The Richmond Virginian., June 20, 1910, CITY EDITION, Image 10

About The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
JUNE 20
t
PRICE OF VIRGINIAN
Per Copy, City Edition.... le.
Per Copy, State Edition.... 2e.
By Moil, One Yew.*4.00.
fe Tk railn a<J lull, a» pass'd. does two nn
-
THE RAILROAD BILL
portant tilings.
It gives the Interstate I'nmmfm Commission
jurisdiction to supervise increases in rate'.-, and
It creates a Court of Commerce. whose function
will he primarilv to pas- upon the intricate ques
tions aroint from the ma-s of litigation incident
to attempted government control of a highly tech
nical business.
We think that these two provisions are worth
all the lah> r of '.••urine the law. 1 here is no
mass
of people are so
i-.o the price at which the
:-e trail-ported by the rail
one thing in which th
directlv im* r.>t»sl
jit'cessitms ot lit.
loads Tit ra. roads can only ojxrate through a
grant . ; p. :' i'Ui of the sovereignty «»f the
jxwml.. Th.ii l.iisisn'S is therefore peculiarly
treepon
sible to the
The law does not in
any sen«o “confiscate private property: it mere
1 v aafegnar i- tilt e-.* r«'i*r of a ]w»\t< r to tbc pwy
pie's interest, winch flic railroads, without the
surrender of peculiar popular powers, could not
cxorei-■ a' all. i • • give the government this
power of supervision and the railroads th'1 re
source of a specially qualified court of revision
is the part of just and sane legislation.
Of the two important recommendations of
§' the Pre-idem which failed to pass, that which
provided for government control of capitaliza
tion appears on it- taco an encroachment of
State right-, the defeat of which i- a happy out
come. It is important that the practice of
watering stock- lie checked, but tin chief hurt
in this respect has already been done, and it is
questionable whether any good which might ac
crue from government action would not !»• grrat
ly overbalanced by the injury dune the Stales
in their power to charter their own corporation*.
To say that, by reason of the commerce clause
of the Constitution, the ‘■regulation” there pro
vided for extends to what is tantamount to tak
ing the right to charter interstate corporation*
into government hands is a stretching beyond
reason of the authority to control interstate com
meree. The power -ought is. indeed, in restraint
of trade, rather than in preservation of trade
between the States. The aim is not at “com
merce", but at the agencies of commerce. What
over action is needed in the matter of capitali
zation is action properly for the States that grant
the charters t.> do business which, under the long
time construction of the Constitution, carry the
right to do business in all, a- well as one. of the
States.
The other recommendations which failed, .by
widen mergers and agreements now in violation
of the Sherman law would have been permitted
subject to governmental supervision, was prob
ably defeated on account of the fear on flic part
of both parties of attempting to remedy the ad
mitted mistakes of that statute. As a result,
the railroads will be forced by practical condi
tions to continue the violation of the law at the
license of the government. This makes for
uncertainty in the conduct of railroads, for
continued industrial disorganization, for a hurt
ful spirit of law violation on the part ot the
railroads, a- well as the placing of a dangerous
power in the hands of government officials to
hold a club over the heads of the roads. Tt
makes for the dangerous equation of a law that
will not be obeyed, and for. partial enforcement
of the law for ends of political . xpedienev, or
for revenge. As in the case of Roosevelt, the
Sherman law has an inexplicable tradition of
virtue, to deny which is to court political de
struction.
