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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1919-4-3, Page 2• w r Buying a Parket o' E Is not a gamble, but a sure thing that you are getting the greatest possible Quality and Value to the limit of your expenditure. TRY F. IT. B640 the Black Cat's Quotions By Lawrence W. ilooram.. PART L "Joe," I called, “come here." Joe Flatly, nay office boy who aspired to, be the world's greatest detective, arose lazily from his chair where he had been reading "Sleuth -Hound Pete" and shambled in my direction.' "Well?" "Think there's any mall for me?"i I asked, He grinned as he balanced hos,• weight on one foot. "Dunne. Might be." "Tlriless LTrere is," I began slowly, "this will be your last day as my office boy and assistants" Joe carefully marked his page and left for the post -office, leaving me in the dingy little room where I oc- casionally wrote a story that sold. The proceeds of the story kept an advertisement running in the paper, paid Joe's salary and supplied me with fifteen -cent lunches. This was also the office of detective Williams myself -who tried to solve mysti- fying things; but in reality nobody. had ever tried to hire me as a detec- tive. Ever since I was a youngster I wanted to be one, and after study- ing under different men and in dif- erent schools for seven years, here 1 was --a failure. I beard Joe come in; he came over toward me and said, "A. letter for you, boss." He grinned et me ac- cusingly. I looked around with a start and took the letter. The en- velope was of very high-grade sta- tionery, and the handwriting was un- doubtedly that of a lady, I staredat it and the postmark, for I knew no ladies in the town. I opened the let- ter very carefully and read ,it. As Joe was a privileged character, he leaned over my shoulder and read also: The Black Cat Farm. Deur 141r. Williams: Noticing your advertisement in the local newspaper as a private detective, and being in need of one, I would like to secure your services for a short time, if you are not too badly pressed. Call at three o'clock this afternoon and I will explain. (Miss) Wanda Morris. I almost choked with joy -it was my first job. "No snore work this morning," I told Joe. "We deserve a half day's vacation." "Gee whiz!" muttered Joe per- plexed. "That's some name for a farm -'The Black Cat'. Funny how some people will name things. They ought to be arrested for cruelty to animals." This attraeted my atten- tion, and I also wondered. Exactly on the stroke of three Joe and I were a("The Black Cat Farm" for our interview with Miss Morris. A. maid opened the door and ushered us in. Miss Morris wasted no time in getting down to her business with s: n"Ify..,father died very recently - last March tn.-Ile exact -and until lately I thought he left me in good circumstances," she said. "I knew he had little ready cash, but thought he had many valuables that he could easily turn into cash, -pearls, especi- alIy. In his young days he had often been on pearl fishing expeditions and found many large, valuable pearls. He never sold them, but al- ways kept them somewhere -I al- ways thought in some bank's vault, but I was mistaken. Where they. are, I don't know; that is what I want you to find out, for my surplus money is gone, and I am in need ef more. Fa- ther often talked a=bout the pearls, but he would never tell where he kept them; and lie also saiid they were kept for me to have after he was dead and I needed money -that's the reason he would never sell them. The banks knew nothing of them, nor can I field any written statement to help me. If, you can find the pearls I will give you a large reward; and if you can't find them., you probably- will get nothing. Are these terms satisfac- tory?" I -gave a respectful, "Yes," and then waited for her to say something more; but she didn't. She expected me to get to work. I confess that I was stumped. Where to begin I did- n't know. "Well, did your father leave you anything that seemed a little strange • to you at the time?" I asked. She shook her head slowly. "I don't think so, He left me this small .farm -wait a minute. Yes• he left inc a email brass cat; anti why -I don't know. He also told .me that the cat meant more to me than I thought it did. • However, I gave it little thought then tier since.. -I thought father- -we.:2ot right -you -May I see it?" '1 asked. "It's npetairs; but I'll send Edna after it," • r> he maid. soon returned witlimoa Eisall eat, made of brasCthat lea 1 mere litre an oinamene laiai any hi e:se. But I guessed differently. ' I enamined it carefully with my eyes, and then produced a dens from my preaket.,, The tail and head of the cat ware hinged, a'.d there I thought teal7 a combination to get into the inside of tv.e cat. Neither. .the 'tail. nor the head would unscrew, so I had to use different means, The form was of a cat crouching as if to jump at something, and the tail was stick- ing almost straight up. I knew no cat would hold its tail up when ready to jump at something, so I thought that was part of the combination. Although the tail would not un- screw, it seemed ac it if were slight ly loose. I turned it as far as I could and then examined the head. While it was absolutely tight before the tail was twisted, it was loose after - el I turned it as f-ir as it 'would go; when it stopped I heard a faint click.. Then to my surprise the tail could be unserewed. As 1 unscrewed it the head of the eat dropped to the floor. The cat was hollow, and contained a paper. 