Fort Mill times. (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, May 01, 1913, Image 3
f^SERIA^:
f l storyl j ,
stanton] '
n wins n :
I
Eleanor M. InqCun
Author of "The Gome
'< and the Candle." "Tl'he
Flying Mercury,"/ etc.
lllutlralions fa/{
Frederic Thornt/urgh
f l !
i
I ?
i' 'I
'op? right. UU The Bobba-Morrill Gouipunj
?
SYNOPSIS.
a*.t tlie beginning of great automobile
race tlie mechanician ot' the Meufuiry,
Stanton's machine, droj.s dead. Strange
youth. Jesse Floyd. volunteers, nnd Is accepted.
CHAPTER I. Continued.)
"Goin* to throw awjay the race an'
wreck your machine, for foolishness?"
he Inquired. "That's just like you,
Kalph Stanton. You'll risk a blow-out
an' a smash to save five minutes in a
twenty-four hour race. You can drive,
hut you won't use trunnion sense."
Something snapped under Stanton's
mask. Raging witlj silent fury, ho
slowed down his cj r and swung into
the paddock gate if* they came opposite
it, thundering through to his own
ramp.
"Fix that tire," he commanded, as
the swarm of mechanics surrounded
thein.'aud descended from his sent to
confront the assistant manager. "Have
you got me another mechanician,
yet? This one won't do."
"Why, no," Mi} Green deprecated.
"Tlie driver who [alternates with you
wants to keep his mechanician; besides,
the man Un't exactly ready to
go with you, and, he couldn't do hoth
shifts, anyhow. I I've telephoned to
the company to find a man and rush
liim here. What," ho looked toward
the group nroutd the car, where
Floyd's bronze head shone In the electric
liorVlt 11 a lie I ,1 ( i\rn?A.t,lln,ra
"what's the matter with this one?
Scared?"
"No," conceded Stanton, grudgingly
Just. "Insolent and interfering."
"Well, If that is all?"
Stanton turned his back upon the
speaker, recklessly and blindly angry,
past all reasoning.
When, the brief operation completed,
Floyd sprang up beside his
driver for the start, Stanton surveyed
hiin through his goggles.
"If you are nervous about my driving
and my sense, you had better get
off now," was the grim warning. "For
I drive as I see lit, and I'm going to
make up these laps."
"Why areiyou wasting time here,
then?" countered the mechanician,
practically.
The Mercury hurtled viciously down
the line of training camps and burst
out on the track like a blazing meteor.
Stanton shifted into high gear on the
curve, and began to drive?as he saw
lit. ?"
The elos^ packed witnesses stood
during mo^t of the next hour, alternately
applauding and shouting dismay,
climbing on seats and benches to
see. The other racers gave the Mercury
room on the turns, after the
Alan car tried to steal an inside
sweep, and skidding, missed destruction
through and with Stanton by the
narrow margin of a foot.
There was neither opportunity nor
wish for speech between the two who
rode the verge of death on the Mercury.
Floyd attended steadily to his
duties; pumping oil, brushing the yellow
trackdust from the pilot's goggles
to clear his vision for each turn,
watching the tires and the other machines.
Rut he made no protest at the
deadly methods of his companion.
Near the end of the second hour,
the scream of the klaxon sounded its
signmcani warning or trouoie.
"It's us?lamps out," called the mechanician,
after a comprehensive review
of their machine.
Stanton shook his head impatiently,
and kept on; deliberately passing the
paddock gate instead of turning in.
As they shot by the grand-stand for
the second lime, the klaxon sounded
again, long and imperiously.
"(Join' to tight the Judges?" llsi>cd
Floyd, with careful politeness.
The driver did not speak or glance
from the funnel-effect of light and
dark into which they were boring, hut
the catch of his breath was not gentle.
However, he swung into the puddock,
on the next circuit, and halted
a brief instant to have the lamp relighted.
Familiar with his usual
wants, a man ran bringing a pitcher
of water to Stanton; who swallowed a
little, then pushed the vessel so roughly
toward his mechanician that some
of the liquid splashed over the recipien>
and trickled down upon them both.
