Barbour County index. [volume], December 26, 1906, Image 2

About Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current

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The Barber County Index
Painter & Herr, Publishers.
MEDICINE LODGE,
KANSAS.
"Radio Teelgraphy."
Hadio telegraphy" is to be the offi
cial designation for the wireless meth
od of . conveying communications.
,This has been decided by the interna
itionar conference in Berlin, which by
?the way has resulted in another sub
'stantial testimonial to the influence
exerted : by the United States. An
agreement has been ' reached by th
delegates, who signed Saturday the
convention which is to regulate the
use of-the wireless system. Difficulty
existed In the beginning because ol
conflicting claims of rival inventors
whose devices are in competition with
one another. The representatives of
the United States from the beginning
took. the position that communications
between ships at sea and between
ships and shore should be entirely free
and independent of any rivalry among
Inventors. There was animated and
earnest discussion, but the outcome is
-acceptance of the American view by
moat of the members of the confer
ence, though several governments
make reservations intended to protect
existing agreements with wireless tel
egraph companies. The conference
bad to deal with a novel question,
since wireless telegraphy has never
befofe been the subject of interna
tional ' consideration, but it would
'seem an equitable decision was
reached, and one in harmony with tlr?
increasing spirit of international gocd
will. The period of ratification of the
treaty embodying these agreements
will end Juiy 1. 1908.
. Napoleon's Horsemanship.
Was Napoleon a good horseman?
Frederic Masson, whose studies of the
emperor know no end, declares that
ihe was' a poor rider. . In this opinioc
e contradicts many a writer, as well
as all- the historical painters. Even In
'the military academy, it seems, Na
"poleon was the despair of his riding
(teachers. Though frequently thrown
from his horse, his head was always
down on his chest and his legs were
bent by his too short stirrups. Hence
his back was always crooked when he
was in the saddle, while his reins were
never .properly in hand. It. is on rec
ord that in attempting at Boulogne to
pull his horse suddenly to one side to
avoid a heedless child, Napoleon , went
clear over the animal's head and fell
beside the child, Detaille by name
who became, by the way, the father of
,the celebrated' painter, Edouard De
taille. ' In Wurzburg, Napoleon once
cad to pay GOO francs damages for
riding down a woman. The emperor
also rode across country with absolute
indifference to his own safety, and
was always master of his mount, des
pite his poor seat His taste in horses
was excellent.
Educational Expenses in Europe..
French statistics show the expenses
of the various European "states for the
education of, their subjects. In Ger
!many there is one school to every 700
i inhabitants, and on an average 100
children attend one school. The ex
pense amounts to 38.25 cents a head
jof population. In France there is a
! school to every 500 inhabitants, a
j school is attended by 66 children, and
(every Frenchman contributes 29.5
jcents to the expenditure. In Italy,
j where there is a school to every 600
t inhabitants, a school is visited by -56
j children and a pupil costs 16.75 cents.
I In Spain there is also a school to every
600 inhabitants and 56 children consti
tute the average attendance. Every
ichlld, however, requires an annual
, - -,. u uugiauu,
jsays the New York Tribune, condi
tions are similar, but the cost amounts
jto 27.25 cents for each child. Austria
jhas a school to every 104 pupils and
.every 1,300 inhabitants, at a cost of
119.1 cents. In Russia there Is a school
to every 2,300 Inhabitants, and th
ischool expenditure of a ' Russian
amounts to 5.5 cents.
The statistics of foreign trade of
the United States show that we are
Importing unusually large quantities
and values of agricultural products.
But there Is no occasion for alarm by
our farmers. Sugar and tobacco do
not seriously compete with the native
output, and coffee, silk and rubber
are not rivals for anything grown at
home. The American producer who
supplies a large part of the world with
breadstuff s, cotton and meat Is still
;far ahead of the game, and may rest
easy in the assurance that there are
some millions of people abroad who
regard this country as the. chief
source of supply for many of the nec
essaries of lifei
. A Washington woman is suing an
other for $5,000 damages because a
postal card complaint of the manner
In which she treated her children
caused her to lose 30 pounds in
weight Some women would welcome
a postal card like that Think of the
doctor's bill It saved, to say nothing
of the inconvenience of following a
diet
As a rule, the man who can make
"u cicituiug numoers a lma
a one of the things he can't zanka.
lilt MEdULJ
DAVID GRAHA: 1 PIIIIRS,w
DANGER SIGNALS.