On the whole, however, the railroad bill i- a
step in the right direction- a step toward the
solution of a problem upon which, in lire larger
view, industrial peace and prosperity depend—,
a solution which will, between railroads and
people, fit the doctrine of live and let live upon
ibe equitable adjustment of rights on the one
band and powers on uu otnet.
investigated and found worthy, why not make
tw of it to the end of ridding Richmond streets
of beggars
more inartistic than iho quarrvman's statue that
occasionally is found at the cross ways of public
places holding up ugliness before the eyes of im
amuojv children and formative women, lie is a
public sore, begging the tongue-lick of .-pasinodie
charity, lie js endured for hi- holplessnos-. lie
excites a disgusted pity, lie brings home at the
street corners the squalor and ini scry of lift. He
people ought ;o be directed, so far as is possible,
toward the clean, instead of the unclean, toward
people of the city should blink the faet’of misery,
or harden themselves against suffering and afflic
tion. God knows, there is abundance • .f all of
exciting, the presence of public beggars actually
deters the effective expression -of a desire n. re
weakon the intelligent means of tlcaling with an
unfortunate class. 'I he class is so large us to
deny the measure of help that charity would like
to bestow upon it. And every beggur picking
coppers from the passing crowds stands for dis
organization of a work of which organization,
care, and analysis an- the first principles.
The mute blind man sitting with outstretched
palm at the gate; the legless cripple dragging
tumaelf along the streets; the wizened hag upon
A mendicant i- not a lovely object. IIo is
is an unfortunate object lesson that ought not to
be allowed to exist in a city, the thought of whose
hope, instead of toward the fact of despair.
We do not, of course, mean bv this thar the
' these. What we do mean is ?h*r. so far from
| lieve. They are the distracting individuals who
Jwr crutch; the green-goggled couple making
hideous sound on an aceordia'n—these are not
sights to do a city good, in its happiness, its di
gestion. • *r its generous impulses. 1 lie Asso
ciated Charities cun well he trusted to keep an
ordinance cleaning the streets of this drift-wood
from working wrong or injustice. Such an or
dinance would aid the Association in the work
which if was organized to do. I- roin the hoard
of lieggars, tlie Association would weed out the
impostor- and oarc for the worthy. And the
reproach of a mendicancy, which in its unreal
ity is a libel, would be removed from the city.
PRESERVE THE MARSHALL HOME.
The School Board ought by all means to ap
prove the request of the Association for the Bre
st mi ti on of Virginia Antiquities, that there be
turned over to it- care the home of Chief Justice
<Joly> Marshall, whicli stands upon the corner
"f Marshal! and Ninth Streets, upon th*- grounds
now occupied by dohn Marshall High School.
it is due posterity that, we band down to it
the monuments of the men who were truly great
in the work of establishing and giving form to
iliis government. No memorial is so perfect as
a home. Altotif the house where one lias dwelt
there ding- the aura of its owner, which even
those who ciinto long afterwards intangibly hut
vividly feel and experience. To ket p the bouse
is in a sense to keep the man in a way in which
his personality can be no otherwise preserved.
Association i- the sauce of history, and intimate
acquaintance with its figures is the l»e<r means
of its acquisition. By keeping intact the home
of a great man we keep him alive and vital in
hi- relationship to the present. We transform
him from a name into an ever living entity. It
i- this -pirit of the place tljat makes appeal to
the human heart so as to give a shriue its value.
In no other way can we so adequately touch
fingers with the hand and come into sympathy
with the spirit of the past.
•John Marshall’s was the constructive intel
lect of his day. His mind it was which an
nounced and bound together against the future
the national idea. It was his determination
that made of the Constitution something more
virile than an oration of lofty sentiment. More
to him than to any other one man is the country
indebted for the nice adustnient between the
powers of State and Nation which, (even against
I the always encroaching tide of a tendency to
ward centralization falsely directed in hit
j name), still avails to preserve the rights of tin
one. while preserving the dignity ot the other
It is not too much to say that, without the prill
eipio which Marshall announced and enforced
the country could not have attained the solidar
itv by which it. lias endured.
In making the request for the custody of tin
building the Association binds itself to so fa
as possible restore it to the state in which th
great jurist used it. to make of it. a museum o
-Marshall, and to see that it is preserved with th
care to which ii is entitled as a memento of om
of the most potent Virginians of them all. Wha
to do with the house, lias for years been an tin
solved problem. It has actually been propose*
■ in seriousness to demolish it! To now place i
in the care of an association of patriotic women
whose efforts in other similar directions liavi
! proven so successful and valuable to the JStati
iand Nation, is to solve the problem "happily fo
all time.
