Evening Star Newspaper, February 19, 1928, Page 84

LESS MAJESTY HERE was a sound of revelry by | night. Miss Pigeonette Smali | was giving a party in_honor of her engagement to Mr. Acey Upsh: Suwaessham aw. 's colored Four Hundred ‘was present in full force. From behind a palm screen spurted toe-tickling music. dispensed by Prof. Aleck Champagne's Jazzphony Orches- | tra. Before the decorated fireplace stood the prospective bride and her slightly less prospective bridegroom. Pigeonette was an ample lady and a positive one. She gazed pridefully down at the little man who fidgeted uncom- fortably at her side. Acey Upshaw was a man of parts. In the business world of colored Birming- fr. Upshaw was a person of inence. But here he was not in arance as Pigeonctte was signifi- guest with a nvironment he s ger _the president the Gold & Silver Taxicab Co.. he was a mere man in a matrimonial celebration. The evening Was young. and gave every indication of being large. No so- cial celebrity was Jacking. Present were the solid figures of the colored commun- ty: Lawyer and Mrs Evans Chew, Director and Mrs. J. Caesar Clump of THE SUNDAY By Octavus Roy Cohen - Napoleon of Finance Makes History. place, he owned neither. In the sec-| I ain't aimin’ to be." She eyed him 0 e wouldn't have worn them any- | scornfully. “Don't you know how to way dress when you receptions with sassiety o<ty o it! Mr. De Vold's pride 5 that was it! r. De Vold's (] thelpear-stianed; tishd ‘ol Jasper | | 80 U R orial petfections reccived De Void was a Napoleonic hat.|, cryshing jolt, “This is the bes’ unt- from which floated a long white ostrich | ¢or0 i Bumminham.” plume. Beneath the mahogany-colorec | ““\ An+ this ain't no place fo' no uni- face was a uniform. And what a unl- | forms. T'd have you understan’, Mis- form! It wes a symphony of blue iy pionkey Face, that vou ain't w broadeloth, gold! lace, gleaming braid.: some an’ the soener you gits out——" shiny buttons, medals and more gold | “".plq.g-don't you like me, Miss Once the property of L. Jupiter Jones | gp,aypo- N it was known as the finest and most | SN0 5 G ane ‘gusted with you. Ao’ expensive drill unitorm in all The Sont | 1 gon't crave to ‘sociate With ev'y no- S8 Btmniens of 1 AU ACS {‘count, wuthless cullud person ~Acey o L e P trails aroun’ with. Tha's final!" g i i) Mr Upshaw was bewildered. “Maybe ngly i super- Solomic glori: ured that I when b Upsha He dreams. Gay umform were mere masks for Mr. De Vold was posses plox and a great desire tc er o modost place in | mingham's d whirl, bravado concealed a deep wistfulne He was struggling heroically to show these folks that he wasn' ple rustic. He wantad them to belie > a_scnsation elf at the s wildost king sword | void. e hurt 1ping heart s and a droop to his 3 “T's I ‘truded in Ve fizs Small. Maybe some d s ne be glad to ‘vite me to yo' house. “Not so long’s I got my sense.” ok % % | JASPER. reached the veranda. The ¥ night air fanned his hot cheeks. He moved toward the gate. 1;?15(‘1! did not believe—that tled over the room. Mr. ed that he might crawl and pull the hole in after himself. But Miss Pigeonette Small was in no such state of embarrassment She eyed the edvance of the uni- formed gentleman wigh overt hostilit, She feit t she was a much insulted lady She red the little negro at od sh set w wish Midnight Pictures. Orifice R L.atimer, president of that impressive organiza- tion; Epic Peters, the wealthy Pullman , Keefe Gaines, the genial undertaker: Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Boscoe Fizz. Semore Mashby. Dr. and Mrs. Lijah Atch: m, Florian Slappey. No outstanding figure was absent, a fact upon which Pigeonette commented to her friend. Mr. L. Jupiter Jones. NMr. Jones gazed through the throng. *“Ev'vbody do seem to be heah.” he ad- “That is ev'vybody except Jas- the kind of friends you anette, honey. 4 T's gwine tell him a few “I reckon things.” “Please don't of genuine anx: is trvin’ to do so; Acey edged into the conversation *He's that_country feller fum south Alabama. Never be'n offen a farm in his life until two weeks ago. an'—" The to-be bride seemed annoyed. *Who ast him heah?” 1 did, honey.” *“Well. who ast you to ast him?” “Nobody. I just thought ind of my party, too, an’'—'’ which>” “Well, I sort of has en idea. . .. You see, De Voud is rich. He has come to Bummin'ham two thousan’ dollars There was a ring in Acey’s voice. business with him, | “What you is trvin' to do t don’t make no neverminds with r:e.ml"rx’ | gwine—" Jasper De Void paused be: is | host and hostess. Hepgnwed lang.l);:'eehpf | ing his plumed hat to his bosom and then returning it to his head. “Folks,” he announced, “I greets you-all. How | is you. Acey?" ol'able, Jasper. tol'able.” An awkward silence ensued. The guests edged closer. In the foreground were Messrs. Florian Slappey and Se- more Mashby. an ill-assorted pair of conspirators who had recently come out sadly second best in a little transaction with the uniformed gentleman. Both "t;! grinning. They knew Pigeonette. my guesses, an’ you invite a country- « ;{5? ':olgu:g?::d ';'l’mdm‘i SR man which mos’ probly would be fine | jaay’ frivee. Geeny Soduce me 10 yo i 8 mikic® cantest. but suttinly don't| ssuh. Jasper. 