Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 197, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1920 — Page 2

The House of Whispers

By WILUAM JOHNSTON

■tatrattMcby IK WIN MYERS

OnmMM >y LllUe. BN*n * On. . CHAPTER XlV—Continued. —l7— "I have,** she answered, looking at him steadily In the eye, but speaking with a slight tremor in her tones. 1 wondered to what it might be due. Was it because she feared the consequences of the revelation as to her identity, or was it that she feared she might be trapped by his questions? “Now tell me, Mrs. Moore,” he shot at her explosively, “who really murdered Daisy Lutan?” "Henry Kent,” she answered quickly, before the district attorney had time to stop her. "What’s this?" exclaimed the judge. "What did you say?” "Object! object!" vociferated the district attorney, striving in vain to catch the attention of the Judge presiding. McGregor, apparently well satisfied with the results of his question, stood there, smiling assurance at me. "Young woman,” directed the Judge, "will you kindly repeat your last statement —louder. Who did you say killed Daisy Lutan?” The girl turned to face the judge. Her lips were set as if she had determined to carry out some fixed plan, cost what it might “Daisy Lutan," she repeated, “was murdered by Henry Kent, who owns the Granddeck. He’s really Orville Granders, the bank president who got away with eight hundred thousand dollars'and was sent up for seventeen years.”

There was a commotion In the rear of the courtroom. A dapper little old gentleman with neatly trimmed white whiskers rose hastily and made a dash for the door. Gorman, who had been sitting behind him, sprang after .him and pinioned him by the arms: “Nothing doing, Granders. I’ve got you.”

Wick, sitting up near the counsel table, at the same time showed evidence that he, too, was contemplating hasty flight, but a husky chap whom I suspected of being one of Gorman’s aides, seized him, too. "Your honor,” cried my counsel, “I demand the issuance of warrants at once for Orville Granders, alias Henry Kent, and his confederate, James Wilcon, alias James Wick and ‘Stuffy Jim,’ on the charge of having murdered Daisy Lutan and Rufus Gaston. I further urge the immediate release of my client, Mr. Spalding Nelson, In my custody. Testimony that we already have obtained will establish that he was an innocent victim of the dastardly plots of these two ex-con-victs.”

The reaction that came from this sudden clearing of my name left me in a puzzled daze from which I hardly recovered until late that evening, when, once more free, I found myself in the Gaston apartment Grandeys, his tool. Wick, and practically every employee of the Granddeck were under arrest, and warrants were out for other members of the band whose identity had been revealed by the former telephone girl. And there in the apartment with me were my mother, Gorman. McGregor—and to my surprise-and delight. Barbara Bradford. After her sister's wedding, it appeared, Barbara's mother had gone away for a brief rest, leaving her alone In the apartment with the servants. She had welcomed the opportunity to work undisturbed on the mystery that had landed me behind the bars. Thinking that at Rufus Gaston’s funeral she might pick up some clue that would be of service in unraveling the tangled skein that held her and me together, she had gone thither, aad seeing my mother there, and suspecting at once whb she might be, had introduced herself. Quickly they had become good friends and she It was who had informed my mother of my plight.

Present also with us, despite the lateness of the hour, was the district attorney and two of his aides, and Nellie Kelly, or as she much preferred to be called, Mrs. Moore. The girl was technically a prisoner, but her services In bringing the real criminals to book had been so exceptional that she had been released on her own recognizance. Hither she had been brought that the district attorney might check up with her the marvelous tale of criminal conspiracy that she had unfolded to my counsel in the brief recess of the court that day. . Orville Grandees, it appeared, had been the master-mind that had directed all the plotting. A score of years before he had been president of one of the metropolis’ biggest banks. He had been discovered to have embezrJed nearly a million dollars. He had been tried and sentenced to seventeen years’ Imprisonment, but no one ever had been able to find what he had done with the money, so safely bad be hidden ft away. la his long years to prison, associating daily with criminals of the worst sari, and listening to their plans for

