The Freedom Express. (Freedom, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 30, 1907 Page: 2 of 4
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eoo^ococo&c<yscocc<>3<>G.5coo3co:^ DEAD M E R C H A N T
THE HUNCHBA CK
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By Edgar White
o
iMGCO!OCCCOOQOOSOMCCCOCOKCCOMCCC«>SOOCOOOOCOOai
HE SOMETIMES DRIVES TRADE
AWAY FROM THE TOWN.
HINDRANCE TO LIVE MERCHANT
“Write her this for me, Jean, that
■when she brings her husband with
her then she may come. Don't tell
her thnt I'm suffering—dying—not a
word! She shall never darken those
doors! Do you hear? I'Ve sworn it.
That's all. Send Henri here. The
lad with half her intellect has thrice
her love."
The tall, handsome-featured old
gentleman who had half arisen from
his couch to deliver the peremptory
command to his retainer, fell back ex-
hausted. With the silent tread of n
clean-limbed animal of the Jungles, a
young man entered the bedroom and
approached the bedside of his father.
His head and shoulders were of tru-
mendous size for the delicate body
and legs, giving him the appearance
of a humpbacked man.
"Henri, my boy," gasped I.e Croix,
taking a firm grip on the hunchback's
hands, and looking him earnestly In
the eyes. 1 have Just received from
your sister a note, which is burning
in yon fire. She is over in town,
and wanted to come here. Yenrs ago
—you remember—your sister left us.
It broke your mother's heart What
it did to me matters not. There was
a man who took your sister from us
in a way that made it impossible for
us to see her any more.”
"Yes, father. A man stole r,later.
He was a bad man.”
"You are right,” said the old gen-
tleman, while a malignant scowl over-
cast his face. “He was a bad man.
Your sister had a child by that bad
man. Now, my boy,I would not have you
harm one hair of your sister's head,
but the father of her child Is your
snemy and mine, and, Henri, should
you ever meet him, kill him!”
"Yes, father."
The answer was as calm and ns
matter of fact as if the commission
had been to go to town to get the
mail. There was nothing suggesting
anger in the boy's face, yet the dy-
ing planter seemed to be satie-
fed.
Within the hour that the postman
had delivered the unforgiving ulti-
matum to the young woman petition-
er a servant handed her a card, stat-
'.ng that the cnller waited in tho hotel
parlor. As she entered a man arose
and deferentially bowed. She Hush-
ed slightly as she recognized Charles
Hashrook, an old acquaintance of her
girlhood, a man who had loved her,
and whom she had loved. But now
she was glad to see him, and cordial-
ly extended her hand.
"Your father Is dying; you would
like to see him?”
"Yes, sir, but he has absolutely de-
clined to receive me unless—unless—”
"I know," said Hashrook, gently.
"But that doesn’t matter. If you’ll
get your wraps we'll drive oat to the
plantation."
"She looked at him with amaze-
ment.
"I have a way," lie went on. "I’ll
explain as wo go along. He’ll receive
you all right, never fear.”
"Hut—hut—Frankie—"
"Frankie?”
"Yes, my little son.”
The man started as if struck, but he
recovered himself.
"Bring him along,” he said.
In a few momenta she returned lead-
ing a pretty little hoy of four. The
child had its mother's clear, hand-
some face, and eyes, and seemed to he
as perfectly at ease as If the whole
situation were entirely to his liking.
When he saw the little fellow, Has-
hrook staggered hack and muttered:
"The villain!"
Tho mother overheard the expres-
sion and colored.
"We went to St. Louis." she said,
tremulously; "for six months it seem-
ed that heaven had come to earth,
and then he—”
At the mansion, Jean barred the
way.
"My orders are strict," he said;
‘she cannot enter."
"Hut 1 Insist she has a right to
come in." said Hashrook, sternly.
‘Let us pass, and then if he wants to
order us out, we’ll go, but were go-
ing to see him first."