At that time I did not - myself go
'over the bill3 before the legislatures
of those staters in which I had inter
ests, i trusted mat worn to my law
yers and, like every man who ever
absolutely trusted an important divi
sion of his affairs to another, I was
severely punished. One morning my
eye happened to light upon a minor
paragraph in a newspaper a Hst of
the "small bills yesterday approved
by the governor." In the list was one
"defining the power of sundry com
missions." Those words seemed to
me somehow to spell "joker." But
why did I call up my lawyers to ask
them about it? It's a mystery to me.
All I know i3 that, 1 busy as I was,
something inside me compelled me to
drop everything else and hunt that
"joker' down.
I got Saxe then senior partner in
Browne, Saxe & Einstein on the
'phone, and said: "Just see and tell
me, will you, what is the 'bill defining
the power of sundry commissions
the bill the governor signed yester
day?" "Certainly, Mr. Blacklock," came
the answer. My nerves are, and al
ways have been, on the watchout for
the looks and the tones and the ges
tures that are just a shade off the
natural; and I feel that I do Saxe no
injustice when I say his tone was, riot
a shade, but a full . color, off the nat
ural. So I was prepare? for what he
said when he returned to the tele
phone. "I'm sorry, Mr. Blacklock, but
we seem unable to lay our hands on
tfcat bill at this moment."
"Why not?" said I, in the tone that
makes an employe jump as if a whip
lash had cut him on the calves.
He had jumped all right, as his
voice showed. "It's not in our file,"
said he. "It's house bill No. 427, and
it's apparently not here."
"The hell you say!" I exclaimed.
"Why?"
"I really can't explain," he pleaded,
and the frightened whine confirmed
my suspicion. "'
"I guess not," said I, making the
words significant and suggestive.
"And you're in my pay to look after
such matters! But you'll have to ex
plain, if thi3 turns out to be serious.'"
"Apparently our file of bills is com
plete except that one," he went on.
"I suppose it was lost in the mail,
and I very stupidly didn't notice the
gap in the numbers."
"Stupid isn't the word I'd use,4 said
I, with a laugh that wasn't of the
kind that cheers. And I rang oft and
asked for the state capitol on the
"long distance."
Before I got my connection Saxe,
whose office was only two blocks
away, came flustering in. "The boy
has been discharged, Mr. Blacklock,"
he began.
"What boy?" said I. . ..
"The boy in charge of the bill file
the boy whose business it was to
keep the file complete."
"Send .him to me, you damned
scoundrel," said I. "I'll give him a
Job. What do you take me for any
way ? And what kind of a cowardly
hound are you to disgrace an Innocent
boy as a cover for your own crooked
work?"
"Really, Mr. Blacklock, thi3 is most
extraordinary," he . expostulated. j
"Extraordinary? I call it crim
inal," I retorted. "Listen to me. You
look after the legislation calendars for
me, and for Langdon, and for Roe
buck, and for Melville, and for half
a dozen others of the biggest finan
ciers in the country. It's the most
Important work you do for us. Ye
you, as shrewd and careful a lawyer
as there is at the bar, want me to
believe you trusted that work to a
boy! If you did. you're a damn fool.
If you didn't, you're a damn scoun
drel. There's no more doubt in my
mind than in yours which of those
horns has you sticking on-tt."
"You are letting your quick temper
get away with you, Mr. Blacklock,"
he deprecated.
"Stop lying!" I shouted. "I knew
you had been doing some skulduggery
when I first heard your voice on the
telephone. And if 1 needed any proof,
the meek way you've taken my abuse
would furnish it and to spare." .
Just then the telephone bell rang
.nd I got the right department and
isked the clerk to read house bill 427.'
ft contained five short 'paragraphs.
The "joker" was in the third, which
gave the state canal commission the
right "to institute condemnation pro
ceedings, and to condemn, an" to
abolish, any canal not exceeding 30
miles in length and not a part of the
connected canal system ofjthe state."
When I hung up thp receiver I was
so absorbed that I had forgotten Saxe
was waiting. He made some.- slight
sound. I wheeled on him. I needed
a vent If he' hadn't been there I
should have smashed a. chair. But
there was he and I kicked him out
of my private office and would have
kicked him out through the anteroom
Into the outer hall, had he not gath
ered himself together and run like a
Jack-rabbit , '
. Since that day I have done my own
calendar watching.
