IPIT LAMPS AND THE WAR.|1916-01-15|Llais Llafur

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IPIT LAMPS AND THE WAR.

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PIT LAMPS AND THE WAR. GLASSES MADE IN GERMANY. Many people do not know that the glasses for pit lamps are by no means an easy production. They require glass of a special nature which has to pass severe tests under the Home Office. The Schott works at Jena, in Germany, supplied us with most of these glasses before the war, and as about two and a half million are req uired every year, our glass manufacturers were faced with a difficult task when the war broke out. Not only were we deficient in the pro- duction of pit lamp glasses, but in all kinds of chemical and laboratory ware and optical glass The Institute of Chemistry appointed a Glass Research Committee, which has done most useful work for the Govern- ment, and given the British manufac- turers the formulae for the varieties most urgently needed. The pit lamp glasses and much of the new work undertaken has been a complete success, and is quite equal to that im- ported hitherto from foreign countries. There is still much to be done in the production of high-class optical glass as is used far lenses and microscopes.

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The Caravan of Mystery., Bv ROY NORTON. I w t Author of "The Plunderers," ,,rho Vai,,lslilng Mects," etc. Follow the fortunes of this pligrint-an American down on his luck, picked up on a park bench by ar. empoycr of infinite surprises follow him across the ) Atlantic, through the gipsy camps of Europe, among the Apaches of Paris, hob- nobbing with tiir-d folks and famous musicians, doing unqucstionly the bidding of his curious employer, searching for something that is not revealed till the amazing climax 01 the story-follow the pilgrim on his unique journey and we have no doubt you will regard this tale as the strangest snd mcst fascinating you have ever read. CHAPTER I. I There's no iL-e in my making any I excuses for the reasons or circum- stances that had brought me to the I park bench to sleep nor is there any reason to deny that for ten years I had been a vagabond, a drifter, a I floater, enamored with Adventure and careless where she beckoned. Trade? I had none. Occupations? It seemed to me that I had triel the-m all-yes, everything, from sailing before the mast to acrobatics in a circus. Per- haps the last was the easiest, because I had worked mv way through a uni- versity by being an instructor in ath- letics, and the bodily tricks one learns when young and supple are not quickly lost, if one cares enough for his machine to be abstemious, and I was that. But about the park bench. I re- member it very well, as if it were the great milepost of career; for it was there, on that chill morning of I -early May, that I made the acquaint- ance of Professor Algernon de Bert- rand. I wondered for a long time whether that. could be his real name. It sounded untrue. I said the morning was chill. I don't mean by that it would have been chill for one who had slept beneath blankets, but newspapers have a faculty for becoming disarranged when used for covering. Perhaps you've noticed it yourself. I awoke and found myself chilled and stiff, and, knowing of no better way to get my blood into circulation, began doine handsprings, somersaults, and twisters on the park path. The other "vags" on the benches paid no more attention to me than as if I had been a sparrow out there hopping around in search of food. Most of them were either tough or melancholy, drowsy or brooding. Breathing a little heavily through the violence of my exercise, I paused, and then, for the first time, saw the pro- fessor, who had come up unobserved And was watching me. And a queer little man he locked. The morning gave clear promise of a fair day but the professor had an umbrella under his arm. He wore an old-style "Prince Albert'' coat, an old- style collar and cravat, an old-style silk hat, and boots. Altogether he was like a man who had stepped from a picture of the "fifties"; but it was cot his clothes that drew attention so much as his eyes. They were quizzic- al, merry, humorous, and wi&e. They I appeared perpetually measuring any ¡ and everything they rested on. They I were eyes that bespoke a vast exper- ience o flife. and were inclined to ac- cept it as the greatest of all jokes. "i "A very good acrobat, indeed," he said. "Never saw that twist taken that way by any other man." He spoke almost meditatively, as if impelled to express an opinion entirely regardless of my personality, and with- out desire to compliment me. His voice was surprisingly rounded, sonor- ous, and deep, as if, befitting a giant's throat, it had come to his by acci- dent. His eyes swept from me to the bench I had occupied, and I knew he discerned the newspapers and fathom- ed their use. "Have a doughnut?" he asked, and from the tail of his ridiculous coat whipped a paper bag and proffered it for the alleviation of my hunger. I took one and nearly broke a tooth trying to bite it. The professor remarked pleasantly: "I buy them for the fcirds." I did not answer, being resolutely intent on robbing the birds of this one doughnut at least but the professor, observing my struggle, laughed and said: "Never mind it, man. Come with me to breakfast." And I went with him through the corner exit of the park and across to a cheap little place where we could ft at either table or stool, and where the air was heavy with the scent of morning ooffe-e and other smells vastly tempting to one who had eaten nothing for twenty-four hours. My host gave me carte blanche. No millionaire could have done more. And my host smiled steadily all the time I ate, something that but few million- aires would have done. He preserved a becoming silence, as if fathoming that, being engrossed in food, I had no time to divide with tongue or ear. It was not- until I leaned back with a fine sigh of content that he spoke. "Can you fight ?" ked he, and I wondered for an instant if this little man thought me a mere New York gangster ready to pay for a meal with my fists. I didn't care to cancel my obliga- tion that way, but answered: "Yes, I suppose I can. I am considered a good amateur." I waited an instant for him to pro- ceed. "Rough and tumble?" he asked. "Yes. I've done that, too," I ad- mitted, with a grin. "Any incumbrances—-family de- pendents, or anything of that &o-r-td" he inquired. "Why?" I asked, as ray wonder in- creased. "Because if you fought for me you might have to go to jail," he replied with the utmost placidity, just as if going to jail were a mere incident. I shook my head with an air of re- luctance. "I'm afraid," said I, "that I'm not the sort of man you're looking for. For two reasons: one that I'm not a

