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the aztec mystery a thrilling story of the old west by mvriiay leinstbr t synorsis sonny holmwi belfelnk he lias fceeu defrauded uf the aztec mine holds i the mines payrolla janet iiurier who holds leical title to the aztec offers a to ward tor his capture tuford the mine nuperjntendeiit and a cutthroat named iarcla have been rubbing the nine of its ore til ford plots to have janet kid napped by garcia as garcias men close it on her she come on sonny hotman it ean while a search party has been organized for janet sonny is wounded but they ket out thruuxh the back of the canyon where they are menaced by mine kuards after sonny they find them selves between two fire and searchers for janet when they discover iareias men dont know who the other com- featanttt arei chapter xxiv thompson erawled from one well protected nest to a post where he would have a clearer view he found the new niche occupied by a grinning cewpumher whose cheek was laid open by a spent 45 slug who are thiy fighting demand ed thompson somebodys holding them from the other end of the can yon who is it durned if i know the cow- puncher spat theres a greaser in that bunch o rocks im goin to get something whined and struck the eowpuncher put his hand to his breast and looked at it stupidly he got me first dawgone him he slumped quietly among the stones garcia screamed orders from a shel tered corner two men were wiil him poder de oias niuttered one eet w do not get to our own place these gringoes will keel us all he dieked below an overhanging stone and darted for another half way lo his destination he crumpe up and lay coughing on the ground garcia cursed hysterically turning to survey those who attacked them ad he used the dobe spanish of the bor- cier which has words for profaniy unequalled n any other language hombre your gun he snarled suddenly there ees tcelford he cuddled the weapon lovingly as he sighted it and fired he snarled in satisfaction as tjlfovd reeled and screamed curses when he fled in oinic behind a mass of stone where nothing could reach him garcias men vee thoroughly scar ed now but were merely the more des perate for their pnic one of ihem came sudden y into the open perhaps to surrender perhaps crazed by fear put four bullets found him k ie he could give iy sign as to his motive the p sure on the mint guards was terrific garcia had possibly fifteen or sixteen men left perhaps less but there were only four of the guards and they coud retreat no further guns were filling the can yon with cracklings and the air reek ed with burnt powder for the guards to retreat meant to expose themselves in a cleared space before the gate way and be shot down by the sen tries at the gate to fire meant a storm of bullets hurtling at the push and not to fire meant that the mexi cans in the ultimate o desperation were creeping and crawling upon them to reach the gateway that meant life to them within it they could withstand an army sonny pumped the last shell from his gun and touched it with his finger it was hot to the touch rekn i wasted a lot o lead today janet he drawled you peek outer this lil hole 1 aint shot from an tell me if anybodys comin he crawled to the dead horse from whose saddle sheath he had jerked the rifle and began to rummage in the saddle bags they were stuffed and he was looking for shells a re volver does not do for relatively long innge work behind stone breastworks something more accurate is needed thrusting with his hands in the sad dle bags he stiffened and winced lordy iordy he drawled just bhiposin this animal had been shot in the solar plexus instead of the head we wouldnt be here janet fumbling in the saddle hags he had come upon sticks of dynamite carefully padded against accidental explosion but undeniably dynamite garcia used to tote him around a supply mused sonny anybody comin janet im aiming at him she quavered a moment later a heavy revolver hcomed sonny jerked about in alarm janet was clutching her wrist with a silver mounted 45 fallen to the ground be side her it belonged to one of the men you captured last riight she said uncertainly i was going to capture you with it but i ihink i jhot a mexican sonny came racing to the spot and dragged her away as bullets began to screech and smash among tho stones whcre she had fired i tol yuh to call me he said gully sweat was standing out upon forehead ho was aiming at you i think ehe said and i had to sonny cmwled to ono side and be gan to work desperately with sticks of dynamite extracted from the sad dle bags im goin t take a chance he explained briefly most mexicans are scared of dynamite dont kn w how garcia got one with nerve enough to carry it on his saddle though he had it padded thick enough for any body this musta belonged to that feller blew down my door las night an thought hed blown me to blazes along with it he peered cautiously at the gate way lo garcias stronghold through a iack in the stone four sticks of dyna mite tied togethet in one hand and his hat on the rifle muzzle in the other twin jets of cigarette smoke cam from his nostrils masking lines of rgony about his lips if 1 get plugged he said sudden ly you step on the fuse he raised his hat bullets tore through it the next instant he was upright had flung the unwieldy mis sile in