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ESTABLISHED 1858. YORKVILLE, 8. C., TUE8DAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1913. >TO. 74.
SB
The Mii
By CHARLES T1
Author of Do of Soal
(Copyright 1912, The Bobbs-Merr
CHAPTER XXI.
The Tineel Show.
He had no difficulty in finding her.
The posters before the Cohan A Snitx's
syndicate theatre were featuring her.
The publicity bureau had spread far
upon the value of that "$100,000
ttrise beauty" contest Everything
was fish, or more properly, Kosher
meat that came to the net of Cohan
A Snlts.
"And to think," murmured Mr. Curran
that morning after breakfast at
the Sherman House, "that Vawter,
the artist, and me of the News were
at the bottom of It!"
Aurelle had made a go of It, that
was certain. Wiley learned of her hotel
at the box office. It was one that
startled him, for the sober Midlands,
it stood for all the city's opulence;
to Wiley it was barbaric, Bysantlne,
dangerous.
"What?" he muttered, "has our
little Iowa girl got to do, living at the
Graystone? How the mischief can
she afford It?"
For he couldn't free himself from
Aurelie's vagabondage of the rabbithunting
days. She was a many-sided
person who could skin rabbits or
sing enticingly each night: If I Were
the Only Girl in the World, Don't
You Think You Could Love me? or
some one other of those American
folk-songB which the Hebrews write
for us and sell us. Wiley passed a
whole window pyramided with the
great song-hit, and Aurelie's picture
was on top of It
"Well, I'll be damned," he said.
"You kid!"
He went In and bought a copy of
If I Were the Only Girl, etc. Then
he ran across Jeffries of the Times,
whom he used to know in Rome, and
who envied Wiley for being: his own
master and the bis frog in the little
puddle; and Wiley said, "That's so,"
but secretly envied Jeffries his place
In the big puddle of city newspaperdom.
Then Jeffries said curiously: "Saw
you were in politics down in the oldj
town, Wiley?"
"Sort of. The Delroy bunch got
me to run against Jim Hall, and, bless
me, if I don't beat his head off in the
primary."
"Thunder?you in congress! Oh,
great guns, Wiley!"
'That's what they all say."
"Is Thad unanimous?"
"The old skunk will knife me, but
the court house ring is about down
and out, I think. Had to put Harlan
Van Hart, on their ticket this fall to
sort of brace it up. The people has
rlz up, and let a yelp, Benny, and
I'm on the rlz with 'em. Come on,
I'll take you to a show this afternoon."
"Ain't one In town worth killing."
"What's the matter with The Girl
and the Burglar?"
"Some more bunk handed us from
Broadway. But the girl in It Is all to
the good. She's peeled off a threebagger
with this town.
"Sing?" quavered Mr. Curran palpitatingly.
"Not much. No one can In these
shows."
"Act?" continued Mr. Curran, more
palpitatingly.
"Not much. She doesn't have to.
Nobody does. But this girl's got the
nerve and personality, and the dear
old pub always falls to that. She
Just reaches out over the lights and
grabs 'em with her smile."
"What?" faltered Mr. Curran. "Is
her name?"
"Ain't you heard? Aurelle Llndstorm.
She came out of your corn
belt somewhere. First season in big
business. Cohan & Snitz took her out
of a Broadway bunch green as grass,
and the first night here she saved
the show by making faces. The leading
woman blew up and quit right
there."
"Let's go," cried Mr. Curran.
"Can't I'm on the city hall today.
But take It In, she'll do to pass an
hour with."
I Mr. Ourran hurried away, tie
walked four blocks and gazed into
another store front piled with. If I
Were the Only Girl, etc., '"featured by
Aurelie Undstorm in The Girl and
the Burglar," and then another and
another! And finally he went to the
lake front and gazed on the massive
pile wherein she lived. He lost his
nerve; he was afraid to go in. He
forgot all about congress and affairs
of state. He went to see a wholesale
paper house on business, and
took In the Art Museum, resolved
that he would call on Aurelie at five.
Then he reasoned that was too close
to dinner and he'd be hanging around
in the portieres; so he dined alone at
the Annex and drank a pint of champagne
as riotously as a country editor
can drink champagne. After dinner
It was too late to see her, so he
concluded it would be best to watch
her act first and make up his mind
unprejudiced by personal contact. By
great luck he got a ticket from a
speculator, for the house was sold
out. His ticket was for the last row,
down stairs, but he didn't care; it
was enough to be under the same
root with Aureue; me uaun^a
squawking and the program boys
hustling over his feet; and all about
him the dinner-filled and waddly importance
with which people got 10
^ shows. Wiley had been long enough
away from cities to take a pleasure
in watching the mob crowd in, and
hearing the rustle of their gowns and
hats, and smelling their perfumes. The
esthete's soul in him drew away
from their lust of feed and spectacle,
their expollting banality, yet he knew
this repugnance had no place in a
politician and he was trying to be a
politician.
Then the orchestra played that
chirrupy, zing-zing music with which
all musical comedies begin, and the
curtain shot up to discover that
theatric novelty which all good shows
)LANDERS
ENNEY JACKSON
*, My Broiher'a Keeper, Etc.
