Newspaper Page Text
THE JOURNAL
PUBLISHED WEEKLY.
COCHRAN. OA
Fine old clothes weather.
The reckless driving of motors must
be stopped.
Death continues to take frightful
toll of the bird men.
Last week's weather was splendidly
adapted to frying eggs.
Sometimes the straw bond shows
which way the wind blows.
And In the meantime don't forget
to empty the pan under the icebox.
This weather Is hot enough without
getting hot at the weather man. Keep
cooL
As soon as one trust prosecution is
ended another, or perhaps two, is
begun.
We could use a little Canadian
weather now, but not too large a con
• slgnment
Beside helping to exterminate a foe
to mankind, swatting the fly affords
good exercise. ,
It strikes us that Dr. Grant, who
declared the Jonah tale a myth. Is
not a fisherman.
"Big feet, good understanding," Is
a new maxim that Is widely accepted
in the wild west
The Inventor of dynamite never in
tended that it should take the place
of the earthquake.
Still, if chorus girls get In the hab
it of carrying pistols, won’t it dis
courage the millionaires?
For the benefit of the picnickers let
us remark that sand In the food is
not necessarily unhealthful.
News comes that the chauffeurs of
of Paris nave struck. But it does not
mention whom they struck.
Lots of joy riders realize after the
accident that they would have got
there quicker by slow freight
It is declared that women live longer
than men. That is probably the rea
son there are so many widows.
Marriages are not made in heaven,
according to a Chicago highbrow. At
any rate, they are unmade in Keno.
Despite the weather, this appears
to be a normal summer. The sea ser
pent has been giving seances again.
An old bachelor Is a man who has
fallen into the habit of counting a
hundred before making up his mind
The doctors have condemned the old
oaken bucket Next thing we know
they will put the ban on "Casey
Jones.”
Our idea of a genuine pessimist Is
the man who worries today because
he fears that he will be unhappy to
morrow.
An Indiana woman whose husband
is fond of onions and llmburger
cheese is suing for divorce. Place
your bets.
V
Necklaces of glass beads have been
found on Efjpptian mummies 3,000
years old. A woman is never too old
to "prink up."
* The circulation per capita Is 15
cents more than a month ago, or
$34.70. Most people have the 16
cents, anyway.
According to a Pittsburg paper, blue
paint will keep away the flies. A sc?<-
id swat with a swatter is more per
manent, however.
Germany is building" a dreadnought
to be called The Peacemaker. How
Inappropriate the name will seem if
she is ever called upon to go into
battle.
The city person may prate about
the opulent farmer who rides hither
And yon in his motor car, but he would
/hesitate before following a plow in
this weather.
A Massachusetts preacher says
gray hair is a punishment for sin.
This is probably the corrollary of that
other theory that baldness is a sign
of early piety.
That man why played a piano 38
hours without stopping may have
broken the world's endurance record,
but he would be a mighty Inharmoni
ous chap to have for a neighbor.
Accidents cannot and will not deter
the aviators. With such prizes before
them they will continue to risk their
own lives and the lives of others in
their efforts to become masters of the
air.
A - Chicago professor advocates a
school in which to teach the art of
courtship, is this not already an im
portant part of the curriculum of
every coeducational Institution in the
land?
We see by the papers that a farmer
In Ohio stayed in bed three days with
a flock of eggs and hatched IS chtck
iens. The peculiar part of the story
is that it did not come from Wins ted.
Conn
BYNOPSIB.
John Calhoun becomes secretary of
Hate In Tyler's cabinet with the fixed de
termination to acquire both Texas and
Oregon. Nicholas Trlst, his secretary. Is
*ent with a message to the Baroness von
Rltz, spy and reputed mistress of the
British, minister, Pakenham. Trlst en
counters the baroness and assists her In
escaping from pursuers. She agrees to
see Calhoun, and as a pledge that she
will tell him what he wants to know re
garding the Intentions of England toward
Mexico, she gives Trlst a slipper, the
mate of which has been lost. Trist Is or
dered to Montreal on state business, and
arranges to be married to Elisabeth
Churchill before departing. The baroness
•ays she will try to prevent the marriage.
A drunken congressman, who Is assisting
Trlst In ills wedding arrangements, blun
deringly sends the baroness' slipper to
Elizabeth instead of the owner, and the
marriage Is declared off. Nicholas finds
the baroness In Montreal, she having suc
ceeded, where he failed. In discovering
England’s Intentions regarding Oregon.