' Here," lie offered curtly.
"Thanks," Floyd accepted, and
drank as they bounded forward, tossing
the tin pitcher back over his
shoulder, where a reporter gathered
it up and sat upon a keg of oil to write
a pretty account of the volunteer mechanician
who had made the Mercury's
entry possible and of the consequent
regard of Stanton for him
The next hour passed a trifle more
quietly. Perhaps even Stanton was
sufficiently tired by the strain to drive
with some conservatism; perhaps he
acknowledged mentally that no car
built would stand sueh viciously gm
\
sling work for twenty-four consecutive
lours. But he kept the lead gained,
or all that, and a pace like the long
iwoop of a swallow.
"Car coining out of the paddock.
Hundred and eightieth lap. Car
itoppod Lround the bend." Floyd reported,
at intervals. Otherwise there
was mute attention to business on the
part of both men.
"Signal," Stanton abruptly ordered,
at last, as they rushed across the
stretch of track between the grandstand
and the training-camps. "***
Floyd obediently rose in his place,
raising his nrms above his head in the
accepted signal to their men to stand
ready for the car's entrance. On the
next circuit Stanton turned into the
paddock and came to a stop before
the Mercury's tent.
"Got out." he directed, and himself
left his seat.
The two men who alternated were
waiting to relieve the two who descended
from the machine. The workmen
swarmed around to till tanks and
give swift inspection, and the fretting
car sped back to the track.
Left opposite each other in the flickering
glare of the swinging electric
lamps, driver and mechanician stood
for a moment, weary, car-stiff, and
still tense. Stanton unclasjied his
mask with a jerk, took a step toward
the tent, then turned toward his assistant.
"The three hours nre up," he observed
roughly. "I suppose you leave
me."
"Why do you suppose that? Are
you through with nie?" Floyd asked,
with studied quietness.
"1 made the offer to any man who
would go for the first throe hours.
The time is up: you're free to get
your money from Mr. Green, and
leave."
Floyd took o(T his own mask and
bared his white, steadfast face and
tired eyes to the other's gaze.
"1 entered for the raee, or for as
much of it as you want me." he corrected.
"Until you quit, or And a substitute
you like better, I'm with you."
They looked at each other.
"Go rest, then. There is cofTee inside,"
bade Stanton, and swung on his
heel.
At the entrance to his tent he was
met by the exultant assistant manager.
"I've got you a mechanician, Stanton!"
lie exclaimed jubilantly. "I tel
ophoncd our fix to headquarters, and
Jack Rupert is coming down?the
chief tester at the factory, you know,
who used to race with the chief himself.
He 'phoned that he wouldn't see
the Mercury thrown out hut to tell
you he was going to cancel his life
insurance policy llrst so he would not
be accused of suicide for the benefit
t
J-?Jh i*
ki
(pS$ r
ci ^ tLi!
I
-Li _
a?-'
"I Am One of the Men
of his heirs. Funny chap! He'll he
here before you go on the track
again."
"What for?" riem.'indert Stnntnn "If
I kill my mechanician, 1 kill my car
and myself?I don't need two men,
and I've got one."
"Hut I thought you said?" began
the amazed Mr. Green.
"1 was wrong. 'Phone Rupert that
I'll k<ep Floyd. Now, I'd like to get
some rest."
The assistant manager stepped
j aside from the entrance, confounded.
CHAPTER II.
The Risk and the Lady.
Two hours later. Stanton emerged
from his camp and strolled toward
| the paddock exit. It was after two
o'clock in the morning; the dark arch
of star set sky overhead, the black
emptiness of the central field except
for the line of tents, contrasted oddly
with the glistening white track where
| the meteor-bright cars circled tirelessly
to the accompanying monotone of
many voices, varied by the occasional
wail of the official klaxon. One machine
was out of the race, after going
f
throurh tbo fence; a heap of dlso^
dered metal which men were striving
frantically to restore to activity, while
In the illuminated hospital tent its
driver and mechanism were undergoing
a kindred process of rehabilitation.
