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Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, February 14, 1919, Image 7

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Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90061309/1919-02-14/ed-1/seq-7/

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The Appeal
of Khaki
Ey JANE OSBORN
CopyiIght, 161S, by the McClure Newspa
per Syndicate.)
"I shall shriek I certainly shall
" shriek If I come to Another khnkl
hero." II. R. Khanlpy mumbled this
rather to hprscif thuri aloud as she snt
tefore her high piled desk Id the ed
itorial office of "The Purple Book;
all-story, five-cent weekly." H. P.
Truinnn, the remainder of the editorial
staff, laid n jiontle hiind on his bald
fltuid and look! over lus slieli-rlmmcd
spectacles at his colleague oa the
iner ship in rue room.
He looked just" in time to see Miss
. Shunloy dash off her own shell-rimmed
swivel chair and at the same time
Hjt,1..J ....11
uhi biihi-u yen.
"There. I said I'd do It, and I did.
The very next manuscript I turned to
lepon rlRlit In the first pnrngrnph with
'Her head dropped on his khuki shoul
der. Oood-by, she whispered and
pushed him away,' and then at the
nd: 'If I thought you were there
waiting for me I could fight a thou
sand Huns.' They are all like that. If
the hero isn't In- khuki he Is In sailor
. mue ana nnir the heroines are
nurse.
"Was 'that what made you make
that fuifnv little shrieky noise?" asked
Mr. Truman, obviously relieved.
"Certainly, why shouldn't I? Every
Hessed story that comes In Is the
same. How I am going to get enough
possible stories for you to make up
the magazine out of here I am sure I
don't know. They are all alike. The
contribs have lost their balance- They
think that oil they have to do Is to
bring In n little trench slang, a lot of
mush and' twaddle .about broad kha
ki shoulders, clinking spurs and
that sort of thing and their story Is
sold." .
Mr. Truman suggested . that possi
bly the readers of the Purple Book
liked clinking spurs and khaki shoul
ders; there were a good many men In
the camps who read the magazine and
they should be catered to.
"To be sure," agreed Miss Shanley,
slitting the next large envelope that
. lay before her and unfolding the man
uscript mechanically. "But I've found
It out There are only about seven
.1 .. .n i a
vuya n miiuitri iuu lull iu iuvc, uuu
we've used each one of those plots
-at least five times over. It's mo
notonous. There Is the man who
-doesn't know he loves the plain lit
tle girl at home till he gets away
In the trenches, and there Is the girl
who doesn't know she loves the awk
ward, frank-eyed, . broad-shouldered
hero till he gets away. Then there
Is the girl -who wants to be a suf
fragette or something and won't marry
the man till he's gone and then she
sets an Idea that she ought to 'keep
the fire burning and she sends for
him or something and
Tes, I know," said Truman, who was
rather bored than otherwise at his as
sistant's analyzing tendencies. There
. were times when she was delightful,
Teally too delightful for his own peace
, of mind. But In this mood she was
..1, ..1 .1 1 i. .LU.I,
irjriug. wen. picrus? uuu i euiitriv
about it next time you gave me" quite
. scare. .1 thought you were having
fit or something." .
"I told you I was going to," argued
Hiss Shanley.
IT 1. i JM,M 0..
X lll'fllKlll. juu were jcrsillig. oujr
pose instead of doing that you whistle
joyously, when you come to a hero .out
of khaki? Really I quite agree with
yon thut we do need some really
gripping stories of a nonnillltary na-
- ture." Then Mr. . Truman went back
to his editorial work, and. gradually
there began to creep over him a pleas-
. nrable consciousness.' lie had had an
- undercurrent of conviction , that his
colleague disapproved of him because
he had not enlisted ; he had feared
that It would be necessary as a means
, of winning her permanent esteem for
him to don the khuki or sailor blue.
But arinarentlv he had been mistaken.
She could not have spoken as she had
about broad khaki shoulders If she
bad admired them as much as most
young women were reputed to do.
Suddenly Mr. Truman' started in his
chair so violently that his spectacles
fell off from his nose. Miss Shanley
had emitted a whistle so piercing and
sharp that It bad violently agitated
his delicately strung nervous organ
ism. , That," she announced, "was to let
you Know i u iiniuu uiv gripi'iug j
you' were wishing for. It's a thriller
: and the hero Is an Argentine cowboy,
and there isn't one reference to war.
rn going to accept' It .without watt
ing for you to read it, I'm so sure It
la whaf vsffl ni-A Insilrlnflr fill-w
"You might tell the young woman
that Wrofe It that we appreciate not
having the hero In khaki and would
like more n the same vein," smiled
Mr. Truman, as Miss Shanley hailed
the diminutive stenographer from the
nest room $o that she might at once
J
write her letter of acceptance. .
