Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 307, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 December 1916 — Page 2

The Grafter

By H. M. EGBERT

(Copyright. 1916. by W. G. Chapman.) The case against Richard Halstcin was damning, and it hung on one fact That fact was the thumb-print. Here it is: Lewis Halstein had adopted his nephew Richard in Infancy. He was a queer old character; he had brought the boy up in idleness, alleging that work was beneath the dignity of a gentleman. That alone shews that Lewis Halstein was decidedly eccentric. At twenty-four, when his nephew left college, he came Home to find his uncle, a millionaire and more eccentric than ever. Remember, Richard had never been, trained to work. He was about as capable of earning a living as a Polynesian set down in the streets of New York. Less so, for the Polynesian could go on exhibition as the Wild Man of Borneo and earn his two dollars a day. Richard Halstein could not. He looked the ordinary type of better-class American, and there was nothing about him that would make any man look at him twice in the street. Richard Halstein came home to fall in love with Mildred James, the daughter of his uncle’s neighbor. When Uncle heard of the engagement he was furious. He turned his nephew out of his home penniless. Richard seems to have had a rather hard time. However, it was the uncle who took the initiative. He asked him back, and the butler testified that he heard the two quarreling all the evening in the old man’s library. He listened, as a servant will do, and heard Lewis Halstein order his nephew out of the house for good. Following this, Richard Halstein stamped out in a rage. At nine the next morning Lew-

“No, Your Honor.”

Is Halstein was found lying dead in his library, upon the floor. He had evidently fallen from his chair when a shot fired from behind entered his brain. Upon the table were pen and •Ink and paper, and it was surmised that he had intended to alter his will, which was found to be in his nephew’s favor. Upon the polished mahogany back of the chair on which he had been seated was found a thumb-print. It w r as Richard’s. That was the one fact against him. The thumb-print could not have been made earlier in the evening, because the butler testified that after Richard’s departure he had heard the old man drag the chair from the living room; it was a high chair, such as he used when writing at a table instead of at his desk. Richard w T and placed on trial There was no other evidence against him, but a thumb-print is always a thumb-print. Only Miss James believed in his innocence—unless his lawyer, Tom Fellowes, did. Fed owes was a card. He had studied medicine before the law, and had been expelled from the medical school for some prank. He had not the best reputation as a lawyer. He was fond of tackling dubious cases; but he won them. Perhaps he was the best lawyer Richard could have had. At any rate, he struck a stroke in court which (I was one of the jurymen) dumfounded us and everybody. He produced One-Lamp Ike. > One-Lamp Ike was a local character, half-witted, against whom the worst known was robbery, petty thieving which: had landed him repeatedly in jail, and had more often still secured him a thrashing and nothing more. The l counsel for the state had produced evidence to show that the fin-ger-print remains through life. Fellowes was cross-examining his last witness. 1 \ f<You say that only two cases in a hundred million are to he-found of aimllar thumb markings on different men,” he said. “Are there a hundred million finger-prints In the world?” »‘I don’t know," responded the witness testily. “I haven’t counted them. There are a good' many.” ...

