Evening Star Newspaper, March 4, 1923, Page 78

r Father Remarked That It Wasn't a Very Good Lesson for Her That It Shou!ld Have Turned Out That HERE is in the world an oc- onal gay, care-free per- son who seems to be carried, not only to the skies, but through life itself, on flowery beds of ease. Such a rara avis was Marcia Mason. Katherine's nature was of a sweet seriousness. Eleanor, although merry-hearted, was studlous. Marcla was neither of these. If she was serl- ous, she concealed it admirably. Her studying was usually a very hasty procedure, conducted on the way down a corridor to her recitation room. She had a fiour-sieve mind, warranted to hold a great deal of In- formation for at least twenty minutes. “I always volunteer during the first part of the recitation while the go- ing’s good” &he brazenly told at home, “then 1 silence Isn't so con- spicuous when the road gets rough Things seemed to come Marcia's w T was born under a lucky star” she often told the family. And the family almost believed it. In appearance she was undeniably lovely, and, as one of her aunts said “as likable as she was lookable.” Nc one could say she was lazy about the house. She simply made a wise and far-sighted cholce of household tasks. Soon after she had enthusiastically oftered to shell the peas, it became apparent to the other girls that the pea-shelling operation carried on un- der the breeze-swept grape arbor was greatly preferable to doing the dishes in the hot kitchen or making count- less beds. * ok ok % IK\IARCIA certainly has the happy IV1 faculty of slipping through| life easy.” mother would sometimes | say in exasperation to father, “Well, mother, I don't know any one in the family that makes more friends,” father would remind her. Which brings us to Father and Mother Moson's attitude toward and about their children. For twenty-six vears they had argued over them, but always when they were alone. To- ward the children they presented & solid front. If mother chose to re- prove, father either assisted at the ceremony or kept silent. And vice versa. It is a fine old policy. It has been effective since the days of | Abraham and Sarah. When they were alone, however, they argued it out. And the strange part is that neither one always took the same side. If mother found fault with some characteristic of her off- spring, father immediately made ex- cuses for it. If father offered the complaint, mother flew to her child’s | defense like a mother bear. In this instance father was right about Marcia’s friends. Everybody liked her, the teachers and old peo- ple and children, and Hod Beason, who brought the coal, and Lizzie Beadle, the town dressmaker. When Marcia went away to school 1t was as though a great deal of the sunshine of the Mason home had gone with her. When she returned for va- cations, everything and every one, from the piano to Tillle, seemed to brighten at her coming. After all, the ©0ld world needs more of them—these — Way. and was waiting by the down-town station for the college car. As it stopped a sorority sister came down the steps. “He's in there,” she whis- pered. “Capitol City superintendent —come for teachers.” “Where?” “There—half way down—right-hand side.” He looked just as Marcia would have expected him to look—heavy, distinguished, gray-haired, with a Van Dyke beard. She sat down be- hind him’ and whispered to his broad back a foolish little jargon: “Eeny meeny miny mo, Please, kind sir, choose me to go." Across the aisle from the great man sat Mrs. Hastings, the college doctor's wife. A strange young man was with her. From occasional glimpses of his 2oo0d-looking profile, Marcfa decided that he bore a faint resemblance to Mrs. Hastings. There was something about him she liked, his square jaw ind alert manner and a distinct air »f sophistication that none of the col- ege boys had yet acquired. The car stopped at the entrance to he campus and let out its load. As Marcla was about to pass Mrs. Hast- ings and the strange young man, the former said, “Oh. Miss Mason, are you In @ hurry?" Ae there was merely » small matter of an English literature class due then, Miss Mason assured Mrs. Hastings she was not at all in haste. “ould you show my brother around a little? My brother. Mr. Wheeler, Miss Mason. * * * T would go with him myself, but T told Hannah if the baby needed me, to put a red cloth in the window, and there it is!" She pointed excitedly to her home across trom the campus. She was breath- less, and anxious to get away | “Maybe the baby has only joined the bolsheviki,” her brother suggested. Marcia