Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / May 21, 1936, edition 1 / Page 6
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PAGE SIX "g3 WOi Blri*. .Second Instalment SYNOPSIS: Amos Ethridge li found murdered iii a country tan* with a crude cross of twies! on hi breast and a scented sheet of not* paper in his pocket. He wits the richest man in the state with power and infiiience enough to xr.&kt himself a candidate for Governor With his death came hints of ar unsavory private life, of wronged women and betrayed husbands and fathers who had reason to wish him dead. There was also a power ful secret political organization opposed to him. . . Mary Holmes, called "the goose woman" by newspaper reporters, lives nearest the scene of the crime on a small chicken farm. . . Gerald Holmes her talented young artist son, ha* beer befriended by the murderer Ethridge. The mystery of the murder by tl way, still remained unsolved Tl clues left by the slayer of Ann Eihridge were so slender that r progress had been made in piecin them together, and, naturally, theo ies of various sorts began to be a< vanced. Several of the Chicago pi pers declared that, the cross of twi? on the dead man'3 breast proved to be a Klan outrage, and this ej pianation was generally accepts for Westland was a 3tror.ghold < the secret order and Ethridge was bitter enemy of the organizatioi What is more, an impressive demoi stration had recently occurred her There had been a parade and a mi* night conclave at which scores * new members had been initiate Special trains had been run fro: distant points, hundreds of autom< biles had assembled, thousands < robed men had gathered in the ligl of a tremendous fiery cross erect* or. a hill just outside the city limit Out cf this occurrence had sprur a bitter political quarrel, for Am< Ethridge had boldly proclaim* tlirough the press that the Governt waa an avowed member and thi the conclave had been planned wi his knowledge and consent. Ethridj had gone (Wilier; he had ckarg< that the entire machinery of law e forcement had been betrayal, deli ered over to Uie Invisible Enipir He had promised to adduce irrefut We evidence, proof positive, when tl time came. His accusations had rr. with a tremendous popular respon as a matter of fact, it w; iargeiy as a result of this outapoki support that he announced his i tention to run for Governor at tJ coming election, pledging himself; successful, to wage relentless w; upon the hooded order and to r store the government to the peop Threats again si life had follow He had received warnings forecas ing much the same end as had a tuaHv overtaken him. His murd upon the very eve of the eampaif convinced most people that tl charges voiced by the Chicago new papers were indeed sound. But those charges were not i readily accepted by the citizens rWestland. Amos Ethridge had be< a great man locally and during h Little I Wi Tiny drops of water cc ly wear away the har in early childhood leac will bring happiness ii I It is suggested that yo right by giving them the same time teaching ty habits. Watauga C BOO Deposits Insuri y r/hutP OSE *AAN EH2BC1 lifetime his power had beer, such ? i hat few of his neighbors dared ? . peak a word against him, but, how ? hat he was dead, tongues began to vag. From various quarters there -irose a hissing of scandul. People voiced openly what tlu-y had never ? ventured to more than whisper?viz . . that Kthridge's private life had not ? been above reproach, that there ! ' were chapters in it which would not I ; bear the light of day. and that the i -mithoi wnti'il hflvp to !rw-?!r fur ther than the secret order in order to i jiTind his slayer. What about that ? j "Thursday* note that had beer, found Jn his pocket? There was more than ? one husband or k>ver, yes. even I more than one father, in West land who smarted under a sense of out? wage and. who had reason to thank jiGod the millionaire was dead. Let the police discover what a woman's ifingers had penned that note, then ie perhaps the mystery could be solved. ie -It was even whispered that out of 3s ?the solving there might result a 10 vandal more painful to the commuig Jiity than its present sense of loss, r- *and that under the circumstances it i- :night be Hie part of wisdom to let i- sleeping dogs lie. Such came to be rS the general feeling in Westland. it As the days* crept by and no arc rests were made, certain citizens be.gain to nod and to speak guardedly yf >f "influence." The out-of-town cora respondents heard these whispers n. and promptly wired them in. As a i- esult a special prosecutor was ape. pointed by the. state and he came on X- to take charge of the investigation. ; On Thursday evening, a week after d. the crime, Gerald Holmes drove his m new car out the road towards his 3- .mother's farm. It was early, never>f >: he less it was quite dark. As he it crossed the bridge at tiie Italian setid tlement he noticed that his right a. j headlight suddenly went out. just as ig'it had gone out a week previously 53 at anis precise point. To right he did :d i what he had done on that other oc- j jr : ranion; he stopped, got out, and went i at around to the front of the car to in -1 th ; vcsUgate. Gerald did not pretend to) ?e 'much knowledge of automobiles, but; 63 i -this coincidence, it seemed to him, n- j proved precisely what he tiad told I v-; 'lie dealer; to wit, there was a loose ] e. i electric connection somewhere