Ill Company.)
must have?the dilemma of the Rich
Toung Man. This time he was in
disguise abroad, where he had followed
the Daughter of the Wall Street
Operator. Then the German innkeeper,
the English lord, the American
aunt, the chauffeur, the waiter, the
girls in the cafe, the cablegram, the
ticker, and all those novel things for
which the American people pay two
dollars, and at which they laugh delightedly.
There wasn't any burglar,
but he wasn't necessary.
Mr. Curran waited feverishly. The
kid, something surely would go wrong
and spoil his delight!
But?she came.
Mr. Curran forgot to breathe. She
was beautiful, and yet not so as he
had seen her in the woods. But it
wasn't that?out of her abounding
fun-loving health came alternately
a droll abandon and then demureness;
she was apart from all the professional
people about her because of the
delight with which she romped
through her part. She hadn't a ghost
:of a stage voice, or a stage look, or
a stage walk; the people were beginning
to laugh when she came on, and '
I she was laughing with them; and out '
of the silly dialogue of the Rich Toung
Man, who delighted everybody by
mealing the chauffeur's coat, she 1
drew more two-dollar mirth for 1
fCohan & Snltz.
"She can't act! gasped Mr. Cur- 1
ran, horrified. "It's Just only Aurelie!"
That was It. Just Aurelle enjoying
herself Immensely, laughing in a
wonderous creation of a gown that
wilted Mr. Curran even to think upon.
Then she began to sing, still in
a great good humor, that heart-throb
of the American people: If I Were
the Only Girl in the World, Don't
Tou Think You Could Love Me? and
the boys in the gallery raised a tremendous
racket. She had to sing it
four times and each time Mr. Curran
rocked and roared.
? -J AU A ...A||A "
"one cam sing; vu, auicuc.
But presently, with the uproarious
pleasure of all these people, a great
rapture came to Wiley Curran's heart.
She was just Aurelie, yet magically
she won her way, all health and
grace and honest gaity. That was all
she had to give.
He went out after the act and had
a drink, the tears in his eyes. "The
kid?the dear kid?!" he murmured,
and had another drink.
When he got back the stage was a
great splash of color, girls, hats,
gowns, arms, legs, imitation champagne,
conversation about sugar
stock and motor cars; but Mr. Curran
waited impatiently for the comedienne.
He couldn't get to his seat
and stood by the rail. But when she
came, this time in a dinner gown and ,
opera cloak and sang My Rosebud
Girl?really, this time, with a native
lyric sweetness?Wiley sighed with
more content which may, after all,
hova hoon tn-n drinks It was an ,
I
amazing splendor and success, and he
looked about in complacence that he
knew her and the others did not.
And one of those glances went to the
figure of a man standing near, which
he watched curiously, for it was familiar.
Then he saw it was Harlan
Van Hart. Harlan, In the gloom of
the foyer, watching imperturbably.
Before Wiley could move, the young
man's gaze shifted. He came directly,
and without surprise, to the other
man.
"Wiley?"
"You here?"
"You saw the Journal tonight?"
"No." He shrugged toward the
stage. "Of her?"
Harlan motioned enigmatically.
"Come with me. I want to show you.
Although, I don't know why I
should."
Curran followed to the cafe. They
took a table. Harlan waved the waiter
aside. "It's this?" He drew the
paper from his pocket. "Why I
came here. By God, to save her,
Wiley, if it's true!"
The news article announced the
supposed engagement of Aurelie
Lindstorm, of the Cohan & Snltz combination,
to a young man whom all
the west knew for his plunging on the
board of trade, his motor racing, his
divorce proceedings and his affairs
with women of the underworld.
" I presume you know who Benham
is?"
Curran's voice came in whispers.
"He lies! Ah, God, it's not so!"
"He dares publish It as so. And I
came to see. I came to save her, and
you?to amuse yourself."
The older man stared at him. His
hand came from his pocket. "I came
to give her this. Her little rosary."
Harlan's eyes were on it. It had
lain upon her neck all those nights
of his summer love with her. "Her
name," he muttered on, "given as a
former chorus girl?and coupled
with Joe Benham's. It's horrible!"
"It's a lie!"
Harlan sat back coolly. His gray
eyes beckoned the waiter. "I'll see."
He was writing on a tab. Then, to
the waiter: "Ring for a messenger.
I'll send for her. To meet us here
after the performance."
Curran watched him silently. Harlan
had become the man. The touch
of the Viking in his blond strength,
which Wiley had always admired, was
up, young, triumphing, prlmally ruthless.
Curran would not have dared
send that message?curt, direct, demanding
that she come. He was conscious
now of fighting against an
obsession of the younger man's vlctoriousness.
He would stop short of
gambler's chance, the staking of his
all on his confidence in his own
power.
And In fifteen minutes the boy came
back. She had written nothing, she
had merely told him she would come.
Then they waited an intolerable
hour, talking vainly on matters of
the town, politics and business, law
and newspapering. Wiley fidgeted;
Harlan was lmperturbably serene.
The cafe filled with a crush of aftertheatre
feeders, the hum and motion
became livelier as midnight drew on.
And then, when they were still trying
to entertain each other with commonplace
and constrained confidence,
none of that old joy of Intercourse
between them, there was a stir behind
their table and Aurelle was
there.
