Evening star., 1922-03-12

- tractive but peculiar case oI
the imperial ice chest, and Its
active participation in the af-
fairs Of Enid Sparhawk, one -Ist glance
briefly at it's genesis. First to last,
the ice chest vividly affected a num-
ber of diversified persons.
First on the list came Thomas Fol-
som-remember the name-an obscure
lawyer of Goshen. Iowa. Folsom in
herited all the worldly wealth of his
cousin. diplomat campaign contriou-
tor of some note. Among the effects OF
the deceased were many strange OBJ
jects.
One of these was the ice chest. now
an ungainly parlor ornament. Folsom
did not know what it was, and did not
care. 1t did not suit his Goshen dis
position. so he packed it up with other
odds and ends, and took them to Kan
sas City. He got rid of the lot to an
auctioneer and went away happy.
The auctioneer. naturally. knew
nothing about the ice chest. ana
knocked it down to a smirking Japa-
nese in one corner for twenty dol
lars. The Jap bargained to have it
eo>i>
it to the express office and directed
it to a 5th avenue firm that did not
have a Japanese name. that valued
the shipment at one thousand dollars.
Some weeks later this Jap opened a
shop Of. his own and succeeded in
life.
THE 5th avenue firm knew. In a
L general way. what the ice chest
was. They. also knew that Gilmore
Simms-yes. the Wall street man
was furnishing a cottage at Santa
Barbara in Chinese style. They knew.
rather painfully. Gilmore Simms had
informed them that he did not relish
the Chinese style as interpreted by
firms who drew down a rakeoff from
the factories in Kobe that made Chi
nese cloisonne and other factories in
Michigan that made Chinese lacquere
furniture. Unfortunately for the
9Th avenue firms, Gilmore Simms
knew what was what
Now" said the firm gleefully. Oh
Inspecting the imperial ice chest.
"here's something old Simms will pay
for through the nose!"
He did. too. He paid five thousand
1T a bargain. He directed that it be
packed and shipped to Santa Barbara
The thing was shipped.
Something happened to the ship
ment en- route: it disappeared. Gill
more Simms later collected the insur-
ance valuation and swore luridly. He
never saw the ice chest again.
Out in Los Angeles lived worthy
Mrs. Sparhawk. a lone widow, who
had plenty of leisure. plenty Of money.
and a devout admiration for Swami
I.al. She also had a niece. lately or
phaned. who was coming all the way
from Michigan to live with her. Mrs
Sparhawk was good sou. She really
believed that Swami Lal stood for cul-
ture, and she strove earnestly for at
tainment.
Mrs. Sparhawk loved to frequent un-
claimed freight and express auctions.
She had never found any General Mo-
tors stock in an unclaimed suitcase.
but hope sprang perennial in her am
pie bosom. About the time Swami
Lal was teaching his devotees to keep
a sanctfied Buddha somewhere
around the room Mrs. Sparhawk at
tended a sale and bid on box with
two japanese characters on the lid.
She thought il might contain Bud
dhas. In reality she drew the en-
peror's ice chest for twenty-five dol
lars Even ice chests, it seems. have
their ups and downs in the world.
When she found that her purchase
was a big affair of cloisonne. with a
Swami Lal as an ornament for his
temple. And Swami Lal. who had
seen just such a piece in the British
Museum and knew exactly what /.
was, kicked himself twice for joy
and invoked blessings upon the head
of his patron.
THEN Enid Sparhawk came. and
L worthy Mrs. Sparhawk thought
the blessings had roasted. sure
enough 1t did not occur to her that
she might have been only a humble
instrument in the ironic hand of fate.
Now consider Swami Lal. Orig
inally a Madrassi. he had a babu's
education and had been in England.
There was an air of staggering ro-
nance about his rakiSh turban. his
long coat and silk sash: his cheer
fully bold eyes. OF course there Is
a real romance in foreign clothes. but
with some worthy souls it fills gap
and passes muster.
Not long past Chowder Lal had
been a ''raghead' up the Sacramento.
tickling mother earth for wages. He
finally attained uplift. BY the force
majeure of a year in Jail for crime
which may not be mentioned in these
pages he had broken off the opium
habit. Then he started in to make his
education pay for itself.
He observed the ease with which
many Of his fellow countrymen had
attained wealth, publicity, and COM
plaisant women; ambition arose with
in his soul He interviewed two of
his brown brethren. who agreed to let
him take the publicity so long as they
shared the other results. and all three
came to Los Angeles.
Having discovered that Chowder
Lal was hardly a name of dignity. our
hero promptly became Swami Chanun-
dra Lal, although for all practical
Mas he was Swami Lal. He bought
a copy of the Bhagavadgita, sub
scribed for all the metaphysical mag
azines in sight. attended meetings of
all the cults and isms as self-adver-
tisement-and was ready for business
Inside of two weeks he was garbed in
silk and his partners had no further
cause to grumble over results.