Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-01

! Of stock Of defunct companies. At sucl
sales $50 bill will purchase certificate
that have face value of more thar
NOWO The auctioneer descants moro oi
the beauty Of the engraving that adorn,
them than on the mine or Improbable in
dustry they once represented. His reason
for this is that among the bidders ar,
some faddlsts who have a taste for tht
bizarre In wall paper who fancy that on,
or their rooms would look well decorated
with dado Of stocks that have brough
disaster to their original owners.
When I buy any of these artistic Sc
curities I look not only at the colors II
which they are printed, but also at the
name of the company represented" said
a man who had acquired for $40 IA stack
OF stiff, crackly paper that weighed
several pounds. 81 float a mine or two
now and then, myself 1 paste these
things up on the wall of my den al
home That is where I always take peo-
pie l am trying to interest After dinner,
! while we are sitting, smoking, l point out
one tancifully named bunch of certificates
| after another, and tell such tales as I
| can invent about how the original pur-
| chasers were roped in. All this is by way
OF contrast to the safe, conservative
| proposition that l am offering, and it
catches the investor nine times out of ten.
II am buying this bunch to fill up a
vacant space on my walls caused by the
removal of some certificates that had
been there for more than a year. learned
that the mining property they repre-
| sented had been resurrected and reorgan-
lied, and I sold for 10 cents on the dollar
of their face value lot of stock That had
cost me 81 pound"
| A report on the effect Of the increased
cost of living sent out by the Association
| for Improving the Condition Of the Poor
in New York City says: 1T may interest
Mayor Gaynor to learn that among those
who are feeling the effects of cold and
| high prices are some Of the political Job
holders whose names were lately dropped
from the city payroll. Several Of these
within the last week have sought relief
societies for aid and employment"
| AS compared with last year, the report
| says, the condition of laborers families in
this city is greatly improved. THE poor
who recover from business depression
| more slowly than the we'll to do, have now
reached what a charity worker termed the
convalescent stage. The four months ended
last January have shown decrease of IL
per cent in the number Of applicants for
aid to the association compared with the
same period last year.
"The amount spent for relief during the
same period was 20 per cent less than the
year before. Yet destltution is estimated as
now being one and one-half times as great
as in normal periods. The association is
visiting and aiding 4,2O0 families. as com
pared with fewer than 5000 in 1906 and the
early part of 1907.
Charity workers notice a general tend
ency to cut down the quantity Of food con-
sumed by each family When the prices
were highest a week or so ago very few
mothers of the poor were able to butter
their chidren's bread at breakfast. I0ggs
were out of the question. Not only the
quantity and variety, but also the quality
Of the food and its nutritive value have
decreased"
The recent contest for the honor of hav-
ing the longest vermiform appendix proves
to have been so much wasted time. The
real record is held in New York City and
was set several months ago From an
authoritative source the announcement
came today that on May g. 1909, DIR. Harold
Meeker Of this city removed from q woman
patient an appendix measuring nine inches,
which he now has in his possession. This
appears to set aside the championship
claims of Edwin Ross of Sharon Pa, seven
inches; Howard Gould of Winthrop, Mass,
six and seven-eighths inches and George
Goss, the former Yale foot ball star, six
inches The average appendix is from two
to three inches long.
Mabel Fleming, daughter of Mr. and Mrs
Oliver Fleming, 24l Clinton avenue Jersey
City, is s years old and so far back as she
can remember she has wanted a baby
brother.
Her earnest effort to find and adopt one
one day last week made lot Of work for
the police of Jersey City and of Newark
and incidentally brought unmerited dis
aster on John Wehner tender-hearted
young man who drives a truck
He was driving his truck along the plank
road between Jersey City and Newark
when he overlook Mabel, who was trudging
along the highway. She hailed him.
Mister" she said, Il am going to see
my aunt in Newark You'll give me a ride
there, won't your"
I'm going to Newark" said Wehner
climb in"
When Newark was reached Mabel lost
her recollection of her aunt's address and
she Kept the tender hearted truck driver
driving around Newark most of the after
noon in search of the aunts residence
When it got dark Mabel confessed she
was hungry and followed that confession
with another in which Wehner learned
that there was no aunt and no baby
brother.
But I do want a baby brother" Mabel
said, "and made up that story about
my aunt out Of my head"
She wouldn't tell where she lived in Jer-
sey City, and all Wehner could do was
to take her to his sisters house, where
she was fed and put TO bed. When Web
ner's sister kissed the child good night,
Mabel said she intended to go out the first
thing this morning and find nice baby |
brother she could adopt and take home
with her. Wehner went to a dance.
In the meantime the police Of Jersey
City and Newark were looking for the |
runaway girl, They pieced out one bit of
information with another, and while Web |
ner in the dance hall was slowly and care
fully dancing a two-step he was arrested |
charged with abduction.
An hour later he had convinced every
body of his innocence and Mrs. Fleming |
had gone to Newark and taken Mabel |
home The little runaWay's anxiety for |