looked down. "Nothing," he said at last. "Nothing!" demanded Bradley. Again Mr. Durant interfered. "Mr. Bradley," he exclaimed sharply, "I see no reason for your questions or your attitude. I can't for the life of me see what you are getting at." "I can," supplemented Pinckney, sneering. "I've had experience with Mr. Bradley's style of bluff." Bradley paid no attention to the general manager, but turned, speaking to Mr. Durant, but looking at Marsh. "I will explain, Mr. Durant. Lieutenant Sommers is an honest man. It is to him and the girl he loves that Mr. Pinckney and your wife and I and a score of others owe our lives. Tomorrow he is to answer in Washington for an accident in which two men were killed and others maimed and crippled for life. One man is totally blind." A sharp intake of breath and a gasp of horror from Marsh made him pause, then repeat over solemnly with emphasis: "Ong forever and ever blind, a lad of twenty, who must grope nis way through this world to the end of his way." Marsh was shuddering now, for the picture brought up to him that other lad of twenty, his own son, who had died blind. With inexorable coolness Bradley continued: "I know Lieutenant Sommers is blameless In this affair, and I am here to find some one to answer the cry of justice which comes through the tears and sobs of the mothers, sisters and sweethearts of those boys. And I'll find him. Mr. Durant; I'll find him." A pitiful picture was Marsh, half stooped, half crouched, shuddering with horror at the thought of what he had helped to do. Frances saw and completely misunderstood his nttitude. Her eyes filled with tears of sympathy. She stepped over and put her hand gently on the arm of the shuddering man. "Mr. Bradley, I beg of you not to niiostion Mr Marsh anv further," she pleaded. "I'm sure if Mr. Marsh knew anything about the forging he would tell you. No one knows the horrors of that accident better than he. No one could know. He had a son who waa blinded in an accident"? Her voice grew very gentle as she continued: "I was with him at his boy's bedside when be died. I know the anguish that he felt then." She let her arm slip gently around the old man's shoulder. "And I know if there was anything to tell he"? She got no further, for, with a shuddering cry of terrible anguish, the man drew away from her arm. "Don't," he moaned?"don't say any more! I can't stand it. I'm going to strip my sOul naked to God and end this." He stood up straight to face Bradley, no longer the frightened, shuddering coward, with a guilty secret, but a man who had done wrong and knew it, a repentant sinner eager to tell all. There was a look not merely of anguish, but almost of exaltation, on his face. Pinckney .saw It and made his last desperate appeal. "Here, Marsh!" he shouted sharply. But the little man was past his In- i Jluence now. He faced his former ' bully, wide eyed, unafraid, desperate. "If you speak to me again, as there Is a God above us, I will kill you where you stand;" he said in a low, tense voice of fury. Then with a quick move he reached to his pocket, and the watchers saw the gleam of a pistol. They did not know the little man now. He stood straight up, bold, eager, repentant. "Listen," he said. "And any one here who values his life will let me alone. I am the inventor of the Rhlnestrom patent. I know what Mr. Bradley meant ''You'ren thic*. I'incKncy! Do you henrf" about the royalty. You're a thief, , Plnckney! Do you hear? A thief! Why don't you speak? Deny It If , you dare, you thief!" , There was a gasp of surprise, of horror. . ' "You told me the royalty was to be ( a hundred dollars an Inch. Now I find | it's a thousand. That was why the , patents could not be In my name?you wanted to steal. And that was why you ( wanted that gun of Sommers' killed, ] so that you could get the government ; to take mine?mine," he repeated, , bringing his fist violently against his chest?"not Rhinestrom's, but mine! And you were to get nine times as , much as me. You told me to forge ( that gun before Sommers came. You got Smith drunk and put him in charge of that tempering bath?you! , And you know it?and I was a party to it. I stood for It. I saw the rotten . work was done. And I waited, day after day, night after night?sleepless, afraid, I waited. And one day In a ( whisper through the works the news , came. How do you think I felt since then? I am a murderer, and so are ! you! And you not only have that on ' your soul, but you would disgrace an- ' other man. The dead are enough for me." His face took on a look of aw- j ful, supernatural fear as he went on. "They whispered to me In the night, [ and the sightless eyes of the lad, blind- . ed, blink at me through the darkness. ( And it's the face of my boy with sight- , less eye3 accusing me. I won't stand It, I tell you. I'm going with my soul naked to the lash before my God and ' cry for pity and forgiveness." Amazed, horror stricken, finally dumfounded, the listeners had hung spellbound through the