MEYERSDALE COMMERCIAL, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1929
Page Seven
Ar Adventure
of the Scarlet
+ Orcz
WX U Service
Copyright Baroness Orczy
The Baroness Orczy is a painter and
playwright as well as a novelist. She
is the daughter 6f the Baron Orczy,
a diplomat and a fine musician, who at
.one time was Director of the National
Opera House at Budapest.
Her mother had been the Countess
Wass, also of Hungary. The Countess
was educated in Brussels, Paris and
London. She is a very fine writer and
was described in the London Graphic
of 1907 as “One of the most cleverly
versatile women of the day.”
With such an ancestry and raised in
an atmosphere of erudition and art, the
Baroness would naturally be expected
to develop talent. She has done so.
She is best known for her novels, most
of which have been tremendously suc-
cessful.
Her themes have been varied. She
is thoroughly at home with historical
subjects, especially those phases of his-
tory rife in color and stirring episodes,
such as the French Revolution. “An
Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel”
is her latest work.
CHAPTER 1
Sir Andrew’s Story
“You really are impossible, Sir
Percy! Here are we ladies, raving,
simply raving, about this latest ex-
ploit of the gallant Scarlet Pimpernel,
and you do naught but belittle his
prowess. Lady Blakeney, I entreat,
will you not add your voice to our
chorus of praise, and drown Sir Per-
c¢y’s scoffing in an ocean of eulogy?”
Lady Alicia Nugget was very arch.
She tapped Sir Percy’s arm with her
fan. She put up a jeweled finger and
shook it at him with a great air of
severity in her fine dark eyes. She
turned an entreating glance on Mar-
guerite Blakeney, and as that lady ap-
peared engrossed in conversation with
his grace of Flint, Lady Alicia turned
the battery of her glances on his royal
highness.
“Your highness,” she said, appeal-
ingly. i
The prince laughed good humoredly.
“Oh!” he said, “do not ask me to
inculcate hero worship into this mau-
vais-sujet. If you ladies cannot con-
vert him to your views, how can I—a
e man?” ;
And his highness shrugged his shoul-
ders. There were few entertainments
he enjoyed more than seeing his
friend, Sir Percy Blakeney, badgered
by the ladies on the subject of their
popular and mysterious hero, the
Scarlet Pimpernel. /
“Your highness,” Lady Alicia re-
torted, with the pertness of a spoiled
child of society, “your highness can
command Sir Percy to give us a true-
—a true—account of how that won-
derful Scarlet Pimpernel snatched M.
le Comte de Tournon d’Agenay with
Madam la Comtesse and their three
children out of the clutches of those
abominable murderers in Paris, and
drove them triumphantly to Boulogne,
where they embarked on board an
English ship and were ultimately
safely landed in Dover. Sir Percy
vows that he knows all the facts.”
“And so I do, dear lady,” Sir Percy
now put in, with just a soupcon of
impatience in his pleasant voice, “but,
as I've already had the privilege to
tell you, the facts are hardly worth
retailing.” ‘
“The facts, Sir Percy,” commanded
the imperious beauty, “or we'll all
think you are jealous.”
“As usual, you would be right, dear
lady,” Sir Percy rejoined, blandly ;
“gre not ladies always right in their
estimate of us poor men? I am
jealous of that demmed elusive per-
sonage who monopolizes the thoughts
and the conversation of these galaxies
of beauty who would otherwise devote
themselves exclusively to us. What
says your highness? Will you deign
to ban for this one night at least every
reference to that begad shadow?”
“Not till we’ve had the facts,” Lady
Alicia protested.
“The facts! The facts!” the ladies
cried in an insistent chorus.
«youll have to do it, Blakeney,” his
highness declared.
“Unless Sir Andrew Ffoulkes would
oblige us with the tale,” Marguerite
Blakeney said, turning suddenly from
his grace of Flint in order to give her
lord an enigmatic smile; “he, too,
knows the facts, I believe, and is an
excellent reconteur.”
“God forbid!” Sir Percy Blakeney
exclaimed, with mock concern. “Once
you start Ffoulkes on one of his in-
terminable stories . . . Moreover,”
he added, seriously, “Ffoulkes always
gets his facts wrong. He would tell
you, for instance, that the demmed
Pimpernel rescued those unfortunte
Tournon-d’Agenays single handed;
now I happen to know for a fact that
three of the bravest English gentle-
men the world has ever known did all
the work whilst he merely . 2
“well?” Lady Alicia queried, eager-
ly. “What did that noble and gallant
Scarlet Pimpernel merely do?”