She tells him the slipper he had, con
tained a note from the Texas attache to
Pakenham, saying that if the United
Btates did not annex Texas within 30 days
•he would lose both Texas and Oregon.
Calhoun orders Trlst to head a party
bound for Oregon. Calhoun excites the
Jealousy of Senora Yturrlo, and thereby
secures the signature of the Texas at
tache to a treaty of annexation. Nicholas
arrives In Oregon. Eater the baroness ar
rives on a British warship. She tells
Nicholas that a note she placed In her
slipper caused, the breaking oft - of his
marriage, and that she Intends to return
to Washington to repair the wrong.
Nicholas follows her. He learns on the
way that Polk has been elected and
Texas annexed, and that there Is to be
war with Mexico. The baroness tells
Trlst that In return for a compromise of
the Oregon boundary on the forty-ninth
degree, she has sold herself to Pakenham.
She tells him the story of her life.
Trlst breaks Pakenham’s key to the
baroness' apartments. Pakenham calls
for his price, and the baroness refuses to
pay. He Insults her. She compels him
to apologize, holds him up In his true
light, and he declares that she is pure as
a lily. The treaty Is signed by Paken
ham. The baroness gives the treaty to
Calhoun and tells him she got It for
Nicholas.
CHAPTER XXXV.—Continued.
Mr. Calhoun Is commonly credited
with having brought about this treaty,
and with having been author of its
terms. So he was, but only In the
singular way which In these foregoing
pages I have related. States have
their price. Texas was bought by
blood. Oregon—ah, we who own It
ought to prize It. None of our country
Is half so full of romance, none of It
Is half so clean, as our great and
bodeful far northwest, still young In
Its days of destiny.
"We should In time have had all of
Oregon, perhaps," said Mr. Calhoun;
"at least, that Is the talk of these
fierce politicians.”
"But for this fresh outbreak on the
southwest there would have been a
better chance,” said Helena von Rltz;
“hut I think, as matters are to-day,
you would bo wise to accept this com
promise. I have seen your men
marching, thousands of them, the
grandest sight of tbfa century or any
other. They give full base for this
compromise. Given another year, and
your rifles and your plows would
make your claims still better. But
this is to-day—”
"Believe me, Mr. Calhoun," I broke
In, "your signature must go on this."
“How now? Why so anxious, my
SOn*" ..
"Because it is right!"
Calhoun turned to Helena von Rltz.
"Has this been presented to Mr. Bu
chanan, our secretary of state?” he
asked.
"Certainly not. It has been shown
to no one. I have been here in Wash
ington working—well, working In se
cret to secure this document for you.
I do this—well. I will be frank with
you—l do this for Mr. Trlst. He is my
friend. I wish to say to you that he
has been—a faithful —”
I saw her face whiten and her lips
shut tight. She swayed a little as
she stood. Dr. Ward was at her side
and assisted her to a couch. For the
first time the splendid courage of
Helena von Rltz seemed to fail her.
She sank hack, white, unconseious.
“It's these damned stays, John!” be
gan Dr. Ward fiercely. “She has faint
ed. Here, put her down. so. We’ll
bring her around In a minute; Great
Jove! I want her to hear us thank
her. It’s splendid work she has done
for us. But why?”
When, presently, under the ministra
tions of the old physician. Helena
von Rltz recovered her consciousness,
she arose, fighting desperately to pull
herself together and get back her
splendid courage.
“Would you retire now, madam?"
asked Mr. Calhoun. "I have sent for
my daughter."
"No, no. It Is nothing!" she said.
•‘Forgive me. It Is only an old habit
of mine. See, I am quite well!"
Indeed, In a few moments she had
regained something of that magnifi
cent energy which was her heritage.
As though nothing had happened, she
arose and walked swiftly across the
room. Her eyes were fixed upon the
great map which hung upon the walls
—a strange map It would seem to us
to-day. Across this she swept a white
hand.