'rhis I drew out and hand- ed it to Miss Morris, "Perhaps this will explain matters,' I said. As she read it a puzzled look came over her face. After she had finished, she handed the paper to me. Here is what it said Three Questions Asked by The Black Cat 1. Do I look out of my right or left eye? 2. Where do I look? 3. Where will my height throw a sha- dow at 1 p.m.? "Great Jessups!" Joe exclaimed. 'What do you think of that?" "Very, very simple," I explained. "That is, I think ;it is." "I don't see any sense in that," bliss Morris Raid. "It doesn't look like much," I re- marked, "but I think it tells where the pearls' are. Now this farm is named The Black Cat,' isn't it?" "Yes," she answered. "Why?" "I don't know; father named it." "Anything to signify the name?" "Well, there ,is a sign father had panted on the barn- —" "What is it?" I almost shouted.. "Ile had a sign painter put 'The Black Cat Farm' on it, and a picture of a black eat above the sign." I jumped. "What? The picture of a black cat! Why didn't you say- so be- fore? Now we've just the same as be- ' fore? the pearls in your pocket (for- ` getting that women seldom carry their money in pockets as men do). Show me the cat and I'll show you where your fortune is." (To be continued.) ELEPHANT aLICENSE NEEDED In Order to Hunt Wild Animals in South Africa. If you should ever wander through Africa and conte across a wild ani- mal, do not take it for granted that you may capture it. Quite aside from any objections which the an;:ma1 may offer, you may be trespassing upon the big game preserves of the World Zoological Trading Company. This company has capturing rights over 55,000 African acres, or eighty-seven square miles. - How many animals, and what kind of animals, does such a tract contain? It is impossible to give any definite figure, for officials jib at taking a wild animal census, but according to Dlr. Jordan, the managing director of the Zoological Company, their game preserves contain about a thousand elephants, a thousand red buffalo, herds of roan and sable ante- lope, eland and waterbuck, besides crowds of smaller creatures. Orders for these °" animals -many from America -are coming in stead- ily. If you want to keep a pet red buffalo, you had better write at once, or they will all be booked. Arrange- ments are now being -made for the capture of as many of them as will permit themselves to be captured. But do not go out there yourself without permission. Should a hunter minus a permit to kill a wild ele- phant go, he will have the Zoological Cornpany clown upon him, whereas a wild elephant needs no permit to kill a hunter. At the Peace Conference..• "Judge," said the man at the bar, "there's no use of you trying, to square this thing up. My wife and I fight just so often and just so long and we can't help it. So there you are." "And abouthow long do you keep it up?" asked the judge. "About two weeks, judge." 'U1 right, I'll give you flfteezl day in jail: • in other words; you ate In- terned for the duration of the war." Save soft 'tisstis Raper for polish- ing lamp chimneys and mirrors. We not only need to develop a good working stomach on a calf but a good acting' heart This cannot be done without pure air, sunlight and plenty of exercise. Systematic.,ousecleariing; As -tie heavier part of the clean - until cannot be done to good ptxpose until fires are out for the .season, we ous disease to kande dishes during will be wise to begin using every spare moment to get those tasks washing, done which take so much time and Third -Do not cough or sneeze can be attended to now as well as While working with the dishes, Fourth -slave the dish water hot. .First-Oarefully serape all plates and platters before washing, Second -Do not allow any one re- covering from any form of contagi- later. First raf all, .closets should be turns Use a d'1311 -111°P' Fifth -Rinse ,a11 dishes in .boiling ed out, the contents aired, sorted and brushed. Garments to be repaired should all be put in one place by themselves such as a roomy utility box. Those to be stored for the sum- mer must be cleaned and properly cared for. The cleaning of the dos - water. Sixth --Use clean dish -cloths and dish -towels. When We Visit the Sick. To know just when to call, how et itself should be very thorougly long to stay and just That. to do and done, and if any .traces of moths