The suggestion that the City has no power ti
deed the house is met by the precedent by whid
! the old Davis residence was turned over to th
cure of the Confederate Memorial Literary St
eiety, under whose direction it has been mad
into the Confederate Museum. The transfe:
| is not it sale or a gift, but nothing more nor les
i titan a lease upon tlit* valuable consideration o
(the eare and preservation of valuable histories
•property. The Association will merely be placet
in custody, as the agent of the city, of a valu
able relic, to care properly for which it ha:
I abundantly shown its ability.
i the pernicious foot-passenger.
i he Washington Star has started a crusad'
having for its end the suppression of unnecessary
street noises, but starting with the hope of cdu
eating the public to caution in moving upoi
streets carrying heavy trtfffie.
In thi1 larger cities, the increase in the numbe
i of horseless vehicles has resulted in making al
J out-of-doors rage with a confusion of noises tha
t- Hcdlam-hke. In addition to the clanging o'
trolleys, the rumble of trucks, the shouts oi
drivers and all the manifold noises incident t<
crowds, recent years have added tin ceaseless pro
cession of automobiles and their horns. As t
j result he is a nimble pedestrian who can tine
his passage of a street without backing and
tilling, leaping and jumping momentarily in
■constant fear of life or limb. And. as the Stai
intimates, tlie horns intended to give him warn
iug increase, rather than diminish, his danger
l \o two of these seem ever to have the same note
lor the same volume of sound. There are bass
horns.and tenor horns; trumpet horns and pie
o-olo horns; horns that play a tune and horns
that play chimes; horns that shriek, ami horns
that whistle. To add to I lit1 uncertain! v there
are horns that have the quality of a ventriloquist,
that throw their alarum* to points where they art
not. The unfortunate pedestrian jumps hither
and yon. In front of him, behind him, to his
I right, and left move the clamorous shapes of the
j motors, each with its **wn peculiar signal shout
ing to him angrily to efface himself at once!
And to still this tumult, the Star suggests that
jit is only necessary that, Itefore leaving the side
walk, the pedestrian should “stop, look and lis
ten”, Then, while he stood upon ihe eurh, the
automobiles would, we suppose, glide bv us silent
ly as a river flows—incidentally leaving tire
j pedestrian stranded upon the brink. So far as
[it makes for more caution on the part of the
foot-passenger, the advice is. of course, sound,
but then is kittle analogy in the reasoning by
which tht' law requires caution of one approck
ing a railroad crossing and that by which pedes
trians are held to a similar degree of care while
iupon the stm ts. In the one case, the traveler
is required to stop, look and listen at the intersec
tion of a public way and a right of way over
which occasional trains run at high rates of speed.
It is the railroad's exclusive right of way, which
lit' is permitted to cross. The railroad, however, is
required to signal the approach of its trains, and
in case ot injury the responsibility is determined
by whether the accident was due to a lack of care
on tin1 part of the pedestrian or a failure of warn
ing on the part of the railroad. In the case of
streets, however, the footman a^ul t]ie vehicle
have ecpial rights iif theory. lnAvinVr difficult it
might be to persuade the pedestrian that this is
true in fact. It is the vehicle that is held to the
high degree of earn following upon the potential
danger of its use in crowded thoroughfares. Its
; warnings are a necessity, even though they may
have become, -through numbers, a nuisance and
a menace.
Perhaps the simpler remedy in thi* emergency
would lie to adopt the French method which,
though it sounds like Chinese justice, is never
theless said to be effective. This is simply to
make it a misdemeanor for a foot-passenger to
bo run down, instead of fur a vehicle to knock
him down.
