HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1921-12-08, Page 7jfK
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" "OU_ _ OLD
TAR. ARNOLD"D
Mr. John leelton, representing Bnram-
shaw & L. oto, Limited, of London,
found,two letters waiting for him in
the consume pial -room of the George
Hotel, Millstone.
One was from his firm and the other
from his wife. He opened the latter
first, and learned that the baby had
cut her first tooth, and that the bright
little woman in the Brixton flat hoped
that business was good. µ"
The letter from his firm acknow
ledged two cheques and .a small ceder,
and • there was a 'postscript in the
'handwriting of the managing director,
"We trust you will endeavor to open
an account with Norris Brothers. This
firm are the laagest buyers in Mid -
stone, but we have not done bnsiness
with them for years. On your last
journey you reported that you called
twice and were unable fo see their
buyer, Mr. Arnold. We trust you• will
be more fortunate this time. The man
we need is a man who can open new
accounts."
There was.a troubled expression up-
- •on Halton's freckled, +good-humored
face as he placed the letter in his
pocket. He looked at his watch. It
was half -past five, late to make a call
and he had a very tiring day; but,
leaving his bag in the commercial
room, he picked up the small leather
ease containing his catalogues and
price lists, and set off for Norris', the
big wholesale and retail ironmongers
in Bridge Street. _
It was Thursday evening, and it had
beeu a rotten week. One of those
weeks when everything goes wrong—
big orders just gone to a rival; men
away on a holiday, gone to London for
the day. -
"Been in and went out a moment
ago!"
A veteran might have accepted the
situation philosophically, but John
Halton was not a veteran. He had
only been "on the road" three months;
he was still on his trial,
And his old job in the London ware-
house had been filled. It was a dis-
comforting thought that if he ceased
to represent Messrs. Bramshaw &
Lane in the Southern Counties he
would • cease to be in the employ of
the firm with whom he had started as
an office -boy nearly twenty years ago.
And he had not asked for the job; it
had been thrust upon him. He had
done a little travelling in the suburbs,
and then had been chosen to succeed a
rather crotchety old man, who had
kept Ilea vow to die in harness, but had
kept together barely half his connec-
tion. Halton had hated. leaving his
wife and child from Monday morning
until Friday night, and had discovered
that a traveller's life is not a bed of
roses, though until this last week he
had thought he was doing fairly well
on his job. •
Now, coming on top of an almost
blank Week, the managing -director's
postscript disturbed him. There seen -
ed an ominous note in it—a hint that
he was not rising taaexpectation,
He passed Messrs, Norris. Brothers'
big shop in Bridge Street, and turned
down a little side street to the ware-
house and office entrance.
An office -boy left his task of copy-
ing letters to take his card into an in-
ner office, and a clerk returned with it.
"You want to see Mr. Arnold?" he
said. "But he's just left for the day."
"Would you mind placing my card
onhis desk, and telling him I'll call
in the morning?" said Halton.
"Oh, very well!" replied the clerk
listlessly; and Halton returned to the
hotel.
He diad not much expected to see
the buyer at such a late hour; but, at
all events, he would report to his firer
that he had tried :and that was all he
could report that day—a day of trying
without result.
And after bis tea he wrote a letter
to his firm, and went out to post it.
It started to rain, and anyway he felt
too tired to go for his usual walk; so
he went back to the George Hotel,
politely refusing to make up a four at
solo, and, with a couple of hours be-
fore he could very well go to bed, he
entered the billiard -room,
Two men were playing, and a man
sat on a settee watching them, One
of the players he recognized as the
landlord of the hotel. The other play-
er, who had just made a break of
thirty as be entered, was a rather
portly little man, with a short grey
beard and a somewhat aggressive
manner. But he could certainly play
billiards, and just after Halton enter-
ed he brought off a fine losing hazard
and ran out an easy winner.