Other cars went In and out
'rom their camps, for oil, for gasolene,
for tiros and minor repairs?for
all the countless wants of a racing
machine. Stanton looked for the Mer- j
cury, then, satisfied, crossed the track
and entered the space before the
grand-stand.
Aiong uie coge 01 me cement promenade
were parked a row of automo- ;
biles whose owners preferred to wit- ,
noss the race from their own cars
rather than from the tiers of seats bohind.
Past them Stanton turned, j
avoiding tlie fire of attention and curiosity
he would draw by crossing the
lighted space where recognition must
follow. He wtis going to the restaurant
in the interior of the stand.
Hut as he passed a big white touring
car at the end of the row, a woman
leaned front the shadow of the top.
"1 beg your pardon." she summoned.
her tone composed and rather
Imperious.
The apology veiled a command.
Stanton halted.
"Madam?" he responded, astonished
and scarcely pleased.
She deliberately stepped down be
side him, accompanied by the crisp
sound of shaken silk and a drift of
faint, rich fragrance. She wore a
dark motor-veil, and in the mingling
of dense shadows and glaring lights it
was not possible to distinguish more j
than her general effect of youth and j
well-poised grace.
"I fancied by your costume that vou
were one of the racers," she on plained.
"And as I only arrived an hour ago,
I wished to beg some information."
"1 am one of the men driving," he
corroborated.
She turned to glance at the cars
rushing by, struggling for the lead
"Thank you. Can v u till me
whether Halph S'anton is now driving
the Mercury?"
"No," ho answered, interested for
the first time. "But he will take the
wheel again In half an hour."
"Ah'. I have heard so much of his
spectacular feats, I." she gave a careless,
rippling laugh, "1 confess I
should like to see some of them."
"Yes? Well, half the people hero
conic to see whether some of the men
won't take a chance once too often.
They say there is a pleasant thrill in
watching some one else get killed."
"Hardly that," she demurred. "Still,
If one comes to an automobile race,
one wants to sec something more exciting
than a drive in the park; something
more exciting than that." She
waved a fragile hand toward the
v li
Driving," He Corroborated.
track, shruKtdng her shoulders with
an airy amusement and acorn.
Stanton surveyed the scene, tha
darkness hiding his expression.
"The Mercury is marking time with
a substitute driver, the Duplex is off
with a choked feed-pipe, and the Stern
went through the fence," he summed
I lip. "The others ?re driving to witf
by endurance, playing for accidents to
the faster cars. It is a dull period,
just now Yet every car there is going
fast enough to face destruction if
anything goes wrong."
She turned to him again, and he
knew her gaze swept him interrogatively,
eearchlngly.' Hut his closefitting
linen costume offered no means
of identification, since he purposely
kept from the light the silver letters
running across his Jersey.
(TO HI". CONTINUKD.)
No Danger.
"I can't understand why you wish
to go to the legislature. Don't you
think your business will suffer if yot
aro elected?"
"Oh. no. You sec. I manufacture
things which aro needed in famish
1 lug public offices."
\ f
I munMoMfek^ ?
$ULL PUN WTLLFILLD^^
AS IT APPEARS TODAf ^
DESPITE the crippled condition
In which the south
Found Itself at the close of
the Civil war, one of tlio
first affairs to receive atW
tp tent ion was the provision
I for a suitable resting place
S; j-* for the soldiers who had
j|| yielded their lives In the
' tight for the lost cause.
The state legislatures without
exception made provisions for
establishing special cemeteries in
1 which the bodies of confederate soldiers
could be placed.
Much of the credit for this work Is
due to the women of the confederacy
who gave their heartiest effort to this
work. Wherever a battle was fought
or a hospital was situated within the
limits of the confederacy provision
was made for suitable care for the
dead. While the chief thought was
naturally for the soldiers of their own
army, even in that early day there
was ninny n Union soldier's grave
which was also the recipient of tender
attention from the hands of the people
against whom he fought.
