The May Bugle. (May, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 27, 1914 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Buffalo/May Bugle and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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THE MAY BUGLE. MAY. OKLAHOMA.
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0 BBS-ME ILL COMFWNY.
CHAPTER I.
The Owner of New York.
Percy Harrow, a young man of scien-
tific training, Indolent manners, effem-
inate appearance, hidden energy, and
absolute courage, lounged through the
doors of the Atlas Building. Since
his rescue from the volcanic Island
that had witnessed the piratical mur-
der of his old employer, Doctor Hcher-
tnerhorn, the spectacular dissolution
of the murderers, and his own Impris-
onment In a ^cave beneath the very
roar of an eruption, ho had been nurs
Ing his shattered nerves back to their
normal strength. Now he felt that at
last he was able to go to work again
Therefore, he was about to approach
a man of influence nmong practical
■dentists, from whom he hoped fur-
ther occupation.
As the express elevator shot upward,
he passed a long slender hand across
his eyes. The rapid motion confused
him still. The car stopped, and the
metallic gates clanged open. Harrow
obediently stepped forth. Only when
the elevator had disappeared did his
upward glance bring to him the knowl-
edge that he had disembarked one
floor too soon.
Darrow's eye fell on a lettered sign
outside the nearest door. He smiled
• slow red-lipped smile beneath his
■mall silky mustache, dropped his
black eyelashes In a flicker of reminis-
cence, hesitated a moment, then step-
ped languidly forward and opened the
door. The sign Indicated the head-
quarters of the very modest commls-
■lonershlp behind which McCarthy
chose to work. McCarthy, quite sim-
ply, at that time owned New York.
As Harrow entered, McCarthy hung
up the telephone receiver with a
■ mash, and sat glaring at the Instru-
ment. After a moment he turned his
■mall bright eyeB toward the new-
comer.
"Hello, Perc,” he growled. "Didn’t
■ee you. Bay, I'm so mad my Bkln
cracks. Just now some measly little
chrtmp called me up from a public
booth. What ye suppose he wanted,
now? Oh, nothin'! Just told me in
•o many words for me to pack up my
little trunk and sail for Europe and
never come back! That's all! He
*lve me until Sunday, too." McCarthy
barked out a short laugh, and reached
for a cigar-box, which he held out to
Darrow.
Percy shook his head. "So he wants
>ou to go to Europe?"
"Wants me? Orders me! Bays I
got to." McCarthy laughed. ' Lovely
thought!”
He puffed out a cloud of smoke.
"Says if I don’t obey orders he’ll
■end me a 'sign' to convince me!"
went on the boss. “He's got a mean
voice. He ought to have a tag hung
on him and get carried to the morgue.
He give me the shivers, like a dead
man. I never hear such a unholy
thing outside a graveyard at mid-
night!"
Percy Darrow was surveying him
with leisurely amusement, a slight
this ofllce who doesn't want one sin-
gle thing of you."
"I suppose that's It," agreed Me
Carthy. The telephone rang He
snatched down the receiver, listened a
moment, and thrust forward his heavy
Jowl. ‘‘Not on your life!” he growled
In answer to some question. While
he wab still occupied with the receiver,
Percy Harrow nodded aud sauntered
out.
The delicate needle of the Instru- f a present from gome admiring conaUb
ment did not quiver. uent.”
"Butteries dead!” said the repair
man. "Jim, what the hotel-bill do you
mean by getting deud batteries? C»o
back and bring u new lot, and test
'em."
Jn duo time Jlrn returned.
"These test to fifteen," suid he. "Oo
to It!"
He threw back his head and laughed,
but McCarthy's ready auger rose.
■‘Where did the stuff come from?”
"Out of the fresh air," replied the
operator. "From most anywhere In-
side the zone of communication."
"Couldn't you tell who sent It?”
"No way. It wasn't Signed. Come
"Test—nothing”’ roared the repair I from quite a distance, though."
'These ure dead.
CHAPTER II.