The landlord excused himself play-
ing" again, as the 'man who had been
watching wanted to see him on busi-
Hess, and the two men went out, leav-
ing the victorious player and Halton
alone. •
"Care for a game?" asked the victor
carelessly.; "I'll give you what points
you likes"
When John Haltom had married he
bad practically teased to play bis-
liards. When he had gone "on the
road" he had deckled never to play,
not on ' account of the expense --his
games 'would cost him little ---slut for
fear that it would lead to late hours
.and an unfitness 'for work in the morn-
ing, This lean, however, was far
above.the average inlayer, an opponent
after his own heart, and a game would
take him out of the gloomy chain of
thought into which he had fallen.
"1'il play you with pleasure, sir. 'I
should say we aro pretty evenly
Matched,"
Really!" Tlie bearded man's
brows lifted slightly. "I don't "often
play in this hotel, but wben I do 1 ex-
pect to give poluts. However, if you
can do without them so much the bet-
ter,',
As Halton selected a cue from the
rack.• he decided that this man must
be the oraek player of the town., who
rather resented anyone claiming to be
able to meet him on level terms, Even
out of practice as he was, Halton felt
sure that, with anything •like luck, he
would be able to more than hold his
awn,
They evade it a couple of hundred
up. For the first hundred the 'bearded
man, who had evidently took the
game very seriously, and scarcely
epoke a word, scored nearly twice as.
fast as he did. Then Halton made a
faultless break of forty-six and drew
level.
Two men had dropped in just be-
fore he completed it and they were
loud in their applause. The bearded
Man was looking grim.
"You play a very good game, sir," he
said. "You've gat your eye In now,
and I shall be a proud man if I succeed
in beating you."
Halton had got his eye in, and the
balls were running well for him. He
had made twenty-two, and had the red
over' the tap packet. As he leant over
the table to take the shot, he heard
one of the men ask his companion if
he knew who the players were.
"Don't know the big -break ' mer-
chant," came the half -whispered reply,
"but he was in the commercial -roam
for tea. The bearded chap is the
buyer for Norris', the big ironmongers
here. Man in the paint trade pointed
him out to me last time I was here,
They say he's a good player, but, a
poor loser." .
And Halton miscued, and left the
balls beautifully for his opponent.
"Hard luck, sir!" said the talkative
traveller sympathetically.
And it was hard luck. John Halton
had been delighted over that forty-six
break. It would have been fine to tell
the lnissds when he got home how he
had beaten a oocky little chap, and got
to within twenty of his record break,
despite playing en a strange table and
being out of practice. He bad set his
heart on winning the game.
But if he won he would certainly not
open an account with Mr. Arnold, the
buyer for Norris Bro•thiers, when he
called upon him the next morning.
The billiard -room . was filling up. whom he had played billiards at the
News of a great game in progress had George,
been conveyed by the waiter who,had "Good -morning, Mr Halton!" said
brought drinks for the two spectat- the bearded elan quite genially. "You
ors The bearded man scored twenty- asked for our Mr. Arnold; but I learnt
five off the fine opening he had given your identity from the landlord be-.
him. foie I left the hotel last night, and L
•And John Halton went to the table resolved to remove the name of your
to play to lose. firm from our black list,".
He hated it -hated it not only be- "Brack Idst, sir!" gasped the bewild-
cause'he was so keen on winning, but Bred Halton.
on the principle of the thing. A game "There are certain travellers who
was a game, play it; but, ,also bus% have annoyed ,rase—men who won't
ness was business. At the back of his take 'No' fpr an answer -men like
mind was the little fiat in Brixton, a your flrnn's last representative, a self -
woman and a tiny mortal who had opinioned old ass, sir. I never: see
just cut her first teeth; they depend- those -peen again. They are told that
ed upon him. Mr. Arnold is the buyer, and they call
His business was to open new .ac- . to see him, but never succeed for the
counts. The fact of having played simple- reason that there is no such
billiards with the elusive Mr. Arnold person in. our employ."
should be of value when he called to i John Halton gazed at him blankly.
