Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-12-16

Their papers they mean to have, he the
holder Of them who it may. In this |
way YOU see X. X n ceases To I've the |
initials of an individual, and becomes
the badge OF society
But Of vi a. society,"
Have YOU never" said Sherlock |
Holmes, bending forward and sinking
his voice have YOU never heard OF the
Ku Klux Klan?"
II never have"
Holmes turned ov'r tic leaves Of the
book upon his knee. Here II is, SAID
he, presently. "ku Klux Khan. a name
derived from the fanciful resemblance
20 the sound produced by cooking rifle.
This terrible secret society was formed
by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the
Southern States after the Civil War.
and il rapidly formed local branches in
different part Of the country, notably
in GTennesscc, Louisiana. the Carollnas,
Georgia and Florida. Its power was
used for political purposes. principally
for the tcrrorizing of the Negro voters,
and the numbering and driving from
the country of those who were opposed
to its views. Its outrages were usually
preceded by n warning sent 10 the
marked man in some fantastic but gen
orally recognized shape--a sprig OF oak
leaves in some parts, melon seeds or
orange pips in Others. On receiving
this the victim might either openly alb
iure his former ways, or might fly from
the country. II he braved the matter
out, death would unfailingly come upon
him, and usually IN some strange and
unforeseen manner. So perfect was the
organization of the society, and so sys-
tcmatic its methods, that there is hardly
case upon record where any man sue
ceedcd in Drawing it with IMMUNITY, or
/ in which any Of its outragcs were
traced home TO the perpetrators. For
some wears the organization iiourished,
in spite Of the efforts of the United
| States Government and Of the better
classes OF the community IN the South.
Eventually, in the wear 1869. the move
mcnt rather suddenly collapsed, al
though there have been sporadic out
| breaks of the same sort since that date.
you will observe" said Holmes, lay
inc down the volume, that the sudden
breaking up Of the society was colnci-
dent with the disappearance Of Open
shaw from America with their papers.
/ II NAV well have been cause and effect.
II is no wonder that he and his family
have some of the more lmplacablc
spirits upon their track You can IN
derstand that this register and diary
may implicatc some OF the first men in
the South, and that there may he many
who will not sleep easy az night until
il Is recovered
Then the page We have sen
is such as We might expect. II ran,
If I remember right, sent the pips 10
\, r. and {, that Is, sent the society's
warning 70 them. Then there are sue
ccssive entries that \ and y cleared,
or left the country. and finally that c
suit for {. Well. think, Doctor, that
We may let some light into this dark
place. and believe that the only chance
Young Openshaw has in the mean time
il 10 do what | have told him. There
is nothing more 70 be said or 20 bedone
tonight, so hand me over my violin, and
let us try TO forget for half an hour the
miserable weather and the still more
miserable ways OF our feliowmen.'
II had cleared in the morning, and
the sun was shining with q subdued
brightness through the dim vel which
hangs over the great city. Sherlock
Holmes was already at breakfast when
! came down.
You will excuse me for no, waiting
for you,' said he; Il have, foresee, .
very busy day before me in looking into
this case Of Young Openshaw'S.
What steps will YOU take ! asked
Il, will he very much depend upon the
results Of nv first inquiries ! may have
10 70 10 HorSham after all"
you Will not 20 there first?'
NO. ! shall commence with the city
Just ring the bell. and the maid vii
bring up your coffee.
As | waited, ! lifted the unopened
newspaper from the table and glanced
nv eve over IL. II rested upon a head
ing which sent q chill 10 my heart
''Holmes." cried, you are too late. "
"Ahr said ne. LAYING down his cup
Il feared as much. How was II done?
/ He spoke calmly, hut ] could see that
he was deeply moved.
Ny eve caught the name Of Open
shaw, and the heading. Tragedy nea
Waterloo Bridge Here Is the account
Between nine and ten last night Police
constable Cook, of the II Division. OF
1AAF iif'ttI " 1AtlAUb i-t-Ll
CIV ior help and a splash in the water
4 The night. however, was extremely darl
and stormy, so that in spite Of the hell
Of several passers-by, II was quite lnpos
: siblc TO effect rescus The alarm
however. was given, and, by the aid o
: the water-police, the body was event
. uallv recovered. II proved 10 be that O
.. Young gentleman whose name, as j
appears from m envelope which wa
found IN his pocket, was John Open
shaw and whose residence II near Hors
! ham. IL D. conjectured that he ma
: have been hurrying down to catch III
last train from Waterloo Station, ant
/. that in his haste and the extreme dark
ness he missed his path and walkeC
,, over the edge OF one of the small land
ing-places for river steamboats,. Tn
body exhibited no traces Of violence
! and there can BE- no doubt that the d,
ceased had been the victim Of an unfor
tunate accident, which should have th
effect Of calling the attention of th
authorities 20 the condition OF the river
SIDE landing-stages.
We sat in silence for some minutes
Holmes more depressed and shaken thai
] had ever seen him.
THAT hurts my pride, Watson" h
said. at last. at is a petty feeling, n,