1 is. Pigeonette long no drawin' room. You is| De Void, f . Sl 0 o make e il T ey | meet Mr. De Yo.d, fum Dothan. body. What you reckon Lawyer Chew Miss Small's frame trembled with a0’ ident Latimer en’ all them swel | OUtrage. She eved the visitor hostilely, lomP"S‘ts e say when this feller Pi ¥ an idjit lize him ever left Do- walks in with overalls on? What you Teckon—" “Shh. Pigeonette,” soothed L. Jupiter %om m De Vonkdn is -l:ne h!;.u;r. 'ou mos” won't know he's o - | “Honey gal. nleasse——" He turned Jupiter's eyes strayed toward the dw'-v(g“.,mpen “She’s the jokinest woman, fnsshed | STIETDS VAR T his speech with a languid “Mebbe!™ | the direction of Mr. Jories' gaze. Miss Small saw Acey shrink. | She turned her eyes back to the appari- tion in the this “Which he's still got!" interrupted L Jupiter Jones. “TUh-huh. An' I has an idea ey Miss Small stamped her foot, and the house quivered. “Always you does| somethin’ wrong. Acey Uj W, " & month, tryin’ to pick | There was a gasp. Even those who | knew Pigeonette best had not antici- patad such a bomb. | Acey seized the arm of his to-be-bride. | | I never ast you heah— | __Jasper trembled. His face was ashen. His eves blinkad and his arms quivered He turned 2 bewildered gaze on his Jstnxle B;x;mlg:h:m lr:znld,dl. Jupiter jones. r. Jenes struggled to smooth Mistuh Jasper De } an impossible sltuancn.! | “Come ‘long vwith me, Jasper.” They stared. They did not know that| “Yeh! Go along with him. Mistuh Jasper had essumed this bluff hearti- | Nothin’ fum Dothan. An' con't bother ness to cloak a doubtful heart and | to stop ontil you puts a Iot of distance S nar they s and beard whal| | SB.p-pubut “Hric. Sei = W - -D-| o puay y ey i B ut Miss Small—Acey asper’s attire brought a gasp from | . | me neah his ownse'f.” the multitude. It r}; not for Mr. De “Who Acey 52" Al’{\.'l he the feller you is gwine ‘ain’'t ma‘ied to him vet. If he's many mo’ foolish friends like you. ' than that. Jasper voiced a question. you goin’, Jupiter?” gustment f | wom him. That is, she ain't was scared he'd git awa | “That seems so. But scems so ain't is. fo' they was ma'ied. she'd like to die. & acts so positive, ‘cause she fig- ' ! gers that's the way to hol' him. But dol- lars is the fondest things she is of, an’ was they to figger in it—well, I reckon Pigeonette would do mos' anything.” She o1 part. Seems like he could of said somethin’ nice to me." woman scmethin’, Jupiter. would.” “An’ I don't blame yol;"l blo!;“ ;sh:wb“'; | est way to git even wi e 1 by DOt | two cars can't run. tha's v havin' no mo’ to do with Acey Upshaw. Hirs i He's try! meisa A figure ranged beside him. Jasper | looked down at L. Jupiter Jones. Mr. | Jones droppe: | per's arm an d a friendly hand on Jas- d muttered a single word. “Tripe!" snider .Vn}rlles.t v, (R ved down the street. ‘They move« O et . T's got nothin’ but dis- 0’ that woman back yonder. It was the single ray of sunshine. “With | The two men. one clad in dinner clothes, the other in a costume calculated to put the famous green bay tree to the blush, moved downtown to Jasper's modest “room in Sally Crouch’s Cozy H | tel for Colored. that the stunned Mr. De Void spoke. ome Ho- It was not until then “Wh-what does Acey ma'y up with a an like that f | ‘Hmph! He ain't ma'yin' her. She’s n’ him." ‘Well, it's the same thing, ain't it?" “Nossuh! Reckon you aint never | been 'round’ when a woman was sot on | gittin’ you. was you?" 'N-n-nossmh, I sho’ ain't.” “Well, tha’s what happened tRere. Acey is s')posed to be rich. He owned that ol' tax company, an’ now he’s ma- jo'ity stockholder in the Gold & Silver | Taxicab Co., meter_cabs. hook him fo' his money.” which runs the cullud An’ Pigeonette set out o “B-b-but she don’t seem to care fo' ‘Was Acey to sit his foot down, be- “Yes—" More thought on Jasper's “Acey di'n't act so good hisse’t. “Acey 2in't no better'n she is. Had- harder than Pigeonette done.” You reckon?” 