laughed. She liked him, his keen brown eyes and the sudden hu- morous lift to the mouth that she had thought so stern. “You can see for yourself he's not married or he wouldn't be so filppant over a serfous matter,” Mrs. Hastings called to Marcia. “Show him the new amphitheater—and Sclence Hall"—she was already half way across the street—"and the new dormitory and the training school.” “My sister,” Mr. Wheeler said, “missed her calling. She would have made an excellent major general or park policeman.” Ak ARCIA laughed again. She still | liked him. Mr. Wheeler looked down at his appointed guardian. She | wore an fmmaculate white suit “-imi an audaciously green silk sweater| and cap. The V-shaped neck of her| blouse set off the lovely contour of| her face. By way of completi very satisfactory picture there wa: bunch of dewy-sweet violets in belt. “Do you happen by any Mr. Wheeler asked, “to be the g al a her | chance,” Mis Mason who is Keith Baldridge's | fiancee?" | “No, indeed,” Miss Mason a. more emphatically than was neces sary, for it wasn't at all disgraceful HE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGT ON, D. C, MARCH 4, 1923—PART 5. MARCIA MASON'S LUCKY STAR tear or two herself. ‘“Marcla, there's something about you that makes me think of myself when I was & girl.” Verily the poet was &n inspired philosopher who remarked: Where can we better be Than in the bosom of our fam-i-lee? * ok ¥ K N Saturday ti developed that there were enough young people home for the week end to get up & fair- sized picnic crowd. Cars were pro- hibited. Tommie Hickson was to bring & hayrack so they could all go together. ‘Mother thought it a fine plan and began hustling preparations for a basket supper. Tillie, whose emotion over Marcia had worn off, was dis- gruntled to have the Saturday work upset. “You do spoil them girls, Molly,” she volunteercd. “Here's Kathie engaged to that Baldridge, and Marcia a grown woman, and even Eleanor getting along. Accordin’ to my lights they ought to be hemmin’' sheets and piecin’ comforts instead a-galavantin’ round to plenic “Tillfe,” mother salid calmly, “a very wise poet once wrote about a rich old man who was robbed of all his wealth. The poem ends: ““They robbed him not of a golden shred Of the childish dreams in his wise old head; And, “They're welcome to all things else,” he sald, When the robbers came to rob him.’ “I figure you can buy sheets and comforts in any department store, but you can’t buy dreams and memo- ries of youth.” fs” Tillie had a special snort | that denoted scorn. “You can't eat |dreams nor cover your nakedness ‘with memories.” “No,” said mother placidly, “you can’t. And when the girls are old, old ladies, the richest food won't feed their minds nor the thickest comforts bring warmth to their hearts’ So they went on working together, side by side, two good old friends who would do anything for each other, “r:1 HATE TO TAKE A DANDELION ROOT.” SHE ANNOUNCED, “AND PASS IT OFF FOR A VIOLET.” of the hour. “I'll have to take a dan- delion root.”” she announced, “and pass it off for a violet. They won't know the difference.” Already her un- She and | | quenchable spirits were rising. borrowed Mr. Wheeler's Knife hastily dug up a dandelion take two or three violet blossoms and | lea ~she took them out of her belt—"attach them to the dandelion root, and wrap your handkerchief around the ter as though it were damp—and there you are “But, see here, they're nothing alike.” he protested. “Oh, we should worry!" said the blithe Miss Mason. “Thank you for | helping me. You can come along if | a scarlet tide. From jumble of her mind one naked, leering truth stood out: He was the superin- tendent of the Capital City schools. Wk 8 scope, things she had m tumbled about in her forming a nightmare of com- With dry lips she whisper- suid to b brain, binations. ed to the girl next to her, “Who's the | big man—in gray?’ “Supe at Mapleville—only has eight teachers under him—acts like he was | President of the U. S. A The man on the platform speaking, casily, forcefully. arnest- | the chaotic| ment over the unexpected arrival. | Mother bustied about with happy moisture in her eyes, even while she took the fact that Marcla had something on her mind. When they had finished supper it came out, just as mother knew it would. They were still sitting about the table—all but Junior, whose urgent business with Runt Perkins and Shorty Marston al- ways found his swallowing his last bites while on the way to the door. Marcia told them all about it. She spared herself not at all. She had in | made a fool of herself. she said, and they might as weil know it. “The but as far apart as the earth and the | stars, as far apart as Martha and | Mary—a piecer of quilts and a weaver | of dreams. | Tommile Hickson came with the hay- { rack and two horses, which seemed to | share Tillte's scorn for the festivities. | Marcla apparently brightened under | the witching spell of the green woods, | the pungent, wild smell of the crab- apple blossoms. the sweet, welrd call of the mourning doves and the sheen of the silver river. Mother was right. No matter what fate held in the hol- low of her hand, the girls would al- | ways have memories left to them. | On the way home, after the manner { of vouth, the crowd sang. Marcia did | not sing. She sat in the end of the | hayrack and tried to reason it all out. | Since yesterday she felt changed, sub- | dued, unreal. She looked up at the clear, calm face of the yellow-white | moon. Why did that hour on the cam- pus seem So set apart from other hours? It was like a little house in the woods. She had come upon it, rested in it for one hour—and gone on ®0od old-fashioned Yankee shrewd- net So they went to bed, arguing amiably, quarreling peaceably, as they had done for twenty-six years. Across the hall, Marcia finished braiding her hair, turned out the light and snapped up the shades. Pale, sllvery, golden-white, the moon O the editor: In response to demands from numerable readers will devote my article this wk. to a few more of my ventures in sunny Florida. We left Belleair at 11:42 a.m. bound for sun- ny Miami via way of sunny Jackson- ville. They's a shorter way of going from Belleair to Miaml by cutting acrost the state but you half to change| trains 3 or 4 times and wile a person | might think that every time you change trains in sunny Florida it could not help from being a improve- ment, still and all the shoe might be on the other ft. They was no incidence worth re- cording en route to Jacksonville ex- Lardner Observes ‘ Miami Mermaids | . BY BESS STREETER ALDRICH. flooded her slim, youthful figure In its soft, clinging gown. Surrepti- tiously, deftly, she slipped a large. square envelope under -her pillow. Then she said, “Kathie, something tells me I'm going to enjoy teaching with John.” (Copyright. Al Rights Reserved.) the Flamingo for the nominal sum of $4.00 dollars. Amongst the 1st people we met wis John Golden the play producer and he asked how I was and T says I was 0. K. only that my dogs hurt, re- ferring to my ft. So he says maybe your kennels is to small, referring to my shoes. I laughed heartily. This was our 1st visit to Miami and I suppose my admires is wild to know did T like it better than other points in Florida. WIill state that Miami Beach is 1 of the prettiest spots I have ran acrost and the beach itself is a 100 per cent beach and as far as the costumes and ete. is concerned why the bathing suits wore by the gals at Miami Beach makes the Palm cept when we past through a city name Newbury and seen a store there { Beach gals look like eskimos. If the Miami gals wore sox and J :)!eduple v;h:; tur:flv:}f:y::\l;:\‘ess asthe 1o be engaged to hv‘x'm’ Ralllrullp.:(. s Sl e et e ::’:‘((n;“.\lihu:l“:lge ;:;:Ze;vt;;::r:sli “BATHING SUITS WORE BY THE GALS AT MIAMI BEACH MAKES es run to m - That's my sister Katherine. I'M e iopiened senseless. anyway, at the Nb) ¢ & o THE PALM BEACH GALS LOOK LIKE ESKIMO! Each time Marcia came home she |yfarcia. And you know Kelth?” 2 \ I the road? B e Aty e AN o | Vandsker, so one or two more able- N SR ERMEIE T e e e s RS R 4| bodicdiEmeniwonitfanatter § Sy o | which it says on the outside “John u,‘amm.s you would think they was pre- Sained to/lzugh 5 i |Eidiney crossed '",“5’ e e | MR RvRaclos adtd e would £ evaes e i 5 T HE crowd was unloaded at the Va- | \wnjte, Jeweler, Shoes, hats, notions. | liminary fighters and speaking about e e pus, sweet-smelling from its recent|jiznted to see the dandelion masque- | 2 rious homes with merry good | . i . Wi : A : “Say, folks," she would begin, “I|mowing. There was some conversa- R | furniture and coffins. | fighters, why the 1st. man I seen out had to write a thesis on some form of lower animal life for old Prof.| Briggs in zoology class, and what I know about zoology you could put in a spoon. So T wrote about a starfieh— | gort of from the fiction standpoint— and they told me old Prof. Briggs | Jaughed till he nearly cried over the Jjoys and sorrows of that little echino- derm—1I guess it's an echinoderm. 