Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / March 17, 1911, edition 1 / Page 2
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; til? J SYNOPSIS. Senator John Calhoun is Invited to be come secretary of state in Tyler's cab inet. He declares that if he accepts Texas and Oregon must be added to the Union. He sends his secretary, Nicholas Trist, to ask the Baroness von Kite, spy of the British ambassador, Fakenham, to call at his apartments. While searching for the baroness' home, a carriage drives up and Nicholas Is invited to enter. The occupant Is the baroness, and she asks Nicholas to assist in evading pursuers. Nicholas notes that the baroness has lost a slipper. She rives him the remaining slipper as a pledge that she will tell Calhoun what he wants to know regarding England's in tentions toward Mexico. As security Nicholas gives her a trinket he intended for his sweetheart, Elizabeth Churchill. Tylertells Pakenham that joint occupa tion of Oregon with England, must cease, that the west has raised the cry of "Fifty-four Forty, or Fight" Calhoun be comes secretary of state. He orders Nicholas to Montreal on state business, and the latter plans to be married that night. The baroness says she will try to prevent the marriage. A drunken con gressman whom Nicholas asks to assist Id the wedding arrangements, sends the baroness' slipper to Elizabeth, by mis take, and the wedding is declared off. Nicholas finds the baroness in Montreal, she having succeeded, where he failed, in discovering England's intentions regard ing Oregon. She tells him that the slip per he had in his possession contained a ote from the attache of Texas to the British ambassador, saying that if the jUnlted States did not annex Texas with in 30 days, she would lose both Texas and Oregon. Nicholas meets a naturalist. Von Rlttenhofen, who gives him information about Oregon. The baroness and a British warship disappear from Montreal simul- taneously. Calhoun engages Von Ritten- hofen to make maps of the western coun try. CHAPTER XX. Continued. 1 will tell you, Nicholas," said he at last, wheeling swiftly upon me. "Start next week! An army of settlers waits now for a leader along the Missouri. Organize them; lead them out! Give them enthusiasm! Tell them what Oregon is! You may serve alike our party and our nation. Tou cannot measure the consequences of prompt action sometimes, done by a man who Ji-a resolved upon the right. A thou- tw - .w e t n inin era mav niTitra rr rnia a nne you nave oeen Dusy, i nave "jK-tfb Mre another little paper which I have roughly drafted." He handed me the document as he spoke. "A treaty with Texas! I ex claimed. "The first draft, yes. We have signed the memorandum. We await only one other signature." "Of Wan Zandt!" "YesX Now comes Mr. Nicholas Trlst with word of a certain woman to the effect that Mr. Van Zandt is playing e"wlth England." nd woman also is playing Calhoun sfmllVLaiatically. "But she has gone," said I, "who knows where? She, too, may have sailed for Oregon, for all we know." He looked at me as though with a flash of inspiration." "That may be," eald he; "it may very well be! That would cost us our hold over Paken ham. Neither would we have any chance left with her." "How do you mean, Mr. Calhoun?" eaid I. "I do not understand you." "Nicholas," said Mr. Calhoun, "that lady was much impressed with you." He regarded me calmly, contempla tively, appraisingly. "I do not understand you," I reiter ated. "I am glad that you do not and - JZ. . i. ; T Al A. 11 13 1 a (iia mil. in uiai case, an wuuiu uavc ' beeri oyer at once. You would never 1 fcave "Been1 her a second time. Your constancy ;was our salvation, and per I Jups 'youi'own! In due time you will many things more plainly. Mean :lme,i'be sure England will be careful. Ihe' 'wili" make no overt movement, I 'henld feay, until she has heard from regbn;:' which will not be before my Idy baroneBs shall have returned and pported to Pakenham here. AH of jhich means more time for us." 1 1 began to see something of the yucture of bold enterprise which this in deliberately was planning; but no mment offered itself; so that pres 'ily he went on, as though in solilo- "The Hudson Bay Company have celved England splendidly enough. ?r. McLaughlin, good man that he is, vl8 not suited the Hudson Bay Com my. His removal means less cour- to our settlers in Oregon. Granted s tactful leader than himself, Jkarill be friction with our high Lrung frontiersmen in that country. Jo man can tell when the thing will me to an issue. For my own part, Vould agree with Polk that we ought mn that country to fifty-four forty it what we ought to do and what ?can do are two separate matters, -aid we force the issue now and i we would lose for 100 years. Id Ve advance' firmly and hold 5y what we gain, in perhaps less 100 years we may win all of that ' ry, as I Just said to Mr. Polk, River Saskatchewan I know ere! In my own soul, I believe n may set a limit to the growth J joa of an tiept government - ; eople. AAdthis continent is - fc r that fcnest government!" 