"I saw your nfen cross this," she
tfaid. pointing along the course of the
great Oregon Trail—whose detailed
path was then unknown to our geog
raphers. "I saw them go west along
that 'had of destiny. I told myself
that by virtue of their courage they
had won this war. Sometime there will
some *ixe rrnat war between your Deo-
54^40
FIGHT
BY f MERTON HOUGH
AUTHOR OF THE MJS\f IS\fIPPI BUBBLE
IILTOTRATIONJ fcy MAGNUf G.KBTTNEFL
COPVPIOHT 1909 Boaw-MERRILL COI-TPANV
ms «|| flii
Ififf m
M/sSm,
"I Am But a Woman,” She Said, “But it Chances That I Have Bee.i Able
to Do This Country Perhaps Something of a Favor.”
pie and those who rule them. The
people still will win."
She spread out her two hands top
and bottom of the map. “All. all,
ought to be yours—from the Isthmus
to the Ice, for the sake of the people
of the world. The people—but In time
they will have their own!”
We listened to her silently, credit
ing her enthusiasm to her sex, her
race; but what she said has remained
in one mind at least from that day to
this. Well might part of her Bpeech
remain in the minds to-day of people
and rulers alike. Are we worth the
price paid for the country we gained?
And when we shall be worth that
price, what numerals shall mark our
territorial lines?
“May I carry this document to Mr.
Pakenham?’’ asked John Calhoun, at
last, touching the paper on the table.
"Please, no. Do not. Only be sure
that this proposition of compromise
will meet with his acceptance."
"I do not quite understand why you
do not go to Mr. Buchanan, our secre
tair of state."
"Because i pay my debts,” she said
simply. "I told you that Mr. Trist
and I were comrades. I conceived it
might be some credit for him In his
work to have been the means of do
_Jng this much.”
“He shall have that credit, madam,
be sure of that,” said John Calhoun.
He held out to her his long, tbln,
bloodless hand.
"Madam,” he said, "I have been mis
taken in many things. My life will be
written down as failure. I have been
misjudged. But at least it shall not
be said of me that I failed to rever
ence a woman such as you. All that
I thought of you, that first night I met
you, was more than true. And did I
not tell you you would one day, one
way, find your reward?"
He did not know what he said;
but I and I spoke with him in
the silence of my own heart, know
ing that his speech would be the same
were his knowledge even with mine.
“To-fnorrow,” went on Calhoun. “to
morrow evening there is to be what
we call a ball of our diplomacy at the
White House. Our administration,
knowing that war Is soon to be an
nounced in the country, seeks to make
a little festival here at the capital.
We whistle to keep up our courage.
We listen to music to make us for
get our consciences. To-morrow night
we dance. All Washington will be
there. Baroness von Rltz, a card
will come to you.”
She swept him a curtsey, and gave
him a smile.
"Now, as for me," he continued, “I
am an old man, and long ago danced
my last dance In public. To-morrow
night all of us will be at the White
House—Mr. Trist will be there, and
Dr. Ward, and a certain lady, a Miss
Elisabeth Churchill, madam, whom I
shall be glad to have you meet. You
must not fall us. dear lady, because I
am going to ask of you one favor."
He bowed with a courtesy which
might have come from generations of
an old aristocracy. “If you please,
madam, I ask you to honor me with
your hand for my first dance in years
—my last dance In all my life.”
Impulsively she held out both her
hands, bowing her head as she did so
to hide her face. Two old gray men.
one younger man. took her hands and
kissed them.
Now our flag floats on the Columbia
and on the Rio Grande. I am older
now, but when I think of that scene,
I wish that flag might float yet freer;
and though the price were war Itself,
that It might float over a cleaner and
a nobler people, over cleaner and nobler
rulers, more sensible of the splendor
of that heritage of principle which
should be ours.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Palo Alto Ball.
A beautiful woman pleases ths eye, a
good woman pleases the heart; one le a
Jewel, the other a treasure.—Napoleon I.
On the evening of that following day
in May, the sun hang red and round
over a distant unknown land along
the Rio Grande. In that country, no
iron trails as yet had come. The mag
ic of the wire, so recently applied to
the service of man, was as yet there
unknown. W ord traveled slowly by
horses and mules and carts. There
came small news from that far-off
country, half tropic, covered with
palms and crooked dwarfed growth of
mesquite and chaparral. The long
horned cattle lived In these dense
thickets, the spotted jaguar, the wolf,
the ocelot, the javellna, many small
er creatures not known In our north
ern lands In the loam along the
stream the deer left their tracks, min
gled with those of the wild turkeys
and of countless water fowl. It was
a far-off, unknown, unvalued land.
Our flag, long past the Sabine, had
halted at the Nueces. Now it was to
advance across this wild region to the
Rio Grande. Thus did smug James
Polk keep his promises!
