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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1936-04-30, Page 6PAGE SIX WINGHAM ADVANCE-TIMES*Thursday, April 30th, 1936 Goose WOMAN REX BEACH “Copyright by 'Rex Beach” THIRD INSTALMENT isSYNOPSIS: Amos Ethridge found murdered in a country lane with a crude cross of twigs on his breast and a scented sheet of note paper in Ills pocket. He was the richest man in the state with power and influence ■enough to make himself a candidate for Governor. With his death came tints of an unsavory private life, of scandal that might come to light if the murder is investigated too closely. . . . Mary Holmes, a former opera singer whose career was wreck­ ed when she lost her voice at the birth of her son, lives in squalor nearest the scene of the crime. . . . on a small chicken farm where she ekes out a poor living and tries to find in drink the forgetfulness of past glories when she was Maria di Nardi, world-renowned opera singer . . . . Gerald Holmes, a talented young art­ ist, is hated and loved by his mother who is embittered because his birth caused the loss of her voice and wrecked her operatic career. He has been befriended by the murdered Eth­ ridge, and is engaged to another of Amos Ethridge’s proteges . . . Hazel Woods, lovely and brilliant young actress, has been helped to success by Ethridge. She lives in a small cot­ tage owned by Ethridge . . . Jacob Riggs, eccentric old-time actor, now a doorman at the theater where Hazel Woods plays, has appointed, himself her guardian and lives in a roo'm ov­ er her garage. GO ON WITH THE STORY next day Mary Holmes hired NOW . The 41 neighbor to take charge of her poul­ try farm, then she dressed in her best, packed a few belongings in a valise • and went to a hotel in town, where she found a room already engaged for her and a woman awaiting her arrival. The stranger proved to be a matron from the girls’ reformatory. Together the two women visited sev­ eral shops and department stores and made numerous purchases. A hair dresser and a manicurist were at the •hotel when they returned; with their aid and under the matron’s directions Mary Holmes went through quite a transformation. Later in the after­ noon she put herself in the hands of a facial masseuse. Mrs. Holmes experienced a great pride and a great satisfaction in her changed appearance, also a growing . elation at the full realization of her been state wise and worldly; daily they were be­ coming more difficult to handle; some of them had begun to refer ra­ ther bitingly in their daily stories to his lack of progress and several had told hint that they would be called in before long unless there was some­ thing doing. Had Vogel been entirely selfish he would have welcomed an opportunity to work unhindered and unembarrassed, but as it was he urged them to wait and promised important developments in a short time. They waited. Westland waited. The coun­ try waited. Vogel kept his promise, He sent for the reporters. He kept them wait­ ing for an hour before admitting them to his private office, then he asked them to be seated while he read them an affidavit. It was an amazing document that they listened to—it was the steno­ graphic report of a carefully prepared statement by Mary Holmes. Mrs. Holmes “being duly sworn/ etc., recited that about ten o’clock on resulted new situation. She would have thoroughly contented with the of affairs except for one thing—she discovered that the matron had gone through her valise and removed her bottle of gin, her storm anchor, She hinted that she was quite tired and let down after the day’s excitement and felt the need of a little stimulant, but the matron told, her firmly that she must do without. It was Mr. Vogel’s orders . Mrs. Holmes argued that she had a bad heart and was subject to “low” spells; her doctor had prescribed a small nip of liquor, several times a day—not enough to be intoxicating, of course, just suffic­ ient to keep her poor heart going. But the matron did not drink and she declared very firmly that she did not propose to let her charge drink. That, in fact, was the principal reason for her presence here, and Mrs. Holmes might as well make up her mind right now to indulge in nothing more heart stimulating that tea and coffee until Mr. Vogel was with her. This domineering attitude in a stormy scene during which Mrs. Holmes indignantly demanded to know if she was free, white, and twenty-one, or if she was Mr. Vogel’s prisoner, his slave. The matron in­ formed her coldly that she could con­ sider herself as anything that pleased her, but if she insisted upon disobey­ ing the prosecuting attorney he could find means of committing her to some place where she would be forc­ ibly restrained from making a beast of herself. In spite of her pleasant surround­ ings, Mrs. Holmes slept badly that night and when she awoke she was irritable, her nerves were unstrung. In his investigation of the Ethridge murder Mr. Vogel’s diligence was not prompted solely by an impersonal de­ sire to solve a mystery and to bring the perpetrator of a dastardly crime to justice. Few officials are animated by motives so simple and so public spirited. He had not asked to handle this case; the assignment had been forced upon him by reason of the widespread interest which the press