lis right hand and dropped to eartl again ony the fraction of a second before a screaming seemingly solid stream of bullets there was i instants silence and then a shattering roar rocks flew up and clattered down loose masses of reck on the canyon walls were jarred loose and fell with a cannonlike re ports into the canyon itself and sonny with his eye to the crack that had offered him a view before snap ped quickly maam you get on board gunpowder hell let yuh an stick with im yunderstand she gasped yes what are you going to do but sonny ivns no longer with her he had grabbed a package made ready before as he darted out from cover he was jamming his cigaret to the fuse of a second double stick of explosive he threw it and ran stag gering a little he had not gone twenty yards before a column of earth and smoke erupted violently with a second detonation and the double sur prise of two charges of high explosive introduced into a strictly smallarm fight was just enough to hold the fire from him until he had reached the still smoking still noisome cavity thai had been the gateway and flung hin- ssf into it he hurtled into that darkness wuh sixgun ready a man stirred feeb ly and groaned sonny went raging within saw a gure and fired but the man did not fall he had beii flung aside by the explosion and was wedged into a crevice in the rocks sonnys bullet did not hurt him he probably did not even know that it was dynamite that had killed him janet back in the shelter of the rocks heard bullets whining over her head striking and splashing among the rocks battering themselves into slugs and shrieking insanely as they whirled into nothingness the crack ling of guns did not cease the rane riders had lost men and those who saw their friends shot by the bandits ame fighting fools who fought not at all like fools but with deadly cool ness and deliberation it was hot for the bandits and it was hotter for the mine guards gleason was the only one without a bullet hole in him and he was scratched and bleeding from splinters of rock and lead and his forehead showed a ragged pulping bruise where a spent slug battered out of shape had struck and half stunned him for a while with the whimper of illaimed bul lets in her ears seeming to whine fretfully that they did not taste blooj in their flight janet crept in the shelter of the boulders to gunpowder still lying where sonny had ordered him down from time to time the big horse raised his head anxiously he seemed to be searching for his mas ter to be cont argentina opens 283mile railway sunlamps argentina the longest railway line completed this year in tho western hemisphere was opened recently across northern argentina along tho ancient trail blazed from lima to huenos aires by spanish priests and merchants in 1771 tho new broadgauge line is 283 miles long and affords a short cut from tucnman sugarproducing cen ter to the commercially important city of cordoba seat of the oldest uni versity in the new world and thus to mendoza in the andean foothills capi tal of the largest winegrowing center in south america the central argentine railway be gan construction of tho route in 1927 tho cost was 12000000 and from 2000 to 5000 men wero employed a golden spike signalizing the comple tion of the road was driven recently into a tlo at a point near the rio sala- dlllo at a ceremony attend d by pro vincial and railway officials complaisance renders a superior amiable an equal agreeable and an inferior acceptable addlsori canadian notes toronto out the toronto indus trial commission announces the start of another new iudustry in the city the manufacture of gut and silk strings for racquets and musical instruments h schindlcr com pany boston massachusetts are forming a canadiaji subsidiary the schlndler company of canada to manufacture these products for the dominion market operations should begin shortly and the new company will be the only one manufacturing gut and silk strings in canada mr carl schindler will be in charge of the toronto plant toronto ont an additional con tract in connection with torontos duplication of its water system a 14000000 undertaking is expected to be let within a few weeks the new work to be undertaken is the building of the filtration plant at victoria park construction includes an administration building of con crete steel and brick a reinforced concrete covered reservoir of 12 000000 gallons capacity and two rows of 20 concrete tiltcr bed each 6s feet by 35 feet hamilton ont the pure milk company of hamilton is undertaking a 150000 building and improvement program at its hamilton plant ac cording to mr w h forster gen eral manager the expansion pro gram will include a new and larger addition remodelling of the present plant with a new front and the in stallation of the most modern dairy equipment fort william ont the robin hood hills have contracted with the thunder bay harbor and improve ment company for the construction of a dock and warehouse on the louth bank of the kaministiquia river in the vicinity of the paterson eleva tors work will start at once on the driving of piles for the dock which will be 250 feet long for tie same month an increase of 165 per cent tho total increase for the year to date is 47 per cent moose jaw sask the estimated number of eggproducing hens in saskatchewan in 1931 was 