The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-11
Copyright, lel5.l
MIDDLE-AGED man

On Riverside Drive.
"Winslow is my name, sir" the
man began, rising nervously as we
entered the room, land this is my
laughter, Ruth
Ruth Winslow was an attractive
Young woman, ] could see at a
glance, although her face was almost
completely hidden by the thick veil.
perhaps, Ruth. had better-ah-
see these gentlemen alone?" suggest
ID her father gently.
mo, father" she answered in a
one of forced bravery, 81 think not.
can stand it. | must stand it. Per-
,aps | can help you in telling about
he--the case.
Mr.. M'inslow cleared his throat.
we are from Goodyear, a little
mill town." he proceeded slowly.
The town centcrs about rubber. 1t
on rubber. also. | fear, that the
ragcdy which ] am about to relate
hangs. ! suppose the New York pa
,ers have had nothing to say Of the
strange death OF Bradley Gushing, a
-oung chemist in Goodyear who was
ormerly employed by the mills but
lad lately set up a little laboratory of
lis own:
Kennedy turned to me. Nothing
Unless the late editions OF the even
.ng papers have it, l replied.
"Perhaps it is rst as WE'LL con-
tinued Mr. Winslow. They wouldn't
have it straight. In fact no one has
it straight yet That is why we have
come to YOU You see, to my way
OF thinking Bradley Gushing was on
the road to changing the name OF the
town from Goodyear to Gushing. He
was not the inventor OF synthetic
rubber about which you hear now
adays, but he had improved the
process so much that there is no
doubt that synthetic rubber would
soon have been on the market cheap
or and better than the best natural
rubber from Para.
Goodyear is not large place but
it is famous for its rubber and uses
a great deal of raw material. Is a
wealthy little town, too, for its size.
Last year several OF our leading citi-
zens became interested in new
concession in the Congo granted to
a group OF American capitalists,
among whom was Lewis Borland,
who is easily the local magnate Of
our town. When chs group organ
lied an expedition to explore the
region preparatory to taking up the
concession several of the best-known
people in Goodyear accompanied the
party and later subscribed for large
blocks of stock.
"You can readily see that such be-
ing the case, whatever advantage the
world at large might gain from cheap
synthetic rubber would scarcely ben
eft those whose money and labor
had been expended on the assump-
ton that rubber would be scarce and
dear Naturally, then, Bradley Cush-
ing was not precisely popular with
a certain set in Goodyear. AS for
myself | am frank to admit that |
might have shared the opinion of
many others regarding him, for /
have a small Investment in this Con-
go enterprise myself. But the fact
is that Gushing. when he came to
our town fresh from his college fell
lowship in industrial chemistry, met
my daughter. They were engaged
and often they used to talk over
what they would do when Bradley's
invention Of a new way to polymer-
ize isoprene, as the process is called,
had solved the rubber question and
had made him rich"
Mr.. Winslow paused. Ruth was
sobbing quietly.
This morning" he resumed hast
ilv, bradley Gushing was found dead
in his laboratory under the most pc
culiar circum stances | do not know
whether his secret died with him or
whether some one has stolen it. |
did not wait to make an investigation
myself. From the indications | con-
cluded that he had been murdered.
Such was the case as Kennedy and
] heard it then.
As we sped out to the little mill
town on the last train. after Ken
nedy had insisted on taking us all to
a quiet little restaurant. he placed
us so that Miss Winslow was far
thest from him and her father near
est,
Gushing used to hire youSE fell
low OF some scientific experience,
named Strong" said Mr.. Winslow
as he cndeavored to piece the facts
together as logically as it was pos
siblc TO do. Strong used to open
his laboratory for him in the morn
ing, clean up the dirty apparatus. and
often assist him in some Of his cx-
periments. This morning when