Among these tangled mesquite
thickets ran sometimes long bayous,
made from the overflow of the greater
rivers—resacas. as the natives call
them. Tall palms sometimes grow
along the bayous, for the country Is
half tropic. Again, on the dryer
ridges, there might be taller detached
trees, heavier forests—palo alto, the
natives call them, in some such place
as this, where the trees were tali,
there was fired the first gun of our
war In the southwest. There were
strange noises heard here in the wil
derness, followed by lesser noises, and
by human groans. Some faces that
night were upturned to the moon—
the same moon which swam so glori
ously over Washington. Taylor camped
closer to the Rio Grande. The fight
was next to begin by the lagoon
called the Resaca de la Palma. But
that night at the capital that same
moon told us nothing of all this. We
did not hear the guns. It was far
from Palo Alto to. our ports of Gal
veston or New Orleans. Our cockaded
army made its own history in its own
unreported way.
We at the White House ball that
night also made history In our own un
recorded way. As our army was add
ing to our confines on the southwest,
so there were other, though secret!
forces which added to our territory in
the'far northwest. As to this and as
to the means by which it came about.
1 have already been somewhat plain.
It was a goodly company that as
sembled for the grand ball, the first
one in the second season of Mr. Poik'3
somewhat confused and discordant ad-
ministration. Social matters had
started off dour enough. Mrs. Polk
was herself of strict religious practice,
and I imagine It had taken somewhat
of finesse to get her consent to these
festivities. It was called sometimes
the diplomat’s ball. At least there
was diplomacy back of it It was
mere accident which set this celebra
tion upon the very evening of the bat
tle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846.
By ten o’clock there were many In
the great room which had been made
ready for the dancing, and rather a
brave company It might have been
called. We had at least the splendor
of the foreign diplomats’ uniforms for
our background, and to this we added
the bravest of our attire, each one In
hls own Individual fashion, I fear.
Thus my friend Jack Dandrldge was
wholly resplendent In a new waist
coat of his own devising, and an even
ing coat which almost swept the floor
as he executed the evolutions of hi*
western style of dancing. Other gen
tlemen were, perhaps, more grave and
staid. We had with us at least one
man, old In government service, who
dared the silk stockings and knee
breeches of an earlier generation. Yet
another wore the white powdered
queue, which might have been moro
suited for hls grandfather. The young
er men of the day wore their hair
long, In fashion quite different, yet
this did not detract from the distinc
tion of some of the faces which one
might have seen among them —some
of them to sleep all too soon upturned
to the moon In another and yet mare
bitter war, aftermath of this with
Mexico. The tail stock was still In
etldence at that time, and the ruffl*d
shirts gave something of a formal abd
old-fashioned touch tb the assembly.
Such as they were, in their somewhat
varied but not uninteresting attire, the
best of Washington were present. In
vitation was wholly by card. Some
said that Mrs. Polk wrote these Invi
tations in her own hand, though this
we may be permitted to doubt.
Whatever might have been said as
to the democratic appearance of our
gentlemen In Washington, our women
were always our great reliance, and
these at least never failed to meet the
approval of the most sneering of our
foreign visitors. Thus we had pres
ent that night, as I remember, two
young girls both later to become
famous in Washington society; tall
and slender young Terese Chalfant,
later to become Mrs. Pugh of Ohio,
and to receive at the hands of Den
mark’s minister, who knelt before
her at a later public ball, that jew
eled clasp which hls wife had bade
him present to the most beautiful
woman he found in America. Here
algo was Miss Harriet Williams of
Georgetown, later to become the sec
ond wife of that Baron Bodisco of
Russia who had represented hls gov
ernment with us since the year 1838—
a tall, robust, blonde lady she later
grew to be. Brown's hotel, home of
many of our statesmen and their la
dles, turned out a full complement.
Mr. Clay was there, smiling, though 1
fear none too happy. Mr. Edward
Everett, as it chanced, was with us
at that time. We had Sam Houston
of Texas, who would not, until he ap
peared upon the floor, relinquish the
striped blanket which distinguished
him—though a splendid figure of a
man he appeared when he paced
forth in evening dress, a part of which
was a waistcoat embroidered in such
fancy as might have delighted the eye
of his erstwhile Indian wife had she
been there to see it. Here and there,
scattered about the floor, there might
have been seen many of the public
figures of America at that time, men
from north and south and east and
west, and from many other nations bed
side our own.