's shuah. “Mmmm, I—I'd like to show that 1 sholy r7in’ to steal yo' money. “Aw, no. Seems like what he's off-rin’ bargain.” y Upshaw never sol' no bargain in his life.” “But, Jupiter, when a feller gits a \ “Fumadiddles! You ain't used to city ways. Acey's company what he aims to fifty you got left. sell you ain’t wuth nothin’, or even less cars what happens to you." If it is, 'how come him to tin’ like she | STAR, WASHINGTO! uit it an’ inwest all his money in the 1d & Silver meter cabs?” “I ain't sayin’ this comp'ny is as suc- cessful os them meter cabs, Jupiter. But 1's lookin' fo' a good business to git into in Bummin'ham, an'—" “An’, if you buys out Acey's ol comp'ny, you goes back to Dothan an’ limbers up yo' muscles hoein' cotton. Now listen—" Jupiter scated himself on the bed and pleaded with his friend. “I ain't aimin’ to hurt you none, Jas- per, but they is a few things 'bout yo'- se'f that you had botter fin' out right away quick, or else you is gwine di- vorce yo'se'f fum that two thousan' cash dollars you brung with you from Dothan. Is you willin', I should tell you what's which?" “Tha's the one thing I don't want you to do nothin’ else but.” “An’ no hard feelin's?" “Nossuh, Jupiter, I reelizes you is my | frien’.” “Good. - Fusst off, Jasper, you has let yo' head get swelled up. You come to Bummin'ham a stranger fum a small town with two thousan' dollars. You ran right into the two slickest slickers | in the city, Florian Slappey an’' Semore Mashby. They started out to trim you, en’ you happened to see what was up. Result was that you gotten that swell uniform you is wearin’, which cost five hund'ed dollars, fo' nothin’. “Ever sence that, cullud folks has been tellin’ you how slick you is, an’ you is fool enough to bilieve it. You |is lookin® fo' gold bricks. You is—-"" “I ain't neither. I's lookin® fo' chance to 'vest my two thousan' dollars in a good business.” “That's what you think. ‘ But you ain't. There's a heap of good businesses | you can put that money in. But they |ain't swell enough fo’ you. You don't |seem to understan’ that you was lucky {to put one over on Florian an' Semore. | "Tain't many fellers does that. An’ | you has got the idee that ev'ybody in Bummin'ham is gwine be just as easy | Acey Upshaw ‘specially.” “Well, ain't he?" “No. Acey is a slicker. He started | ribbin’ you up 'bout how clever you was. ' He worked it so that, when you foun' out 'bout his ol' taxi comp'ny, you went to him with the fust offer. He's aimin’ to take yo' money an' not give you nothin'." “He's sellin’ me the Acey Upshaw Taxicab Comp'ny. That's the oldest cul- lud taxi comp'ny in Bummin'ham, ain't Py (2 | “Uh-huh. It's so old it squeaks. I | recko u ain’t looked into this | | made recent?" { “No-0-0. But they ain’t been run- n’ their cars.” Mr. L. Jupiter Jones made a gesture ‘kdlsgusl: “Foolishment what you talks ‘Acey Upshaw is in the charity business. ell, T'll tell you why that comp'ny 2in't_makin' no money. an’ ain't tryin’ se they ain’t no such of a nis |of comp'ny. “But, Jupiter—" “I don't crave to be butted. Acey started off with a comp'ny. He had six |cars an' plenty of busincss. He made Inice money. But his cars started get- tin' old an' taxi fashions changed all n't he be'n tryin’ to git you' money in | ol 't a rotten business deal, he'd of landed on ‘r,:u ';o,fxf,-’i“h",,.",““;“ e you So he organized {the Gold an’ Silver Taxicab Comp'ny. He's president an' chief stockholder 'They ovn 12 meter cabs, all new an' 1good. Meanvwhile, Acey sells four of | his six cars.” “He didn't sell them last two." “An’ why? ‘Cause he could y. Was eu Lo fill their tanks with cologne, | they woul'n't do nothin' but smell sweet. | He ain't got no cfics en’ he aln't got nothin’ but th»m two ol' cars nobody | woul'n't buy, ‘czpt maybe an antique | dealer. An' vou come along vith two |thousaa’ dollars, achin’ to be | chance to buy a whole taxicab business | fn—— 2n’ also two automobiles, fo' twenty-two | | hund'ed dollars—" “He's or'y me y 2" me pay saven hune an’ fifty dollars cash down." h! An’ he gits that other twelve An' then he don't 're: vl Mr. De Void was obstinate. “You is Cells of Body Declared Immortal BY JAMES WELLAND. EATH is the price we pay for brains” says Dr. Alexis Carrel, world famous sur- geon of the Rockefeller In- stitute. [ Bixteen years ago Dr. Carrel set out | to determine just what life power was inherent in the tiny myriad cells known | make up our bodis When man, | dog, for that matter, died, did he 8! key to eternal life for the human | as_such? Dr. Carrel has conducted since that time what 15 in many respects the most remarkable series ! experiments through new con- | tributions