They were both on their feet Her
amazement was delightful. She had
o KonH fn nonh r\t thom nrvlni? nilt ,
distraction; she was provoked at
them; why hadn't ?^y come like
gentlemen to await her at the stage
door instead of sending for her? She
was puzzled?but she had come!
Already the cafe people were look*
lng at them. Aurelie was colorful,
aglow with small poses and careless
graces; she smiled ingenously on
them with phrases of her barbarous
French which, she had not been slow
to learn, added to her distinction.
"I'm alone. I declined everybody
for you!" And for their lives neither
man knew at whioh she was looking
?It must be both.
"You had an engagement, Aurelie?"
Wiley asked her.
"Oh, Just a little one?not enough
to matter, like the Paris lady's baby!
I'll make them all wait?for you.
You know these choppy chaps I've got
acquainted with don't bother me
much."
Wiley looked at Harlan. Plainly
Joe Benham's millions and motors
hadn't dazzled Aurelle.
"It's fine to see you all." She per*
sisted in "you-alls," and "I reckons,"
and "aint's," when she felt like them.
"Just line. I did feel hurt because
none of my old friends ever looked
me up in Chicago. And me a real
lady now! Mr. Levy says they're going
to reorganize the New York production
and give me a chance on
Broadway?little old New York where
Ada Norman and I nearly starved to
death"?she picked an olive from the
dish: "Oh, tell me how is Uncle
Michigan and the baby?"
Harlan didn't know. "Fine!" retorted
Wiley. "And Knute sayB there
were never so many rabbits up on
Eagle Point He's waiting for you to
come back, and he's training old Nellie's
pups to trail 'em."
She was filled with laughter. She
had a pup that could beat Nellie's!
Yes, sir! "And how is your old shop,
Mr. Curran, and Aunt Abby and her
Banbury tarts; and which drunk
printers have you got now?Jim Mims
or the Dutch one?" She played her
part before her school-day lover; not
for worlds would she have noticed his
silent stubbornness. "Do you-all really
want me to come back and play in
the tin opera house? How big and
grand it used to seem! I never went
except way up in the gallery with
Knute, and I used to see you boys?
Mr. Curran in a front seat, for he
didn't have to pay anything; and Harlan
always there with some of the
high school girls."
She sighed demurely. "That was
before I went to school!"
"Aurelie," put in Harlan gravely,
"you've not changed a bit."
"I'm not going to change. I'm not
gone greatly on these cities. When
all these managers and stage direc
tors get on their high horse with me
I say: "Oh, you go to the devil?
you don't impress me a bit!" And
then they threaten to discharge me or
something, and I say: 'Go ahead?I
can go back to Rome, Iowa, and play
in the tin opera house! Hen McFetrldge
is going to buy it for me!' "
"You ever hear from Hen McFetridge?"
"The twins wrote me from s?n
Francisco. They've made money
again, out of mineral water this time."
Harlan frowned. Hen and Ben had
not improved Aurelie's good name in
Rome, Iowa, by going bankrupt
backing her maiden stage tour. She
rambled on: "Now tell me, who
made this up to come in and surprise
me?"
They looked at each other. "We
met here tonight," said Harlan, "in
the theatre."
"Indeed?" She read them a shrewd
instant. "And do you like the piece?
I don't. It's silly, Mr. Curran. I
don't think so much of the stage as
I did. It's all graft, and unless a
girl is very lucky she won't get on
unless"?Aurelie paused?"unless she
has the right friends. But people
have been mighty good to me."
"I suspect, Aurelie," murmured
Curran, "you are mighty good to
them."
She gave Mr. Curran a sourful enigmatic
glance. "That's why I like
you, Mr. Curran! Just saying things
like that!" She sighed: "Harlan
wouldn't!" She looked at him with
long reproach.
Harlan could not smile. He was bewilderedly
trying to imagine where
Aurelie had acquired all these man
ners and yet not overlaid her naturalness.
She dressed beautifully, yet
with taste, even with all her old vagabond
love for colors. She made them
live with health. Cohan & Snltz
knew this impress on the audiences.
Pretty things and gladness! But one
of the reviewers talked of Aurelie
and the psychology of dress, and Aurelie
shuddered. Le bon Dieu, did
not psychology have to do with
ghosts!
She went on plaintively merry:
"Sometimes I do get tired. Ada Norman
says I havn't enough talent to
go on except my face. Just like a
lot of kids who've come up from the
chorus?pretty soon I'll have to depend
on the masseurs, and grease
paint won't make up what I lose.
Then zing! says Ada!" Aurelie looked
thoughtfully at them both. "But you
know I don't care. I'm going to save
my money, and have a cunning little
place and some babies, and go
hunting rabbits sometime with Uncle
Mich In the snow!"
"That is a large and brilliant programme,
Aurelie!" Mr. Curran had to
laugh. Harlan's smile came doggedly
at last. It was hard to resist her
spirits. She was unspoiled, but joy
had been set free. In the hearts of
both men had grown a miserable
shame that they had quarreled over
Joe Benham. The gilded youth, and
the blatant press for Aurelie who was
thinking of Old Michigan and tracking
rabbits in the snow!
She went on stabbing the town and
stage folk with a vivacious and heedless
wit. She asked of Rome, Iowa.
So Harlan was in politics? What was
he running for? She Just couldn't
remember when she told the comedian
whom she had the "date" with tonight.