With us the laws holding careless drivers
guilty of man-slaughter make possible the sight
that we once witnessed of a cool young woman
marching straight ahead across a crowded street
while traffic in general stalled for her passage.
1'ntil there shall be no more surface street
lcrossings the pedestrian must continue to do one
<>f three things: Stake bis life on the assump
tion that traffic had rather stop than run him
down: make a jumping-jack of himself and a
wreck of his nerves: or stay on his own side of
the street.
The latter is probably the ultimate solution;
for in this day of horseless conveyances, wh\fand
I what use is a pedestrian, anvway ?
i _I_
A citizen who had never heard of Roosevelt
,-was pitched into the river when the enthusiastic
crowd on the docks discovered his ignorance.
As the Chinese hide their happiness from the
•Gods, so this fortunate ignoramus ought to have
made a bluff at knowledge in the interest of bis
bliss.
I lie passage of the railroad bill, including the
provision creating a Court of Commerce, will
give President Taft another opportunity to dis
. play the one talent which has so far made appeal
• to the country: He certainly knows how to
, pick a .Judge.
\\ i* regret to note the prevalence of a sort of
. emotional insanity which finds expression in
■ wife shooting. Nothwithstanding the general
. willingnes of women to marry this is n whim
I that ought, to he discouraged in spite of the fact
> that it. has not yet quite attained the proportions
of u restraint of trade in matrimonv.
Speaker Cannon endorses the candidacy of
Champ Clark for Speaker of the House. A
mean advantage of an outspoken opponent.
)
I
“By George, that’s one of my ships. TGesn’f
site look good i 1 built Iter, and those destroyers,
too.’’—Teddy routing into the harbor. “My
|Country, ’tis of (Me)!”
, I Roosevelt, returning from abroad, at least
f'knraed the h sson of silence taught by Bryan’s
I • loquaeiousnes on a similar occasion.
Congress will adjourn Saturday. Mativ of
its members will return once more, only to sa<*
farewell.
Harry Whitney lias started .North again, hut
,;he says that he will not bother to hunt for Conk’s
. records. A skeptical public has already dis
covered them.
1 hoso Itoys who were bathing in iho James
liiver Sunday at least wore mud bathing suits.
THE PEOPLE’S FORUM
1,10 f'onqnerinj Hero Conies.
Editor «>f The Viiscinian:
nation. Know that when ye hear horns and drums
and cannon and all manner of whistles and divers
noises and tumults, know ye then, for a certainty,
that the valiant, wise. Industrious soldier, scholar
teacher (?), auggester to kings and nations and em
jierors and thrones and monarches, etc.. LI,. ]}., R.
K I Koosevelt is near, the conqueror of men and
of animals.
Then the nations of the earth will be Apprised of
Ins advent. Truly the spacious world cannot afford
such another, and don't want to. O. if he could 1 a
purchased at nls valuation and sold for what he
thinks he Is worth, then were -no need for a tariff or
tax gatherers, or Hryan's 16 for 1. O ye gods, how
the G. O. P. would revel In appropriations. There
would be no national. State or municipal debts. Me
thlnks I see It—in my mind's eye—as the barge saileth
up the (Cydnus) Hudson, o’ertopplng the one that
Mark and his girl sat in. when "she o'erplctured that
Venus." etc., and thus amid the huzzas of a nation
°f-— “What fools we mortals be." The great 1
am will appear. He is without doubt a marvelous
proper man. We shall not look upon his like again—
I hope. Shine out fair sun—daughters, too—pay hom
age where ’tis due. (> that hut this blow might I*
the be all and the end all here.” I fear me not. Print
er’s Ink has mad* him what he is. Science is the
only appliance his disease requires. I would sug
gest to him that while his greatness! ?) Is at the zen
ith of Its luatre, he have himself measured for a life
size statue, to he plai od In the Hall of Fame—-at his
| demtae. Surely such a figure would satisfy even the
critical taatea of the n. a. R., who are the Great Art
Retainer* and Republic Savers. I make these sug
i gestions, thinking they will meet with the approlia*
! tlon of the nation, as well as thelmported survivors
j of the late war W. P. G.
