Canadian Valley Record (Canton, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 4, 1915 Page: 2 of 8
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^TGrOM RANDOLPH OOIIIL
and LILLIAN CHESTER y j.
copym<. r
o or f
TtiCMDOOOK
XOfiPOfirKT/QN
ILLUSTRATED ^C.D.lfflODD
the day, and picked up the papers
casually, and lit upon the newest sen-
sation of the free and entirely un
curbed metropolitan press!
The free and entirely uncurbed met-
ropolitan press had found Vedder
court and had made it the sudden
focus of the public eye. Those few
who were privileged to know inti-
mately the workings of that adroit
master of the public welfare, Tim Cor-
man, could hava recognised clearly
his line hand in the blaze of notorle'.y
which obscure Vedder court had sud-
denly received. After having en-
dured the contamination and conta-
gion of the Market Square church ten-
ements for so many years, the city
w«y"tiSe~tunni'l 'caviw in73"i Iback had. all at once, discovered that the
SYNOPSIS.
—12—
At * vestry meeting of the Market
Bni>«x« church Gull Bargent tells Rev.
Smith Boyd that Market Square church
is upparently a lucrative business enter-
prise. Allison takes Oall riding Ui his
motor car. She tin J* cold dlaapprovaln
the eyes of Rev. Smith Boyd. Allison
■tarts a campaign for consolidation ana
control of the entire transportation sys-
tem of the world. Gall be. omes popular.
Allison g.-ilns control of transcontinental
traffic and arranges to absorb the Ved-
der court tenement property of Market
Gall tells Boyd that the
Square church. «■ ..
cathedral Market Square church proposes
to build will b« out of profits wrung from
squalor. At a meeting of the seven finan-
cial magnates of the country. Allison or-
ganizes the International Transportation
company. Rev. Smith Boyd undertakes
Gall's spiritual Instruction and Gall un-
consciously gives Allison a hint that ao'ves
the Vedder court problem for him. On
sn inspection trip In Allison s new sub-
way the tunnel caves In. Oall goes back
to her home In the West. Her friends lyre
her and Arly hack to New York. In the
midst of a struggle with the dregs of hu-
manity in Vedder court Rev. Smith Boyd
suddenly finds that he Is a real living
—and loving—man. He proposes to Oall
but on the verge of acceptance, she re-
members their religious differences, and
refuses.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Public Is Aroused.
Clad In her filmy cream lace gown.
Oall walked alowly Into her boudoir,
and closed the door, and sank upon
her flivan. She did not stop tonight to
let down her hair and change to her
dainty negligee, nor to punctiliously
straighten the room, nor to turn on
the beautiful green light; Instead, with
all the electric bulbs biasing, she sat
with her chin in her hand, and, with
her body perfectly In repose, tried to
study the whirl of her mind.
She wes shaken, she knew that,
shaken and atlrred as she had never
been before. Something In the deptha
of her had leaped up into life, and
cried out in agony, and would not stop
crying until it was satisfied.
"I need you to walk hand In hand
with me about the greatest work In
the world!" That was It; the greatest
work In the world! And what was
that work? To live and teach ritual
In place of religion; to turn worship
Into a social observance; to use help-
less belief as a ladder of ambition;
to reduce faith to words, and hope to
a recitation, and charity to an obliga-
tion; to make pomp and ceremony a
substitute for conscience, and to Inter-
pose a secretary between the human
heart and Ood!
For Just an Instant Call's eyelids
dropped, her long brown lashes curved
upon her cheeks, while beneath them
her eyes glinted, and a smile touched
the corners of her Hps; then she was
serious again. No, she had decided
wisely.
There was a knock on thefoor, and
Gall smiled again as she sitif:
"Come in."
Mrs. Helen Davles entered, tall and
stately in her boudoir frills and
ruffles. She sat down in front of Gail
and prepared to enact the role of con-
scientious mother.
"Doctor Boyd proposed to you to-
night." she charged, with affectionate
authority.
