Rock Island Argus., September 13, 1913, HOME EDITION, Page 4, Image 4

About Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920

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THE IIOCK ISLAND ARGUS. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13. 1913.
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ii
ii:
THE ARGUS,
Published dally at ItU Second ave
Sue, Rock Island, 111. (Entered at the
fjoetofilce as second-class matter.)
'-amk hiu. irw. I
Pre, '
. dv i n c mi- w. ru i l r- w i.u. i
BY THE J. W. POTTER CO.
TERMS Ten cents per -week by car-.
i' xttr, ltk Rock, Island.
Jstfc 'Complaint 'cf delivery aerrtea should
!r' made to the circulation department.
'lttatance iwbera It la desired to have
paper discontinued., aa carriers have no
All communications of argumentative
erbaracter. political or religious, must
l' have real nam attached for publics -'
tlon. No aucb articles will be printed
. over fictitious signatures.
;j ; Telephones In all departments. Cen
! tral TJnlon. Rock Island 145, 1145 and
;; tl4S.
Kl 8aturday, September 13, 1913.
iti' .
C fR APE S jffi?7j C PL IN CM-
i , Jr-
The straw hat Is also, like Pattt and
Buffalo Bill, n another farewell tour.
With a heavy Income tax coming, the
multi-millionaires are getting ready to
take the poor debtor's oath.
As potatoes are to be very high this
winter. It Is probable that boarding
house hash will contain tracs of meat.
Records left by Pcery In North
Greenland 20 years ago have been
found and returned to him. Perhaps
1 Dr. Cook's notes and copper tubes may
ret be turned up.
Japanese Jingoes want a war with
China. The Job of dis'urbing the in
ertia of a nation of 4fn,oo('.ooo inhabi
tants is like lifting around the fat man
in a side show.
I
The latest Journey around the world j
occupied a little lets than 34 days. j
8om of the 8iators are ri-sdy to cut I
the score In two if somebody will pro-;
vide the means.
A Moline paper, commenting on the :
ejection ia Rock Iflaud, asstrts that
the women voted more for the novelty
than because of intimate knowledge of
the projects and that for the most part
they voiced the negative bido of tile
propositions. Tli very opposite lb
true in both Instances. The women
voted Intelligently and as The Argua
has already not"d, Hhoud that they
were better nad on what was before
'hem than tli men, and that on the
; vcra?e lu time consumed iu the
li, two otU'ij voted to one man.
-'ntlierinore they wire favorable to
ie propositlous taken as a whole.
j . ,
The Argus does not believe, It can
not believe, that any considerable
, number of the people of the east sec
tion of the city, are seriously, much
lss binccrely, contemplating any at
tempt that would involve the severing
of the bonds of municipal union anc
attaching themselves terrltorily to Mo
line. It was related in last evening's
Argus that some of the people of the
east end, presumbaly in the Kdgewood
park neighborhood, had engaged a
Into the legal phases of such a pre
ceaure. ana u it is lound reastble to
prepare the essential preliminaries.
looking to withdrawal. As an aggra
vation fur tuch uct of disloyally to
their home city on the part of those
who are engineering the scheme, the
various propositions recently mude
for the expansion and development
and betterment of the city are given.
s p uu riurme ui me ui.-apiro ai OJ
the part of the city involved to the!
rw I... jtiff aA. i ...... t
people the leaders of the movement
point to the results of Thursday's elec-
tlon ln the fifteenth, sixteenth and
seventeenth precincts of the city.
It is true that the most pronounce
opposition to the projects advanced
ln the special election, was showu in
the east end precincts,, and this was
construed as due largely to the fact I
that nona of the propositions appealed
locally to that portion of the city, yet
despite all this there was a very re
spectable contingent of broad minded
people in that locality who stood up
and were counted ln favor of the is
sues. There can be no objection to
any part of the city feeling slighted
If they appear to be ignored when the
benefits and advantages of the citj
are distributed, but this should not be
permitted, as it was not permitted ln
these three precinct, to result in the
wholesale slaughter of those things
, which look to the best interests of the
city ln general, especially when the
contemplated Improvements will not
entail an additional burden of taxation
to ths property holders of any part of I
the city. There will be another tira
'when the special requirements of tha
east end will call for attention on
- the part of the people as a whole
which will be as cheerfully given as
has been the case in the past.
