Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

. , . . _ ^^^Mn<VBa||L^ " ===^ l. x. GRISTS SONS, pnbii.h<,rs,} % 4amilS Deirsgaser,: J?or (hi; promotion of (he political, Social, Sgrieulturat and (Commercial Interests of the f)eogt$. | ESTABLISHED 1855 ^"""" YORKVILLE, 8. C., TUESDAY, MAY 21, 191-2." , "iSTO. 41. { THE VA' DIA1V i _ ? By HORACE Ten inches higher, and it would have loosened a tooth or two. As it was, so he discovered later, u loosenea me setting: of the big- black pearl which adorned his shirt bosom, and left a tiny round bruise where the underside o 1 the stud had struck sharply over hie breast bone. The Immediate effect, however on Mr. Gramercy Van Braun was a momentary one of startled astonishment. The thing, whatever it was, had come hurtling, apparently, out of the sheer, ethereal ambient of F?.*th avenue at 2 o'clock in the morning. Sauntering, somewhat leisurely, for the night was unseasonably mild, from his club towards his apartments, his mood one of preoccupation, he had been brought to a sudden stand by this then indistinguishable missile, flying? not from above, but rather on an upward slant from the level?into swift percussion with his broAdly capacious chest; whence it had dropped, lightly enough now, to the pavement. Holding nis curiosity ua iu iuC .?*ture of the object rigidly In check, he made a hasty survey of his surroundings. He had just crossed Forty-second street, going northward; and he had the entire block to himself. In neither direction was there a single pedestrian in sight. But, down the avenue, possibly half a block distant, he saw the rear lights of what were evidently a limousine and a taxicab rapidly fading into the night shadows. For an instant his gaze searched the recessed doorways of adjacent shops for some lurking creature upon whom to fix the blame?some jovial reveler, perhaps?but the doorways were clearly tenantless. A second or two accomplished this; and then, he picked up the thing that had struck him. To his added perplexity, it was a lady's slipper; a very tiny one of white satin, and elaborately ornamented with seed pearls. An inspiration, rather than suspicion, caused him to tear off a glove and thrust as much of his hand as this dainty piece of footwear would accommodate into its Interior. As he had fancied might be possible, the lining was distinctly warm. A minute ago, the slipper had encased the delicate foot of its fair wearer. The discovery awoke in him an additional interest. A score of questions now took the place of one, and clamored for answer. Who was she? Was she young? Was she beautiful? Was she in the limousine or in the taxicab? Why did she throw the slipper away? Did she throw it at him? Or, was its striking him an accident? Was it possible that she had recognized him? Did she do it in a spirit of mischief? Did she have some serious purpose? Would he ever learn her name? Would ?And so they multiplied. He was still propounding tnem as ne turned the corner of Forty-fourth street, and noted the unmistakable signs of a dance at Sherry's. He wondered whether she might have been in attendance there, and going home thus early. Two cloak-wrapped figures were entering an electric brougham as he passed. For six months or more, Van Braun had been ranching in Wyoming. Only yesterday he had dropped quietly back into town, and not more than a handful of his friends knew of his unheralded return. Otherwise he might have been a guest here, himself. He had returned to his old rooms in the Regina, near the Bar association, at the other end of the block. And now, as he entered them and switched on the lights, he drew the mysterious slipper from his pocket, and placed it, conspicuously, atop a little pile of books, on the centre table, in his study. While in the act of removing his overcoat, the sudden, sharp, reverberant call of the telephone arrested him. A woman's voice came to him over the wire; a rather light, thin voice, high pitched. In vain, he made effort to identify it, as, interrupted only by its own rippling laughter, it ran spiritedly through its fancy-framed narrative. "This is Cinderella speaking." It was so the subject was introduced. "Flying from a ball, at Sherry's, oh, long long, unhappily long after midnight my crystal ?iip|iri nas ojjcu imtav ulously from my foot and through th? open window of my golden chariot just an instant before that glorious vehicle turned once more into the pumpkin from which it sprang. And you mv fair Prince Charming, if tha* cruel old witch, my fairy god-mother is tc be l ellevod, now have it in your possession. Pray, O pray, dear Prince, foi the sake of romance, promise that yoi will not hold it as a keepsake, but return it to your poor little and woefnllf rliatpnooo/l Pin^orf.llo " Young Van Braun hesitated just s breath before he made reply. It seemed quite evident to him that the speaker was some one he knew: and yet, sc far as his .recollection went, the voic< was totally strange. "You will have to prove your property. you know," he told her, with a teasing chuckle. "It is a very tiny, fairylike slipper, and to be quite exact, prosaic mortal that I am. 1 may tell yoi at once that it is neither crystal noi glass." Lightly, her laughter flowed over th< prosaically utilitarian wire. "Oh. yoi goosey gander." she chirruped. "Don' you know anything about fairies at all' it was crystal when it left my foot but it might have beei ny one of i hundred things when i' reached you Dairies simply love to practice trans mutation." "oh. I see," he said, as if thorough l.v convinced. "And ran they chang< the size, too. just as readily, these twentieth century fairies? Olass slip pern always stayed glass slippers whet I was a hoy. And their size never va rled." "Your ideas were gleaned from