High Sheriffs.
A South Carolina sheriff has resigned his Job In order
| to become a candidate for the State Senate. In Vir
ginia, where all the shrievalties under the fee system.
1 are remunerative and some pay twice as much as the
j Governorship or the chairmanship of the State Corpor
! atlon Commission, such a thing has never occurred and
its not Ukely to occur.—Virginia-Pilot.
Virginia Comment
A Middle Way.
The special pleaders for the sovereignty of cor
porations, aui-h as Mr. Stuart Leake, of Richmond,
are as far afield on one aide of the highway of truth
as the demagogue who regards a railroad as per se
a public enemy is on tho other. In dealing with the
transportation problem no proper solution will ever
be reached except by keeping two facts steadily In
mind.
First, that the creature can never be greater than
the creator and that the public service corporation
holds Its grant on condition of serving the public In
terest and must always be amenable to government
supervision so far as is necessary to insure to the
people their rights in the premises.
Second, jthat among the agencies for the develop
ment of prosperity in the land no single one ap
proaches the railroad In eflielency and that to harness
its operation w ith such restrictions as would cripple
Its resources and deny a fair pecuniary return to its
owners, would be not only unjust, but superlatively
unwise from t*\a standpoint of the people's interest.
Hetween tho extremes of unbounded latitude and
destructive regulation there Is a middle ground of
safety and wisdom and that ground will finally be |
found. But tho time for building on it a beneficial
method of dealing with this intricate and most Im
portant subject will be delayed, not hastened, by the
clamor of extremists, whether their clamor be for
license or for chains and slavery to the railroads.—
Virginian-Pilot.
Where tlie World Was Wrong.
A number of citizens of Norfolk saw the battle be
tween the Virginia (Merrimac) and Monitor in lkfi",
anti some of them participated in the fight, which oc
curred only a few miles from this, the Virginia's
home. port.
The New York World has brought corrections upon
Itself from many sources, even in New York, by re
ferring lo "the taming of the Merrimac by tho Moni
tor.” Somebody in Gotham, signing himself '•Nor
folk,’* and described as "one who was there.” says
that "with the exception of riddling her smokestacks,
at no time 41d the Monitor do the rebel ram any
damage, while the Virginia once planted a shell
squarely to the conning tower of the Monitor, putting
the executive officer out of business and leaving his
vessel drifting helplessly. . . . Darkness ended with
honors about even.”
The World has modified its original misapprehen
sion, but still quotes Historian Rhodes to the effect
that "the power of the Merrimac was broken; she
did no further mischief." Hut it wasn’t the Monitor
that broke the Virginia's power. The Monitor ran
awav from the Virginia when the latter offered fight
again, and the Monitor acted under orders from the
Federal government in doing so.
Not only the New York World, but nearly all the
rest of the world, has been in the habit of getting the
facts about the celebrated encounter alt wrong. Put
the world is waking up.—Norfolk Landmark.
Commission Government.
The attitude of the public towards city government by
commission is highly favorable. There has never been
a movement of this character to spread with so much
rapidity. The extent of Its accomplishment has been
within n decade.
In addressing the big mass meeting of San Antonio,
Texas, under the nusj lees of the commission govern- i
ment league of that city. Mayor Lewis Fisher, of Gal
veston. lias this to say:
"Opposition to commission government has disap
peared in nine years of fair trial. We believe It to he
the best form for cities yet devised by man. No gov
ernment is not perfect; it is lacking in many things,
but in all honor and sincerity, after my experience of
nine years. 1 say to you that commission government
is the best we have ever known m all the years of the
city's existence. It has made us a city. It has beauti
fied homes and streets and alleys and our yards are
kept as clean and free from dust and dirt as any city ,
in the nation.