McCarthy Stumped Down a Flight of
Stairs.
smile playing over his narrow dark
face.
"His 'sign' he promised is apt to be
a bomb." observed Harrow.
"He's nutty, all right,” McCarthy
agreed, "but when he said that, he
was doing the tall religious. He's got
a bug tbat way."
"Your affair." said Harrow. "Just
the same. I'd have an outer office "
said the boss
ets cluttered up
Here they've got
T ....
x>d nord, ivrc?
The Shadow of Mystery.
Harrow walked up the one flight of
steps to the story above. He found
Ills acquaintance In. and at once
broached the subject of his errand.
Doctor Knox promised the matter his
attention. The two men then em-
barked on a long discussion of Profes-
sor Schertnerhorn’s discovery of super-
radium, and the strange series of
events that had encompassed his
death. Into the midst of the discus-
sion burst McCarthy, his face red with
suppressed anger.
"Can I use your phone?" he growled.
“Oh, yes," said he, as he caught sight
of the instrument. Without awaiting
the requested permission, he jerked
the receiver from Its hook and placed
it to his ear.
"Header than a smelt!” he burst out.
"This is a nice way to run a public
business! Thanks,” he nodded to Doc-
tor Knox, and stormed out.
Darrow rose languidly.
"I’ll see you again," he told Knox.
“At present I’m going to follow the
human cyclone. It takes more than
mere telephones to wake McCarthy
up like that.”
He found the boss In the hall, his
finger against the "down” button.
‘That’s three cars has passed me,"
he snarled, trying to peer through
the ground glass that, In the Atlas
Building, surrounded the shaft. "I’ll
tan somebody’s hide. Down!” he bel-
lowed at a shadow on the glass.
"Have a cigarette," proffered Percy
Harrow. “Calm down. To the scien-
tific eye you’re out of condition for
such emotions. You thlcknecks are
subject to apoplexy."
"Oh, shut up!” growled McCarthy.
"There Isn't a phone In order in this
building two floors either way. I’ve
tried ’em—and there hasn't been for
twenty minutes. And I can't get a
messenger to answer a call; and that
ring-tailed, star-spangled ornament of
a Janitor won't answer his private bell.
I’ll get him bounced so high the black-
birds will build nests In his ear before
he comes down again."
After trying vainly to stop a car on
It3 way up or down. McCarthy stump-
ed down a flight of stairs, followed
more leisurely by the calmly unhur-
ried Harrow-. Here the same per-
formance w as repeated. A half dozen
men by now had joined them. So they
progressed from story to story until
an elevator boy, attracted by their
frantic shouts, stopped to see what
was the matter. Immediately the door
was slid back on its runners, Mc-
Carthy seized the astonished operator
by the collar.
"Come out of that, you scum of the
earth!" he roared. "Come out of that
and tell me why you don't stop for
signals!"
I ain’t seen no signals!” gasped the
elevator boy.
Some one punched the button, but
the little, round, annunciator disk In
the car failed to Illuminate.
"I wonder if there's anything in
order In this miserable hole!" snarled
McCarthy.
"The lights Is gone out/' volunteer-
ed the boy; and indeed for the first
time the men now crowding the car
noticed that the lncandescents were
dead.
While McCarthy stormed out to
spread abroad impartial threats
against two public utility concerns for
interfering with his business, Percy
Darrow, his curiosity aroused, inter-
viewed the janitor. Under that func-
tionary s guidance he examined the j
points of entrance for the different j
w ires used for lighting and communi-
cation; looked over the private-bell in-
stallations, and ascended again to the
corridor, abstractedly dusting his fin-
gers. There he found a group of the
man after u moment,
too.”
Percy Harrow left the ensuing ar-
gument to Its own warmth. It was
growing late. In the corridor a few
hastily brought lamps cast a dim light.
Percy collided agulnst Doctor Knox
entering the building.
"Not fixed yet?" asked the latter In
evident disappointment. "What'B the
matter?"
