The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 48

1 9 a a 'i Poker or the Girl? Mr. Blaustein's Choice By IRVING J. LEWIS I IGHT members of the Chocheras Poker Club stood around the bulletin board in the club and stared at a newspaper clipping which had just been pasted up. and which read as follows: i "Engaged Blauateln-Solomon. Mr.

and Mrs. Solly Solomon, of The Bronx, announce the engagement of their daughter, Vetta Ruby Solomon, to Levi Claude Brausteln, secretary of the Chochems "I would have disbelieved it did any one tell It to me," said Abram Schauin-berg, "but if you see It in print that way it makes it so clinches it for sure." Mr. Schaumberg sighed. "There is no evasion after that," he said. "When I got engaged 20 years ago they printed it in all the newspapers, and I seen afterward there was no backing out.

Oy, it is a smart thing to do." "But will his getting married keep him from playing poker?" asked Al Hersh-feld. "I don't think so," said Ignatz Fluegel-mann. "Don't you see they say he Is Secretary of the Chochems? But why that Claude? Stiegen, I never knowed that before." "Take notice," said Mr. Saltpeter, "they don't say Chochems Poker Club just Chochems Club I bet you my-llfe they don't know Levi plays poker. And his name Is not Claude; they put that in like they did about the club to make It sound society." There entered the club at this time Ben-np Cohen, also of The Bronx, wealthy.

Idle and the holder of a visitor's card to the Chochems Club. "I got a hunch this is my lucky day," said Mr. Cohen. "I am looking for poker. Who will play?" "IJsten," said Mr.

Saltpeter, "you are Bronx Bociety, are you not "I am the said small Mr. Cohen, "who said to the reporter, 'I am Why ask?" "Tell us ebout Levi Blausteln being engaged that way to Yetta Solomon," said Mr. Saltpeter. Mr. Cohen took a seat.

"The Solly Solomons of the Bronx are fine people, nearly as good in society as what I am," said Mr. Cohen. "In fact they are related to me. They also are related to the J. Hershl Goldstein, of Brownsville, and Averne.

The match Is a good one" for Blausteln. It will bring him Into association with high-toned folks, an not a lot a pikers and gamblers and nickel squeesers who always are after a poker game." "Say, you, look it here, who are you deferring to?" asked Mr. Fluegelmann In hostile manner. "No offense Is to be took where none is intended that it should be given," said Benno Cohen. "I was speaking generally.

While the 8'olly Solomons are high-standing In they have not got a great deal of money. I happen to know that Yetta will get $2,000 when she is married, and not a cent more. Her father has the money In" cash carries It around frequently with him and if it should be lost Yetta will not bring a dollar to her husband." "I got to hunt -up Levi and warn him." said Mr. Schaumberg; as he left the club. Mr.

Saltpeter, Mr. Fluegelmann and Bolossy Blumstein sat down with Mr. Cohen and soon won $00 of his money. "It's enough," said Mr. Cohen, as he arose to quit the game.

"I have lost all I shalL" "But say," said Mr. Fluegelmann, "you came in here yesterday and won $200 and then quit. Don't we get a chance to even up things?" "Not under my system," said Mr. Cohen calmly; "So long; I'll see you later when I need cigarette money." "And him a man to talk about pikers," said Mr. Cohen 'as the door closed behind Benno Cohen.

While this was going on at the Chochems Club, Levi Blaustein was calling on his fiancee at the family home in the Bronx. "About the club that you belong to," said Yetta Solomon. "Is It high-class? Is it a gentleman's organization? Do they allow ladles to go there and dine with their husbands? Tell me all about it. It must be lovely to belong to a club. It sounds good In a newspaper when you read about a man being a clubman," "This Chochems Club containes only nine members" i "Then it must be so exclusive," said Miss Solomon.

"It is," said Mr. Blausteln, "so it is, and it also Is a purely social organization. although we admit a few men visltora We never admit ladles and there is nothing to eat there. Sure, if a Chochem wants a sandwich he is got to send the kitty tender out for it." I tender?" said Miss Solomon. "What is that?" "The man who takes care of the kitty," said Mr.

Blausteln. "You know what that la" "A man who tends the club cat?" said Miss Solomon. The young lady's father entered the room and greeted Mr. Blausteln. "They have a kitty 'tender at Levi's club," said Miss Solomon to her father.

"Have they one at the Boruch Habo Club, father, that you belong to?" "No," replied Mr. Solomon, "we don't keep a kitty, and I advise you to keep away from your club, Mr. Blaustein. I have heard about the Chochems." Mr. Solomon looked sharply at Levi, shook his head in disapproval and left the room.