"Yes, Aunt Helen," and Gall began
to pull pins out of her hair.
A worried expression crossed the
brow of Aunt Helen.
"Did you accept him?" and she fair-
ly quivered with anxiety.
"No, Aunt Helen." Quite calmly,
piling more hairp'lns and still more
Into the little tray by her side, and
shaking down her rippling wave* of
hair.
Aunt Helen sighed a deep sigh of
relief, and smiled her approval.
"Gall, dear, you have shown a de-
gree of carefulness which I am de-
lighted to find in you. If you baudle
all your afTairs so sensibly, you have
a brilliant future before you."
"I must be an awful worry to you,
Aunt Helen," observed Gall, and walk-
ing over, she slipped her arm around
Mrs. Davles' neck and kissed her and
looked around for her chocolate box.
Gall's maid came In, and Mrs. Da-
vles bade her sister's niece good-
night most cordially, and retired with
a great load ofT her mind; and half
aa hour later the lights In Gall's
prstty little suite went out.
If she lay long hours looking out at
* tne pale stars; If, In the midst of Her
calm logic, she suddenly burled her
face In her pillows and sobbed silent
ly; If, toward morning, she awoke
with a little cry to And her face and
bar bands hot, all these things were
but normal and natural. It Is enough
to know that ahe came to her break-
fast bright-eysd and rosy-cheeked and
patting with taft pleasant greetings at
condition was unbearable! The free
and entirely uncurbed metropolitan
press had taken up, with great enthu-
siasm, the work of poking the finger
of scorn at Vedder court. It had pub-
lished photographs of the disreputable
old sots of buildings, and, where they
did not seem to drip enough, the
artists had retouched them. It had
sent budding youag Poes and Dlck-
enses down there to write up the
place. It hod sent the sob sisters
there In shoals to interview the down-
trodden, and, above all things, it had
put prominently before the public eye
the Immense profit which Market
Square church wrung from this or-
ganised misery! ~
Oail turned sick at heart as Bhe Vedder court
read. Uncle Jim permitted four - -
morning papers to come to the house,
and the dripping details, with many
variations, were in all of them. She
glanced over toward the rectory and
the dignified old church standing be
yond It, with mingled Indignation and
humiliation. A sort of ignominy
seemed to have descended up it, like
a man whose features seem coarsened
from the instant he is doomed to wear
prison stripes; and the fact which she
particularly resented was that a por-
tion of the disgrace of Market Square
church seemed to have descended
upon her. She could not make out
why this should be; but it was. Aunt
Grace 8argent, bustling about to see
that Gc.ll was supplied' with more
kinds of delicacies than she could pos-
sibly sample, saw that unmistakable
look of dlstreas on Gail's face, and
went straight «p to her sister Helen,
the creases of worry deep in her brow.
Mra. Helen Davles was having her
coffee in bed. and she continued that
absorbing ceremony while she con-
sidered her sister's news.
'I did not think that Gall was so
deeply affected by the occurrences of
last night," she mused; "but of course
the finest young man !n the world; and
Gall's aunt wat speechless with dla-
may and disappointment.
'I have ceased to worry about Qall'a
future," went on Mrs. Davles compla-
cently. "It la her present condition
about which 1 am most concerned.
She is so conscientious and self-ana-
lytical that she may distress herself
over this affair, and I must get In Arly
and Luclle, and plan i series of gay
etles which will keep her mind occu-
pied from morning until night."
In consequence of this kindly deci-
sion, Gall was plunged Into gayety un-
til she loathed the scrape of a violin!
The mere fact that ahe had no time to
think did not remove the fact that she
had a great deal to think about, and
the gayety only added dismally to her
troubled burden.
Meanwhile, the free and entirely un-
curbed metropolitan press went mer-
rily onward with its righteous Vedder
court crusade, until it had the public
indignation properly aroused. The
public Indignation rose to such a
pitch that. If the public had not beeu
busy with affairs of its own. and it It
had not been in the habit of leaving
everything to be seen to by the people
financially Interested, and If It had
uot consisted chiefly of a few active
vocal cords, there is not the slightest
doubt. It is worth repeating, that the
public might have done something
about Veddor court! As things were.
