Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-28

wv pSIAS illus EuIul0SSly UIOlQ6u uQ-
der the unclean heels of an insolent
o1garchy? The capitalists, banded to-
gether for the sole purpose of pillage
and loot, had alread succeeded in en-
shaving the toiler. The appalling de.
graduation of the working classes, the
sordidness and demoralizing squalor
In which they passed their lives, the
curse of drink, the provocation of
crime, the shame of the sweat shops
all which evils in our social system
she had been as Settlement worker
were directly tracable to Centralized
Wealth. The labor unions regulated
wages and hours, but they were power.
less to control the prices of the neces.
saries of life. The Trusts could at
pleasure create famine or plenty They
usually willed to make it famine SO
they themselves might acquire more
millions with which to pay for marble
palaces, fast motor cars, ocean-going
yachts and expensive establishments
at Newport. Food was ever dearer and
of poorer quality, clothes cost more,
rents and taxes we're higher. She
thought Of the horrors in the packing
houses of Chicago recently made the
subject of sensational government re-
port-putrid, pestiferous meats put up
for human food amid conditions of I'M
speakable foulness, freely exposed to
deadly germs from the expectorations
Of work people suffering from tuber:.
culosis, in unsanitary rotten buildings
soaked through with blood and every
conceivable form of filth and decay,
the beef barons careless and indiffer-
ent to the dictates of common decency
so long as they could make more
money. And while our public gasped
IN disgust at the sickening revelations
of the Beef scandal and foreign coun,
tries quickly cancelled their contracts
for American prepared meats, the mil,
lionaire packer, insolent in the pos
session of wealth stolen from a poison.
ed public, impudently appeared in pub.
lie in his fashionable touring car. with
head erect and self-satisfied, wholly in.
different to his shame.
These and other evidences of the
plutocracy's cruel grip upon the nation
had ended by exasperating the people
There must be a limit somewhere to
the turpitudes of degenerate class OF
nouveaux riches. The day of reckon
ing was fast approaching for the graf
tiers and among the first to taste the
vengeance of the people would be the
Colossus. But while waiting for the
people to rise in their righteous wrath
Ryder was all powerful. and if it were
true that he had instituted these i'm
parchment proceedings her father hao
| little chance. What could be done:
| They could not sit and wait. as Stott
had said, for the action of the Senate
If it were true that Ryder controlled
the Senate as he controlled everything
else her father was doomed No, they
must find some other way.
And long after the judge and Stott
had left for the city Shirley sat alone
on the porch engrossed in thought, tax
| ing her brain to find some way out OF
the darkness. And when presently he1
mother and aunt returned they found
her still sitting there, silent and pre-
occupied. If they only had those let
tiers, she thought. They alone might
save her father. But how could they
be got at? Mr.. Ryder had put them
safely away, no doubt. He would not
give them up. She wondered how II
would be to go boldly to him and ap
peal to whatever sense of honour and
fairness that night be lying latent with
in him. No, such man would not
know what the terms honour
fairness" meant. She pondered upon
it all day and at night when she went
tired to bed it was her last thought as
she dropped off to sleep.
The following morning broke clear
and fine. 1t was one of those glorious
ideal days of which we get perphaps
h~ r1yIo Ia CRY, M az,
days when the air is cool and bracing
champagnelike in its exhilarating eff
feet. and when Nature dons her bright
est dress, when the atmosphere is pur
er, the grass greener, the sky bluer, the
flowers sweeter and the birds sing ir
more joyous chorus, when all creation
seems in tune. Days that make living
worth while, when one can forget the
ugliness, the selfishness, the empty
glitter of the man-made city and WALL
erect and buoyant in the open country
as in the garden of God.
Shirley went out for long walk
She preferred to go alone so she would
not have to talk Hers was one oil
those lonely retrospective natures thai
resent the intrusion of aimless chatter
when preoccupied with serious
thoughts. Long Island was unknown
territory to her and it all looked very
flat and uninteresting, but she loved
the country and found keen delight il
the fresh, pure air and the sweet seem
Of new mown hay waited from the sur
rounding fields. In her soft, loose
fitting linen dress, her white canvas
shoes, garden hat trimmed with rec
roses, and lace parasol, she made al
attractive picture and every passer-b!
with the exception OF one old farmer
and he was half blind turned to lool
at this good-looking girl, a stranger il
those parts and whose stylish appear
ance suggested Fifth Avenue rathe
than the commonplace purlieus of Mas
sapequa.
j Every now and then Shirley espiet
in the distance the figure of mai
which she thought she recognized al
that of jefferson. Had he come, ate
all? The blood went coursing tumul
tuously through her veins only
moment later to leave her face shad'
paler as the man came nearer and sh
I,~ ,,+, No