The St. Charles herald., 1920-12-18

Ur fight In the basement of The House
Of Thousand Candles" by Ncsedth
Nicholson. Sherlock Homes fought
his captors in the gas chamber ami
fooled them by placing his lighted
cigar tip on ledge i'm the dark cham
ber SO that they rushed against the
wall and he escaped. There Is the
fight in the roundhoase in kid
napned'-and scores of other fights
of similar nature in other of Steven
sons works and in those of other
writer's. But Major McMurtry's act
of heroism was not brain figlnent-t
was truth!
Get Great Wealth.
Hundreds of instances have been
related Of persons having great wealth
thrust upon them suddenly in the last
few years, as well as instances Of
persons in humble circumstances who,
by some turn of luck, made great sums
of money merely by getting some rec
ognition for their natural abilities.
/ The latest case of luck is that at
Arthur 7. Walker. private secretary
to Edward +. SearleS, who was the
heir of his employers estate. varlaa~iy
estimated at between $3tW00Q0 ana
$40 900 eco, hut Which later estimates
have placed near The first figure. lie
had worked twelve years for Sedries
at a small salary, was very shy. Of
modest habits, and had no intinatiou
that lie was to be tie heir TO mil
lions.
Many fictional stories lately have
had as their plots financial fights
among wealthy men in Wall street III
business. or on the Stock exchange.
Can any OF these stories Surpass Mn III
terest the true story of the tight toi
the last few months between Aiian
A. Ryan. son of Thomas Fortune Ky
an. and the New York Stock exchange
over the exclusion of Stutz Motors
stock, and the long controversy over
settlement with brokers who were
..shnrt' of the stock? And there are
other true stories fully as good-oi
races across the ocean for large Or
iers In foreign countries, for eonces-
sions and other big stakes.
Legion. too. are the true stories OF
thefts of jewels and bonds In amounts
running into the hundreds Of thou
sands. Who would have believed that
any person could have stolen nearly
100000 worth of gems from safety
deposit box in the crowded lobby OF
.I,o D;yt,,or., rvot ouoy and keen
the theft hidden for months? Yet the
loss of that sum of gems was diseov-
cred on June l3. 1919. by Mrs. clar-
ence Millhiser of Richmond. Va. ana
even at first the authenticity OF the
story was doubted by the police anu
other men who have access to reports
of big rObberies. Among the jewels
were thirty large pearls and a din-
mond said to be about 20 carats IN
weight. All but about $4,000 worth
of the Jewels were recovered by the
police and private detectives. and
man is now serving term In Sing
Sing. And there are other immense
thefts of moving picture films, silks.
casll--and who hasn't read the stories
of the bond thefts running into mill
liens?
Stories Of Heroism.
True stories of her0ism? There wns
the story only two weeks ago OF the
fireman vino had been kicked out OF
a fire department who saw fire In
a tenement and. al the risk of his
own life. saved a family of seven from
death In the flames and won rein
statement in the department for him.
self. Hardly week goes by that the
fire or police department does not
record some thrilling story of heroisns
among It's members. And there Is an |
other host of stories of the gallant !
traffic cop who saves the beautiful
girl from sure death under her run. |
away horses hoofs and then marries |
her.
Can Irwin s. Cobb or Ellis Parker |
lsutler mutch this true story In these |
shaky days of prohibition--this story |
that, is writ IN letters bold in the |
police records in the West FOrty-sev-
enth street station? A man who had |
drunk freely of new brew left his |
rendezvous in daze. and. reaching
Ile street. leaned against a post. lie |
wanted another drink. and remenr
herring that the prescription in the |
place where he imhibed was to press a |
tuition certain number of times. he
pressed button: but this one haI' |
pened to be on "a police signal an'
he didn't get his highbalI from the |
angry cop who answered the signal.