“Nnme the two cases in which the thumb or finger-prints were found to be the same.’N “I don’t know of any two. I believe there are none.” “Then what is your ground for the statement that two cases occur in a hundred million?" “I suppose that merely means that it only occurs in an impossibly large number,” retorted the witness uneasily. “You admit, then, that you were speaking ?” “I say that there are no two qien in less than a hundred millions with similar finger or thumb-prints.” “I will call the man known as OneLamp Ike,” said Mr. Fellowes. The court was agog now. Fellowes purpose became evident, and there was a breathless silence as he produced a sheet of paper, a pad coated with lamp-black, or some similar substance, and a magnifying glass. “One-Lamp Ike,” said Mr. Fellowes;' 1 “you have never had your finger-prints taken before?” «, “No, your honor,” answered the Imbecile, grinning. “You didn’t happen to murder Mr. Halstein, I suppose?” Fellowes continued. One-Lamp scratched his head. “I don’t remember of it, sir,” he said. “I was drunk at the time.” “Your memory is not very good, I think?” “No, your honor.” It was all the typical conjuror’s patter. Nobody took much notice of it. We were leaning forward in the jurybox, while Mr. Fellowes, having completed his preparations, took OneLamp’s thumb, stuck it to the pad and pressed it down hard on the paper. “Now,” he said to the court, “I claim to show that the last witness was mistaken, or else that here we have the two men in a hundred millions with similar thumb-prints. I submit this evidence to the court.’j And he handed it up, together with the reproduction of Richard’s thumbprint, and the magnifying glass. The court looked at it for fully five minutes, turning the glass this way and that Then he had it submitted to the jurors. \Ve scanned it. There was no possibility of mistaking that the two prints were identical. “I propose, your honor,” said Fellowes, “that the thumb-print of the prisoner be taken again and superimposed photographically upon this.” The court adjourned in the greatest excitement. Nex day, When it reconvened, the two prints were found to coincide exactly. They had been magnified a dozen times; the great web of tracings upon the paper, looking like S a maze, was perfectly distinct. There was the one and only pattern. And, examined separately, not the smallest divergence could be found .between tiie-thumb-prints of Richard Hal|:teip.v6nd those of One-Lamp Ike. - There was only one thing to do. Here were two men, one of whom must have committed the murder. There was no possibility of collusion. There was no further evidence. We acquitted the prisoner by direction of the court, and he left the courtroom a free man. He married Mildred James the next day, and they went West, where they are reported to be doing well. OneLamp Ike came into a lot of money In some mysterious fashion a little while later, and was found drowned in a horse-trough, into which he had fallen while intoxicated. I was frankly puzzled by the coincidence. That some trick had been played seemed more probable to me than that the two men in a hundred million had really been found in the same town. It was about five years after that, being then a resident in a southern town, I met Fellowes, who was practicing in some other place. We became intimate, and in a burst of confidence he told me the facts. “Richard Halstein did kill his uncle,” he said; “but it was only homicide. Murder is what you would have found in your verdict. The appearances were so much against him that it would not have been safe for Mm to have told the truth. “Lewis Halstein had sent for him, in the hope of inducing him to give up Mildred James. The uncle had become almost insane over the matter; his quarrel with James had been a bitter one, and his mind was probably weakening from old age. He drew a revolver and threatened to kill his nephew. “Richard grasped It, and the men fought in silence for several seconds. Then his uncle, who was a strong old man, got his finger upon the trigger. Richard swung the revolver round just in the nick of time. Lewis Halstein pressed the trigger, but the bullet went into his own brain. “Horrified at" his action, Richard went away hurriedly. He wavered between confession and denial. That was a fatal policy, for it brought the rope within an inch of his neck.” “And the thumb-print?” I asked. He shot a keen look at, me. “Quite simple,” he replied. “I don’t mind telling you now'. One-Lamp Ike wasn’t such a fool as he looked, and he was quite willing to risk his neck for twenty thousand dollars. You know, I - used to study medicine? - Well, all that wasnecessary was to remove the outer eutiep from Richard’s thumb, remove the same thing from Ike’s, and graft the cuticle from Richard’s thumb upon <hat of Ike. Of course, in time the pattern would reassert Itself, but not till the cuticle had become connected with the flesh beneath. Meanwhile, Richard’s had grown again. That’s all—but if ever su£h a trick was Justified, I think it was to save an innocent man.”

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

Fashion has approved, year in and year out, the one-piece frock for the young girl, and this piece of good judgment is more than exonerated. It has resulted in cleverly designed dresses that conceal the angles of the miss w T ho has arrived at the awkward age. And now r her elders are about to take advantage of the. gracefulness of the one-piece frock, for the mode demands this style for everybody—young or old —whose figure will allow it. The dress for a miss of twelve or more years shown in the picture, is of serge and might be made of any other -«k»th t a£.^pp|- i 3tJe. St! ! me weight and texture. A dress of this Kinam ported by a plain underbodice of muslin or silk which extends below the waistline and often supports an underpetticoat. This dress is laid in two single box plaits at the front and back that extend to the waistline. At the