o the surgery of war. His | laboretory family, sedulously fed and tended under hiz direction, went on| increasing. generation following gener tiom. e world jearned, wonders woecuisted n:&m even the little, oulet, careful sclentist dreamed of hav- found the secret of eternal life. other day he came virtually to the end of this pa: lar experiment, tremendous though it was. Broadly, he announced his conclusions: The hu- | man cells are potentially immortal: de- tached, one might, under right condi- tions, go on living and having descend- ants forever! Combined by nature into boties, int a system e marvelous and intricate &8s v produce our breins, they profuce slso decay and death. The explanation. was simple: A single cell 15 liquid is able ¥ discharge its polsons —necessary by-profucts of rectly and entirely inw this liquid, out- side lself. In the body these polsone cannot be & pul away end they pile up. an inevitable burden of doom! “Although the budy 15 oompomed of elements (that is ¥ »say, cells) that| ) i, and will elwe. ) senility and aesth,” sald the scientis i But that fs by no means sll that | the famous savant b from hus | egregious laburavor L, e latest | descendant of W even s you resd %o breine, but more sncesVre than | any family tnet ever was & family v whose nfiuence on the development of medicine quite probebly Wil ouetnip | flesh developed that of aimost wll ovher femilies & | ¢ wonder family if ever \here was onet | AISUE fragments grew The father of s strenge progeny Wesker. Becleria killed some outright. | then, wes nothing mwore than s minute | Finelly, only one remained alive —about fregment of the rn oof sn uniom 1 und sickly siicken On the moy g of Junuary 17, | i« WeELe necessary 3912 Dr. Carrel Ui several eucn frag- | The pavan' edded a drop of the ex- | @ients wnd placed them in a eolution, | tract pressed from an embryo chick culculated 1o sustaln life, made up of | eght days old A truly wonderful restly messured chemicale in little | effect ook place—1n no time st all Losis | the Uny pulssting LIt of Leart muscle The bite of tiseue went on puisst- | had developed oo much new flesh that ing, the scientist declares, and bega | it dicappeared tierein! Thie mass went | Vs creste other cells, making @ Lny | on growing The doclor divided 1t into | mase of what doctors call “connective | \wo parts snd each part continuel to| tissue” nd ordinery mortels “flesh " |live and grow. Here, then, was life! Bur afver s few daye thie pulsstion snd | Every 48 Lours ald these 16 years the the cell growth elowed down &nG one | descendants of that bit of chick heart | by one the hitle bits of lLiving tissue | were washed, divided and given fasks @led The doctor suved tiem by teking | of their owi And 1oduy. ss Dr. Carrel | tiiem out, weer them in saline solu- | tells, “hundreds of experiments are | tion v remove the waste wnd putiing | made every month with the pure strain them in fresh eoiution. They perked | of Broblasts (cells of 1he type forming up, Wie Lttle heertbests resumed, new bodily fleeh) descended from the tipy ) But like siling hu- heart | fragment | ature DHR. ALEXIS CARREL, EXPERIMENTS SHOW A FLESH WITHOUT BRAIN IS IM. MORTAL. tissue that 1 of pulsating In other words began with in 1912," Dy Jived 16 years, though the life of a fowl scarcely ‘ever runs over ten years! And here his experiment takes on something of the atmosphere of those strange stories so prevalent in the liter- of the nges wherl, cclentists create est forms of l'fe that work havoc with people and things. For, to quote Dr. Carrel “Had 1t hr_rn{ cells which could have been produced during these 16 years their mass would be immense. A colony originally one cuble millimeter iy volume would pro- duce approximately one cublc centl meter of tssie In about 20 days. After 60 days the volume of tssus would be little more than one cubic meter, snd in lese than 100 days 1,000,000 cublc meters, It is obvious that tissue grow- ing at this rate for that perlod would rench a volume greater than that of the solur system. ‘oday the rate of growth 18 s great as it was 16 years ago. ‘Time has no action what- ever on these Lissues, They are im- mortal.” Tmegine this elip of chick's heart living on after you and 1 are long dead, after our children are dead. Forever! [BUil, if this tale of Dr, Carrel's strange Carrel's bit of chick’s heart has | possible 1o keep all the: | laboratory race of tissues is remarkable, his explanation of how tissues some- times rebel in the body and go on mul- tiplying in it, much as they multiply in flasks, to produce some of our worst