There are more than fifty of these
confederate cemeteries scattered over
the southern states and on Memorial
day each still receives some tribute of
remembrance. Kach grave in these
cemeteries has been marked in some
way. either from the appropriations
made for the purpose by the state or
by the subscriptions and donations
made by the people of the vicinity in
which it Is located. Special monuments
of appropriate design still are
being erected in honor of confederate
soldiers in each of the states represented
in the confederacy and the
state appropriations for this purpose
have been most liberal Some of the
cemeteries have a number of monuments
representing different appropriations
In the confederate cemetery
at Charleston. S (' . there are six
memorial monuments and a large
number of memorial tablets.
Richmond has eleven monuments
nnd a number of memorial tablets,
and Winchester, in the same state,
has nearly as many. In New Orleans
the beautiful monuments erected to
the memory of confederate soldiers
are especially noteworthy. The south
also has honored the women whose
loyalty and unselfish devotion inspired
the valor of the men, and in tlio cemetery
at Fort Mill, S. C? thorn recently
has bnen erected a monumnnt to tho
women of tho south and another one
to tho faithful slaves, who. notwithstanding
tho temptation of proffered
liberty, were loyal to their masters
and to the charges committed to their
care.
A number of new monuments are In
process of erection in the south. Some
of them are being placed in national
; cemeteries as. for example, each conj
federate state which had troops In
the battle of Chlckamauga will have
Its participation marked by a shaft in
the t'hickamauga National park. Sim
liar action is to he taken in the near
future for the battle fields of Antic
tarn. Shiloh and Gettysburg.
The united action of the soldiers of
the north and the south in connection
with the Spanish war was the death
blow to whatever factional feeling still
existed between the two sections of
the country and shortly after Ita close
popular opinion began to favor the
United States government making
some provision for the marking of the
graves of the confederate soldiers
with Htones similar to those provided
for the Union soldiers. President Me
Kinley advocated it in a public address
in Atlanta shortly after the
close of the Spanish war.
At a reunion of the United Confederate
veterans held a few months
later, the matter was discussed and
j resolutions of appreciation adopted It
was voted, however, that any federal
action taken for this purpose should
BEATS THE JEWELER'S PLAN
Cheerful Chap Saves 100 Per Cent,
on His Diamond Purchases by
Not Buying.
"I notlco an advertisement of a
Jeweler's," said tho Gloomy Individual,
helping himself to tho sugar "that
says for one week only ho enn save
buyers T.r> per cent, on their diamond
purchases."
The Cheerful C.ha? shrugged his
{ shoulders.
v
) l ?r?^1 '|
,?S3SS^s?S2?2a^
refer only to the confederate graves
which are In northern states, as the
care of such graves In the southern
states h; regarded uh a sacred trust.
The llrst movement made toward a
provision for marking the graves of
the soldiers of the confederate army
and navy upon the part of the federal
government was the appropriation by
congress of $2,.r>00 for the purposes of
gathering the remains of confederate
soldiers buried In Arlington and in various
places in the District of Columbia
and collecting them at one place
I O, I l .? ?
... .... i.iiuuiiui ucuiuier/ ill /vi uiiK"
ton.
It is assorted that George I.. Rhinehart.
a soldier of the 23d (or 26th)
! North Carolina infantry, was the first
| confederate interment made in Arllngj
ton. Many interments were made afterward
of persons held to be "citizens
; in rebellion" until as late as the latter
part of 1S67. They were .not all
! confederate soldiers, a few being state
prisoners of war who had been held In
the Old Capitol prison In Washington
In all 370 persons classed as confedj
crates were hurled there. When, after
the marking of the graves of Union
1 soldiers, there was a surplus left from
j the appropriation, part of it was used
to mark these other graves, classing;
I them as rebels, citizens, contrabands,
prisoners of war. etc.. and over their
graves were erected plain marble
headstones of similar description for
all as civilians, having upon each only
the number of the grave and the name
of the occupant, so that there was
nothing to distinguish the graves of
the confederate soldiers from other
classes.
This was the condition until In the
'70s, when 211 were removed by the
states of Virginia, North and South
Carolina, leaving 186. These wero
scattered about the cemetery in irrel
gular groups intermingled with the
i graves of Union soldiers and others.