The strongly built man of tho
mines had a way of his own, and the
servant didn't like to risk a personal
encounter.
"Father!"
The* young woman rushed to the In-
valid and knelt at his bedside.
"Who calls me father?” demanded
the old man, harshly.
"It Is 1—your daughter—Cecile—
oan't you see me?"
"Where's your husband?"
"Here he Is, Mr. Le Croix,” said
Hashrook, calmly.
"Who are you?"
The old planter had risen upon his
elbow as If trying to peer through his
darkened eyes at the man who spoke
to him.
"My name is Charles Hashrook. I
married your daughter wheu she left
home some years ago.”
The girl, who had been sobbing,
suddenly raised her face and looked
at the man who had made the astound-
ing declaration, which she had just
comprehended. Then her features
softened into a smile of gratitude and
confidence. The planter's form shook
with emotion, as he said:
"The proof, sir—the proof! Why
didn't you let me know before? There's
some trickery here."
"I understood you objected to me
cn grounds affecting my honor," said
Ilasbrook, taking desperate chances;
"and I told Cecil never to mention my
name in a letter she wrote you'.’
"By gad! That has tho right ring,"
said tho old man. "I'd have done tho
same tiling myself. That does seem
to explain," he went on, meditatively,
"but yet it isn't sure. If 1 could only
see—"
Hashrook walked over to the win-
dow and whispered something l#ito
Frankie's ears and then led him up to
the eoiucli.
"Here’s our little boy, Mr. Le
’Croix," lie said; "there take Ills hand.
He'll tell you who we are.”
The Invalid claBped the child’s hand
lovingly, and placed his other hand
on hlH head.
"Yc godB!” he exclaimed, mourn-
fully, "I'd give my hope of the here-
after, near as it is, for tt sight of him.
Frankie, now answer me thoughtfully.
Who’s in the room here."
"Gran'pa."
"Bless tho chap! Who else?”
"Little mamma."
“And—and who—who else.”
"Dada," Bald the boy promptly, look-
ing up and smiling at Hashrook.
“Good! You're all right, Frankie,
and I believe your dad's all right.
Anyhow, I’m going to give hint my
hand. Hero, Hashrook—Cecil, please
shut the door."
"The door’B shut, father," said the
young woman, walking over to it.
"Maybe it was, hut I thought I felt
some one open It. You know old peo-
ple, especially when we’re dying, are
a hit sensitive to draughts. 1 wish
you’d get your harp, Cecile—it's over
there beside the mantel, right where
you left it—and sing to me. Frankie,
son, you keep still now till mamma,
sings.”
The invalid lasted until nearly
dawn, when Hashrook having done
all he could, went out Into the hall-
way to get. his coat. When he put it
on lie turned around and saw Cecile
standing beside him, with botli arms
outstretched. He took one of her
hands and slowly raised it to his
lips.
"I know what you would say," he
said, gently, "and 1 thank you. Good-
by."
As ho walked down the graveled
path he was conscious that some dark
figure was Hitting about, the trees and
bushes, going in the same direction.
Supposing it was one of the dogs, lie
paid hut little attention till the fig-
ure blocked Ills way at the gate. Then
he recognized the grotesquely mis-
shapen form of a man, who seemed
to ho all head and arms. Hashrook at-
tempted to step to one side, but his
enemy leaped at him like a whirlwind,
clutched him with a death grip about
the throat and bore him to the earth.
He couldn't, cry out, and his arms
seemed paralyzed. The hunchback
knelt on his breast and maintained his
grip of steel till all was over. Then
he arose from the body and ran his
hand through his tawny hair. His face
was serene, almost smiling.
The hunchback knelt and made the
sign of the cross, in the silent watch
of the transfiguration the angel
mother's voice came, and he recalled
the words she had spoken last:
“I tun going to leave you, son. I
am going on a far journey, but thou
wilt have by thee yet thy noble fa-
ther; be good to him for my sake,
and for thine, and those things he
sayest. that thou doest.”
