The Bluffton news. [volume], January 21, 1943, Image 7

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THURSDAY, JAN. 21, 1943
QnOHMS
THE STORY SO FAR: Charlotte
(Cherry) Rawlinra, an orphan since she
was seven years old, has been at Saint
Dorothea’s school for yirls. She knows
almost nothing about her early history,
but has gradually come to realize that
like the other girls at the school she has
no family, and she questions whether
she has the right to her father's name.
She develops into a very attractive
girl, and has a flair for writing the
school’s plays and arranging their
tableaux. She is in the eostnme of an
Indian chief’s daughter, having appeared
in one of her own plays, when Judge
Judson Marshbanks, her co-gnardian
with Emma Haskell, a trained nurse,
appears to arrange for her to leave the
school. She remembers that Emma
nursed her mother before her death, and
Judge Marshbanks tells her that Emma
has gotten her a secretarial position with
the very wealthy Mrs. Porteous Porter
of San Francisco, where Emma is now
housekeeper.
Now continue with the story.
CHAPTER II
“Because,” the girl offered slowly
and doubtfully, “it wasn’t that way.
I was only seven, but I knew that
something was wrong. Nothing was
left for me, no pictures of anyone,
no letters or names. This school,
you know, isn’t like an ordinary
school. We know we aren’t like oth
er girls. Everyone here has some
strange history—no letters, no going
home for holidays, no presents and
surprises.”
“No this isn’t a regular school,”
he conceded. "But according to
Emma it was the best thing to do.
And you seem to have flourished,”
he added with a smile. “You’ve
gone along here more as if it were a
home
“With a capital letter!” she put
in as he paused.
He looked at her in his kindly
way and smiled.
“A place where girls are protect
ed and safe, and well fed He
raised questioning eyes. “Well
fed?” he asked.
“Not so—oh, yes, all right,” she
conceded, not interested. An impa
tient jerk of her head took him back
to the point where he had inter
rupted himself.
“And are taught good profes
sions,” he finished.
“Dressmaking, bookkeeping, ste
nography, beauty-parlor work,” she
supplied. “But,” she added, “those
aren’t what they teach girls in other
schools. But that won’t keep me
from trying terribly hard to make
good. You said something about a
position? What am I to do?”
“You are not to do anything until
you find just what you want to do,”
he said, his graying hair and his
fifty years making it possible for
him to use a father’s kindly tone.
“But for the time being ti is a sec
retarial position with the same old
lady—a very rich old woman named
Mrs. Porter—Mrs. Porteous Porter,
for whom Emma works. Answering
the telephone, and correspondence,
and reading—that sort of thing.”
“Oh, that?” the girl said with a
brightening face. “That I think I
could do!”
“I’m sure you could. And you
would be paid seventy-five dollars a
month.”
“Seventy-five dollars a month! Oh,
she is kind!”
“When—when would I go?” she
asked.
“This is—let’s see, the third,” he
said. “Suppose you come down on
Monday? Monday’s a good day to
start. You take a train at half past
five in the afternoon, and at seven
the next night someone will meet
you at the Oakland Mole.”
“Sunday wouldn’t do?” she asked.
“Why not?”
“I was thinking, when you said
Oakland, that two Sisters are going
down to the Oakland house on Sun
day we’re having a jubilee for
them Sunday afternoon they would
take me.”
“That would be an excellent ar
rangement. You come first to my
house, you understand, and we can
go over, and see. Eipma when you’ve
’/KATHLEEN NORRIS
2-
She jumped when old Dr. O’Con
ner touched her arm realizing that
she was hungry and went with him
through the swaying train to the
dining car.
W.N.U. RELEASE
some clothes and have had time to
look about a little. I must see Moth
er Superior before I go and make
the arrangements for you.”
And then they were walking back
toward the convent’s main building,
through wide, orderly, dimly lighted
corridors.
“I must tell you about my fam
ily, Cherry,” the man said. “My
mother lives with us—Mrs. Clay
Judson Marshbanks she sounds a
little formidable and she is a little
formidable! Then there’s my pretty
wife—I lost my first wife,” he in
terrupted himself to explain, “and
Fran is almost young enough to be
my daughter. I’ve a son Greg—he’s
twenty-four, off at college in the
East, and also with us is my broth
er’s daughter, Amy. Amy’s mother
died when she was a little girl her
father was killed in an accident a
few years after that, and my moth
er has had her since—making her
bow in society now and quite grown
up.
