The Oklahoma Leader (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 6, 1918 Page: 4 of 4
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* I
THE OKLAHOMA LEADER
TI1K OKLAHOMA LKADI'R
Succt'HSor in Oiler Valley Soc ialist
R. L. RHODYBACK
Editor and Publisher
l.ntered i> tenind i'Kikh mall multer June I.
I'M*. at ihi* I'ost OHice ill Okliilionm t.lty,
Oklahoma, under lilt* Act of March
Subscription Rate
Advertising Kates
- SI 00 per year
on Application
We wish to Rive you warning. \V.
II. Dolan, chief of the United States
secret set vice, has sent out notices to
the banks that there is a counterfeit!
$100.00 bill in circulation. The note is j
drawl) on the Federal Bank of Dallas.
Texas, and was evidently made by an
expert workman.
We suggest that when you buy gaso-
line for the Ford, or maybe something
at the store you carefully look over
your change to he sure that a counter-
feit bid is not accepted by mistake.
-o/-~ TflL
K/WBED B1TLE5
A Romance o) Adventure
SyJKUW HUNDY
| corrmcHT Br
1H( POMS-
| conrtni
A Proposition to Perpetuate Office
Holders, Or a Stab At De-
mocracy.
From Gazette, Gotebo:
The Kiowa Democrat, of Snyder,
makes a suggestion that Is mosl re-
i.iarkable for a paper claiming to be
< emocratic.
It proposes that the committeemen
of the county meet and ask all office i
i olders to consent to become candl-l
dates again for their respective offices,
; n i then pledge them their support
in the primary election.
The suggestion if carried out would
Imperil the democratic party of the
county.
It would in effect set aside one of
the cardinal principles of democracy
a government of the people, for the
people and by the people.
It would virtually abrogate our pri
mary election law, reducing it to a
mere matter of form.
Such a course would be more au
toeratlc than the old convention sys-
n, where the people hail some sem-
blance ol' vole? in the selection of can-
didates for office, although they were
usually dominated by some slick
tongued talker, or hired manipulators.
The masses of people struggled
long and hard to secure a primary
i ocUon law, in order that all might
have an equal voice in tli > selection
i f candidates. They would certainly
icsint any measure seeking to de-
H'ive them of this just privilege. A
jrivilege based on the sovereign
. i ;hts of democracy.
It would be a precedent tha! might
v I'll be regarded as the entering
wedge of danger.
We are in the war today solely and
alone to preserve the sacred rights
i.r the people commercially, relig-
iously and politically.
He who would attempt to dodge be-
hind the streuous turmoil of the hour, I
to destroy one of those rights, sends a !
dart like an assassin from ambush j
if a few men can get together and
by resolution perpetuate men in office
in a county, why not in the state, or
i:t the nation?
Being in war, is but a flimsy excuse
to set such a henious example. An
example that would be but a prece-
dent for some similar excuse in the
future.
This war may last for ten years or
more, and conditions grow worse year
by year, then are these office holders
to be perpetuated in office until the
dove of peace again hovers over the
land? For no greater reason than
they happened to be in office when
we entered the war.
The editor of the Gazette is not
acquainted with the officers of Kiowa
county, but believe them to he gentle-
men worthy of positions they hold.
Nor does he know of any onp who Is
seeking either of their positions. But !
we warn them now if they hope to be
re-elected, to seek the office in the \
good old democratic way anil not to
trifle with the people's sovereign
rights.
We do not believe there is an of-!
Acer in the county who would dare
accept a nomination under the plan
suggested by the Kiowa County Dem-
ocrat, unless it be some one who holds
office by appointment, as does the
chief ruler of the Democrat. And he
bid better get his democracy on
straight before he undertakes to dic-
tate the political affairs of his party
or the county.
OUR DEAD IN THIS WAR.
Washington. May 30.—Memorial
Day finds America's roll of honor for
the great war to date totaling 6,463.
Casualties reported are divided as fol-
lows :
Killed in action, 800.
Killed by accident, 261.
Died of disease, 261.
I ost at sea, 291. ^
Pied of other causes, 84.
Wounded, 3,598.
Captured. 99.
Missing. 208.
Total, 6.463.
CHAr- i Hrl I.
The men who govern India—more
power to them Mini her!—are few.
Those who stand in their way and pre-
tend to help (hem with a flood of
words are a host. The charge has
H'en the light in print that India—welli
spring of plague and sudden death
tmd money lenders—hits sold her soul
to twenty succeeding conquerors in
turn.
So when the world war broke the;
world was destined to be surprised on
India's account. The lied sea, full of
racing transports crowded with dark-
i klnned gentlemen, whose one prayer
was that the war might not be over
1 efore they should have struck a blow
)'nr Britain, was the inditin army's an-
swer to the press.