hu- man afflictions, and of what keeps them from doing this as a general thing, is all the more astonishing 1t appears that this same property of growth is by no means confined to cells | of chicken heart. Dr. Carrel has kept | tissue cells from rats, mice. guinea pigs and human bodies growing in his labo- ratory for years. True, cells taken from | brains live only a short time at best, but most of the others do very well— | as_well as the chick's heart! In other words, you are a mass of millions of tiny cells, most of which, under given conditions, could grow enough tissue to fill the solar system. And. as Dr. Carrel says, “if the tissues of an adult animal suddenly were al- lowed to multiply freely the body would grow in rapld and disordered manner | and death would soon occur.” tivities would make a short end of the personality. indeed. of civilization. But it seems that these cells are each that 1s, human bodily life—-lasts. In the things we eat are certain nitrogenous substances that pass through the diges- tive organism and into the blood, into all the cells. By the nature of things, help but grow, as Dr. Carrel says, growth is compulsory. On the other hand, cell multiplication is held down in some marvelous and more or less mysterious way by the blood serum. The Cossacks, let us say, that thus oppress and hold down the cells are called lipoids, according to Dr. Carrel. 8o, year on year the incoming nitrogenous substances fight to make the little cells grow and upset everything, and the lipoids ride to keep them In control. As the doctor says, "Normal life and an- archical tissue growth are impossible. But in the body as time goes on the cells seem more and more to lose the potentiality of growth . . . until at last they dle.” On the other hand, there are In- stances where the cells do whip the lpoids, so to speak, and run riot. This 1s what happens in the case of wounds, for one thing, when the body needs new Uksues to regenerate skin or repair broken bhones and close injuries. And (also by a curlous twist of mysteries It In { what occurs fn case of cancer. Only | here the malignant cells grow wildly and push aside all others.. “If tissue | cells were not Immortal potentially," as Dr. Carrel says, “there would be no can- cer. Also surgery would Fe impossible.” If then, In trutn, flesh I8 immortal, and brain lethal and doomed to kil ita possessor in the end, Dr. Carrel s not disturbed. As he said before the Race Betterment Conference at Battle Creek & short time ago ‘Death as a price is not excesaive, be- cause the mysterious energy which s itself through them is, after all, the greatest marvel of this universe” And he added this hope for human- ity . “In spite of the fact that higher ani- mals will never reach immortality. there is some hope that the duration of thelr Hfe may be artificially increased. . . . Through thess experiments the tmmor- tality of animal tissues and some of thelr fundamental properties have heen revealed to us We know, as Claud Rernard has aptly said, that the knowledge of nature always leads to its mastery.” Such ac- | finely adjusted brain, of memory and | A little battleground as long as life— | | the cells, given this substance, cannot | creatod by the braln cells or expresses | D._C., Just sore at Mistah Upshaw on account | of how he treated me at his reception tonight Well, I ain't so happy bout it neither. But business is business, | an' I don’t sce why I ought to lay offen | an opporchunity just ‘cause him an’ his | | finansay insulted me.” | * % ox ok ‘I JUPITER JONES struggled to | £4¢ choke his words back. but the: ‘c;mded forth in a torrent of indigna- tion. | “When you got manufactured, Jasper | De Void. the brain machinery slipped. Couple weeks ago I thought you had some sense. Now I know I was an idjit to even think so." “8S'posin’,” argued Jasper., “that I boughten this ol' comp'ny off Acey an’ made a big success. Woul'n't that be a swell revenge fo' what he done to me tonight>" “Yeh. An' woul'n't it be fine was you to ‘herit a millum dollars an' buy his Gold an' Silver'Comp'ny. too? Woul'n't | 1t be swell wes you to swipe his gal fum under his nos: 'Pla}:onena *Small®” e “No! I wouldn't have no such of a woman as that.” “Foofe!" Mr. L. superbly disgusted. Jupiter Jones was { “I's goin', Jasper You got yo'se'’f convinced that| Was I to talk with you any more, I'd | | have percussion of the brain. In the | head you ain't got nothin’ but a vacuum an’ tha's empty! After you goes broke. please remember that I's willin' to he | You find a job. | The following morning the gentleman from Dothan, Ala. presented