(Copyright, by Daily Story Pub. Co.)
VOLCANOES OF THE MOON.
On Much Larger Scale Than Those of
Our Globe.
It Is evident to anyone who glances
upward at the moon that its volcanoes
are on an immensely larger scale than
those which stud our globe. One ex-
planation, now abandoned, is that the
force of gravitation being there only
one-sixth that of the earth the matter
expelled from a crater would be
spread far more widely and explosions
would be generally on a far more
magnificent scale.
Professor Pickering quotes this the-
ory only to refute It In some compari-
sons which he has made between the
great volcanic region of Hawaii and
one of the smaller craters of the moon.
The facts seem to him to be that
the large craters on the moon came
into existence when the thin, solid
crust covering the molten interior
was, owing to its solidification and
contraction of the crust, much too
small to contain the liquid material.
The craters were therefore formed
by the lava bursting through the crust
and so relieving the pressure. Later
after this relief had been found and
the crust had thickened the interior
regions by cooling shrank away from
the solid shell, which was now too
| large, and, being insufficiently sup-
ported, caved in, permitting the great
fissure eruptions which produced the
sc-called lunar seas.
These extensive outflows of lava
dissolved the original solid shell when-
ever they came into contact wdth It,
much as they do in tho present day
in Hawaii.
Had the moon been much smaller
these eruptions might not have oc-
curred at all and if the moon had been
much larger their relative size would
have been greater. Most probably on
the earth similar outbursts were
greater and our original gigantic cra-
ters were destroyed by the outflow
of the earlier archaic" rocks which
completely submerged and dissolved
them.
Are as Much to Be Feared as tho
Competition of the Catalogue
Houses—Should Be Awak-
ened or Buried.
Why should the home merchant be
patronized instead of the mail order
housri? The subject has been ex-
hausted almost and from all points of
view and all sides there is no valid
reason why the merchant at home
should not—excepting two, price and
articles wanted.
It is not the intention cf the writer
to jot down a pleasant flow of lan-
guage or to produce an interesting bit
of reading matter, but merely to state
in a few simple sentences what I have
seen and learned of the compotlton be-
tween the catalogue houses and the
home merchants. In the first place no
one community suffers greatly In this
competition. That makes the problem
all the more difficult In solution. I
mean by this that the majority of buy-
ers In no one community purchase by
mail. The business of the mail order
house is scattered over a largo terri-
tory, the number of orders coming
from any one community compared
with the whole Is comparatively small
to the number of orders In the town.
There Is an exception to this in a com-
munity where the home merchants are
dead ones and ask exhorbltaut prices.
or harvest sale or the like? But why
not? These two storekeepers are bit-
ter against the mail order houses. I
wonder why? I talked with the rail-
road agents In that little city and he
said lots of hardware and furniture
was shipped in. He said, "One day I
made out an express order for $.'t4 to
pay for a bill of hardware. I told the
man to go up and see if the merchant |
couldn't fill the order. He went but
soon came back, saying that ‘he didn't
have half of the stuff on hand and that
ho wouldn't cut a bit on what he did
have.' ”
Column after column has been writ-
ten deploring the fact that the buyer
spends her or his money away from,
home, that she or he Is helping to build
up the mail order house to the detri-
ment of the homo merchant. The sen-
timent is good and the cause is worthy
of the efforts being made to stop this
undertow; but no amount of writing,
and no amount of home patriotism will
ever overcome the bad effects of tho
dead merchant In the little town. The
truth cun be plainly se*;n.
Let us turn back to the general
stores and look up the proprietor of
any one. He probably will be found
busy waiting on a customer, but if not
he wiil tell you that it is not the cata-
logues alone that he fears, but also
that it is the lethargy of these two
dealers. They are helping to drive
away trade from home.