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2,50,750 MINERS IN ARMS.

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2,50,750 MINERS IN ARMS. DECREASE IN COAL OUTPUT FOR WAR YEAR. The loss of output of coal in the United Kingdom over the first twelve months of the war, state the Coal Mining Organisation Committee in their second report, as compared with the like pre-war period, was 29,924,727 tons, or a decrease of about 11 per cent. This loss is not as great as an- ticipated, "owing, we believe, to the effect of the remedial measures taken to mitigate loss due to depletion of labour." Over the period August, September, and October 1915, the output was greater than in the like period of 1914 by 1,500,000 tons. The falling off com- pared with the same months in 1913 was 7,250,000 tons. The number of enlistments over the first 13 months of the war was 250,750 and of these 56,850 had enlisted during March to August 1915 inclusive. Taking into consideration the amount of lab- our which had come into the mines, the loss of labour amounted to nearly 16 per cent. The committee are' pleased to be able to state that absenteeism has not in- creased but remained the same as during the first seven months of the war-viz., 9.8 per cent. For the like period during the pre-war months it was 10.5 per cent. "Were there no avoidable absenteeism the output would be increased by from 13 to 14 million tons a year. Absenteeism is lowest in Scotland and highest in England, North Stafford- shire and Yorkshire being the least satisfactory in this respect, the aver- age for the former district being 13.4 per cent. (March to August 1915) and in the latter 12.7 per cent. The committee state that the gener- al regularity of the pits and the sacri- fice of regular holidays have prevented the loss of output being as great as was expected. With regard to the problems of tran- sport, the committee recommend that without delay the Railway Executive lie advised to prepare a scheme of pooling suitable to the different dis- tricts. "Lack of tonnage at the South Wales ports has of late operated ad- versely on the coal trade of that dis- trict. Many of the mines lately have lost several days a week solely through want. of ships to carry away the coal under' order." ——————

LORD RHONDDA.