"If commission government w ere not a success in Gal
veston, Houston. Dallas and Fort W orth, every big city
in Texas except San Antonio would not have adopted
it -the people of San Antonio would not be here to
night looking to It for their progress and their salvation.
1 —Roanoke World.
.
The Talk “Down Home”
Art tn the Tar Heel kitchen.
Pet our girls learn the stately measure of the roll
ing pin. let them run the scales upon the resonant
dishpan, and with the highest realization of the sculp
tor's art leave the impress of their dear sweet, fairy
lingers upon the plastic pone of the i rlsp corn bread.
—Yaneeyvllle Sentinel.
Tony l*att|>cr*i.
The Raleigh News aand Observer has unearthed
the rather interesting fait that It costs Wake county
to maintain its county home over and above its re
ceipts tho sum of I13.452.2S. Durham county's ex
pense for the same purpose is 13.7 59.73, Guilford's
41.207.S6; Forsyth's $4,699.73. Robeson's 11.250. Tri
dell's Sl.s33.ll. The comparison indicates that coun
ty affairs in AVake have been very poorly managed,
and that a different set of officials should tak. held,
i —Greensboro Telegram.
i
The Piter-Present \ agrant.
We don't like to keep on kicking about it. but it
seems to be necessary. Nobody Is taking any Inter
est tn the situation, not even the police department.!
The State vagrancy law is a stringent one, easily en
forced if the authorities wish to enforce it. and there
i is a fine crop of vagrants in Durham right now walt
j Ing to be harvested. Enough could be picked up
j around the negro pool rooms and restaurants in the
very heart of the city to do w orlds of good on the j
j roads of Durham county. Pass along by these pool ^
rooms and restaurants at any time of day and you
will see a dozen or more ‘gentlemen of leisure"
lounging around the tables. Try it. Mr. Policeman.
—Durham Sun.
Vindication for Kilgo.
I The Chronicle regards the settlement of the North
Carolina bond problem, last week, as one of the hup
i ptest incidents in the recent history of the State. Tn
effect, the buyers of these bonds waved them to the
i country at large as a challenge to anybody who would
doubt the credit of North Carolina. As a matter of
fact, there were more bidders than there were bonds,
and if the issue had been for $5,000,000 all of the
| bonds would have been taken. The action of the
American Tobacco Company cannot but be regarded
In the light of a vindication of Dr. (now Bishop)
John C. Kllgo, against whom such a hitter war was
waged for accepting money from that corporation. Dr.
Kilgo was a wise man. The aid which he received
from the Dukes enabled him to build up one of the
finest educational institutions In the whole country,
and through which he has turned out an army of
young men. who in their various vocations are re-.
Hooting credit on their State and the South, an army
that Is, collectively, now one of the greatest forces
in tho advancement of tile material interests of North
Carolina. Hut for Dr. Ktlgo's policy. Trinity would
even yet be an obscure and struggling educational
Institution. Instead of one whose fame is much more
than Statewide. The State is now in the same boat
with Dr. Kiigo.—Charlotte Chronicle.
The Women Suffragist.
Here is an ungallant Innuendo, a not very oblique
insinuation, against some of our fellow-citizens of the i
gentler sex coming from as chivalrous a man as ever j
held a seat In the American Congress—James M. (
Richardson, now editor of the Glasgow (Ky> Times:
••The editor of the : Hopkinsville Kentuckian enthu
siastically ejaculates: "How much nicer it would havo
been if President Taft, when he welcomed the female
, suffragists to the Capital, had been kissed instead of j
'hissed!" Has Editor Meachem ever seen a woman suf- ;
fragist?" * )
Which is to say that in tile opinion of Editor Rich- j
nrdson. Darby has his appointed work and Joan hers.
Darby battles without: Joan toils within. Darby sees
to filling the pot; Joan puts it on and makes it boil.
