Newspapers / The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, … / June 18, 1936, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
_W6MAN TENTH INSTALMENT SYNOPSIS: Amos Ethridge is found murdered in a country lane with a crude cross of twigs on his breast and a scented sheet of note paper in his pocket. He was the richest man in the state with power and influence enough to make himself candidate for governor. With Ills death came hints of an unsavory private life, of wronged women and betrayed husbands and fathers who had reason to wish him dead. There was also a powerful secret organ ization opposed to him. . . . Mary Holmes, called "the goose woman" by newspaper reporters, lives 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 Ma rie di Nardi, world-renowned op era singer. . . . Gerald Holmes, a talented young artist, is hated and loved by his mother who is em bittered because his birth caused the loss of her voice and wrecked Dr. Chas. W. Mosley Diseases of the Stomach, Office of Dr. E. M. Hutchens North Wiikesboro, N. C. Mondays only, June 15th, to Sept. 15th. Honrs 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. NOTICE 30-DAY SPECIAL M & C Beauty Shoppe 51VA N. Liberty St. Winston-Salem, N. C. Any lady sending in 5 customers for permanents will receive one herself free of charge. Permanents SI.OO to $7.50 —Guaranteed THE COW OF COWS \ i pion Jersey Cow, No ■ \ tional Dairy Show, 1935. Owned and bred Youngttoum, Ohio. JERSEY COWS are common enough— but Simply Sybil's Pallas is a breeder's dream come true. Near perfect in every respect—won derful body, level top carrying out well both ways, deep veins, marvelous udder in texture and attachment —fully worthy of her proud title, National Champion. She Is the Cow of Cows. This iuagiiincent jersey Champion is Nature at her peak—a creature gifted with the vital spark that only Nature can supply, a natural balance of all the elements required in the making of a champion. This natural balance of vital elements is the principal difference between Simply Sybil's Pallas and a common cow—the difference between the best and the rest in almost everything. And here's another example of the natural balance that makes true quality—Natural Chilean Nitrate. Into this nitrate nitrogen. Nature blended her own secret balance of vital impurities, many minor elements over and above Its nitrogen. And Nature herself, aged, cured and mellowed this product through countless centuries in the ground. That is why Natural Chilean stands out a quality fertilizer by every test, in the scientist's laboratory or the practical test in die farmer's fields. It is the safe, sure, balanced food for your crops. Natural Chilean contains almost two score of major and minor elements such as boron, magnesium, man ganese/ iodinei calcium/ potassium, etc —each a vital element in growth and healthy development of pi ants. \alaial (CHILEAN NITRATE OF SOD* WITH VITAL IMPURITIES » NATURE'S OWN BALANCE AND BLENI her operatic career. He has been befriended by the murdered Eth ridg, 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 cottage owned by Eth ridge. . . . Jacob Riggs, eccentric old-time actor, now a doorman at the theatre where Hazel Woods plays, has appointed himself her guardian and lives in a room over her garage. "I—l only told what I saw," Mrs. Holmes declared, uncertain ly. "I swore to it and you know what it means when you swear to a thing. Why—they'd arrest me, for all I know." "But there's a terrible mistake somewhere," the girl earnestly as serted. "I can't explain the car with one headlight—the car that passed you after the shooting— and yet Jerry declares he left your house an hour before the murder and drove straight to town. He's telling the truth: I know he is." "They claim he laid in wait." "But they couldn't prove it without you! It's your evidence that contradicts him. You didn't actually recognize him —you said so! And if it had been Jerry you'd have known him. Of course you would! You'd know your own boy anywhere—" "I—was too far away." Hazel protested breathlessly: "No, no! Think! Oh, God, think of something to show it wasn't he! Some action, some gesture, some peculiarity! Maybe there were two headlights on that last car and you were mistaken. It's so easy to be mistaken and just that one point might save him. Think! If it were me I'd—think of something. I'd —But they've discredited me; there's nothing I can do. I'm utterly helpless." She broke down now and, hiding her face in her hands, she sobbed wretchedly; the tears came through her fingers. There was a poignant quality to her grief. • THE ELKIN TRIBUNE, ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA She was very young and very frail. Mrs. Holmes realized that this tragedy had broken her iike a butterfly. A curse on men like Amos Ethridge! Yes, and on men like Vogel! After a while the mother said, roughly: "Go away! Give me a chance to think. Mind you, I don't believe it's any use but —" "Oh, why does everything I do turn out wrong? It's his fault as much as mine. It's easy for you to tell me to lie, to perjure my self—" "I don't. I merely say what I'd —be' willing—to do!" "All right! All right! Go along now. I'll let you know if I can think of anything, but I'm sick. That's my luck. Sick! That's how things go with me. I—l wish I were dead!" That afternoon Vogel called at the hotel in accordance with a re quest from Mrs. Holmes, and af ter she had beat about the bush for a while she told him halting ly that she wished