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LAS VEGAS DAILY OPTIC, TUESDAY,. DECEMBER 15, 1914. 0 i WING to an. over stock of mercKandise we are compeU'd to use this method to reduce our stock; We will give you 25 per cent Discount on All Men's and Boys hi ; Yy AN, ! r " u ' P M ; I j i . HI : 1 ft" VI ' TR AGO SALE OPENS Dec. 15th Writer Who Outdid Poo in Horror a Victim of Mexico (By Bailey Millard War has blotted out another bright life that of Ambrose Bierce, a unique figure in American literature whose vivid army tales and keen satirical papers and poems stamped him as one of the most original and versatile of writers. Bierce was a master of Eng lish, as even his most ephemeral work will show, and technically none could touch him. He corrected Kipling, and Howells, and in hia critical essays he showed where many other famous au thors failed in their ' facts or their diction. He wrote the ' most grue some, most harrowing, the most ter rible tales ever published in this coun try. Some of his poems were of rare strength and (beauty.' His "Invoca tion" Is said to have been the real In- inn nf ..Klnlinfr'a "IUGRS!oTial." and In this Instance newspaper men have pulled the deadly parallel to the supposed confusion of the famous Englishman. Bierce led a most remarkable life- half hermit, half Bohemian, and alto gether egotistical and cynical. In the west he was the most hated and fear ed of writers, and also the most court ed and spoiled. He lampooned near ly everybody in political and private life with hair raising audacity. As the dean of Pacific coast letters he made and unmade authors and poets. The dilettante worshipped him. He has been called "the American Swift" "the last of the satisirlsts," and "the Mau passant of the west." He was an iconoclast of the first order. When Villa rose against Huerta and the constitutionalists rushed to arms, Bierce, who was a northern captain in the civil war and was brevetted tnaior for exceptional gallantry, went to Mexico and joined the staff of the doughty general. After the battle of Torreon he was missing and has not been heard from since. . There is so little doubt of his death that his friends and relatives have given up searching for him and mourn him as 0:3 1:;;7 C:iv 13 Lcrli's It' vawvi Every tiny Infant makes life's per- speotive wider and brighter. And what- !prlnt. He thought nothing of Crucl ever there la to enhance its arrival and ' , , , . , T4 vj to ease and comfort the expectant mother ; fying a popular Idol. anyooay should be given j attention. . Among the j wrote about war, for example, he was real helpful things fs an external ab- .. . . . , . ,. domlnal application known as "Mother's 'pretty sure to be challenged by Bierce, Friend." There Is scarcely a community wn0 was deeply versed In army af but what has its enthusiastic admirer of t, , . . . . VA , mi.,, this splendid embrocation, it is so well .fairs, not only having been a military thought of by women who know that most engineer with General Thomas, but drug stores throughout the United States . . . . 4l, ..a n, carry "Mother's Friend" as one of their having the whole theory and practice staple and reliable remedies. It is applied , to the abdominal muscles to relieve the Strain on ligaments and tendons. Those who have used It refer to the aae and comfort experienced during the HcTyenX refer to the absence of nausea, often so prevalent as a result of ; the natural expansion. In a little book are described more fully the many reasons why "Mother's Friend" has been a friend indeed to women with timely hints, sug gestions and helps for ready reference. It should be in all' homes. "Mother's Friend" may he bad of almost any druggist, but if you fall to find It write us direct and also write for book to Bradlleld Regulator Cft. 4Q3 J.aioar Hldg., Atlouta, Ca. in New York Times) lost. His publisher, the Neale com pany, which was paying him royalties on his collected works, cannot reach him with its checks or letters of in quiry, and neither his daughter, Mrs. 11. D. Cowden of Bloomington, 111., nor his secretary, Miss Carrie Chris tiansen of Washington, with each of whom he corresponded regularly, has had any word from him for nine months. . At the time he joined Villa he was 72 years old. His friends unite in saying that if he were alive he would not have left them so long in sus pense. There has been a report from San Francisco that on leaving that city for Mexico ho was very despond ent, and that he was1 going back to his old game of war because he. Jacked the courage to commit suicide. There is another rumor that he actually did efface himself In Sonora. Neither of these stories deserves credence. I knew the man well. He was a fatalist and did not believe In assisting fate. There are those who affect to believe that he is letting the reports of his death go uncontradict ed that he may enjoy the reading of his obituaries. But I should say that this were very unlikely. Vain he was, and not a little curious as to what men thought of him, but not so vain cr so curious as that. Ambrose Bierce had a peculiarly anomalous position in the world of letters. The public, seeking out the best sellers, was little acquainted with his writings. This was partly for the reason strange as