further crime on their release, his own criminal Instincts, already dejgloped. had grown stronger, and be had spent his time planning a new system of crime of which he was to be the head, using as his confederates certain evildoers with whom he had become acquainted In prison. When he bad been released he had slipped quietly away to the West and lived in close retirement until he had been forgotten. The white whiskers he had grown so changed his appearance, too. that be had little fear of being recognized. Recovering such part of the stolen money as was left to him, he had come to New York In the guise of a prosperous Western Investor and. purchasing a plot of land, had erected the Granddeck apartments, designed for the occupancy of the wealthiest class of tenants.

In this building, sitting like a little white spider in his web, he planned to prey secretly on all who came to live there. Every attendant In the building was either a criminal or an associate of criminals, reporting to him daily all that went on, and obeying his orders implicitly. A special switchboard in, bls apartment enabled him to listen In at will on aH- telephone conversations that went on. Every letter delivered at the Granddeck went through his hands before reaching the tenants. For every wall safe in the building he held a master combination and his pass-key would unlock every door there was. And in addition to all this — HE HAD BUILT A SECRET PASSAGEWAY. We found it that night and explored it, familiarizing ourselves with all its exits, greatly to the amazement and confounding of Gorman. Connecting with the service elevator by a masked opening, it ran along the hall of each apartment, with entrances concealed in wall panels. It enabled Granders to wander at will through the apartments at night, leaving mysterious notes to terrify his tenants, prying Into the secrets hidden in their wall safes, listening when he chose to theTr most private conversations, examining the contents of their pockets. As he had planned from the beginning. he gained In this way much information that he was able to utilize to his financial profit without arousing suspicion. He had discovered, Mrs. Moore said, secret stock market movements one of his tenants was planning and had made a small fortune out of the advance Information. Several injudicious women he had successfully blackmailed, turning over to agents who never came near the Granddeck the secrets he learned from letters he opened and telephone conversations he had listened to. In the case of Rufus Gaston, he had plotted to steal the Gaston pearls, Mrs. Moore explained, first terrifying the old couple into leaving the apartment. the whlbpers that had been beard coming of course from the secret passageway.

“But I can’t understand,” I said, “why, after he had once got hold 'Of the pearls in Mr. Gaston’s absence, he should have restored them to their hiding place.” “He had a duplicate made of phony pearls," explained Mrs. Moore. “It was part of his plan not to have any of the tenants discover the thefts for a long time after they occurred.” “If he was so cautious,” said the district attorney, “I am puzzled as to why he killed Miss Lutan and Mr. Gaston. He must have realized that both murders would be thoroughly Investigated.” “Both were accidents, so to speak,” the girl explained. “Each of them surprised him in their apartment, and

He Had Built a Secret Passageway.

he had to kill them to make his getaway. I suppose he had been roaming around so much he had got careless.” “How about the revolver?” asked Gorman. “How did he come to plant it in Nelson’s room?” “He was puzzled by Mr. Nelson butting in on the Bradford case, and it made him sore. I heard him and Wick talking about it one day, and he said that he’d teach Mr. Nelson not to interfere. ’How 7 asked Wick. Til frame him for the goat if anything happens.’ ” “And was it he who had me discharged from my office?” I asked, eagerly. “Sure It was. He wrote a note on Mr. Gaston’s stationery saying that you had forged a check after he had befriended you. He wrote in the letter that he was not going to prosecute you because of your mother, but that he felt that you were unworthy of employment anywhere.” "I believe," said the district attorney, “that that clears everything up, except for one thing—why. Mrs. Moore, did you aid him and Wie* to all these crimes?"