5 ';d &$ he paused in his walk - 'cs (o me. "But now, as I A'e at least time for Texas. Hrd to Texa1 we need an- m mmsow hougm AUTHOR. OF THE MIIIPPI IiUJOBLE IILUJTOATION54 hy MAGNUS G.ICETTNER. COPYRIOHT 1909 y BOBBJ-r-XEWRILl. OOWUVV .1 stared at him. "You come now to me with proof that my lady baroness traffics with Mexico as well as England," he re sumed. ""That is to say, Yturrio meets my lady baroness. What is the inference? At least, jealousy on the part of Yturrio's wife, whether or not she cares for him! Now, jealousy be tween the sexes is a deadly weapon if well handled. Repugnant as it is, we must handle it." I experienced no great enthusiasm at the trend of events, and Mr. Cal houn smiled at me cynically as he went on. "I see you don't care for this sort of commission. At least, this is no midnight interview. You shall call in broad daylight on the Senora Yturrio. If you and my daugh ter will take my coach and four .to morrow, I think she will gladly re ceive your cards. Perhaps also she will consent to take the air of Wash ington with you. In that case, she might drop 1b here for an ice. In such case, to conclude, I may perhaps be favored with an interview with that lady. I must have Van Zandt's signature to this treaty which you see here!" "But these are Mexicans, and Van Zandt is leader of the Texans, their most bitter enemies!" "Precisely. All the less reason why Senora Yturrio should be suspected." "I am not sure that I grasp all this, Mr. Calhoun." "Perhaps not You presently will know more. What seems to me plain Is that, since we seem to lose a val uable ally in the Baroness von Ritz, we must make some offset to that loss. If England has one woman on the Columbia, we must have another on the Rio Grande!" CHAPTER XXI. Politics Under Cover. To a woman, the romances she makes are more amusing than those she reads. Theophile Gautier. It seemed quite correct for the daughter of our secretary of state to call to inquire for the health of the fair Senora Yturrio, and to present the compliments of Mme. Calhoun, at that time not in the city of Wash ington. Matters went so smoothly that I felt justified in suggesting a lit tle drive, and Senora Yturrio had no hesitation in accepting. Quite natural ly, our stately progress finally brought us close to the residence of Miss Cal houn. That lady suggested that, since the day was warm, it might be well to descend and see if we might not find a sherbet; all of which also seemed quite to the wish of the lady from Mexico. The ease and warmth of Mr. Calhoun's greeting to her were such that she soon was well at home and chatting very amiably. She spoke English with but little hesitancy. Lucrezia Yturrio, at that time not ill known in Washington's foreign colony, was beautiful, in a sensuous, ripe way. Her hair was dark, heavily coiled, and packed in masses above an oval fore head. Her brows were straight, dark and delicate; her teeth white and strong; her lips red and full; her chin well curved and deep. A round arm and taper hand controlled a most art ful fan. Mr. Calhoun expressed great sur prise and gratification that mere chance had enabled him to meet the "And Whit ! That, SenorT 8h Asked at Length. wife of a gentleman so distinguished in the diplomatic service as Senor Yturrio. "We are especially glad always to hear of our friends from the south west," -said he, at last, with a slight addition of formality in tone and at titude. At these words I saw my lady's eyes flicker. "It. i3 fate, senor," said she, again casting down her eyes, and spreading out her hands as in resigna tion, "fate which left Texas and Mex ico not always one." "That may be," said Mr. Calhoun. "Perhaps fate, also, that those of kin should cling together." "How can a mere woman know ?" My lady shrugged her very graceful and beautiful shoulders somewhat ma ture Bhoulders now, but still beauti ful. "Dear senora," said Mr. Calhoun, "there are so many things a woman may not know. For instance, how could she know if her husband should perchance leave the legation to which he was attached and pay a visit to another nation?" Again the slight flickering of her eyes, but again her hands were out spread in protest. "How indeed, senor?" "What if my young aide here, Mr. Trist, should tell you that he has seen your husband some hundreds of miles away and In conference with a lady supposed to be somewhat friendly to ward " "Ah, you mean that baroness !" So soon had the shaft gone home! Her woman's jealousy had offered a point