Willmar tribune. [volume], December 08, 1909, Image 7

About Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
BY
MEREDITH
NICHOLSON
lLLLkSTRATIOm.3Y
PAY WALTER
C0PYRKH7 /907_0V^OO6&3*flCRf?IU. CA
CHAPTER I.
A Telegram from Paul Stoddard.
Stoddard's telegram was brought to
me on the Glenarm pier at four
o'clock Tuesday afternoon, the 5th of
June. I am thus explicit, for all the
matters hereinafter described turn
upon the receipt of Stoddard's mes
sage, which was, to be sure, harmless
enough in itself, but, like many other
scraps of paper that blow about the
world, the forerunner of confusion and
trouble.
My friend, Mr. John Glenarm, had
gone abroad for the summer with his
family and had turned over to me
his house at Annandale thwt I might
enjoy Its seclusion and comfort while
writing my book on "Russian Rivers."
If John Glenarm had not taken his
family abroad,with him when he went
to Turkey to give the sultan's engi
neers lessons In bridge building If
I had not accepted his kind offer of
the house at Annandale for the sum*
mer and if Paul Stoddard had not
sent me that telegram, I should never
have written this narrative. But such
was the predestined way of It. I rose
from the boat I was caulking, and,
with the waves from the receding
steamer slapping the pier, read this
message:
Stamford. Conn., June 5.
Meet Miss Patricia Holbrook Annan
dale station, five twenty Chicago express
and conduct her to St. Agatha's school,
where she is expected. She will explain
difficulties I have assured her of your
stmpathy and aid. Will join you later If
necessary Imperative engagements call
me elsewhere. STODDARD.
To say that I was angry when I
read this message is to belittle the
truth I read and re-read It with
growing heat. I had accepted Glen
arm's offer of the house at Annandale
because it promised peace, and now I
was ordered by telegraph to meet a
strange person of whom I had never
heard, listen to her story, and tender
my sympathy and aid. I glanced at
my watch. It was already after four.
"Delayed in transmission" was
stamped across the telegraph form—
I learned later that it had lain half
the day in Annandale, New York—
so that I was now face to face with
the situation, and without opportunity
to fling his orders back to Stoddard
if I wanted to. Nor did I even know
Stamford from Stamboul, and I am
rot yet clear In my mind—being an
Irishman with rather vague notions of
American geography—whether Con
necticut is north or south of Massa
chusetts.
"Ijima'"
I called my Japanese boy from the
boathouse, and he appeared, paint
brush in hand.
"Order the double trap, and tell
them to hurry."
I reflected, as I picked up my coat
and walked toward the house, that if
anj one but Paul Stoddard had sent
rne such a message I should most cer
tainly have ignored it but I knew him
a* a man who did not make demands
or impose obligations lightly. As the
founder and superior of the Protestant
religious Order of the Brothers of
Bethlehem he was, I knew, an ex
ceedingly busy man. His religious
house was In the Virginia mountains
but he spent much time in quiet, hum
ble service in city slums, In lumber
camps, in the mines of Pennsylvania
and occasionally he api-eared like a
prophet from the wilderness in some
great church of New York, and
preached with a marvelous eloquence
to wondering throngs
.The trap swung into the arched
driveway and I bade the coachman
make haste to the Annandale station.
The hand&ome bays were soon trot
ting swiftly toward the village, while
I diew on my gloves and considered
the situation. A certain Miss Hol
brook, of whose existence I had been
utterly ignorant an hour before, was
about to arrive at Annandale. A
clergyman, whom I had not seen for
two years, had telegraphed me from
a town in Connecticut to meet this
person, conduct her to St. Agatha's
school—just closed for the summer, as
I knew—and to volunteer my services
in difficulties that were darkly indi
cated in a telegram of 45 words. The
sender of the message I knew to be
a serious character, and a gentleman
of distinguished social connections.
Tho name of the lady signified noth
ing except that she was unmarried
and as Stoddard's acquaintance was
among all sorts and conditions of
men I could assume nothing more
thaa that the unknown had appealed
to him as a priest and that he had
sent her to Lake Annandale to shake
off the burdens of the world in the
conventual air of St. Agatha's.