Darby looks after matters of state; Joan looks after
matters of home. »
Mary Wolst.inecraft. no doubt, was a greater intellect
than George Canning; but as British prime minister she
would have run the ship of state upon the shoals and
hopelessly grounded it. I.et the shoemaker stick to
his last; let woman stay on her own side the hedge.
And that is what woman Is going to do. If a major
lty of the sex demanded suffrage they would be armed
with the ballot. Fortunately, not T>ne In twenty of
them would touch It with the tongs. They are con
tent that their hushands, fathers, sons, and brothers run
the State, while they take care of the homes.
Nevertheless. Editor Richardson is scurrilous. Some
of the suffragists are not only passably good looking,
but they are positively lovely. These, however, did not
hiss the .President—Washington Post,
.... C '
RICHMOHP^SyiRGlNlAN
PUBLISHED EVEHY DAY EXCEPT SUNDAY
BY
THE 1MCHMOND VIRGINIAN COMPANY. lax
SAMLEL W. MEEK .BunnMs’MuatH
fc. B. WOODF1N Mi&i|iag EkUior
Rurineaa Office: Tb# Virginias Building. Governor mH Rom "trait i.
RICHMOND - ■ - ... VIRGINIA
Daily pm y«or, portage paid ...,
Daily mi month#, pottage paid...
Daily three months, pottage paid
Entered as
the postofllce
1879
second-class matter. January
at Richmond, Va.. under act
.*4.00
.12.00
.91.03
28, 1910.
of March
At .
3.
TWO A-SHOPP1NG |
By PHILIP KEAN.
(Copyright, 1910, by Associated Literary Press.)
Dick Beverly met Pelicia Chase at the door of the
his confectioner's.
"Lot s have a chocolate soda for the sake of 'Aula
Dang Bynt,' " he said.
Pelicia laughed. "I have so much shopping to do,'*
she protested.
"I :*HV* some shopping, too,” Dick said, "but you
are going in here with me lirst, Pelicia.”
Thur entry into the shop brought them from the
neat outside into coolness and dimness, lighted hero
a id there by softly shaded lamps.
v"° V?u chocolate as well as ever?” Dick asked.
")es " She smiled up at him from under the brim
of hot broad white hat.
He leaned toward her across the little table "Do
< i: remember,” he asked, "that when I went away
you were angry with me?”
I lorgot It,” she confessed, "when 1 met you at
the door. A year Is such a long time to stay mad.”
' You had no reason to be made,” he told her, "but
1 could never convince you.”
A little spark came Into her eyes, "But there was
tile other girl.”
"Yes, there was the other girl.” he said, "but if
you had asked me I might have told you,”
Her lace flamed. "There was no explanation."
The chocolate soda was on the table In tront of
them. Inviting, cool, delicious. But they did not
heed ;t Once more the battle was on. They had
renewed the quarrel of a year ago. Dick brought It
to an abrupt termination.
"Peiicia.” he said suddenly, "let s call It peace at
any price. We haven't seen each other for a year.
Lei h stop fussing, drink our soda, and then I want
you to go chopping with me.”
"Shopping?” her voice showed surprise.
"Yes. 1 am going to buy a ring—for the woman I
love, Felicia.”
He watched her closely and saw—with inward sat
isfaction—tj»c color go out of her face.
"A ring--*.'" she faltered.
bhe drank her soda listlessly after that, but when
tht y reached the street she talked eagerly of his pur
chase.
Did he want a solitaire, or a band of stones? Or
should there tie a ruby or other birthstone?
1 had thought." he said, "of pearls with diamonds.'*
i >h. no:" Felicia threw up her hands w ith a little
Ki.-ture of dissent "Pearls mean tears; they would
bring her unhappiness."
Her?" He glanced down at her. then recovered
himself "Oh, yes, you mean the g:r! I love."
Yes." She walked beside him for a little while In
silence, then she said, hesitatingly: "Is it the other
girl, Dick?”
Von mean?"
