Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-12-24
G HERE TO-DAY

Sir Charles Abingdon engages
Paul Harley, criminal investigator,
to find out why Sir Charles is kept
under surveillance by persons n
known to him. Harley dimes at the
Abingdon home. Sir Charles falls
from his chair in a dying state.
Abingdon's last words are "Nicol
Brinp" and Fire Tongue" :
DIR. McMurdoch pronounces death
due to heart-failure. Harley claims
Sir Charles was poisoned and calls
on Nicol Brinn to ask him the mean
ing of Fire Tongue" Brinn ad-
mits that he learned its meaning in
India but refuses to divulge the
secret.
Paul investigates the life of
Ormuz Khan, very wealthy Oriental,
with whom Phil Abingdon, daughter
Of Sir Charles, is friendly.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
And outside mine," declared the
inspector. "He hasn't the most dis
tant connection with anything
crooked. 1t gave me a lot of trouble
to find out what little | have found
out. Briefly, all / have to tell you
is this: Ormuz Khan-who is APP
parently entitled to be addressed as
his excellency'-is a director OF The
Imperial Bank of Iran, and is asso-
ciated, too, with n of the Ottoman
banks. l presume his nationality is
Persian, but l can't be sure of 1t.
He periodically turns up in the va
rious big capitals when international
loans and that sort of thing are
being negotiated. l understand that
he has a fiat somewhere in Paris,
and the Service de Surete tells me
that his name IS good for several
million francs over there. He APP
pears to have a certain fondness for
London during the spring and early
summer months, and 1 am told he
has a fine place in Surrey. He is at
present living at Savoy Court"
CHPTR X
His Exceilency Ormuz Khan
The city clocks were Ginning the
hour of ten on the following morn
ing when a page from the Savoy
approached the shop of Mr.. Jarvis,
bootmaker, which is situated at no
great distance from the hotel. The
impudent face of the small boy wore
an expression of serio-comic fright
as he pushed open the door and
entered the shop.
Jarvis, the bootmaker, belonged
to a rapidly disappearing class of
British tradesmen. He truckled to
no one, but took an artistic pride in
his own handiwork, criticism from
layman merely provoking a scorn-
full anger which had lost Jarvis
many good customers.
eyes, sir" Jarvis was saying to
a patron, cts a welcome sight to
see a real Englishman walk into
my shop nowadays. London isn't
London, sir, since the war, and the
Strand will never be the Strand
again" He turned to his assistant,
who stood beside him. bootjack in
hand. IF he sends them back
again." he directed, tell him to so
to one of the French firms in Regent
street who cater to dainty ladies'.
He positively snorted with indigna-
ton, while the page, listening,
whistled and looked down at the
parcel which he carried.
IAN unwelcome customer, +
was then developed and subjected to
the flames, with more satisfactory
results.
Several more tests are to be con-
Quoted Def IRE an official report Is
made. Tests already indicate that
the double curtain can be hung to
seal the stage opening, and to stay
/ closed during a fire. Such a curtain
would consist of the new metallic
asbestos cloth on the stage side, and
ordinary asbestos cloth on the outer
side. The back layer would serve tc
resist fire. and the outer layer would
be decorated and would screen fire
effects from the view of the au-
dience.
There are somewhere between
fifty and 100 steel curtains in large
theaters of the country and in SOME
well equipped high school and col
lage ~auditoriums. The Bureau OF
Standards hopes to develop a reliable
flexible asbestos cloth curtain which
will increase the safety of the thea
ter which can not install the stee
curtain.