th< story books," she told him. with an ef fort at gravity; "and the fairy storj writers misrepresented the little pixj people terribly. There's really no lim It to the fairies' power." URIGARD J tOND | \ , HAZELTINE i , "You alarm me," he cried. "Am I , liable, then, to get into trouble over this little matter? Would the fairies < 1 approve of my giving the slipper back j to you?" , ; "Oh, I am sure they would. Other- ( i wise my fairy godmother wouldn't ] have given me your name ana aa, dress." "And did she do that?" "To be sure. How else do you suppose I should ever have learned who had the slipper?" "I never thought of that," he fooled. . "Will you come here after it? Or do you wish me to bring it to you?" i "Probably we had better meet each other half way," she suggested. "Capital! You shall lunch with me . tomorrow, at the Plaza, and I'll hand you the slipper between courses." "You're a dear," was the appreciai tive rejoinder. "And the time?" "Will 2 o'clock be agreeable?" "It will be delightful." "And how shall I recognize you?" he asked. "Will you wear a blue rose in your hat, or?" But only a deafening buzzing answered him. He waited a moment, hoping it would cease; and then he called: "Hello!" and repeated it. He repeated it again and again and again, and played a lively tattoo with the hook of the instrument; but the only answer was from the clerk in the office, downstairs, who said that his "party" had rung off. The incident annoyed him mora than it perplexed him. It was all ve?y mys terious, to oe sure; uui ne ieu nitti, in spite of a woman's seeming gayety, the adventure held an element of the un- { pleasant. Throughout it all he had ( been at a disadvantage. Clearly enough she knew him; but he was utterly at a loss to conceive her identity. Moreover, the whole conversation, pitched as it had been, in the key of the fanciful, rang false, and, it seemed to him, sinister. He took up the slipper again, and held it, almost carelessly. For the life of him, he could not have explained the feeling that swept over him. He only knew that, for some strange reason, the voice and th? slipper did not fit. In his eagerness to delve to the core of the mystifying problem?to test it, bitter or sweet?Gramercy Van Braun, i slim, sinewy, rarely regular and pleasing of feature, and inconspicuously well dressed, anticipated his appointment by all of fifteen minutes. He.had, however, taken the precaution of se- ' curing a table by telephone; for which, discoverinc the restaurants overflow ins, and every chair in the adjacent * passages occupied by a more or less impatiently waiting luncher, he now J > congratulated himself. Since his role was to be that of the ' discovered rather than of the discov- ' , er, he bought an early edition of one of the evening papers, at the news- 1 stand, and then flung himself down on 1 one of the most conspicuously placed 1 of the upholstered benches, to await ' i the coming of the puzzling, if not ' , wholly attractive, Cinderella, And, as if magnetized for his eyes' attraction, a small advertisement, under the "Lost and Found" heading, sprang out before ! the flaunting news headlines, and grap- 1 pled his attention. What he read was 1 this: Lost.?Last night, somewhere be- 1 tween Sherry's and the Rltz-Carlton, a white satin slipper, pearl-embroidered. Finder returning same to other than X Y Z, Hotel Plaza, will be i prosecuted. , Van Braun read it through twice, 1 and then, lowering the paper to his lap, sat thoughtfully staring at nothing, ' ( while the mystery deepened. How was it possible, he asked himself, to reeon, cile Cinderella's plea and this some- 1 . what cryptic warning of "X Y Z"? Could they, by any possibility, be one ' . and the same? Or was it that each * was endeavoring to secure possession of that which belonged only to one? 1 And in either event, what was there about a slipper, extraordinary in neith. er material nor making, to excite so ' much covetous regard? , He was still immersed in the grow. ing intricacies of the problem, when a hand laid lightly on his arm arrested 1 him; and he turned abruptly to see, 1 sitting on the bench beside him, a fairly handsome, dark, and rather ; smartly dressed young woman, who greeted him with smiling recognition. I "You'll excuse me, won't you, Mr. Van Braun?" she took for granted. I "Don't you remember me? I really , believe you don't. I'm Miss Williams . of " But Van Braun had by this recovJ U|MnAl# U/v (n I fitru uiiuseii, unu uc iiasicucu iu *n. terrupt her, with: "Of course I re. member you. You're the young lady 1 from one of the newspapers, that I i used to meet at my friends' weddings, . when I played the part of usher. . And I used to see you at the opera, > too: and at the horse show, and at i > dances: and you were always asking me questions that, had they been ask . ed by anyone else, would have seemea . rudely Impertinent." The girl laughed at this, and the . young man's interest suddenly qulcki ened. r "And you always answered my questions very fully and enlightening? ly." she told him. i "Yes," he said, with a smile: "yet t not always truthfully, I fear, since ? sometimes I didn't know, and at oth; er times I doubted your right to ask. j or mine to tell." She laughed again, and he smiled . with self-satisfaction. "I'm going to ask you a question . now," she announced. i "If it weren't that you are so much i prettier and not a bit round-shoul. dered, I'd call you a human interroi gation point," he chaffed. "Now, . what can I tell you?" She moved several Inches closer to ? him, bent her lustrous dark eyes ap pealingly upon him, and, with lowered ,* voice inquired: r "Have you seen X Y Z's advertise ment in that paper?" If a doubt remained, the question dissipated It. "And who Is X T Z?' he evaded. "That's