The Chicago expreso whistled for
Annandale just as we gained the edge
of the \illage. It paused a grudging
moment and was gone before we
reached the station. I jumped out
and lan thiough the waiting room to
the platform, where tlie agent was
gathering up the mail bags, while an
assistant loaded a truck with trunks.
I glanced about, and the moment was
an important one in my life. Stand
ing quite alone beside several pieces
of hand baggage was a lady—unmis
takably a lady—leaning lightly upon
an umbrella, and holding under her
arm a magazine. She was clad in
brown, from bonnet to shoes the um
brella and magazine cover were of
like tint, and even the suitcase near
est her siruck the same note of color.
There was no doubt whatever as to
her identity I did not hesitate a mo
ment, the lady in brown was Miss
Holbrook, and she was an old lady, a
dear, bewitching old lady, and as I
stepped toward her, her eyes bright
ened—they, too, were brown!—and
she put out her brown-gloved hand
with a gesture so frank and cordial
that I was won at once.
"Air. Donovan—Mr. Laurance Dono*
van—I am sure of It!"
"Miss Holbrook—I am equally con
fidents I said. "I am sorry to be late.
^•Jjfc
^aiitoLs&akisalii
"Well, He Can Hardly Find Her Here."
but Father Stoddard's message was
delayed."
"You are kind to respond at all,"
she said, her wonderful eyes upon
me "but Father Stoddard said you
would not fail me."
"He is a man of great faith! But
I have a trap waiting. We can talk
more comfortably at St. Agatha's."
"Yes we are to go to the school.
Father Stoddard kindly arranged it.
It is quite secluded, he assured me."
"You will not be disappointed, Miss
Holbrook, if seclusion Is what you
seek."
I picked up the brown bag and
turned away, but she waited and
glanced about Her "we" had puzzled
me perhaps she had brought a maid,
and I followed her glance toward the
window of the telegraph office.
"Oh, Helen my niece, Helen Hol
brook, is with me. I wished to wire
some instructions to my housekeeper
at home. Father Stoddard .may not
have explained—that it is partly on
Helen's account that I am coming
here."
"No he explained nothing—merely
gave me my instructions," I laughed.
"He gives orders in a most militant
fashion."
In a moment I had been presented
to the niece, and had noted that she
was considerably above her aunt's
height that she was dark, with eyes
that seemed quite black in certain
lights, and that she bowed, as her
aunt presented me, without offering
her hand, and murmured my name in
a voice musical, deep and full, and
agreeable to hear.
She took their checks from her
purse, and I called the porter and
arranged for the transfer of their bag
gage to St. Agatha's. We were soon
in the trap with the bays carrying us
at a lively clip along the lake road.
"There's a summer resort some
where on the lake how far is that
from the school?" asked the girl.
"That's Port Annandale. It's two
or three miles from St. Agatha's," I
replied. "On this side and all the
way to the school there are farms.
Port Annandale lies yonder."
"Of course we shall see nothing of
it," said the younger Miss Holbrook
with finality.
I sought in vain for any resem
blance between the two women they
were utterly unlike. The little brown
lady was interested and responsive
enough she turned toward her niece
with undisguised affection as we
talked, but I caught several times a
look of unhappiness in her face, and
the brow that Time had not touched
gathered in lines of anxiety and care.
The girl's manner toward her aunt
was wholly kind and sympathetic.
"I'm sure it will be delightful here.
Aunt Pat. Wild roses and blue water!
I'm quite in love with the pretty lake
already."
This was my first introduction to
the diminutive of Patricia, and it
seemed very fitting, and as delightful
as the dear little woman herself. She
must have caught my smile as the
niece so addressed her for the first
time and she smiled back at me In her
charming fashion.
"You are an Irishman, Mr. Donovan,
and Pat must sound natural."
"Oh, all who love Aunt Patricia call
her Aunt Pat!" exclaimed the girl.