My lawyer had sold me out; I, fool
that I was, had not guarded the only
weak plate in my armor against my
companions the plate over my back,
to shed assassin thrusts. Roebuck
and Langdon between them owned the
governor; he owned the canal com
mission; my canal, which gave me ac
cess to tide-water for the product of
my Manasquale mines, . was as good
as closed. I no longer had the whip
hand -in' National Coal. The others
could sell me out and take two-thirds
of my fortune, whenever they liked
for of what use were my mines with
no outlet now to any market, except
the outlets the coal 'crowd owned?
As soon as I had thought the situa
tion out in all its bearings, I realized
that there was no escape for me now,
that whatever chance to escape I
might have had was closed by my
uncovering to Saxe and kicking him.
But I did not regret; it was worth -the
money it would cost me, Besides, I
thought I saw. how I could later on
KEEP OUT OF THE MAR
turn it to good account. A sensible
man never makes fatal errors. What
ever he does is at least experience,
and can also be used to advantage.
If Napoleon hadn't been half dead at
Waterloo, I don't doubt he would have
used its disaster as a means to a
great victory.
When I walked into Mowbray Lang
don's office, I was like a thoroughbred
exercising on a clear frosty morning;
and my smile was as fresh as the
flower in my buttonhole. I thrust out
my hand at him. "I congratulate
you," said I. .
He took the proffered hand with a
questioning look.
"On what?" said he. It is hard to
tell from his face what is going on in
his head, but I think I guessed right
when 'l decided that Saxe hadn't yet
warned him.
"I have just found out from' Saxe,"
I pursued, "about the canal bill."
"What canal bill?" he asked.
"That puzzled look was a mistake,
Langdon," said I, laughing at him.
"When you don't know' anything about
a matter, you look merely blank. You
overdid it; you've given yourself
away."
He shrugged his shoulders. "As
you please," said he. As you please
was his favorite expression; a sttreo
typed irony, for in dealing with him,
things were never as you pleased, but
always as he pleased.
"Next time you want to dig a mine
under anybody," I went on, "don't hire
Saxe. Really I feel sorry for you to
have such a clever "scheme messed by
such an ass." .
"If you don't mind, I'd like to know
what you're talking about" said he,
with his patient bored look. ''
"A you nnd Roebnrlr own the gov.
ernor, I know your little law ends my
little canaL"
"Still I don't know what you're talk
ing about" drawled he. "You are al
ways suspecting everybody of double
dealing. I gather that this is another
instance of your Infirmity. ; Really
Blacklock, the world isn't wholly
made up of scoundrels." -
"I know that," said I. "And I will
even admit that its scoundrels are sel
dom made up wholly of scoundrelism.
Even Roebuck would rather do the
decent thing, if he can do it without
endangering his personal interests. As
for you I, regard you as one of the
decentest men I ever knew outside of
business. And even "there, I believe
you'd keep your word, as long as the
other fellow kept his."
1 "Thank you," said he, bowing Iron
ically.. "This flattery makes me sus
pect you've come to get something."
"On the contrary," said I. "I want
to. give something. I want to give
you my coal mines." .
"I thought you'd see that our offer
was fair," said he. "And I'm glad you
have changed your mind about quar
reling with your best friends. We can
be useful to you, you to us. A break
would be silly."
"That's the" way it looks to me,"
I assented. And I decided that my
sharp talk to Roebuck had set them
to estimating my value to them.
"Sam Ellersly," X.angdon presently
remarked, "tells me he's campaigning
hard for you at the Travelers. I hope
you'll make it. We're rather a slow
crowd; a few men like you might stir
things up."
I am always more than willing to
give others credit for good sense and
good motives. It was not vanity, but
this disposition to credit others with
sincerity and sense, that led me to
believe him, both as to the coal mat-
RIAGE, MATT, HE ADVISED.
ter and as to the Travelers club.
"Thanks, Langdon," I said; and that
he might look no further for my mo
tive, I added: "I want to get into
that club much as the winner of a
race wants the medal that belongs to
him. I've built myself up Into & rich
man, into one of .the powers in
finance, and I feel I'm entitled to
recognition."
VI.
s OF "GENTLEMEN."
When I got back to my office and
was settling to the proofs of the "Let
ters to Investors," which I published
in sixty newspapers throughout the
country and which daily reached up
ward of five million people, "Sam El
lersly came in. His manner was cer
tainly different from what it had ever
been" before; a difference so subtle
that I couldn't describe It more nearly
than to say 'it made me feel as If he
had not until then been treating me
as of the same class with himself.. I
smiled to myself , and made an entry
in my mental ledger to the credit of
Mowbray. Langdon. v
"That club business is going nicely,"
said Sam. "Langdon is enthusiastic,
and I find you've got good friends on
the committee." . '
I knew" that well enough. Hadn't
I been carrying, them on my books at
a good loss for two years? : '- '
"If it wasn't for for some features
of this business of yours," he went
cn, "I'd say- there ' wouldn't be . the
slightest trouble." ' , "
"Bucket-shop?" said I with an easy
laugh, though this nagging was be
ginning to; get on my nerves.