More than one nation was deeply,
I hocked by India's answer to "prac-
tices" that had extended over years.
1 tut there were men in India who
learned to love India long ago with
that love that casts out fear, who knew
exactly what was going to happen and
could therefore afford to wait for or-
ders instead of running round in rings.
Athelstan King, for instance, noth-
ing yet but a captain unattached, sat
in nieagerly furnished quarters with
bis heels on a table. He is not a
doctor, yet he read a book on sur-
gery ; and when he went over to the
club he carried the book under his
i arm and continued to read it there.
In the other room where the telegraph
blanks were littered In confusion all
about the floor, the other officers sent
telegrams and forgot King, who sat
I .and smoked and read about surgery;
and before be had nearly finished one
•pfACl
not keeping back more than a mere
handful to hold the tribes in check.'
King nodded. There lias never been
pence along the northwest border. It
did not need vision to foresee trouble
from that quarter. In fact it must
have b*en partly on the strength of
some of King's reports that the gen-
eral was planning now.
"Well, the tribes'll know presently
bow many men we're sending oversea.
There've been rumors about Khlnjan
by the hundred lately. They're cook-
ing something. Can you imagine 'em
keeping quiet now?"
"That depends, sir. Yes, I can
Imag'ne it."
The general laughed. "That's why
I sent for you. I need a man with
Imagination! There's a woman you've
got to work with on this occasion who
can Imagine a shade or two too much.
What's worse, she's ambitious. So I
chose you to work with her."
King's lips stiffened under his mus-
tache, and the corners of his eyes
wrinkled into crow's feet to corre-
spond. Eyes are never coal-black, of
course, but his looked it at that min-
ute.
"You know we've sent men to Khin-
jan who are said to have entered the
caves. Not one of 'em has ever re-
turned."
King frowned.
"She claims she can enter the caves
and come out again at pleasure. She
has offered to do it, and I have ac-
cepted. Can you guess who she is?"
"Not Yastninl?" King hazarded, and
(he general nodded. The helmet-strap
>nark, printed indelibly on King's jaw
and cheek by the Indian sun. tight-
jened and grew whiter—us the general
rioted out of the corner of his eye.
"Know her?"
"Know of her, of course, sir. Every-
body does'. Never met her to my
knowledge."
"Um-m-m! Whose fault was that?
Somebody ought to have seen to that,
fJo to Delhi now and meet her. I'll
send her a wire to say you're coming.
She knows I've chosen you. She tried
to insist on full discretion, but I over-
ruled her."
King's tongue licked his lips, and his,
eyes wrl-Jiled. The general's voice be-
came the least shade more authorita-
tive.
"When you see her, get a pass from
her that'll take you into Khlnjan
caves ! Ask her for it! For the sake
of appearances I'll gazette you sec-
onded to the Khyber rifles. For the.
sake of success, get a pass from her!"
"Very well, sir."
"You've a brother In the Khyber |
rifles, haven't you? Was it you or your j
brother who visited Khlnjan once and
sent in a report?"
"I did, sir."
He spoke without pride. Even the
brigade of British-Indian cavalry that
went to Khlnjan on the strength of
his report and leveled Its defenses j
with the ground, had not been able
to find the famous caves. Yet the :
caves themselves are a byword.
"There's talk of a jihad (holy war), i
There's worse than that! When you
went to Khinjan, what was your chief
object?"
"To find the source of the everlast-
ing rumors about the so-called 'Heart
of the Hills,' sir."
"Yes, yes. I remember. 1 read your
report. You didn't find anything, did
you? Well. The story is now that the
'Heart of the Hills' has come to life.
So the spies say."
King whistled softly.
"There's no guessing what it
means," said the general. "Go and
work with Yastninl. The spies keep
bringing in rumors of ten thousand
men in Khinjan caves, and of another
large lashkar not far away from Khin-
jan. There must be no jihad, King!
India is all but defenseless! This
story about a 'Heart of the Hills' com-
ing to life inny presage unity of action
and a holy war such as the world has
not seen. Go up there and stop it if
you can. At least, let me know the
facts."
King grunted. To stop a holy war
single handed would be rather like
stopping the wind—possibly easy
enough, if one knew the way. Yet he
knew no general would throw away u
man like himself on a useless venture.
He began to look happy.
The general clucked to the mare
and one wheel ceased to touch the
trance into a crowded hall. The in-
stant the general's fat figure darkened
the doorway twenty men of higher
rank than King, native and English,
rose from lined-up chairs and pressed
forward.