As The Argus has said, it does not
recognize the move in the east end tu
of any serious consequence, and it
. may have originated with people
whose interests are entirely in Moline
but who have residence property in
terests in Rock Island, and hence are
taxpayers here, and who belonging here,
hare rights here that are bound to be
respected and should be respected.
' Aad wMs -JQia ..Argus submits that
next to Rock Island, Molina la about
the beet town on the map to go to, It i
cannot see how any section of thli j
city , would better Itself, even If per-j
mitted to withdraw and annex Itself;
to that city that is from the stand-
Island is better off financially tham
Wol1n. an baa been reneatedlv shown
of late during the discussion that en
tered Into the bond Issue campaign.
Another thing, while It . has often
been said that It is possible to find a
construction of law that will warrant
tne starting of any form of court pro
ceedings. It la not so easy to end those
proceedings the way they begin. Or
dinary common sense on the other
hand would eeem to discourage any
such proceeding. There is a vast dif
ference between withdrawing from
one organized municipality and at
taching to another, and the mere act
of territorial annexation from an un
organised township to a contiguous
city. It was indisputably the original
contemplation of the law that when
conditions shall Justify all unorganized
territory shall be merged with some
form of definite local government. At
first glance It would not appear to be
a matter of ready accomplishment to
lift any entire section of one city, with
all its improvements, its public proper
ty in sewers, water mains, schools.
and other buildings which belong to
the people as a whole, and are enlist
ed es part and parcel of the municipal
asses, in all Its transactions, financial
i:rd otherwise, and hitch it on to an
other town. If it were possible, there
would be continued confusion through
out the commonwealth, for any dissat
isfied community might withdraw and
go elsewhere and any time. The rule
'hat would prevent such an action
within a state would apply between
the states la their relation with each
other and In their relations with the
union as a whole.
The Argus earnestly hopes that
there are no people within the borders
of tha city who are so hopelessly dis-
I pleaded with Rock Island becaus3 it
i Is presenting further evidence of a pre-
dominant determlnaton to widen and
i grow that they would seek residence
' elsewhere, but if there are such they
will not bo permitted to take any of
tne miinirlpal belongings with them
wnen tney pick up and go.
Tne way to make any city bigger
anQ better does not lie in dissention
; and secession, but in cooperation; In
! the strength of union and combined
iffort, in loyalty and iu public spirit,
A man who under any pretense would
betray, or seek to betray, his home
town Is not a patriot in the finest
sense of the word. Xo one need love ;
Moline less because he loves Hock j
Inland more, and there is no gruage , ha(j been carrying this loan were only
being harbored toward Moline lu this j too glad to refund it and advance as
discussion so far as The Argus is con-1 nuloa a might be needed to pay the
cerned, but this paper Btantls ready j bills till next year's revenues come in
to fight to the last drop of the hatlal);i at a ow rate of interest.
any move mat would anticipate ir.e
taking away from Rock Island any
part of the domain with.n the city s :
.paniine lei uiusw w uu iu m-ruu-
Mdi-red moments of anger or passion
!.av contemplated the act of seceding ;
on u small scale remember that the
same priuciple was once tested be-
fore the world in its broadest sense as
I applied to organized government, and
. to those so minded The Argus, in :.l'.
kindness and charity, recommends for
Sunday reading Lincoln's first inaug
: ural address.
THE fOl'XTV DEBT.
Rock Island county is in a fair way
'o get out of deht and everybody is
glad of it not only those who hoi 1
county office and will have more
r ' monev to scend.
but the . ordinary
humb'.e citizen to whom the county's
, them have been a uuEabo lliese man'
jears. The sensation may be likened
to that one experiences ivhen he finds
a path leading back to the haunts of I
men after he ha-s been lost in a track
i less forest.
The fact that the county is on the
road to comparative affluence has
been given a great deal of publicity.
but there is a general lack of under-
standing among ordinary humble citi-
zens as to how we found the trail.
i In certain quarters not remotely con
' nected with county affairs the tendency
has been to give personal credit to
Chairman George H. Richmond of the"
county- board and Chairman John Lip
: ton and the othei members of the
! finance committee as the good scouts
who located the points of ihe compass
and blazed a way to the paths of
financial ease.