"It Isn't a young woman It's one
Patrick Flenry Madison."
"You never can tell," commented
the superior editor. "That's Just the
sort of name a girl writer would
choose. '" -
The letter notifying "Patrick Henry
Madison" Of the acceptance of his
story and the announcement that he
would receive his check "on date of
publication" was brief but encourag
ing. It was slEned II. B. Shan'oy, and
left little suspicion In its abrupt busi
nesslike wording that H. stood i.'r
Helen and B. for Beatrice. Perhaps
Patrick Henry Madison had seldom re
ceived editorial letters So encouraging,
perhaps he read between the lines at
all events, he wrote n letter of con
siderable length si-nding in his next
nontnilitary story the hero this time
was a South Sea Island planter, with
out a suspicion of khuki and of so
friendly a character that IT. 15. Shan
ley was constrained to wriie an
equally friendly letter tn reply. Again
that, editor congratulated hi in on his
rare discernment in keeping his he
roes out of the war game. "Unless you
can tell your story like a genius and
have an entirely new twist, any war
story now would be deadwood. They
have all been written except the really
great ones." The correspondence con
tinued for several months ; and the
stories appeared at close Intervals.
Then 'Tatrlck Henry" asked permis
sion to meet IL B. Shanley and the
interview was carefully arranged to
take place In the Purple Book editorial
office on the afternoon in the week
when' Mr. Truman played golf. He
hnd quite set himself nt ease on the
matter of eullsrlng now, so sure was
he of Helen's attitude on that score,
and It was only because he had not
definitely decided whether when he
did ask this colleague of his to be
come Mrs. Truman he should stipulate
that she should continue her post In
the office he dreaded the presence of
anyone else or whether he should
arrange to have her do the house
keeping In some conveniently arranged
little flat, that he hud not us yet taken
her Into his full confidence ns to his
Intentions. He was planning to set
tle this q-icrdlon for himself that after
noon on the golf course. Perhaps the
next day he would make his declara
tion. But the next day he " was in no
hurry. Helen was in a wonderfully
Joyous mood and this seemed decided
ly auspicious. It would be time enough
at five .o'clock to ask her.
''Patrick nenry turned out to be
of the feminine gender, I dare say?"
he asked, as he glanced over proofs on
his desk of that writer's latest con
tribution. "Miss nothing," laughed Helen, "and
the funny thing was he "
"So It was. a man after all?" Mr.
Truman felt an Irritation that he could
not account for.
' "It was so funny. He Is really per
fectly wonderful. I hndn't told you,
but we had got very well acquainted
with each other through the letters
we have written. I " knew I liked
him, but I Imagined he was going to be
some quiet, studious little man of
about your build."
.'"Well?" Mr. Truman was distinctly
Irritated at that remark.
"Well, he wasn't at alt. You see he
had discovered In the third letter that
I wasn't a man, and well, I don't
know how it happened, but we got aw
fully fond of each other, .and well,
he asked me to marry him, and I said
I couldn't say yes till I'd seen him.
And he said there was something about
him that I might dislike very much.
He thought I would, he said, from
something I said In one of my first
letters. You see I told him I was
glad his heroes didn't have broad
shoulders, or something like that, and
well, you see he has, and he turned
out to be Capt. Patrick Henry Madison.
Isn't that wonderful? I explained, of
courstythnt what I said about stories
had nothing to do w'th he way I felt as
a girl. So I Just said yes' right away,
and I thought Td tell you. first. be
cause you and I have always been such
good chums, and Patrick and I will
be married in n week or so. I thought
you ought to have time to find some
one else to fill this chair."
Mr. Truman was signing letters
with an' air of considerable preoccu
pation. ', He gently stroked his bald
patch and straightened his blue serge
shoulders.
"It's very funny that a man In the
service would be content to leave nil
patriotic Savor out of his stories.. 1
should think he would he so enthusias
tic he would want to." Mr. Truman
had definitely decided he wouldn't like
Cnpfhln Patrick. -
"Oh, he's enthusiastic, all right, and
he's going to write one great big thrill
ing war story. He's Just been wait
ing Jill he could write a really great!
one. You'll take It, won't you, Mrf
Truman?" ;
"Yes unless Tni not here cither.