She had said her friend was
running for the penitentiary! And
mon dleu, the comedian interpolated
this in his lines and broke her all up
with laughing. And the house didn't
know, of course?but it laughed with
her!
Harlan listened. A Van Hart
chuckled by a comedy man?and
I chuckled into his lines was exasper
atlng?aa exasperating as trying to
be stern with Aurelle! She was babbling
with laughter. "District attorney!
Of course! Something long
and important! I didn't mean the
penitentiary!"
And she almost had the two men
laughing with her?almost Only the
desperate hurt was there. And not
for worlds would they have mentioned
| Joe Benham. 'Wiley looked triumphantly
across the table at Harlan.
Right? Of course he was right
"But why did you come, Mr. Curran?
Just to see me?"
"To give you this, Aurelie." He
drew out the rosary, and her cry of
joy, the quick rush of tears to her
eyes was reward. She had the lost
trinket to her lips, to the amazement
of all the after-theatre feeders.
"The boys found it behind the
clapboards in your little white room!"
"Oh, my little white room!"
"It's just as you left it They keep
!it waiting for you, Aurelie.
And then she cried indeed amid the
cafe feeders. Wiley looked away.
"A child?Just a child, yet, Harlan,"
he muttered, and the other nodded.
"They all love you. Even John.
Your help and gifts and letters?why,
even sour old John couldn't get
around It all!"
"I loved him, too?only he was too
religious for me!"
Mr. Curran pointed at the rosary.
"So you are, Aurelie. Or thinking of
Uncle Mich and Peter and the baby
wouldn't make you cry?among this
sort of people! And this queer little
chain of yours. It must have been
your mother's?and I know where It
came from."
Her eyes widened. "My mother's?
Yes?yes?but where?"
"N?w Orleans. A crazy silversmith
on Chartres street who thought he
was a genius. So he marked all his
rosaries and never made much else." !
"Why, I had it when I done come
up-river. When Captain Tinkletoes
stole me! Uncle Michigan says he
thought I was a boy when they stole
me!"
"I know Mich's old yarn. But this
rosary?I hate to show you?but the
cross is gone."
She looked quickly at him. He so
understood what it would mean to
her. And Harlan, watching the two,
saw what a common piece of sentiment
they were, the same vagrants of
80Ul.
"I wouldn't say anything about it,"
murmured Aurelie, "only it was .my
mother's. And it's dreadful not to
have a mother?only Ada Norman and
a hairdresser!" ,
She left an arch sad smile with Mr.
Curran. "Sometimes, I'd rather not
be a homeless stray. But I suppose
people must go on rattling in
?1? u ? ?? """l * A r\ Viz* f Kin co
uieir iia.1 iicbs auu uctti uu me mii..du
they love. Sometimes, I get the old
longing to run off down-river with
Uncle Mich. And take you, Mr. Curran!"
Then she broke his enchantment
with her laughter. "Harlan looks as
If he thought we-all were perfectly
crazy! Well, I suppose one can't.
Some chap Is going to write a new
piece?Just for me. A real star part.
I think they call It The Girl With the
Pink Eyebrow." Harlan's face set
hard. That was It. The Girl With
the Pink Eyebrow, or the Girl and the
Duke, The Girly Girl, Half a Girl,
More than a Girl, or some other of
the pandrolng to this modern age,
which no longer able to exult in the
rapine of cities, takes Its lusts to or
chestra chairs. Which makes for a
"good run" as well as art.
"So I reckon I'll keep on working."
Aurelle was saying. "Some day I'll
buy a farm for Papa John and lots
of things. They've offered me a contract
for next season that scares me
when I think of the old hungry days
?those days when I was Just Old
Michigan's girl, with no name or anything."
They had read of Aurelle's salary.
It was more In a week than Mr. Curran
and his caterwauling Rome News
made in three months. Back home
people stralghtly refused to believe
anything of the sort.
The after-theatre feeders were
leaving, swishing and waddling away
with sidelong glances at this colorful
black-eyed girl who sat between the
Imperturbable young man and the
elder eager one. Harlan had beckoned
for the waiter and ordered a
cab.
"It's one o'clock," he said, "and
you ought to be at your hotel, Aurelle."
She shrugged as if about to rebel,
then was silent. Some old habit of
obedience to him held her. Wiley
n'nilM havp sat all
night watching this miraculous Aurelie.
He resented Harlan's tone.
When she had risen and was busy
with her wraps, each man leveled a
challenge at the other. Then to Harlan's
lips a resolute smile came. "I
told you she would come," he murmured.
Aurelie was approaching. Never
had she looked so humanly beautiful
as under the glarlsh lights of the cafe
vestibule?never so quick with feellig,
so true with life. Her world had
not spoiled her?had not touched the
generous simplicity in her. When
they were in the cab, whirling away
to her hotel, she reached from her
furs and patted Curran's hand with a
happy little sigh.
"I do think dreams come true!
Away down-river I remember putting
hyacinths in my hair and staring
down-river in the water. I thought I
was pretty! And that came true!
Just the gray cypress woods, and the
lilies floating to the sea, and the
mocking-birds singing; and the Indian
woman catching shrimps on a
stick. Captain Tinkletoes telling war
stories and digging for buried treas
ure. But Uncle Mich said we'd go
off sometimes and see all the lands
and states and countries. Oh, something
very wonderful must be up in
those lands and states and countries!