"Sorry—have to keep you all wait-
ing—busy!" He waved them aside
with a little apologetic gesture. "Come
In here, King."
King followed him through a door
that slammed tight behind him on rub-
ber jambs.
"Sit down 1"
The general unlocked a steel drawer
and began to rummage among the pa-
pers in it. In a minute he produced
a package, bound in rubber bunds,
with a faded photograph face upward
on the top.
"That's the woman! How d'you
like the look of her?"
King took the package and for a
minute stared hard at the likeness of
a woman whose fame has traveled up
and down India, until her witchery
has become a proverb. She was
dressed as a dancing woman, yet very
few dnncing women could afford to be
dressed as she was.
The general watched his face with
eyes that missed nothing.
"Remember—1 said work with her 1''
King looked up and nodded.
"They say she's three parts Bus-
Finn said the general. "To my knowl-
edge she speaks Russian like a native,
and about twenty other tongues as
well including English She was tho
girl widow ot a rascally bill rajah,
I've heard she loved her rajah
SOCIALISTS WILL RULE GERMANY
AFTER THE WAR.
And
A**^
Come at Once," It Said.
box- of cheroots a general at Peshawur
wiped a bald red skull and sent him ^
an urgent telegram.
"Come at once!" It said simply.
King was at Lahore, but miles don't
matter when the dogs of war are
loosed. The right man goes to the
right place at the exact right time j
tlien, and the fool goes to the wall. In
that one respect war is better than
some kinds of peace.
In tlie train on the way to Peshawur
he was not troubled by forced con-
versation. Consequently he reached
Peshawur comfortable, In spite of the
heat. And his genial manner of salut-
ing the full-general who met him with
a dogcart at Peshawur station was
something scandalous. Full-generals,
particularly in the early days of war,
do not drive to the station to meet
captains very often; yet King climbed
•Into the dogcart unexcltedly, after
keeping the general waiting while he
checked a trunk!
The general cracked his whip with-
out any other comment than a smile.
A blood mare tore sparks out of the
macadam, and a dusty military road
began to ribbon out between the
wheels. Sentries in unexpected places
announced themselves with a ring of
shaken steels as their rifles came to
the "present," which courtesies the
general noticed with a raised whip.
On the dogcart's high front seat, star-
ing straight ahead of him between
the horse's ears. King listened. The
general did nearly all the talking.
"The North's the danger."
King grunted with the lids half-low-
ered over full, dark eyes. He did not
look especially handsome in that nt-j
tltude. Some men swear he looks like Krnvei a8 they whirled along n semi
a Roman, and others liken him to a c|rcu]ur drive. Under the porch of a
gargoyle, all of them choosing to Ig- pretentious residence, sentries salut- j
| nore the smile that can transform his the sals swung down and In less
; whole face Instantly. than sixty seconds King was follow- j
"We're denuding India of troops—i |ng the general through a wide en-
Carl W. Ackerman, one of America's
greatest authorities on the conditions
now existing in Germany, wrote some
very interesting things in his article
"The Tales of the Refugees," which
appeared in Saturday Evening Post of
March 23d. The refugees are Amer-
icans who are gradually coming out
of Germany to Switzerland. The ar-
ticle is in the form of interviews with
different refugees.
The following paragraph was part
of a story told by a young American,
who for some time had been in Munich
studying music:
' I suppose the rations have not
changed very much," she began her
reply to'my query, "but the people are
very nervous and irritable. It's so
hard to get along with them. They
have no patience and they criticize
everything, even the Kaiser and the
government. 1 think they'd all be so-
cia ists if they had any confidence in
the socialists' leaders, but they
haven't. 1 think at heart many of
them are socialists because they are
about the only democrats in Germany.
You know before the war only the
poor were socialists, but now even of-
ficers and business men believe in
their democratic principles. Why in
Munich I heard counts, barons and
bankers say they were going to be so-
cialists after the war. They think the
Socialists are the only one who will
not cause another war. Everyone says
now that this will be the last war the
German peop e will ever light. You
may be surprised to know that 1 met
people who said the best thing that
could happen to Germany would be de-
feat!"
Another very interesting part of the
article was the following conversation
of Mr. Ackerman with a German So-
cialist from Berlin that he met in
Switzerland also.
1 had not been in Switzerland very
long before 1 met a German Socialist
who I had known in Berlin.
Upon some excuse which he refused
to tell me he had obtained permission
to come t oBerne for a few days. For
fear some one of the seven hundred
attaches of the imperial legation here
would see us together, we walked
through the dark and deserted streets
of the city at night.
"Well," 1 interrupted, after we had
talked about some of the enemies 1
had known before we left Germany,
"what are the Socialists doing?"