himself at the offices of the Gold & Silver Taxi- cab Co. Mr. Upshaw greeted his visitor enthusiastically. “Mawnin’, Jasper. mawnin’?" “Tol'able, Erother Upshaw. I has come to ‘'scuss with you "bout buyin' you' taxicab comp'ny.” i “Tha's fine. Lawyer Evans Chew has done drawed up the papers, an’ all what you has got to do is sign. ‘I fur- nishes pen an’' ink bofe.” Jasper clasped the pen, closad his eyes, and wabbled his head. “Some folks scy I hadn't ought t> buy this business, Acey." “Some folks don't use their noses fo' nothin' but to poke into other folis' :u-lntm. I reckon a man elever as you nov": 2 v.hen someihin® is vise. “Yeh—I reckon sz. But ther say two cars cain't run.” ell,” with disarming candor, “I ain’t sayin' that neither could go into ro race, n'r nothin’. But, when you 'ps On the gas an' sl'ps into gear, "tl" gits ycu where you wants to be They is awful noisy, though.” “Shuh! 80o's some of these swell cars. Folks like nolse in sutomobiles. Aln't that the truth?” “Seems so. But yet-—" “Now listen,” Mr. Upshaw gesticu- lated violently, “all the time you talks im me ‘bout cars. Well, it ain't on'y two cars you is buyin’. It's the | will of the Acey Upshaw Taxicab Com- pny. I ask you. usen't that to be the fincst cullud taxi comp'ny in Bummin’- | ha: Cain't you sece fo' yo'se’f how | prominent you gits whon you advertise that you is president of t»s oldest cul- lud taxicah comp'ny in Bummin'ham? | Passcngers will come ~'runnin’. Frall | I know you is gwins ruin the business | of my new comp'ny. “Golla! You real ette woul'n't like you would she?” think so? Pigson- to go broke. | | *1 SHO' WOULD HATE TO LOSE OUT IN THIS DEA ACEY. THIS MONE 1TS I DON'T KNOW WHERE COMIN' FUM.” “AW, Jasper-—- “I know. Acey. Yo' finansey ain't so crazy ‘bout me. I was thinkin' she'd like me better, was 1 to make a suc- coss with yo' o' compny. Ain't that the truth?™ “Reckon $0, Jasper pretty keen ‘bout dollars.” Jasper produced his stzable roll of bills and stripped off the seven hundred nd fAfty dollars stipulated as advance yment “I sho' would hate to lose out in this dsal, Acey. When this money glts gone, 1 don't know where mo' Is comin’ fum.* “Shuh! You makes the other pay- { ments out of yo' proits. You has got brains. Brains like a—a-—statue.” They shook hands, and Jasper de- parted, now sole owner of the Acey Up- shaw Taxicab Company. His assets consisted of: Iters, good will; item, two 1 decrepit motor velloles. Yot Mr. De Void secmed happy. v BU'I'. it Jasper was elated, his joy was pallid, compared to the de- [ nght of Acey Upshaw. He called two of his drivers into the office and desig- nated the contraots. “Oh, man!” he chortled. “Look at (them. I has o' that o' compny of mine an’ gotten seven hund'ed an' Ally dollars h advance " Ono of the men stared at his em- ployer. “You sho'ly s the alickcst feller that ever come to this tovn, Twenty-two hund'ed dollars you gits fo' nothin'— Jus' ke o git'” AN 1 gita most of it, too, ‘cause Jasper 18 bound (0 make some mo' payments besides his adwance. Man! L wan too easy " Meanwhile, My De Vold appeared (o share none of the passimism that per- vaded Birmingham when the news of his purchase became bruited about, How you is this Pigconsite s FE‘BRUARYV 19. Persons who knew Jasper only casu- | aliy went out of their way him. | They made it unmistakably | they considered his purchase the vorst they. could conccive. As for Accy Up- shav, that gentleman boasted opealv of he had trimmed the sucker from Jones brought to his fr: “Ridiculous is wi yo'se’f, Jasper. Hoah y | taxicab company an’ no texis.” | “You are wrong. Jupiter. I has got ith'ee cars. I figgered two wasn't | enough. so I bougaten me 2 new secon’ | han' car fo’ fiity dollars.” L. Jpuiter Jones collapsed. “Fifty dollars fo’ a taxicab! Who cver heard | tell of such?" “Well,” admitted Nir. De Void, “it runs as good a5 tiem two I boughten off Acey. Anyhow, ain't Pigconette Small_gwine feel tad n she sees that I owns the ol' business cf her | financay?” | “Humph! She's gwine b2 she | di'n’t pitch you out on ro' e2 | “We-e-cll, maybe so. An again, maybs not. Aint 1o what wimmin is gwine do.” | _Por the threc cays the Acc | Taxicab Ccmpany, undor its v agement, gave no signs of life | On Saturday sftornoon of that week !clouds gathered over Jones Valley. Chili gloom settled lixe a pall over Bir- | mingham. A wind sprang up and whistled through the stroots. bringing an uanatural chill. The clouds de- | scended lower and lower, urgent with rain, prophetic of storm | Six o'clock 2nd still the storm bad not broken. Birmingham's colored cit- 1nznry