“He merely climbed to the box seat
of the chaise which was conveying the
Comte de Tournon-d’Agenay and his
impernel
Doe Baroness €&
family under escort to Paris. And the
chaise had been held up by three of
the bravest . , .”
“Never mind about three of the
bravest English gentleman, at the mo-
ment,” Lady Alicia broke in, impa-
tiently; “you shall sing their praises
to us again. But if you do not tell us
the whole story at once we'll call on
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes without further
hesitation. Your highness!” she plead-
ed once more.
“My fair one,” his highness re-
Joined, with a laugh, “I think that we
‘shall probably get a truer account of
this latest prowess of the Scarlet Pim-
pernel from Sir Andrew Ffoulkes. It
was a happy thought of Lady Bla-
keney’s,” he added, with a knowing
‘smile directed at Marguerite, “and I
for one do command our - friend
Ffoulkes forthwith to satisfy our curi-
osity.”
In a moment Sir Andrew Ffoulkes
found himself the center of attraction.
He was in his element; a worshiper of
his beloved chief, he was called upon
to sing the praises of the man whom
he admired and loved best in all the
world. Had the bevy of beauties
around him known that he was re-
counting his own prowess as well as
that of his leader and friend they
could not have hung more eagerly on
his lips.
In the hubbub attendant on settling
down so as to hear Sir Andrew’s nar-
rative even the popular Sir Percy
Blakeney was momentarily forgotten.
The idol of London society, he never-
theless had to be set aside for the
moment in favor of the mysterious
hero who, as elusive as a shadow,
was still the chief topic of conversa-
tion in the salons of two continents.
The ladies would have it that Sir
Percy was jealous of the popularity
of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Certain it
is that as soon as Sir Andrew Ffoulkes
1:
( 7 BEATIN
1) 52° 2S
vl fran
“Did at the Pistol Point, Hold Up the
Chaise.”
had started to obey his highness’ com-
mands by embarking on hig narrative,
Sir Percy retired to the farther end of
the room, and stretched out his long
limbs upon a downy sofa, and prompt-
iy went to sleep.
“Is it a fact, my dear Ffoulkes,” his
highness had asked, “that the gal-
lant Scarlet Pimpernel and his lieu-
tenants actually held up the chaise in
which the Comte de Tournon-d’Agenay
and his family were being conveyed to
Paris?”
“An absolute fact, your highness,”
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes replied, while a
long-drawn-out “Ah!” of excitement
went the round of the brilliant com-
pany. “I have the story from madame
1a comiesse herself. The Scarlet Pim-
pernel, in the company of three of his
followers, all of them disguised as
footpads, did, at the pistol point, hold
up the chaise which was conveying
the prisoners, under heavy escort,
from their chateau of Agenay, where
they had been summarily arrested, to
Paris.
“Inside the vehicle M. de Tournon-
d’Agenay, with his wife, his young
son, and two daughters, sat huddled
up, half numbed with terror. They
had no idea who had denounced them
and on what charge they had been ar-
rested, but they knew well enough
what fate awaited them in Paris. The
revolutionary wolves are fairly on the
warpath just now. To prove their
love for France, lovely France, whose
white robes are stained with the blood
of her innocent children; and to show
their zeal in her cause, they commit
the most dastardly crimes.
“Madam la comtesse assured me
that her husband, and, in fact, all the
family had kept clear of politics dur-
ing these, the worst times of the revo-
lution. Though all of them are de-
voted royalists, they kept all show of
loyalty hidden in their hearts. Only
one thing had they forgotten to do,
and that was to take down from the
wall in madam’s boudoir a small min-
iature of their unfortunate queen.”
“And for this they were arrested?”
“They were innocent of everything
else. In the early dawn after their
summary arrest they were dragged
aut of their home and were being con-
veyed for trial to Paris, where their
chances of coming out alive were
about equal to those of a rabbit when
chased by a terrier.”
“And that was when the gallant
Scarlet Pimpernel interposed?” Lady
Alicia put in with a sigh. “He knew
M. le Tournon d’Agenay and his fam-
ily were being taken to Paris.”
“I believe he had had an inkling of
what was in the wind some time be-
fore the arrest. It is wonderful how
closely he is always in touch with
those who one day may need his help.
But I believe that at the last moment
plans had to be formulated in a hurry.
