The daily Alaskan., 1913-05-22
THAT APRIL FOOL HAT
 By M QUAD Copyright lg2 by Associated Llt-
 crurg Press


 was dlruIaed As Hls days heightened on, he grew more SO Al the age Of three he bad never had a smile on his face. At the oge of Ave he bad all Che dignity of a man Mr. Masters had been born rich If It had been the other way-if he had had to elbow with Dbc world-he might have been a dif'
 Gcrent man
 This d0gnI0cd man was thirty years old and was growing more diguihcd every second Jbat passed, when he un- aurtooE a short railway journey. He
 hnd his own private car and thc doors
 were locked and the curtains drawn. There came au accident by which the
 mu was obliged to halt at the village of Whitewater for several hours Mir. Masters got tired or luacuou and start, uI for a walk uptown It was thc first day or April but he had forgotten Che date. Lu mrt. as be was bigger than
 Che almanac there was no reason why
 nr should remember any particular date.
 Ton may have seen au April fool hat
 masud on Che sidewalk There is bis
 ,oac uudcr Il and lt Is a trap for tbe mwary
 Mir Masters had never run across an Anr. fool hat He had never kicked a unn or a dog or a football He had al.
 ways kept nIs feet under him Would y0u nave thought Jlut old village hat would have appealed to h.mt Would vau uavg thought chat after thirty
 goars of dignity he would have even given itu second glanccG Human na. mrn is queer It hro0Es away when and where you least expect lt broke . In fH.s ease Mr. Masters advanced on rnrt Anrn rnnl bat with amost0 smile un nIs gauc and when Inc had approach. cd within certain distance he drew In Nfs breath. swung his right les and son. !. rymg ten feet lu che air. Only na HdnE Uc didn't send it two Inch n.. and Ir Hc had been a pirate his swear words wouId have been heard a .8Hogwuy
 There were boys ready Co cry ho, ha . .na,mI there were men ready Co laugh n1. no no. and Nr Masters I.mpcd nnus r0 his car boiling for revenge Whitewater was solid. thriving lit . Ha town They bad no booms there .Is people were conservative and no !. ono had ever invested dollar in Wall street Oru sudden % stranger appear led and called on a Mr. Brown Iu a nns.ness way Mir Brown owned ten acres of land ou tHc western side of Inn. .mngc It value was S25 gu acre 1 nrt mo one had offered any price for h. Nr Browns us.0U.snmcur can ! therefore na imagined when thc stran- rrr asked for an option nn that land . n. srUn per aero He got IJ Uc eau . uunu Nr Brown to keep quiet Then ! nr went ton Mr. Gm Mir Gu owned . two acres ur land and am abandoned sawm'u The value was not over SlOO. nut rnn stranger got am option at .honmuI Mr. GUl was cautioned Go Keep rn.ot
 Then Che stranger got am option on ! tnn fuu acres on Che hiII and on two stores. tHc annory. Che sash factory and eight or ten other places In each Instance ho offered a price and that price was ut least three Lmrs what Che |nr"unr.y was worth.
 ! What dfG it an mo0n2 What was going to haDncn2 It was no use to uIE Co Che stranger No information could be got from hIm except that he wanted more options Some said It was coal: some said petroleum: some iron
 or copper or lead twas even report.
 cd and believed thut there was dia. mnnd mine under Uhc village. There followed just what mighth0r hnou expected and just what lhc stranger did expect By Che time hc had secured options to tbc number of ! twenty Whitewater was seized with a fever The price of real estate began humping. A nousc and Iot worth Sl000
 one dny were held at 5000 or more the next There was a gravel ridge run lining along Che main street The idea was that diamonds were to be found in ! this gravel There was a creek just south of thc town, It was coutendcd hat Che hidden petroleum would be found there. Under thc land on the |HH' was supposed to be great rescr. vo.r Of natural gas
 For two weeks there was no business ! but buying and selling. The conwcga- ! uons at tHc churches Of Sunday hard l 0y numbered a score There was hard l |Iy a piece of property in and around . .rn town that didn't change hands at Ioast ,nroo times. In a quiet way the
 stranger sold most of his options at double figures One morning White. 1 water woke u1 to ask what It was an I1b0uG The stranger bud disappeared ! OC sudden mo one wanted to buy . Before noon there was a rush to sell |nsIdo of twonty-rour hours the SlOOO properties were being offered for $50 |It is always SO ln thc reaction. When ] the town settled down a bit it found ]. that lt hnd been set back twenty years and would have to pare its potatoes very close to keep out of bankruptcy
 And Che strangcr2 Oh. he didn't i count He was simply the agent of the man higher up-thc man who had kick