unexpectedly weak. Calhoun bowed, without a smile upon his face. "Mr. Pakenham, the British minis ter, is disposed to be friendly to this same lady. Your husband and a certain officer of the British navy called upon this same lady last week in Montreal informally. It is sometimes unfortu nate that plans are divulged. To me it seemed only wise and fit that you should not let any of these little per sonal matters make for us greater complications In these perilous times. I think you understand. me, perhaps, Senora Yturrio?" She gurgled low in her throat at this, any Bort of sound, meaning to remain ambiguous. But Calhoun was merciless. "It Is not within dignity, senora, for me to make trouble between a lady and her husband. But we must have friends with us under our flag, or know that they are not our friends. You are welcome in my house. Your husband is welcome in the howse of our republic. There are certain du ties, even thus." Only now and again she turned upon him the light of her splendid eyes, searching him. "If I should recall again, gently, my dear senora, the fact that your hus band was with that particular woman if I should say that Mexico has been found.under the flag of England, while supposed to be under our flag if I should add that one of the repre sentatives of the Mexican legation had been discovered in handing over to England certain secrets of this country and of the Republic of Texas why, then, what answer, think you, senora, Mexico, would make to me?" "But Senor Calhoun does not mean does not dare to say " "I do dare it; I do mean it! I can tell you all that Mexico plans, and all that Texas plans. All the secrets are out; and since we know them, we pur pose immediate annexation of the Re public of Texas! Though it means war, Texas shall be ours! Thi3 has been forced upon us by the perfidy oi other nations." "You seek war, Senor Secretary! My people say that your armies are in Texas now, or will be." . "They are but very slightly in ad vance of the truth, senora," said Cal houn grimly. "For me, I do not be lieve in war when war can be averted. But suppose it could be averted? Sup pose the Senora Yturrio herself could avert it? Suppose the senora could remain here still, in this city which she so much admires? A lady of bo distinguished beauty and charm Is valuable in our society here." He bowed to her with stately grace. If there was mockery in his tone, she could not catch it; nor did her search ing eyes read his meaning. "See," he resumed, "alone, I am helpless in this situation. If my gov ernment is offended, I cannot Btop the course of events. I am not the sen ate; I am simply an officer in our ad ministration a very humble officer of his . excellency our president, Mr. Tyler." My lady broke out in a peal of low rippling laughter, her white teetn gleaming. It was, after all, somewhat difficult to trifle with one who had been trained in intrigue all her life. Calhoun laughed now in his own quiet way. "We shall do better if we deal entirely frankly, senora," said he. "Let us then waste no time. Frankly, then, it would seem that, now the Baroness von Rltz is off the scene, the Senora Yturrio would have all the bet ter title and opportunity in the affec tions of well, let us say, her own husband!" She bent toward bjfm now, her Hps open in a slow snile, all her subtle and dangerous beauty unmasking its batteries. The impression she con veyed was that of warmth and of spotted shadows such as play upon the leopard's back, such as mark the wing of the butterfly, the petal of some flower born in a land of heat and passion. But Calhoun regarded her calmly, his finger tips together, and spoke as deliberately as though communing with himself. "It is but one thing, one very little thing." "And what is that, senor?" she asked at length. "The signature of Senor Van Zandt, attache for Texas, on this memoran dum of treaty between the United States and Texas." Bowing, he presented to her the document to which he had earlier di rected my own attention. "We are all well advised that Senor Van Zandt is trafficking this very hour with Eng land as against us," he explained. "We ask the gracious assistance of Senora Yturrio. In return we promise her silence!" "I can not it is impossible!" she ex claimed, as she glanced at the pages. "It is our ruin!" "No, senora," said Calhoun sternly; "it means annexation of Texas to. the United States. But that is not your ruin. It is your salvation. Your coun try well may doubt England, even England bearing gifts!" ' "I have no control over Senor Van Zandt he is the enemy of my coun try!" she began. Calhoun now fixed upon her the full cold blue blaze of his singularly pene trating . eyes. "No, senora," he said sternly; "but you have access to my friend Mr. Polk, and Mr. Polk is the