awakened in it. Quite naturally there­ fore, he had determined to get as much publicity as possible, out of‘it for himself. To that end he had kept in close touch with the newspaper­ men and periodically had fed them enough news, both real and imagin­ ary, to keep the case, and his name, on the front page. But reporters are I i I He was fixing the cross of twigs. the night upon which Amos Ethridge had met his death an automobile had passed her house going east and had stopped near the entrance to the Eth­ ridge lane. There it had turned off the road into a small grove of pine trees which were visible from her front window. That which had caused her in particular to notice this car was the fact that it was running with one headlight. When it stopped in the grove, this one light had been turned off. She had wondere/l what anyone could be doing in that place at such an hour and had suspected that it might be somebody fronf the Ital­ ian settlement contemplating a raid on her chicken house. Marauders had robbed her roosts so often that, she had been forced to buy a watchdog. She would have satisfied herself promptly, only for the fact that her son, Gerald, arrived a few minutes later and his coming drove it out of her mind. Gerald had remained with her until after midnight. When he had gone, apprehension, or perhaps curiosity to see if the car was still there, had prompted her to investi­ gate . She had walked up the road, moving slowly and. cautiously, She was still some ^distance from the pine grove when another car had ap­ proached from behind her, and ip or­ der to avoid detection in the glare of its! lights she had stepped aside into a clump of bushes. This Second car had turned at the lane and had stop­ ped, with its lights brilliantly illumin­ ating the gate and he shrubbery on each side of it. Mrs. Holmes had re­ cognized the driver, when he got out to open the gate, as Amos Ethridge. Vogel paused and glanced at the re­ porters. They were frozen in various attitudes of attention, so he resumed his reading: “I was much relieved to see him there and I was just about to call to him and ask him to wait a minute when I saw something very strange and startling. Suddenly, without warning, the bushes parted and a man stepped out. He was dressed in a long white cloak or mantle, I must be a ghost! “Answer, I’m afraid I cribe him very accurately, vous and frightened, anyhow, and this —this apparition made it worse. He was tall and I think he, wore a mask, but I’m not sure. Maybe he just wore a hat and it shaded 'his face. That’s' all I seem to remember—a tall man in a long robe, but I heard him speak to Mr. Ethridge, “Question, What did you hear him say? “Answer. He called him by name, then he said something about a wo­ man. It sounded as if he said, ‘I won’t let you take her away from me.’ Something like that. “Question . You are positive that he said something about a woman? “Answer. Yes. I distinctly. Then he shot Mr. Eth­ ridge. He shot him twice, before he could fall. He kept shooting at him as he lay on the ground. It was hor­ rible. I thought I must’be dreaming or that it was a scene on a dark stage played in a spotlight and I was away out at the front of • the house—it seemed so unreal. . What happened next is pretty confused. I was deathly afraid and I didn’t dare cry out or move for fear the assassin might have confederates near by and they’d kill me, too. I just stood there staring and shaking. I saw the man kneel over Mr.' Ethridge’s body, but his back was to me. I presume he was fixing that cross of twigs. Then he got up, passed out of the glare of the headlights, and turned them off. Af­ ter that, of course, I couldn’t see what he did. “Question: What did you do? “Answer. I stood still. I didn’t dare move. By and by I saw another light, across the road in the pine grove, so I dropped to my knees and crouched in stayed there ed me—the Then I got how, I found myself there with all thought it can’t des- I was ner- remember that the weeds and bushes. I until the other car pass­ car with one headlight, up and ran home: any- PHOTOGRAPH AT 141-FOOT LEVEL OF MOOSE RIVER MINE The' above picture shows the wood- floored platform at the 141-foot level of the Moose River’ mine. At the right is shown the metal bucket or in which Dr, Robertson, Al­ fred Scadding and Herman Magill were about to be hauled to the sru- facc when the cave-in occurred which Business and Professional Directory Wellington Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Established 1840. Risks taken on all classes of insur­ ance at reasonable rates. Head Office, Guelph, Ont ABNER COSENS, Agent, Wingham.1 DR. R. L. STEWART PHYSICIAN Telephone 29, Dr. Robt. C. REDMOND M.R.C.S. (England) L.R.C.P. (London) PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON DR. W. M. CONNELL PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON Phone 19. W. A. CRAWFORD, M.D. Physician and Surgeon Located at the office of the late Dr. J. P. Kennedy. . Phone 150 Wingham we examined the roadside she claimed she hid, and we an old glove which had lain for some time.’ It was her She showed us the mate to it house.” my doors locked.” Vogel laid aside the document from which he had been reading and said: “That, gentlemen, is the gist of Mrs. Holmes’s sworn statement, which she made voluntarily. Rather extraordinary, eh?” "Do you believe it?”