You see, I've been thinking of getting
Into the war myself. There Is a mighty
strong appeal about khaki and all that
sort of thing," and the associate editor
assured hfui that there was. -
WE DO GOOD JOB WORK
iOOD WORK OF A ROAD DRAG
mplement Should Be Used Properly at
Right Time Repair All Ruts and
Depressions.
After two days of rain, says a writer
n Honrd's Dairyman, we took an
Ight-mtle drive out into the country
o buy some pigs. One piece of road
ras like a city boulevard, only better.
esplte Its being only a gravel road
here was little mud or water, and one
vould have ' thought that there had
teen only rnln enough to settle the
lust Instead of the big rainstorm. We
uquired and found that two neighbors
ad made it a practice to alternate In
;oing over this road with a road drag
if lor every rain. Just beyond, we came
o a piece of road muddy, slippery and
ull of chuck holes that sent -us up h
nile for every mile covered.
The only difference between these
wo pieces of road was a road drag
tnd an hour's time spent when field
vork could not be done. We estimate
hut It took twice as much gasoline to
.over the undragged road. Multiply
iiir experience by the dozens of teams'
ind autos going over this muddy road,
md then compute the expense of f inl
ine to use the road drag that was
loubtless rotting away In some fence
rner.
We do not now have in mind the de
nands of the good roads extremist, hut
ire considering what may be done and
vhat should be done with the common
lirtroad. It does more harm than
;ood, as a general rule, to plow up- the
lod on the sides of the traveled track
ind pile It up in big lumps in the cen
:er of the track, leaving them there to
e broken up by passing vehicles, and
ha loosened dirt washed away by the
ain or blown away by the wind. Keep
ill the sod, grass roots and other
Perspective View of Split-Log Drag.
trash out of the road bed. It merely
decays and makes ready for a splendid
hole to form.
.Whatever Is worth doing at all Is
worth doing well No part of a re
paired highway should be left until its
surface has been thoroughly and even
ly compacted and shaped to let all the
water run off. And when, as will most
always happen, ruts and depressions
trake their appearance, they should be
smoothed down, filled, and well com
pacted so that water may not remain
In them to soften the ground and per
mit further damage by the traffic.
When using the road drag, use It
properly at the right time. Don'f go
out when the road Is too wet or too
dry. Take It when the mud will make
a good mortar and will puddle down
like the little gjrl's mud cakes or the
mason's mortar. " . .
MACADAM ROAD PROVED BEST
There Are Several Varieties, Changed
to Suit Localities and Circum-4
stance Everywhere.
For over a century now the macadam
road has been In use and has proved
Itself to be the best all-rouud road
that can be built, In fact, so good Is it
that all military roads In the war area
In France are of this type. There are
several varieties of It, changed to suit
localities and circumstances. The regu
lar water-bound macadam . Is. with
out doubt, the best and safest for
horses. But we cannot build for horses
alone, It Is necessary to preserve the
broken stone road against the auto
mobile tires, otherwise the , road sur
face would soon go td pieces. -
Go to Miss Belle" Johoaoo. for
high-grade enlargement.
TYPICAL OF WHOLE NATION
Impossible to State Just What Part of
the Country Splendid Ameri
cans Came from,
Recently we sat in a refreshment
room of a railroad station convers
ing casually with a foreign officer.
Suddenly tall men in olive drab be
gan to come in by groups to wash
up. 1 hey were on their way. The
officer, though he tried to go on
talking, couldn't keep his eyes oft
the men, and his responses became
more and more absent as they con
tinued to crowd in.
"My God L" he exclaimed, "where
do they come from?"
Then -we looked at them. Not
one seemed less than six feet tall.
They were a thin, hard, big-fisted,
crag-faced lot of men, the color of
new bronze, each with two deep
lines around the mouth, gentle with
each other, speaking softly, but cer
tainly the m06t formidable German
killers you could find in all the
world. We should not have noticed
them particularly but for the offi
cer's dazed appreciation.
"They are probably from some
where in the mountains," we said
at last.
The officer gave us a strange look.
Such men as these, and we took
them so much for granted that we
couldn't tell where they came from I
New York Tribune.
PLENTY OF
ROOM.
Now'o a good
chance for a dip
while dere ain't
nobody usln' de
ocean I
NO GREAT WHITE WAY IN ROME.