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER,

“He promised that If 1 would help him be would get Eddie out.” she cried. "I was desperate, rd do anything to get my busbSnd back.” • Gorman add the district attorney exchanged meaning glances. While nothing more was said, 1 felt sure as they departed that both were thinking that this brave young woman who bad solved the mystery for them certainly deserved some reward, and I think we all realized that the only reward life ever could hold for her was the freedom of her husband. Presently they went and left us alone, Gorman, my mother, Barbara, and L “There are still two things I cannot understand,” I said, as we sat talking It over. “The first is”—and I turned to Barbara—"what wW your sister doing In this apartment on* the night of the first murder? When I came up from the Lutan apartment I caught her Just coming out of my door. I could not help wondering If they had made her plant the revolver.” Barbara started up, blushing. “Oh, no,” she cried, “It was nothing like that You remember a few moments before you and I had been in your room, looking at the secret pas-

"If Only I Had Something to Offer You Besides My Love!"

sageway. Claire Just then had come Into my room looking for me. She was puzzled by my absence, and the only solution that came to her was that I must be in your rooms. Alarmed at what she considered my Imprudence, she had slipped out Into the hall, and seeing your door open, had investigated. Of course she did not find me, for I had returned by way of the window ledge. She told me about it the night before she was married. I don’t wonder, though, that you suspected her.” “I didn’t suspect her,” I cried. “I just wondered what she had been doing there.” “That’s right,” said Gorman. “He wouldn’t believe for a minute that she had had anything to do with it.” “But what puzzles me most,” I went on, “is how you ever persuaded the telephone girl to give Granders away. It must have been done after she had given her first testimony. How did it happen that she' changed so suddenly over to our side?” As I looked from one to the other for an explanation, Gorman burst out laughing. “You’ll have to ask Miss Bradford about that,” he said. “She did it all.” I turned again to look at Barbara, expecting her to speak, but she merely blushed and was silent ’ “Go on, tell me? I urged her. “Well ” she said hesitatingly, “as I heard her testifying, I had an Inspiration. I beard her say that she loved her husband, and that she did not care who knew it —and—and —and —all at once I realized that love was the strongest influence in the world, so I had Mr. McGregor ask for an adjournment ®nd then —” She stopped in confusion, the rosy blushes once more mantling her cheeks. “Go on,” I Insisted. "I can’t tell it,” she cried. “You must tell,” I urged. “I have a right to know it. What did you do?" “I managed to see her alone.” Again she hesitated. “What did you say to her?” I demanded. “I just told her,” she faltered, lowering her eyes as she spoke, “that—that I loved you just as much as she • loved her husband, and I begged her for love’s sake not to help send you to the chair, and she broke, down and told everything.” “Oh, Barbara, my Barbara!” I cried, springing up l and clasping her in my arms. “If only I had something to offer you besides my love—” “I wouldn’t worry about that Just now, Spalding,” interrupted my mother’s voice. “They found your greatuncle’s will tbday. He made you his sole heir.” . But Barbara and I hardly heeded her good news. We were too busy telling each other the world-old story. [THE END.]

Formation of Asbestos.

Asbestos is found in fissures of rock and it is believed that, when the rock was forming and still hot, water penetrated the fissures, widened them and dissolved some of the silica and magnesia. On drying, these crystallized as a hydrated silicate of magnesia, forming threadlike crystals building up from opposite walls of the fissure and meeting in 9ie middle. /

Posts Total Over 8,000.

Ninety-six new charters were issued the t&ek ending March M bringing the total to£6».'