"Then Miss Holbrook undoubtedly
hears it often," said I, and was at
once sorry for my bit of blarney, for
the tears shone suddenly in the dear
brown eyes, and the niece recurred to
the summer landscape as a topic, and
talked of the Glenarm place, whose
stone wall we were now passing, un
til we drove into the grounds of St.
Agatha's and up to the main entrance
of the school, where a sister In the
"Helen, if you will see our things
disposed of I will detain Mr. Donovan
a few minutes," said Miss Holbrook.
"Or I can come again in an hour—I
am your near neighbor,9 I remarked,
thinking she might wish to rest from
her journey.
"I am quite ready," she replied, and
I bowed to Helen Holbrook and to Sis
ter Margaret, who went out, followed
by the maid. Miss Pat—you will par
don me if I begin at once to call her
by this name, but it fits her so capi
tally, it is so much a part of her, that
I cannot resist—Miss Pat put off her
bonnet without fuss, placed it on the
table and sat down in a window seat
whence the nearer shore of the lake
was visible across the strip of smooth
lawn.
"Will you please close the door?"
she said, and when I came back to the
window she began at once.
"It is not pleasant, as you must
understand, to explain to a stranger
an intimate and painful family trouble.
But Father Stoddard advised me to be
quite frank with you."
"That is the best way, if there is a
possibility that I may %e of service,"
I said in the gentlest tone I could
command. "But tell me no more than
you wish. I am wholly at your serv
ice without explanations."
"It is in reference to my brother
he has caused me a great deal of
trouble. When my father died nearly
ten years ago—he lived to a great
age—he left a considerable estate, a
large fortune. A part of it was di
vided at once among my two brothers
and myself. The remainder, amount
ing to $1,000,000, was left to me, with
the stipulation that I was to make a
further division between my brothers
at the end of ten years, or at my dis
cretion. I was older than my broth
ers, much older, and my father left
me with this responsibility, not know
ing what it would lead to. Henry
and Arthur succeeded to my father's
business, the banking firm of Hol
brook Brothers, in New York. The
bank continued to prosper for a time
then it collapsed suddenly. The debts
were all paid, but Arthur disappeared
—there were unpleasant rumors—"
She paused a moment, and looked
out of the window toward the lake,
and I saw her clasped hands tighten
but she went on bravely.
"That was seven years ago. Since
then Henry has insisted on the final
division of the property. My father
had a high sense of honor and he stip
ulated that if either of his sons should
be guilty of any dishonorable act he
should forfeit his half of the $1,000,
000. Henry insists that Arthur has
forfeited his rights and that the
amount withheld should be paid to
him now but his conduct has been
such that I feel I should serve him ill
to pay him so large a sum of money.
Moreover, I owe something to his
daughter—to Helen. Owing to her fa
ther's reckless life I have had her
make her home with me for several
years. She is a noble girl, and very
beautiful—you must have seen, Mr.
Donovan, that she is an unusually
beautiful girl."
"Yes," I assented.
"And better than that," she said,
with feeling, "she is a lovely char
acter."
I nodded, touched to see how com
pletely Helen Holbrook filled and sat
isfied her aunt's life. Miss Pat con
tinued her story.
"My brother first sought to frighten
me into a settlement by menacing my
own peace and now he includes Hel
en in his animosity. My house at
Stamford was set on fire a month ago
then thieves entered it and I was
obliged to leave. We arranged to go
abroad, but when we got to the steam-
brown garb of her order stood wait* er we found Henry waiting with a
ing.
I first Introduced myself to Sister
Margaret, who was in charge, and
then presented the two ladles who
were to be her guests. Sister Marga
ret said just the right thing to every
one, and I was glad to find her so
capable a person, fully able to care
for these exiles without aid from my
side tb« wall
threat to follow us if I did not accede
to his demands. It was Father Stod
dard who suggested this place, and
we came by a circuitous route, paus
ing hare and there to see whether we
were followed. You can imagine how
distressing—how wretched all this
has been."
"Yet it is a sad story, Miss Hol
brook. But you are not likely to be
molested here. You have a lake on
one side, a high wall shuts off the
road, and I beg you to accept me as
your near neighbor and protector. The
servants at Mr. Glenarm's house have
been with him for several years and
are undoubtedly trustworthy. It is
not likely that your brother will find
you here, but if* he should—we will
deal with that situation when the time
comes!"