She was going away from the only
world she knew the air was full
of farewells and heartaches, and
strange excited happiness of antici
pation.
It had once been a sufficiently
stark and comfortless regime. But
times were changed now. Mother
Superior was noted for the moderni
ty of her Views. Her girls, she said,
must presently face the world as it
was—with all its hurry of planes
and cars, its noise and progress.
“Old girls” were twenty, found
employment under “responsible cus
tody” in the unknown world, and
disappeared new girls came in,
small and frightened and homesick
even from the most unfit and
wretched of homes, or rebellious
and angry and full of muttered
threats of escape.
So Cherry, formally discharged
from the books as “Charlotte Raw
lings,” with due details of her ad
mission and her thirteen years’ resi
dence at the convent entered upon
a formidable-looking graph, was not
as entirely unprepared for entrance
into the world as her custodians
might have fancied her to be.
At leaving, Cherry wore the con
vent uniform of black serge and
white collar, and a round hat like a
small black basket turned upside
down. The hat dated back some
ten years, but it was a hat, and
that was all that girls from Saint
Dorothea’s expected of headgear.
Mother Superior had given her
the ten dollars with a parting word
of instruction. This money was for
any emergency her tickets and
meals on the train would be paid
for by the Sisters in whose care
she was traveling.
“This wouldn’t have been my
choice of a school for you. Cherry,”
the nun had said. “I’ve been con
sidering in my own mind whether
I ought to say this much to you,”
she added, “and I’ve asked for guid
ance in the matter. But there seems
to be no harm in telling you that I
felt—and dear Mother Bertrand felt,
thirteen years ago—that you should
have been one of the Victor street
girls. Our school here is for cases
that are underprivileged—for girls
who are definitely unfortunate, per
haps through no fault of their own.
However, the servant—your moth
er’s servant, who brought you here
—was very definite that it had been
her wish to put you with us. Mrs.
Haskell Emma you remember
her? you will see her now—had
known a fine woman who became
one of Saint Dorothea’s Sisters, and
through her she knew exactly the
character of our work.”
“I remember Emma,” Cherry had
stammered, almost faint with this
final excitement. There had not
been any especial stigma attached
to her name then she might have
been one of the Victor street girls!
Sister Fabian and Sister Gervase
were both indisposed on the train.
They did not want any supper they
had the three berths made up im
mediately, and Cherry left them to
the little room, found a window
seat in the empty length of the car
and sat, fascinated, watching the
landscape flying by.
She jumped when old Dr.
O’Conner touched her arm, real
ized that she was hungry, went
with him through the swaying
train to the dining car.
—and was so rapt over its light
and warmth and the bewilder
ing obligation of ordering something
from a menu for the first time in
her life that tea and biscuits and
honey were all she could murmur
when her companion poised his pen
cil over the order blank.
Both little nuns were tucked up in
bed when she cautiously entered the
drawing room. Cherry had the
lounge, and slept the sleep of youth
and fatigue within its narrow boun
daries. Breakfast was another ad
venture—such smoking coffee, such
buttered toast!—and the long day
that dragged for almost everyone
else on board was too short for her.
But at a quarter past seven o’clock
—for the train was late—when they
descended somewhat grimy and jad
ed at the Oakland Mole, sheer ner
vous excitement and expectation had
exhausted her. She was pale, too
much absorbed in her own emotions
to notice the effect of her chauffeur.
He was quickly identified by the
wearied Sisters, and Cherry in her
turn identified the nice middle-aged
maid who had accompanied him.
May. the housemaid, who had
been sent to meet her, was really,
Cherry discovered, a Mrs. Mott who
had two almost grown boys. But
she was “May” to the whole house
hold. she said goodhumoredly, and
Mizj. Che.ni’ '_2__ be'lc-r call hur &a.
Applications are being received for
farm ponds in this area by the club.
Myron Motter, club director and in
charge of the program states that the
state conservation department is will
ing to furnish certain materials,
equipment, and services. To build a
permanent water supply on the farm
is an easy manner under the new
state program. You are urged to
take advantage of this opportunity
while the funds for such plans are
still available. You are under no ob
ligation to construct a dam by asking
for the booklet describing the propo
sition. The sportsmen club directors
will be willing to assist any land own
er in negotiating for such a water
supply. Send in your inquiry at once
w’hile there is still an opportunity.
Motter will be glad to explain any
feature of the program that needs as
sistance. Club officers will cooperate
in giving all aid possible in the con
struction work.