"What is that club of yours? What do yob do there?" asked Miss Solomon. "I speak the truth," said Mr. Blaustein. "We play poker at the Chochems Club. Play poker and do nothing else, except have a fight once In a while." 1 "Levi, you shock me." said Miss Solo lng a "I'm no gambler; I said Mr.

Blaustein. got a business," "I am to have $2,000, and I can see it going over the gambling table," said Miss Solomon. "I cannot marry a gambler. I said tt before." Mr. Blausteln' made a gesture of remonstrance.

Miss Solomon then spoke these words: "Levi Blausteln, you must give up poker or give me up." "Oy. oy. Yetta. don't talk that way." said Blausteln. "If I don't play poker, how can I get money?" "Don't talk back about It." said Miss Solomon firmly.

"You said you had a business. I guess It Is playing poker. I say it again emphatic: Give up poker or give up me!" Mr. Blausteln started to expostulate, but Miss Solomon waved him into silence. "Go away, Levi, and think about Ten minutes later Mr.

Blausteln stood on the street corner two blocks from the Solomon house and thought deeply. "Two thousand dollars," he said, "two thousand dollars, and Yetta Solomon along with It. Good looking girl, too. And the money, how well I could use it at the Chochems Club, but if I marry her she says I must agree to give up poker. Such a gewaltlg business as this is anyway.

For why should women not be reasonable and discernible? How can a man quit playing poker? And how ean a man who gets hold of $2,000 be expected to quit, anyway? Should 1 1 do it? Which should lt.be? Yetta or poker?" Mr. Blausteln stood with wrinkled forehead thinking hard, anl at that Instant a hand was laid on his shoulder. He started and found Solly Solomon, father of his fiancee, at his side. "Glad to see you again." said Mr. Solomon.

"The daughter seems to object to that poker club you belong to. and I myself am not strong for a poker-playing son-in-law. We play a pretty good game, too, at any club. Dollar limit." "Dollar limit!" said Mr. Blaustein scornfully.

"We don't do no piking at the Chochems Club. We play table stakes always, all jackpots, oy, oy, break the pot for aJ hundred dollars. Dollar limit! My little brother Abednego plays that" "I got as much money as any of you Chochems," said Mr. Solomon Indignantly. "I been sore that you should make intimation that we are I pikers.

VellUcht should I go into the Chochems Club and play would overwhelm you schnorers. I always carry $2,000 with me. Emergency money I call It." I "Two thousand dollars for a dollar limit said Mr. Blaustein. "It makes me laugh.

Listen, ha, ha, and there is no use in your coming to the Chochems Cluhi you could not get no cheap game like you play. Herr Solomon." "I'p go to the Chochems Club now, you base schlamiel you, and play In this two thousand," said Mr. Solomon. "Come on. I dare you: call me a piker, will you?" "Is It Yetta's dowry?" asked Mr.

Blaustein! "Never mind," said Mr. Solomon. "Minld your business, will you?" "Well that Is what I am doing, hut since- you been so keen for the game, come along. Mr moo. I shudder when I think of marry- Club I Blausteln led the wsy to the street car which took them near the Chochems on Seventh avenue.

may state It that way, is at the bottom of practically all of the divorce business in Kansas City and of every other large place. A lawyer who has been trying divorce suits for years tells me that remarriage occurred In all of his cases but one. 1 "I am almost ready to declare that immorality, active or intended, present or prospective, can be read between the lines of 09 per cent of the divorce petitions which are filed In American Courts. I realise the seriousness of the charge I am making, but I make It. The man who loves his wife, who thinks she Is the only woman in the world, will never have to answer a ctiarge of immorality at the bar of Justice.

The woman who loves her husband, who thinks he is the only man on earth, will never be called upon to answer a charge of infidelity either in Court or outside of it. "As 99 per cent of our divorces are brought about because of immorality, done or intended- to te done, the conclusion Is Inevitable that there Is a startling lack' of love between husbands and wives. Let me say another thing: The man who Is faithless to his wle loses Interest in his business turns out to be inefficient, if not a downright failure. The strong, successful characters in business and the professions are moral men. Xeep Out of Booming Houses.

"There never was and never be an Innocent flirtation on the part of a married man or a married woman. I employ the word innocent, and I use It without any shading or qualification. Hope that Is the politest term I can think of in this connection enters into the flirtations of all such persons. There is gulK In the heart. If no overt act has been commit At the club Solly Solomon and Levi Blausteln stood and looked around the main room It was empty.