to make a new affidavit. There were certain points in her first one that she realized, upon careful thought, needed explanation, modification. Vogel listened until she had fin ished, then he said: "I've been expecting this. Save it for the trial." "But—the trouble Is Jerry's be ing tried now, in the newspapers. The verdict will be in before the jury goes out." "Don't you believe he's guilty?" The woman averted her eyes. "There are some people who couldn't commit a murder, and he's one. There's nothing vicious about him. He liked Mr. Ethridge and he knew nothing whatever about the Woods affair." "Nothing vicious, eh? Nothing vicious about his mother, either, I suppose?" Vogel grinned deris ively. "Tell that to the reporter you shot at." Mrs. Holmes argued feebly until he broke in: "I understand you perfectly, and your feelings do you credit. But I am a servant of the people and the law must be upheld. I sincerely regret that in doing your duty you placed your son in Jeopardy, but it's not the first time such a thing has hap pened. Justice must be served and murder will out. Truth is more sacred than a mother's love. It's my task to discover the truth." "But you haven't. I was—mis taken," the woman protested. "I'm not going to let an innocent person suffer for my mistake." "Mistake!" "Well, call it whatever you want to. I gave wrong testimony. I—lied!" "Indeed? It's too bad you're so late confessing it. Now see here" —the speaker's tone changed— "we'll end this foolishness right now. I'm not going to let you make a monkey out of me ; what ever your natural impulse may be. I dare say you'll testify that I de ceived or coerced you; put words into your mouth; induced you to sign something you didn't read. We'll see! Are you going to play straight, do your duty as a citizen and stick to what you said, or—?" "No. I can't. I'm going to tell the truth." Vogel rose. "Thanks for letting me know. If you choose to discre dit yourself in any such manner I'll make a good job of it. You see, I've looked up your whole history and I'll make you tell it to the jury; with your own lips. It won't help the defendant any, believe me." "What do you mean?" Mrs. Holmes faintly demanded. "You understand plain English. You'll hear a lot of it if you main tain this attitude." There was a pause. "You must have some af fection for this—this 'son' of yours. That's nothing more than animal nature! But the more lies you tell, the more the Jury will believe in the story you told me and swore to; the more firmly you will convince them that you are swearing falsely to save your illegitimate child." "I see. If I don't do what you say youH tell all about- Jerry?" "And you! Exactly. I'd like to spare you both, but—" the speak er shrugged. "Better grit your teeth and go through with it. You can't save him, no matter what you do." With these words Vogel left. Hazel woods was surprised late that night to receive a telephone request to come at once to the hotel where Mrs. Holmes was stopping. On account of the hour, she took old Jacob Riggs with with her. She had taken Jacob about with her a good deal this past week, not merely as an es cort, but also because he display ed such pathetic eagerness to comfort and to protect her. In these troubled circumstances she was grateful for sympathy and faith from whatever source, and of all her friends he alone re mained loyal; he was indeed a father. He was, if possible, "queer er" than ever, more given to mel ancholy quotations from the Bi ble; nevertneless she had a ten der feeling for him and her mis fortune had drawn them close to gether. Hazel found a number of repor ters waiting in the hotel lobby and was surprised to learn that Mrs. Holmes had likewise sent for them. Her surprise deepened, hope stirred, when the two attorneys she had hired for Jerry hurried in, explaining that they, too, had been summoned. It was quite a group that finally rode upstairs and filed Into the sick woman's room. Mrs. Holmes was up and dress ed, but she looked desperately ill. As soon as her visitors had dis posed of themselves she began, in a voice harsh and purposeful: "Get out your pencils, boys. There's another 'big' story com ing. I had a talk with Mr. Vogel today and told him I had made a false affidavit. I told him my ac count of the Ethridge murder was a pure invention." The correspondents exchanged glances, the attorneys leaned for ward eagerly. Hazel felt old Ja cob's bony fingers upon her arm and heard him mutter some scriptural phrase of thanksgiv ing. "I'm going to tell you the whole truth and I want you to print it. I sent for Jerry's lawyers so they can have it put down in proper form and I can swear to it. I don't know how such things ought to be done, but—" "Never mind. Go ahead," one of the attorneys urged. "I'll start at the beginning and go along in my own way. Please don't interrupt me—you can straighten it out later. Well, then, I did see an automobile with one headlight pass my house that night—l was waiting for Jerry— and it stopped in the pine grove up by the lane. But that's all I actually saw. I didn't see the murder; I didn't see the car come back. I don't know when it came back, for I never stepped outside my door after Jerry told me good night. After he left I went to bed. I heard some shots, but I didn't know Amos Ethridge had been killed until the next morning. As ij ' - s^ * I'A l's A.& JV^y'i« *', $* «*v *^ v -&V t .