The plain unvarnished fact Is that
at the last session of the legislature
an amendment to the Juul law was
passed which made it possible for
counties of the state to levy more
taxes for county purposes. So far as
members of the finance committee of
the county board are concerned, the
only credit due them is that of know
ing that a change had been made in
the law and manifestly there would
have been no excuse for them had
they been ignorant of such fact. It
was a simple matter to induce th
board to approve of a larger levy it
would have been only too glad to have
done so at any time during the last 20
years, had such a thing been possible.
However we have always been taxed
to the limit for county purposes.
Under the Juul law as it stood
prior to its amendment but 54 cents
On the $100 assessed valuation could
be levied for county purposes. Now
the full 75 cents, possible before the
Juul law was passed, may be exacted.
Last year the county's revenue was
about $113,500. Next year It should
be something like $157,500. an in
crease of $44,000. Obviously, under
such circumstances, the county is a
vastly better prospect as a borrower
of money than it was before, with
nearly $40,000 of a floating debt and
this climbing lately at the rate of
nearly flO.000 a year and witi. little
Capital Comment
BY CLYDE H. TAVENNEE
Congressman from ths Fourteenth District
(Special Correspondence of The Argus.)
Washington, Sept. 11. Literally in
the 11th hour of the tariff debate It
was 1:20 o'clock in
the morning or
Tuesday, Sept. 9
the wearied sen
ators unostenta
tiously slipped into
the bill an amend
ment so important
that it deserves to
rank with the in
come tax as one of
the two great con
structive features
f the Underwood
bill.
This was the de
natured alcohol
amendment. If left
unchanged . by the !
conference bej
tween house and !
senate, the amend-
CLYDE H ment will accom-
TAVENNER . pllsh what the law
of June 7, 1906, was designed to do.
It will make it possible for every farm
er in the Vnited States to turn the
waste products of his farm Info de
natured alcohol.
The people supposed the law of
1906, which followed a long agitation,
would accomplish this result. But
this law was so craftily drawn in- a
senate then under the Influence of the
special Interests tha' the law has been
a sham and a mockery. To comply
with the provisions of this law and I
it
ft A
1 A J
attendant regulations would cost the j remain In the field after husking con
farmer at the least estimate $12,500 j tain sufficient alcohol to make a very
for a denatured still. profitable yield to farmers.
The pending amendment wipes out
all the restrictions. A few dollars will
pay for a denaturing still which will
comply with the law. The formula for
the denaturing fluid will be fixed by
regulation by the commissioner of in
ternal revenue, but the law will per
mit the return of the denaturant to
the farmer for use again and again.
And that other hampering provision
in the present law the bond of $3,000
which the smallest distiller Is requir
ed to give is abrogated by the amend,
ment.
The amendment Is a triumph of
hope that the revenues would ever
equal the expenditures.
Bankers who j
The county ia fortunate in beinc
I able to get out of its uncomfortable
financial predicament, but it is scarce 1
-y proper or jjgt t0 give individuals j
! fulsome praise for taking advantage
' r! cn nhvlniiB o thnotlnn Vn csiicpla' 1
financial skIU or fore,ight was re.
lred
...... ... ... .
ficers in rejoicing over the better
be pertinent to express the hope thatjprke what he lacks ln Quantity.
the lesfon of tho.se lean years through
which we have passed may have been
wel; learned.
While the pot was so long empty
there was an excellent, opportunity to
stop the '.eaks.
-
m.ivois fhikhs ot hhi HiT.icause the law specifies either concrete
Considering the extreme hot weath-
! er, and the lack of rain for the past
j season, Illinois nas oeen. in a meas-
' ure, fortunate. At least, Illinois is for-
(tunate as compared with other states.
The government reports indicate that
Illinois will have 62 per rent yield of
corn as against an average of 84 per
cent lor iu years, in oats Illinois
will have a 53 per cent crop as against
an average of 73 per cent. In the mat
ter of wheat there has been no com
plaint as that was not as seriously
"The Young Lady
I 7Z : 1!