I have wandered from the subject
and gotten over on the buyers side
of the fence; but Isn't it well at times
to look at the other side of this pitiable
story? I started to write a few lines on
"Why People Should Trade at Home,”
and have gotten Into the field of "Why
the Home Merchant Should Induce
People to Trade at Home.” It may be
fair to the little town to once In a
I
Washington Day by Day
News Gathered Here and There
at the National Capital
KPwpwygjapj
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When the local editor and the local merchant put their shoulders to the
wheel of local progress the town will move, its industries will thrive, it will
prosper. But remember the editor cannot do it all; he asks and must have
the merchant’s assistance.
God is a fact, and they that wor-
ship him must worship him in .fact.
To illustrate. There is a little city in
the central part of Wisconsin, a beau-
tiful little place, with its shady streets
and pleasant homes. It has several
general stores owned by live, wide-
awake merchants, who are hustling for
business, yet are always pleasant and
ready to visit with a customer. They
are not put out at any time to show
goods,, taking down bolt after bolt of
cloth and maybe then not making even
a five-cent sale. They take that as
part of their business; they are always
willing to send post-haste to the city
for any article they may not have in
stock that is wanted by a customer;
their stocks are up-to-date and free
from shelf-worn goods. These men
make the humblest customers fee^wel-
come in their stores, and particular at-
tention is paid to waiting on children,
giving them even better measure and
quality than their elders would re-
ceive. And these men are advertisers.
Their ads in the local papers are
changed regularly and show time and
study. They meet the mail order man
more than half way in special sales
and clearing of odds and ends. Here
Is an Instance where there is no legi-
timate excuse for a person seuding
away after goods. And the people do
not. Very few articles of general mer-
chandise are shipped into that city.
The buyer and seller are working in
harmony to their own betterment and
advantage.
But look at the other side. The city
which we have in mind has one hard-
ware and one furniture store. Both
have fairly good stocks for the size of
their circle of trade, but just step into
either one of these stores. The pro-
prietor may be in the back room or the
back yard for all you know, but by and
by some stir is heard and leisurely he
makes his appearance—neither store
has need of a clerk—and probably with
some grumbles about being disturbed,
asks what is wanted. There might as
well be placards in the store announc-
ing “Buy what I've got and keep still"
and “We are busy,, don’t disturb us."
No effort is made to show you an arti-
cle; nothing is ever taken down from
the shelves unless directly asked for.
Neither hardware nor furniture man
acts willing to get what you want if he
dees not have it in stock. And again—
neither one of these stores believe in
advertising. They use no space in
their home papers; a newcomer would
never know the city possessed such
places of business enterprise. Who
ever heard of a country hardware or
furniture store having a special sale,
while throw a few shovels full of earth
on the dead merchant, lest he stinketh
and polluteth the rest.
EDWARD T. HALE.
SOME REMARKABLE HORSES.
Wonderful Stories About the Steeds
of Famous Men.
In his letters to Lord Granville, pub-
lished by the Royal Philosophical so-
ciety, who was also greatly interested
in natural history, Smithson, the
founder of the Smithsonian institution
in America, relates how the horse of
Alexander the Great, Bucephalus,
would at nigh£, on hearing a blast of
the trumpet from the soldiers on guard
showing the approach of the enemy,
run at great speed to his master's tent
and with his teeth grab the sleeping
monarch and shake him until he sprang
into the saddle and galloped toward
the enemy.
Also that the great Caliph Haroun-el-
Raschid in the eight century in march-
ing toward the forces of Queen Irene
of Constantinople constantly had a
number of trained Arabian horses (di-
rect descendants of the famous horse
owned by lshmael 4,000 years ago)
thrown forward as scouts, who from
time to *ime returned to camp and by
a peculiar whinny and neigh reported
the proximity of the enemy.
But, to come down to the present
day, it is related by a retired New
England clergyman, whose sands of
life had nearly run out, that one day
on leading his horse down through a
lane to a brook for a drink the animal
suddenly halted and, turning its head
round, grabbed up with its teeth one of
its hind shoes which had just dropped
off. and. holding it in its mouth with
the nails dangling, it backed up against
a stone wall and clapped it onto its
hoof and with a few violent kicks
nailed it on again.