friend of Mr. Jackson, and they two are friends of Mr. Van Zandt; and Texas supposes that these two, al though they do not represent precise ly my own beliefs in politics, are for the annexation of Texas, not to Eng land, but to America. There is good chance Mr. Polk may be president If you do not use your personal influ ence with him, he may consul politics and not you, and so declare war against Mexico. That war would cost you Texas, and much more as well. Now, to, avert that war, do you not think that perhaps you can ask Mr. Polk to say to Mr. Van Zandt that his signature on this little treaty would end all such questions simply, immediately, and to the best benefit of Mexico, Texas and the United States? Treason? Why, senora, 'twould be preventing treason!" (TO BE CONTINUED.) Johnny on the Spot. Peddler (selling preparation for re moving stains from clothing) I have got here . Servant (who responds to the ring) Excuse me, please, but we are in great trouble here today. The gen tleman of the house has been blown up in an explosion. Peddler Ha! Hurt much? Servant Blown to atoms. Only a grease spot left of him. Peddler Ah! Only a grease spot, you say? Well, here's a bottl8 of my champion eradicator, which will re move that grease spot in two min utes. Tit-Bits, The Bryces and Gould-Decies Wedding : JiT) RATHf ? STAY AT HOME AHD READ WASHINGTON. Somebody with a nose for a "scare story" precipi tated the tale around Washington that as the Ambassador Bryces did not go to the Gould-Decies wedding, while the terribly swagger military attache of the embassy, Capt. Sowerby, and his equally swagger compatriot and diplo matic colleague, Lord Eustace Percy, did, why, therefore, and consequently, there must be a sure enough "mad" on between the Ambassador Bryces and the Decies, or the Goulds, or both. As a matter of record, almost every time there is a big international wed ding on the tapis, the head of the em bassy of the country represented by the bridegroom, duly and properly puts on all his ambassadorial good clothes and thus fittingly equipped with all the "atmosphere" of his high office as per sonal representative of his majesty-of-whatever-country, duly attends the wedding. This time the Bryces did not observe the custom, so there was a thrilling "now what" whispered all over Washington, when, after the wed ding was over, the Dowager Lady Statehood Advocates Invade Capital WASHINGTON was invaded recently by an army of leading politicians and business men from Arizona and New Mexico, who came to urge con gress to take favorable action on statehood for these territories. It had been supposed' this action could be taken by the president and statehood accomplished by proclama tion, in case congress should adjourn without acting. But the statehood boomers found that Attorney General Wickersham held differently. He says the enabling act contains an alterna tive clause making approval by joint resolution necessary. To the constitution submitted by New Mexico the principal objection of fered came from those who wanted a state-wide prohibition article Incorpo rated. The objection raised against the Arizona constitution has been that it contains a sweeping recall provision applying to the judiciary as every oth er elective office. Under the Arizona constitution the people can recall the judges of any court and the provision is said to of-1 Railway Mail Clerks Make a Protest S0METHIM 1 FIERCE IHTOLER- & PI F THE men employed in the railway mail service have successfully ap pealed to congress to correct what they call the "intolerable conditions" brought about by the attempt of the department to "take up the slack" in the service. This "take up the slack" order was issued about six months ago. The object of the order was to obtain greater uniformity in the aver age hours of work in a day by the rail way mail clerks. According to repre sentations made both to congress and to the postmaster-general the order has caused great demoralization in the service. In some sections of the country the railway mail clerks have threatened to quit In a body unless re lief was afforded. The controversy has hung on the mm wrn Hobson Again Predicts War With Japs CONGRESSMAN RICHARD PEAR son Hobson of Alabama, in a re cent red-hot speech in the house of representatives, said that war with Japan was bound to come, and he be lieved that it would come within ten months. We are utterly unprepared, he said. Japan is prepared. In fact, she is practically bankrupt because of her war chest. He detailed all of the various causes as to why Japan will make war on us. Once the war is on, he said, the European nations will try to stop it and our moneyed men will cry for peace, but the nation in its pride will persist and the struggle will last for years and will