&! >r» 1 mi&^^iSiSmm z^vit, \A/ k^O' C a ® r ' de *° ave Redd Y Kilowatt as her *^ a * are ava 'l a^'e *° *he brides of 1936. Reddy Kilowatt 1 is an indispensable servant in every home and particu larly so in the home of the wife who does her own work. Jr fl Let him do your cooking, Ironing, sweeping, water heat- T 1 ing, washing, and dozens of other household task* that m f make women old long before their time. Keep your I Jjf M youth, beauty and charm by seeing that your home is ' rj>. J»» equipped with all these modern appliances that are available at such a low cost. Reddy Kilowatt's services are as equally important to brides of other years as he is to brides of today. Unload your household duties sn M««i r ways ready to take ** ♦ and Right N«»w June Brides Can Have A New 1936 Kelvinator On Onr Special a™ ° ,,er of S1 Cash and 30 Months To Pay Bal.T o/we aSfii^tha} ■' TBne 1,1 WSOC »»•■*• U Noon Mon.-Wed.-Frid*y - _ works for so little. De~ mm mm m _ s'-a* DUKE POWER COMPANY i \ - soon as I heard about it I hurried up there and hung around all day. That's the truth, so help me Godf" A question or two was voiced, but the woman did not answer. "I talked to some of you boys that morning and told you all I knew, but you went out of your way to treat me contemptuously —make fun of me. I was furious when I saw your stories. * . , When I was on the stage I used to get a thrill out of interviews; I was crazy for publicity. People in my profession frequently get that way. I loved to see my name in print. I saved every notice, ev ery criticism; I collected thous ands of clippings and preserved them. It's a mild form of disease and lots of actors have ft, for they're always playing to an au dience. . . . I've been acting all my life, on the stage, at home, before my friends, to myself. When you're in print, you're act ing in a way, only to a different audience. When I lost my voice I lost my audience. That was the hardest thing to bear. I used to think I was the most tragic fig ure in the world, but"—the speak er smiled bitterly—"l guess it was largely because I never saw my name in print, never heard it mentioned anymore. What is a career except—applause? What does a person get out of it except food for his vanity? I'm telling you this to explain what happen ed next, for if you don't under stand the sort of person I am— the theatrical temperament—you won't be able to understand what I did. "Well, after I got over my first resentment at being ridiculed, the old disease came back. It pleased me to be written about and to have my words quoted, even though you called me the 'goose woman,' 'a bedraggled old hag,' 'a drunken harridan.' When • I realized how far I'd gone back a lot of dead hopes and ambitions came to life. Embers I thought were cold The 'goose woman'! It's a good name for me. "All at once I dropped out of the papers entirely. I got no more thrills; had nothing to think about, nothing to occupy me; I had to quit acting. I was awfully lonely. I'd had a taste of the drug: the habit was back on me fiercer than ever, if you know what I mean. . . . I dare say af ter this you can follow my mo tives. I pieced out a story to fit my theory of the killing, studied the ground so as not to contra dict myself, planted an old glove lt was very simple; it looked perfectly easy; I didn't think I was doing harm to anybody for I felt sure the murder would nev er be solved and I was merely bringing Maria di Nardi back to life—laying roses on a forgotten shrine. I don't know and I don't car who killed Amos Ethridge. Whoever did it had a good reason no doubt, for he was a bad man. "Mr. Vogel believed me. He brought me here, put me up, dressed me up, and I got so I be lieved my own story, it was won derful to "come back,' to creep out of my shell and become Maria di Nardi again, even though it was all make-believe. There's a crab—the hermit crab—that does something like that. He's an ug ly, soft, misshapen thing, but he crawls into empty shells, beauti ful shells, the owners of which have died, and he lives there. . . I had a glorious time in my new, beautiful shell until I realized m Thursday, June 18, 1936 j that I had put a noose around my boy's neck." Mary Holmes fell silent. Nobody spoke for a moment; then some body inquired. "What did Vogel say when you told him this?" "He said I was lying to save Jerry and he had expected some thing of the sort. Then he threat ened me—" "Threatened you?" It was one of the lawyers speaking. "Yes, He's holding something oyer me. Now that I've defied him, I've got to tell you what it is—that means telling the world —and it isn't easy even for a 'bedraggled old harridan' like me. You see—l was never mar ried! . . . Well gentlemen, there you have the whole story. Mr. Vogel doesn't believe it, but you do, don't you? And the public will believe it. Why, you must know I'm telling the truth." The speaker stared eagerly at first one then another of her hearers. One of the older men answered her: "It makes no difference, Mrs. Holmes, what we fellows think. We're trained not to think, but to get the news. We'll send out this story, if you say so, but are you sure you want us to? Will it do any good?" "Then you—don't believe me?" "Let's put it this way: we don't think the public will believe' you. The circumstantial evidence is too strong and you haven't really destroyed any part of it. Am I right, boys?" (Concluded next issue) Time Saver "What's your name?" "M-M-M-M-M-M-Mable." "I'll call you Mabel for short."
The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 18, 1936, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75