' "Exactly," said he. "And, you know,
you advertise yourself like like "
"Lake verybndv lse.. only more
successfully than most, said I.
"Everybody . advertises," each one
adapting his advertising to the needs'
of his enterprises, as far as he knows
how." : ,- ; ..
f "That's true, enough," he confessed.
"But .there are enterprises and enter
prises, you know." v : "
"You can tell 'em, Sam, said I,
"that I never -put out a statement 1
don't believe to be truearid that when
any of my followers lose on one of my
tips, I've lost on it top. For I play
my own tips and that's more than
can be said of my financier' in this
town."
. After a while I dragged in the sub
ject "One thing I am and will do to
get myself in line for that club," I
said, like a- seal on promenade. "I'm
sick of the crowd I travel with the
men and the women. I feel it's about
time I settled down I've -got a for
tune and establishment that needs a
woman to set it off. I can make some
woman happy. You don't happen to
know any nice girls the right sort, I
mean?" -
"Not many," said Sam. ."You'd bet
ter go back to the country where you
came from, and get her there. She'd
be eternally grateful, and her head
wouldn't be full of mercenary non
sense." -
"Excuse me!" exclaimed I. "lt'd
turn her head. She'd go clean crazy.
She'd plunge in up to her neck and
not being used to these waters, she'd
make a show of herself, and probably
drown, dragging me down with her, If
possible." "
Sam laughed. "Keep out of mar
riage; : Matt," he advised,., not so ob
tuse to my real point as he wanted me
to believe. "I know the kind of girl
you've got in mind. She'd marry you
for your money, and she'd never ap
preciate you. She'd see in you only
the lack of the things she's been
taught to lay stress on."
"For instance?" ,
"I couldn't tell you any more than I
could enable you to recognize a per
son you'd never seen by describing
him." v'-;
"Ain't I a gentleman?"' I inquired. :
He laughed, as if the idea' tickled
him. "Of course," he said. "Of
course."
"Ain't I got as proper a country
place as there is a-going? Ain't my
apartment in the Willoughby a peach?
Dcn't I give as elegant dinners as you
ever sat down to? Don't I dress right
up to the Piccadilly latest? Don't I"
act all right know enough to keep
my feet off the table and my knife out
of my mouth?" All true enough; .and
I so crude then that I hadn't a sus
picion what a flat contradiction of my
pretensions and beliefs about myself
the very words and phrases were.
"You're right in it, Matt," said am."
"But-well you haven't traveled with
our crowd, and they're shy of strang
ers, especially as as energetic a sort
of stranger as you are. :' You're too
sudden, Matt too dazzling too "
, "Too. shiny -and new?" saicJ.J, begin
ning to catch his drift. 'That'll be
looked after." '
VII. ::. :
BLACKLOCK GOES INTO TRAIN
ING. This brings me to the ugliest story
my enemies have concocted against
me. No one appreciates more thor
oughly than I that, to rise high, a man
must have his own efforts seconded
by the flood of vituperation that hi3
enemies send to overwhelm him and
which washes him far higher than he
could hope to lift himself. So I do not
here refer to any attack on me in the
public prints; I think of them only
with amusement and gratitude. The.
story that rankles is the one these'
foes of mine set creeping, like a snake
under the fallen leaves, everywhere,
anywhere, unseen, without a trail. It
has been whispered into every ear
and it is, no doubt, widely believed
that I deliberately put old Bromwell
Ellersly. "in a hole," and there tor
tured him until he consented' to try to
compel his daughter to marry me.
It is possible that, if I had thought
of such a devilish device, I might have
tried it is not all fair in love? But
there was no need for my cudgeling
my brains to carry that particular for
tification on my way to what I had
fixed my will upon. Bromwell Eller
sly came to me of his own accord.
I suppose the Ellerslys must have
talked me over in the family circle.
However this may be, my acquaint
ance with her father began with
Sam's asking me to lunch with him.
"The governor has heard me talk of
you so much," 6ald he, "that he is
anxious to meet you."