1 got a grade of excellent, anad all 1| know about a starfish to this day is that it has five points and wiggles.” “You can’t go through life sidestep- ping that way, my girl," father ser- monized after he had suppressed chuckle. “One of these days you'll bump up against something mighty serfous and wish you'd applied your- selt.” “Don’t preach. fathe rubbed a pink and white cheek against father's graying hals. “When that time comes T'll be like Seniimental | Tommy—TI'll find a way.” And soft- hearted old father hoped it was true. Father and Mother Mason held the sensible view that each of the girls should take up some practical train- ing. So Marcia chose course in speclal primary teaching for her senior year. “How'd you happen to choose pri- mary?" Katherine wanted to know. “Oh, primary hours are shortest of a Mareia | a all, and who wants to stay in a schoolroom any longer than he has to™ was Marcia’s chesriul reply. And when you come to think about it —who does? During that senior year Marcia had a great many experiences to relate to the family. “In October we taught those little Comanches about squirrels and Co- lumbus and other adventurous gentle- men,” she told the folks at Thanks- giving. “Primary teachers are awful ltars,” she stated blandly. “Imagine! This whole month has been rainy and we've smiled our matl-order pri- mary smiles and made those young- sters sing ‘Pit-a-pat, see the lovely ! raindrops.’ just because It was sup- posed to have mutual relation to the -@isgusting elements.” *n spring vacation she summed up Jher work with: “We had a perfect 9Ty of cherry trees and hatchets and walentines in February—and I wish You could have seen the training sehool in March. We simply fell over seed boxes and kites, and we fairly ate pussywillows. This month we've painted millions of wild-looking sobins. You'd die to see them—thelr Jjeaks all run down and mix up so- nigbly with thelr wings. It's a great l3fe. she added blithel £ * x I L T was during this spring vacation talking about apitol City. “I'm just living to teach They send some snember of the board every spring to the training school to choose the best I don't want to go to any little two-by-four ‘burg. Capitol City for me! I ask an that she began thdre next year. teachers, and 1 must be one. interest in your prayers.” To do Marcia justice, she really ap- plied herself that epring. The stakes On the last Friday morning in April she had gone ge to town on ong of Lier numerous unimporiant. srrands, were worth working for, from the col; the new dormitory may be seen | through the trees. Out beyond the | domestic science building is the am-| phitheater and beyond the amphi- theater—lies Italy.” ! They had come to a little rustic bridge across a minfature creek. | you abando tion relative to their mutual interest | in Keith Baldridge, and then Marcia | said glibly: i “You see before you the new Science Hall. It thirty-seven stories high, a mile square and cost| seventy million dollars. The roof of is Neither one made a move to walk on In fact, to be explicit, they sat down on the low railing. “As for the training &chool” Mar- | cia continued, “I wouldn't voluntarily | take vou there. It's the place where | hope all ye who enter | her You teach there? “I do She looked at her wrist| watch. “And in fifty minutes I'm to | teach before the superintendent of the | Capitol Clty schools, if 1 haven't died | of fright. He was the car. Did | you see him—a big husky Vandyker?” | Mr. Wheeler had noticed him | “I want to make a professional hil! with him,” Marcla went on confident- fally. “I've simply got to teach in Capitol City next year. T love a city. | I want to walk in the crowds and eat at tearoom I want to go to the thy er and sit in a box.” l Mr. Wheeler looked judicially, praisingly, at her, “T don't believe, he said soberly, “it would injure the looks of the bo: ! They both laughed. i joying herself immensely. on ap- Marcia was el He w s like that for the whole hour they were & together, keen, clever. interesting. Tn | comparison with him all the home . boys and college boys of her numer- | ous friendships faded quietly into a blurred masculine background. In the light of his clever repartee Mar- cia reveled. To his questioning she | told him a great deal about herself. | She described faculty members to the ! last comic detail. Mr. Wheeler en- joyed it. apparently, so she made fun of the training school for his benefit. | She spared no one. She mocked the | artificial manners of the student teachers and imitated the head of the dopartment. His hearty, virlle laugh was ample payment for her pains. 