say when visiting the sick, requires have been, found, it should be tightly tact, judgment and oommon sense, closed and a sulphur candle burned The first thing to consider its the so as to penetrate all crevices. Once selection of a seasonable hour. The the closet is in order again, we are patient needs, regular and periodic sure to be surprised and delighted, care and the visit should be timed even as we are every year to find how with reference to this and not mere- much extra space we have. ly to the ealler.'s personal conven- Next, bureau drawers and all boxes fence. and cupboards can be taken in order Most invalids are better able to things which take time. It is sur- middle of the day than atone by one, for these are really the. enjoy seeing their friends during the ;pther times. prising, too, what a lot of supplies Few invalids care to receive their, P Pp g friends until the room has been we will unearth which esti be used to good purpose in our aiming sewing freshly aired and set in order for the and summer fancy work, one re- day,the daily bath and toilet coin- soureeful v.'aman already has laid Pleted and the doctor's morning visit. aside enough bright materials of over. Neither early morning nor, good quality to make knitting bags late evening are favoralbe visiting ii for most of her Christmas presents hours. eI next December. You see she be Some visitors never know when to ' lieved in preparedness. go. As a rule, from fifteen minutes It is much better judgment to dis- to half an hour is a sufficiently long card things which have outlived their period, for it is far better to go usefulness than to keep putting them while the welcome lasts. If the visi for is wise, sheen ill not allow herself way with the idea that thev to be entreated to remain longer or to prolong her call by the invalid's plea that she is not a bit tired. She is probably more or less ex -I citedthough not able to realize her, real feeling until after her guest's ► departure. But more important than all else in visiting the sick, is the atmosphere , the caller consciously or unconscious cries can be taken down, brushed and ly carries with her. Conversation, renovated. Lace hangings manner, even the one e'of the voice g gs should be' have their effect on the invalid. soaked in cold water until the dust Too much sympathy with the pa - and grime are removed, then laun- tient is a mistaken kindness and dered. This will give them a m uch often positively- harmful. After a bettercolor thanif put into ry r few kindly enquiries, the visitor water. In fact, many a handsome should tactfully lead the converse - pair of curtains has been made gray tion away from the patient's ail and ugly by plunging them into ments into other channels. Diversion warm water. Everything is now in readiness tor the right kindis really as valuable for the cleaning of each room whe to a sick personn as a dose of meda- �--cine, the time arrives, and it is not nearly The visitor should carry cheerful so tiresome a task to do this when news and avoid all that may be de - there are no small things to handle pr, or - and no accessory cupboards or draw- es and. Ones own personal siand trials should be left outside. ers to clean. ries Before beginning the remainder of Entertaining news items, deserip- g g tions of the latest book read and let - the cleaning, have everything in ters from absent friends will all be readiness -ammonia, brushes, chain- of interest to the lonely shut-dn. ois, furniture polish, . stepladders, The caller should dress attractive - pails, rubber gloves and cleaners. Do- ing housecleaning systematically robs it of its terrors and makes it much Less tiresome and disagreeable. come in handy. The chances are that they will just harbor moths and dust. Give them away or do something with them which will put them to work to the best purpose. During the summer the fewer pic- tures and pieces of bric-a-brac we have around the better, so these art- icles can all be cleaned, wrapped, labeled and laid away. Heavy drap Disease Germs in' Dishwater. Be .careful how you wash your dishes if,. you want to avoid typhoid ly. Only those who Kana experienced much illness, realize what a positive refreshment a caller's ::harming toil- et may be nor with what delight the tired eyes take in every bright de- tail. You must remember that what is merely an episode to the caller is an event to the patient. Just what to take a sick friend fever. and other serious diseases. may be a problem. Flowers, fruits Investigation - -made following an and jellies are customary gifts. If epidemic of typhoid fever `-showed your friend is supplied with these dainties, a new book or magazine, will be even more appreciated as bringing a . fresh element into the sick room. Any little novelty that helps .to break the daily monotony will prove attractive. GIANT BRITISI1 CRUISER Powerful Warship Nov in Course of Construction is 900 Feet Long. Details of the