I offered to help him, and I did help
him. Is there any one, knowing any
thing .of the facts of life, who will cen
sure me when I admit that 1 with
deliberation simply tided him over,
did riot- make for him and present to
him a fortune? What chanco should
I have had, if I had been so absurdly
generous to a man who deserved noth
ing but punlshruent for his selfish and
bigoted mode of life? I took away
his worst burdens; but I " left him
more than he could carry without, my
help. And it -was not until he had
appealed in vain . to all his social
friends to relieve him of the necessity
of my aid, not until be realized that I
was his only hope of escaping a sharp
comedown from luxary to very modest
comfort in a flat somewhere not- until
then did his wife send me an invita
tion to dinner. And I had not so much
as hinted that I wanted it.
(To be Continued.)
'- Couldn't Wait So Long.
"Will I send the goods home?"
asked the girl behind the counter in
the big department store. .
"No, ITi take them with me," replied
the purchaser; "but as I'm In a hurry
you may send the change home, If yon
please." YcVers Statesman, . ;
.HE Bachelor lived In
boarding house.- He was
,55 years old, and his hair
was growing thin- at the
top and gray at the tem
ples. He had recently in
vested In . a cane because
of the gout which he bad
stopped calling rheuma
tism. 'After he had bought
the cane he had. grimly
stalked to an oculist's.
The new eyeglasses were in his pocket
now, and he was on his way to the
boarding house (he disdained to call
It home) , to test them on the Rubal
yat.that a New York friend had sent
him for Christmas. . , , '
All these things .(Including the com
ing of Omar Khayyam) had 'made the
Bachelor a pessimist or so,' at least
he thought ; , '
It was Christmas eve.
"The Christmas spirit!" he growled,
under his breath. - "Huh! The Christ
mas greed, I call it Everybody seema
to be rushing around like mad, and
everybody is filled to bursting with a
lively sense of favors to come. . Will
that confounded car ever show upt I
can't stand this chattering rabble
much longer." v
The car came at last and the Bach
elor .heaved a sigh that was almost
satisfaction as he sank into the only
vacant seat
.The Bachelor found himself on the
Threw Down the Book In a Rage
same seat with a little woman" who
held many bundles and a baby. The'
baby was, asleep. The woman looked
fagged and tired, "but when her eyes
chanced to rest on the infant in her
tense "arms, they grew soft with ma
ternal tenderness. She apologized In
flushing haste to the Bachelor when
the baby's restless movements set a
paper box squarely on his knee, but
the pessimist only grunted. She tried
to recover the box, but this, as she
had only two arms, and both were full,
proved difficult.
"Let the box stay, madam,", snapped
the Bachelor. He had not thought to
help her. "It does not inconvenience
me in the least." .
So the box stayed. The Bachelor
looked sedulously the other way, and
tried to forget that it was there. The
baby's pudgy pink hand was flung on
his coat sleeve, and the Bachelor tried
to forget that,, too.
"I get off at the next' corner, sir,
said the woman. "Could you would
you "
She rose in hurried anxiety to her
feet, and more bundles rained down
on the Bachelor. -
"I could help you out, if that is what
you mean," said the Bachelor sourly.
"Oh. no, sir thank you, sir!" For
the Bachelor, red with irritation, had '
gathered up the scattered parcels.
The conductor grinned as he Jerked
the bellcord, and the perspiring Bach
elor could have beaten him with hi
cane. ' ' . r.
"I'll carry these bundles home for
you, madam," he announced gruffly
and reluctantly, when they reached the
sidewalk. "My car has left mo, any
way," and he smiled grimly after the
rapidly receding lights.
"Yes. sir." said the wnmin .t
Tain't far," she added. "liif
DIOCK. -
When he at last reached bi
less room, he adjusted his new glasses
with a scowl and picked up Omar
Khayyam with a feeling of sudden dis
taste. "The - Christmas spirit " he
growled. "Pshaw!"
But he did not see the printed pa-
though hi3 eyes were screwed Intent
ly upon it for many minutes. Sudden
ly he threw, down the vellunj-covered
book In a rage and tore o?I the place
nez. "Hang it all!; said.ho furiously,
these glasses are no good. That driv
eling idiot of an oculist ought to lie
doww ' r
b Ja?med hat on. his head
and went down-town, and' when h
came back' his overcoat pockets were
bulging with a flaxen-haired doll Wa
ranted to say "mamma" without much
pressure and a red Jumping-jack cf
startling agility. SJ u V
For the Christmas spirit had cast it
sweet and potent snpli
mistlc BachPlor V Lue J
remembered-whhead lot?'
""rT, V "otous children.
- God blessem!" said the Bachor.
if .fyi
I
t