Only Sam Spiegeleler, the kitty tender, was present, asleep in the rear room. Mr. Solomon and Mr. Blausteln decided they would not play a two-handed game. Just before leaving for home Mr.

Solomon safd: "I devise that you give up poker. You will be better off for; doing 1L Yetta wants you to. Try to abstain." Mr. Blausteln resolved that he would see if he could go without It. I "I'll do all the penance things I can think of." he said, "and can I jendure It maybe I will be a better man." For two days Mr.

Blausteln was around the Hotel Lehmann. In which he lived, drinking water and buttermilk and smoking cubebs cigarettes. He did not touch cards or use' tobacco or quart drinks of his favorite anisette. "Oy. but It is hard to be good," he said at the end of the second day.

as he sat in the dining -room and shuddered while he looked at a big glass of buttermilk and inhaled the smoke of cuoeos. Then Mr. Blausteln was notified that some one wished to speak to him on the telephone, and It proved to Solomon. "I had a night of leisure, and I should like to come down and Mr. Solomon, Intact" be Solly I thought see about one of those no-llmlt poker games," said 'I got my two thousand "Come along quick," said Mr.

and he walked Into the dining room and finished the glass of buttermilk. Mr. Solomon land Mr. Blausteln met at the Chochems Club, but no other member was present, i I "Hard luck." said Mr. Solomon.

"I had been counting on a good gamei. and was planning to take away plenty of money." He looked sharply at Levi Blausteln. "Got any money yourself?" he asked. "A two-handed game Is better than nothing. butI am not going to risk my; two thousand against a few dollars, and maybe you will wanti to put up a glass ring I see you wear for a few hundred." "I got money," said Mr.

Blausteln, showing a roll containing $500, "and that glass ring that you are talking about I bought at your brother's Jewelry store In Harlem, and he took $300 of my money for It. and signed a paper that It is a real diamond, guaranteed, and that he will give me I2.V) for it any time I want to sell it "I'll play you two-handed," said Mr. Solomon. "Never mind about Yetta; she will not know It" Mr. Blausteln went Into the rear room and brought out a pack of.

cards which he, was shuffling as he entered the big room. Both men threw money on the table, not using checks. While Mr. Solomon was adjusting his eyeglasses Mr. Blausteln dealt for the first Jackpot.

He md Solomon both put up $5. i "Here's luck," said Mr. Solomon, as he beamed through his glasses on aces and kings. "I break the pot for $15. Got the big dog, we call it in The Bronx." "And I got the little dog," said Levi Biaustein, "deuces and treys, and I raise you $15." Mr.

Solomon saw the raise, each man having $35 in the pot. Mr. Solomon called for one card and did not help his two big pairs. Mr. Blaustein also took one card.

With much confidence Mr. Solomon-also put $5 In the i pot "And I got more if needed." he said. "Put It in." said Mr. Blausteln. as he pushed all his; money into the center of the table.

"I raise you $460." "You bluffer you!" said Mr. Solomon. "You think you can raise me out because I been not used to big ptays. I show you. There Is my money now.

I call you." Mr. Blausteln spread out his hand he had three jacka Mr. Solomon threw down his two pairs. "Look Levi Blausteln, for why did you draw two cards?" demanded Mr. Solomon.

"Just to foolish you," said Levi. "I knowed you bad two pain." "We don't play, that way In the Bronx," said Mr. Solomon. "And another thing, you said you had UtUe dog, and had it -i ii i i mil itir i- -ti-jim sgaa. 7, 6 SECTION THREE THE ENQUIRER, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, ted.

It will be if the flirtation contlnuea The most Immoral people In a community are the very rich and the very poor. "ji woman. appears and applies for a divorce," Mr. Wright went on to say. "Her name and address are sent to me.

I find that she is living In a rooming-house. I take occasion right here to warn poor, young couples "to shun rooming houses. They see 'can rushing, and other similar practices, and gradually their characters go to pieces. I ask the woman to tell me the names of her ae-qualntanoea 'I go to my work early in the morning, and when come home at night I mind my own she says. I have no acquaintances.

Don't go to my she pleads, because if you do shall lose my place." I learn that the home she lives in is not respectable, that she has been divorced twice or even five times, snd that a man in the background is waiting until she 'gets her The woman Is merely a type and cases like hers crwd the dockets of our American Courts. "Again, a man gets a family and has hard work In keeping his head above water or his nose off the grindstone. He has no pride In his personal appearance, and luckily for him It makes no difference what kind of clothes his neighbors wear. If he is a weak character he may run away. In that event he ought to be brought back and locked up.