SPEND BILLIONS FOR LUXURIES

Secretary of the Treasury Shows How Americans Can Save $22,700,000,000. GLEANED FROM TAX RETURNS Carpets, Furs, Autos and Soap Classed With Gum, Candy and Rouge—s76o,ooo,ooo Spent for Perfumery and Cosmetics. Washington.—Cut out the chewing gum, lay off the cigarettes, pull the sweet tooth, drink only water, do without cosmetics, perfumes, cigars, tobacco, snuff, furs, carpets and such clothing luxuries as silk shirts; wash your face with yellow soap, ride the street cars Instead of the autos and depend upon your own cultivated or uncultivated. voice for music—and you will save $22,700,000,000! , That, in effect, is the advice recently handed out by Secretary of the Treasury Houston to the 110,000,000 Americans, jn the course of an economy article. His figures for expenditures upon so-called 'luxuries are compiled from federal tax returns and are probably, for that reason, not very far from the truth. Just how many persons might agree with Secretary Houston concerning his definition of what constitutes a luxury—for instance carpets, tobacco, automobiles and toilet soaps—is problematical. It is a deflnition similar to that famous hypothetical question —never answeerd—“when is a man drunk?" Likewise the wartime puzzle of “what is an essential Industry?” Here Ari Our Luxury Expenditure*. However, the figures are Interesting from the standopint of knowing approximately what the American people do spend on things that they could do without and still go on living. The table of “luxury” expenditures arranged by Secretary- Houston from the reports from the present Internal revenue system, federal tax returns, and so on, follows: Chewing gum I 60,000,000 Candy 1,000,000,000 Cigarettes 7.. 800,000,000 Soft drinks. Including ice cream and soda 360,000,000 Perfumery and cosmetics 750,000,000 Cigars 510,000,000 Tobacco and snuff 800,000,000 Furs 300,000,000 -Carpets and luxurious clothing. 1,600,000,000 Automobiles and parts 2,000,000,000 Toilet soaps 400,000,000 Pianos, organs and phonographs 260,000,000 Making Costs Still Higher. According to comment In an editorial In the New York Journal of Commerce, which prints Secretary Houston’s table of figures, “few persons would deny that of those items which

Prize Snake Yarn of Year Comes From Brazil Wilds

The Brazilian state of Matto Grosso has produced a snake story which takes first prize right out of the hands of the snakiest community of Indiana or Arkansas. A traveler was Journeying by mule-back along a jungle trail when he came upon a saddle horse without a rider. The traveler halted, shotgun in hand, to investigate. He heard a noise in the tropical thicket and peering under the foliage he saw a huge snake of the species ophidio in the throes of indigestion. The traveler took advantage of the illness of the monster to kill it The snake was cut open and within was found the owner of the horse, fully attired in sombrero, boots, spurs-and raincoat -

Shipping 50,000 Baby Chicks a Day

Fifty thousand -baby chicks are shipped every day via parcel post from Petaluma. Cal. The chicks are packed 100 in a box and can go to any point within 60 hours of San Francisco. High school girls helped Uncle Sam handle extra lane shipment. during the rail strife _

Dog Showering Her Mother Love on Lambs

Louisville. —L. S. Downs, residing near Midway, has a dog that has taken the custody of two baby lambs and Is showering all her mother love on the awards. 'the canine’s puppies were taken away from her. whereupon she immediately took charge of the'lambs and is with them almost constantly.

have been specifically enumerated here, nearly all could be greatly reduced to amount without Inflicting suffering or even Inconvenience upon the population. “The fact that the American public is spending such sums as these for the purposes mentioned gives point to the often repeated and often disregarded Injunction to be guided by the policy of thrift at least to a reasonable extent in both personal and business expenditure,” says the editorial. “It also throws a glaring light upon the current complaints concerning the cost of living. If the nation can spend $22,700,000,000 upon articles which in large part are purely Tuxurles, It evidently is not suffering from a depressed standard of living. While, on the other hand, it is obviously making things much harder for Itself by drawing off the commodities, services and capital used In the production of this great volume of consumable goods which otherwise would go to make the *necessaries of life’ more plentiful and hence cheaper.’’