And that came true! The land
o' Joy! We'll find it somewhere,
won't we, Mr. Curr&n?people like
you and me!"
"Find it!" he cried. "Aurlle, it's
here!"
"You understand," she answered,
and settled back on the cushion with
another luxuriant sigh.
The two men left her at the hotel.
She had a carious, shy, studied sweetness
for them both in her parting
that left them silent as the cab rattled
away to the railroad station
through the dreary after-mldnlght
on ecus. uoue, pastuug a. twiuci
lamp, Curran saw Harlan's face turned
to him, calm, hard, victorious.
The elder man could not repress
his cry.
"Damn you, Harlan! Tou came
here doubting her, and I never doubted
her. She's good?good?always
good!"
"I know. Because she loved me
after all. That held her good through
all this life?the notoriety and glitter
?because she loves me, Wiley!"
The other man could not answer.
His cry now was to his own heart.
He seemed battling to evade some ineffable
self-pathos that would And its
way. Harlan?always to Harlan, life
brought the best without price, with
out struggle.
He would say no more. When
they were In the smoking-room of
the Pullman they were again silent;
and when Harlan had gone to his
berth, Curran went forward through
the train seeking an open platform.
He wanted the open, the stars and
freedom?he must . have air. He
found an unclosed vestibule and sat
staring out at the night, the black of
the prairie Midlands, with far off the
silken veil of the city flung luminous
against the sky.
"Oh, well!" He tried to reason.
"The boy?he loves her, after all.
And all the years he's been flrst with
me?flrst In everything." He could
not grasp his sense of fatherhood,
tender, mystic, encompassing, for
Harlan. Tet always it had been so?
this friendship that he had held so
beautiful, so true. Then Aurelie had
come to lay a finger laughingly against
this faith. To dazzle him?to bring
the hurt to Harlan's eyes, and lnfivnllnohla
raKalllnn tn hla OWII.
"Eh, well?those children!" He
rose, sighing. "It's for me to play the
mfcn at last! God bless them! I love
'em both?and neither could understand
how or why. And I can't either!"
He went back defying his rebellion,
stumbling to grasp his old loyalty,
that fine ardor for his friend,
which had made the long years sweeten
It was hard to define his struggle.
A faint smile came to his lips
at the suggestion that he loved?
nothing like that was a part of him,
he had said long ago.
"I'd tell Janet." he muttered, "if
she'd understand?but she wouldn't
Yet Janet?Janet knows me?and
understands 'most everything." Then
his sad smile came again. "Janet?
after all, she's nearest?and dearest.
But, somehow, It took Aurelle to
awaken me!"
I 10 UC lltiucu. /
TAMED THE MONARCH
The Part a Silver Inkstand Played in a
National Crisis.
The pages of history record many
Instances In which trivial incidents
have shaped the destinies of nations.
According: to a story in the New York
Tribune, a small silver inkstand and
the quick wit of a prime minister once
played an Important part in the history
of the Netherlands.
William III, king: of the Netherlands,
was a man of violent and ungovernable
temper. Although in general, a clever
statesman, he was inclined, for some
reason or other, to involve Holland In
the trouble that was brewing between
France and Germany in 1870. He was
deaf to the appeals of his ministers,
who foresaw the ruin to the country
that war would bring.
Thnrho^ifA the nrime minister, re
solved to make one la&t attempt to
change his majesty's resolution. On entering
the royal presence Thorbecke
was greeted with a rough "Good morning!
What's the news?"
"Nothing particular, your majesty.
Only the people of the Hague are talking
a great deal of nonsense about your
majesty.
"About me!" exclaimed the monarch
In wrath. "What do they say about
? ~ o??
IIIC i
"Well, sir," answered the old statesman,
"The Haguers declare that your
majesty has bcome stark, staring
mad!" Before he could utter another
word King William, his face purple
with fury, jumped up and seized a
heavy silver inkstand, with .the intention
of hurling it at the head of the
premier. Fortunately a projecting angle
of the inkstand caught In the tablecloth
and dragged it off the table with
everything upon it. In the confusion
the discharge of the missle was delayed
for a moment.
"Sire," exclaimed Thorbecke quietly,
"if your majesty hurls that beautiful
inkstand at my head The Haguers will
have much reason for their assertion!"
For a minute the angry king gazed
in silence at his minister. Then he
gradually lowered his arm and replaced
the inkstand on the table. He walked
to one of the windows and stood
looking out for a few minutes. Returning
to the table, he resumed his seat
and said, as If nothing had happened:
"And now tell me what you have got
to say."
An hour later, when the statesman
left, he carried with him the monarch's
promise to issue a proclamation that
would declare the neutrality of Hoi
land.
*?'A Scotchman In Winnipeg had to
disrrtlss his gardener for dishonesty.
For the sake of the man's wife and
family, however, he gave him a "character"
and framed It In this way: "I
hereby certify that J. G. has been my
gardener for over two years, and during
that time he got more out of the
garden than any man I ever employed."?Ex.
IW Gerald?The elephant Is a peculiar
animal.
Geraldine?That's so; he hasn't any
i collection of hotel labels on his trunk.
pisfrtlaneous Reading.