it may seem that he despised popularity and all that the world stands for. This was not merely from the desire to be dif ferent, but for the reason that he 1'" ed and thought entirely out of the grnve. Like Thoreau, he held "men and their dirty institutions" in utter contempt. He would have lit his ci gar with a t age of Emerson and would have" Thrown Longfellow into the as-h can, , Ho wculd never defer in the slight est to the literary or philosophical opinions of his fellows, cared nothing for what they might say of his per sonal conduct, however slnguar or of fensive, and though he committed many breaches cf custom and gave many affronts, he never apologized. Probably Bierce was more widely known in the west than In the east, although he lived and worked on the Atlantic side during his best period of production. He made no friends among the literati, and was constant- VT finding iauit witn mem in puuuo 0f modern warfare at his finger's ends, There is no doubt that to Bierce, as a member of General Villa's staff, the 0We DOt ft littlQ 01 their success, Bierce, who was of NeW England parentage, was In Ohio when the civil war began. He enlisted for the north in 1861, while in his twenty-first year. Because of his marked ability and great bravery as a soldier he rose ra pidly from the ranks, and In the -minrB. cnm mm at WE ALSO I Forty Dozen Fifty Cent Neck Ties at 25 Cto. Etagft I All new up to date Ties Reversible and Flowing Ends. course of time became a captain of 'Infantry. He was wonded at Cliicka ' manga, the scene of one of his most vividly written and most horrible tales. Of the end of this battle he says in his journal: Had the confederates marie one more general attack we should have had to meet them with the bayonet alone. I don't know why they did not; probably they were short of am munition. I know, though, that while the sun was taking itn own time to set we lived through the agony of at least one death each, waiting for them to come on. At last it grew too dark to fight. Then away to our left and rear some of Bragg's peole set up "the rebel yell." It was taken up successively and passed around to our front, along our right and in behind us again un til it seemed almost to have got to the point whence it started. It was the ugliest sound that any mortal ever heard even a mortal exhausted and unnerved by two days of hard fighting without sleep, without rest and without hope. There was how ever. 'a space somewhere at the back of us across which that horrible yell did not prolong itself, and through that we finally retired in profound silence and dejection unmolested, i After the war, irom which he emerged as Major Bierce, he flipped a coin to see whether he would go in for literature or a military career. Literature won and he began to write essays and stories. The year 1870 found him in London in the brilliant set of which Tom Hood was leader. There he sent forth such poignant shafts of ridicule of men and institu tions as to earn for him the Bobriquet of "Bitter Bierce." On returning to America, Bierce went west. In 1880 he was manager for a mining company In the Black Hills, where he had some desperate adventures with bad men, chiefly highwaymen. Later he was employed as a writer by Frederick Marriott of the San Francisco News-Letter. Here he was given a free hand, and in his pungent paragraphs he attacked every body, high and low, and soon made a name for himself all over the west HEAR DEATH BY Sf.iOTHERIIIG But IlaskaJ, Willi Air of Culm, Effects Her Delirerance. Draper, N C Mrs. Helen Dalton, cf fliis place, says: "1 suffered for years, with pains in my left side, and would often almost smotner to death. Medicines patched me ud for awhile but then 1 would get worse again. Final ly, my husband decided he wanted me to try Cardui, the woman's tonic, so he bought me a bottle and I began using it It did me more good than all the medi cines I had taken. I have induced many ot my friends ta Ery Cardui, and they all say they have Been benefited by its use. There never iias been, and never will be, a medicine to compare with Cardui. 1 believe it is i good medicine for all womanly trou i!es." v v. For over 50 Tears. Cardui has been re- leving woman's sufferings and building weak women up to health and strength. If you are a woman, give tt a fair trial t should surely help you, as it has a nillion others. Get a botUe of Cardui to-day. WHtt to: Chsttsnoofa Medlclns Co, Ladles Idfisory DsC Chaltanoos. Tenn., fjr Sfciai imtruciimi on your use and M-pag book, "Moms rrestmatior Wamso." in plain wraucsr. B.C. lit HAVE FOR as the most vitriolic satirist of hia day. When his book "Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" was published In the later '80s it was pounced upon by re viewers, who declared it to be more harrowing than Poe; but at the same time the style was recognized as that of a master. "A Son of the Gods," one of the stories in this book, Is fair ly representative. A young officer whose division is halted at the edge of a wood to spare the lives of the skirmishers rides forward alone to the crest of a bare bridge, to make the enemy disclose himself. He then rides on In a storm of rifle fire. The dust drifts away. Incredible! That enchanted horse and rider have passed