Fortunately, chance on this occasion
chose to favor those plans.
broken without a gleam of sunshine;
a thin drizzle was falling, and there
was a sharp head wind on, which
fretted # the horses and forced the
driver to keep his head down, with
his broad-brimmed hat pulled well over
his eyes. Nature, as you see, was
helping all she could. One can
imagine the surprise attack. Vague
forms looming suddeniy out of the
mist and the sharp report of a pistol,
twice in quick succession. The horses,
sweating and panting, fell into a foot-
pace, dragging the heavy coach up the
steep incline, through the squelching
mud of the road, and came to a vio-
lent and sudden halt on the crest of
the hill at the first report. At the
sccond they reared and plunged
wildly.
“The whole thing was, 1 am assured,
a matter of a couple of minutes. It
was surprise and swiftness that won
the upper hand, for the rescue party
was outnumbered three to one. Had
there been the slightest hesitation, the
slightest slackening of quick action,
the attack would of a certainty have
failed. But during those few minutes
of confusion, and under cover of the
mist and the vague grayness of the
morning the Scarlet Pimpernel and his
followers, down on their knees in the
squelching mud were not merely fight-
ing, you understand? No! They were
chiefly engaged in cutting the saddle
girths under the bellies of eight fidgety
and plunging horses, and cracking
their pistols in order to keep up the
confusion. Not an easy task, you will
admit, though ‘tis a form of attack
well known in the East, so I under
stand.
“At any rate, those had been the
chief’s orders, and they had to be
carried out. For my part, I imagine
that superstitious terror had upset the
nerves of that small squad of revolu-
tionary guard. Hemmed in by the
thicket on either side of the road, the
men had not sufficient elbow room for
a good fight. No man likes being at-
tacked by a foe whom he cannot well
see, and in the melee that ensued the
men were hindered from using their
somewhat clumsy sabers too freely for
fear of (injuring their comrades’
mounts, if not their own; and all they
could do was to strive to calm their
horses and through the din, to hear
the words of command uttered by their
lieutenant.
“And all the while,” Sir Andrew
went on, amidst breathless silence on
the part of his hearers, “I pray you
picture to yourselves the confusion;
the cracking of pistols, the horses
snorting, the lieutenant shouting, the
prisoners screaming. Then, at a given
moment, the Scarlet Pimpernel scram-
bled up the box seat of the chaise.
As no doubt all of you ladies know by
now, he has the most wonderful hand
with horses. In one instant he had
snatched the reins out of the bhewil-
dergd Jehu’s hands, and, with word
of mouth and click of tongue, had
soothed the poor beasts’ nerves. And
sudden he gave the order, ‘Ca val
which was the signal agreed on be-
tween himself and his followers. For
then it meant a scramble for cover
under the veil of mist and rain, whilst
he, the gallant chief, whipped up the
team, which plunged down the road
now at breakneck speed.
“Of course, the guard, and, above
all, the lieutenant, grasped the situa:
tion soon enough, and immediately
gave chase. But they were not trick
riders, any of them, and with severed
saddle girtlrs could not go far. Be
that as it may, the Scarlet Pimpernel
drove his team without a halt as far
as Molay, where he had arranged for
relays. Once well away from the im-
mediate influence of Paris, with all its
terrors and tyrannical measures, the
means of escape for the prisoners be-
came comparatively easy, thanks pri-
marily to the indomitable pluck of
their rescuer and aiso to a long purse.
“he story is exactly as I had it from
Madam la Comtesse de Tournon-d’Age-
nay, whose only sorrow, now that she
and those she loves are safe at last
in England, i$ that she never once
caught a glimpse of her rescuer. -He
proved as elusive to her as to all of
us, and we find ourselves repeating
the delightful doggerel invented on
that evasive personage by our prince
of dandies, Sir Percy Blakeney.”
“Marvelous!” “Enchanting!” *Pal-
pitating!” “I nearly fainted with ex-
citement, my dear!” These were some
of the ejaculations uttered by dainty,
well-rouged lips, while the men, more
or less, were silent, pondering, vague-
ly longing to shake the enigmatical
hero once, at least, by the hand.
His highness was questioning Sir
Andrew Ffoulkes more closely about
certain details connected with the
story. It was softly whispered, and
not for the first time, either, that his
Day had'
highness could, it he would, solve the
riddle of the identity of that mysteri-
ous Scarlet Pimpernel.