"Working, of course," he replied;
"but we have a new crowd helping
us."
"So?"
"Yes; the Vaterland Partie."
"What!" I exclaimed. "You don't
mean that that crowd of annexation-
ists and extremists is working for So:
cial'sm?"
"Jawohl. That is, indirectly. T'.ie
Fatherland Party, which Grand Ad-
miral von Tirpitz founded, wants to
annex a l territory occupied by Ger-
man troops, from Riga to Ostend. The
Fatherlanders held a big convention in
Berlin a few days ago and invited sev-
eral hundred wounded soldiers and as
many widows to attend. The landers
planned it as a patriotic demonstra
tion to convince the government that
can contrive that—now—In this pinch poor people and old soldiers want
—there's no limit for you! Com* J annexation. A dozen or more speakers
munder in chief shall be your job be> were scheduled. Telegrams and reso-
fore you're sixty!" | intions were written to the Kaiser.
King pocketed the photograph and von Hindenburg. the King of Bavaria,
papers. "I'm well enough content,, an(j others, urging them not to make
sir. 'is things are,' be said quietly, j p(,.,ce until ti e Fatherland could be
^/alCV
'That's the Woman! How Do Yoa
Like the Look ot Her?"
I've heard she didn't! There's another
story that she poisoned him. I know
she got away with Ids money—and
that's proof enough of bruins! Some
say she's a she-devil. I think that 8
•an exaggeration, but bear in mind
she's dangerous!"
King grinned. A man who trusts
Eastern women over readily does nol
rise far in the secret service.
"If you've got nous enough to keep
on her soft side and use her—not let
lier use you—you can keep the 'Hills'
quiet and the Khyber safe! If you
well enough
are," he said
The general paced once across the
room and once back again, with handa
behind him. Then he stopped in front
of King.
"No man in India has a stiffer task
than you have now! A jihad launched
from the 'Hills' would mean anarchs
in the plains. That would entail send'
ing back from France an army that
can't he spared. There must be no
jihad Kin!}! There must—not—be—
one! Keep that in your head!"
"Wliat arrangements have been
made with her, sir?"
"Practically none! She's watching
but they're likely! ,ie nf! '
schmeinerei.'
the spies in Delhi
to break for the 'Hills' any minute,
Then they'll be arrested. When that
happens the fate of India may be in
your hands and hers! Get out of my
way now. until tiffin-time!"
In a way that some men never learn,
King proceeded to efface himself en-
tirely among the crowd in the hull,
contriving to say nothing of any ao
count to anybody until the great gong
boomed and the general led them all
in to bis long dining table. Yet h«
did not look furtive or secretive. No,
body noticed him. and lie noticed ev.
made secure against the rest of the
wor'd.
"Everything was peaceful," the So-
cialist continued, "until one of the
I speakers rose and shouted; 'Hinden-
: burg and Ludendorff are the only
j flags of the German people. He who
would desert these leaders in this
I bour of trial is to be pitied.' And then
(the speaker denounced all those who
I are clamoring for peace, when sud-
I denly a wounded soldier in the audi-
ence yelled: 'The Fatherland Party
| is pro onging the war; not the enemy!'
The fight which followed was a
the Socialist said. "Sol-
d''ers used their crutches, women t^ieir
umbrellas and policemen their sabers
No one knows how long the fight con
tinned, but more than two score men
and women were dragged out before
order was restored. Then the chair-
man, General von Lochow, and the
other leaders began to sing 'Deutsch-
lan 1, Deutschland Uber Alles,' which
they had to continue at least ten min-
utes before they could proceed with
the convention.
"Now do you understand what 1
erybody. There is nothing whatever mean
Father and Party is the
secretive about that.
The fare was plain, and the meal a
perfunctory affair. The general and
his guests were there for no othet
reason than to eat food, and only th«
man who happened to seat himseil
next to King—a major by the nana*
of Hyde—spoke to him at all.
"Why aren't you with your regl.
ment?" he asked.
"Because the general asked me tc
lunch, sir!"
"I suppose you've been pestering
hint for nn appointment!"
King, with bis mouth full of curry,
Co-itinucd in our next issue
best friend we have." And he laughed
so heartily that his voice echoed
through the narrow thoroughfares.
ORDER YOUR COAL NOW;
WON'T MILDEW.
IT
Get your coal order out of the way
of the government.
Get your coal in now. It won't mil-
dew.
Order the coal. Don't "wish you
had."
A ton in the bin is worth nine in
the mine.
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Rhodyback, R. L. The Oklahoma Leader (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 6, 1918, newspaper, June 6, 1918; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc148488/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.