biggest and most powerful warship which is ` being built on the Clyde for the British navy can now be told. The ship is His Majesty's Hood, whose designed speed, the representatives of the London Daily News learn on official authority, will be 32 knots, -afiid which may be increased during her trials to 35 knots. •Details of this vessel hitherto have been secret. She is a battle -cruiser, and -her length will be 900 feet, or only one foot less than the Aquitaine, the largest of the BritIsh'liners. The Hood is expected to tie-in commission that each 'dinner plate as it leaves the table in ti -e ordinary household harbors from 30,000 to 90,000 bac- teria. Most of these were harmless bacteria; still, if the plate were such fertile ground for harmless bacteria, it would make a rich culture for dan- gerous disease germs. �? Next a long series of experiments. were carried on to learn how many, bacteria were left on these . plates after they had been washed. The average dinner plate, when. washed in lulcewaern water and dried without rinsing, was found to have. on its surface 250,000 bacteria, or almost five tin=es as many as it had when brought soiled from the dinner table! This statement may seem amazing and improbable; but a little thought will show that it is logical, and the result what might have been expect- ed. What are the necessities for rapid bacterial growth? Warmth and food. And what does the•house- wife give to those bacteria when she' puts a let of dinner dishes in luke- warm dish water?- Warmth and food! : within ;;ix izi�tane Thousands of housewives are still, Sante Life keel was laid down, washing dishes in water no hotter'several striking innovations in than they can bear their hands in. It isnot hot enough to kill bacteria; in fact, it encourages them. • "So they multiply and increase, and the dishes that are taken out of this water have on them five times as many germs as theyhad when put into it. This source of danger can be elim- inated from the household by the use naval • shipbuilding have been made, chiefly as the result of the lessons learned by experts during 1918, and these have necessitated alterations in the ship's internal arrangement. She will be m=ine and torpedo -proof, her hull being -surrounded by a "bl=is- ter" or outer cushion, and there will be steel -armored • walls inside the ves- sel, which will be an additional afe- of iholtQ;alit rr .+1.. narefi,l guard. ;• rhisin� of dr ei ` i boiling `sista, , r� g lI 3 g . It is not, enough that your cishes A heavy fall of snow in Alberta merely look elev. At 0ly way to willadd to the—HA/hod moisture •• in have sterile dishes ie t >l�g }toiling 1 i'1A [wilt end has thu relieved a,nx-' dish water and ljoilili is=tieing water;: lety as to spring seeing conditions, but the housewife ehotrld take "Better let a man give all his time every precaution to have clear- dillies to selling groceries if he wins there- on which to serve her meals.There ,by the -means of winning love and -a are six rules by whicdi ono may home and children, than give all his achieve the mairitnvm of ciea'irlineee• time to the problems of life and fail, in dish -washing: : to live." -Ronald Campbell Aiacfie. PROBLEM OF THE el RELIGIOUS SPY" WHO HELPS TO SPREAD THE BUDDHIST FAITH. An American Missionary Working In Japan Describes 'Methods Adopted by Propagandists. Ali the world is familiar with the military spy, but the religious spy is something new -at least to the Occi- dental world. It has remained for the Buddhists of Japan to develop and perfect the religious spy system. Ac- cording to Christian missionaries in that country,, Buddhism is spying out, as it believes, the strong points of the Christiau religion as presented at the missions and adapting them to the spreading of Buddhism. Buddhist girl spies committieg Christian. Sunday school lessons and gospel hymns to memory, heathen preachers using Christian sermons verbatim except for substitution at the name of their gad, for that of Christ, pagan religions attempting re- vivals along Occidental lines ---these are some of the curious phases of the life of Japan to -day as told by Somner R. Vinton, a missionary home on fur- lough. "As Hinduism is trying to light back tine conquering armies of Christianity in India and as Mohammedanism is attempting a like task in Africa, so the devotees of the religions of Japan are waking up. And Just as Japan copies westernindustrial and govern- mental life she is trying to adopt our religious methods," said Mr. Vinton. Revivals in Pagan Religions. "There is a Shinto revival and a Buddhist revival, The first named 10 an attempt to substitute patriotism for religion. It is a huge experiment in national psyohology. If it succeeds it may have the same result as a similar plan had in Germany -Japan may out-Prussianize Prussia. "As to Buddhism, we have a proverb in Burma, where I was born and lived eighteen years, "The dying frog gives a last