And the whisperers were correct,
since his highness was one of the few
who knew that Sir Percy Blakeney
was the Scarlet Pimpernel, who, with
his little band of romantic adventur-
ers—of whom Sir Andrew Ffoulkes
was one—was devoting himself to sav-
ing from undeserved death victims of
the Reign of Terror in France.
Dainty, sweet, and generous, as
gsual, Lady Ffoulkes had edged .up
to Lady Blakeney, and the two young
wives of such gallant men held one
another for one instant closely by the
hand, a token of mutual understand-
ing. of pride and of happiness.
Then Lady Ffoulkes looked in dainty
puzzlement about her. “Sir Percy!”
she exclaimed. “Where is Sir Percy?”
And the call was like the chirrup-
ing of birds on a sunny spring morn-
ing. It stilled all further chattering
for the moment.
“Where is Sir Percy?’
alone echoed, “Where?”
Until a real material sound came in
response. A long-drawn-out sound
that caused the ladies to snigger and
the men to laugh. It was the sound of
a loud and prolonged snore: The
groups of gay society butterflies, men
and women, parted, disclosing the al-
cove at the further end of the room,
where, on the sofa, with handsome
head resting against rose-colored cush--
ions, Sir Percy Blakeney was fast’
asleep.
And silence
CHAPTER II
Citoyen Lauzet
But in Paris the news of the evasion
of the ci-devant Comte et Comtesse Je
Tournon-d’Agenay with their son and
two daughters was received in a dif-
ferent spirit. Members of the com-
mittees of public safety and of gen-
eral security, both official and unoffi-
cial, professional and amateur, were
more irate than they cared to admit.
Citoyen Lauzet, chief of section in
the rural division of the department
Seine et Oise, was most particularly
worried by the incident, which, it must
be remembered, occurred in tis dis-
trict. ‘The hand of the well-known Eng-
lish spy, known throughout France as
the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel,
could obviously be traced in the daring
and impudent attack on an armed es-
cort, and the subsequent driving of the
chaise through three hundred kilo-
meters of country .where only shame-
less bribery and unparalleled audacity
could have saved them from being
traced, followed, and brought to jus~
tice. Soke?
Citoyen Lauzet, a faithful servant
of the state, felt that the situation was
altogether beyond his capacity for
dealing with; those English spies were
so different to the ordinary traitors
and aristos whom one suspected, ar-
rested, and sent to the guillotine all in
the turn of a hanyl, Rut how was one
to deal with men whom one had never
seen and was never likely to see, if
rumor spoke correctly? Citoyen Lau-
zet scratched his bald pate and per-
spired freely in his endeavor to find
a solution to his difficulty, but he
found none.
It was in the midst of his perturba-
tions that he bethought him of his
friend, Armand Chauvelin. Now, Lau-
.zet was quite aware of the fact that
that same friend of his was under a
cloud just now; that he had lost that
high position he once held on the com-
mittee of public safety, for reasons
which had néver been made public.
Nevertheless, Lauzet had reasons for
knowing that in the matter of track-
ing down spies Armand Chauvelin had
few, if any, equals; and he also knew
that for some unexplained cause
Chauvelin would give several years of
his life, and everything he possessed
in the world, to get his long, thin fin-
gers round the throat of that enig-
matical personage known as the Scar-
let Pimpernel. :
And so, in his difficuity, Citoyen
Lauzet sent an urgent message to his
friend Chauvelin, to come at once to
Mantes, if possible—a request which
delighted Chauvelin and with which
he forthwith complied. And thus.
three days after the sensational rescue
of the Tournon-d’Agenay family, those
two men—Lauzet and Chauvelin—both
intent on the capture of one of the
most bitter enemies of the revolution-
ary government of France, were sit-
ting together in the office of the rural
commissariat at Mantes. Lauzet had
quickly put his friend in possession of
the facts connected with that impu-
dent escapade, and Chauvelin, over an
excellent glass of wine, had. put his
undoubted gifts and subtle brain at
the service of the official.