1t lacked seven minutes of the hour. Marcla slipped down from the bridge ral with “I go, like the quarry slave at night, scourged to his dungeon.” Suddenly she clapped her hand to her throat In a characteristic gesture. !sat on the front seat and acted vir- \were the original vestal virgins. rading before the great man, ied up the gravel driveway to the | huge training-school building. Marcia | pointed out the door where he to go. “I have to go in another wa) she explained; “the righteous from the wicked, you know." hur * % model primar. inspiring pla dent teachers, noteb room an Eleven stu- | oks in hand, sat | was by the side walls. Two critic teach- ers, nmotebooks in hand. sat by the| rear walls. The head supervisor. note- | book in hand, walked through the | room as though to remind one of the | day of judgment. The Capital city| superintendent was there, and two or | three lesser lights. Marcia and nine | small pupils held the center of the arcna, after the manner of the early | Christian martyrs, Her heart was beating suffocatingly. but she con- | ducted a very creditable little read- | ing class whose lesson was based on | a violet plant that was much less modest than it should have been, ow- ing to the fact that its pedal ex-| tremities. so to speak. had been grafted from a member of a family | noted for its brazen forwardness. Marcia was a model of the sweet | young instructor. Only once did she | throw a flecting glance of roguish- | ness at Mr. Wheeler, to see his! mouth lift at the corners in the char- acteristic way she had liked. The leeson was over. Every one breathed more naturally. The student | teachers and visitors rose to go to chapel exercises. Marcia looked around for Mr. Wheeler, but did not ee him. In the doorway she turned to look at the Capital city superin- | tendent, in the hope that he was dis- cussing her with Mies. Rarick. He was not so engaged. He was picking up from the floor a dandelion root,| alias a violet. | The sight disturbed her somewhat, but she put the thought of it aside and went on to chapel. Near the auditorium she came upon a Eroup of senior girls waiting for her. Some days at chapel exercises these girls tuously. Some days they sat on the back seat and acted villalnously. To- day was apparently one of their pious days, for they filed decorously down the center aisle to the front seat and sang the opening hymn, “Holy, Hol Holy,” as lustily as though they The superintendent of the Capital City gchools, in all his dignity, sat up- on the plataform with the faculty. After the prayer and announcements “Oh, my goodness!—I forgot—I have | President Wells arose and said: “We to get a whole violet plant with the | have with us today the superintend- roots on for my class. Oh, help me|ent of the largest school system in the look, will you?" state” Marcia looked at him, sit- Mr. Wheeler sprang nimbly to his|ting there 8o calmly. How nice it feet and together they searched over | would be, she thought, to be 8o un- that particular part of the campus. | disturbed when you were about to ad- Not a violet showed itself above the | dress an audience. President Wells close-cropped lawn, nothing but bold- { had ceased introducing him, but he faced dandelions. did not stir from his chair. Instead, an’t you—cut that part out?” he | from the semi-gloom of the back row suggested. there was stepping out a tall, clean- “You don't know Miss Rarick.” |cut, alert young man, with keen brown Marcia was genuinelv distressed. “If|eyes and a strong chin. you haven't everything your lesson| All eyes were upon him. Marcia's plan calls for, she just looks at you— | own, wide, fuscinated, alarmed, watch- and you shrink—and shrivel—" ed him. The color dropped away from " The wrist wateh said three migutes her facq and then surged back ke [\0Y; ) i | S I il 0 I “THE MOON FLOODED HER SLIM, YOUTHFUL FIGURE, IN ITS SOFT, CLINGING GOWN.” ness and sincerity form the keystone of the teaching profession.” He said a great deal more than that. He said it with fire and enthusiasm. He sald he was there to choose teachers, high- grade teachers who had been faithful in their work. Carefulness, attention to details, were things that would be considered. But over and above these was the great fundamental question: What was the spirit of the teacher? What gifts of heart and soul as well as of mind did she come bearing to her task? Marcia felt stunned, sick. She sat with miserable hot eyes fixed upon her lap. It was over at last. Chapel was out. President Wells and other faculty members had surrounded the spepker. Marcia slipped away from the girls. She attended two classes and got through a noisy boarding-house din- ner. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see the family, especially mother—comfortable and comforting mother. Katherine would be home for the week end. She had written to that eftect and also that Keith was com- ing for Sunday. Marcia did not go to her afternoon cla: and she hung a frank “Busy— Keep Out” sign on her door. Then she packed her grip and slipped down to the afternoon train. At home the family was all excite- thirg that makes me maddest,” she informed them, tearfully, “Is that I stretched things just to hear him laugh. T made myself out lots worse than 1 am. He was the sternest- looking man you ever saw, and I loved to see the corners of his mouth pull up. He laughed an awful lot,” she finished, forlornly. Everyone looked sympathetic, Kath- erine’s consolation was, “Marcia, I just can't imagine myself talking so glibly to a strange man.” Marcifa’s contrition was complete. “I can’t either, Kathie. I envy you being So cool and sweet and courteous to everybody. Only it seemed as though I'd known him a thousand years,” she added. Eleanor’s contribution was, “Myself, 1 think It was terribly romantic.” Marcia’s scorn was withering. mantic? Tragic, you mean.” Father began a dry, “Well, Marcia, I've always told you you'd run up against——" But as Marcia dabbed a molst roll of handkerchief into her eyes, he finished lamely, “Never mind, honey, I think you can have the third grade here.” Tillie was on the warpath. “There's a law about f pretenses. He ought to be rued. If I was a man I'd trounce the middle of the road with him." % Mather, w ‘Ro- furtlvely wipipg swar & | nights. The Mason girls found that | the Test of the family had gone up- | stairs for the night. There was a letter on the dining room mantel. Father had brought it home from the 5 oclock mail. The letter was for Marcia. With fingers that trembled she tore it open and read it. Then she ran upstairs and called, “Folks! Everybody! Come here!” Father and mother, fully dressed. came to their door. Tillie opened her door cautiously and put out her head. A striped kimono falling away from her long neck gave her the appear- ance of a curious giraffe. Junior. hear- ing the noise, came stumbling out of his ~oom “Listen! aloud: “Dear Miss Mason: I tried to see You vesterday afternoon, but your land- lady said you had gone home for over Sunday. I hope you are not taking my talk to heart. Most probably you It's from him.” She read be of a marvelously cheerful and elastic type. And. anyway. what's a dandelion or two between friends? “Have just come from board meet- ing and have the pleasure of repori- ing your election. 1 have placed you in the Lafavette School for next year, the grounds of that building being somewhat overrun with certain yel- low weeds. You will no doubt take pleasuve in assisting the janfitor to eradicate them. | “T have just been talking with Keith by phone. and if T do not hear from you that it would be inconvenient, T will drop in with him on Sunday and congratulate you in person on the Capitol City superintendent. “Sincerely. “JOHN R. WHEELER.” Marcia threw out her arms to them all. “Folks!" she said in a little tense. a lucky star.” “Land sakes, said. They were all talking at once, after the manner of Masons Katherine laughed. “You oid fraud, you don't deserve ir." ; Eleanor's contribution was, Marcia, I adore a good profile. Tillle was saying, “My good land, you do beat the Dutch!” “On, mean, dandelions?" keep her happy—like that.” The excitement over, they all went back to their rooms. “I can't help but be glad she got it.” Father was pulling off his sock and tenderly regarding his favorite corn. “But it wasn't a very good lesson for her to have it turn out this way.” Mother was immediately on the other side of the argument. “Oh, she' had punishment enough, father—that scare.” Mother brushed her hair for & few moments, and then added, “T must say, though, I don’t like that dandelion deal; it's too much like decelving.” Father, with alacrity, veered-to the opposite side. “Oh, I don’t know,” he sald cheerfully; “that's what I call 1 savs to the Mrs. that it looked tnlln the beach was Walter Monaghan me ltke Mr. White was makeing a|who the last time I seen him. he was throwing a used towel in to the mid- are not, as vour disposition seems to | ‘professional hit’ you made with the awe-struck %olce, “I was born under 1 believe it!” Father ; Junior, at the close of a prodigious yawn, asked unintelligibly, “Wh'd ‘e Only mother said nothing. She was looking at the lovely flushed face of her starry-eyed girl and