? WILL NOT SIGN BONDS
Governor Blease 8?y? Supreme Court
Has Overruled Itself.
Governor Bleaae announces, according
to the Columbia correspondent of
the News and Courier, he will not sign
any bonds or stocks, making it certain
there will be no refunding of the state
debt during his term of office. He scored
the supreme court last Thursday for
| their opinion' In upholding the validity
I of the refunding act and goes after Associate
Justice Hydrlck, who wrote the
opinion. His dictated statement says:
"Wa T am r\ laannninfo/1 Of t Ho PA.
ill/( A Ollt IIW uioappvuvvvi - ?
suit of the decision of the supreme
court. I rather expected It. I regret
very much though, that they dodged
the main point in the case, and did not
decide fairly and squarely the question
of a quorum, as to whether or not a
member of the house or senate can
serve on any commission of which he
was a member by virtue of his position
in the house or senate, after his
term expires, or, as the constitution expresses
it, after the term of his successor
begins.
"Justice Hydrlck in his opinion completely
and absolutely dodges every
material Issue in the case, as any lawyer
or other man of good common sense
will And if he will read the pleadings
therein. He dodges entirely the Browning
question, one of the most Important
of all. He then confirms the report of
Halcott P. Green by merely saylng.that
'we deem it unnecessary to prolong this
nninifln hv a riotnllprf statement or con
sideratlon of them,' which shows that
he did not give them the proper thought
and consideration. In fact, his whoje
opinion is dodging the material issues
raised by the pleadings, and decides
absolutely nothing, but leaves the entire
matter where It was before It went
into the courts.
"Justice Watts does a little better.
However, the conclusion reached and
the opinion of the majority of the court
is, in my opinion, after considering the
pleadings on both sides, one of the
most adroit Judicial dodges that I have
ever seen and one of the most perfect
biased political Judgments ever handed
down by a Judicial tribunal, and should
be sufficient to convince all men of the
necessity of the election of Judges by
the people. I am glad, however, to see
that they say they will have nothing to
do with matters of the sinking fund
commission. I presume they will adhere
to this when the Domlnlck claim
comes up for his fees. However, I do
not suppose they had thought of it, or
possibly they would not have been so ,
plain along that line. Personally, I
shall pay absolutely no attention to me
decision, and no bond* will be refund*
ed until after the next session of the
general assembly, the Bupreme court to
the contrary notwithstanding. Judge
Hydrlck does not even tell the cdmmJsslon
to go forward; he simply says
they are at liberty to do so and so. The
legislature had given that liberty, and
it was not necessary for this learned
and distinguished jurist to concur. But
the 'liberty' he gave the majority will
avail nothing, as It will be absolutely
Ignored until the next general assembly
takes action.
"Seriously, I doubt If this is a legal
decision, anyway, for the supreme
court has certainly not followed the
constitution. If you will turn to Section
ft, Article ' 5, of our constitution,
you will read, 'In case all or any of the
justices of the supreme court shall be
thus disqualified or be otherwise prevented
from presiding,' etc., 'the court
or the Justices thereof shall certify the
same to the governor,' etc. This they
* - J J ItiaHoAa Ortl _
iauea 10 au, unu uuij iuui jiuhwo oned
in the case, when the constitution
positively required five, or the court
enbanc. You will notice the word is
'shall' and not 'may' or 'can.' Therefore,
it certainly was the duty of the
Judges, when they only had four, to
certify the same and have the vacancy
filled, or, these being constitutional
questions to call the full court en banc
and pass upon the same. These judges
for some reason refused to obey the
constitution because it certainly says
'shall,' and if the humblest citizen
'shall,' when the word is used, surely
the supreme court, which sends them
to the penitentiary and to the electric
chair, should, above all others, obey the
constitution when It says 'shall.'
No Bonds to bo Issued.
"Of course, however, tnese judges are
above the law. If one of them should
be convicted of any offense, I have no
idea but what the others would give
him a new trial, but they are not higher
in dictating to me my duties. Therefore,
you can safely Bay that there will
be no bonds issued until after the meeting
of the next general assembly, for,
If you will notice, the acts of 1912 in
reference to'this bond matter, page 740
provides 'that said coupon bonds and
certificates of stock shall be signed by
the governor of the state,' etc., and I
have yet to see or read anything in the
constitution or statutes which authorizes
the supreme court to make me as
governor sign my name to what I believe
to be an attempt to defraud the
state, and if there was any such thing,
I would not sign it, even though the
supreme court iudges are higher than
the law and can refuse to do what the
constitution says they shall do. So the
bond deal matter will stand, as I presume
the supreme court would say, or
at least would affirm me in saying', in
statu quo until the general assembly of
1914."
CONGRESS ON "HALF TIME"
Since 1789 Legislators Have Spent 56
Years in 8ession.
"Congress is in session all the time.
We never get a chance to do anything
else; never a chance for a vacation.
Ah, for the good old days when congress
adjourned early and?"
This is familiar talk in Washington.
It is a frequent ^plaint, especially of
secretaries, and Is not Infrequent
among members themselves.
The impression arises perhaps, from
the record performances of congress
during the Taft administration, when
It was In session 935 days during the entire
four years. During the first Roosevelt
administration congress spent relatively
little time on the Job. During
the second Roosevelt administration it
was in session only 567 days, and during
the previous four years only 572
days. Congress came within 200 days
of putting in as much time during the!