"You are very reassuring, no doubt
we shall not need to call on you. And
I hope you understand," she continued,
"that it is not to keep the money that
I wish to avoid my brother that if it
were wise to make this further di
vision at this time and It were for
his good, I should be glad to give
him all—every penny of ft,"
"Pardon me, but the other brother
—he has not made similar demands
—you do not fear him?" I inquired,
with some hesitation.
"No—no!" And a tremulous smile
played about her lips. "Poor Arthur!
He must be dead. He ran away after
the bank failure and I hare never
heard from him since. He and Henry
were very unlike, and I always felt
more closely attached to Arthur. He
was not brilliant, like Henry he was
gentle and quiet in his ways, and fa
ther was often Impatient with him.
Henry has been very bitter toward
Arthur and has appealed to me on the
score of Arthur's ill-doing. It took all
his own fortune, he says, to save Ar
thur and the family name from dis
honor."
She was remarkably composed
throughout this recital, and I mar
veled at her more and more. Now,
after a moment's silence, she turned
to me with a smile.
"We have been annoyed in another
way. It is so ridiculous that I hesi
tate to tell you of it—"
"Pray do not—you need tell me
nothing more, Miss Holbrook."
"It is best for you to know. My
niece has been annoyed the past year
by the attentions of a young man
whom she greatly dislikes and whose
persistence distresses her very much
indeed."
"Well, he can hardly find her here
And if he should—"
Miss Holbrook folded her arms
upon her knees and smiled, bending
toward me.
"Oh!" she exclaimed "he isn't a
violent person, Mr. Donovan. He's
silly, absurd, idiotic! You need fear
no violence from him."
"And of course jour niece is not in
terested—he's not a fellow to appeal
to her imagination."
"That is quite true and then in
present unhappy circumstances, with
her father hanging over her like a
menace, marriage is far from her
thoughts. She feels that even if she
were attached to a mata and wished to
raairy, she could not. I wish she did
not feel so I should be glad to see
her married and settled in her own
home. It's a very dreadful thing, as
you can understand, for brother and
sister and father and child to be ar
rayed against one another."
1 wished to guide the talk into
cheerfuller channels before leaving.
Miss Pat seemed amused by the
thought of the unwelcome suitor, and
I determined to leave her with some
word in reference to him.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
TRAINING
Cent School Was a Worthy Ancestor
of the Kindergarten.
A cent school is so called because
the children who come to it bring
each one cent, clutched tightly in a
little hand, or knotted in the corner
of a handkerchief, a daily offering. If
the cent is forgotten, or lost on the
way, the child goes home for another
that is all, and has scolding for care
lessness into the bargain. The littlest
children go to it—used to go, rather,
for indeed this should all be in the
past tense rather than the present,
the cent school being a thing of the
past and, as one might say, a great
aunt of the present kindergarten, an
old woman from the country, who is
rather plain in her ways. Eunice
Swain would have thought a kinder
garten foolishness. Her children did
not come to school to be amused, but
to work. She put them on benches in
her big kitchen, because it was warm
there, and sat in the dining room door
and taught them, or chastised them,
as the spirit bade her She taught the
three Rs, and manners, and truth tell
ing, and, above all, humility, impress
ing on these infants daily that they
belonged to a generation, not of vi
pers exactly, but of weaklings.—L .H.
Sturdevant, in Atlantic.
East for Their Ancestors.
The Chinese are rapacious eaters at
the feasts which are given in honor
of their ancestors. At these feasts the
tables groan with all the good things
which the most efficient cooks can
provide—pork, snow white rice, pick
led cucumbers, chickens, ducks and
bird's nest soup. For some minutes
before the feast the six or seven hun
dred men sit at the tables in silence.
Then at a given signal begin the clink
ing of chopsticks and the noise of
indrawn breaths by which the Chi
nese cool the hot mouthfuls of rice
which they shovel down their throats.
Presently, when the hot samshu be
gins to work and the faces become
flushed, a babel of voices fills &«
temple.