terrible confession. When it was finished for one moment no one moved. Then Marsh, with a little, gasping catch in his throat, turned and walked quickly out of the office, and as he went through the door they saw a gleam of his revolver. The door closed, and Bradley, the first to recover, sprang toward it, but even . the quick secret service man was too late. He Jerked open the door. There came a sharp report. Bradley stepped DacK inside ana ciosea me uuur. ^ "He's gone," he said. Next Pinckney, as one coming out of a daze looked up, and the secret service man touched him sharply on the arm. Those curiously shrewd, hard eyes were looking into the eyes of the ] general manager, and In that look Pinckney read that the game was up. ' "Will you come with me, Mr. Plnck- ] ney?" Bradley's voice was courteous, : polite and cold and hard as steel. "I 1 hope you won't make any trouble. I don't care to walk you out handcuffed j before the men." The chief conspirator, cool to the ' last, nodded. "I'll come," he said curtly. Then, accompanied by Bradley and followed 1 by Mr. Durant, he walked out coolly ! to the door through which Marsh had j gone to death. i The stenographer already had taken her departure. Summers and Frances ' were alone. I "My own!" he whispered. i The girl's arms slipped up about his j neck naturally. ( "Let us go away," she murmured. "Take me home." 1 THE END. They Considered It.?In Illinois there Is an old law on the statute books to the effect that in criminal cases the , jury is "judge of the law as well of the fiir-ta" sav# the Are-onaut. Though not often quoted, once in a while a law- i yer with a desperate case makes use , of it. In one case the judge instructed the jury that it was to judge of the law as well as the facts, but added that it was not to judge of the law unless it was fully satisfied that it knew more law than the judge. An outrageous verdict was brought in, contrary to all instructions of the court, who felt called upon to rebuke the jury. At last one old farmer arose. Jedge,'" said he, ' weren't we to jedge the law as well as the fact?" "Certainly," was the response, "but I told you not to judge the law unless you were clearly satisfied that you know the law better than I did." "Well, Jedge," answered the farmer, as he shifted his f|uiil, "we considered that p'int." Venezuela's government cigarette monopoly has been abolished by executive decree. .t'f In Great Britain there are nearly twelve million head of cattle. PINCHOT AND BALLENGER Story of Controversy That Will Be Investigated. FIGHT IS OLD AND OF LONG STANDING. Facts That Show Light on the Operation of the Great Forestry Bureau and Incidentally on the Way Politics Is Worked. New York Sun. What probably will continue to be known under Its present designation of "The Ballenger-Plnchot Controversy" has been constantly astir In official circles since Aug. 11 last, whan the chief forester hastened to the White House to urge the presl.l/vnf'n A1 IntmnrnnHnn d era inof hid secretary of the interior. It simmered through the president's period of rest at Beverly, broke out afresh In what are known as "The Glavie Charges" and finally reached its crisis on Sept. 16 at Albany. On that day President Taft's special train was westward bound from Beverly and the president stopped the routine events of his welcome In the New York state capital long enough to make public a letter exonerating Mr. Ballenger and giving him a complete Indorsement; also ordering the dismissal from the service of L. H. Glavis, chief of division of the general land office. The question from that moment on became: "What will Mr. Pinchot do?" and it received a temporary answer ten days later at Salt Lake. There President Taft made public a letter to Mr. Pinchot in which he expressed the wish that he might continue in the government Bervice, and Mr. Pinchot, who 1 had come up from California to meet the president's party, announced that the president had approved his course and that he planned to continue his work as usual. But the secretary of the interior and the forester did not join In the smoking of the peace pipe at Salt Lake. At a luncheon given to Mr. Taft at the Country Club, following a long conference with Mr. Plnchot, it was announced that Mr. Plnchot would be numbered among the guests. Mr. Ballenger sent word to the local committeeman who called to escort him from his rooms at the Knutsford Hotel that he was suffering from a sore throat and could not attend. And Mr. Plnchot had avoided Mr. Ballenger in shaking hands with the Taft party in the president's private car when he first met it in Frovo, Utah. On Nov. 11, when the president reached Washington, he found a real Pinchot-Ballenger fight upon his hands, ripe again for a settlement. In the meantime tne magazines nuu been busy. There hadn't been an especially large assortment of muckraking themes on hand for some time, and those given to that sort of thing for a dally diet grabbed the new subject with avidity. There was an