what I want to know," sh< told him. ' I've been assigned to fine out." She opened the capacloui handbag she carried, and taking fron It a small newspaper clipping, passec It to him. "I imagine that in som? way he is connected with this." The young man examined the clip ping with Interest. It was a cabh dispatch from London. And It tolc of a bootmaker there who had exec uted an odd commission for a myster lous customer. He had removed th< heel from a small white satin slipper had hollowed it out, and then re placed it An agent of the Unitec States customs service had learnec this, and associated It with an effor of which he was cognizant to smug pie some exceptionally valuable diamonds through the port of Nev 7ork. When he looked at the young woman again, he was smiling broadly "But why ask me?" was his query "I'm neither a smuggler nor a customs officer." "Very true,", she replied, giving him back smile for smile; "but the toe of a white satin slipper la ever it this moment, protruding from youi ;oat pocket." Instinctively, as it were, Var Braun's hand clutched the pocket ir juestion, and his manner, for the moment at least, appeared to reflect s Hidden embarrassment. "I fancied," his companion continled, "that you might have been the fortunate finder." He turned to her with a fresh frankness. "I was the finder; bul whether fortunate or not I have yel :o learn." "And you are waiting, now, ror tne jentleman of the Initials?" "On the contrary," he said, "I am vaiting for the lady of the telephone ?a certan Miss Cinderella who was :o prove her claim to the slipper, and, ncldentally, be my guest at luncheon." The look he gave her was slgliflcant, but she ignored it. "I hope I am not detaining you," ihe suggested. "No," he returned enigmatically, 'On the contrary, you have merely expedited matters. I shall wait foi :he lady no longer." He looked al lis watch. "It is three minutes af:er the hour of appointment and I am i stickler for punctuality. As he was speaking his gaze was ittracted. A lady was bowing tc blm from across the corridor; a young ,ady, whose delicate, creamy complexion was enhanced by the Jetty black brim of the large picture hat ivhlch framed the pure oval of hei face. Instantly, Van Braun was on his .'eet, pleasure beaming in every lineament. "Pardon me Just one moment." tT/i fliinc Iho ronilost h?pk to MiSS Wil Jams as he strode away. "Fancy meeting you here!" he adJressed the other, taking her hand. 'I thought " "That I was forever lost In the fogs af London?" she interrupted gayly, 'Oh, dear, no. I arrived two days igo, for the Minturn wedding. Sallle s marrying a connection of mine, you know; the "Due de Vaurigard. They tell me you have been away?" "Yes," he answered; "for nearly two years, all told. For the past *1* months I've been ranching in Wyornng. I know absolutely nothing of?" he paused. If the look he bent upor her held reproach, It was also rife with a tender sentimentality?"ol what was once our world," he added "I am stopping with the Vestrys," she told him. "Come and see me. 1 will tell you all I can. Why not this afternoon, for tea? I ask you now by lip, since you evidently didn't gel my written word." Surprise was in his eyes. "You wrote me, Edith?" "Yes; to your club." "I haven't been there," he said 'but I shall go, now, ror me saae 01 seeing your writing once again." "And you'll come?" she pressed, s little anxiously. "Most gladly." When she had gone, he stood, for s moment, gazing admiringly after her How silly he had been to quarrel witt her! What a world of regret it had cost him, in the last two years! As he was about to turn, he found the young newspaper woman again al his elbow. "I inquired at the office for X "5 Z," she announced. For the moment he had forgotter X Y Z. He had forgotten Miss Williams. And yet the incident of the slipper, regarded from an altogethei different angle, was vividly before him Mo know nnw what had beer suggested by its tiny, delicate beau, ty; why the warmth of its soft lining had thrilled him. Unreasoninglj It had reminded him of her, of Edit* La Fontaine, who, he believed, hac passed out of his life forever; wh< was living somewhere abroad; mar ried, the rumor had reached him. H< knew, now, too, why he had resentec that voice on the telephone: it hac been her voice that, unconsciously, h< craved. "They won't give the advertiser'i name," the dark girl was going on "They say he is in Suite 713. Don' you want to go up and return th< slipper?" "And be dragged into a customs in vestigation? I can't say that I crav< that. Perhaps I had better wait a lit tie while longer for Miss Cinderellt after all." "Possibly she has seen the cable and been frightened off. Why not le me play her part? Give me the slip per and let me take it up. I'll mak< Mr. X Y Z tell me his story?prove hi: property, so to speak." The young man looked at he! sharply, again, iso, tnai pnrase couu hardly be just a coincidence. "Very well." he said, drawing thi loosely wrapped slipper from hi pocket, and placing it in her hand "And I'll go with you. Can't I rini in as a fellow reporter, artist, o; something?" She seemed delighted. Her dark eyes shone. "Oh dandy!' she exclaimed. Together they took the elevator t< the seventh floor. A ehalmbermaid di reeled them to the suite they sought. Before Miss Williams rap|ied light !y she secreted her small parcel in hei large handling. A slight, dapper clean shaven youth, evidently a valet responded to her summons, and admit ' ted them to a conventionally furnished hotel suite parlor. t i "In just one monment, miss," he j 1 said; and disappeared into a room be- i s yond. t 1 Van Braun walked to a window, and & I stood looking: out across the tree tops f ? of Central Park. When he turned, It a was at the sound of a man's voice, and ( - to see a rather florid, dissipated-look- j i Ing young man, with'bristling waxed i I mustaches, bowing in the exaggerated ? . foreign manner to the newspaper wo- ? - man. , f 31 "My advertisement," Van Braun l ] heard him say, "was intentionally a'j . little misleading. I offered no reward, I for instance, because I did not wish to ? 