Out of Reckoning.
Mrs. Gotham—I never caught yon
kissing the policeman on this beat
Bridget?
Bridget—No, ma'am, and you never
will.
"Never, Bridget?"
"No, ma'am, for he's me husband."
—Yonkers .Stateunaaw
TWELVWilliamsO'Connell
E year ato. when Senator
elect Bradley of
Kentucky, was governor of that state,
a youth who at 15 was carrying the
editorial burden of a weekly newspa
per in a country town In Illinois drift
ed into Frankfort on a bicycle trip.
There wasn't much to see in Frank
fort except the state capitol. so be
went up there.
It was the young editor's first in
spection of a state capitol, and his
eyes were open for everything.
Naturally the sign "Governor's Of
fice" Interested him, and he quickly
decided to call on the governor. He
sent in, his card and presently the
doorkeper returned and said: "The
governor will see you."
Then did the visitor really wish
that his curiosity about the governor's
office hadn't got the better of him. It
would be manifestly improper to in
trude on the governor's time with
out some motive, and still the young
editor couldn't think of any motive.
On the way to the inner office he de
cided to take the governor into his
confidence and confess that there
wasn't any cause for the visit, except
a small matter of editorial courtesy.
Prompted, no doubt, by that spirit
that has made him the head of his
party in the state and that enabled
I
A
THE FEEBLE STEP3.
TRAMP got into President Taft's
private car recently, and a very
surprised tramp he must have been,
for he was pounced upon by two of
the most muscular Pullman porters he
had ever seen and then arrested by
Secret Service Officer Sloan.
It was on the Federal express, run
ning from Boston to Washington, on
the rear end of which the president's
private car Mayflower was coupled at
New Haven.
The tramp got on somewhere along
the line. There were two day coaches
ahead of the presidential car, and they
WASHINGTON
Government's Perquisite.
The French government takes 15
per cent, of all the money staked at
the casinos of the seaside and other
health resorts on the little horses and
other gambling devices. For the sea
son of 1908-09 this percentage amount
ed to $943,393, the summer fceasop na
turally contributing the greater part
—over $600,000.
In Rainy London.
London annually makes use of 4,000,
000,000 umbrellas, one-fourth of which
are Imported.
him to win his fight for the senate
against apparently overwhelming odds,
Gov. Bradley talked to the boy jour
nalist for an hour, speaking most in
terestingly on subjects that could not
fail to interest even a youth that didn't
have a news instinct
The governor described his early ex
periences as a Republican in a Demo
cratic hotbed, when to go to the polls
and vote the Republican ticket was
only one form of committing suicide.
He told how at one period of his po
litical activity it became necessary for
all the Republicans of the town in
which he lived to fortify themselves
in a house and defend themselves
against Democratic raiders who were
thirsting for blood.
There were so many of these stories
that the hour had passed before either
the governor er his visitor knew it,
and when the boy editor finally ex
cused himself he carried away a pic
ture bearing the governor's auto
graph.
When Gov. Bradley won his success
ful fight before the Kentucky legisla
ture a few weeks ago the editor, who
had been reduced by lapse of time to
just plain reporter, remembered these
stories of the early days, and wrote
the senator-elect asking the privilege
of telling them to the whole country.
GOT. Bradley's reply stamps him as a
man who is going to make himself
disliked in Washington if he doesn't
change his mind:
"Th«re is nothing that is more dis
tasteful to me than to talk about my
self, and you must excuse me from en
tering into an account ot my past ex
perience as a politician. I have never
written it up, and never expect to."
Pages in the Senate Mimic Big Men
IS the custom for the senate pages
to hold two or three mock senate
tessions every winter. These sessions
are held on afternoons when the sen
ate is not sitting, and are conducted
with all the solemnity and poise of
a regular meeting.
One day the youngsters were con
ducting a mock trial of the Swayne im
peachment case. "Billy" Annin was
presiding. Another youngster was pos
ing as Anthony Higgins, counsel for
Judge Swayne, and was interrogating
a witness. Senator Spooner of Wis
consin, came into the senate chamber
unexpectedly, and, seeing what was
going on, took a seat near the entrance
to the cloakroom.