Wei asked the young lady across the way if her father was at ail tem
perametital and he was a total abstainer,
let
achievement for Dr. Harry Lane, the !
new senator from Oregon. 1 have for j
several months past been advocating
the proposition of Dr. Lane's amend
ment being incorporated in the tariff
bill, having written a series of letters
to that end, as readers of this news
paper will recall. The adoption of
this amendment makes me feel well
repaid indeed, because I believe it will
prove of great value to the farmers
of this country.
If Dr. Lane had been one of those
unobservant persons who go through
life with their eyes shut, this story
might never hare been written. 'While
he was campaigning in Oregon last
fall he saw thousands of bushels of
apples rotting on the ground for want
of a market. He wondered why they
were not made into denatured alcohol,
remembering, as he did. the great be
dictions that were made for the law
of 1906. He inquired, and found the
law so full of jokers favorable to the
distilling interests and the Standard
Oil company as to preclude the manu
facture of alcohol by farmers.
"If the amendment becomes law, it
will offer a wonderful opportunity to
the American farmer, and one which
he will not be slow to take advantage
of," said Dr. Lane. "Alcohol will be
the coming fuel. Why, Just the prod
ucts which go to waste every year on
American farms have a value greater
than the entire annual coal output of
the country, greater than the annual
production of oil.
Corn stalks that
"The secret of great success in the
manufacture is the utilization of by
products. But that greatest of indus
tries, farming, has been unable to util
ize its by-products.
"Wherever coal, kerosene or gaso
line is used, alcohol can be used. With
a slightly changed carbure'er it can be
burned in any gasoline engine. It can
substitute for coal for heating, for ker
osene for lighting and for gasoline for
ibwer. And the residue left after dis
tillation is a finer fertilizer than if the
entire crop had been plowed back into
the soil."
affected bv the hot weather, being an
earlier crop and the hot weather com
ing later in the season. By the same
reports Kansas will only have a yield
of 10 per cent in corn and 54 per cent
In oats.
The short crop w ill no doubt bring
with it a high price for corn and oats
so that the deficiency of yield in the
state of Illinois will about be offset by I
'"ft" ou '"g-
Tnis ma-v be a liule expensive for the j
people WilO bll alld Use COm bllt the!
Illinois farmer, it appears, will not be.fain09 Di!lworth Dip,' tho greatest !
jinueh loser by the shortage of crops. five-cent cigar ever placed on tha mar- 1
Under these circumstances, the Illi-i w i
hois laimer win noi nave mucn reason j
lor complaint tor he will make up in i
Refuses JSt.ate Road Help.
Galesburg, III., Sept. 1.1. Knox
county
yesterday refused state road
aid under the Tice bill. Resolutions
(adopted by the board of supervisors
j declined ?4,4MO of state money be-
or brick roads must be built, and the
board thought this amount, plus an
equal sum from the county treasury,
would build less than a mile of the
kind of road proposed by the state.
Washington Senators Jones and
Cummins cf the progressive republi- j
can commitiee, which is urging a re
publican national convention this fall,
decided to write a letter asking Chair
man Hilles to call the republican na
tional committee together soon.
Across the Way"
HENTOT HOWLAND
aaroBLEsr
She Is not, In oooth, a .beauty, for her
nose tilta at the tip;
Her hair, to speak with candor. Is a
rusty, brickiiih red;
Her front teeth have a fashion of pro
jecting o'er her lip.
And there's nothing very stately In the
way she holds her head;
But one virtue she possesses that makes
up for all she-tacks,
That etamps her as a wonder !n the
darkness of the night
Eh never wakes her husband, if the
floor or ceiling cracks.
Demanding that he hurry to pnt burg
ling gen's to flight.
The wit thnt she possesses. If the facts
must all be told.
Is very, very meager; ehe has little
taste for art;
She dearly loves to gortp, she may
sometimes even scold.
And there may be foolish longings that
find lodgiuent In her hert;
But, In sptte c all the graces Fate has
robbed her of. I trow
She is worthy of high honor, she's a
wonder, a delight,
For she never wakea her husband up.
commanding him to go
To the basement to fight burglars, single-handed.
In the night.
Running Business Into the Ground.