“Now, listen to me, my dear Lau-
zet,” he said after a prolonged silence,
during which the chief of section had
been able to trace on his friend's face
the inner workings of a master mind
concentrated on one all-engrossing ob-
ject, “Listen to me. I need not tell
you, I think, that 1 have had some ex-
perience of that audacious Scarlet
Pimpernel and his gang; popular
rumor will have told you that. It will
also have told you, no doubt, that in
all my endeavors for the capture of
that detestable spy I was invariably
foiled by persistent ill luck on the one
side, and the man’s boundless impu-
dence on the other. It is because I
failed to lay the audacious rascak-by
the heels that you see me now, a dis-
graced and disappointed man, after
half a lifetime devoted to the service
of my country. But, in the lexicon of
our glorious revolution, my good Lau-
zet, there is no such word as fail; and
many there are who deem me lucky
because my head still happens to be
on my shoulders, after certain episodes
at Calais, Boulogne or Paris, of which
you have, 1 doubt not, heard more
than one garbled version.”
the better for our purpose.
i derstand?”
Lauzet nodded his bald head in sym-
pathy. He also passed a moist, hot
finger around the turn of his cravat.
This allusion to failure in connection
with the desired capture of the Scarlet
Pimpernel had started an unpleasant
train of thought.
“I’ve only told you all this, my good
Lauzet,” Chauvelin went on, with a
sarcastic curl of his thin lips, “in or-
der to make you realize the value
which, in spite of my avowed failures,
the committee of public safety sti'l set
upon my advice. They have disgraced
me, it is true, but only outwardly. And
this they have only done in order to
leave me a wider scope for my activi-
ties, particularly in connection with
the tracking down of spies. As an
actual member of the committee | was
obviously an important personage
whose every movement was in the
public eye; now as an outwardly ob-
scure agent I come and go in secret.
I can lag plans. 1 can help and I can
advise ®without arousing attention.
Above all, 1 can remain the guiding
head, prepared to use such fearless
patriots as you are yourself, in the
great cause which we all have at
heart, the bringing to justice of a band
of English spies, together with their
elusive chief, the Scarlet Pimpernel.”
“Well spoken, friend Chauvelin,”
Citizen Lauzet rejoined, with a tone
of perplexity in his husky voice, “and,
believe me, it was because 1 had a
true inkling of what you've just said
that, in my anxiety, I begged you to
eome and give me the benefit of your
experience. Now, tell me,” he went
on eagerly, “how do you advise me to
proceed?”
Chauvelin, before he replied to this
direct question, had another drink of
wine. Then he smacked his lips, set
down his glass, and finally said “with
slow deliberation, “To begin with, my
good Lauzet, try to bethink yourself
of some family in your district whose
position, shall we say, approaches most
nearly to that of the ci-devant Tour-
non-d’Agenays before their arrest.
That family should consist of at least
one woman or, better still, one or two
. young children, or even an old man or
an imbecile. Anything, in fact, to
arouse specially that old-fashioned
weakness which, for want of a better
word, we will call sympathy.
“That kind of brood swarms in
every district. All you have to do is
—
4 25 ; 7 J =)
ZZ p Sr
7 {T=Re
“All You Have to Do Is to Open Your
Eyes.”
to open your eyes. Anyway, having
settled on a family, which will become
our tool for the object we have in
view, you will order a summary per:
quisition to be made by your gend-
.armerie in their house. You will cause
the head of the family to be .brought
before you and you will interrogate
him first, and detain him under sus
picion. A second perquisition will then
not come amiss; in fact, you will have
it bruited all over the neighborhood
that this particular family has been
denounced as ‘suspect’ and that their
arrest and subsequent trial in Paris,
on a charge of treason, is only a mat-
ter of days. You understand?”
“I do,” Lauzet replied, in a tone that
sounded decidedly perplexed and un-
convinced. “But—"
“There is no but about it,” Chauve-
lin retorted brusquely. “You have
asked my help and I give you my or
ders. All you have to do is to obey—
and not to argue. Is that clear?”
“Quite, quite clear, my good friend,”
Lauzet hastened to assure him. “In
fact, I already have some one in my
‘ mind.”
“Which is all to the good,” Chauve-
lin broke in curtly. “On the balance
of your zeal your reward will present-
ly be weighed. Now listen further to
me. Having followed my instructions
as to perquisitions and so on, you will
arrange as sensational an arrest of
this family as you can. The more it
is talked about in the neighborhood
You un-
“1 do, 1 do,” Lauzet said eagerly. “I
see your whole scheme now. You
want to induce the English spies to
exert themselves on behalf of this
family, so that—"
“Exactly! Therefore, the more sym-
pathy you can evoke for them the bet-
ter; a pretty girl, an invalid, a crip
ple; anything like that will rouse the
so-called chivalry of those spies. Then.
having effected your arrest, you ar-
range to convey the family to Paris,
and do so, apparently under rather
feeble escort, say, not more than four
men.