and a a- certain sort of jar destroyed the cor.10! '.act. dislocated something' or other, et The dealer had promised to have it ae fixed but?well, this was a sample aa if his work. Fine way to turn out a e;; brand-new car, even a cheap one! a- Gerald shook the lamp gently, hut He it appeared to be rigidly attached to if its support and the bulb did not rear light. He was afraid 10 shake it too e- hard, for rear of pulling it off?this le was no rugged, handmade, foreign e(j ear. Then he fingered aimlessly at it- the wire beneath the lamp,, but that ,c- too, was disappointingly secure. He er reasoned that the wire must run in rn under the hooci of tire machine and He somewhere attach Itself to a battery S- or a dynamo or a generator or sometiling, so he stepped back, lifted the 30 bonnet, and peered inside. He could of make out very little indeed, even :il ??. w.u tv.vx ui a. jnuixn, a.ira recugi3 "nized nothing: that could by any pos)rops Of ater nstantly falling, will finaldest stone. Small savings 1 to the thrift habit which i later life. u start your children out a savings account and at them the wisdom of thrif bounty Bank >NE, N. C. ed Up To $5,000.00 TAUGA DEMOCRAT?EVERY sibiiity be considered a dynamo or \ an electric lighting: plant. The vital; organs of aii automobile, it deemed to him, were unnecessarily complicated: he would have considered many of them utterly useless except for the fact that here and there' things" were revolving. He quickly! discovered several wires, any one of which might be the cause of lits trouble, so, striking a sec fid. then a third match, he gingerly tested them. He had not gone tar when he uttered n grunt and jerked his hand away, incidentally bumping his elbow against something >ii n n and hard. Automobiles are fr'1 of painful corners. He dropped the match and swore, whereupon he heard subdued laughter and through the gloom discovered a couple of figures near by. 4*Do you fellows know any tiling about automobiles?" he inquired. There came an answer In. Italian, so he confessed ruefully: "Well, neither do I. I can drive em, but I can't fix "em." He closed the bonnet, passed back through the glare of his good headlight, and, stepping into the car, drove on. It was a relief to note that The car ran as well with one light as with two. Some car! This little buggy might have her faults, but he loved her, just the same. It was the first automobile he had ever posaesBessed and his pride of ownership was inordinate, for it represented a terrible extravagance. It was a lovely shade f blue, too, the particular shade he adored, and he would have immensely enjoyed showing it to his mother. That, however, was impossible. He could never make her understand; Involuntarily, he fetched a deep sigh and shook his head. Insteading of proceeding on past the poultry farm and parking his machine in the grove near the entrance to the Ethridge lane, as he had done a week previously, he turned in through a break in the fence before reaching the farm, and killed his motor under a wide-spreading tree. It was barely possible that the police might be watching the scene of the tragedy, and in an event it was not a nice place to be on a dark night. Gerald hated dark colors, dark nights, dark deeds, and the thought of what had occurred a week ago tonight in that lane, half a mile ahead, gave him a sick feeling. He felt jumpy as he set out across the open pasture land towards the lights of his mother's cottage, and more than once he cast apprehensive glances back of him or stopped to listen. Soon the familiar outlines of chicken houses and runs appeared, then a dog baiked. It was Jack, the old 'Airdale. The dog recognized Gerald's voice and greeted him with extravagant affection when the young man dropped down inside the fence. Mrs. Holmes had heard the disturbance: she opened the kitchen door and pefred out. inquiring guardedly: "Ts that you, Jerry?" Hello, mother!" Gerald entered and dosed the door behind him. then stooped to kiss the woman's upturned Hps, When his face was within a hand's breadth of hers he checked the movement and cried, reproachfully, "Oh, mother!" Mrs. Holmes answered petulantly. "Very well! Dor.'t kiss me if you dont' want to. But for Heaven's sake don't start in with a temperance lecture!" There was a moment of silence, then: "You don't understand what it is to live all alone, in a place like this. You're never lonesome.. Yotf have people to talk to. You sec things and hear things?" "All right., mother. I won't lecture. But you know how I Xeei about ?drinking." The young man bent his head, and pressed liis lip3 to the woman's cheek. "When did you get back from Chicago ?" "Today. This afternoon." "Have a good trip?" "Yes. They liked my drawings and gave me some more work. I got a new story to illustrate, too. But?I was all broken up over the murder. of course! I left here the next morning, you remember? I didn't hear of it until that afternoon?then just the bare account. Gee! It was a shock. I felt as if I ought to get on the train and come right back. I wanted to be here for the funeral, too. but?I couldn't get my money in time and I didn't dare try to borrow from that editor." Mrs. Holmes smiled faintly, almost aneeringly. "The funeral went off all right without you." "You don't understand how I felt towards Mr. Ethridge. You never liked him, after what he did for me, j but I did, for he gave me my start; J made it possible for me to have a, career. Not many rich men would j interact themselves in a ragged, obscure young?" "In the son of a 'goose woman!'" [Mrs. Holmes broke in. "Of course you head the papers and saw what they called me?" Gerald flushed. "Yes. Yes. I read ?everything." 