indication in the statements issued by Mr. Ballenger from time to time that he suspected that Mr. Plnchot knew something about this magazine onslaught. And in Mr. Plnchot's casual and occasional remarks there was an Indication that he missed very much a former military man, at present out of reach and not in position to write warm letters of the most heartfelt Indorsement and congratulation. But President Taft's regard for Plnchot had not been lacking in enthusiasm. This is what he said of the forester's work at a time when many folk suspected matters were ready for an enforced resignation: "I wish you to know of my utmost confidence In your desire to serve the government and the public. I should consider It one of the greatest losses that my administration could sustain If you should leave It." This expression of confidence was the president's attempt to heal the breach created in the dismissal of Pinchot's ally and subordinate. Glavls. Pinchot's moves after the arrival of the president in Washington were not made directly in the line of differences which had up to that point been widening between him and Mr. Ballenger. Instead, Glavis, out of the service, took the centre of the stage with magazine help, and launched charges with magazine help, and launched charges impugning the good faith of both Mr. Balllnger nnft thp nresident. Mr. Pinchot on N'ov. 17 was the subject of Washington gossip to the effect that he had issued an ultimatum to the president to choose between him and Balllnger. When asked about the rumors he said: "The story that I have issued an ultimatum is a silly fabrication. Of course I have done nothing of the kind; not anything that could be twisted into that meaning. The president has been good enough to express his satisfaction with my work and I am going ahead with it." With the meeting of congress a resolution was introduced calling for a congressional inquiry into the whole situation. And then came a step that had not been anticipated and was out of the government routine, and apparently was aimed at making the conflict as dramatic as possible. Mr. Pinchot succeeded in having reaa upon the floor of the senate a letter reflecting uopn the president and enforcing his own dismissal as the only possible consequent act. A day's session of the president's cabinet preceded the decision to dismiss. And that leaves the possible "Ballinger-Plnchot" investigation now merely a question of investigating a single officer of the government on charges which the attorney general has ridiculed and on which the president has passed judgment. Mr. Pinchot, conceded universally to have taken a deep and inclusive Interest in the> country's resources, is free to fight as a magazinist or publicist or lecturer for the object of his constant zeal?the prevention of the growth of what he styles "the waterpower trust." An In this matter he is assured the support of the president and of his former principal antagonist, Mr. Ballinger. They have no aims, both have frequently declared, that are at varl ?41? nnncori-ntinn ance wun ine nuuacocu policy except in one particular, and that was expressed by the president in his Albany letter when he said: "In my Judgment he is the best friend of the conservation of national resources who insists that every step tnken In that direction should be within the law and buttressed by legal authority. Insistence on this mat-| ter is not Inconsistent with whole- [ hearted and bona fide interest and enthusiasm in favor of the conservation policy." Charges that there is In existence a water-power trust seeking to gain control of the Rocky Mountain water- J shed are the basis for the former' forester's recent antagonism to Mr Balllnger. The quarrel broke ovei a matter concerned with the withdrawal of about 1,000,000 acres ol land In Wyoming and Montana bj President Roosevelt Just before he retired from office. The withdrawal was declared to be "anticipatory" and with a view of preventing the absorption of power sites on this land by the alleged water-power trust. Secretary Balllnger's commencement of service was marked by ar order restoring this land to entry It was this act by the secretary that sent Plnchot scurrying to the president. On that visit the president assured him that Mr. Balllnger planned to again withdraw the land as speedlily as possible. A question of the legality of President Roosevelt'i withdrawal had been Involved, II seemed, and Secretary Balllngei made It plain that he did not care to use the forestry bureau as a weapon to effect conservation of water-powei sites, regardless of the need for such land withdrawn for forestry purposes He argued that the forestry service was no more the proper weapon tc attain such an end than would have been the naval service. All within a month the transaction had been completed?the land resorted to entry, certain tracts filed upon, as alleged, and the land withdrawn again. In this Forester Pinchot saw a victory for his much detested power trust, whose