Presently an intricate parliamentary
question arose, and half a dozen pages
were on their feet asking for recogni
tion. Mr. Spooner thought he might
be able to clarify the question. Ac
cordingly he approached his seat and
called out: "Mr. President!"
The irrepressible "Billy" was not
taken back. "The ehair will recognize
the senator from Wisconsin," he said,
as he brought down the gavel and nod
ded to Mr. Spooner.
The ease and poise of the youngster
startled Senator Spooler, and it was
nearly a minute before he could con
trol his twinkling eye*.
"Is it not out of order." he asked,
"to permit so many senators to ad
dress the chair at the same time?"
"It is decidedly out of order," said
the piping voice in the vice-president's
chair.
"The point made by the senator from
Wisconsin is well taken. The senate
will come to order."
In the house of representatives there
are 23 pages, and in the senate 16.
According to the regulations, no
page can be under 12 years or over
16 years of age.
The position of senate page pays
a salary of $75 a month when con
gress is in session, and, like all other
employes of congress, these young
sters receive an extra month's salary
every year.
Hobo in the President's Private Car
were so crowded that they couldn't
have looked healthy to the most op
timistic of tramps. But there was a
Pullman, and it looked nice and dark
and so the wanderer strolled in and
hid himself.
It was Letcher, one of the porters,
who found the visitor crouched in a
dark corner of the tiny kitchen. He
made a dive for the man and got him
in a clinch. Then he called his fel
low porter, Anderson. The two of
them had the tramp so scared that he
could hardly see by the time the
secret service men came in and put
him under arrest.
At Bridgeport the tramp was turned
over to the police. He tried to say
that he was a brakeman on the New
York, New Haven & Hartiord road,
but the trainmen knew better. Mr.
Taft slept right through it, and never
knew a thing about it until the next
morning.
This Kind of Servant at a Premium
housekeepers are in-
clined to think that T. B. Wither
spoon of St. Louis was romancing re
cently when he told of a negro serv
ant who has been in his employ for
15 years. It appears that the negro
was given ten days' leave and money
to spend for a trip down to New Or
leans, but in three days turned up
again, and here is the way Mr. Wither
spoon explains the negro's return,
quoting the servant:
"'You see, suh, it done get mighty
miserably cold night after I lef
you. and I knows dat Miss Kate
(my wife) ain't got no business tryln'
to work dat furnace, and I know you
ain't gwine to bother with it. Nary one
of you got enny business with a dirty
old furnace, least of all Miss Kate, who
ain't got no right to soil her little
han's. I couldn't sleep good thinkin'
about it, an' dat's why I gits back
quicker'n I 'spected.'
There is a specimen act of an old
time, true-hearted darky, whose first
thought is of the comfort of his em
ployer." If Witherspoon could find
about a thousand like that servant,
the St. Louis man could make a good
commission by shipping them to Wash
ington.
The Barriers Down.
John Ford, who, as the English hus
band of Miss Cavendish-Bentinck, is
related to the Ogden Millses, the Ma
turin Livingstons and many other not
ed New York families, talked, at a
quiet dinner at The Plaza, about Eng
lish society.
"New York society," said Mr. Ford,
"is really more exclusive now than
that of London. In London last sea
son an episode was narrated that illus
trated well the breaking down of *hc
old barriers.
"'Society is going to the bow
wows," grumbled a young marquis nt
a Piccadilly club.
'What's the matter now?' a friend
inquired.
'Moneylender's wife at a reception
in Belgrave square this afternoon.'
said the marquis, 'wearing all my
wife's emeralds.'"
Ibsen's Posthumous Works.
Henrik Ibsen's posthumous works
have just been published in Norway.
They consist of a collection of verse,
biographical material and sketches of
the plots and morals of his plays, as
wall as the text of the plays as first
completed, the last showing the great
importance Ibsen attributed to care
ful planning of his plays in advance
and to thorough revision.