“I don't know," said Harrow slowly;
It puzzles me. It’s more than an or-
dinary break of connections or short-
circuiting through apparatus If one
could Imagine a big building like this
polarized In some way—anyway, the
electricity Is dead. Ixiok here." He
pulled an electric flash light from his
pocket. "Bought this fresh on my way
here. Tested It. of course. Now,
there's nothing wonderful about these
toys going hack on a man; but”—he
pressed the button and peered down
the lens—“this is a funny coinci-
dence." He turned the lens toward his
friend. The filament was dark.
CHAPTER III.
The Moving Finger Write*.
The condition of affairs in the At-
las Building lasted long enough to car-
ry the matter up to the experts In the
employ of the companies; that is to
say, until about three o'clock the fol
lowing morning. Then, without rea-
son, and all ut once, the whole build-
ing from top to bottom was a blaze of
incandescent light.
The little group of workmen and
experts nodded in a competent and
satisfied manner, and began leisurely
"How can you tell thiU?”
"You can tell by the way It sounds.
Say, they ought to be a law about
these umatoors cluttering up the air
this way. Sometimes I got to pick my
own dope out of a dozen or fifteen
messages all ticking away In my head-
piece at once."
"I know the crazy slob what sent
'em, all right, ull right," growled Mc-
Carthy "He's nutty for fair."
"Well, If he'H nutty, I wish you'd
hurry his little trip to Mutteawan,"
complained the operator, turning away.
The boss went to his office, where
he established himself behind his
table-top desk. There all day he con-
ducted a leisurely business of mysteri-
ous import, sitting where the cool
autumn breeze from the river brought
its refreshment.
There were two other, inner, offices
to McCarthy's establishment, in which
sat a private secretary and an office
hoy. Occasionally McCarthy, with
some especial visitor, retired to one of
theSe for a more confidential conver-
sation. The secretary seemed always
very busy; the office boy was often In
the street. At noon McCarthy took
lunich at a small round table in the
cafe, below. When he reappeared at
the elevator shaft, the elevator starter
again verified his watch. Malachi Mc-
Carthy had but the one virtue of ac-
curacy, and that had to do with mat-
ters of time. At five minutes of six
he reached for his hat; at three min-
utes of six he boarded the elevator.
“Runs all right today, Sam," he re-
marked genially to the boy whom he
had half throttled the evening before.
He stood for a moment in the en-
trance of the building, enjoying the
sight of the crowds hurrying to their
cars, the elevated, the subway, and
the ferries. The clang and roar of
the city pleased his Benses, as a ves-
sel vibrates to its master tone. Mc-
Carthy was feeling largely paternal
as he stepped toward the corner, for
to a great extent the destinies qf
these people were in his hands.
"Easy marks!" was his philan-
thropic expression of this sentiment.
At the corner he stopped for a car.
He glanced up at the clock at the
Metropolitan tower. The bronze hand
pointed to the stroke of six. As he
looked, the first note of the quarter
chimes rang out. The car swung the
corner and headed down the street
McCarthy stepped forward. The
sweet chimes ceased their fourfold
phrasing, and' the great bell began
its spaced and solemn booming.
One! —Two! —Three! —Four! —Five!
Six! McCarthy counted. At the recol-
lection of a crazy message from the
Unknown, he smiled. He stepped for-
ward to hold up his hand at the car.
I Somewhat to his surprise the car had
already stopped some twenty feet
away.
McCarthy picked his way to the
to pack their tools as though at the j car-
successful completion of a long and ■ Wonder
difficult Job.
But every man Jack of them knew
perfectly well that the electrical ap-
paratus of the building was now In ex-
actly the same condition as It had
you wouldn’t stop at a
crossing,” he growled.
“Juice give out," explained the mo
torman.