actions hit heart was set upon anticipating. II precipitated his open quarrel with Mr. Balllnger. The alleged filing that raised thf forester's ire was declared to havt been made at Bozeman, Mont, or June 11, 1909, and it was said to include 15,868 acres, taken by Jeremiah Collins. Plnchot was quoted as authority for a statement that Collin! was land agent for the water-powei trust, which, it was intimated In a shadowy way, consisted of the Harriman and H' .aiuoad interests, the General Electric company and the Guggenheim mining and smelting interests. The alleged filing by Collins had been made on the land that Roosevelt had withdrawn and thai Ballinger had resorted to entry, and then haul rewithdrawn. The rewithdrawal was completed on June 26. When Forester Pinchot carried a cry against Secretary Ballingfer direct to the president Mr. Balllnger openlj declared that he knew it was his offlol o 1 Vi no el VT v DlnnVi At nroo 1 Anlrln n vicvi iiuau at 11. x mviivt nao iwniiiQ for and that "with the help of the president he expected to win." Before his break with Secretary Ballinger Mr. Plnchot had become widely known as the man of all men in the public service who was the former president's closest official friend. Some months before Mr. Roosevelt retired, in fact it was stated the post of .secretary of the agricultural department had been offered to Mr. Pinchot. The offer was not at that time formally announced, and after a time the matter of discussing it was dropped. Mr. Roosevelt's enthusiasm for Mr. Pinchot cropped out when he called the first conference of governors to discuss the conservation problem. As the result of power then vested in him he named his forester as chairman of a general committee of some fifty members on conservation in general, and also to be chairman of the executive committee of nine selected iruin una general cuiumiuee. 11 waa expected that that conservation committee would work out a policy for conservation In water, minerals and forests. Some junkets in the summer of 1908 to Europe followed Its formation, and it made a report at the opening of the December session of congress in that year. Some of Its members also Junketed through the Appalachian forest, which it was proposed the government should buy. The former forester is the son ol James W. Pinchot, a merchant, who died about a year ago, leaving his son an independent fortune. The younger Finchot's interest In forestry grew from the fact that his father had been a wall paper manufacturer, and that while he was a boy his attention had been frequently called by his father to the speed with which the available supply of timber was being exhausted. Mr. Pinchot was born in Seabury, Conn., on Aug. 11, 1865, of Puritan and Huguenot stock. He took up the study of forestry when he entered Yale University in 1885 and continued it in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, after his graduation from Yale in 1889. Not having to earn his own livelihood he turned to forestatlon as a field wherein to let his zeal have full play, and for years after returning from his European studies he kept an office as "consulting forester" in New York. But nobody bothered him with consultations, and finally he found himself in a government commission from which he emerged in 1898 as head of the forestry bureau. There were eleven men in the bureau force at that time, six of them clerks. Last year the bureau brought In 12,000,000 from the forests and spent $3,368,532. When Pinchot took charge the bureau was spending $28,250 a year and bringing in nothing. He was always forecasting a day when it would bring in much more than the cost of keeping it up, and he instances a place where at an expense of $900 some 100 forest fires had been doused before they got a good start. The forester did not draw his salary as a government officer. Forestry as a science in the United States may be said to be Mr. Pinchot's creation. In Switzerland, where the topography of the country made its citizens peculiarly subject to damage by avalanches, floods and erosion of the naked mountains, they learned to see the value or the rorest covering some 1,000 years ago. In the fifteenth century forestation became a science in Switzerland, and has remained so ever since. In France they are spending about $34 an acre to reforest their watersheds, and in Italy $20 an acre. Mr. Pinchot, after collecting data on America's forests, figured out that at the Italian rate it would cost $3,000,000,000 to reforest the prevailing stands of timber on the public lands of the United States if continued deforestation should make this move necessary. A few forest reserves had been created by Grover Cleveland, and withhim the word "reserve" had come into use. Pinchot found the cattlemen of the west sticking on that word, and he succeeded in having the name altered to "national forest." It took the sting out of much of the opposition to the spread of the conservation vogue, especially when it was also exI nioinoH