About forty tons of letters pass daily
through the London general pn«t of-
N
STresponsible
CHICAGO—l
CHICAGO—If
Rats Under Ban in New York Schools
EW YORK.—The interest in vari
ous Important features of the day's
news recently was completely over
shadowed in certain sections of the
city by a rumor that a great public up
rising against the wearing of "rats"
in women's hair has been started, and
that the hirsute rodents were doomed
to extinction.
"Down with the rat!" it was as
serted was to be the battle cry.
The rumor caused consternation,
not only in several co-educational in
stitutions, where the matter came up
for swift and decisive aamstment, but
in department stores and other places,
where mere man had put his foot down
hard on the familiar feminine head
adornment, and there were unmistak
able rumblings of a revolution to be
heard wherever the question was dis
cussed.
The trouble started at the Erasmus
Hall high school, where the assistant
principal. Miss Kate E Turner, laid
down the law forbidding "rats" or
"switches." and the following day en
forcing the law against violators by
forcably removing the offending adorn
ments.
While these momentous events were
transpiring in the borough across the
bridge, indignation was at an even
higher boiling point in the department
•tore district in Manhattan. In sev
eral of the big stores notices were
posted in prominent places that "rats"
in the hair of employes would not be
tolerated, the penalty for ignoring the
order to be dismissal.
During the luncheon hour nothing
but the new order and plans for com
bating it were discussed. In one store
it was decided that a comnr.ttee should
wait upon the manager and ask him
to rescind the order or face a gen
eral strike.
"This is the most outrageous pro
ceeding I ever heard of," said one
young woman, "and I think we would
be fools to submit to it. The very
idea of a man telling us how to wear
our hair! It was bad enough when
the manager said we must wear black
gowns and white collars, but it is go
ing too far when they tamper with our
pompadours.
"Why, they wouldn't dare to do such
things in Siberia or China or wherever
it is they have a czar. I for one am
going to wear just as big a 'rat' as I
like, and I don't care if the floorwalk
er does report me."
Tht* the last crusade against false
hair auv.-nment is not being confined
to high schools and department stores
was further evidenced when the wom
en employes of the telegraph com
panies in the city held animated dw
cussion over the report from Kansas
City that A. B. Richardson, district
superintendent of the Postal Tele
graph Company there, had issued this
order:
"On and after November 1 all worn
en clerks and employes must discon
tinue the use of 'rats' in their hair.
Please govern yourselves accordingly
The women employes here were ex
tremely gloomy over the situation, for
it was prophesied that the order would
reach New York next and that the
much-abused "rat" would have lo go.
May Go to Penitentiary in Barrel
LOUIS.—The law of the State is
for Albert Kapp, son
of a poor widow being a jail prisoner.
The rule of the penitentiary is re
sponsible for his being almost without
clothing in the bastile.
Prisoners who reach the peniten
tiary under sentence, are divested of
their clothes and the garments are
burned "Stir" clothes are provided
and in these the unfortunates must
live till their sentence expires and
then in garb furnished by the big
prison the* fare forth into the world,
a prey fo» the keen eye* of the
sleuths.
Every man who is sentenced learns
this from the old-timers ar.d there is
a rule in the city jail that men going
up sell all their belonging! before they
start because the inscription of Dante
is paraphrased into, "All property
abandon ye who enter here" over the
gates of the prison.
Kapp is a youth. He had some
trouble with a man, and the man
said it was an attempted robbery. Th«»
police, because Albert had been in
trouble before, insisted on a two-years'
sentence. So, following the custom
of the jail, he sold to other inmates
of the cells his possessions save a
torn and frayed pair of trousels. a
tattered shirt and a worn pair of
shoes. His mother brought him
some dainties and left him. She could
not bear to come back and see tho
lad, mancled and leg ironed to the
long chain. Neither did the boy wish
her to come to see him go. He
dreaded the scene. Their appre
hension was not necessary.
Then the tftate decided there were
extenuating circumstances in the case
and in order to look the facte over
again, and with a view perhaps to pa
roling the boy, the sheriff was asked
not to take Albert with the thirty
eight other convicted persons to the
penitentiary.
"But what am I going to do?" he
asked Jailer Wolf, surveying his gar
ments.