REAL KISS IN CANDY STORE

Girl I* Given What She Asked For In New York, but Owner Is Fined. New York.—Joseph Weiss, thirtyfive and married, who runs a candy store at 489 East One Hundred and Sixty-ninth street, was arraigned before Magistrate Nolan In night court on a charge of disorderly conduct In

SWIMS 600 FEET TO WARN TRAIN

Section Foreman Braves Raging Icy Waters to Save 150 Passengers, a SOUTH DAKOTA FLOOD HERO After Setting the Danger Signals Foreman Remembers His Negligee and Swims Back Across 600 Feet of Swirling Current. Omaha.—ln the recent South Dakota floods John Williams, a section foreman, swam a swollen creek at night in a hailstorm to warn a passenger train that a bridge had gone out. He stripped himself and tied the danger signals to his back. After he had set them he approached a near-by house, then remembered his negligee and swam back across the 600 feet of swirling current. The passenger train, It developed later, was stopped farther up the road at a point where the railroad men had little hope, of halting it. Williams’ heroism, however, was not overlooked by the railroad officials. The bridge was the Burlington’s* ■over Hat creek, near Ardmore, S. D. The Hat creek flood tied up traffic for

MAKES HIM BULLET PROOF

Paul Weitkan, Kansas City Policeman, with a bullet proof breast protector.

having kissed elghteen-year-old Frances Heckler when she went into his store to buy some candy kisses. — Magistrate Nolan fined Weiss $2, Which he paid. The magistrate, in fixing the amount of the fine, said in a judicial aside to the clerk, “Kisses are cheaper now since the boys came back from the war.” Miss Heckler was in night court In a state bordering on hysterics and testified that she had gone back to the counter at Weiss' invitation to select what she wanted when he put his arm around her and kissed her vigorously upon the mouth. Italian manufacturers have developed an abrasive method for making corks that wastes only 8 per cent of material as compared with 20 per cent when they are cut

eight days and cost seven lives and did $500,000 damage to the one road. Several dajs after the flood the section foreman was looked up by a newspaper man from the dty. He found him directing a gang of laborers repairing the washout - Williams related how it had been raining through the previous week; and the April blizzard had left the ground soaked, so that when storm came on it ran off jas If from & duck's back "and old Hat creek started on a rampage.” Decided to Swim. *1 kept watching the new bridge over the creek all afternoon,” Williams told his visitor, “and the wateg kept cornin’ up and cornin’ up until ft reached the ties. Then I got worried "for fear that the bridge would go out, and I went back to town and reported it to the operator. He told the dis, patcher at Alliance about it. The telephone and telegraph wires rennin* west had all gone down and we couldn’t get Edgemont or anyone west of the creek. Jack Welch, the dispatcher at Alliance, talked to me over the railroad phone and asked me if 1 . could get to the west end of the bridge, across the creek, and put out a red light and some stop signals so as to hold the night passenger train, No. 82, which was due at nine o’clock. I told him I’d try, and went back to the bridge. ’

“When I got there again the water was clear over the-top of the bridge? and it looked to me like one of the steel spans had gone out. We tried to phone the government farm 90 the other side to ask them to go out and put out a red light, but their phone was gone and we-couldn’t reach anybody. “Well, I Just flggered the chance* was probably against me gtttin’ across, but It was only my life against ISO passengers-on No. 42, and I flggered that the train would be running pretty fast when they came up to the bridge, and they might be Into it before they saw It, so I walked up the creek a half-mile, stripped off my clothes, tiedmy red lantern, red flag and torpedoes to my back, and swam across. » Swam Back for Clothe*. “There wasn’t so many trees out there, and she was only about 600 feet wide, but the water was full of ballstones and'- cold as h—. It was rainin’ to beat the band and dark as I sure felt good when I hit that fence on the other side and drug myself on the bankr” “How- did yA get back to Ardmore r Williams was asked, after ha had related how he placed the signals. . - “Wen, I walked up to the government house, but when I got dose to the office and saw the bright light* I remembered I didn’t have no clothes on and I thought M make * pretty lookin’ sight bustin’ in on ’eo| like that, so I walked beck up thd and swum back.* •