One might as well try to count the stars as to tell of the innumerable styles in bags that have come to the front In fashion’s parade. They are here in anticipation of the holidays, and promise to entice more money out of shoppers than any other one article in a whole galaxy of luxurious things. They are expensive luxuries, but every one concedes their right to be. Handsome beaded bags, in which the background and decorations are entirely of smair beads, bring sometimes a hundred dollars; and twenty dollars is a modest price for this particular kind of bag. Others of velvet, embroidered with steel beads, range between five and twenty-five dollars, with few that are less. There are bags partly covered with bead patterns on satin, and many showing combinations of two fabrics, as velvet and brocade or velvet and satin. They are all made of rich materials, but It is the tedious handwork involved that brings the high price. The practiced needleworker who can do this for herself can save a surprisingly large part of the cosf of these sumptuous accessories. In the picture a bag and hat to match and two separate bags are shown. The hat has a wide brim of gold lace and a crown a piece of Paisley. The brim edge Is bound with seal, and a single peacock feather poses the glorious colorings of nature against a background I’icb enough to correspond with it. The ba# Is of Paisley with tassel of fur tied with a small bow of black satin ribbon like that In the hangers.

For the Schoolgirl

In the Galaxy of Luxuries

front nnd back of the skirt portion the material is laid in a double box plait. l Then four flat panels, and they are joined by side pieces which are shirred in two groups of shirrings. In the shirrings needlework is introduced with colored silk thread, in contrast with the color of the material. Smocking is used, instead of shirring, in other models. Small buttons, covered with the material of the frock, define the shirrings. Cloth-covered buttons, in a larger size, fasten the girdle, which Is slashed into three tabs at the end. A buttonhole is worked in each tab. The girdle the dress at the waistline, but breaks tfie'teagjh of the figure. It is a featuroof many one-piece frocks, where its real use appears to be to make a place for silk embroidery or bead work and to provide a chic finish for the frock.

A fairly simple bag of black velvet and satin is wrought with a latticework pattern in small steel beads. Small apples, made of satin, are suspended at the bottom, set in a little frill of velvet. They are calculated to tempt the daughters of Eve into extravagance. A more elaborate bag is decorated with beads at- the top and bottom in wide border and lattice pattern, and a narrower pattern along the sides. It closes with steel rings, and a beaded hanger is strung through them.

The New Old-Fashioned Girls.

In the old-fashion girl Miss Alcott somewhere drew a pretty picture Of her heroine.in her little homespun blue frock and her tippet of squirrel. Young girls are wearing the same sort of wide skirted blue frocks and the self-same tippets of squirrel this year. The combination is so very pretty and beeojping to youthful complexions that it is no wonder to find it in high favor again.

Snowball Muff.

The very newest muff to be seen in New York Is perfectly round with invisible slits in the sides and it is scarcely larger than a good-sized grape fruit. These snowball are made in ermine, white fox and squirrel.

HAPPENINGS in the BIG CITIES

“Low Bridge” Is Often Heard in New York Now

NEW YORK.—David Haruip, was it not, who said in the company of wealthy and entirely fashionable men of New York that it would be fun to see how many of them would duck if he said "Lew bridge?” Right here

a shivering halt. “Now, then,” says the conductor, “all of you be careful. Here is where we go under the elevated railroad, and this company has been Tunning these stages up here for a long time and we ain’t never lost a life. It’s safe, all right, if you keep your head down and don’t get absent-minded, any of you, and raise up to smooth out your dress or anything like that. If you think of it, forget it.” Perhaps there is several feet or more of space above the head of the person of ordinary dimensions as the tall auto makes its dip under the elevated girders, but it doesn’t seem like it. The lady from afar who has invested in the highest creation in millinery extant feels that there is not half an inch to spare. She bends down until the mass of felt and feathers crunches against the rail of the stage. “That’s right; look out for your head, madam,” says the all-seeing conductor. “Don’t you mind my head,” says she; “I’ve had it for 35 years, but thishat I got today and I’m going to save it.” The stage again dives under the elevated structure at this spot, but the conductor usually sings out: “Low bridge again. Now, every mother s sou of you, low bridge, and if anything happens don’t forget that I told you to stay you was put.”