5325283 according to a report of the moose jaw board or trade the number of eggs produced was 42602264 doz en and the value of the eggs 4260- 230 saskatchewan consume 27441 s96 dozen eggs in 1031 and as is pro duction was 42602264 dozen there was available for export 35160368 dozen saskatoon sask that farmers are interested in a careful study of their farm business is shown by the fact that since the farm management de partment of the university of sas katchewan first published their farm inventory bojk in 1926 there have been over 5000 inventory blanks sent out to farmers on request while the supply has now been exhausted a further issue is being reprinted and these will shortly bo available for distribution winnipeg man the agricultural bureau of the winnipeg hoard of trade report that they have been as sured of a market for all the soy beans that can be grown in the pro vince of manitoba dr g t mc- rostie of the manitoba agricultural college has been conducting experi ments for the past year and his final report on the results is expected shortly the soy bean contains oil that can he used for lubricating pur poses other ingredients can be made into glue and the residue into cakes for feeding cattle besides many other uses winnipeg man the fisheries of the prairie provinces in 1931 were valued at 1909040 nearly all the commercial catch being sold for con sumption fresh manitoba came first with an output in 1931 of 1241575 saskatchewan second with 453056 and alberta third with 1s4s59 pro duction of the yukon territory fisheries was valued at 29550 the total quantity of fish of all kinds caught in the three provinces and the territory in 1931 was 291 147000 pounds mexico largest importer of american silent films among the individual markets for american positive silent motion pic tures mexico was first importing in the first sixmonth period 857570 feet as against 6093s4 feet in 1931 venezuela ranked second with near ly 475000 feet as against 400000 feet the next largest markets are in the following order belgium south africa argentina and the philip pine islands all importing from 300- 000 to 400000 feet united states commerce reports sees peril in adolescent age philadelphia the twilight age for youth those years between adoles cence and a permanent settled job constitutes a danger zone which breeds crimes and criminals so de clared lieutenant colonel samuel o wynne who recently retired from the directorship of the bureau or in dustrial alcohol permits after spend ing thirtytwo years in the public service is delicious qyrite salada torcnto for excellent recipe 7 ottawa of the population of can ada 463 per cent are rural dwellers and 537 per cent reside in urban centres ten years ago the propor tions were 505 per cent rural and 495 per cent urban the largest pro portion of rural population is found in prince edward island where file country residents represent 768 per cent estevan sask visitors to the re cent estevan exhibition look occa sion to visit the estevan greenhouses in the pcturesque souris valley one mile out of town these the larg est greenhouses in the province com prise two modern heated steel frame houses 250 feet long with an area or 25000 square feet under glass here are to be fohnd cut flowers flower ing plants funeral designs bedding plants and vegetables tlegina sask saskatchewans creamery butter production for the first six months of 1932 is 405934 lbs ahead of tho record output for last year comparative figures are for six months to june 30 1932 9- 0384s9 lbs for six months to june 30 1931 8632555 lbs june produc tion this year was 2895070 lbs com pared with 24s4 736 lbs last year such is life the aproned figure at the sink gaz ed sadly at the accumulation of plates and dishes pots and pans was this all that marriage meant a heavy sigh a rolling up of sleeves and the kitchen was soon filled with the clatter of washing and scouring the toiler paused from time to time to listen to the steady thrash of a typewriter in the next room suddenly the noise ceased and a large spectacled woman lofty of brow appeared in the doorway hercules darling she said ad dressing the little man i never can remember do you spell cave man with or without a hyphen dam ameliorates flood conditions glenmore dam on elbow river near calgary al- berla prevented seri ous flooding ottawa in 1931 the city of calgary commenced the construction of a stor age dam on tho elbow river at glen more alberta in connection with its water supply this dam is hearing completion and it is interesting to note according to the dominion water rower and hydrometric bur eau department of the interior that it contributed substanally to the amelioration of flood conditions along tho elbow river in calgary on the oc casion of the flood at the beginning of june at the beginning of the flood very little water was in storage above the dam but during the flood storage was built up by impounding a con siderable proportion of the flow and thereby cutting down the quantity of water which would otherwise have passed the dam the level or the re servoir rose nearly 31 feet between 11 pm on june 1 and 9 am june 3 and the flow into the reservoir rose to over 25000 cubic reet per second but the flow past the dai- at no time ex ceeded 11300 cubic feet per second the storage provided at glenmore