The answer to the question as to
where our grey squirrels were stay
ing, after the club stocked the cam
pus game reserve, was answered the
other day by Ray Mumma. Ray says
the woods back of his house on Spring
“I’m not going to live at the
Marshbanks’,” Cherry told her.
“I’m going to take a position.”
“The judge said you’d be with us
only a few days. He is going to
play bridge somewhere tonight, and
he’s having his dinner at seven.
Mrs. Marshbanks and Miss Amy are
going out to dinner before a party,
and he’s to bring them home dear
knows when. It’s a coming-out par
ty for Miss Patsy Randall.”
“I didn’t mind that, my dear,” she
said. “Here we are,” May added,
as the car stopped at the foot of an
imposing flight of stone steps. “I’m
going to slip upstairs, and I’ll not
see you again unless you need me.
Molly’ll show you your room. I’m
usually with the old lady after din
ner, but she’s away and I’m going
to a movie tonight. You ask Molly
for anything you want.”
Cherry and her patent-leather bag
were abandoned for just a few mo
ments in the big entrance hall. She
had time only for a breath-taking
impression of such spaciousness and
beauty and color as she had never
seen before, of soft rugs beneath
her feet and dimly lighted arches
leading to great dimly lighted rooms
on all sides, of potted palms and
bursts of winter flowers, before
Judge Marshbanks came forward to
take possession of her, and confide
her to the care of Molly, a pretty
maid with very black eyes and a
very white skin.
By this time the girl was too much
dazed to believe her senses. She
followed Molly upstairs to an in
credibly luxurious big room with an
unbelievably complete bathroom
next to it, brushed her hair and
washed her face in a condition of
complete bewilderment, and de
scended again, still under Molly’s
escort, to the dining room where it
appeared that she and her host were
to be the only persons at dinner.
He was halfway through his meal
hers was served to her fresh and
hot. But she was unable to eat. The
quality of the Italian lace that was
spread on the polished wood, the
beauty of china and crystal, the soft
light of candles were such as Cher
ry had never seen in her life be
fore, nor ever dreamed could exist,
and the numbing sense of being only
in a dream made it impossible for
her to taste or sw’allow anything.
Even the food was beyond what had
been her most fantastic imaginings.
“Don’t you like that?” the judge
asked, looking over his paper.
“It’s wonderful. She made a val
iant attack upon it.
“Know what it is?”
“No, sir. Chicken, I guess.”
“That’s partridge. If you don’t
like it Martin will get you an ome
lette.”
“Oh, no, please! It’s delicious.”
To her own disgust and surprise,
her voice thickened. But he did not
seem to notice it, slid when he re
turned to his paper she made her
self finish her dinner, and felt her
nerves more steady.
A sudden sense that she did not
belong in this scene, that it had
nothing to do with her, that she
never should have entered it, had
almost wrecked her self-control for
a moment. With the blinding force
of a revelation she knew that her
rumpled childish dress was absurd,
that the dowdy hat she had left up
stairs, the bulging shabby patent
leather bag, the ugly school shoes
and cotton gloves and stockings had
no place in this house, and were
like nothing that had ever been here
before. She knew, inexperienced as
she was—she had read it in her
host’s first look—that her shabbi
ness and homeliness had shocked
him. He had seen her only once
before, flushed with triumph after
the school play, made up into her
handsomest self as a brown-skinned
Indian girl gay in feathers and
fringes.
The knowledge that came to her
in this flash of shame and pain
made the big dining-room chair in
which she sat a seat of torture to
her.
But she did her best to conquer
the feeling, and was quite calm
when a young man came in, un
announced, and drew a chair to
Judge Marshbank’s side.
The judge, after a casual friendly
greeting, glanced over at her and
said, “Mr. Coates, Cherry,” and
then, “This is Miss Rawlings,
Kelly.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
THE BLUFFTON NEWS, BLUF1 TON. OHIO
WITH THE
SPORTSMEN’S CLUB
By Paul Sauder
street contains at least seven of the
frisky animals. The greys living
there have dens in the trees and seem
quite contented with the new living
quarters.
The club released the grey squirrels
on the campus in the woods near the
College Library where feeders are
maintained. At times quite a few
greys are seen on the campus, so ap
parently they run the creek bottom
to the campus woods to get food from
the feeders. The woods back of the
Mumma house is rather dense and un
molested and makes an ideal spot for
propagation of grey squirrels as this
animal prefers woods of this type.