see him in the morning. To "open". "You must keep this seoret, Mr. Hale
with Norris Brothers would wipe out ton. 1 have told it to you because 1
the stigma of an almost blank week. have respect for you. I respect any
Halton made a pretty fifteen. His ; man who can beat me level at billi-
breakdown on a fine round -the -table : ards. 1 feel that — But we must
Dannon elected murmurs of sympathy. get to business. I think I can snake
It would never do to go all to pieces' you up a decent order, And next time
suddenly. ; you're coming to Midstone, drop me a
The bearded 'man was fretting and line a week or so ahead, and I'll keer
fuming. He had told the landlord be the date free in order to try midget my
fore that the spot ball was not run ;.revenge."
ning true. 'Would that gentleman with Half an hour later John Halton de -
the cigar get a little farther away z parted with an order that more than
from the table? Smoke made it so dif- made up for the poor week he had
had and he had "opened" :with Nor-
ris Brothers, and was on very good
terms with the senior partner, who
Pwwwwwwand the worst is yet to come
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office of Messrs. Norris Brothers, hop-
ing devoutly that Mr. Arnold would
prove a better sportsman than his
manner the previous night had sug-
gested.
A clerk took in his card.
"Colne this way, please. Mr. Norris,
will see you," he said.
And John Halton, greatly puzzled,
followed him along a corridor. He had
asked to see Mr. Arnold. Why was he
being taken to a man mho was pre-
sumably one of the partners?"
The clerk opened a door; and John
Halton, hat in one hand and brown
leather case in the other, found him-
self
imself 'face to face with the man with
ficnit for him to see.
Halton cleverly missed two good op-
partunities, and placed the balls each
time for his opponent; then, with had promised to put all he could in
twenty wanted to win, he scored his way.
eighteen, and could almost see Mr. And it was a very happy, confident
Arnold's hair standing on end. man who set off back to the little flat
He wanted Mr. Arnold to remember in Brixton.
him in the morning. r
"One hundred and ninety-two—one
hundred and ninety-eight," called the Testing the Age of Eggs.
marker, who had appeared upon the `' Fill a tumbler two-thirds full of
scene. - water and then place in it a newly-
Halton had left the balls in such a laid egg and it will sink to the bot -
position that he was confident his op- torn of the glass. The egg is compos -
Dement would easily run out. Bet the
bearded man was obviously nervous.
The room was tense with excitement.
He went In with the red, brought the
red down over the middle pocket, and
went in again. He wanted two for
game, and had an easy cannon on.
But he missed it.
"One hundred and ninety-eight all,"
came the voice of the marker. -
"Confound the man?" thought Hal-
ton.
alton. He was making things difficult
for him. The balls were ,rather awk-
wardly placed; so Halton, anxiofis not
to score, but at beast :to have the satis-
faction of letting the bearded man see
that he 'knew as much about the game
as he did, played for' a brilliant round -
the -table cannon
Ho played to miss by threo'or four
inahes•, but miscalculated the ateount
of side necessary. '
"Gamer' called the marker as the
balls clicked; and, amid .,great ap-
plause, the bearded main put on his
co=at and paid the marker.
"Thank you, sir!" he said shortly to
Halton. "A very geed gauze indeed.
1 regret I cannot asic you to let me
have my revenge, as I must be get-
ting off."
And Halton, forcing a. smile in reply
to the congratulations of excited spec-
tatoree refused to play again, put on
his light coat and, filled withdismay,
went fora short want ere he went to
bed,
anti about ten o'clock the next
morning he presented himself at the
ed largely 'of water, and therefore is
heaviest while it is fresh. The older
the egg, the lighter it becomes on ac-
count of the -water evaporating from
the white of the egg, which causes
the empty space at the thick end of
the egg to become enlarged. Hence,
at three weeks of age the egg will
lean in the water. When three months
did it will stand perfectly straight,
with pointed end of the egg barely
touching the bottom of the glass, The
larger the empty space becomes the
more the egg will rise in the water,
until filially it reaches the surface.
He Wanted Variety.