undoubtedly prevented very serious flood damage in calgary for it is cal culated that without this storage the peak of the flood would have been more than five feet higher than the previous maxium of 1929 when much damage was done with the flood height two feet lower than in 1929 the damage resulting was small weeds they trespass in my little garden plot heeding no law and i must toil for hours destroying them lest they in turn destroy the fragile beauty of my cherish ed flowers they trespass in tho garden of rny life and i the gardener must daily strive to banish these intruders that of fend that deeds of worth may flourish and survive ann carroll in the detroit news interesting forestry publication ottawa forest service bulletin so entitled british columbia softwoods their decays and natural defects has recently been issued by the for est products laboratories of canad department of the interior ottawa this bulletin deals with the charac teristics properties and uses of pa cific coast softwoods and in language as nontechnical as possible describes the various fungi ti which these woods are susceptible as well as the effects of insects and marine bores a chapter on the anatomy and physiol ogy of a tree assist the reader in fol lowing the descriptions of the methods of attack of these fungi borers and insects and the necessary preventive measures to bo taken to ensure the proper durability of the different woods the author draws attention to the enormous waste of timber re sources through the decaying ofwood and lists various antiseptics and pre servatives found beneficial sixty il lustrations many of them coloured add to tho interest of the text and help to identify tho results ot fungus insect and marine borer attacks one of many have you seen grey lately ask ed mr brown when he met free man on the morning business train no replied freenman hut i heard that he was engaged in re search work what the dickens is he research ing for inquired brown puzzled work camo the reply filling stations for horses although gasoline stations are usually thought of as tilling only auto mobile tanks there are exceptions in new orleans they are tilling horses as well as tanks to be sure tho tilling in one case is of water and in the other or gasoline but in both cases they are essential to keeping lizzie when the horse is a mare on the go it is a humanita rian movement that easily might be adopted in other ciths some ot the larger municipalities have watering stations tor horses maintained by organizations devoted to the promotion or kindness to ani mals but even these are usually few and far between gasoline stations are particularly well equipped and located to take care or horses need ing water at practically no expense it is doubtful if the horses prejudic ed as they may be against the auto mobile would object to drinking in the midst ot a beautiful grove of red green blue or yellow gasoline pumps so long as their waterers made no effort to convince them of the superiority or any airplane grades or h20 or sought to prevail upon them to take a trial tankful of some prink product that would slake their thrist for a couple of miles more than do the grades that spring from the public water supply it was a happy thought on the part of the owners of the new orleans gasoline stations there are not enough horses nowadays plodding along the hard pavements to make the kindly action an interference with regular business and if the idea spreads the stations are thick enough in almost every city to guar antee a horse a gratuitous drink on nearly every street corner the christian science monitor the moods of a river testing white whales an attempt to discover the com mercial possibilities of the white whales that are particularly numer ous in hudson bay is now being made a shipment of seven whales has been brought from churchil to winnipeg by the canadian national railways and if the oil conteit of these mammals is found to be suffi ciently high it is probable that a re finery will be established at churc hill and the west will gain a new in dustry although the tanning pro cess js rather difficult it is said that the skin of these whales make good leather the whales weigh about 1500 pounds each grain of fifth century dug up in hungary grains of wheat and rye which must be at least 1500 years old were recent ly discovered by excavators working at budakalasz near the hungarian capital here an outwork of the line of dan ube fortifications erected by the em peror valentinian for the protection of the province ot pannonia was being unearthed by local archaeologists and the grains were found in excellent con dition mixed with ashes in one of the watchtowers set new endurance record louiso thaden left and frances marsalls stayed up in the air over valley field lt in a ync jog hours broke tho womens endurance light record and then camo down and had a feed of coru on tho cob which is a just reward if you are a corn addict two of a kind two fellows were playing a ding- dong golf match into the exciting spirit of which even the caddies had entered going to the last hole all square one man sliced badly while the other had an equally wild pull the first man found himself in a jungle his first niblick shot raised a huge divot and moved the hall about six feet he took turf witli his second