Rays says a large number of pheas
ant, rabbits and fox squirrel live there
also. Across the creek the club main
tains a bird feeder which is frequent
ed quite often by a quail covey and
other wild life.
The club takes this opportunity to
give Frederick Herr a vote of thanks
for the good job he did last year as a
club director. Fred's job was that of
membership secretary which entailed
a good deal of work in keeping an ac
curate register of the constantly in
creasing membership. Fred also serv
ed as chairman of the flower com­
mittee.
Clair C. Herr tells us that the
pheasants are still very plentiful in
the Pandora area. Herr states that a
small flock of pheasant hens have
taken over an unoccupied “A” hog
coop on his farm and go inside every
night to roost. In the morning as
Clair throws corn to the hogs, out
the birds come and eat right with the
hogs. The birds are a little afraid of
Clair but as soon as he moves away
they waste no time in getting right
back to continue their feeding.
Clair expressed his desire to be
included in the Unit Tree program
being promoted by the State Conser
vation Department, and his applica
tion for trees is being sent to the
department by the club. Under this
plan farmers may obtain free cer
tain trees for erosion control purpos
es and as wildlife protective areas.
Farmers may obtain up to one-fourth
acre of trees and bushes under this
plan. The club officers are willing
to handle the negotiations for the
farmer and assist him in the planting
as much as possible. Those persons
interested please contact the club di
rectors immediately so that your ap
plication may be sent into the depart
ment in time to get the trees for the
spring planting. Wilford Geiger, is
the club director in charge of the pro
gram in the Bluffton area.
Two additional applications have
been received by the club directors
for free trees under the state wide
unit tree program. Two applica
tions were received from Vernon Yoa
kam of Bluffton, and Guy Sheidler of
Leipsic.
Two Bluffton sportmen were sur
prised the other evening to see a
crane flying over the town winging
its way southward. The crane, often
confused with the heron, is from a
family comprising the largest of the
wading birds. The birds migrate ex
tensively and ordinarily are not to be
seen in these northern areas at this
time of the year. The interesting
spectacle was seen by Lloyd Hard
wick and Herb Rupright on January
12 as they were on their way to the
Sportsmen’s club meeting.
This column invites interesting it
ems concerning the activities of the
sportsmen of the community. If you
have some news for the column, tell it
to a club officer, or drop a card to
the column in care of the News.
The cocker spaniel puppy owned by
Elmer and Ralph Short is sure a cute
little rascal, and mischievous as a 9
week old pup could be! The fully ped
igreed female was obtained from a
dealer in Lima and is of the breed of
medius size spaniels kept for hunting
and game retrieving purposes. The
animal being a small dog when fully
grown makes an excellent house dog
also. Cocker Spaniels have fine silky
hair, wavy, but not curly. Here’s
hoping that Elmer and Ralph will
train the dog to be a hunter for this
purpose the highly intelligent animal
excels over many other kinds of dogs.
Fred Zehrbach and Charles Trip
plehorn are doing their share in as
sisting in the feeding of the birds and
wild life these icy days. The other
day these two sportsmen took several
sacks of walnuts and bread crusts to
WE PAY FOR
HORSES $2.00
COWS $1.00
(of size and condition)
Call
ALLEN COUNTY FERTILIZER
23221—LIMA, OHIO
Reverse Tel. Charges E. G. Buchtieb. Inc.
Nature
IN BOTH CITV AND
COUNTRY CAN
ATTRACT GAY
COLORED SONG *4
BIRDS BY
PLACING FEED
TRAYS FOR THEM*
TABLE SCRAPS'**
GRAIN NUTS AND
SUET CAN SAVE BIRO
LIVES DURING THE
FREQUENT ICE AND
SNOYM STORES*
COOPERATIVE
Farm Pond
Development’
A BOOKLET ON THEibSSx
BUILDING AMD USE
OF FARM PONDS HAS
BEEN PREPARED AND
WILL BE SENT TO THOSE
WHO APPLY FOR IT-
the camupus game reserve and dis
tributed the food for the wild life
there to eat. We need more conser
vation minded folks like these in the
community.
Calvin Dudgeon and Earl Frick
hauled two sled loads of walnuts to
the campus game reserve for the
squirrels to store for food. If any
of you folks in the community have
walnuts or hickory nuts that you will
be willing to donate for winter feed
ing notify a club director at once.