Tart administration as during ,tne entire
eight years preceding his assumption
of office.
While the contrast may give rise to
the complaint among congressmen and
their employes that they are working
too hard and too long, the history of
congress as a whole does not indicate
that it is setting a new record or working
more days in the year than has
been the practice since the foundation
of the government, says the 'Washington
Herald.
Of tve 124 years between March 4,
1789, and March 4, 1918. congress has
spent 66 years, 3 months and IS days In
' actual session. This is, on an average
very nearly half of the time.
During Washington's first administration,
when the government was in
the making and tne rounaauon was Dein*
laid for the huge legislative structure
that has since risen, there was one
special session of congress and the
members spent 835 days altogether In
session out of the 1460 days which comprised
the first administration.
During Lincoln's first administration,
when the United States was involved
in most serious conflict, congress spent
only 665 days In session.
Including special sessions and regular
sessions, congress has worked an
average of 146 days to the session. If
this average is to be maintained during
the present special session congress
will not adjourn before October 1. With
a tariff bill to complete and currency
legislation hanging on the horizon like
an ominous cloud, congress bids fair to
exceed this average, however.
Although congress put in more time
at legislation during the Taft administration
than ever before, it did not set
a new record for the length of any one
term. A record was hung up nearly a
half century ago which promises to
stand for years to come. Prom De
cember 1, 1861, to November 10, 1868,
when the reconstruction of the southern
states and the rehabilitation of
commerce In the north were engaging
the attention of statesmen, congress
was held in session for 345 days. It
was only twenty days short of an entire
year.
In 1887 a 321-day session was held.
In 1889, when the regular long session
was on the calendar, congress again
tried to make a record, remaining In
session 304 days. Beginning December
3, 1849, congress remained at work 302
days. These four sessions are the only
ones which have exceeded 300 days in
length. Consequently the present session
of the national law-making body,
even if it continues at work until the
day before the next regular session in
December, cannot break into the class
of lengthy sessions.
TURKI8H HUMOR.
Much of it Hinged Around One Famous j
Old Character.
Turkish anecdotes are very short. .
and most of them cluster about a
worthy who is said to have lived in
the fourteenth century, and whose
tombstone is pointed out in Konia.
He was a teacher, or hodja, called
Nasr Eddln Hodja. He seems to
have had two distinct personalities,
judging from the stories; for one
set make him appear shrewd, crafty
and even wise, and the other set stu
pid and foolish. Let's look first at
some of the stupid stories.
One day Nasr Eddin Hodja said to
his wife, "Tomorrow, If it is pleasant,
I shall work In the garden; but If it
is unpleasant, I shall work in the
house." His wife added, piously,
"inshallah!" that is, "If Ood wills."
He replied, obstinately, "No, Allah
has nothing to do with it It must
be either pleasant or unpleasant. If
it is pleasant I will work in the garden;
and if it is unpleasant I will
work in the house." His wife shook
her head at this impiety, but said
nothing more. That night a party
of soldiers came and took Nasr Eddin
Hodja away to work for them.
It was a pleasant day, but he did
not work in the garden. When he
got through his work he went sadly
home, and his wife being abed, he
o* tKo Hnnp "Whn'n there?"
AUVVAQU Mb buv MWa ,? __
she cried. "It's your husband, lnshallah,"
replied a meek voice. "No,
my husband never says lnshallah,"
she replied, and turning on her ear,
went to sleep.
Another time Nasr Eddin Hodja
cried to his wife, "Wife, wife, come
here! the moon has fallen Into the
well." She rushed to the well and
looked down and, sure enough, the
moon was floating on the water.
"We must get it out," said the hodja;
"bring me a rope and hook." So she
brought them and they let them into
the well. The hook caught on a
stone, and Nasr Eddin and his wife
pulled and pulled. Suddenly the
stone gave way and the two fell flat
on their backs. As they lay there the
hodja cried, '"See, wife, we have put
it back again," and sure enough,
there was the moon once more in the
sky.
All Ottomans, wnemer rnu, ?.?menians
or Macedonians, tell these
stories with infinite relish and never
seem to tire of them. Here Is another
popular one:
One day Nasr Eddin Hodja was
sitting on the branch he was sawing
off the limb. A passer-by called to
him, "Look out! You'll fall." The
hodja paid no attention, but went on
sawing and, when the limb fell, he
fell with it Jumping up, he ran
after the man and said, "Please tell
me when shall I die." The man repiled,
"Do I know?" Nasr Eddin
said, "But you prophesied that I would
fall; now prophesy when I shall die."
Of the anecdotes of the stupid
hodja, the following has a delicious
iriBII liavui.
One night Nasr Eddln Hodja
thought he saw a burglar In his
room, and shot at him. In the morning
he found that he had sent an arrow
through his own shirt, which
hung In the window. Falling on his
knees, he prayed fervently, "I thank
thee, Allah, that I was not In that
shirt."?Hester D. Jenkins, in the
Outlook.
IW First hopeful nephew (proudly)
?Aunt says I call her up on the
'phone oftener than you do.
Second hopeful nephew?Did she
accuse you of anything else?
H*" Frost?Sometimes one runs across
his friends in the most unexpected
places.