effort also but got the ball well away by the way ho said as he re placed the second divot what hap pened to the other clod oh said the caddie lies play ing six out or a bunker the teacher told the children about the garden of eden and how adam and eve had disobeyed after being forbidden to cat the fruit of ono tree now children sho said can any one tell mo what lesson that teaches us yes miss replied a small boy eat less frull before coming to burma 1 was- couvluced that the water colors oiie saw of its rivers and jungle must intensify their beauty for surely no water could be quite so green no jungle have such brilliant va riety of color no bots be quite so quaint or strange but now that r have seen them for myself 1 rel- le that one could hardly exaggerate in words or painting so vivid and in tense are the effects after motoring through gorges which below the road were impene trable jungle creepers and grasses aud ferns entwined with huge trees in one tangled mass i first saw tho salween river in the strong sun of a summer afternoon in the hills the main stream was a broad expanse of glittering water alive with mahseer on the near side the sank curved round jutting out into promontories and cutting the river into long nar- j row arms of deep intensely green i water thick forest came right to j the edge in a magnificent riot ot color the tender yellowy green and coppery red of new leaves side by side with the deep glossy green of mature foliago or the bare branches of still leafless trees only in one spot on the opposite bank tho orest broke and gave place to a little vil lage of yellow thatched bamboo huts with three slender white pagodas hair in ruins to and fro on the river went the native dugouts long narrow boats with tapering prow and stern pad dled by tho curiouslooking hill men naked to the waist and wearing the huge kamauks or bamboo hats toward evening a whole fleet of these craft set out for a nights fishing carrying baskets and bait and a sup ply of cotton seed and crude oil to- provide the bright lares which at tract the fish as the shadows lengthened the glitter on the water gave place lo deep colors reflected from the wooded banks and above these the wooded hills rose one above the other a rich and perfect setting for the grandeur ot the river darkness came suddenly as it does in the hills like the drawing or a somber curtain over a scene which throbbed with color and light when i woke next morning in the little rest house on the bank i vas amazed at the change every out line so clear the day before was blurred and the river was covered in thick swaths ot mist the great trees on the banks and the islands just emerging like shadowy wraiths rrom its steamy whiteness later on in that same day i saw it iu yet another mood which nco more changed its entire aspect the wide main stream was whipped to ruffled paleness by a coming storm but the narrow arms were a deep er green than ever save where a sudden gleam of passing sunshine lighted patches here and there to a- pure sparkling emerald suddenly the wind dropped and the whole river surface flattened under the pelting pressure of torrential rain the water was now a strange cloudy jade very pale and it shivered into a million silvery splinters as the huge drops hit it and splashed up again in five short minutes the storm had swept away to the south and a wave of sunlight passed swiftly over the water deepening its color to an exquisite opalescent green shot 7ilu the wandering shadows of rock and weed and currents along the bank the great trees yellowy green and copper shone clearwashed and bril liant in the sudden sunshine while the clouds behind blocking out the hills were almost black where tho storm had passed and the rain and sun compassed their ageold miracle imperceptibly tho lovely colors came iito being and shimmered on the air and a perfect rainbow with a pale echo of itself above it spanned the sulky sky with its delicate arc ot beauty bug did you notice tho melan choly sound this blade ot grass makes when it swishes in the wind snail oh thats just because it js blue grass cheapest place to live the echo de paris in tho course ot its symposium answering the ques tion where may one livo cheap est has gradually drifted fiom ex ploiting paris as ono of tho cheap est to one of tho most expensive places in which to abide even if ono knows the ropes so tar tho cheapest place recorded is the island ot iviza off the spanish coast where any one a correspon dent writes can bo beautifully lodg ed in a fragrant room and bed with fine linen sheets and served with delicious food for 15 french francs a little over 75 cents a day contrast this with tho prices in paris exclaims a parisian in sub sequent comment a few days ngo in a suburban hotel i had to pay 13 francs for a pot dejeuner which normally consists of nothing more than coffee rolls nnd butler nowhere else in the world unless jn moscow would one have to pay that for breakfast france he continues has bo- come the most expensive country in the world tho day will come when frances visitors will havo had en ough of this when the incomparable attractions of tho country the pleas antness ct its manners its freedom and all that is part of its inallcn- ablo heritage will not suffice to at tract them or to reliin them and that day is not far off