Under Mrs. Polk’s social administra
tion, we did not waltz, but our ball
began with a stately march, really, a
grand procession. In Its way distinctly
Interesting, in scarlet and gold and
blue and silks, and all the flowered
circumstance of brocades and laces of
our ladles. And after our march we
had our own polite Virginia reel, mer
ry as any dance, yet stately too.
I was late in arriving that night, for
It must be remembered that this was
but my second day In town, and 1 had
had small chance to take my chief’s
advice, and to make myself present
able for an occasion such as this. I was
fresh from my tailor, and very new
made when I entered the room. 1
came Just in time to see what I was
glad to see; that Is to say, the keep
ing of John Calhoun’s promise to
Helena von Ritz.
It was not to be denied that there
had been talk regarding thi3 lady,
and that Calhoun knew it. though not
from me. Much of it was idle talk,
based largely upon her mysterious life.
Beyond that, a woman beautiful as
she has many enemies among her sex
There were dark glances for her that
night, I do not deny, before Mr. Cal
houn changed them. For, liowevei
John Igalhoun was rated by ills ene
mies, the worst of these knew, well
hl3 austerely spotless private life, and
his scrupulous concern for deeorurt
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
'"THREE hours
after the first dose.
That’s all the time it
takes for Oxidine to
“get busy” with a tor
pid liver, sluggish bow
els and kidneys and a
weak stomach.
Tones and strength
ens vital organs.
Try just one bottle of
OXIDINE
—a bottle proves.
The Specific for Malaria, Chilli and
Fever and a reliable remedy lor
all diseajet due to disorders
oi liver, stomach, bowels
and kidneys.
SOc. At Your Druggist*
CBS BIBISirS SIDS o#.|
Waco, Texas.
Answering the Dean.
| The man who Thackeray calls “th«
I greatest wit of all time" —Dean Swift
I of St. Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin—
-1 was as ready to take as to make a re
! tort. •
“Why don’t you doff your hat to
me?" he asked a small boy who was
coaxing along an obstreperous goat.
“I will,” said the lad, "if your honor
will hold the goat's horns!" an answer
I which delighted the dean. —Youth’s
I Companion.
Snakes in Prohibition Maine.
Snakes emptied two saloons in Port-
I land of the crowds of customers a few
evenings ago. A non-resident ordered
| a box of snakes sent to him from the
south for the purpose of cleaning out
| a vast number of rats from his place,
j The snakes were given a chance to
demonstrate their rat killing ability
i and the large snake destroyed 15 in
j a few minutes. The snakes were then
taken to two different saloons and in
a few minutes cleared them of the
crowd. —Kennecbec Journal.
THEY DON’T WANT WRINKLES.
Smith advertises all the
new wrinkles.
He —Fatal mistake. He won’t get a
woman in his store.
WRONG SORT
Perhaps Plain Old Meat, Potatoes and
Bread May Be Against You
for a Time.
A change to the right kind of rood
can lift one from a sick bed. A ladv
in Welden, 111., says;
“Last spring I became bed-fast with
severe stomach troubles accompanied
by sick headache. I got worse and
■worse until I became so low I could
scarcely retain any food at all, al
though I tried about every kind.
"I had become completely discour
aged, and given up all hope, and
thought I was doomed to starve to
death, until one day my husband, try
ing to find something I could retain,
brought home some Grape-Nuts.
"To my surprise the food agreed
with me, digested perfectly and with
out distress. I began to gain strength
at once. My flesh (which had been
flabby), grew firmer, my health im
proved in every way and every day,
and in a very few weeks I gained 20
pounds in weight.
"I liked Grape-Nuts so well that for
four months I ate no other food, and
always felt as well satisfied after eat
ing as if I had sat down to a fine ban
quet.
“I had no return of the miserable
sick stomach nor of the headaches,
that I used to have when I ate other
food. lam now a well woman, doing
all my own -work again, and feel that
life is worth living.
“Grape-Nuts food has been a God
send to my family; it surely saved my
life; and my two little boys have
thriven on it wonderfully.” Name
given by Postum Co., Battle Creek,
Mich.
Read the little book, “The Road to
Wellville,” in pkgs. “There's a reason.”
Ever read the above letter? A new
one appears from time to time. They
are genuine, true, and full of hunu
interest*