CAPTAIN HOBSON TO TRY
NEW POLITICAL SCHEME
i*RTS
«it ASHINGTON. — Capt. Richmond
vV Pearson Hobson, of Merrlmac
fame, is going to play some practical
politics for a change. The former
naval officer and advance agent of a
hillion-dollar navy is thought by many
to have become a rather astute poli-
tician. His latest is the develop-
ment of a scheme that promises to
make no end of trouble for the scien-
tific departments of the government.
The captain has borrowed from the
agricultural department an expert on
road building, one on soils, one on
cotton growing and one on forestry.
From the post office department he
has obtained the loan of a rural free
delivery expert.
With this menage and accompanied
by his wife, tho captain is going to
make a month's tour of his Alabama
district. There will be a careful
hooking of the aggregation and where
people wish its advice they will get
lectures and practical demonstrations
i GRAND total of 13,319 new govern-
mental positions was created by
congress at its last session, with $8,-
351,759 in salaries. Most of the in-
crease is taken up by an addition of
3,439 coast and field artillerymen,
1,541 seamen and 4,770 additional em-
ployes in the postal service, leaving
i net increase of but 569 for all other
branches of the public service.
All the various acts of the last ses-
sion created 18,993 new government
positions, but at the same time 5,674
places were abolished.
Final figures show the total appro-
priations at the last session of con-
gress were $920,798,143.80. In addi-
tion authority was given to make
contracts aggregating $67,934,349. In
this way the total expenditures al-
lowed fell but little below the billion-
dolar mark, being $988,732,492.
Th,e total appropriations by the
Fifty-ninth congress were $1,800,387,-
328.96. Those of the second session
CARNEGIE LABORATORY TO
BUILD VOLCANO FACTORY
THE most dangerous thing in Wash-
1 ington is the new geophysical
laboratory constructed with funds of
the Carnegie institution. It is dedi-
cated to making rocks, and for this
purpose it proposes to reproduce pent-
up volcanoes, and the frightful pres-
sures and heat of the earth's interior.
It is the only building in the world
devoted exclusively to high pressures
and temperatures.
"We don’t know just what we will
he able to do,” said Prof. Arthur L.
Day. "We shall have to deal in very
high temperatures and pressures, and
it may end by our all being blown up.
But if we avoid that we hope to dis-
cover some interesting things about
the crust of the earth.”
The new geophysical laboratory
lias been located at a safe distance
from residential Washington. It is
1,000 feet from the nearest car line,
in all the subjects the experts repre-
sent. Capt. Hobson will do the hand-
shaking and political solidification
act.
Alabama people happen to know
that Mrs. Hobson is one of the best
women politicians in Washington.
She drove with him over every coun-
ty in the district. They got acquaint-
ed with everybody, explained their
desire to go to congress, convinced
folks that they were justified in it,
and when primary day came bore off
the nomination in triumph over Mr.
Bankhead, who had held the seat for
20 years.
Other representatives are casting
envious eyes on this Hobson pro-
gramme and are beginning to jirepara
applications for the use of govern-
ment experts. If the departments al-
low the enterprise to be generally
copied there will be a dearth of ex-
perts and the scientific departments
| have to conscript them before long.
MILLIONS APPROPRIATED
BY THE LATE CONGRESS
exceed those of the first by $41,208,-
958.
During the last session 16,434 sal-
aries were increased at an annual
cost of $2,949,352. This includes the
vice president, speaker, nine cabinet
officers, 90 senators, 396 representa-
tives and 34 employes of congress.
Contracts were authorized for pub-
lic works requiring future appropria-
tions aggregating $67,934,349, of which
almost $16,000,000 is for battleships,
torpedo boats, etc. The largest appro-
priation carried by any one measure
was $212,091,193 by the post-office
bill. The naval bill carried $9S,958,
507, the army hill $78,634,582 and the
pension biil $146,143,000.