Not long ago there occurred a big
flee in a 1Vlas•sachusetts town, and the
crowds that gathered were soon re -en -
faced by others from near -by places.
While running to this :fire one man
overtook another in the road who was
proceeding • in the sante direction.
"Where's, the fire?" asked the last-
mentioned
astmentioned znan, out of breath. "Don't
tell see- it's the carpet factory! i've
seal► that twice already."
Motor traffic that kill and a gun
that "I :didn't know was loadody' are
in the same category. It is time that
the motorist awoke to the fact the:: he
is driving a deadly weapon and that
every time he ignores traffic t,ogulel-
tion he is pointing a loaded gun at a,
fellow mortal's Bead.
PRINCESS' CHOICE
PLEASES ENGLAND
KING'S ONLY DAUGHTER
TO WED VISCOUNT.
Interest is Renewed in the
Marriages of the Prince of
Wales, the Duke of York
and Prince Henry.
The betrothal of Princess Mary has
been joyously received all over Eng-
land, largely besaiise she is marrying
an Englishman, says •a Landon des-
patch. The ,action has had the effect
of reassuring the mind of the British
people on a subject about which much
has been spoken and little written—
the forthcoming marriages of her
rte, the :Prince of Wales, the
rk and Prince Henry. It
vious that the war had
altered , the situation re-
garding eligible royal alliances for the
Prinoe3•''of the blood, and it is now
likely and certainly highly desired that
they will go back to the old tradition
of the English throne before the royal
marriage act was passed.
There was a stringent restriction in
the Stuart times, but previously there
had been many instances of marriages
outside reigning families. Many Plan-
tagenets married outside royal strains,
and three daughters of Edward I.,
who had a high sense of rayaledignity,
married knights, two of whom were
English earls holding titles no higher
than that Princess Mary's future hus-
band will bear.
Question of Royal Marriage.
The eldest daughter of Edward III.
married a French knight who was
created Earl of Medford. Under the
Stuarts, royal blood marriages were.
strictly insisted upon, though James,
Duke of York, married Ann Hyde, but
it was kept a secret, With the
Georges the, passion for restricting
mariiages"to:royal families reached its
height. '
George III. and his consort Angie
were both fanatics ou this subject, and
were greatly •angered when two of the
King's brothers married commoaners.
A sequel to this was the royal mar-
riage act, which tightened the restric-
tions, which still prevail
Owing to the necessity of excluding
Roman Catholic princesses the royal
field since the war is very barren, It
it certain that public opinion would
never tolerate the marriage of any
Prince with a German, and the num-
ber of marriageable princesses in Hol-
land, Deunnan'k, Sweden and Norway
is remarkably small. The imperial
family of Russia has utterly disap-
peared and the Greek princesses
would not be popular here now. The
remaining royal fanniliee, those of
Spain, Italy and Belgium, are Roman
Catholics,
In these conditions it is inevitable
that some at least of the King's sons
must marry outside royal circles, and
there is no doubt that the people
would cordially welcome such a selec-
tion. It is no secret that the Prince of
Wales prefers to take an English girt,
and undoubtedly the people would ac-
claailnl the selection with eitcb enthusi-
asm that the Rause of Loads would
set aside the marriage art It is ac-
cepted here as almost certain that the
oldsuperstitions about the brood royal
mast give way to modern ideas, and
the betirothal of Princess Mary is re-
garded as the first step in this direc-
tion,
bent
He Qualified.
She—"Sir, i understand yon said 1
had a face that would stop a clock."
Ile--•-"Sof did, Any well -regulated
clock would pause and hold up its
hands in admiration at the sight of
your lovely face,"
•
KEEP MUFFLEI?. CLEAN A
One of the parts of an automobile
most neglected by many owners and
drivers is the muffler. As 'a boy with
a dirty face puts off the cleaning up
process just as long as possible, so the
motorist with a muffler that needs
attention procrastinates and thinks
perhaps he will fix it up to -morrow.
And to -morrow never .comes. But to-
day is always here with its greater
use of
gasoline e and various other
complications that a dirty muffler
causes.