At the directors meeting January
12 the raccoon committee headed by
Albert Garmatter was given by far
the largest appropriation for the
coming year, receiving the sum of
$150 for game restocking. The past
three years the club has had consid
erable difficulty in purchasing rac
coon to even use up the appro
priation for each year. Last year
not one single dollar of the appro
priation was spent. The committee
tried every way to purchase the
animals but were unsuccessful. Other
clubs in the vicinity having a great
er membership of coon hunters were
able to buy up nearly all the rac
coon for sale in this area. This
year, to date, Gannatter and the
committee have purchased two rac
coon. one a female which has been
released in the Dan Basinger woods.
The male has been retained for
breeding purposes.
The club will pay a premium of
$1.50 in cash over market value for
the females, and $1.00 in cash over
Under omostues
As TOLD BY CONSERVATION DIVISION
lovers
Don't Forget your
market full value for the males,
The committee on raccoon
man­
agement for the year is: Albert Gar
matter, Bluffton, chairman Walter
Garmatter, Bluffton William Nus
baum, Col. Grove Kenneth Diller,
Fred Hahn, Bluffton Mark Emerick,
Lafayette.
Those parties having raccoon for
sale are urged to contact any mem
ber of the above committee at as
early a date as possible.
Pheasant propagation will receive
little attention from the club this
year. There is a sizable crop of
these birds left over from last fall’s
hunting, and with the younger
sportsmen of the area serving in the
armed forces the need for restocking
is not needed. At present, plans are
being formulated to aid the farmers
in taking care of the birds on hand
by building up a feeding program. A
new committee was formed this year
to take care of the problem. Activi
ties of this nature will be handled
by the Farmer-Sportsmen Coopera
tion Committee. Harold Montgom
ery was elected as chairman of this
group. He is to be assisted by Ken
neth Dearth acting as committeeman.
Farmers are invited to make recom
mendations to the committee and club
directors, for the club is desirous of
doing all that is possible to have
proper management of the situation.
The club earnestly urges you to
attend the club meetings every sec
i ond Tuesday of each month. We
need many more new members this
BLUFFTON
NEWS
SUBSCRIPTION
if your YELLOW LABEL on this issue reads
JANUARY 1943
Your Subscription is Due Now.
The Bluffton News $2 anywhere in II. S.
Special Club Rates on Newspapers and Magazines
PAGE SEVEN
year due to the fact that several
sources of the club income will be
greatly slashed due to effects of the
war effort. Shells are practically
unobtainable, so the chances of hav
ing a trap shoot next fall are rather
slim. These shooting events bring a
large source of income to the club
treasury. With so many men in the
army, it is predicted the hunting and
fishing license sales might fall off
considerably. If this happens the
club will lose another important
source of income. With these possi
bilities for a loss of revenue, it
stands to reason the increasing mem
bership will have to reach a goal of
at least 500 members to carry the
load cf a $600 budget for the com
ing year. Again we urge you folks—
if you like the club program Join
Up and Give Us A Boost!
The housewives in this area are
going to have to step to keep up
with Jess Manges in the country
wide drive for more fats to fry the
Axis. As a result of the govern
ment’s request for fur buyers to
save the skinned carcases of fur
hearing animals that they purchase,
Jesse has been doing his bit. He
says that he has sold three tons of
carcasses to the fat rendering plant
at Wapakoneta. The carcass of one
muskiat alone will make the fillings
for three 40 m. m. shells which
simply means that each animal’s
carcass will contribute one shell to
each of the Axis partners.
This year Jesse has handled ap
proximately 3,000 muskrats, 100
raccoon, 200 oppossum, 15 mink, 15
weasel and 10 skunk. Of the 3,000
muskrat pelts bought, 1131 of these
were purchased the first seven days
of the season. The raw fur season
was sluggish at the opening due to
the warm weather and an unsettled
market at the beginning of the sea
son. Prices raised as colder weather
came on, however, and at the end of
the season the top prices paid to
trappers were: muskrats, $2.10
mink, $6.50 coon, $6.00 while the
lowly oppossum remained at 35 and
40 cents.
The largest fur catch reported
among our club members were those
of Myron Stratton with over 150
muskrats and Albert Garmatter with
sixteen coon. Among the young
trappers who had especially good
catches were Roger and Scott Mur
ray, Roy Matter, Darrel Carr, and
John Dunbar. These catches in
cluded mostly rats, although Matter
and Carr were lucky enough to nab
a mink.
Trapping is not confined strictly
to men, reports show that women
also know how to bring in the fur.
Miss Clarabel Owens has reported a
catch of over 50 muskrats and we’ll
I say that’s doing O. K.
News Want-ads Bring Results.