McCarthy clambered aboard and sat
down in a comfortably filled car. Up
been the evening before. No repair and down the perspective of the street
work had followed a futile Investiga-1 could be seen other cars, also stalled,
tion. ! Ten minutes slipped by; then Mala-
As the group moved toward the i chi McCarthy grew impatient. With
outer air, the head repair man quietly j a muttered growl he rose, elbowed his
dropped behind. Surreptitiously he waY through the strap-hangers, and
applied the slender cords of his pocket
ammeter to the zinc and carbon of the
dead batteries concerning whose fresh-
ness he and his assistant had argued.
The delicate needle leaped forward,
quivered like a snake's tongue, and
hovered over a number.
"Fifteen,” read the repair man; and
then, after a moment: “Hell!"
stepped to the street. A row of idle
taxicabs stood In front of the Atlas
Building. Into the first of these
bounced McCarthy, throwing his ad-
j dress to the expectant chauffeur,
j The man hopped down from his box,
threw on the coil switch and ran to
J the front. He turned the engine over
the compression, but no explosion fol-
lf you hear a buz* when I turn her
over?" requested the chauffeur.
"I don't hear nothing," was the ver
diet.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to take
another cab," then said the man. "My
coil’s gono back on me."
McCarthy Impatiently descended,
entered the next taxi In line, and re-
peated the same experience. By now
the other chauffeurs, noticing the
predicament of their brethren, were
anxiously and persplrlngly at work.
Not an engine answered the call of the
road! A passing truck driver, grin-
ning from ear to ear, drove slowly
down the line, dealing out the ancient
Jests rescued for the occasion from
an oblivion to which the perfection of
the automobile had consigned them.
McCarthy added his mite; he was
beginning to feel himself the victim
of a series of nagging impertinences,
which he resented after hia kind.
"if," said he, "your company would
put out something on the street be-
sides a hunoh of retired grist-mills
with clock dials hitched on to them,
you might be able to give the public
some Bervice. I’ve got lots of time
Don’t hurry through your afternoon
exercise on my account. Just buy a
lawn-mower and a chatelaine watch
apiece—you'd do just as well."
By now every man had his battery
box open. McCarthy left them, puz-
zling over the singular failure of the
electrical apparatus, which is the nerv-
ous system of the modern automobile.
He turned Into Fifth Avenue. An
astonishing sight met his eyes.
The old days had returned. The
center of the long roadway, down
which ordinarily a long file of the pur-
ring monsters of gasoline creep and
dash, shouldering aside the few han-
soms and victorias remaining from a
bygone age, now showed but a swing-
ing slashing trot of horses.
Hansoms, hacks, broughams; up-
raised whips, whirling in signal; the
spat spat of horses' hoofs; all the ob-
solescent vehicles that ordinarily doze
in hope along the sands of the side
streets; / was a gay sight of the past
raised again for the moment to reality
by the same mysterious blight that
had shadowed the Atlas Building the
night before.
McCarthy looked about him for a
hansom. There was none unengaged.
In fact, the boss soon determined that
many others, like himself, were wait-
ing for a chance at the first vacant
one. Reluctantly he made up his mind
to walk. He glanced up at the tower
of the Metropolitan Building; then
stared in astonishment. The hands of
the great dial were still perpendicular
—the hour Indicated was still six
o’clock!
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
You Cannot
! Arbitrate
the question of a Sick
Stomach, Loss of Appe-
tite, Heartburn, Head-
ache, Indigestion, or
Constipation. It is a
far better plan to help
Nature restore these or-
gans to a healthy condi-
tion with the aid of
HOSTETTER’S
STOMACH BITTERS
TRY A BOTTLE TODAY
REFUSE SUBSTITUTES
Rather Effeminate.
Congressman Peter J. Dooling of
New York smiled the other evening
when reference at a dinner was made
to effeminate ways. He said he was
reminded of the explanation of Smith.
Some time ago the Smiths attended
a reception where they met a man
named Brown. On the way home,
while exchanging opinions of the
guests, Brown was mentioned.
“Speaking of that man Brown,” vig-
orously remarked Smith, "he certainly
has an effeminate way of talking”
“Why, John,” was the wondering re-
joinder of Mrs. Smith. “How can you
say that? He certainly has a very
loud and masculine voice!"
