ALIMONY, according: to Mr. Web
ster’s big book, is an amount
paid a wife out of the hus
band’s income after a divorce. Some
times it’s fifty dollars a week, and
sometimes it’s five hundred—depend
ing on the salary check that comes to
the discarded hubby.
But when, in Kansas City, recently,
one Quintus Spicknal) was ordered by
the court to hand over “twenty grand”
In » lump sum to his successfully suing
■pome, spectators gasped.
One reason they were amazed was
that $20,000 was a lot of money for
anyone to pay in alimony, even though
he be in the high-salaried class. An
other*—and more puzzling—fact was
that Quintus Spicknall’s weekly honor
trium was exactly $35 per.
Neighbors visioned Quintus handing
over his life savings to his wife anil
their two-year-old girl, Diana. He
must have exercised a tremendous
faculty for thrift to have got together
ao much on that salary. Then they
pictured him scrimping and saving to
pay the additional $75 a month that
the court ordered for the support of
the little girl.
Illustrating
the Amazing Profits Made by
Millions of Investors Who Bought
Stocks During the L ast Five Years
Al imony/
j$ 20.000 L
DAUGHTER DIANA
Diana, the Two-year-old Girl, Who,
with Her Mother, Will Benefit
from Spicknall’e Alimony
Settlement.
Tt was a pretty harsh decision, every
body agreed. After all, Quintus was
rot enlarged with anything very
raughtv. It was simply quarreling
with Mrs. Spicknall and refusing to
take hi* meals at home. “Incompati
biljty” was the word non-interested
lawyers might have applied to the.case.
But an evgn greater “income-pati
t>illty”-r4o coin a word—lay between
the $3S-a-week clerk and the $20,000
payment
"it can’t be done,” asserted seasoned
budgeteers. "Even if he’s got the
twenty thousand he can’t meet the
monthly payments. Why. the poor
man’ll stai-vfel”
But these remarks were the result
of not knowing the whole truth about
Quintus’* financial situation. It’s true
his job was that of the relatively
humble clerk. It’s true that each pay
day only three tens and a five greeted
him in the little brown envelope.
Yet, had he wanted to, Quint*s could
have drawn a check for one hundred
•nd fifty thousand dollars and his bank
would have been
forced to honor it.
For hie story is the
usual one in fiction
and the rare one in
life of the clerk who
buys a few shares
of stock on a “tip”
and has it skyrocket
in value until he is
treading the verita
ble "Easy Street.”
MAN WHO PAID
Quintus Spicknall, the Modest
Salaried Clerk Who "Cam*
Through” with $20,000 on
the Court’s Order
A tew years ago, noi long alter
Quintus went to work for the company
in which he is now employed, he
bought tOO shares of stock in it. It
was a small concern, but he saw possi
bilities ahead; so many, in fact, that
he not only went to work as a clerk
for it, but invested most of his savings
in stock.
The firm prospered The stock rose
until now it is worth $1,500 a share
Thus his position in the world rose
financially even if he has never
achieved a private secretary and a
French telephone.
“Quintus threw up his
hands in horror at the
size of the sum
demanded.'
Quintus and Jean
ette Spicknall were
married in 1925 in
Olathe, Kansas,
which later was to
become notorious
as the location of a
“marriage mill."
When its notoriety
began to be colored
largely by the many
child marriages per
formed in the place,
an investiP"'tion i-sf
ordered. Now the
‘•mill” is foritd to
keep a careful rec
ord of all ceremo
nies performed—
and make them
available to the
public at any time.
Like so many of
the nuptials cele
brated in lathe, the
mating of the Spick
nans seems to nave been doomed to
failure almost from the start. Quintus
was full of desire to get on in the
world—a commendable one enough—
but so marked in his case, Jeanette
charged that he subjected her to “gen
eral indignities’’ and wouldn't provide
properly for her support.
Quintus replied with a cross-bill that
painted his wife as extravagant and
nagging Her answer was to cal) the
attention of Judge Clarence Burnev to
the coat she was'wearing “It’s four
years old.” she declared, and said noth
ing more.
What Would Darwin Say of This Youngster?
N°:
T often is it possible to view\a
baby chimpanzee, even though
adults of the species are owned
by raapy zoos. For this reason the
Zoological Garden in Fairmount Park
Philadelphia, has drawn crowds during
the last few weeks, all bound for the
cage of Marianne and Sultan.
This simian couple not long ago be
came the proud parents of the second
chimpanzee to be born in captivity
The new arrival, a male, has not yet
been officially christened, and its hours
of sleep, feeding and play are regu
lated as carefully as they would be
in any children’s hospital.