-.somebody in­ quired. “Absolutely! Chief Lopez and I questioned her carefully and we fail­ ed to shake her on any point. What’s more, where found there glove, at her “Well ,1 don’t believe a word of it!” one of the local newspaper men declared. “I talked to her the next morning — I asked her a thousand questions—and she didn’t tell me any such story. It sounds altogether too theatrical. People don’t happen along country roads after midnight just in time to see murders committed glare of automobile headlights, didn’t she spill this sooner?” “She says the talk about the order frightened her.” “She’s a common drunk; she’s ec­ centric and utterly unreliable. I know all about her?” “Indeed?” Vogel grinned sarcasti­ cally. “Then you probably know who she really it. You know her stage name.” His listeners pricked up their ears, but he forestalled their ques­ tions by saying: “I’m making you boys a present of a big story that you weren’t smart enough to get for yourselves. Flow many of you re­ member a grand-opera singer by the name of Maria di Nardi? Not many. She was before your time. But I re­ member her and you can look her up. She lost her voice right at the height of her career and dropped out of sight; was forgotten. She’s living in Westland and her name is — Mary Holmes! Oh, you don’t have to take my word for it! You can talk to her as much as you please. Break down her story if you can. It’s more than I’ve been able to do.” “But wait!” another man queried, eagerly. “What about the one-eyed automobile and the fellow in the robe? Have you got him?” Vogel smiled, again, this time com­ placently, “Don’t ask me to tell you everything I know. I’m giving you this story because the Ethridge case is being tried in the newspapers and because you boys have worked hard on it. I’m treating you squarely and I expect square treatment in return. Understand? All right! Make the most of what you’ve got and—maybe I’ll have another story for you to- hiorrow. Possibly,, this evening,” With these words the Speaker opened tli(j door to an inner office and called Mrs. Holmes. When she appeared the newspaper in the Why secret imprisoned them Easter Sunday night, i this chamber that the Toronto men « The lantern in the foreground is the spent most of the time during their men eyed her in astonishment, for she one taken down by the three men in 10-day entombment. ’ (Copyright, 1936, Star Newspaper ’ longer the unlovely creature some oftheir journey underground. It was in was arrtazingiy (hanged. She was lid Dr. W. A. McKifrbon, B.A. PHYSICIAN And SURGEON Located at the Office of the Late Dp. H. W. Colborne. Office Phone 54.Nights 107 J. W. BUSHFIELD Barrister, Solicitor, Notary, Etc. Money to Loan. Office — Meyer Block, Wingham Successor to Dudley Holmes. J. H. CRAWFORD Barrister, Solicitor, Notary, Etc. Successor to R. Vanstone. Wingham Ontario R. S. HETHERINGTON BARRISTER and SOLICITOR Office —- Morton Block. Telephone No. 66 F. A. PARKER OSTEOPATH All Diseases Treated. Office adjoining residence next to Anglican Church on Centre St. Sunday by appointment. Osteopathy Electricity Phone 272, Hours, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. them had seen and all of them had written about; she was a quite impos­ ing middle-aged woman. Her hair no longer hung in greasy snarls, it was soft and clean and smoothly combed; her body'had shape, and a good-look­ ing street dress lent pleasing lines to it; there were silk hose and high-heel­ ed hsoes Upon her feet. More aston­ ishing than this, however, was the alteration in the woman herself. She entered the room with her head up, with a poise, a carnage that only the HARRY FRY Licensed Embalmer and Fimcral Director Furniture and Funeral Service Ambulance Service. Phones: Day 117. Night 109. / THOMAS FELLS AUCTIONEER REAL ESTATE SOLD A Thorough knowledge of Farm Stock. Phone 231, Wingham. It Will Pay You to Have An EXPERT AUCTIONEER to conduct your sale. See T. R. BENNETT At The Royal Service Station. Phone 174W. J. ALVIN FOX Licensed Drugless Practitioner CHIROPRACTIC - DRUGLESS THERAPY - RADIONIC EQUIPMENT ' Hours by Appointment. Phone 191. Wingham A. R. & F. E. DUVAL CHIROPRACTORS CHIROPRACTIC and ELECTRO THERAPY North Street — Wingham Telephone 300. stage can teach; in her b'earing was a dignity that brought the reporters to their feet and kept them standing until Vogel had introduced her and had given her a chair. (Coninued Next Week) Wash—Yo’ hear ’bout dat new car; ah got? Boy, she got some speed! Mose—How fast is she? Wash—Boy, she’s so fast dat when ah streaks down de line all de hogs side de ioad look like link sausage. WESTERN CANADA iSS EXCURSIONS From all Stations in Eastern Canada GOING DAILY — MAY 14 to 28 inclusive Return Limit: 45 days TICKETS GOOD IN # COACIIES at farce approximately Io per mile. • TOURIST SLEEPING CARS at fores approximately lXc per mile. u O. STANDARD SLEEPING CARS at fores approximately lj^c per mile. COST OF ACCOMMODATION IN SLEEPING CARS ADDITIONAL „ ' ■ ■■■ ..................... 1 t BAGGAGE Checked. Stopovers at Port Arthur, Armstrong, Chicago, and west. Tickets, Sleeping Car reservations, and all information from any agent. ASK FOR HANDBILL CANADIAN NATIONAL HYDRO LAMPS l.nni 1 I ' Wingham Utilities Commission1 Crawford Block. Phone 156.