The muffler is located under the car,
and being out of sight'is usually out of
mind. Itis therefore' often neglected
or misused. And yet it ought not to
be. The muffler is peseced on the end
of the exhaust pipe ottb the engine so
that the driver of an automobile while
taking pleasure . himself does not
wholly deprive others of it.
Let us consider the use of the muf-
fler. The exhaust valve opens while
the burned gas is still under pressure
of from twenty-five to thirty pounds
per square inch. If this were exhaust-
ed directly into the air the resulting
noise would stifle conversation in the
car, annoy everybody along the street
and quickly get the driver into trouble
with the police. The mufflier prevents
'all this. It provides a chamber in
which these exhaust gases may ex-
pand and cool somewhat and at the
same time breaks up the pressure by
allowing it to leak out slowly through
a number of very small holes, instead
of letting it loose in one "big noise."
The "Cut -Out" Valve.
In the early history of the automo-
bile mufflers were not used and every-
body for blocks around knew when an
auto was coming. As the automobiles
increased in number this . became a
nuisance and wasa stopped by law.
Then they sought, indeed, had been
seeking, a means of stifling the sound.
In the early muffler there was trouble
because the gas would back up in the
cylinder and decrease the power of
the motor. It was thought there was
no way to decrease the sound without
decreasing the power; therefore, the
manufacturers devised a valve to "cut
out" the muffler on the car whenever'
extra power was desired.
Sometimes the back pressure was so
great as to interfere when driving
through heavy roads or up hills. The
"cut out" let the gas exhaust directly
into the air instead of going through
the muffler. At ;the present time
nearly every city has a law prohibit-
ing
rohibiting the use of "cut outs."
As a matter of fact, those well post-
ed on automobile engines understand
to -day that the "cut out" is absolutely
unnecessary on a modern car if the
muffler is kept in proper condition.
Muffler manufacturers have been able
to produce ,a design in which there is
no back pressure at all. For this rea-
son manufacturers discourage the use
of the "cut out" on their cars, and
ND NO CUT-OUT NEEDED,
some of them will no longer install
one except as an "extra."
The average driver, however, does
not know that : his muffler needs as
careful attention as any other part of
the mechanism, and so he neglects it.
In these days of noiseless cars it re-
quires a great number ,of very small
holes inside the muffler. These become
clogged with soot or carbon from the
11
exhaust. The deposit posit co ect s
very
rapidly, especially when the grade of
oil used is poor or too much oil. is
used. It also results when the car-
buretor is adjusted to give too rich
a mixture,
Openings Become Clogged.'
When these small openings become
clogged the exhaust gases cannot es-
cape readily, and naturally the cylin-
der of the engine is not •cleaned at the
exhaust stroke. Result: It is impos-
sible to bring in a full cylinder of new
gas on the next intake stroke. There
is not a full charge to explode, and
this means a loss of power to the
engine.
Cases are known where the throttle
was opened wide without any increase
in power. Trying to find out what the
matter was, the driver opened the
"cut out" and this caused the machine
to accelerate very rapidly:
In other cases when the engine was
cranked there would be a few explo-
sions, a sputter and a stop, and the
reason was that the muffler was so
clogged that it was impossible to ex-
haust the gas from these few explo-
sions; the cylinder remained full of
burned gas, and, of course, could not
take in a further supply. These, of
course, are extreme cases.
The writer had the following exper-
ience not long ago:
He was riding in a car that could
hardly make headway against a strong
wind ;blowing. This meant frequent
use of the second -speed gear, which in
itself causes an undue use of gasoline.
He found on experimenting that the
muffler "cut out" pedal could be used
in place of the accelerator pedal; that
is, when the muffler "cut but" was
open the engine had considerably more
power and immediately speeded up.
In fact, he kept the "cut out" open
most •of the way home and had no
more trouble in bucking the head wind.