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The Caravan of Mystery.,

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professional quarreler, and the other that I don't care much for jails" "All the better," remarked the pro- fessor, rubbing his hands together with I an air of satisfaction. "All I wanted ) to know was whether you could fight, on occasion, and also I wanted the a&- suranee that you preferred peace. A man who will fight, but prefers not to, shows due courage coupled with cau- tion. Those are two essentials which I need in a man who works for me. Now, last of all, do you object to going anywhere in particular?" "Certainly not," I hastily and hope- fully replied. "I'll go to the north POle for a steady, job, or to Central Africa, or to Hoboken. It's immater- ial. I ask no questions." "Good again! declared the pro- fes&or. "A paragon! A paragon!" "And I'll do anything you want done, provided it's not unlawful," I as- serted, eager to make certain of em- ployment. "For a hundred a month and ex- penses, provided you fill the job?" asked the professor. "Yes." For a full two minutes he stared hard at me with an unusually grave face, as if appraising my character, and our eyes never wavered. "You'll do," he said. "You are I engaged. Now, the first thing I want you to do is to take this down to the customs office and register it. Tell them you do so because you are going abroad, and that the name is Profess- or Algernon de Bertrand, American citizen. That's my name, so that's why I want it registered in my name." He fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and then tossed out an un- mounted stone that, had it been a dia- mond, would have weighed at least fifty carats. I am not an expert in crystal or diamonds, but this looked wite and dazzling, with blue rays that flashed as I turned it to and fro in my hand. One of my failings in life has been that my face lacks mobility. I sup- poso I am expressionless and oool. Most athletes or men with perfect nerves are the latter. So I don't think I .exhibited any surprise, curi- osity, or other sentiment as I held the bauble in my fingers. I wondered, however, whether I was being chaffed by the quaiiA little man who sat op- posite me lighting as villainous stogie as I ever smelled. "And after you register it," he said, between puffs, "you can return it to me at the New Amsterdam Hotel, on Fourth Avenue, when I shall have something else for you to do, doubt- 1088. I got: to my feet and reached for my hat. "By the way," said the professor, "you'd better get some new clothes. Here's an advance on expense ac- count. He pulled out a wallet and with amazing digital dexterity extracted therefrom five crisp twenty-dollar bills that he tossted across at me as care- lessly as if he had thrown me a dime, and I had know him less than an hour! I accepted the money as phlegmatic- ally as I could, but, as a matter of fact, my heart was jumping gleefully, inasmuch as this was more than I had possessed at one time in a sixmonth. Then I went out and passed directly down the island toward the custom- house. CHAPTER II. I I had to loiter around the door of the custom-house for nearly half an ¡ hour before it opened to receive me and the bauble; but even thus early I made one of a huge crowd that bubbled into the big structure where so great a portion of the nation's in- come is collected. I went to a win- dow, to which I was directed by a porter, and explained my errand. The man behind the counter held out his hand with a methodical, careless ges- ture, accepted the stone, and then his attitude changed. "You'll have to wait a minute or two," he said politely enough, and turned away. To this day I don't know how he did it, but there must have been some sort of signal passed, for when, two or j three minutes later? I turned idly around to look curiously at a scene with which I was not familiar, I dis- j covered a floor officer at my elbow. Ap- parently he was merely lounging against the counter; but I was in- stantly aware that I was under espion- age. It flashed over me, in an instant that I was suspected of something, and I resolved to test my surmise. I started to saunter away, as if merely interested in what might be seen, but the officer's voice checked me. "You'd better wait here, my friend," he said. "Some one else ,might get in ahead of you. You left something to be appraised, didn't you?" I was aware that his tone conveyed more than his words, but thanked him and stood quietly. "No,"said 1, "1 left something to he registered before taking it abroad." He smiled, but said nothing more. After what seemed a protracted wait, the man to whom I had given the stone appeared, but with him came another man, who eyed me closely, as if to identify me. "What valuation do you place on this diamond?" inquired the man from the desk, with suspicious suavity. "I leave that to you," I said calmly. "I didn't bring it here to have it valued. I wanted to register it." "Oh," said