Some day there may be carved upon
gravestones such inscriptions as
these: . )
Here lies Thomas Bussington. The
t Bu6,8lngton cocktail was named
for him.
eSapr(,d tQ the gry of William
nillucrlli TTo h.:.q IVio maker nf the '
"Francis Green. He wns the distil- i
Pr 0f Green Glorious bottled rye. The ;
i slick (est)."
"Hero lie the honored remains of
Adam Fosdike, the inventor of Fos
dike's Famous Breakfast Food. The
j business is being carried on by Adam
i Tosdike's Sons & Co., Inc. Beware
' of Imitators."
Tender Consideration.
"I want to get a tombstone for my
husband's grave," she said, pushing
back her somber veil.
"We have all kinds," replied the
dealer. "Is there any particular style
you wish to get?"
"Yes. I was thinking I would like
to have one of those marble blocks
with lambs carved on tlrem."
"But those are generally supposed
to be placed upon the graves of
children."
"Yes. I know I've npticed that
Still, I think it will please him to have
one of them if he can look back here
I now and see and understand what we
! are doing. You see, he operated in
Wall street, and it .will make him hap
py to always have a lamb there right
within reach."
HE WOULD TAKE HER ANYWAY.
"Would you still
want me to be
your wife If my
father was a poor
man?'' asked the
beautiful heiress.
"Yea." the duke
replied, after a lit
tle pause: "in
tnat 1 would be enough of a curiosity
to get rich exhibiting myself."
Mary.
Mary had a wealthy dad.
A lord found out somehow:
Mary's foolish heart Is glad,'
She has a title now.
When He Comes In Strong on the R.
"It's funny about the way people
talk- Takf the New York man, for
Instance. He can't make the sound
of r. In saying New York be always
pronounces it New Yawk. And so it
Is in everything else he says. There
is no r In his alphabet"
"Oh, but you're mistaken. Get him
to say Chicago, and he'll pronounce
the r every time."
Another Impostor Squelched.
TSere was an ambitious optician
Who longed for a lofty position;
He tr!d bogus art.
The police were too smart,
Ha'a cut out Frana Ha la Bna dropped
Titian.
The Milkmaid.
You hare too much rouge on. mj
dear young woman, to enact properly
a milkmaid.''
"Have I. sir? Bnt I thought milk
maid should be rosy cheeked. "
"On the contrary, a milkmaid Is nat
uJi a pall girL" London Telegraph.
i
The Daily Story
THE YELLOW CLAW BY CLARISSA MACKIE.
d-pyrtghted. fcy Assoclatel mrary Burea-u
Perkins entered his employer's pri
vate office and laid a square paper
v-rnnned nackane at Murray's elbow.
By parcel post, marked 'Personal,'" :
he murmured apologetically and went !
.. .....
awav as silently as he had come,
John Murray stared at the packa
with Incredulous eyes. 5uddenly his ;
Jaw set firmly and he Jumped up and. :
locking the door to the outer office, !
went to his safe and took from an in- I
ner compartment two other packages j
of the same size nnu shape as the one
rerkina had Just brought in.
With the three package ranged be
fore him on the desk, John Murray
studied them with knitted brow.
They were exactly alike. : He opened
one of the packages.
Within was a square box of Chinese
red lacquer, with a iowaering of goia j
on the lid. The box was perhaps ten j
inches square and three inches deep.
Murray lifted the lid and gazed Ion
at the strange contents of the box.
On a bed of red silk lay. a hand a
hideous, claw-like hand with long,
transparent nails. The thing was made
of yellow wax,- bnt so perfect was the
workmanship and so faithfully bad the !
artisan carried out his idea that the j
yellow hand seemed like that of a liv- j
ing human hand, a veined and knotted
hand, with muscled fingers half curl
ed, as if in malignant desire to clutch,
to strangle, to kill.
There was nothing else ln the box
save the yellow, claw-like hand.
With set lips Murray opened the sec
ond box and disclosed a facsimile of
the waxen hand and the third box and
saw still another hand. But this last
hand contained in the box Jnst arrived
was closed, as though it held some
thing in a death grip.
Murray shuddered a little, for he
knew that the throat which the Yellow
Claw longed to grasp was his own.