If he beats his wife he should go to the whip ping post The strsin of matrimony Is too much for men of his kind. "The strain on a woman comes when she tries to dress as well as the women who live In her' block. She Is shallow, of course, but we must take humanity as we find It. When she goes out she be lieves that the neighbors are looking at her. and they are.

She begins to pity herself, and down falls a long line of her personal defenses. A man happens along and In a' little while she is hanging around the Divorce Court watching for a decree. Bridge and Late Suppers. "A traveling salesman came to me not long ago. His wife had sued for di vorce.

Hej had given all of his salary, $125 a month, to his family. There were two children, one of them a daughter 17 years old. The wife went to bridge parties, theaters and suppers late at night. "I called the wife to my office. She is a handsome, blond woman.

'I Just can't stand my asked her she said, when I to state her side of the case. And that is all I ever got out of her. A woman csri love only one man at a time. If that man happens not to be married husband Is not wanted around 'I Just can't stand him." she will de dare. "I have heard thst sentence, word for word, many times.

Digging away for the facts. 1 1 found that some man had told the bjlond woman, with a daughter 17 years old. that her husband wasn't treating her right. Her case was typical, not lone In Kansas City but everywhere In the United 8tates. "What we need In this country is a return to I old-fsshloned ways of living and to ol -fashioned morals.

A tttle high school girl In a neighboring town lost her life because of her association with half a dosen boys belonging to well-to-do families boys with automobiles. It Is a terrible story and I will not repeat It, except to say; that society condemned the boys. too. condemn the boys, but back of them I see their mothers eating $10 dinners at hotels and I see their fathers standing on the top of banquet tables and hear them making asinine and maudlin speeches. Divorces are brewing In such families even unto the second generation.

"Another thing. I am no Socialist; far three Jacks all the time. What do you call that T' "Strategy," said Mr. Blausteln. "Deal them up.

father-in-law, I got $1,000 now to your $1,500." i 1 The deal went back apd forth several times, and finally Mr. Solomon opened the pot. While separating his cards la order to draw he Inadvertently turned over a jack which he was holding up with another eard. Mr. Blausteln feigned not to see his opponent had only a pair of jacks and raised the opening sum $100.

After much mental disturbance Mr. Solomon stayed and put up his money. "Give me three cards." he said to Mr. Blausteln. "and, none of your funny games with me.

You can't do it" Mr. Blaustein laughed long and dealt three cards and threw the deck down. 'Now do your betting." he said. "I don't take any." "Then I will not bet." said Mr. Solomon.

"I will not send good money after bad. Opened the pot on jacks and did not help." Mr. Blausteln took in the pot. Then he spread out his hand face up. He had nothing at all.

"You are a cheater." cried Mr. Solomon. "A gross cheater; I ought not to play with you. But I will. I win my money back and then maybe never speak to you again." i "That would not hurt." said Mr.

Blau-ateln. "Money consoles me for lots of snubs." Mr. Blausteln won 'the next pot on Mr. Solomon's own deal, holding three kings against three tens. Mr.

Solomon counted his money. "I g-sct a thousand and ten dollars ne saia. "i dare you to take It away from me." 'Til bluff you out of it." satd'Mr. Blau stein. nna I like to play with you.

Probably I'll bet all you have on the next hand and make you lay down again." Mr. Blaustein said a new deck might be better for Mr, Solomon, and went Into the back room to get one. When he re turned he had opened the deck and was shuffling as be took his seat Levi dealt, remarking that the cards felt heavy and he believed good hands were out. One after ths other the excited Mr. Solomon received three aces; then a ten spot and a queen.

He opened the pot for $5. This left exactly a thousand in front of him. "I raise you that said Levi. putting up the money. "I told you would bluff you.

If you stay it's a showdown; you got no more gelt." Mr. Solomon threw the thousand In the pot "I give you a lesson." he said. He took two card and Mr. Blausteln drew one. Mr.

Solomon did not help his three aces. "They are good enough, I think," he said as be turned them over. Mr. Blausteln spread out five hearts. "Not so good as a flush," he said.

and. taking in the pot, he put all the money in his pocket. Mr. Solomon stared at him for a full "I will hot call -you a cheater again." he said. "I will not tell you that I think I been a victim.

Anyway, that money was Yetta's for to have when she got married. Now she has not "got any and will not have." "So long." said Mr. Blausteln, as ha left the dub. "Come around again soma other time when you can get away from the dollar limit game." Half an hour later Mr. "Blaustein, seated at a table-in Lazarus Bimbelraeler'e restaurant, ordered a long drink to be composed of one part anisette, part Ice water and one part klrnmel.