become one sim ply of endurance. He argues for an lncreasr c navy as protection. Decies and her daughter, Hon. "Mrs. Wilkerson, bore down upon the capital for a nice little visit with the former naval attache of the American em bassy at London and Mrs. Gibbons.. When the visitors arrived they were promptly and fearfully feasted after noon and evening at the homes of smart society, at the country clubs,, and, incidentally, over to the White House they Journeyed one pleasant afternoon and drank five o'clock tea. with Mrs. Taft. Next thing everybody knew the Dowager Lady Decies was. dining over at the British embassy. Now the story goes thai the ambas sador didn't go to the wedding because he isn't fond of wearing his gold-laced clothes. Mrs. Bryce, who nas a naive ly frank enjoyment of the glamour and glitter of ambassadorial prominence and such internationally glorious, international events as tbe Gould-Decies wedding, likes nothing better than to get properly "fixed U;x" and be among "those present," and she was n't pleased a bit when the am bassador shrugged hi3 scholarly shoul ders and, thinking how much more comfy he would be sitting at home with a nice well-thumbed book on his knee, stopped pat in Washington. However, Mrs. Bryce, like the wise and' obedient wife 6he is, put her glori ous raiment and contented herself ith reading the newspaper accounts of ine great event. fend those who are sticklers for up holding the dignity of the judiciary. The Arizona men say. a good judge who doesn't become inoculated with corporation and trust microbes has nothing to fear from the recall, but that the official life of a judge who leans away from the law might be shortened by the recall provision, hnd it was to provide for such cases that it was made applicable to the judiciary as well as other offices. The gist of the Arizona argument to a cornered congressman was: "After our recent election 90 per cent of the people voted to approve the constitution. We know what we want. We know what Arizona needs. Why don't you let us have 'the consti tution we made and approved? Let us attend to our own affairs we are plenty able to do it." It was a strong committee that came on from Arizona, though not as large as could have been brought, for business men all over the state volun teered to join the invasion of Washing ton if it was thought their presence would help. The committee was carefully select ed from among the volunteers and instead of chartering a special train and making a junket out of the trip,, each member came on his own ac count, regarding it as a serious busi ness matter, rather than a pleasure jaunt. question as to what shall constitute a. working day for the railway mail clerks. The burden of the complaint has been that a large majority of the men on road duty were not, prior to tho issuing of the "take up the slack" order, makin the hours now required. Official notice has now been given to the clerks that on the lines where their work is heavy continuously for six days each week, the standard of the service hours shall be considered, as six hours. It is announced also that credit for overtime will be given to clerks who do terminal work at either end of their runs, or extra work that requires them to remain on duty beyond the standard number of hours. With this arrangement the clerks gen erally have expressed themselves as quite satisfied. There are 14,483 rail way postal clerks assigned to road duty. The total average of time on duty cn trains and at terminals is now six hours and thirty-two minutes. The postoffice department insists that it has had no desire to put addi tional burdens on the men. Japan and the United States will go to war in the near future. The con flict will begin in less than ten months. The war will last five years, perhaps ten. The Panama canal will be de stroyed, and In the end thi3 nation will carry the war to Japan and conquer that kingdom. These are a few of the predictions made by Representative Hobson, who used to be an officer in the navy. "We will be struck," he declared, "and when we are gentlemen may dif fer with me as to the time, but I firm ly believe it can be counted in months on the fingers of my two hands we will find ourselves practically power less. The nations of the world will call on us to give up the war and not con tinue to disturb the peace of the world, just as we did with Russia in her war with Japan. Our own financiers will demand that we end an apparently hopeless Etruggle. "But we will not give up. We will fight on, cngered and humiliated, until it becomes a mere question of resources."
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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March 17, 1911, edition 1
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