that nnv spttler misrht take all the timber he wanted for his own use: that any "ripe" tree could be cut with the* simple formality of securing a "permit," and tiiat only waste, monopoly and exploitation were being aimed at, so far as the stopping of the regular work of tree cutting was concerned. The forest products were for sale, and were for the settlers gratis ?all each settler could cut for his own use; but not to sell. Mr. Plnchot made, along with his statement of the cost of reforestation of the present stands, the additional claim that, properly "forested," the existing timber could be kept in perpetuity, and still through the sale of ripe trees could be made to produce an annual revenue of $498,890,665. That would be on the basis of the revenue produced by the forests of Europe. There are now 165.000,000 acres of land in the national forests, and they are scattered pretty well over the whole country. Many of them are forests where there are no trees. And that was a point of which some of Pinchot's opponents in the senate made much. Pinchot was quick with an answer that this was land that once had been forest?that had been denuded and that was capable of bearing another forest as soon as his department had developed to the point of replanting the hills of deso lilliuil. Through the senatorial discussion, running along parallel with the. conservation programme's development the people learned much of their for . ests. In April, 1908, there was a pitched battle in congress over the appropriation bill for the forest buf reau. The sum asked for was $3,796,r 200, and a charge was made by Rep resentatlve E. N. Pollard of Nebraska I that the service was in collusion with > the newspapers to broadside the sen- j ators and congressmen opposed to its 1 plan of action. Plnchot entered a general and specific denial, and the money was finally voted. i The forester In expanding his na. tlonal forests got possession of about ; one-third of the mountainous section ' of the state of Washington and a sixth of Idaho. In Utah about twen1 ty-eight forests were established, many of them growing only sagebrush, s The Calveras Big Tree tract In Calii fornla came in, thus saving the most t important of the sequoia groves from : extinction. s Ftnchot's work with each forest i varied with the local demands. In all his rangers stacked and burned the i fallen timber to prevent the spread . of fires. Coyotes were poisoned to help ) the sheepmen who had grazing privi> leges In return for a consideration. And In Big Cottonwood Canon, Utah, an experiment station was established for the growing of pine seedlings. This I was the beginning of what was meant I to grow Into a system of extensive reforestation. Experimentation by the bureau de veloped a way of getting turpentine i from the southern trees without killt lng them, as did the old "boxing" proi cess in vogue for many years. A treatment was discovered for the wes> tern hemlock that made It less quick s to warp them when used as timber, i and the "lodge pole pines" that were supposed to have no market value i were made to do duty as railroad ties. Growing trees for ties having become i a matter of the greatest Importance, Interested the railroads, and eleven i railroads now have forests of their own. i The forestry bureau established a s lecture bureau through which It ex plained the purposes and ways of con servatlsm. As a result of one of Its t lecture tours some 200,000 trees were : planted by the people of one Texas I community. Senators Heyburn, Clark, Fulton and Carter have been the chief oppol nents of the conservation Idea. They : have pictured the areas reserved as r "vast solitudes," "wastes of Idleness" and "game reserves." The Forester's r latest report shows that 7,000,000 cat! tie range on the reserves and that about 800,000,000 feet of lumber was ' cut from "ripe" and selected trees last ! year. i Friends of Mr. PInchot Insist that i he Is not a politician and Is personally I a modest man. That he had no "departmental" training which would fit i him for service as a "helpful and i loyal subordinate" in a general sense, his action in going out of "regular i channels" with his complaints clearly Indicated. What will happen next It Is difficult to forecast. The president's word and Mr. Balllnger's word > have both been pledged that conservation will still be carried on, as far as the law will allow, to the same ends as the i Roosevelt policy. Mr. PInchot will i probably be inclined to help by giving the public on all possible occasions i the benefit of his forestatlon knowledge and of his zeal for tree covered i watersheds. A sinister political view held in i some quarters< Is that the PInchot letter represents' the throwing down of a gauntlet In a new "return-fromElba" political movement aimed at i having a certain African hunter's personal baggage delivered in 1913 at the same address from which It was taken away In 1909. One suggestion i Is that Gilford was altogether too good a tennis player to be thoroughly at . home on the golf links. Everywhere It Is conceded that the Issue is Increasing and not declining In magnitude and ' that the exciting scenes of last week 1 in Washington will be reenacted duri ing the Ballinger-Plnchot Investlga? tlon by congress, at which Pinchot will ' now appear probably as a sort of spe' cial prosecutor. Balllnger, well informed on departmental procedure, will retain the support of his fellow officers In the administration, and all will be agreed that President Taft did the only possible thing in letting Pini chot work without instead of within his official family. AN AGE OF GRAFT. ? ^?4 ?