“Not more than four men, remem-
ber,” Chauvelin reiterated with slow
emphasis, “as visible escort.”
“] understand.”
“Instead of the usual chaise for con-
veying your prisoners to Paris, you
will use the local diligence and, hav-
ing disposed of the prisoners inside
the vehicle, "you will have it further
packed with half a dozen or more
picked men from your local gendarm-
erie, armed with pistols; and you will
take a leaf out of the Scarlet Pim-
pernel’s own book, because that half
dozen picked men will be disguised as
other aristos in distress, women, crip-
ples, old men, er what you will. You
can then go even a little further in
your trickery and arrange a break-
down for your diligence in the lone-
llest bit of road in the forest of
Mezieres, and choose the twilight for
your mise-en-scene. Then—"
But Lauzet could no longer restrain
his enthusiasm.
“Oh, then! '1 see it all!” he ex-
claimed eagerly. “The band of Eng-
lish spies will have been on the watch
for the diligence. They will attack it,
thinking that it is but feebly guarded.
But this time we shall be ready for
them and—"
But suddenly his enthusiasm failed.
His round, fat face lost its glow of
excitement and his small, round eyes
stared in comie perplexity -at his
friend.
“But suppose,” he murmured, “they
think better of it and allow the dili-
gence to proceed in peace. Or sup-
pose that they are engaged in their
nefarious deeds in some other depart-
ment of France.”
“Then,” Chauvelin rejoined coolly,
“all you’d have to do would be to con-
tinue your journey to Paris and set
your family down in the Conciergerie,
ready to await trial and the inevitable
guillotine. No harm will have been
done. There'll be a family of traitors
less in your district anyway, and you
must begir the setting of your com-
edy all over again. Sooner or later, if
you set your trap in the way I have
outlined for you, that cursed Scarlet
Pimpernel will fall into it. Sooner or
later,” he reiterated emphatically, “I
am sure of it. My only regret is that
I didn’t think of this plan before now.
However, there’s nothing lost, and all
1 can do now, my friend, is to wish
you success. If you succeed you are
a made man. And you will succeed,”
Chauvelin concluded, rising and hold-
ing out his hand to his colleague, “if
you follow my instructions to the last
letter.”
“You may be sure I'll do that,” Lau-
zet said with earnest emphasis.
And the two sleuth hounds shook
hands on their project and drank a
glass of wine to its success. But be-
fore Chauvelin finally took leave of
his friend he turned to him with re-
newed earnestness and solemnity.
“And, above all, my good Lauzet,”
he said slowly, “remember that in all
this your watchword must be ‘Silence
and discretion.” Breathe but a word
of your intentions to a living soul and
you are bound to fail. The English
spies have their spies, who serve them
well. They have a long purse which
will alternatively purchase help from
their friends and treachery from ours.
Breathe not of your project to any
living soul, friend Lauzet, or your
head will pay the price of your indie-
cretion.”
Lauzet was only too ready to give
the required promise, and the twe
friends then parted on a note of mu-
tual confidence and esteem.
MAY REPRODUCE
RADIO COOK BOOK
Recipes May Be Reprinted
in Braille for Blind.
(Prepared by the United States Department
of Agriculture.)
Radio casts a ray of light into the
lives of the blind. Among the most
enthusiastic radio listeners are the-
persons for whom the light has failed
and who must depend upon touch and
sound to “see” the world in which
they live.
Now radio is teaming up with
Braille, the special form of printing
for the blind, just as radio and the
usual sort of printing have gone to-
gether in educational programs for
persons of normal vision.
“Aunt Sammy’s Radio Recipes,” a
cook book issued by the radio service
and the bureau of home economics of
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture, will be reprinted in Rraille
if the wishes of blind women listeners
are followed.
“A group of blind women from dif-
ferent parts of Michigan who recently
met at the biennial convention of the
Michigan Association for the Blind,
have asked to have ‘Aunt Sammy’s
Radio Recipes’ reproduced in Braille,”
Charles F. F. Campbell, director of the
Detroit League for the Handicapped,
has written the Department of Agri-
culture. .
The league, which has a small fund
for reproducing in Braille reading
matter for the blind, is considering
the publication of the radio cook book
in special Braille edition fer the blind
readers. Some 185,000 copies of “Aunt
Sammy’s Radio Recipes” have been
distributed to listeners of stations
broadcasting the department feature
for home makers—the “Housekeepers’
Chat,” a daily program supplied to
some 100 co-operating stations.