Scientists have made pilgnma;; d
BOTTLE BABY
Here 1* the Youthful Son of Marianne and Sultan Receiving Hi* Breakl. tt
from a Hygienically Sterilized Bottle in the Modern Scientific
Manner of Child-Care.
rrr
m
4
from surrounding cities to study Sul
tan’s heir, which is fed from a bottle
ami otherwise treated in an amazingly
human fashion.
About Opera?
What (* an opera f
What is the approximate date of
the early beginnings of ope rat
ft. Same an operatic composer res lion
sihle tor many operas of the HUH Cen
tury
i- tVhat great tn iisti :-m had a theatre
established for the performance Of his
oun operas?
AN5WERS.
1. An opera is a drama set to music
as distinguished from plays in which
the music is merely incidental. It hi
arranged for solo voices, choruses and
orchestra
- The dramas that were set to
music to be produced as musical works
of art are ascribed to the beginning of
the 17th Century.
3 Giusdppe Verdi (1813-1001» Ho
wrote "Rigoletto," “II Trovatofe," “La
Traviata,” “Aida” and many other
famous operas
4 Richard Wagner, who had the
Wagner, Theatre built at Bayreuth,
Bav aria
Unquestionably, too, the coat looked
it The judge’s sympathies were
touched and he sent a burly minion of
the law to call on Quintus with a docu
ment ordering the transfer of $20,000
from his name to that of his ex-wife.
No doubt the policeman was some
what puzzled when he was shown to
the' desk of an ordinary clerk instead
of into a mahogany-furnished office.
And Quintus threw up his hands in
horror at the size of the sum demanded.
But he had it in the bank and since
the investigations of Mrs. Spicknall’s
attorneys had been rather thorough, all
he could do was “shell out" as the
phrase goes. He did.
Thus the anomalous situation was
created of a $35-a-week clerk paying
alimony^that would wring the heart of
many an executive way up in the four
figure class.
“Sure."I’m going to keep my job,”
he remarked after the decision. “In a
few years my stock Will be worth so
much that I won’t mind this dent of a
few dollars In my capital. And* of
course, I'm only too glad to provide
for 'ittle Diana "
Then Quintus, who had complained
that his wife was too extravagant to
make both ends meet upon his modest
stipend, sighed and made over to her
tlie rather healthy sum stipulated by
Judge Burney
The officials of the firm for which
he works revealed that in every respect
they had found him a model clerk.
Quiet, punctual, efficient in his duties,
he had but seldom intimated that his
services might be worth more than the
salary he had been receiving.
Apparently Quintus believes his in
terests are best furthered by being as
r SUING
S. OJ-iE
Mr*. Jranctta
Spicknall, Who
Di w-U tier
535-a-VVeek Hueband
on a "General indi'iiltltl"
Charge arid Got $20,000
Alimony.
Rood a clerk ns possible, be
cause he knows he indirectly
benefits from the well-being
of the firm. . through hie
stock.
The phenomenal increase in value
that has taken place in thrtt one stock
is only representative of the sky
rocket trend of the market throughout
the United States. Never before in the
history of finance has there been such
a sharp upwnrd trend that continued
for so long a time
General Motors enjoyed a rise on the
exchange in the period between 1925
'.!8 that has seldom been equalled.
Many other securities approached the
record it set for multiplication of
valin. Quintus happened to live in a
period of financial history that ac
tually made possible the accumulation
of million-dollar fortunes of specu
lators who started “with a shoestring.”
IG IDEAS and GROWING $$
New Slot Machines Show How
London s Going Automatic
LIFE is getting to be wore of a "help yourself” propo
sition every day. At regular intervals a new
money-in-the-slot -device for quick service makes
its appearance. The automat, the vendomat. the photo
maton, the sodamat are now familiar landscapes to the
"New Yorker. .
One would imagine England a trifle hesitant about
whal >«u.
m 'fiiV or i'
An Lnr;!Uh Money-ir,-th«-Slot Machine, Wheie Fruit* and
Nut* Can, Be Purchased by Imertin* • Coin!
Oucinint. UM. munwuuna; M.-uce. lot Or*»t r..iuui'tCabu
The Kiosk Postoffiee. One Women is Buying a Stamped
Envelope While Another Looks Up a 'Phone Number.
i
adopting the quick-service systems so dear to the Yankee
heart. She, however, has devised her own machine where
by one may purchase fruit anil nuts by dropping the
well-known coin in the slot. —■
England has another idea, to which we take off our
uals. i hat i the kiosk postoffice. This new type of
poBtoffice is scheduled to make its appearance in the
streets of London and the provincial towns shortly. Her©
the busy public will be able to accomplish three important
thing? almost simultaneously—make a telephone call, ob
tain a stamp and post a letter.