They were just sufficient to prevent
him appearing a la Adam. The jailer
laughed good naturedly and told the
story of how Albert had divested
himself in order that the State should
not get any the better of him and
how he would have to attend services
Sunday in a blanket.
Cat Aids Auctioneer in Realty Sale
A big office cat, the pet
of the rea estate board, was, "as
sistant auctioneer" at a receat sale in
the exchange rooms, and to tabby
is given the credit for many raises
in prices.
George L. Warner of the firm of
Baird & Warner was the "emergency
auctioneer," but before he had become
Initiated in his new task the cat ap
peared on the scene and perched her
self upon the desk in front of the
"realty salesman."
Mr. Warner started in as if he had
been in the auction business all his
life. The bids came in fast and in
large sums. All the time the cat peer
ed down at the men struggling to get
a chance at a certain desirable piece
of property.
Suddenly there vas a lull in tb$
proceedings. Bids were slow and tho
"raises" came dribbling along in
small amounts. Auctioneer Warner
couldn't understand it. He began to
think that his success as a forceful
auctioneer was to be short lived.
True, it was his first experience,
but he had started out with such a
rush of business that he was con
gratulating himself. He looked at tt|
desk where tabby had been.
She had deserted her post. Tb£.
seemed to explain the situation. A
hurry call was sent for the cat.
Scarcely had she resumed her place
on the auction desk than the bidding
livened up. Prices went soaring anci
the former enthusiasm was revived.
"And the cat came back," some one
remarked.
After the sale was over it wa»
agreed by all, including Mr. Warner,
that tabby was responsible for mak
ing the day's sale successful.
Several raises of from $25 to $50
were admitted by the "emergency
auctioneer" to be due to the presence
of the cat. She will have a prominent
place in the future sales of the board.
Hotel for Chinese Planned in Chicago
Ah Sins, hero of
Bret Harte's world-famous poem,
were to pay a visit to Chicago withm
the next month or so. he would fina
himself able to enter a Chinese hotel,
hand his grip to a Chinese bellboy,
affix his signature to a Chinese regis
ter, eat a Chinese meal and sleep in
a Cninese bed.
Also, he would be able ~o read a
Chinese newspaper, to be awakened in
the morning by a Chinese servant, to
call for a cup of real Chinese tea and
eat a dish of breakfast food hailing
not from Battle Creek but Canton.
And he could hear a Cninese orchestra
playing Chinese popular songs.
For Chicago is to have a Chinese
hotel, the first in tb« city operated on
the "Oriental Plan." It is to be as
complete and as modern as the best
American hostelry. Everything in it
is going to be Chinese, from the guests
to the chop-sticks in the dining-room.
Everything will be designed to make
Ah Sing or any other oriental guest
feel perfectly at home.
Tho now hotel will be located in tho
^ttirffc. -o. *^»Vtf~k» 5_,»i JfeS r£r
heart o' the Chinese industrial center,
at 112 Federal street. The lease for
the building has been applied for by
the Chinamen behind the move to
establish their own hotel.
"We expect to get the lease within
a week," said Louie Sing, a Clark
street merchant. "Operations will be
gin at once. Several Chinese lodges
and organizations are back of the
scheme. It would be a great thing for
cur part of the city.
"Would it pay? Certainly. My coun
trymen are given to spending money.
Thousands of them visit here yearly.
It would be a fine thing for them."
Many Chinese visitors here, unable
to speak English, cannot get rooms
at local hotels, and the new "oriental
plan" building is designed to accom
modate them.
British Savings.
In the British postoffice savings
bank in 1907 there were 18,771,969 de
posits, of the value of £44,217,288, and
last year 18,379,991, representing £44,.
770,782. In 1907, 9,308,247 withdraw
als were made, involving £46,463,632,
and last year 9,922,169. representing
£-25,395,400. The interest credited to
depositors in 1908 was £3,772,755, £g
compared with £3,719,975 in 1907, and
the total standing to the credit of de
positors on savings bank account on
December 31, 1908, was £160,642,214,
an increase of £3,148,137 in the year
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