A comparison of the total appropria-
tions made at the second session oi
the Fifty-ninth congress for 1908,
$920,798,144, with those of the first
session of that congress for 1907,
$879,589,185, shows an increase of
$41,208,959.
"H/-2
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The Actor’s Complaint.
The physician looked grave.
"I give you,” he said, "but ten more
years of work."
"Grinding his teeth, the actor hissed
I malevolently:
"Curse you, why didn’t you tell me
this before? Are you aware that you
have robbed me of at least seven fare-
i well seasons?"
Where the Difference Lies.
"What is grand opera as distinct
from light opera?”
"Oh, you pretend to appreciate one.
but you can appreciate the other."
f.pETE,” the famous bull terrier of
1 • the White House, has at last
oeen vanquished. He met his W ater-
loo the other morning in the jaws of
m unknown white bulldog, who made
i meal of Pete’s front leg and shoul-
Jer with a good bite out of his ear
pv a chaser.
The secretary of the interior will
•esume his pathmaking across the
White House lawn, M. Jusserand will
cease practicing tree climbing, the
chief forester of the government has
dismissed his athletic trainer and
has announced he will now take his
morning sprints through Rock Creek
park, and a general look of relief
is noticeable in the demeanor of every
member of the president's official fam-
ily as well as his kitchen cabinet.
Among the newspaper correspond-
ents there is general rejoicing and
they swarmed over the White House
grounds to their heart's content all
day and long into the night.
But in the president's household
there is much sorrbw over Pete's dis-
tress. "Pete" was put under the ban
because he chewed up a navy depart-
ment clerk, and he was in disgrace
generally. Next this feeling gave
way to one of genuine sympathy for
"Pete.” who surely needs friends now
if he ever did.
Q rf£4
^'’WYSice,
'NST(ruTe
L-
and there is only one house within
that range.
Other reasons than the danger of
explosions led to its isolated location.
It was necessary to remove it from
the danger of electrical and jarring in-
fluences. In order further to do this,
the building is constructed on special-
ly insulated foundations, and with no
connection between its walls and
floor. The walls are anchored in deep
sand, and the floor of each room is a
cement island set in a lake of dry
sand.
This branch of Mr. Carnegie’s in-
stitution has already solved one prob-
lem. It has made quartz glass. Its
second problem is still unsolved;
namely, what is Portland cement, and
why?
The new laboratory, with its vol-
cano machines, will begin to do busi-
ness next month.
BULLDOG “PETE” AT LAST
MEETS HIS WATERLOO
"Pete" was allowed to take some ex-
ercise early in the morning, after hav-
ing been chained all night as a pun-
ishment for his work on the navy de-
partment cierk. He evidently had a
“grouch" against the world for being
tied up like a common, ordinary dog,
and he was in search of trouble, sure.
He raced around the White House
grounds for a time, looking for ex-
citement, and it soon hove in sight
in the shape of a husky fellow bull
terrier. "Pete” tackled him without
ceremony, but the other dog was too
quick for him. He made a grab for
“Pete's" foreleg under the shoulder,
and got a magnificent under hold.
Luckily the stranger got tired after
awhile and gave the White House ter-
rier a chance to adopt the discretion-
ary part of valor, retiring in a mad
rush to safety under the White House
hedge. His superior knowledge of
the holes through the thicket stood
"Pete” in good stead, and he got away
alive, thanks to the policeman on
guard at the White House, who cover-
ered his retreat and chased away the
most admired dog in the capital.
If the owner of "Pete's” vanquisher
will send word privately to a lot of
officials high in the government serv-
ice, he will receive the finest collar
and dog tag that money con buy.
T"
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DeGeer, R. I. The Freedom Express. (Freedom, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 30, 1907, newspaper, May 30, 1907; Freedom, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc950595/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.