1 be called upon to examine scores of j t old slippers. And I widened the boun- j . darles of locality, in order that I might { . by a single question discover whether j r the slipper was being returned by the t actual finder, or a second hand." 8 "But you, sir?" Miss Williams re. turned. "How am I to be sure that . , you represent the loser?" % The florid man smiled. "I will tell you Just how the slipper came to be f lost. Then, if you know the clrcum? stances under which it was found, we ( shall both, I maintain, have established f . our temporary right to its possession, j My sister and I had been attending a , dance at Sherry's, where, unfortunate, ly, she chanced to sprain her ankle. In t . our car she removed her slipper, and t t handed it to me to hold. My hand, in which it rested lightly, lay loosely , along the top of the lowered window, s when a sudden Jolt of the car?there c must have been an awkward hole in c ! the roadway?sent the slipper flying. t I wished to return for it; but on ac; count of her aching ankle, she would . listen to no delay. I had, a whim nevertheless, to recover it; and hence > e the advertisement." He paused and the newspaper wo | man began fumbling with the catch of * ' her handbag. "Now, where did you find It?" he c ' asked. " r "I saw It fly from the window of ^ your car," she answered. "You had , not yet crossed Forty-second street." ? Van Braun, listened, realizing the cleverness of the deduction. And yet 'r he questioned whether the answer was 0 so obtained. He turned sufficiently to c see her pass the slipper to the claim- 1 ant. * "You recognize It?" she asked. 1 He was turning It about in his 1 hands; gloatingly, It seemed to the 1 watcher; when abruptly, the door from * ' the passage was swung wide, and two ' burly men rudely Invaded the room. ' Without a word of explanation or * apology and before anyone of the oc- * j cupants was able even to conjecture 11 their object, the leader had flung him- '' self upon the young man of the waxed v 1 mustaches, and snatched the slipper ^ from his surnrised finders. "Customs officers!" Van Braun mur- r inured. "And they have probably 1 heard every word." " The ensuing' conversation verified ' his conjecture. T "I'm sorry, sir," was the conclusion 1 of the officer who was thrusting the * ' slipi>er into his pocket, "but I'll have d 1 to ask you to go along down town with ? ! .. ? me. ? 1 "But why?" ranted the accused. 8 "What is the charge? You surely don't 8 accuse me of stealing " ? "You are accused of being a party ^ ' to an attempt to smuggle into the ^ | United States one of the most famous and valuable gems in all Europe?the 1 Vaurigard red diamond, which is hld| den in the heel of the slipper." "But, my dear man," was the an| swering protest. "I give you my word that " Gramercy Van Braun, stepping for- i ' ward, joined the group. And it was c at sight of him that the speaker hesi- j, L tated. ^ "That slipper belongs to my sister, Miss Edith La Fontaine," he concluded t boldly. "Surely," he added, "you ^ would not dare accuse her of such a thing." e With fist clenched, Van Braun gave c emphasis to his first words. a ' J'-. 1"- 1I?-- . Vin t "une more cowaraiy ne ukc uiai c from you, and there'll be nothing left a of you to arrest," he cried. "Miss La 1 Fontaine's brother! She has but one; g and he and I have been friends from c [ v I boyhood." He turned to the customs g men. "You'll find this person's por- e I trait and record at police headquar- t ters. Those who know him best, I be- g lieve, call him 'Billy, the Duke.' He's t , a confidence man, grafter, and crook f In general. Three years ago he was t working the transatlantic liners, and c 1 he seems still engaged in the old r game." i k * The accused offered no defense. He ( simply summoned his valet and re' quested that his hat, coat and walking t 1 stick be brought to him. Miss Wil Mams, meanwhile, was making rapid ? notes on a roll of copy paper she had r extracted from her handbag. The of| fleers were thanking Van Braun. When, a few minutes later, that gen) tleman entered the elevator, Miss Williams, hastily pursuing, became his fel' Low passenger. In spite of a seeming ' outward com|W)sure, he noted that she was very pale. i 'it's turned out a cracking good story," she declared, "but there are a ' lot of details still to be cleared up. Maybe you can tell me where I may t And Miss I.a Fontaine." ' The young man regarded her with an Interest that was the reverse of friendly. "If I were you," he said, his i accents measured, "I'd let well enough - alone. So long as I don't bother about i certain details, why need you? So long as I don't ask why you called me . up, early this morning, made an ent gagement to lunch with me and then - chose to ignore that phase of the little J affair, why should you bother either i Miss La Fontaine or myself further?" Edith La Fontaine was alone in the r Vestry library when Van Braun came 1 to her. The day, thus far, had been for him a succession of surprises and - i m.i v,?,| f,,|. e Ufwiiurriiiniis. rt i |Mr.