* A ..MMsiUfSahi POP horty K?r usni ui np^iu^i ........ . Public Use Sidetracked. : Justice Howard, of the supreme ; court of this state, In reducing the compensation of commissioners to ap praise damages In the taking or InJury of property In the construction of the Ashokan reservoir, took oci casion to refer to the great cost of such proceedings and the waste of money In public undertakings. "It . Is greatly to be regretted," he said, ; "that no public enterprise can be projected and consummated without ' the appalling loss called 'graft.' " He suggested that at least 40 per cent of all the money appropriated for pub1 11c use Is "lost In graft." He did not ' think that any particular Individual or class of individuals was responsible, but said: "Graft Is a product of ' our times and institutions. It Is the i people who are responsible; for by prescription they seem to have lost, or to believe they have lost, their tl! tie to Integrity, They expect graft, and even spoil and booty, to deplete their resources whether any great undertaking Is ventured by them, and they look with complacence, tol eration and Indifference at ravages upon their property." Is this pessimistic view of "our times and Institutions" and of loss of the sense of integrity by the people justified? There is too much apparent ground for it; but may it not be due mainly to larger opportunities and temptations, rather than to degeneration of character, that it seems to be a product of the present? It is conspicuous and noticeable? It Is certainly more noticed and exposed, more criticised and commented upon, more denounced and condemned than it used to be. Ferhaps that is the main difference, and if so it is a wholesome sign. When "graft" Is concealed and escapes attention then It is undermining character and demoralizing the sense of Integrity. When it is exposed and denounced the moral sense Is awakened, and It is made disreputable. Then It may be in the way to be cured. But if it is true that 40 per cent of all money appropriated for public use is "lost in graft," and if, as Judge i Howard says, that percentage must be added to "what a private corporation like a railroad can construct a public undertaking for," in order to ' ascertain the cost by public action, is that not a pretty powerful argument against doing anything by public action that can be properly done by *?* - Tf o ovatom nf private enterprise! n a reservoirs, aqueducts, and distributing conduits must cost so much because they are public undertakings, would It not be well to confine sub, ways and transit systems to private enterprise? The margin of 40 per cent saved would leave room for large economy and liberal profit, resulting in better service at lower cost.?Xew York Journal. ANECD0TE8 OF TOLSTOY. Russia's Greatest Novelist, Philosopher and Reformer. Several years ago It was written of Count Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, philosopher and reformer, that while he was in no sense a popular author his books had a wider circulation than those of any other writer living at that . time. His books have been translated into no less than forty-flve different languages and dialects. The man whose views were thus disseminated throughout the civilised world succeeded in achieving his aim to make his life an open book to be read of all mankind. Born to wealth, he renounced the world when he real Ized its vanities and retired to his estate to live the life of a farmer and to preach in his writings the doctrines of humanity. In the quiet of Tasnaya Polyana, his estate in southern Russia, Tolstoy, working side by side with the benighted and Ignorant Russian peasants, became a philosopher, an expounder of Biblical teachings and an exponent of the creed that every man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Once c lady philanthropist crossed the Russian frontier to visit Tolstoy. Ushered into the presence of the philosopher, she uttered the usual conventional greetings and explanations of her visit, while he eyed her silently and in abstraction, "as if," she said afterward, "he were quietly turning back the top of my head and looking at the thoughts Inside." When she had finished speaking he touched her arm, which was covered as was the fashion at that time, with a large sleeve, and said: "Why do you wrap so much cloth on your arms? If you