He knew that the death grip was in
tended for his own strong, brown
throat.
Murray knew that he had received
the three warnings and that if he did
not obey the last one well, he drew a
sharp breath and walked to the win
dowwell, if he didn't heed the third
warning, why. he would disappear as
mysteriously as Henderson had vanish
ed three months before or as complete
ly as Moore had dropped out of sight
six months ago.
"I will speak to Swlnnerton. He
must advise me," muttered Murray ns
he thrust the boxes back into the safe
and locked the door.
As he spoke there came a rap at the
office door.
He turned the key and admitted
Terkins, who darted little, snaky
glances around the room as he deliv
ered his message:
"Mr. Swinnerton to see yon, sir."
"Send him in, please," said Murray
shortly and he piu.hed forward a deep
chair for his visitor, who entered al
most immediately. Tom Swinnerton
was a tall, thin, anxious looking youn
man with fair hair tousled over his tine
forehead. He snuk down in the chair
and tossed his hnt nu the desk.
"Hope 1 don't bore you, Murray, but
I've beard from them," he said with a
nervous laugh.
John Murray uttered a faint echo of
tho laugh.
"I'm in the same box, Tdm. I've
heard three times."
"My God, Murray!" gasped the other.
"Tou don't mean why, what are you
going to do about it?"
Murrav shrugged his shoulders. "The
third call came only half an hour ago."
; "I've heard twice. I came to ask
' your ndviee," shuddered the younger
man. fixing his anxious eyes on Mur
ray's strong: face.
"There's only one thing to do, Tom,
after all" and Murray turned sudden
ly and sat down close to his visitor.
He spoke in a whisper: "You know we
four, Moore and Henderson, you and I,
promised to obey the call of the Yel
low Claw at any time in return for
which they allowed Henderson to g
free after that fiasco of his up the
river. Those were rough days for for
eigners in China, and, well, I don't be
lieve any one of us expected to be
called upon to do what the Yellow
Claw demands. Henderson must have
refused and Moore as well, for you
know they have both disappeared."
"Well, what l.t the one thing to do.
John?" asked Tom after awhile.
"Go down into Chinatown, find out
what they want and then dcide what
is best to be done."
"When shall we go?"
"Tonight is best. I've had my 1t
call. The third hand held a garrotc-r's
cord. Jove, they're an uncanny set.
these Chinese!" Murray arose and
paced the floor.
"Why Chinatown? We don't know
where to go," objected Tom.
"They've come by pareel post. I've
investigated and can tell you the very
station from which they were mailed.
And I'm pretty sure that when we get i
Into Chinatown there will be some one i
looking out for us to take us to the '
Yellow Claw."
The two men dined ln si!ence. and
when the early twilight was falling
they walked slowly up Tmpont street,
touching cIIjows with slant eyed Asiat
ics who had formed this foreign settle.
ment in California's largest city.
As they passed a darii alley a
Chinese stepped forth and held out a
lean hand toward them.
"Come," he said In a shrill whisper,
and the two followed, knowing that
they had received the dreaded sum
mons. Down the alley, lighted at long dis-
tances by small smoky oil lamps above 1SG3 Federal cavalry captured Cul
grlm doorways, through a broken arch. ; pepcr Court House. Va.. after a
a turn to the left, through a swiftly 1 pharp skirmish with Ceneral J. E,
upeneu ooor, uown an in ngntea pas -
sage, at the end of which were broken
steps leading down into a black void.
Their guide produced a candle, lighted
It and led the way down other steps
Into the bowels of the earth. At last
be caused .before a black painted door
then
dis-
cl"set 8 diai,v "?ted room.
rich mTolA:
ered satin there sat on a cushioned
J teakwood chair a dignified figure clad
in a Chinese rot of stiff Ivlocade. On
(ue vroast of the tunlo hunir n heavv
ci,a!n of nmbor i,e;uls anl from ,ll0
bends there swung n life size waxen
hund-tlie replica of the three that
John Murray had received, and of the
two that had come t Swinnertou.
The face of the man la the chair
was hidden under a queer mak of
painted porcelain, but his bright dark
eyes shone through narrow slits
beneath the painted brows.