\u> uau s lowed perplexity; but the most dls. turbing of all was the connection, so } ; alleged at least, of Kdith with, not r alone the secret custody of the famous t Vaurlgnrd red diamond, but so In famous a character as "Billy the ^ Duke." ( The cordiality of her greeting this t a afternoon made, it seemed to him, a t - clear path to the re-establishment of their old relations. If there was any thing left to forgive by either, each r chose to ignore its mention and con- , cede both confession and pardon. ' , "And just to think"?she was sit- \ - ting close beside him, her hand in his t ?"that we should both have arrlv >ack In New York on the same dt ^ever was there for me such a m nent of Intense delight, Gram, dei ls when I saw and recognized yt it two o'clock this morning, saunt< ng up the avenue. If I might or irrest your attention, I thought. :ould not cry out. I was dumb wl oy. But?how I did It I shall ne\ tnow?In the briefest Instant I h matched off my slipper and flung it you. I saw It strike you, saw y itand still in amaze, and then, thou [ craned my neck near to breaklr rou were again out of sight" The revelation, eminently simp iwoke, nevertheless, In the love nind, a score of questions; not t east pressing of which was how :ame that both "Billy the Duke" a vK 1 oo YX7I11 In ma aaiiM hava lonrnnH he Incident under these circui itances. "You won't mind telling me w vas in the car with you, will you le asked, promptly. "In the car with me?" she repet (d, in evident surprise. "Why, ine." "Then how did it happen that t act that you threw the slipper w mown to at least two persons?" The hand that he held all at on rrew tense. A startled look came 1 o Edith's wonderful violet eyes. S ook a quick breath before she spol "How?how do you know that he almost gasped. "Because I have seen them. B ause first one and then the oth lalmed the slipper." At his words the last vestige of o< ir fled her face. She leaned towa dm, tremblingly. "But you didn't?tell me you dldi Ive it up!" "And why shouldn't I?" he quf loned. "There was no way I cou :now It was yours. A girl claimed iver the telephone, the moment eached my rooms." The young woman sank beside hi n infinite despair. "And I depend >n you," she murmured, hopeless They were following in a taxlcab. lad no idea they would see. It lear now why they gave up t\l hase. And I felt all along that yo tresence there at the moment w rovldentlal." His interest, already alert, still fu her quickened. "You know of them? Both hem?" "Oh, yes, yes. I met him on t ioat coming over. He was charmii o me. We all liked him Immense! t was terribly indiscreet. I see iow, but he seemed to read my an ety, and I confessed I had It?that ras hidden In the heel of my sllpp< Lfter that he rarely left me. He sa le would be my big brother. I mig .aasI Kim u-hon It tft flTAttinCT he customs men, who had a way mowing about such " Van Braun mterrupted-her. "Y k'ere trying to evade paying duty? "No, no. Don't you se^? And y iow can you? It was a gift? a we ling gift from Aunt Jeanne to Sal -linturn; the Vaurlgard red diamor Ihe didn't want Sallle to wait un he got to France to see it, althouj he is going over right after the we ling, and is to make her home thei ?o I volunteered at the last minute ring it over just for Sallle to look i BRAZIL'S VALORIZATION PLAN ri'oney Trust Investigation Develo Interesting Facts. Washington, May 16.?The first ustration of the activities of the p ailed "Money Trust" given to t iouse investigating committee t lay, was testimony that three N< fork hanking institutions?the N ional City hank, J. Pierpont Morg; 'z Co., and the First National bar ent financial assistance to the go rnment of Brazil to limit the outp ?f coffee and mantaln prices of coff .t a profitable figure for the bene >f Brazilian planters and Amerlc md European coffee dealers. This testimony came from Herm iielcken, of the New York firm frossman & Sieleken, large dealers rrain coffee. Mr. Sieleken attribi d to the National City hank a p riotlc motive for its investment. A iielcken questioned the propriety he committee going into arazn s t airs, and as for his own partlcip ion, challenged the attorney genei f the United States and all the attc leys of the country to discover any egallty in his actions as a coffee me hant. The witness said that unless som hing had been done to help the plar rs of Brazil, there might have be i revolution. The price of coffee h frown so low through over-produ ion that the Brazilian governme xercises the right to encourage pla ors to diversify their crops. "Which would have the the won evolution in Sao Paulo, or for t consumers of this country to p nuch more for all their coffee?" sa Samuel Untermeyer, counsel for t lommittee. "You would have had to pay th inyhow," said- Mr. Sielcken. He n -..-.1 Il.nl mollis ho still hierh , uru l licit tuucc r? ?V w.... uf the valorization had not been p nto operation. Mr. Untermeyer read from tables ihow the production of coffee for su dies amounted to about six milli >ags and that it sold at from 6 1-2 f cents a pound. Now the product! vas 14,000,000 bags and the price w >etween 13 and 14 cents a pour rhis was accomplished by withhol ng from the market the surplus su )ly of coffee, he said. Mr. Sielcken testified that the 4 AAA AAA hnrru nf nn\V h ng held out of market by the vali zation committee of seven, of whl le is a member. "Would not the price of coffee iown if this were put on the mt tet?" asked Representative Byrnes. "No, it would have no effect on t 1?? .. IICLI l\f It CXIIU mi, i^ivtvnvM. The big loan by which the valoris Ion scheme was floated was 15,01 100 pounds sterling. English, Gi nan, French and Belgian banki ook 13.000,000 of It through If wishes were wings good wor \ould soon cease. MT Many think they are going fc vard bravely because they fear to jack. ;d fltistcllatuous jkaduifl. ir* ACCOUNTS OF COL. GREEN. >u, ?r,]y Governor's Special Detective Submits I Itemized Statement. , Ith Columbia Record. 