presumed that it was a mere; | threat, and they craved their Saturday | night out. | At six-thirty the down-town trek commenced Eighteentn street saethed with Afro-American citizenry. Res- ! taurants and barbecue stands did a !land-office business: ice-cream parlors were crowded to the doors; stores and | offices buzzed with activity. | But the theaters, the Champion. | Prolic and Famous were packed. The straets of the section. Eighteenth ! street and Third and Fourth avenues. | were crowded with par] automobiles. | Save for the spaces k2pt open in front |of the three theaters. thore n't an | inch of available parkin3 rool | At scven-forty the storm broke. was not mere rain. The heavens opent and the water came down. It came in | sheets. One minute end tha streets | were & dull gray. the next they were ! streaks of gleaming black, swept by | ficods. | _And then {t was that Mr. Jasper De | Void, president of the Acey Upshaw | Taxicab Company. swung into action. | then tellin® It } EE N | ‘THE company commenced active op- | erations in a most peculiar manner. | Two asthmatic touring-ars coughed |into the street | with snorting and spesmodic difficulty |toward the Champion Theater. 00d | | | Jerked Into the open parking space be- fore the doors of the houss and died | there, its driver sitting unconcernedly in the rain | The battered old hulk filled the open | space in front of the theater Not by any possible feat of maneuvering could | another automobile come near (he curd !in_front of the Champton The same thing occurred With the second car in the space before the Frolic Theater. Meanwhile, Jasver De Vold himself sat at the wheel of th third car of his flest, the car for which he had paid the sum of ffty. dollars cash Tonight this car refused point-blank | to function. Jasper rented a wrecker While the storm was at its hefght, Mr. | De Vold was towed to the open parks Ing space in front of the Fegwus ‘Theater. | There the thuee cars sat. Tampo- | rarily, at least. the cars of the Acey Upshaw Taxicab Canmpan every inch of available pai gk space | in the center of the dow! W osection | of Birmingham's Darctawa. 'l'he| drivers at the Champton and Frolie | Theaters sat like wooden Indians. Jas- | per De Void, in the third car, was, amiling. i At nine o'clock shows ended tn all| three of the theaters The doors open- | ed and the lobbies became filled wWith | colored persons who stared aporehens | alvely into the storm. Each sought AI taxicab. Meanwhile the fleet of the Qald & Stlver Taxicab Company started out Into the night They started vircling the loop marked by Third and Fowrth avenues and Eighteenth and Seven- teenth streets The head car of the fleat reached the Champion Theater 1 driver hoard whisties the | accupled | JASPER DE VOID PAUSED BE- FORE HIS HOST AND HOSTESS. One of these moved ! It | cabs atn't made a dime tonight 1RO, Acey would-be patrons. He addressed the | enmly. “I studied that good will. Then imperturbable person at the wheel of | I boughten yo' comp'ny. The fust thing the De Void cab. | I 'scovered was that the Uj “Hey, you! Git out of that parkin' 'rrmub space.” The D2 Void driver turned a grinning | five yeahs ago to park in front of the countenance. “I's got orders to remain | th'ee cullud “theaters heah. That has where 1 is at,” he informed the Gold & | got two mo’ yeahs to run, an’ durin Sflver driver. | that time nobody only the Acey Up- The driver swore. shaw Taxicab Comp'ny cain't park no To reach any one’ of the cr}\]nsing cftra" in m&:{ these theaters without meter cabs, the unfortunate theater | &l arrested. patrons were forced to walk down the | Mr. Upshaw discovered that his head drenched sidewalk, acrcss a foaming | ached. gutter, and enter the Gold & Silver | Jasper, cab in the middle of the street. One ' man tried it and was soaked. Another man accosted Jasper's hire- ling. “1 rents yo' car to take me home.” “Nossuh.” The driver was polite. This car is engaged. I is waitin® fo the feller what engaged me.” % % % AND now the traffic policeman took a hand. The Gold & Silver cabs, motionless in the street, were blocking trafic. The blast of the officer’s whistle fornged them to move. The head of the procession ceme then to the Frolic Th¥sr and still later to t Famous. At the latter place was the grinning Jasper De Void. | At each place the Gold & Silver re- | ception was identical. Jasper's cars blockad the only poscible spots where passengars could stop from sheiter into | 80" continued “ev'y Ordinarily this night would have been | prosperous for the Gold & Silver Taxi- | cab Compeny. But tonight the entire