It grew most satisfactorily Indignant.
It talked of nothing else, In the sub-
ways and on the "L's" and on the sur-
face lines, and on the clndery com-
muter trains; and on the third day
of the agitation, before something else
should happen to shake the populace
to the very foundation of Its being, the
city authorities condemned the Ved
der court property as unsanitary, in-
human and unsafe, as a menace to the
public morals, health and life, and as
a blot upon civilization; this last be-
ing a fancy touch added by Tim Cor-
man himself, who, in his old age, had
a tendency to link poetry to his prac-
ticability. In consequence of this de-
cision, the city authorities ordered
Vedder court to be forthwith torn
down, demolished and removed from
the face of the earth; thereby Justify
ing, after all, the existence of the free
and entirely uncurbed metropolitan
press! The exact psychological mo-
ment had been chosen. The public,
caught at the very height of its frenzy,
applauded, and ate Its dinner in virtu-
ous satisfaction: and Gail Sargent's
distress crystallized into a much eas-
ier thing to handle; Just plain anger!
And so Market Square church had
persisted in clutching Its greedy hold
on a commercial advantage so vile
that even a notoriously corrupt city
government had ordered It destroyed!
Her mind was Immensely relieved
about Rev. Smith Boyd. She had
chosen well and wisely!
remain perpetually a commercial land-
lord r
The vestry gazed at Rev. Smith
Boyd In surprised disapproval. Tbelr
previoua rector bad talked like that,
and Rev. Smith Boyd had been a great
relief.
"So long aa the church has property
at all, It will meet with that persistent
charge," argued Chlsholm. "It seems
to me that we have had enough of It.
My own inclination would be to aell
the property outright, and take up
slower, but less personal, forms of
Investment."
Old Nicholas Van Ploon. aittlng far
enough away to fold his hands com-
fortably across hla tight vest, screwed
his neck around ao that he could glare
at the banker.
"No," he objected; for the Van
Ploon millions bad been accumulated
by the growth of tall office buildings
out of a worthless Manhattan swamp.
"We should never sell the property."
"There are a dozen arguments
against keeping It," returned the nasal
voice of old Joseph G. Clark. "The
She Came Into the Little Reception
"Co ay" to Meet Allison.
CHAPTER XVIII.
K
"Doctor Boyd Proposed to You To-
night," She Charged.
she could not sleep, and she's full of
sympathy this morning, and afraid
that maybe she made a mistake, and
feels perfectly wretched."
Grace Sargent aat right down.
"Did the rector propose?" she
breathlessly Inquired.
Mrs. Davlea poured herself some
more hot coffee, and nodded.
"She refuaed him."
"Oh!" and acute distress settled on
Grace Sargent's brow, with such a
firm clutch that It threatened to
Rev. 8mlth Boyd Protests.
The doves which In summer flitted
about the quiet little vestry yard, and
cooed over the vestry door, would
have flown away had they been at
home; for it was a stormy affair, with
loud voices and clashing wills and a
geneial atmosphere of tensity, which
was somewhat at variance with the
red-robed figure of the Good Shepherd
in the pointed window of the vestry.
The late arrival was Josepn G. Clark,
and his eye sought that of Banker
Chlsholm, before he nodded to the oth
ers and took his seat at the Gothic
table. Rev. Smith Boyd, who was
particularly straight and tall today,
and particularly In earnest, paused
long enough for the slight disturb-
ance to subside, and then he finished
his speech.
"That Is my unalterable position In
the matter." he declared. "If Market
Square church has a mission, It Is
the responsibility for these miserable
human wrecks whom we have made
our wards."
"We can't feed and clothe them,
objected Banker Chlsholm, whose
white mutton chops already glered
pink from the anger-reddened skin be
neath.