lipped It off It would make a good frock for a little girl." Decried All Wars. Some years ago Count Tolstoy decried all revolutions and wars, declaring that there never was a good war. His address to his dear brother the emperor, written at the time of the Russo-Japanese war, was all in sorrow, not In anger; a warning, not a threat Epitomized, the statements of Tolstoy were: First.?The working people desire to be delivered from special laws that place them in the position of a pariah, deprived of all the rights of other citizens. Second.?They desire freedom of removal from place to place, freedom of education, freedom of conscience and, above all, freedom in the use of the land, the abolition of the right of landed property. Proof of His Humor. Despite the general seriousness of his views of life and its obligations, the following incident is a proof of Tnl?tnv'? M>nM of humor: Once an American millionaire and his companions wanted very much to see the great author, and eventually this was arranged, the stipulation being that no one should speak to Tolstoy. Tolstoy took his seat on the balcony of his home, and the Americans filed past in solemn procession. Everything went well until the last lady arrived. She, however, did not keep her part of the bargain, for, bending forward, she called out: "Leo Toystoy! Leo Tolstoy! AJ1 your great works have deeply Influenced my life, but especially"? And here she stopped short, having forgotten the name of the book. The great author leaned over the edge of the balcony and said smilingly, " 'Dead Souls,' perhaps." Tea yes," answered the lady. "Ah, Indeed!" said Tolstoy. "That book is by Gogol and not by . me. Experience With a Policeman. Once In Moscow Count Tolstoy saw a persistent beggar asking alma who exclaimed, "A little penny, brother, in the name of Christ!" A police officer approached. He was young, martial and wrapped in the regulation sheepskin. At sight of him the beggar fled, hobbling away in fright and haste. "Is it possible," said Tolstoy to himself, "that people are forbidden to ask charity In Christ's name in a Christian land?" "Brother," he said to the policeman, "can you read?" , "Yes," said the officer politely. "Have you read the Bible?" "Yes." "And do you remember Christ's orders to feed the hungry?" And he cited the words. The policeman was evidently troubled. He turned to his questioner and asked: "And you, sir?you can read?" "Yes, brother." "And have you read the police regulations?" "Yes, brother." "And do *you remember that beg * - 4? _ Ring in me mam sneeu ? wimviden?" The philosopher found no answer ready. Charming as a companion with his family, witty and laughing heartily at his own jokes, Tolstoy often delighted his children with stories of his early adventures or with fables composed on the spur of the moment for their sole edification. GUN COTTON. A Peculiar Characteristic of This Terrible Explosive. Many and old are the materials entering into the manufacture of modern explosives, but perhaps the most interesting of all these elements of destruction as well as the simplest is gun cotton. The gun cotton manuf&ctura no -nnrmnila ing inausiry is imgc, v. quantities are used In the charging of torpedoes and for similar purposes. The base of gun cotton is pure raw cotton or even cotton waste, such as Is used to clean machinery. This Is steeped In a solution of one part of nitric and three parts of suiphurlc acid. It is the former ingredient that renders the mass explosive, the sulphuric acid being used merely to absorb all moisture, thus permitting the nitric acid to combine more readily with the cellulose of the cotton. After being soaked for several hours in the solution described the cotton is passed between rollers to expel all nonabsorbed acid, a process carried to completion by washing the cotton in clear water. This washing process is a long one, requiring machinery which reduces the cotton to a mass resembling paper pulp. Should any nonabsorbed acid be allowed to remain it ?POttfln. If the explosive is to be used after the manner of powder it is still further pulverized and then thoroughly dried, but if intended for torpedoes it is pressed into cakes of various shapes and sizes?disk shaped, cylindrical, flat squares and cubes. When not compressed gun cotton is very light, as light as ordinary batting. A peculiar characteristic of this terrible explosive is that a brick of it when we* may be placed on a bed of hot coals, and as the moisture dries out the cotton will flake and burn quietly. If dry originally, however, the gun cotton will explode with terrible force at about 320 degrees of heat. In general it is the custom to explode gun cotton by detonation or an intense snocn uisieau Ui UJ laui. ill a torpedo the explosive charge is wet, this wet cotton being exploded by means of dry cotton In a tube, this having been fired by a cap of fulmlnate of mercury, the cap Itself having been fired by the impact of the torpedo against the target.?Harper's Weekly. :4 Jl