Keeping Eyes on God
So long as 1 can keep my eye on
God all is well, but if I lose sight of
Him I am troubled indeed.—Margaret
Mary Hallahan.
Wise Work
Wise work is briefly work with God;
foolish work is work against God.—
Ruskin.
POULTRY
FACTS
COD LIVER OIL
AIDS EARLY CHICK
Three Tests Made at North
Carolina Station.
Three separate tests made lately at
the North Carolina experiment sta-
tion prove the valpe of 1 per cent of
cod liver oil in the mash feed sup-
plied to early hatched chicks.
“Chicks reared in our laboratories
where we could control nearly all
conditions have proven the value of
cod liver oil in the mash feed,” de-
clares Dr. B. F. Kaupp, head of the
poultry department at State college.
“One lot of chicks fed a complete ra-
tion except for the vitamines, broke
in health in the fifth week. The chicks
receiving 1 per cent of the tested oil
in the same kind of mash did not
break in health and were strong and
well developed. In a second test, the
chicks which were not allowed tQ run
out-of-doors nor receive direct sun-
light gave us exactly the same results.
Those receiving the oil were strong
and well and were sold as broilers.
Those receiving only the straight
mash and grain feed broke in health
at the end of the fifth week.”
Doctor Kaupp states that a third
flock was carried on the basic ration
‘without oil but were given all the ten-
der rape that they would eat. These
broke in health in the seventh week
indicating that they secured some
vitamines from the green feed but not
enough to keep them in good health.
In another test, at the coastal plain
station, one lot of chicks was allowed
to run on a fresh, green pasture three
or four hours during the middle of
the day with the result that they did
not break in health but were not so
large and strong as the chicks in the
cod liver oil flock. Doctor Kaupp
states that those chicks which run
out-of-doors pick up other things
which are required for good health
and development, but usually this is
not sufficient as the tests with the cod
liver oil show.
As a result of all the tests, Doctor
Kaupp believes that the expense of
using 1 per cent of this oil is well
worth while. It holds up the health
and gives stronger constitutional
vigor.
Coccidiosis Is Very
Destructive to Chicks
Coccidiosis is a disease of the in-
testines and while it affects all birds
it is especially destructive to chicks
up to two months old. The cause is a
microscopic organism. The transmis-
sion of infection from - diseased to
healthy birds occurs by contamina-
tion of the feed, water and ground.
The coccidia multiply with great rap-
idity in the intestines and enormous
numbers are discharged in the drop-
pings.
The most prominent and character-.
istic symptoms in nearly all cases are
white, diarrheal discharges and the
rapid wasting away of the affected
birds. Adult birds have considerable
resistance to this germ and the dis-
ease is frequently seen in the chronje
form.
There is no satisfactory cure for
this disease in young chickens.
Balanced Ration for
Hens Very Important
Until about fifty years ago chick-
ens were fed only grain and since
they were permitted to range at will
they secured their essential require-
ments so they could live and lay
some eggs during the spring. About
this time it was discovered that ad-
ditional protein in form of meat or:
milk fed with the grains became
known as the balanced ration—a ra-
tion in which the surplus carbohy-.
drates of the grains were balanced
in better proportion by adding a pro-
tein concentrate. It was the bal-
anced ration that first made com-
mercial poultry keeping possible, but
in the light of recent information on
the nutrition of chickens, the poul-
tryman’s feeding problem of today is
to complete the balanced ration.
Age to Keep Hens
With Leghorns, Anconas, Minorecas
and birds of this type, the hens of the
right type may be kept until they are
three years old. It is not usually
advisable to keep them after they
have reached three years of age. With
the general purpose breeds, such as
Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks,
Orpingtons, ete, it is usually best to
sell them after they are two years old.
Extremely valuable hens can some-
times be kept five years, but this is
quite unusual.
Thin-Shelled Eggs
‘Whenever there is a late spring with
a great deal of cloudy weather, many
flocks lay thin-shelled eggs. The egg-
shell quality from such a flock will be-
gin to improve as soon as the hens get
into direct sunlight. It is a common
observation that when a flock is lay-
ing thin-shelled eggs and is turned
out-of-doors in the sun, the shell qual-
ity improves. It is very important in
managing a flock to open the windows
on sunshiny days during the winter
or early spring.