"It doesn't pay to pauperize the
people," supplemented Willis Cun-
ningham. stroking his BparBe Vandyke
complacently. Cunningham, whose
sole relationship to economics con
Blsted in permitting his secretary to
sign checks, had imbibed a few prin
clples which sufficed for all occasions
"I do not wish to pauperize them,'
returned the rector. "I am willing to
accept the shame of having the city
show Market Square church Its duty
In exchange for the pleasure of re
placing the foul tenements In Ved
der court with clean ones."
Joseph G. Clark glanced again at
Chlsholm
"They'd be dirty again In ten
years," he observed. "If we build the
new type of sanitary tenement we
shall have to charge more rent, or not
make a penny of profit; and we can't
get more runt because the people who
would pay It will not come Into that
neighborhood."
"Are we compelled to make _
profit?" retorted the rector. "Is It nec-
homeatead the location. Mrs. Bar
gent shared the belief of Rev. 8mith promt rtionen toe rector. is it uec-
Bo/d'a mother, that Smith Boyd was easary for Market i^auare church to
chief one Is the necessity of making
a large investment in these new tene-
ments."
Rev. Smith Boyd rose again, shut-
ting the light from the red robe of
the Good Shepherd out of quietly con-
centrated Jim Sargent's eyes.
"I object to this entire discussion,"
he stated. "We have a moral obliga-
tion which forbids ua to discuss mat-
ters of investment and profit within
these walls as if we were a lard trust.
Wo have neglected our moral obliga-
tion In Vedder court, untH we are as
blackened with sin as the thief on the
cross."
Shrewd old Rufua Manning looked
at the young rector curiously. He was
puzzled over the change In him.
"Don't swing the pendulum too far.
Doctor Boyd," Manning reminded him,
with a great deal of kindliness. These
two had met often In Vedder court.
"Our sins, such aa they are, are more
passive than active."
It was, of course, old Nicholas Van
Ploon who fell back again on the
stock argument which had been quite
sufficient to soothe hla conscience for
all these years.
"We give these people cheaper rent
than they can find anywhere in the
city."
"We should continue to do so, but In
cleaner and more wholesome quar-
ters," quickly returned the rector
This is the home of all theae poverty-
stricken people whom Market Square
church haB taken under Its shelter,
and we have no right to dispose of It."
"That's what 1 say," and Nicholas
Van Ploon nodded his round head.
"We should not sell the prov- rty."
'We cannot for shame, If for noth
lug else," agreed the rector, seizing
on every point of vantage to support
his Intense desire to lift the Vedder
court derelicts from the depth of their
degradation. "We lie now under the
disgrace of having owned property so
filthy that the city wbs compelled to
order It torn down. The only way In
which we can redeem the reputation
of Market Square church Is to replace
those tenement* with better ones, and
conduct tbem as a benefit to the
people rather than to our own pock-
ets."
"That's a clever way of putting It,'
commended Jim Sargent. "It's time
we did something to get rid of our
disgrace," and he was most earnest
about It. He had been the most un-
comfortable of all these vestrymen In
the past few dayB; for the disgrace
of Market Square church had been a
very reliable topic of conversation In
Gall Sargent's neighborhood.
The nasal voice of amooth-sbaven
old Joseph G. Clark drawled Into the
little silence which ensued.
"What about the cathedral?" he
asked, and the hush which followed
was far deeper than the one which
ha had broken. Bvaa Rev. Smith Bard
was driven to aome talfty profound
thought. His bedroom and his study
were lined with sketches of the stt -
pendously beautiful cathedral, tfcs
most expensive In the world In whlcft
he was to disseminate the gospel. ^
Suppose we come back to earth,
reaumed Clark, who had built the
Standard Cereal company Into a mon-
opoly of all the breadstuffs by that
process. "If we rebuild we set our-
selves back In the cathedral project
ten years. You can't wipe out what
you call our disgrace, even if yo«
give all these paupers free board and
compulsory baths. My proposition •
to telephone for Edward B. Allison,
and tell him we're ready to accept
hla offer." ^
"Not while I'm a member of this
veatry," declared Nicholaa Van Ploon,
swlvellng himself to defy Joseph O.