"Yes, I know he has,” explained
Smith, "but what I mean is that he
talks all the time."—Philadelphia Tele-
graph.
Woman and Her Hat.
A woman cannot Btlck a hat on her
head as you stick a stamp on a letter.
There Is an Ingenious machine that
sticks stamps om letters at the rate
of several thousand an hour. But no-
body has Invented a machine for stick-
ing hats on the heads of women. A
man can buy a hat In five minutes,
but no woman would dream of buying
a hat In less than an hour. Often a
woman will acquire a splitting head-
ache In the attempt to find one hat
to suit her out of a hundred, and not
seldom she carries away the head-
ache without a hat on it. The hat
hunt is only a small part of the dally
agony of shopping, and yet a man,
London Opinion remarks, would rath-
er cut his throat than engage In a hat
hunt as a dispassionate spectator.
Men prefer to hunt the fox or the
stag, the tiger or the lion, the grizzly
or the grouse. A tiger hunt is not
nearly so perilous as a hat hunt
Very Effective.
At an English provincial theater not
long since the curtain rose on an
empty stage in the second act of a
play, and by and by a meek-Iooking
young man with a dust-coat slung over
his arm came on and loudly called
“Uncle—uncle!"
According to the book of the play
he should have received no answer to
his call, and after an appropriate pause
should have gone on with a mono-
logue. But a graceless “god" In the
gallery took upon himself to answer
the actor.
“All right, I'm coming in a moment
How much do you want on It?” he
shouted.
The effect on the audience may be
Imagined.
The daily business, therefore, open- lowed. He repeated the effort a dozen
ed normally. The elevator shot from times. Then, grasping the starting
handle with a firmer grip, he “whirled’1
the engine—without result.
'What's the matter? Can't you make
her go?" demanded McCarthy, thrust-
floor to floor; the telephones rang;
the eall-bells buzzed, and all was well.
At six o'clock came the scrub-woman;
at half past seven the office boys; at
eight the clerks; a little later some of' ln8 h*8 head from the door,
the heads; and precisely at nine Mai- j "Will you please listen, sir, and see
achi McCarthy, as was his Invariable |
habit.
As the bulky form of the political |
boss pushed around the leaves of the j
revolving door, the elevator starter J
glanced at his watch. This was not to
determine if McCarthy was on time,
but to see if the watch was right.
McCarthy had recovered his good
humor. He threw a joke at the negro I
polishing the brass, and paused gen-
ially to exchange a word with the ele-j
vator starter.
"Worked until about three o'clock.”
the latter answered a question. "Got
it fixed all right No. they didn't say
what was the matter. Something to
do with the wires, I suppose "
"Most likely," agreed McCarthy.
Question of Degree.
On a writ of error to the supreme
court of one of the territories, counsel
for plaintiff in error sharply criticized
the rulings of the trial judge. When
the counsel for the defendant In error
began his reply, the following took
place:
"May It please your honors, before I
finish my argument, I think I can show
you that the trial judge was not as
crazy as counsel on the other side
would make him out to be."
By a member of the court: “Let me
understand you; you admit the fact of
insanity of the trial Judge, but deny
its degree?”—Case and Comment.
Found Task a Hard One.
Whether a boy’s ears belong to hla
face or his neck has always been a
matter of washing convenience to the
boy. One of two boys on a street car
evidently had been told to wash his
face, for hla companion remarked:
“You’re all dirty back of your ears.”
“Aw, I ain't either," remonstrated
the accuaed.
“Well, you don’t have to believe
me,” said the other; “you Just look
and see."
“Can the contortions,” growled the
conductor; and the boys became as
quiet as boys can be.”
It Counts.
are you going
Where
“Aunt Dinah, are you going to
have 'obey' eliminated from the cere-
mony?"
No, chile; but I sho Is gwlnter
hab It 'liminated from de matrimony ”
—Puck.
Both.