fleet continued to cruise around the lock, waiting for Jasper's cars to move from the strategic positions. At length the colored cided that, since it had to get reach a Gold & Silver taxi it forego the luzury and make job of its drenching. In ones and and threes. cach person frantic anger, the crowds sloshed to cars One of the Goid & Silver drivers re- | turned to ths office where Acey Upshaw | was pu{frg 3 good cigar and meatally the revenue that weather 3 q 4 1 puck up a passenge! i “Vhct kind of foolishment is you alkin' with yo' meuf. cullud man?” i The driver exolained. Mr. Upshaw | signal slid int> a raincoat, c'apped hat on | head and lurched into the rain. He | skidded around the corner and arrived at the Famous Theater. In the lehby a score of hopeful per sons stood. At sight of Acey Upshaw, a | protest arose. The vox of the popull | demanded to know why and where and | what. i & fumed. protested But Jasder held firm. and eventually the Both men signed the $1.500 was passed over to Jasner. “I's shush you an’ Pigeonstte amnt gwine be schamed of havin' me at vo' waddin®. _Acey.” Jasper ssid softly. “eause 1 s Foin’ to de all fixed up rieht an' peoper.” “Wh-wiat you mean® questioned Arev veakly “T't enin’ t0 wear my uniform. Aan® t will prove I'm the dest man'™ Evolving Lead Pencil. T is said that the was made n England adout vears ago. It was however. not a lead percil at all a graphite pencil like those used today. Graphite was ds- covered in England during the time of Elzadeth, and hardly were the mines tn full operstin defore the idea of making lead pencus their product was conceived. In the early days the graphite was sawed into thin sheets and cut into strips smaller and smaller until they were small enoush to de covered by wooden ulips and thus serve as_pencils. It i of recond that the first pancils | created quite a sensation. The granhiie mines of England were deemed of - ) estimadle value and were protecied b law. But there was great wasie. frst |in digging for many of the pleces were o0 wmall for cutting. and agam m th manner of eutting the granhite. which was so crude that halt the materia! was st S0 a4 dinding surface decame an_urgent necesuty Qlue muctlage. singlass and ocher udstances wers tried. dut the graphite was only rendered deittle and of even hardness Its marks were famt and distinet. and @ hose dars i the POt Broke it was quite An undertatine o sxmg:x\ 1t agatn. Frst the wooa had o cut away and the graphits heated over a lght to saften it o 1T was again drawn 0 & pomid with the Acey swung around. He found him. self facing the most decrepit automobile he had ever seen. At the wheel was Mr. Jasper De Vaid of Dothan, Ala- bama. Mr De Void greeted Mr. Up- shaw with a smile. Mr. Upghaw sprang into the seat be- side Jusver he de- “What does manded furiously “What do which mean, Acey? This blockin' evTy spot where folks could git into my cabs®* “Qolly. Acey, 1 got drne 13 “Yeah But you ain't moved. neither of your other cars am't. this mean®" heah first, Nor My No* Tha's too dad. Acey. 1 guess Miss Pigeonette gwine got poeved wuss an’ wuss ev'y time 1t rains at night.” What you mean by that, Jasper* " oreflectively. “1 was thinkin' your bustness aln't gwine be awful N account evy night the Weather 13 bad. my cars is gwine stay | AOEerS e parked fh front of these theaters, an: | o LAY 0 the egdtesnid oentury & \ | Prenchman Rit wpon the idea of waing YOU AN gwine piek up no Passe; 3N -wn-ukf.u _\n‘u‘ uu.mp' -Ml---w _];yhvnu« Sraphite and hindtng clay “Qood Wil answered Jasper. | This discovery resulied in peneis of “Huh? You says words, but they Rardness © the don't mean nothin'* clay and “Oh, yes they doos, Rrother Upshaw, exactly the same They means what 1 patd you seven hune | ded an' Aty dollars cash money fo' Following wpon v TYou paid e f0 -~ A sudden fear | IMANOVements th miving, rollng and smote at the heart of Mr. Upahaw. Re | SMatpentng the Sempetion. grabbed Mr De Volds arm mm‘:\hkw was cut u\m‘u Naced To me, Jasper.” he bogged, {8 warm oven to harden and fnaly tha'vugh eased I wood. A3 sten today Mr. De Voald was willing enough, “It's | - ihisaway, Acey: I Knowed these auto- A chwreh In Hermschor! Sueas. moblles waan't wuth nothin' But 1t equipped With an electrio heating sys- seemed Hke an old taxi busmess Hke tem, w ‘enables evory Visitor to Deat yourn ought ta be wuth buvin. An' I his seat &3 much as deaired The tudes sart of went aver all vo' boaks, lke you the denches and sverv seat st me o M De Vaid nodded sal- o for reguating the Deat. *» that | varytug famount ot {each pencll was rdness throug hou!