Clark "We don't sell the property.
"I put Mr. Clark's proposition as ft
motion," Jerked W. T. Chlsholm, and
in the heated argument which en-
sued, the Good Shepherd in the win-
dow, taking advantage of the shifting
sun, removed from the room the light
of the red robe.
In the end, the practical-minded
members won over the aentimental-
lsts, if Nicholas Van Ploon could be
classed under that heading, and All!*
son was telephoned. Before they
were through wrangling over the de-
cision to have him meet them, Alli-
son was among them. One might al-
most have thought that he had been
waiting for the call; but he ex-
changed no more friendly glances
with Clark and Chlsholm, of the new
International Transportation com-
p&ny, than he did with any of the
others.
"Well, Allison, we've doclded to fto-
cept your offer for the Vedder court
property," stated Manning.
"I haven't made you any, but I'm
willing," returned Allison.
Jim Sargent drew from his pocket
a memorandum slip.
"You offered us a sum which, at
three and a half per cent, would ae-
crue, In ten years, to forty-two mil-
lion dollars," he reminded the preel-
dent of the Municipal Transportation
company. "That figures to a spot-caah
proposition of thirty-one millions, with
s repeating decimal of one; so aome-
body will have to lose a cent. *
"That offer la withdrawn," said Al-
lison.
"I don't see why," objected Jim Sar-
gent. "The property is as valuable for
your purpose aa It ever was."
"1 don't dispute that; but In that
offer I allowed you for the Income-
earning capacity of your Improved
property. Since that capacity Is
atopped, I don't feel obliged to pay you
for it, jr, In other words, to make up
to you the loss which the city has com-
pelled you to austaln."
"There Is some show of reason la
what Allison saya," observed Joaeph Q.
Clark.
Chlaholm leaned forward, with hla
elbows on the table, around the edge
of which were carved the heads of
winged cherubs.
"What la your present offer?"
"Twenty-five million; cash."
"We refuse!" announced Nicholas
Van Ploon. bobbing his round head
emphatically.
"I'm not so sure that we do," re-
turned Clark. "I have been studying
properly values la that neighborhood,
and I doubt If we can obtain more."
"Then we don't sell!" Insisted
Nicholas Van Ploon.
'I scarcely think we wish to take up
thla discussion with Mr. Allison until
we have digested the offer," observed
the quiet voice of Manning, and, on
this hint. Allison withdrew.
He smiled as he heard the voices
which broke out In controversy the
moment he bad closed the door behind
him. Being so nesr, he naturally called
on Gall Sargent, and found her enter-
taining a little tea party of the gnyeat
and brightest whom Aunt Helen Da-
vles could bring together.
She came Into the little reception
"cozy" to meet Allison, smiling with
pleasure. There aeemed to be a de-
gree of wlstfulness In her greeting
of her friends since the night of her
return.
"Of course I couldn't overlook an op-
portunity to drop In," said Allison,
shaking her by both hands, and hold-
ing them while he surveyed her criti-
cally. There was a tremendous com-
fort In his strength.
"So you only called because yon
were In the neighborhood," bantered
Gall.
"Guilty," he laughed. "I've Just beea
paying attention to my religlcus du-
ties."
"I wasn't aware that you knew yon
had any," returned Gall, sitting in the
shadow of the window Jamb. Allison'*
eyea were too searching.
(TO BK CONTINUED.)
Argentine Wines.
Production of wine In Argentina Is
one of the most Impo.tant Industries
of the country. In 1913 the record
production or 110.000.000 gallons was
reached. Practically all of the wine
produced In Argentina |r of a common
variety, and for table me only. The
exportation of Argaatl** wines 1b v«or
f-1
4
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Canadian Valley Record (Canton, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 4, 1915, newspaper, November 4, 1915; Canton, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc176056/m1/2/: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.