American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-10-25

Gap. From the machine companies
upon his promises and prospects. he
obtained great tractor engines. gam
blows. and other needed machinery.
Eut Townley dreamed through the
balmy days Of spring. and the plant
ing was delayed.
The land was broken up, h fax
was sown at last. and grew through
the drowsy summer. The tang of
autumn came into the air, and Town
ley could look upon a waving sea of
blue blossoms and think upon the
yield. A moderate yield and price
would give him a profit OF $500, 900.
Always he had craved for this with
bitter longing. and now it was soon
to be realized.
Came a day when the high tempera-
ture which had prevailed. towards
evening suddenly dropped. The clouds
broke away. the wind died down. and
the mercury fell lower and lower as
The night wore IN. A great cold still
ness, unbroken by breath of wind.
hung over the valley. The orb of day
started redly across the tops Of the
hills, and the face Of nature was Gov
cred with killing frost that glistened
white and deadly. The flax was a
stark, l~ifeless mass that shriveled in
the sun A dead sea i'm which hopes
were wrecked and drowned. and Town
ley a broke. The rainbow had
famed and faded.
The man who paid for the seed and
labor laughed. As the game man
laughs when stricken sore. he would
hide his hurt from the world. Town
ley smiled. for he. too. was game as a
wounded hawk. A look of pain creDt
into the fearless eyes. but they still
dreamed on. His golden vision had
been rudely shattered, but he was
dreaming again.
The agent OF the machine campa-
MES came to take away the mortgag-
ed machinery. And his experience. as
related by himself. showed that
Townley's money-getting faculties
and methods had not been impaired
or changed by his loss.
Two of the engines could not be
found. but Townley offered to find
them for $50. The money being paid.
he led the agent to an engine which
had been hidden in a draw. The agent
asked for the other engine. 1T will
cost you a hundred dollars to find that
one said Townley. And it did.
The tale of the farming failure. and
Townley owing more than a quarter
of a million dollars. has been shouted
along the %far-1ung battle line of his
opponents. And not to be outdone by
his enemies, Townley has told it from
many a platform. They gambled with
says Townley. Il lost and they
lost, too" But Townley does not
mention Frank Heath and Henry Sun
ders who ran little grocery stores.
struggling TO keep their heads above
water. They trusted him for many
hundreds Of dollars worth of gro
and did not know that they
were playing a game of chance with
q crooked gambler who had visions of
empire in his brain. For one bill of
than 800 Townley gave sun
ders a check upon a bank in which he
had on money But not ever a fraud
ulent check did he give Frank Heath.
Both men have sunk under the waves
Of adversely. Frank Heath is working
j%anitor, for $50 a month. And
Henry Sunders. poorer and sadder.
has gone back to the homestead. They
trusted too many Townleys.
Considering these two stories to-
and other things hat have
been printed. what kind Of a nan is
his Townley, to be the leader Of a
movement which collects vast sums
ot money from the public under a pre-
tense of bringing some great good to
Every reader must draw his own
conclusions. He must answer for him
self the question. What Manner Of
Man is Hee"