Portland Ore., Boasts of Only Carp Hound

PORTLAND, ORE. —Dr. Alan Welch Smith and his fellow owners of a duck pond on Sauvie’s island have presented to the world a new species of animal, to wit, the carp hound. This dog eats fish and insists on taking them*

alive right out of the water. When Doctor Smith and his friends visited their pond a - short time ago they found most of the wheat they had carefully planted as duck bait was gone. The evident size of the mouthful quantities in which it had been taken away, added to the scarcity of ducks, led the huntsmen to believe nil was not right; they suspected the objects of their charity had been robbed. “Carp,” said a sage member of the

party. As if to prove his hypothesis a big fish just then insolently swung into the wheat field and went away with his ipouth full. Another of the party had a dog. He was an intelligent dog, and when his master took him to one side and confided to him the dirty tricks the fish had been playing the dog took it to heart. He barked his sympathy \aiul decided to sacrifice himself at the altar of Nimrod. The next carp that started for the wheat met an untimely death. The carp hound let out a yell which frightened the fish out of its wits, then, while the carp was still dazed, sank its teeth gently but firmly in the enemy’s back and took him out- of his native element. The dog continued his raids until the pond was nearly vacant, so far as carp were concerned. At the end of a week the hunters found their wheat practically intact.

Chicago Tries New Punishment for Bad Boys

CHICAGO. —Punishment of a new brand is being imposed upon Chicago’s boys. It is punishment without bars, fences, locks, or prison walls. Sunshine is substituted for solitary. Now, when the juvenile court starts its

slower half* miler try to maintain the track supremacy of his house. About 200 educators, lawyers, judges, and business men took part in the dedication of the Chicago and Cook County School for Boys. In place of the grim walls and barred windows of the house of correction, the boys have a group of buildings resembling a private school or The main building was designed by Arthur F. Hussander, school architect, iS 1 the same manner that he designs school buildings for ordinary boys and girls who have no occasion to consider the law unfriendly. The building cost the board of education $75,000, and there are 75 acres of land. A low hedge, which the boys will care for, takes the place of the usual iron fence or stone wall. There are no physical obstructions to prevent boys from running off. But the men and women who have worked for the idea have no fear that boys will run away. '

Putting Sixteen Tons of Genius Up On a Roof

NEW YORK.—When “Dick” Healy bossed the job of boosting a wooden nutmeg figure up to the top of the state capitol in Hartford, Conn., he said he and Nutmeg had the time of their lives. Now Healy has been having a

tussle with Genius*jot- Telegraphy, a 80-foot tail, 16-ton’ weight gentleman, with wings, up on the tip top of the building at Broadway and Dey street. It required only about au hour to raise Genius 26 stories to the roof, but It was a week before Healy and his ten riggers got the statue perched on the eight-foot base at the top of the tower, about 82 stories above the street. ( Moving sixteen tons of Genlus.'on skids across the roof wasn’t much.

what with electrical donkey engines to do the pulling; but to stand the winged gentleman on his feet on a platform just large -enough for himself wad somethlD Evriyn a Satrice Longman designed the statue and William Welles Boeworth executed it. Genius grasps what looks like a lot of live wires with one hand but the idea is that they are sections of lightning picked right out of the sky The other hand holds a coil of wire which winds around his legs,, reDresenting the means by which the 50-word night letter telegrams are sent. Genius will wear a SI,OOO suit of gold this winter. Ordinarily Genial doesn't get a look in for gaudy raiment. ; * -

in the metropolis is the cry of warning now heard many times a day since* the Fifth avenue stages began to go up to Riverside drive. To get the full sensation of “low bridge” ascend to the very top of the stage somewhere in the neighborhood of St. Patrick’s Chthedral. You will thus be and prepared for anything when it takes a swift detour to at street! and plungek''tflotifg in front of Mrs. Vanderbilt’s house nnd then comes to

corrective machinery, the sentence i» a course in intensive cultivation of onions, or, if the culprit prefers, fruit growing,-or chicken raising, or a trade. If the boy, is unusually well behavttd while serving his sentence, he will be permitted to drive the motor bu» which meets visitors at the car line. If lie insists in smashing institution regulations as he has city ordinances, he will be forced to watch' a less formidable left-hander than himself pitch for the “dorm.” championship or a