New Yorkers who were aggrieved
by the darkening of their "Great
White Way," as Broadway is called,
because of last winter's coal short
age, might have comforted them
selves by considering how much bet
tor off they were than the ancient
Romans. It is a curious fact that,
while the people of Rome had elab
orate systems of lighting for their
homes, it does not seem to have oc
curred to them to brighten their
streets. Roman history and litera
ture contain no mention of street
lights. On the other hand there is
ample evidence that the streets were
exceedingly dark and dangerous as
soon as the sun went down and few
Romans of prominence and property
stirred after nightfall without
armed guards who carried torches.
Rome maintained a force of 9,000
policemen, who also acted as fire
men, and it is recorded that they
had plenty to do.
METAL PLATING ON PAPER
8lmple Method, Originating In 8plry
Is 8ald to Have Given Most
Excellent Results.
An interesting method of metal
plating is announced from Spain,
where a large Dumber of small dec
orative articles that are manufac
tured in clay, glass, wood and papier
mache are now being incased in a
thin "skin" of metal, which greatly
improves the appearance and per
manence of the articles.
The method employed is simple.
A small compressor supplies air at
a pressure of about seven atmos
pheres to a receptacle filled with
metallic powder (generally lead),
At the moment the metallic pov.uer
emerges from tho jet it is melted by
an oxy-hydrogen flame, and a spray
of molten metal encases the object
to be "nietalized," which is placed
on a revolving platform. The ob
ject then goes to the electrolytic
bath and receives its new skin of
copper, silver or gold. Glasa articles
are first treated by a sand blast to
insure the necessary roughness for
the adhesion of tho lead.
. FOND OF BUTTING IN.
"Very public spirited, is he not?
"Oh, ytrst Ue is continually in a
high fever because somebody else
does not do something abou sumv
thing immediately. -Judgo.
TWO STORIES OF RUPPRECHT
According to the Second, the Crowt
Prince of Bavaria Had Some
Good Qualities. t
Frince Rnpprcrht of Bavaria
forms the subject of two little stories
in the Paris Temps, but whet lief
they are true or not 1 cannot say. I
pass them on, therefore, with re
serve. The first relates to an occa;-ioii
when, on hearing of a fine cook in
Lille, he ordered tier to cook a 'tin
ner for him. Not content with this
he insisted that she should sit at the
table with him afterward and help
him eat it 1
The incident is worthy of the tra
ditions of King Ludwig, but on
must confess it reads oddly.
The other story is a more credible
one. The scene again is Lille. A
German officer named Pericles en
tered the museum, had a look round,
and carried away some of the ob
jects which appealed to him. When
the director protested, the officer re
torted that Lille was now a German:
town, but he did not explain bow
that fact gave him the right to in
dulge his individual fancies.
Then the director went to Prince
Rupprecht in despair. The prince
promised to look into the matter,
and visited the museum a few daya
afterward, taking back some of the
stolen objects.
"You won't hear much m-re. of
Pericles," he said significantly.
London Tit-Bits.
REMINISCENT
In the strife for education
There are changes, so they claim.
But the essay and oration
All seem very much the same.
WONDERFUL INDEED! .
The thinnest man in the world
was arguing with the man of the
mighty fist as to who was the great
est "draw" in the theatrical or,
rather, circus world.
He of the mighty fist listened pa
tiently to the thin man's tale of
triumphs, and then burst out :
"See these fists? Why, the other
day I took a brick in either hand,
gave a squeeze, and du.-t ! Then I
went through a forest, pulled up
tree with my right hand and one
with my left, squeezed them togeth
er, and, behold sawdust ?"
The thin uniu wasn't impressed.
"Then," went on the ni:tti with
the finis, desperately, "I went into a
field, picked up a bull in cither hand,,
squeezed em together, and, hey
presto beef tea!"
UNIF0R.V1 PRIME C1D.TT USE
Max of Baden Intended to Wear It
In Triumphal Entry Into Coo
quered Paris, but
Frinee Mas of Baden lost hia
luggage, it appears, in the Marne
retreat after the British offensive
in July. The prince was well pro
vided with uniforms to suit all oc
casions, the grand entry into Paris
not excepted. For that day of tri
umph a very- fine uniform, with a
beautifully chased sv.ord, was espe
cially provided, but it happened
that this very uniform fell into the
hands of a French soldier, a citizen
of Lyons, who sent it to the 'mayor,
M. Edouard Ilerriot." M. Herriot,
with an eye to business, put it up
for auction in aid of ono of the in
numerable war charities. Possibly
uniform, helmet and all will fin'l
their way to a shelf in the war tro
phies museum of the city of Parui i
as curiosities."

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