making a little incoherent prayer, “Dear Lord— ments and false teeth because the town did not look like it was big enough for a man to specialize. T said this in a jokeing way cure enough she laughed heartily. We arrived at Jacksonville at 7 p.m. jand asked the man what time was they a train for Miami and he says they was a train leaveing at 9:40 and another train leaveing at 10 o'clock so I says which was the best train and he says “Well the 9:40 is faster but the other stays 20 hind it all the way down.” | 1 thought this was kind of wonder- ful at the time but all the more after we had spent the night on th 9:40 and realized what a trick it must of been for the 10 o'clock train to not gain no ground. Wile we was getting on the board of the 9:40 at Jacksonville a man come up and spoke to me and who was it but Joe Moeller that use to be a motor cycle cop in old Chi and 1 night he arrested me for speeding on the west side boulevards. He got on the 9:40 with us but had no occassion to take the engineer's number. and so EEE FFICER MOELLER said that shortly after arresting me they had promoted him to the detective corpse and 1 night they sent him ! “A MAN SUIT AND A BLACK DERBY.” IN A WHITE LINEN out after some gun men and he found them O.K. and they shot him 4 times, 2 of which was still inside him anq he bad been sent down to’ Florida in the hopes that the 2 bullets would want to come out and enjoy the climate. Though on his vacation, he had been asked by a detective agency to try and find & man that had stole another man's wife and automobile. The bereaved husband was anxious to get the car back. Officer Moeller had a picture of it and of the wife but saild the thief had probably took the precautions to have them both repainted. We arrived in Miami at 10:45 a.m. { mistake to not branch out and get a | couple side lines like musical instru- | minutes be- | ad ‘was whisked dy automobile tn.l dle of a boxing ring at Toledo, O. Walter is running a physical cul | ture school at the beach which | more money then acting as Willard's | sparing partner but he has still got { faith in old Jess and he says he could of kept on fighting that famous 4 of | July only he could not get his eyes open after the 1st. rd What made Jess so sleepy was 1y- ing on his back and Jooking up at the bright sun, TN regards to the social life at Miami 1 Beach and Palm Beach, why about Ithe only differents is that the high monke monks at Miami don't seem to carry so many servants along with them. Pretty near everybody at Paim | Beach has there secretary with them | wile most of the visitors to Miami can read and write. People changes there close 4 times a day at Miami ve. 6 at Palm Beach but 1 seen 1 costume at Miami Beach that made Palm Beach look like | piker namely a man in a white linen suit and a black derby Palm Beach is probabiy a whole lot more exclusive and personly wasent flooded with invitations the yr. we was at Palm Beach wile in Miami they was never a day when the mail box did not yield cards from chiropodists and etc. The day after we reached Miam they was a atmosphere of gloom in the air which it seems the reason for same was a item of news in the Miami papers In regards to the weather in California. It seems the thermometer at San Bernardino the day before had fell to 31 above zero and it looked like the southern California almond crop would be spoiled. The Miami papers tried to suppress this item by putting it on top of the front pa but a whole lot of Miami people scen it and they was not a dry eye in the town. RING W. LARDNER. Great Neck, Long Island, March 2 | we Tides Predict Storms. I has been shown, in certadn scientists, dian hurricanes and storms at sea frequently produce & remarkable effect upon the tides along neighboring coasts. When a tempest s approaching, or passing out on the ocean, the tides are noticeably higher than usual, as if the water had been driven in a vast wave before the storm. The in- fluence extends to a great distance from the cyclonic storm ter, so that the possibility exists of fore- telling the approach of a lankerous hurricane by means of indicaticns furnished by the tide gages situated far away from the place then occu- pied by the whirling winds. The fact that the tidal wave oui- strips the advancing storm shows how extremely sensitive the surface of the sea is to the changes of pres- sure brought to bear upon it by the never-resting atmosphere. —_— the opinion of that West in- other great A town in Saxony boasts of a guild of hund weavers which has been in continuous existence for more than 409 years.