'The other girls—the one 1 saw you with that
mgnt when you broke your • ngtigement with me, be
cause you said you had business to attend b>."
Y'ou mean the girl ot whom you were jealous?”
Ills cotea was stern.
"I was not jealous." she flared -
He brought her back to the subject of the ring as
they- entered a shop where the light biased upon a
thousand jewels.
Does she like pearls."' Felicia asked.
"They go well with her hair," he said
"What’s the color of her hair?" Felicia asked.
"Red,” he said absently, with gold lights In it '
Felicia started at him "But the girl 1 saw you
with had black hair," she cried.
*h. yea," he stammered.
Felicia laid down the rings that she has been in
specting “Dick,” she said In a hfw tone so that the
clerk could not hear, "how many other girls are
tnere ?”
"There is only one gir! that I ha\ r ever loved ”
"And that girl is?"
"Y'ou,” he satd suddenly
Y'ei you are going to marry another girl?' she
accused him
He went back to bis examination of tbe rings.
"You said pearls meant tears .Shall I select emeralds
instead ?”
"If she has auburn hair." listlessly, she would like
green."
But I am asking what you like." he told her sud
denly.
She turned on him a little fiercely. "But the ring
is not for in . Why didn't you bring her to select it
for herself?"
He did not answer her question He picked out
from among the glittering circlets a curious band or
heavy but exquisite designs. There were two hearts
in which two rubles were deeply set. Around tne
hearts wen clustered diamonds that brought out the
lights in the rubles until they glowed like flames
'Since you won t help me choose," he said, "I have
selected the one that 1 like.”
"It -i a beauty," she agreed.
He wrote a cheek and took the ring In exchange.
Then they went out of the store together. At the curb
he hailed a taxicab. "I am going to take you for a
ride." he raid, and when she demurred he Insisted,
until at last she consented, saying. “Well, Its our
last ride together."
They talked of many things us they rode along, yet
between them was always the consciousness oi that
ring in his pocket. As she thought of it. Felicia felt
that she must cry out with bitterness. She telt that
she and Dick were made for each other; they had
been < ngaged for years, ami until that moment of
Jealousy she had never doubted him. Y’et It had been
easy for him to love another woman.
'tut of a sudden silence she faltered. "1 hope you
will be happy.”
"We are going to be." he said.
"You and the other girl?”
He looked down upon her. "No." he said "I—
and th? only girl."
A look into his face revealed his meaning. Felicia
drew back quickly. "You mean me? Hut the ring
was for the other girl!"
1 .did not Bay so. It is for you. for the girl with
with the red hair with the gold lights in •>.
1 road:- tin my mind in the year that we were sep
arated that there was no other girl in the world for
me but you, Felicia. And I suppose I owe you an
explanation. I did have a business engagement that
night when 1 broke my engagement with you. The
girl whom you saw with me on the boat was the
daughter of a client. He had asked me to take
charge of her. as she was a stranger In the city. It
was all so easy to explain, but 1 was hurt that you
should ask an explanation—that you should doubtmy
love.”
He took the ring from his pocket and held it out
to her.
"VVi'l you wear it?” he asked.
The ruby hearts seemed to beat and throb. Felicia'*
own heart fluttered so that she could scarcely answer.
Her eyes were like stars as she held out her hand
to him.
He fitted the ring on the third finger. "For the
only girl." he whispered. Then he laughed. "Will
you go shopping with me again, Felicia?”
"What shall we buy?” she demanded.
"A wedding ring.” he told her. "Shall we go to
morrow? Why should we wait longer for our happi
ness, my Felicia?"
Frightened Off.
A Washington car conductor, born In London and
still a cockney, has succeeded In extracting thrills from
the alphabet—Imparting excitement to the names of
the national capital's streets. On a recent Sunday
morning he was calling the streets thus:
“Halteh!”
1 “High:”
"Kay!”
•Hell!”
At this point three prim ladies picked up their
prayer books and left the car.—Lipplncott'a#