Murray looked around to find that
the door was closed and their guide
had disappeared. They were alone
with the grim figure in the chair.
"Advance," mumbled the figure In
English, and the two obeyed mechan
ically. Murray's hand rested ou the
revolver in hicoat pocket.
"You have come in obedience to the
beckoning of the Yellow Claw," went
ou the voice monotonously; "are you
prepared to keep your promise made to
the most high Feng Soy?" His voice
dropped to a whisper as he aded o
few words of secret import. A dead
silence followed his speech.
"What is it you wish us to do?" ask
ed Murray at last.
Again the personage bowed his cov
ered head and whispered short abrupt
sentences that caused his heroes to
stiffen with honor.
Their faces were white like drifted
snow when they lifted them to the im
passive porcelain mask. Swinnerton's
eyes were fixed on the bright dark
eyes of the personage with a strange
Intensity; it was as if he was trying
to wring some secret from the keeper
of the Yellow Claw as If he was rack
Jng his memory for some clew. Mur
ray broke the silence.
"And if we refuse?" he asked.
"If you refuse," answered the rolce,
"Henderson and Moore will no longer
be alone."
Tom was laughing and in either
clutched hand was a revolver; his long
neck was thrust forward and his head
nodded waggishly at the personage.
For the first time the figure ln the
teakjvood chair moved, the hands
sought folds of the voluminous robes
and flashed out again.
Four revolver shots deafened the air,
and when the smoke had cleared away
Swinnerton was sitting on the floor v
with a bullet through his arm, while
the teakwood chair was empty.
On the silken carpet before the dais
was a huddled form under folds of
stiff brocade.
Murray leaned over his friend and
assisted him to rise.
"Tom, are you badly hurt?"
"A scratch on my arm. I believe
Perkins is dead. Belter look and see,"
returned the other with a dry laugh.
'Ferkins! What are you talking
about?"
"Why, T kiicss you'll find that the
Yellow Cluw is nothing less thnn yhur
confidential clerk, Perkins, 1 thought
j his fare wns familiar, but couldn't
place it. Hemenitier Wake, the rene
gade white nuiii who got Henderson
into that trouble up the Yangtze?"
"Yes, of course; bnt Perkins" J
"Perkins is Blake, and the rascal jias
been working .us four to the limit.
Must have robbed and murdered Moore
and Henderson. Both wore handsome
jewelry and carried largo sums of
money when they disappeared. Let us
get out of this."
"But the Yellow Claw?" protested
Murray, unconvinced that all these
years of uneasiness and the last few
weeks of terror had been inspired by
the machinations of his snaky eyed
clerk.
"Perkins is the Yellow Claw. It
doesn't exist outside of China. That's
my best bet. He's used his knowledge
to blackmail us, and he may be the
tool for treasonable powers higher up.
Remember the sums of money he de
manded? Whew!"
Murray stepped to tho prostrate form
and turned it over. The porcelain
mask fell away and disclosed the dead
face of Perkins- The waxen band at
bis neck was red with blood.
Without another word the two Amer
icans left the room. Together they fled
silently by strange passages and
through crooked corridors, darting
blindly here and there, up darksome
stairways, until, guided by a watchful
Providence, they found themselves ln
a dim courtyard that was peopled only
in the shadows. No one stayed their
flight, fr no one cared. Each had his
own affairs, and murder was a com
mon thing.
Finally they came to the Signal
building, and Murray helped his com
panion up to the oftVe and telephoned
for a physician to attend to Swinner
ton's wounded arm.
"Now to live," muttered Swinnerton
with a grim smile. "The Yellow Claw
is dead."
P.ut Murray shivered as if he felt the
cold breath of some evil premonition.
"I am not so sure about that," be
said slowly.
Sept. 13 in American
History.
175& Battle on the Heights of Abra
ham, near Quebec: French defeat
ed and their commander, Marquis
de Montcalm, mortally wounded.
The British leader. General Wolfe,
was killed.
, p.. Stuart's commaud.
1906-American naval force lanflwi .
Havana to protect the United
States legation pend'r'a revolu
tion of Cuban Libera!!.
and rapped softly ' three times,
throe times airain.
: The door swung Inward and
All the news all the timt- The Argus,