a ravine and are climbing an other slope to unveil another con spiracy of silence, to thwart the will of another armed host Another mo ment and that crest too, is in erup tion. The horea rears and strikes the air with his forefeet They are down at last But look again the man has detached himself from tho dead artfc mal. He stands erect, motionless. holding hia saber in his right hand. straight above his head. His face is toward us. Now he lowers his hand to a level with his face and moves it outward, the blade of the saber de scribing a downward curve. It is a sign to us, to the world, to posterity; It is a hero's salute to death and his tory I Again the spell is broken. Our men attempt to cheer; they are choking with emotion; they utter hoarse, dis cordant cries; they, clutch their wea pons and press tumultuously forward Into the open. The skirmishers, with out orders, against orders, are going forward at a keen run, like hounds unleashed. In the end, of course, the young hero is slain, but the inspiration of his deed leads his comrades to vic tory. In his next volume of tales, "Can Such Things Be?" Bierce appeared as the most distinctive exponent of the supernatural and terrible the world has ever seen in literature. You may search Poe through and never find such riotous imagination as is reveal ed in "The Damned Thing," "Moxon's Master," and "The Middle Toe of the Right Foot." Bierce was ever a fighter, in civic life as in war. The bitterest of all his journalistic battles was waged against Coilis P. Huntington, who in 1896 was conduct ing a powerful lobby at Washington to pass his refunding bill, releasing him and bis associates of the Central Pacific railroad from their obligations to the government Bierce went to Washington. A newspaper man said to Huntington, "Bierce is in town." "How much does he want?" cynical ly asked Huntington.' The remark was reported to Bierce. "Please go tack and tell him," said that Journalist, "that my price la 73 milltion dollars. If when he is ready to pay I happen to be out of town he may hand it to my friend, the treas urer of the United States." -This 75 million dollars was the amount claimed by the government from the Central Pacific. Huntington was defeated and the money was paid into the treasury. To Bierce was given much of the credit for the successful campaign made against the great railroad man. FAMOUS TENDERLOIN CLOSED San Francisco, Calif., Deo. 15. The red light abatement law goes into ef fect today, and the famous tenderloin THIS SALE section of the Golden Gate la no more. The keeera of the resorts were noti fied that the law would be rigidly en forced, and the police will get busy if the resorts are not all out of busi ness today. It is believed that the dive keepers will accept the inevitable for there has been a grand moving out during the past week, many of the re sort keepers going to other cities. Beat For Kidneys Says Doctor Dr. J. T. It. Neal, Greenville, So. Car., says that in his 30 years of ex perience he has found ho preparation for the kidneys equal to Foley Kidney Pills. In 50c and $1.00 sizes. Best you can buy for ' backache, ' rheumatism, kidney and bladder ailments. O. G. Schaefer and Red Cross Drug Store. AdT. , "SELF DENIAL" DAY" , Baltimore, Dec., " 15.Today has been set apart by the council as "Self Denial Day," and In accordance wltU the spirit of the occasion, cigars, soda. Pr 1 0 o W&j J f XUv 1 D , - """" J(f i 0 ilU " ' S i o a- 1?? . i The Las -Vegas' light -and Power Comrr.nv candy, and other luxuries are tabooed by most of the Baltimore citizens. The fund for the relief ot the city's poor and unemployed will be increased by many thousands of dollars before nightfall Mayor J. IL Preston is heading the work of raising the fund. and has found a hearty response. Wheezing! n the lungs indicates that phlegm Is obstructing the ajr pas sages. BALLARD'S HOREHOTJND SYRUP loosens the phlegm so that it can be coughed up and ejected. Price 25e, SOc and $1.00 per bottle. Sold by Central Drug Co. Adv. EXHIBIT OF PAINTINGS Washington, Dec. 15. The Corcor an Gallery of Art today opened its fifth biennial exhibit of paintings from the brushes of American art ists. Liberal orizes. donated Senator William A, Clark of Montr ana, are to be awarded, together with .the Corcoran medals. In addition to the awards, the Orccraa fund will n u n Copyright Hilt Schiffner it Marl f 1 SALE CLOSES Dec. 24th be parti utilized tbia year In the purchas3 of the test American palct ings. Interest among American artists ia very keen, and the best productions have been gathered for the display, which will be on daily exhibition until January 24. The art Jury that win decide the winners Is composed of Edward W. Redfield, chairman. Ed- m'md C. Tarbell, Ralph Clarkson, Rob ert Henri and Erail Carlsen. The first prize is $2,000 in cash and th Hmv coran gold medal, and there are three other prizes. Checks Croup Instantly You know croup is aangeronus. And you ought to know too, the sense ot security that comes from having Fo ley's Honey and Tar Compound in the house. It cuts the thick mucus and clears away the phlegm, stops the strangling cough and gives easy breathing and quiet sleep. Every us- er ts a friend. O. G. Schaefer at! Bed Cross Drug Store. AdT. 0K if