The Washington times., 1918-08-25

reality working against another
German plot in America Raid after
raid was made on local headquar.
ters OF the l. W. W. and many pris
| oners were made and hailed into
court on charges of almost every
felony on the docket from murder
] down. Yet the organization con.
/ tinued to flourish.
! Grant and Dixie devoted their time
70 investigation and very seluom were
J engaged on a particular case when
the time for rsiding came. They dis
covered the plotters. and outline OF the
! object toward which they were work
| ing, then turned the clearly defined
trail over to other less-skilled work
| crs to pursue, while they gave at
tention to other fields which Indicated
a plot was brewing. Masses of docu-
| ments teaching sabotage, destruction
OF all sorts, the making and firing of
bombs, seditiOn, and many other things
detrimental to the industrial health
and strength of a nation were the
natural accompaniment OF every raid.
Sabotage was the most dangerous of
all. and it was to this branch of the
!. w. w. activity that Grant and
Dixie devoted most of their time.
Machinery in various plants sud
denly broke down, despite the re-
liability of its manufacturers. Grant
and Dixie discovered that emery
powder had been mixed with lubri-
eating oil. and as a result locks were
placed on lubricating cups. and trust
ed men attended to the duties of OIL
ing, using only oil that had been
strained and inspected and kept under
lock and key. There were epidemics
of typhoid in colonies of workers, and
after their first investigation Grant
and Dixie made a report which put
every health officer in the country on
guard against diverted sewage.
Then came the fires in the wheat
fields of the country,
Grant Discovered the Cause Of the
wheat-fIeId Fires.
Convinced that the fires were of in
cendiary origin. despite the testimony
OF the farmers, Grant and Dixie went
to one of the devastated fields.
There was nothing to be seen except
acre after acre of charred soil where
a few days earlier had stood bushels
and bushels of wheat ready for har-
vest The farmer pointed out to them
the spot where the fire had started. |
Grant began an examination of the |
ground, while Dixie looked over the |
~ ran 1
about a quarter of n mile distant.
at couldn't have been a spark from
an engine?" she asked the farmer.
Not a chance" he responded.
Every engine has a sieve in its
stack, and, anyway, there hadn't been
a train pass within two hours of the
time this fire started"
'Will meet you at the hotel to-
night" Dixie called to Grant, and
started across the field toward the
tracks.
Loan me your handkerchief, will
you?"
It was a call from Grant. and it
.aused the farmer to turn from watch
ing the pleasing. trim figure of Dixie
Mason making her way across the
filed his own handkerchief with soil
lug out of the field Grant took the
spacious piece of cloth which the
farmer handed him wonderinEly, and
nearly a hundred feet from
where he had taken his original sam
BE OF the soil, he knelt down, and
With his pocket knife dug up an
,ther generous clod and put that in
he farmers handkerchief. Then
picking up both handkerchiefs, he
.urned to the farmer:
Can you drive me right into town?
have some work TO do"
Sure" answered the farmer, i'm
pressed by Grants manner. and then
lis curiosity prompted the question:
Have you found gold or oil?"
Maybe something more valuable
han either to the wheat farmer" an
rwered Grant at think have found
he cause OF the fires in the wheat ,
ields, but will know for a certainty ,
~ tonight"
The farmer asked no more questions ,
ut hurried away, soon to re-appear |
N the road near the field at the ,
Vheel OF a speedy little roadster. On
he way into town several more fields
which had been shorn OF their yield {
y fire were passed and Grant stop {
ed at each one of them. He walked .
yer their blackened lengths care
ulIy until evidently the thing for
,hich he searched was discovered.
hen, as before, he took a sample of
he soil and a second sample many
ards distant from the first position.
~ the time the little roadster drove
p in front OF the one hotel in the |
earest city the pockets OF both men {
,ere filIed with Minnesota soil. ,
They had already made a stop at (
rug store. where Grant taxed the '
took of the proprietor with the de- ]
lands he made. He succeeded in {
citing everything that he wanted. 7
cids. salts and other things OF which I
ne farmer had never heard. Once in
rants room at the hotel. the presi- I
ent Of the CriminoloCy Club spread .
ut a large piece OF white paper on a
le floor On II he marked several {
Ircles in parallel rows. s
With the soil samples from various q
slds arranged in neat piles on the a
hite paper, Grant set to work on [
alters which were, for the most T
,rt. mysterious to the farmer. A t
unsen burner was connected with /
e chandelier in the room. Small b
,rtions of the soil from each pile l
ere placed in separate test tubes .
hen each was heated and mixed with
nall portions of the matter from the
Irious bottles and packages which '
I'd been gotten at the drug store. c
ach test tube was treated Identical C
the same way, and as he finished q
it'll each ono Grant entered figures in h
: notebook He was working on a
. last tube when a knock came in
. door. and in response to Grants h
'ome," the door opened and Dixie s.
ason entered. The little Secret I.
rvice operative remained silent "
hile Grant finished the test tube.
? jotted some figures in his note y
ok. then snapped it shut, and il
rned toward her smiling. "a