1 "The rotters. Well, you're not ragged now, are you?" Mrs. Holmes Btared at her son, and in her gaze, oddly enough, there were both pride auu xcaexiL'iient. Ajj an artist sne hated Gerald, as a man she?well, he was her son, blood of her blood. What she beheld was a handsome youth?a boy of sufficient good looks and charm of manner to warm any mother's heart. Gerald's face was frank and sunny; it was unusually expressive, too. but curtained with that veil of conscious repression common to supersensitive people; it was the eager, dreamy face of an artist, a writer, a musician. Hie boy's faults THURSDAY?BOONE. N. C. and his weaknesses, Mary Holmes \ knew, were tho faults and the j weaknesse3 of most dreamers She had never dared to analyze! * very closely her feel rags for this child i j of hers?ft is doubtful if she would; ! have succeeded very well had she < ' tried?for ever since she had nursed j him at her breast he had roused with- j her emotions that violently clash-';' j ed. There were tunes when he filled < her w ith a great satisfaction, a sab- j j contehtThrnL then again times I when she hated him fiercely?yes., ! hated him' There were occasions! when she lavished upon htm a sort | of savage affection?these occasions ; ! were rare, by the way? and again ' occasions when she treated him with ' a cruelty that >yaa positively feline, j Nearly a'ways, however, her feelings 1 ; were mixed and he excited that dis- 1 ! tress ing warfare within her !x>som. He was at once her comfort and her j torture. Her blessing and her banc. : "Gee! It gave mo a fright to real-' ; f7* that 1 hadn't been gone from ! i here for half an hour--an hour at I must - wjicii 11 iiap^iuicu, wiaiu -.vent on. "Why. I might have been involved in it!" "You? Nonsense! Whoever Killed Ethridge drove up Eh an automobile and left it star.aing in that pine grove across from the lane. I saw the tracks the next morning." Young Holmes started: 'By the way, you must have met Mr. Ethridge on your way. back to town?" "N-no!" "You must have met him. You | couldn't have had time to walk to! the end of the street-car line before ( he came along. It didn't seem to me j ! you'd been gone ten minutes when I \ | heard his car pass and then the j ! shots. Of course, it was longer than' | that?" 'Have you talked to the police?"! '^Certainly! They questioned mej i the morning of the murder and j they've been here a couple of times ] ! since." 'Did you?tell them about those. $1.50 PACKiVOE, now $1.00 $1.00 PACKAGE, now liOinni5wr rvm i/~> DUWI'lC L/IVLJLj V.U. The REX A LI. Store 1930 CHEVROLET COACH in excellent condition, and priced to sell quickly at only $150 1929 CHEVROLET SEDAN ?thoroughly reconditioned and with a lot of good hard service in it, $150 1932 CHEVROLET DELIVERY TRUCK?with good tires and with the O. K, that counts. A bargain $225 1931 FORD COUPE?An attractive offering, recently taken in on a new Chevrolet. You will want it at $165 1930 CHEVROLET COACH ?Reconditioned, good tires ?fair paint and in good running order, at trvetw wi* U9 rui W. R. "W ?those automobile tracks? I x>se of course they noticed the. Mrs Holmes nodded Sure! ;cuidn't miss their, they were >lain as the nose on your face." Have they formed any si :ions?" 'Continued Nest Week) Mi Yon Meet Refrigerator?] Research keeps G-E Ri ators years ahead alw in all ways! Choose a C you don't need to be coi over your refrigerator ating cost. Nor nei bother your head abt freezing speeds, propi peraturcs of storage c< ment or cabinet "ga Today there are mo sealed mechanisms in i q all other refrigerator' r mechanisms conibinet minute of every day j body buys a General 1 Prices are as with easiest NEW RI I & PO d nil IIH ? I ! !! I ? ! ! ? Ml I ? II 111 I \XV^ ndl jn/*rl Record-breaking make these better | 1929 CHEVROLET PIC ; UP?Extra clean. A go chance for a light delive vehicle at a very low pr $85 1929 FORD COUPE ? T cheapest vehicle' we i offering today. Well woi a great deal more than $65 I BETTER VA Chevrc e Lead in Sales and S i mmmmKm MAY 21, 1936 ~ " " sup- m ; ? " Your Credit Is Good at i 1 1 m : High Land Furniture ? Company ispl- "Everything for the Home" | Depot St. Boone. Ji. C ! 1 to Know About a j t it's a General Electric -and it costs less to own ! :ftiger a)'s - Staled-iu-s'.eel r-E aad deemed G-E THRIFT-UNIT 's oper- fja$ exclusive :d you jut fast FORCED-FEED LUBRICATION dgets." and OIL COOLING re G-E Now gives ''Dowi/r the *j isc than Cold" and uses cvea sealed Jess currenl CVcr. I. Leery r some- 5 YEARS Electric! performance protection | ?93.50 VER LIGHT WER CO. iOONE, N. C. STcmi? & sivu ( w \ safes of now Chevrolets trade-in values posalblel K?d 1928 DODGE SEDAN?In ,ry good running order and 'ce mechanically O. K.. One of our best bargains at $100 he ire "th 1929 FORD PICKUP? Capable of giving lots of cheap service. In good shape and offered at only $60 v. ^ 1935 CHEVROLET COACH ?Really good and about the same as new. Sold with the O. K. that counts $475 XUES?TODAYS ?let Co.
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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May 21, 1936, edition 1
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