Of course, where the engine is•
stopped or there is a decided decrease
in power the owner will hunt for the
trouble,_ and find it, perhaps, in the
muffler, He "might not notice less
serious cases where, while the muffler
is somewhat clogged, it does not de-
crease the power strikingly; but even
in these less serious cases it will often
be found that the power of the motor
may he materially increased by hav-
ing the muffler cleaned; yet it is sel-
dom done, even when the car is sup-
posed to be overhauled completely.
Many drivers seem to think the muf-
fler can take care of itself.
Land of Our Birth.
Land of our birth we pledge to thee
Our love and toil in the years to be,
When we are grown and take our
place
As men and women with our race,
Father in Heav'n, who lovest all,
Oh, help Thy children when they, call,
That they may build from age to age,
.An undefiled heritage.
Teach els delight in simple things,
And mirth that has no bitter springs,
Forgiveness free of evil done,
And Love to all men 'neath the sun.
Land of our birth, our faith, our pride,
For whose dear snake our fathers died.
0 mtherand, we pledge to thee,
Hear, heart and hand thro' the years
to be!
Teach us to look in all our ends,
On Thee for judge and not our friends,
That we with Thee may walk un -
By fear or favor of the crowd,
Teach us the strength that cannot
seek,
By deed or thought, to hint the weak,
That under Thee we niay possess
Man's strength to comfort man's dis-
tress,
---Rudyard Kipling.
A Prospect ct of Retros. ect.
When I think how time will -pass
Until this Now is turned to Then,
Like smoke that fattes within a glass
Seem the curled fancies of ray pen.
For this year's sturdy discontent
Will read as words a boy mis-spelled,
When I have weighed the Much life
meant
Against the Little that it held.
—Edward Davison.
•k3
Smuts Was Snubbed.
General Snits told an amusing
story a short time ago.
"I was et a social gathering with
General Botha," Ile said. "Two flap•
pees came up and asked line for my
autograph, In a daintily bound book I
signed my naine with the proffered
pencil. The girl studied my signature
with a frown. 'Aren't you General'
Botha?' she asked, 'No,' I replied, 'I'in
General Smuts.' She turned to her
friend with a shrug. 'Lend ere your
India-r•ublier, Iday,' she said."
One inch of rain nle�ana t')O 'tans of
water on every acre.
Love's Lantern.
Because the road was steep and long
And through a dark and lonely land,
God set upon my lips a song
And put a lantern in my hand.
Through miles on weary miles of night
That stretch relentless on my way.
My lantern burns serene and white,
An unexhausted cup of day.
0 yolden lights and lights like wine,
How dim your boasted splendors
are,
Behold this little lamp of mine.
It is more starlike than a star!
-•--Joyce Kilmer,
Turk Says He is 146 Years
Gild.
The eternal wrangle over claims of
being the oldest 14ving person has
broken out ber again with the arrival
in Marseilles on the way to London
of a Turk named Djoure, who asserts
he is 146 year sold, says a Paris des-
patch. 11 this is true he outdistances
the American Indian Kabenahgway
wence (Wrinkled Meat), who was de-
clared to hold the Western Hemis-
phere record, by twelve years.
Unlike a majority of such claimants,
Djouro produced what purported to be
a birth certificate showing that he was
born in 1775 in Bitlis,.in the Causesus.
Until he left Constantinople he was
still working as a market porter, and
on landing in. Marseilles he carried
his baggage on his shoulders,
There has been a slump in the nuns-
ber of French centenarians since 1886,
when the Government investigated the
claims of- 184 such persons shown in
the census books. Only sixteen of
these producod baptismal certificates.
Nothing could be learned about forty-
eight, and the rest were regarded as
stretching .the facts concerning dates
of their births, The oldest man then
living in Prance was declared to be a
Spaniard. He was living in Tarbes
and was 116 years old.
Dry,
'the great steamship "Mauretania,"
was .greatly 'damaged recently by a
fire caused by a carelessly dropped
cigarette stub, Sim11ar stubs halal
destroyed. Canadian forests, that would
havo supplied the wooden decks ami
interior fittings fora hundred "Maur,
etaniaa,"