kick." "The Shin sect of Buddhists has two branches li}, Japan, the Nichi Hong- wanj;, and the Higashi Hongwanji, The Nichi Hongwanji is the progressive denomination which is conducting the revival movement, The movement has had an unhappy history. Large funds were collected and these were used secretly by some of the insiders for speculation on the Tokio Stock Exchange. The result was a huge scandal. The Japanese newspapers printed indignant articles and the government 'finally took over super- vision of the budget. This Buddhist budget last year was about $10,000,- 000, of which $6,50,000 was credited to the Hongwanji. "The Nichi IIongwanji is establish- ing Sunday schools throughout Japan. It has a big church and Sunday schools in the Hawaiian Islands, ands I was surprised to see when I visited it that the church building bore a cer- tain type of chrysanthemum in its de- coration, which in Japan can mean only that the enterprise using it en- joys imperial patronage. A Buddhist Sunday School. "I visited a Buddhist Sunday school in Japan ,with a missionary friend and was cordially received. The Buddhists eagerly showed us all over the build- ing, and then they began to ask us about American Sunday school meth- ods. My missionary friend gave the information desired freely. He told me later he did this because he was determined to bring these Buddhist leaders themselves to Christ, knowing what a great victory that would be, "But the Buddhists do not always get their information in this open way. For instance. a young Japanese girl professed conversion and became an active member of one of our Sun- day schools. She was ono of the or- naments of the church, and they were quite proud of her. "Six months later she disappeared. For some time no trace of her could be found, Then we discovered she - had been sent to learn all our meth-. ods. She had gone so far as commit- ting our best hymns to memory. To- day she is back imparting these meth- ods for the glory ef Buddha. "The Japanese now have regular Buddhist institutes for training men with all the methods used in our American Christian training schools. They have taken over our methods in every phase. They study in these In- stitutes our church services and Suis. day school activities. Competition in Education. "Some of the young men in training come to listen to our sermons, com- mit them to memory and then preach these same sermons in Buddhist pul- pits, only substituting Btuldlia for Christ whenever the word occurs, "Another side of Buddhist competi- tion with Christianity is in the schools. A wealthy man set up a splendidly equipped high school for girls in the neighborhood of one of our Methodist high schools, It was an opposition school, and having un- limited funds, it is now graduating more pupils, "In many ways this Buddhist school is excellent, but 1 thought I could de - teat in the faces of the girls that it was not turning out the fine type of womanhood we were. A. curious de- velopment, however, is that this school is becoming less and less a Buddhist institution every year. The Buddhist side is disappearing. Perhaps soma day the school may become Christian."' LAUGHTER -LOVING PEOPLE. British Literature and Drama Prove the Mirthfulness of Britons. Wo British, despite an ancient fable of the rest of the world that we are stern-faced, are a laughter -loving people, says the London Daily 141aii.• Tho literature and drama of a coun- try is always a mirror of its character, and British literature and drama have provided some of the greatest laugh- ers of all time. Shakespears, whose surpassing genius was a distillation of the Bri- tisk spirit, was the greatest of all the world's laughers. Fielding and Smola lett, fathers of the world's novelists, were mighty laughers. Charles Dick- ens, ickens, although so intimately, collo'qulal- ly, and almost insularly a British author, sent ripples of laughter round the world in translations into other tongues that will raise laughter among generations yet unborn. We have had, too, our great laugh- ing poets -Merrick, who laughed at lovers laugh, happily and daintily; Byron, who laughed satirically; Burns, finest laugher of them all, who laughed broadly, generously and hu- manly, and from a heart whose laugh- ter rose more mellow from the deeps of sorrow, like the laugh of the people in our streets to -day. Let PARKR Surprise Vota PARKER'S know all the line points about cleaning and dyeing. We can clean or dye anything from a filmy georgette Walesa to heavy draperies or rugs. Every article is given careful andexpert attention and satisfaction is guaranteed. Send your faded or spotted clothing or household goods to PRIER'5 We'will make tkem like new again. Our charges are reasonable and we pay ex- press or postal charges one way. .A, post card will bring our booklet of household suggestions that save mopey.. Write for it. PARKER'S DYE WORKS, Limited Cleaners and Dyers 791 Yonge St. Toronto