the man at the desk; "that way, eh? What did you &ay your name was?" He reached for a blank, but some- thing in his expression warned me. "I want it registered in the name of Professor Algernon de Bertrand, I tried to evade, "But is that your name?" insisted the official who had accompanied my inquisitor. "Why?" I asked, still fighting to keep from placing myself in a position from whch I could not retreat, and fully appreciating my unfortunate plight. The man suddenly leaned toward me and bored me with eyes that wandered up and down over my shabbiness be- fore he took further part in the pro- eeedings. "Because," he said sharply, "when a man brings the diamond known all over the world as the Maharaja's Blue, here, to be registered, we prefer to known something about him. Soli- taries worth tens of thousands aren't so common, -you know. Now, is your I name Algernon de Bertrand?" He fired the question at me ex- plosively, and with a distinct menace. It was plain that he was attempting to trap me. The officer by my side edged closely enough to seize me in case I attempted to run. A crowd, sensing something unusual, was beginning to surround us, and I expected A be ar- rested as a suspected thief within the next minute. "No, n I said desperately, "that isn't my name. I'm-" "But it's mine," roared an unmis- takable voice that followed its an- noujioement with a gleeful shout of laughter, and through the crowd came the professor, with his umbrella still under his arm and his top hat back over his ears. I struggled between two emotions, one of thankfulness and the other a desire to hit the professor. I think the latter was the stronger, but I had no time to put it into exe- cution, for a fresh surprise was in store. The very man who had been ques- tioning me shoved a big red hand across the counter and greeted the professor with an air of friendly ac- quaintanc-e and called him by name. The professor turned to pat me on the back, and. made his own registration, while I, still a trifle angry, yet mysti- fied by what seemed a madman's cap- rice, waited for him. He waved his umbrella to the officials, slipped his hand up on my arm. and said: "Come on, young fellow. You'll do! You'll do!" It was not until we were on the steps that I discovered the professor to have a secretive, crafty spirit, belied by his candid air of extreme good nature. "That's a nice mess to put a fellow up against!" I exclaimed angrily, wnereat he laughed in high humour. "Listen!" said the professor, facing me there on the steps and shaking a smooth, slender finger at me. "There's just one way in the world to measure a man. That's to tempt him. There is no recommendation of past perform- ances so good as the immediate temp- j tation withsood. Get me?" I did not aswer. I was too curious to hear what else he might, say. "Bah!" he exploded. "Some men would have asked you for references. That isn't my way. I get my own." He paused long enough to vent a self satisfied, rumbling chuckle, and added: "You couldn't have done anything with that stone if you had wanted to. It's too well known to be stolen. And you couldn't have run away with my hundred dollars, either, because you hadn't got round tre corner before I was in a taxicab at your heels, and not for five minutes have you been oiit of my sight since I first met you. You're young. Here's a lesson for you: have charity, benevolence, and philanthropy; but always keep a string on 'em! Don't ever give any man a chance to benefit bv any of these three traits, unless he proves worthy." "But-but suppose," I asked, "I had run away with your diamond and your money?'' "I should merely have caught you," | he said pleasantly, "and either sent you to jail or murdered you with my own hands." I laughed then, because the idea seemed so grotesque; but I Wouldn't now, because I think the professor would have done it! CHAPTER III. I I can smile now, tolerantly, in, look- ing back over the gap of time, at some I of the queer actions of the inexplicable professor; but I assure you that there were many times when lie was no smiling matter. He was an employer j of infinite surprises. A phrenologIst, who could have fumbled .nd inter pre- i ted the bumps on an elephant's head would have found himself lost had he tried to read the professor's charac- ter. One had no idle time when work- ing for him, because he kept a man guessing, rather anxiously, what next he might demand. We went back to the New Amster- dam afoot, because the professor said he didn't believe in spending ten cents car fare when the distance was an easy walk for two able-bodied men. "Register there," he said to me, when at our destination the suave, whi te-headed hotel clerk swung the big book toward me, and my new em- ployer put his glasses on his nose, and, open-mouthed, scanned my autograph. "John Carter," he read aloud. "U m-m-h And a very good name, too. So that's what you call yourself, eh Without waiting for an answer, he turned toward the clerk and