Snow?True. Yesterday I found Agnes
at home. I
- - : - :
UUr LUUK PUK COTTON
interesting Analysis of Supply and Do*
mand Situation.
The Columbia Record is convinced
that the world Is confronted with a
cotton famine, and is printing letters
"from different experts to uphold its
view. Hon. John 1a McJLaurin con*
tributes the following to the symposium:
"1 see your paper is making an intelligent
fight for higher cotton. Con*
dlMnitfi In t Via ornntnnn nApHAn a# Ika
belt undoubtedly warrant IS cents. As
a matter of fact, consumption of cotton
has Increased faster than production.
That Is, the consumption per
capita in highly civilised countries.
Cotton was not a commercial factor
until after Whitney invented the gin
in 179S. In 1813 the cotton crop
amounted to about 360,000 bales, while
now it runs fifteen or sixteen million.
In this connection I wish to direct
your attention to an article In Cotton
and Finance, by Mr. Theodore H.
Fries, the best authority that I know,
on this subject He prints a table
giving the per capita consumption of
cotton in the United States from 1870
to 1811, namely:
1870?9.41 pounds per capita.
1880?14.74 pounds per capita.
1890?16.78 pounds per capita. *
< 1900?29.53 pounds per capita.
"Mr. Price then goes on to make the
very significant statement that these
flcuras show 'whv forehanded man
ufacturers throughout the world have
boon willing to supply thomselves for
years ahead with moderate priced cotton.'
"I have never seen any statistics
(other than guess work) of the per
capita consumption of the world. It
is easy, however, to make the calculation
by Invoking the "rule of three.'
If ninety million people in the United
States, as Mr. Price saya consume
6-100 of a bale to each person or !,400,000
bales, and the United States
has 1-20 of the population of the civilised
world, then this gives the equation,
namely:
One la to 6,400,000 as 20 is to 108,000,000
bales. This means that If In
every country the consumption of cotton
per capita was as great as in the
United States, that It would take this
year more than one hundred million
bales of cotton to supply the demand.
"The full Import of these figures can
not be fully understood, unless one
comprehends the Increase of only
one pound per capita In consumption,
requires four million bales to fill it
Also the further fact that If eotton
goes to 16 cents, It will mean only one
cent a yard Increase in the price of
the cheaper goods, while in the finer
gooas me amerence m can at yruductlon
to hardly appreciable. There
to a great opportunity open to us now
and I wish we were in a position to
take advantage of it If we had the
state warehouse bill and with the certificates
could get money at low rates,
a man could now borrow, say. 11 cents
a pound and pay up all of his debts.
(The Record's plan to similar to
this.) . ..
"If no other state was in that totuatlon,
we would simply hold the South
Carolina crop off the market, until the
other states were through, and the
cheaper they sell (on the doctrine of
averages) the higher price our crop
would bring. In the face of greatly
increased consumption precedents are
exploded. The world Is face to face
with a crop that to two million bales
under requirements and these requirements
are Increasing, not diminishing.
Let's get all out of it that
we can.
"About thirty-five thousand new
spindles have been put in during the
past few years. Never until this year
have all of them been In operation.
We had short crops in 1*01 and
1910, and prices went up. These new
spindles lay idle, until the seventeen
million bale crop of 1911. Prices of
cotton went far below the coot of production,
supplies were ample and
these new mills started up. There was
not only plenty of cotton, but the
world was bare of goods, and there
was a big profit in sight for every
spindle and they have been working
night and day.
"New uses of cotton spring up every
day. The automobile tire is an immense
industry, requiring heavy duck
and the cushions are made from the
lighter, while most of the top is from
cotton. Cotton is supplanting wool,
for all arimles are now clad in khaki.
The development of the cement industry
with its cotton bags is a strik
Ins example of the extension or me
use of cotton. There must be something
like 150,000,000 spindles running
at a profit of full time; to keep them
going at the present rate of consumption,
would require at a conservative
estimate, 16,000,000 bales of cotton,
while no one thinks a crop as large
as last year a possibility. Another
thing, mills have purchased from
speculators, their requirements, in
some instances, going as far ahead
as 1917. These mills cannot be hurt,
because they are protected by actual
deposits of money on margin. It Is
our opportunity to get back some of
the money of which the south has
been mulcted on cotton gambling.
Besides an Increase of five cents a
pound cannot hurt the mills or check
consumption. Cotton prices under
the law of supply and demand must
advance to a point, where consumption
will be curtailed to meet the
short supply. It will be done not by
making less number of yards, but
automatically by manufacturing finer
and lighter fabrics. In the beginning
of 1911, owing to short crops, there
was almost a famine in ducks, twills
and sheetings and the end of 1914
will see a similar condition. One
pound of cotton is now making five
yards of cloth, prices are going to
advance until It is made to produce
7 J yards of cloth. If we are 2,000,000
bales short, you cannot figure it
#nv other way. Now, Mr. Editor,
the above Is, I believe, a summary of
the situation so far as statistics and
crop conditions go.
"I have been working nearly two
years to get the state warehouse bill
through, and I do hope that this next
session of the legislature will cut out
politics and give me a decent opportunity
to be heard on the house side.
I believe the senate is ready to pass
the bill. Keep up the flght It will
make your paper a power in the
land."