'er Col. L. M. Green has nad his account ad for services as special detective em- i It ployed by the governor Itemized and It i ou has been honored by the comptroller gh general. The first account, handed to | ig, the comptroller general unltemized, was refused. The new account bases | le. the exi>ense accounts of the special de- i r's tective on a different basis. Instead of i he presenting a claim for the $100 month- l It ly salary the official presents claims nd for per diem expenses, the?e Including of salary. t\- In a statement prepared by the comptroller general It Is stated that ' ho the account Is honored, but that the reasonableness of the charges Is not questioned, this being entirely up to it- the "sound Judgment of the governor no or disbursing officer." The last account as filed by Mr. he Green shows additional services, renas dered since the filing of the first account. ce The statement Issued by Comptroller n- General Jones, showing the first and he ,a8t accounts as prepared by Colonel ce> Green, Is as follows: "Col. L. M. Green has filed the following itemized statement dated May :e. 13, account for services rendered as er special detective: " 'State of Account, May 13th. >1- "Columbia, S. C., May 13, 1912. rd " 'State of South Carolina to L. M. Green, Dr. n't " 'Statement of per diem account services rendered as special detective as ,8_ follows: jd "'March 18-23 Inc.?Investigatlt ing Olar lynching, 6 days at j $10 per day $ 60 00 " 'March 25-27 Inc.?Inveetlgat[m Ing killing of Bryson at ed Mountville and with regard to ly negro lodges around MountI vllle, 3 days at $10 per day.. 30 00 ?_ " 'March 28-29 inc.?Investigat ID ? -- ? , he Ing lynching at Blacksburg, 2 ur days at $10 per day 20 00 as " 'April 3-5?Securing Information as to enforcement laws ir_ at Anderson and as to Cheshire affair, 2 days at $10 per of day 20 00 '"April 8-12 Inc.?Investigating he enforcement of law In Hampton county and as to burning ly of newspaper office at Hamp lt ton and as to Fairfax, S. C., x_ 5 days at $10 per day 50 00 jt " 'April 15-20 Inc.?Trip to Dorjr Chester county, Inveatlgating * ,|d whisky situation and law enhf forcement, 6 days at $10 per by day 60 00 Qf " 'April 22-23 Inc.?Second trip Into Dorchester county to ou make further investigations ? as to liquor situation, 2 days ,et at 10 per day 20 00 "'May 6-10 Inc.?Trip Into Ue Berkeley to see as to burning 1(j of property of Messrs. ThornIII ley and Brittingham at ?h Moncks Corner, 5 days at $20 100 00 d re Total *36U uu to "Inasmuch as this account Is so itemized that it shows what particular work was being done on the days named by Col. Green, and the amount which the governor agreed to pay him, with his approval thereon, the comotroller general will issue his warrant ^ for the i>ayment of the amount. "The contention of the comptroller il- general Is that accounts must be so >o- itemized that the auditing officer and he the public may know for what partlcuo lar services the public funds are being jw paid out. As to whether or not the a- contracts on which such services were an rendered were or were not. reasonable, ik, is a matter which the comptroller genv eral cannot review, as it is left by the ut legislature to the discretion and sound ee judgment of the governor or disbursing fit officer. an "It will appear, however, that the services stated to have been rendered an in the account filed May 13 must emof brace services for which Col. Green in Had previously claimed payment on an it- entirely different basis. For instance: a- on April 15 he filed the following stateIr. ment: of " 'State of South Carolina to L. M. if- Green, Special Detective, Dr.: a- " 'To expenses, investigating al Olar lynching, including trip >r- to Charleston, Denmark and 11- Olar J 30 00 ( >r- " 'To expenses, investigating ' 'I" n ?? Mnnnt. Killing ill 01 J own civ ifivuov ie- ville and looking into cerit tain reports in reference to en negro lodges around Mountad ville 20 00 c- " 'To expenses, investigating nt lynching at Blacksburg .... 15 00 n- " 'To expenses, investigating burning of newspaper office ie, at Hampton, and looking into he the general condition of the ay enforcement of the law as to tid the sale of whisky, etc., at he Hampton and Fairfax 22 00 ' " 'To expenses, Anderson, for iat securing information in reftr erence to the enforcement of er the law and obtaining inforut mation in re Muldrow-Cheshire affair, and investigating to the conduct and work of Dep tective Sanders 18 50 ' on < to 1105 50 ' on " 'To one month's service, as as special detective from March id. 16th to April 15th, Inclusive. 100 r d- ( p. {205 50 1 " 'State of South Carolina, county of ! >re Richland: >e. " 'Personally appeared before me L. >r- M. Green, who, upon being duly sworn, ' Ch deposes and says that the within ac- ' count of $105.50 and $100.00 respective- ' g0 ly, are correct and that the services ( ir. were rendered under commission from ' the governor, and that no part of said claim has been paid. ' " 'L. M. Green. 1 :a- " 'Sworn to and subscribed before 1 )0t me this lfith day of April, 1912. ;r_ " 'W. F. Blackburn, ^rs " N. P. S. CV i "This statement was approved for payment by the governor, but the I comptroller general refused to issue ks his warrant in payment for the reason t that the dates on which the expenses i >r- were incurred were not stated on the go claim for services rendered and such I service not itemized. This statement i was then returned to Col. Green, who undertook to correct same by Inserting from memory, the dates when i these expenses were Incurred. When these dates were Inserted, payment was still refused for the reason that the salary claimed for one month's 1 service was unauthorized by law. r "These prior statements appear to n be inconsistent with the final state- c ment filed May 13, covering all these 1 matters. But as the statement of May F 13 Is correct In form, the camptroller a general