said: "This is a friend. Give him a good room next to mine." I saw the clerk smile discreetly, and decided that my strange employer's idiosyncrasies had been noted in his abode. Two days passed in riotous idleness, in which I did not see my employer but on the third he sent for me, and, when I entered his abode, I found that he had a big apartment of four or five rooms for his sole and only use. "Did you buy those .clothes?" he demanded, as, just inside the first door, I waited for his orders. Now it had seemed wise to me, in- asmuch as I might be dealing with an insane man, that I husband my re- sources so I had bought a cheap, serviceable suit. It was at least re- spectable. My employer was lying on a couch, and had not taken the trouble to remove his rumpled silk hat. The tails of his coat were twisted beneath him, and his head was pillowed on his arms. As he asked his question, he slowly turned toward me and added: "Stand up there under the light, where I can see you." I obeyed. From my head to my feet he inspected me, and then lifted him- self to a half-reclining position. "Good Lord, man! Do you call those things clothes? Don't you know how to dress as a gentleman should?" I stammered an apology. He got slowly to his feet, in his own rumpled attire, and took a clofcer look. Under his snarling sarcasm I was dumb and distressed. What on earth did he expect, anyway? He must have defined my perturbation, for he sud- denly smiled as no other man but he ever smiled with such a warmth of aumsed friendliness, such a charm of candor and good-fellowship, that I re- covered. "I didn't want to spend too much money, and so I began; but he stepped closer and radiated benevo- lence upward from his five feet four to my six feet. "There! There!" he said. "Never mind. I should have told you. The fact is, John Carter, that I am ex- tremely observant of dress. I am, I may boast, a connoisseur." He must have caught the faint, ques- tioning smile that I could not restrain. when my eyes fell to his own careless.. antique garb. The man was like a mind reader. "Certainly," he said, a-s if in answer to my criticism, "I don't follow the fashions. An employer doesn't have to. But the employee must always remember that lie owes it to his em- ployer, as well as to those of the world who know that he is employed by his employer, to do credit to his employer in matters sartorial. Understand me f I can dress as I please. You can't. You dress as I please- I trust you will remember that, John Carter." He bolted for the telephone that happened to be in the next room, and I heard him call a. number. He de- manded that a tailor who could measure garments be sent to the hotel at once, and that, he brings samples with him. He selected the cloth himself, and my misgivings were dissipated when he chose the most quiet and genteel fabrics I had feared that he would want yellow and pink checks, crape, or crimson velvet. Of one thing I was apprehensive—the cost. Did he expect me to pay from my own funds? But here again I was gratified by his ready instructions that the bill was to be sent to him. He dismissed the tailor and took me out to a. hat store, where he bought recklessly, this man; would not sped ten cents for a car- fare, until I had more hats than I had ever owned, even in my most extrava- gant days of opulence. Another week passed without my seeing him, and then I was summoned to his apartments to be fitted with the suits he had ordered. I was more than ever dumfounded by his outlay, for there were seven of them, ranging from a modest business suit to evening dress. I now wondered if he planned to use me as a tailor's model, but dared not question him. One does not look a. gift horse in the mouth when one is weary of the road. Three days later, of all things! the dress suit was sent to my room, and with it came a curt note from the professor request- ing me to go out and buy patent leather shoes, silk hose, and befitting underwear, after which I was to re- port at his aparement. I had grown so accustomed to him that I obeyed. "A fine figure of a man," he ob- served, as he scrutinized mv appear- ance. I could not tell whether he was jesting at my expense; but had suffic- ient common sense to know that in proportion, at least, I was excellent, and that my physical condition was flawless. The professor was in a peculiar mood. and seemed to be thinking of some- thing He took me to dine at the niosv exclusive place in New York, whera now and then he lapsed into an ab- stracted state, as if forgetting my presence. He led me on to talk of my- self, but told me nothing of his own life, his occupation, or ambition. From the table he took me to an opera, but at frequent intervals consulted his timepiece, as if he had some important engagement. Indeed it was just ten o'clock, and the show at its most en- grossing point, when he plucked a £ my sleeve and said: "Come! We must go." (To be continued).

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