"Money talks," quoted the sage.
"Yes, and It stops talk,” added the
Fool.—Cincinnati Enquirer.
MERELY A POPULAR BELIEF
Scholars Question Whether the Apple
Was the "Forbidden Fruit” in the
Garden of Eden.
At that moment an elevator
building s tenants, among whom he dis- dropped from above and came to rest,
tinguished Doctor Knox. like a swift bird alighting. The doors
(■>ame complaint, I suppose—no parted to let out a young man wearing
phones, no lights, no bells." he re
’’Outer off.
**An outer ofl
with people v
to say right «
’em to. Whs
What can I d<
Harrow an
well, my fat
son you like
aue and on!.
ce Just
ut in n>
:’s the i
for yoi
marked.
"Seems to be,” replied Knox. "Gen-
eral condition. Acts as though the
main arteries had been cut outside.-’
“Inside bells? House phones?” sug-
gested Harrow.
The repair men came In double-
quick time and great confidence. They
went to work in an ass
which soon slackened to
wilderment. Some one d
return with a box of n
The head repair man
group of fhe»e with a »m
executive office The .astnimeat.
lured manner.
*'Air was
• a slower be
night from
(•appeared. to
working a
lew batteries.
kept repeat
connected a
something j
all bell In the
o'clock you
ow. who had followed.
ed Dar
the cap of the United Wireless.
"Good morning. Mr. McCarthy.” this
young man remarked in passing
"Aren't going into the sign-painting
business, are you?" He laughed.
“What ye glvin' us. Mike?" demand
ed McCarthy.
The young man wheeled to Include
the elevator starter in the joke.
full of dope most of last
some merry little Jester
oy. home-made. He just
Ing the same thing—
bout 'McCarthy, at six
•hall have a sign given
unto you. It works.’ over and over
all night Some new advertising
dodge. I reckon. Didn't know but yon
wwrw Um McCarthy and were getung.
Why and how it has happened that
tho apple has been spoken of as the
fruit that was forbidden in the Gar-
den of Eden is one of the great puz-
zles of Biblical scholars. The fact Is
that in Genesis 3. where the incident
of the eating of this fruit of the "Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil" is
mentioned, no name whatever is given
to the fruit. All that is said is: "And
when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat. and gave
also unto her husband with her; and
he did eat" (verse <).
In fact, scholars doubt very serious-
ly whether St was the apple at alL
They suggest that til evidence poines
to It having been the quince, fragrance
of which was held In the highest es-
teem by the Orientals. Another point
in favor of the quince is that It is the
fruit which was sacred to Venus, the j
goddess of live, and in a great many
of the ancient writings the quince is
very frequently mentioned in this man- i
ner. In Babylonia Ishtar took the j
place of Venus in the Roman mythol-
ogy, and it should be remembered :
that the story of the creation origins ,
ted with the Babylonians. All evl- i
dence seems to point away from the
apple having been the “Forbidden
Fruit," and towards the quince as hav-
ing been that fruit of the “Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil."
Joviality Out of Place.
“Your mistake was in misunder-
standing your country.” said Mr Flow
den. to a man and woman found dan-
cing in the street and charged with
disorderly conduct at Marylebone
''Thi« is not a country where people
can afford to be jovial. Too mast cul-
tivate a spirit of melancholy If yen
want to be safe. Go away and be as
sad as you can.”—London XU BUa.
We Do
the Cooking
You avoid fussing over a
hot stove—
Save time and energy—
Have a dish that will pleas*
the home folks!
A package of
Post
Toasties
and some cream or good mil1,
—sometimes with berries cr
fruit—
A breakfast, lunch or
supper
Fit for a King!
Toasties are sweet, crisp
bits of Indian corn perfectly
cooked and toasted—
Ready to eat from the
package—
Sold by Grocer*.
I
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Farmers' and Business Men's Co-Operative Association. The May Bugle. (May, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 27, 1914, newspaper, August 27, 1914; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc941033/m1/2/: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.