The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1913-05-29
Faded Ink
By RUTH GRAHAM

tory. Wneu SDe was girl OI eighteen
q young man named Corwith came
from the city for the purpose OF en-
joying what was to the men of the
town work. but to him sport. Jane
Baxter was a pretty girl with a rosy
cheek and IA laughing eye. Corwith
found less pleasure in fishing than in
her company.
Before he left W., Corwith had mar
ried Jane Baxter. He took her away
with him, but in few months she re-
turned changed girl The bloom had
gone out of her cheek. the sparkle from
her eye. the smile from her lips. She
said that her husband had quarreled
with her and told her that their mar
riage was no marriage at all and if she
didn't believe him to look at her mar
riage certificate. She did so and found
all those parts that should have been
filed in with ink were wanting.
She was not only astonished. but ap-
palled She had been handed the GER
tficate after the ceremony by the
clergyman who bad married her. had
glanced at it and seen that it had been
filed in. Could it be that her husband
had stolen the original and left sub
stitute? 1t made no difference to her
what he had done since he now repu-
dated her. Without a word she went
back to the home she had left. re-
sumed her maiden name and lived as
woman whose life had been blighted
By doing this she gave up any chances
that might have existed of proving that
she had been legally married This
was doubly unfortunate. for after her
return she gave birth to a son. whose
interests in the matter were identical
with hers. He grew up under the
name of Baxter and with a stain rest
ing upon him that the boy realized at
an early age.
From his birth his grandfather, the
fisherman, John Baxter, for whom he
was named. took the little chap into
his heart and resolved to do all in his
power to give him an education. So
the old man worked hard and saved
much Of what he earned and the lad
was sent to school, He developed a
taste for the sciences, and it was de-
department of university.
When he came home after being
graduated. while talking with his
mother about his and her future, she
thought 1t best to tell him the story
of her marriage. which was on her
part real. though she believed 1t to be
Illegal. Shortly after this dialogue he
asked his mother if she still retained
the blank certificate she had received
Going to closet. she brought out a
tin box in which she kept receipts, took
from 1t the certificate and handed it to
John. He looked at it carefully and
was about to hand 1t back to her when
he changed his mind and put it in his
pocket, saying that he would return it
later
The young man went back to the
university to fit himself for an assist
ant professorship in analytical chemis-
try. He had with him the blank GER
tifcate his mother had given him and
examined it with a microscope. The
warping in those parts where there
should have been writing, though with
out the aid of the lens 1t seemed per-
fectly. smooth. The idea at once oc-
Cured to the young scientist that the
blanks had been filed in with an ink
that was manufactured purposely to
fade He began an investigation as to
what substances could be made to
look like ink and later leave no trace
His studies had taught him that TO-
dine gave promise of furnishing a base
for such writing fluid. Possibly this
was suggested to him from its violet
hue. the color Of some inks At any
rate, he entered upon a series of expert
ments which led to an important dis
covery. He found that iodine combined
with starch iodine of starch would
produce an ink that would in a few
weeks fade away. leaving no trace
whatever
The question now arose. Could such
an ink be restored? VTpon inquiry the
young man learned that no agent had
ever been found to bring back its color.
He made many experiments with this
end in view. but they all failed.
Then he had recourse to the micro
scope. He tried various powers. and at
last hit upon one. neither too high nor
too low, which brought out the inden-
tation on the paper made by writing Of
letters making up a certificate between
Nathaniel Corwith and Jane Baxter by
Edward Wynkoop Giving his results
to an attorney, he was advised to find
Edward Wynkoop. The clergyman had
died, but John Corwith found his name
on the records of the theological sem.
mary where he had been educated and
various churches of which he had been
pastor The fact of his having used an
ink that would fade could only be ex-
planned by the theory that it had been
foisted on him surreptitiously by the
man he had married
John Corwith found that his father,
who had recently died. had not taken