has felt it his duty to issue his I 1 warrant on the state treasurer for b l>ayment of same, it having received g the approval of the governor, who is ? responsible to the people for the con- a tracts authorized by him." ' tl FLOYD ALLEN 18 GUILTY. J $ Jury Agrees in Condemning the Car- 0 roil County Outlaw. t* Wytheville, Va., May 17.?Floyd Al- w en's jury today found him guilty of nurder In the first degree. Death in w :he electric chair is the penalty. After a night of deliberation, c vhlch at one time threatened a dlsigreement, the Jury filed into court n his morning and delivered its verdict. a Sentence was deferred, as Allen may >e called as a witnesB in the trials of p lis kinsmen, who are also charged * vlth the five murders In Carroll coun- a y court sparsely filled court room heard 0 ;he end of the trial. Some thought ^ hat fear of an outbreak, such as " narked the adverse verdict at Hill- a rille, might be seen today. It was im- d lossible, however. Officers searched ill who entered the room. i*s:n t t Till I r J VSWIVI ? The other prisoners will be tried ( ramedlately. Claude, Friel and Vic- r :or Allen, Byrd Marion and Sldna Ed- a vards, are under indictment for the 0 F nurders, while Sidna Allen and Wesey Edwards, two other members of p he gang:, are still at large. When court opened today, the Jury vas called in and the foreman ques:ioned by Judge Staples. The Jurors Jeclared there were a number of points of difference existing in the panel and it was doubtful whether a rerdlct could be reached. Judge j Staples declared the case was one of mch magnitude he felt he must send he Jury back with a few words of :autlon and advice. He said, when a lumber of men were thrown together n intimate Isolation for a long period >f time, with all their thoughts and atentlons entered upon one matter, it ^ vaa but natural there should be a |( endency to different views and po- p litions. Along with this tendency, he ^ aid, there was another tendency of J( he human mind to fix deep-rooted in jne's own mind unwarranted opinion t( n an earnest effort to convince others. j| Judge Staples said the Jury had not w iworn to do other than to reach one inclusion?the guilt or Innocence of c he accused. He said If the Jurors lost a light of that issue In any private in- t) lividual opinion, they would do c, vrong to themselves, an unintended t] violence to their solemn obligation and ^ jrave injustice either to the commonvealth or the accused. The Jury a- a tain retired and it was but a short Irne before announcement was made u hat an agreement had been reached. iVhen court reassembled, the foreman rj ead the verdict of "guilty as charged (t n the indictment." Judge Staples t] leld that was not the proper form. ^ rhe foreman then explained that the t( verdict was one of guilty in the first tj legree, the penalty being electrocu- tj :ion. lf Killing of Foster. . . ITM mrA A 11 An uroa /"?Vt orCnH smpplflPAl y, at this time, with the murder of t( Commonwealth Attorney William j.VI. Foster, prosecutor in the Carroll h :ourt at Hlllvllle last March when the :rlal of Floyd Allen culminated in the M tilling of five persons?Presiding 0 Fudge Thornton I* Massie; Prosecu- p tor William M. Foster; Sheriff L F. p Webb; Miss Elizabeth Ayers and Juror tj Augustus Fowler. t( On the first ballot taken by the Jur- ^ srs the vote stood ten for murder in p the first degree, and two for murder in the second .degree. f, The verdict came as a distinct sur- t] prise, as It was thought the Jury was p hopelessly divided. One of the twelve j, men is known to have said previous |, :o being summoned for Jury duty Cl that "you can't always get Justice in fl :ourts and maybe the Aliens were not 'ar wrong." and the attorneys for the <} ?ommonwealth had made arrange- C( nents to arrest him on a charge of C1 perjury should he bring about a disigreement. This morning he agreed jj Change of Plan. T The commonwealth announced a a :hange of the plan of trying Claude g| ind Victor Allen Jointly and that they t] A-ould next take up the case of Claude n >n the indictment charging him with ^ he murder of Judge Massle. The rj rial will begin Monday and a venire y( >f ten men has been summoned from Q. vhich it is hoped to get a Jury with- t| )ut all the delay experienced in the 4 rial just completed. tl Attorneys for the defendant an- 0 nounced after court adjourned that t] :hey would ask for a writ of error, rhe charge delivered by Judge Staples :his morning, it was said, touched on ei points upon which the Virginia p :ourt of appeals had never passed. p The prisoner's wife sat beside him. a She was dressed in black and wore a arge poke bonnet so that her face a iould not be seen. li Allen seemed brighter today than j, in yesterday, evidently expecting a p nlstrlal, but he was the picture of dejpair when the verdict was read. tl Defiance of Law. t, In his cell tonight, surrounded by w guards, Allen broke out Into a tirade j, if defiance of the law. "I am not foing to the electric chair," he shout- w id. "I've still got some friends in n Carroll county." t< The guards are fearful that Allen j( nay repea' his attempt at suicide, ind one or more are always locked In ^ Ihe cell with him. p o <*iTA gulty conscience needs no press o igent.