This was discovered about 1898 and
It was also found that there was 128
confederate dead in the Soldiers'
Home cemetery. These were collected
and marked with headstones bearing
the name, rank, company, regiment
and state of the soldier. In June,
1903, the first memorial exercises
I were held over these graves.
Out of the reburial of the confederate
dead at Arlington arose an investigation
conducted by the Charles
Broadway House camp of United Confederate
Veterans regarding condition
and location of the graves of the confederate
prisoners, who died in tho
federal prisons and military hospitals
in the northern states. As a result of
this a bill was passed by congress providing
for the establishment of a commission
to ascertain tho location and
condition of all the graves of confederate
soldiers who died In federal
prisons and military hospitals in the
north and who were buried near their
place of confinement, and to acquire
possession and control over all
grounds where such prison dead are
burled, which is not under control or
in possession of the United States
government.
TIiIh commission was directed "to
propane accurate registers in triplli
"I know a way to save more than
that," said he. "In fact, I am doing
it. Up to date I have saved exactly
100 per cent, on my diamond
purchases during the holidays?"
Yawning, he folded his napkin,
"liy not buying any."
But the remarks of the Ihomy Ind'vidual
were loet it noiBe the
Cheerful Chap made, as he pushed
his chair back from the table.
Did You Tell Her?
"1 suppose youf wife was more
? iH? 1
M
rt^ii- Mn* ~
tfuM.CKM TMMCUT
cuto, one for the superintendent's office.
one for the quartermaster-general's
othce and one for the war record
ofllce, confederate archives of the
places of burial, the number of the
grave, the name, company, regiment
and state of every confederate soldier
so burled, by verification with the confederate
archives at Washington; to
cause to be erected over said graves
white marble headstones similar to
those placed over the graves of the
"confederate section" in the National
cemetery at Arlington.
No Iobs than 30,153 confederate soldiers
are buried in different places
coming under the provisions of this
act. No little difficulty was incurred
in searching them out nearly forty
years after they were buried, but the
work was begun in a spirit of earnest
zeal and a large percentage of the
graveB found have been identified.
The task is practically finished and a
detailed account is being prepared for
the secretary of war, which will be
published.
In some instances the graves could
not be found, but a known number of
soldiers were buried in a certain place.
One old cemetery containing a number
of confederate graves was swept
over by fire a number of years ago,
so that no traces of the graves were
left. In this case it was impossible to
erect separate headstones, so a large
monument was erected upon which
were placed bronze tablets Inscribed
with the names of the soldiers burled
In the cemetery,
i In many Instances the citizens of localities
In which confederate soldiers
are burled have caught the spirit
voiced by President McKlnley and
have raised monuments by popular
subscription. In somo other places
monuments havo been erected by public
funds, but so thorough has been
the work of caring for the graves of
the confederates buried in the north
that ft Is beileved there are no longer
any unmarked graves In the northern
states.
Irish Sea a Noval Barometer.
The degree of saltness of the Irish
sea Is the Indicator Prof. H. Rassett
proposes to use for long-distance
weather predictions. The salinity is
found to vary In a period of about one
year, with corresponding changes In
temperature, the water being more
snltly and relatively warmer In winter
and spring and fresher and relatively
cooler In summer.
It Is argued that the alterations of
temperature must afTect the number
and character of tho cyclones coming
; from the ocean.
The changes of salinity and their
time of occurrence have been found
; to precede certain seasonal types of
weather, and It Is beileved that month.
! ly observations of the saltiness would
give a general weather forecast for
; the Mritlsh isles four or five months
1 ahead.
Herman electricians have found that
snow never collects on transmission
I lines that carry 100.000 volts or more,
even when they are not charged and
! cold.
than delighted at your raise of salary.
wasn't she?" asked Larkln of
Robin.
"I haven't told her yet, but she will
be when Bh^ knows It," answered
Robin.
"How is It that you haven't told
"Well, I thought 1 would enjoy my*
self a couple of weeks first."
A woman Is almost pretty when she
Is heiress to a million, and a beauty
when she Inherits It, " 'fttffiB