- tl iWThe characters of some men only c ast till tho whitewash wears off. it t#"'If at first you don't succeed," c Jays the stock broker, "buy, buy d igaln." u Never size a man from his ac- T Lions when he known he is being watched. I TITANIC CLAIMS QUICKLY MET. rhtre Was But Littls Red Tape About Insurance Liability. Although the sinking of the Titanic nvolved the largest total loss the maine underwriters have ever had to neet from a single disaster, at the lose of the week practically all of he policies written had been met. Toof of loss was obtainable as soon s the surviving officers reached New rork, and since then collection has een merely a matter of routine. Agregate property loss is placed by the Ipectator at $9,420,000, and that lnsurnce authority divides this total into 8,000,000 for the vessel, $420,000 for he cargo and $1,000,000 for personal ffects. Marine Insurance totalling 6,000,000 on the property is divided in 5,000,000 on the vessel, $400,000 on the argo and $600,000 on the personal efscts. Life and accident insurance, rhich must be paid on the deaths of de insured among 1,635 persons who rere drowned is more difficult to esmate because of the many inaccuraies in the names of the missing and le difficulty of identifying individual ames with those on the various life nd accident companies. Lacking final returns, the Spectator rints estimates of their losses recelvd from 119 life insurance companies nd forty-eight accident insurance ompanles which aggregate $2,124,001 n life policies and $1,564,000 on accient policies, but the journal in sumling up puts the probable life insurnce loss a.t $4,000,0000 and the aoelent Insurance loss at $2,000,000. Nearly all the life and accident Inurance companies in reporting refer > the difficulties of identifying the >st passengers with the names carled on their lists. In any large lnsurnce company there are many holders f policies whose names are identical. *urther than that, in any long list of ersons such as the roll of the missing mong the Titanic'a passengers, slmlir names are bound to be found on tie card indexes of the big life insurnce companies and it becomes neces4/v Ahnnlr tKo rtnoolKla lAOOAfl tin hv btainlng the addresses of the missing nd other data by which they may be ientlfled with the actual holders of ie policies. None of the companies is making ny difficulties about paying policies f those who are known to have salld on the Titanic and ' who were not mong those brought in by the Carathla, but-as the formalities involved i establishing identities are much reater than those in proving cargo >sses the payment of the life and acIdent policies will be slower than has een the settlement of the marine >sses. The current number of the Specta>r thus sums up the position of the fe and accident companies from h!ch reports have been received: "It will be some time before the life , !>mpanies are able to total up the exct amount of their losses, because noct s are still being received that they arried insurance on those who lost telr lives. Losses to, individual com anl's range rrom a i w nunarea aoi:ra to almost $1,000, >00. This latter mount falls to the Travelers of Hart>rd, which will have the greatest loss nder life and accident policies." Procedure in the collection of mane policies is of the greatest slmplicy. When the surviving officers of le lost Titanic gathered at the Walorf on Friday. April 19, four days af?r the wreck, for the first hearing of le senatorial investigating committee ley signed the official protest, which i all the proof marine underwriters reuire. This paper set forth briefly the lets of the Tltanic's sinking, with the ttal loss of the hull and cargo, folders of marine insurance policies ad thereafter merely to present cerIfled copies of this "protest," along rith their policies, proofs of the value f the goods covered, and of their resence aboard the vessel. For this urpose nothing more was necessary ban the same papers which are cusomarily presented at the custom ouse when a cargo safely reaches ort These consist of the bill of lading ar the shipment insured, a copy of be ship's manifest identifying the f resence among the cargo of the items 1 the bill of lading, and the foreign ivoice certified by a United States Dnsul at the port of shipment, which xes the value. In ordinary cases, the marine unerwrlters insist on receiving certified opies of the "protest," but In the ase of the Titanic, whose loss is a latter of c ->mmon knowledge, no difculty has been made on this score, he circumstances of the loss of the itanlc make the collection of claims, s in any case of total loss, a much mpler and a briefer process than ie le case in the great bulk of paylents on marine policies. Joseph H. ' ~ " ? i?-Jt??? A+ An m.1 _ Lanoy, t& letuime aumviu; v?> ne Insurance, ventured the opinion esterday that more Individual claims n marine policies are paid because of le pilfering from consignments on ock or In transit for damage to goods lan for actual losses at sea, though f course, the aggregate amount of lese losses is small. ? la /lomoiyo^ Kv U'O . W nere a uaigu ia uamoo^u ?r or fire, and the vessel finally reach3 port or a position where salvage Is osslble, collection on policies is comlicated by the necessity of arriving t an appraisal of damage. The final etermination of such losses may be rrlved at by the sale at auction of the lsured cargo, the percentage of loss 1 the policy being determined by the roportion the auction price may bear 5 the invoice value. Knowledge that lis final test of loss may be resorted 3 Is a large factor in smoothing the ray to agreement as to losses between inured and underwriters. The old rule of "a year and a day," 'hlch usually applied in the case of llssing ships in the days of sail as dejrmlnlng that the vessel was actually )st, has given way in modern practice ) the application of calculations to nit individual cases. Most of the ollcies on missing ships are paid all ver the world following the decision f the Lloyds' committee in London lat the ship is lost. In the case of r>asters or ships under American regiter, the underwriters take into acount the distance between places of eparture and destination and the aimi lanvfh ftf tho vnvnare.?Hartford 'lmes. ta' Short prayers often last longest.