He light ed a real tobacco cigarette and slaked his thirst I Then called up 009 Party. telephone in the Bronx and asked to be allowed' to speak to Yetta Ha I been not good enough for you. I got to let you give me and Sreak our I. sinned, again been playing -poker. Andr Jlnd it haatook a held on me, so I cannot quit.

I hope yon get a batter man, eholem alachamr', SSS ssss Mi- r-t wag mgr By James B. Morrow. Kansas City, October 3. The free- for-all divorce record In Kansas City and. most likely.

In the world, is as follows Plaintiff and two witnesses heard. De cree entered. Time: two minutes and thirty seconds. Therewith Thomas J. Murphy begun writing the facts.

They were grave and nortorious facts and he rammed them Into bombs and exploded the bombs right before the eyes and into the ears of the public. Mr Murphy Tim Murphy, every one calls him had been watching and study lng the facts for a long: time. He was a newspaper reporter a slender six-footer, with a distinguished looking face, fine gray eyes and the cadence of Alabama in his voice. Then one day a bench in the corridor of the courthouse broke down. It was overloaded with gossiping and giggling pe tltloners for martial disjunction.

Men and women wriggled around on the floor like worms. Whereupon Mr. Murphy turned humorist, but the story he wrote wasn't altogether ridiculous. Tragedy crept into the lines. An appeal to the con science of the people crept into the lines.

The incident of the broken bench was funny, but it was also a disgrace. Reform, with fiddling steps, finally came. The Judges acted. A proctor was appointed said to be the first fin the United States to investigate divorce cases that were uncontested. Men say that to modest "Tim" Murphy belongs every bit of the credit.

He softly replies that he doesn't think so. Mr. Murphy Is still a newspaper man, but he has been promoted from the ranks to a subeditor-ship. Story of a Chicago Couple. "I was a court reporter," he told me, "and I couldn't help but notice that the number of divorce cases heard in Kansas City was becoming scandalous.

The docket was loaded with such business. I ot the names of scores of plaintiffs and then tried to look them up in the city directory, but they weren't there. soon found that and women were coming here from all parts of the country, having learned divorces were easy to obtain In this city. One of the cases I investigated showed that a bride and bridegroom left Chicago on their wedding Journey. Somewhere in Missouri, on the train, probably, the husband slapped his wife in the face.

He said it was a playful or Jocular performance. "Indignity is one of the grounds for divorce in this state. It Is a very expansive word and can be stretched to cover anything from a beating to a cross look. I reckon the 'bride was tired of her bargain, though she was on her honeymoon trip. Anywjr, ahe applied for a divorce after reaching this city and cot It.

In leas than a week after leaving Chicago she -was back there again with a decree of divorce in her possession. "Also, talked wtth many persons who had been divorced. I made the subject, T7 Tr Wa Investigator Tells of Causes That you see, something of, a specialty. I discovered that most of those who had obtained divorces were sorry, saying they had acted hastily or while angry. I am no reformer, but the state of things was disgraceful and, besides, I was positive that if divorces could be checked it would not only result In good to the community, but would prevent a great deal of un-happlness.

"I may have helped to call attention to conditions here, but Judge Thomas J. Seehorn opened the way by which it was possible and legal to cure some of the evils that were bringing reproaoh to Kansas City wherever the facts were understood. A proctor was appointed to inquire into the cases to which there was to be no defense prearranged eases. mostly, or cases dragged Into our Courts from the outside. "Tim" Murphy's Philosophy.

"Divorces, I have learned, are very often the result of a temporary and unnatural state of the mind. There Js a quarrel or a misunderstanding, which might easily be settled, but which is not settled if the aggrieved person knows that one has only to walk Into the courthouse and walk out again with papers of separation tn one's Moreover, divorce proceedings having once been started, the person beginning them dislikes to bask down. So anything which makes divorces dlffloult to obtain works for the happiness of individuals and the stability of the home." I 'William W. Wright is the proctor. In reality be is a deputy truant officer of the Juvenile Court, because there Is no law establishing the proctor's office.

He Is a very energetic, positive and up-to-date man. His father was a Disciple minister, and he, himself, Is a Sunday school teacher. I After five years at the University of Missouri, where he paid his own expenses by playing professional baseball with the American Association during his summer vacations, he came to Kansas City on borrowed money and opened a law office. He was soon in the thick of civic movements and gave his services without pay to the Board of. Public Welfare, which inquires into all kinds of social conditions, including tenements, wages of workers and so on.

1 Independence, and "hot Kansas City, Is the county seat of Jackson County. There are courthouses, however, at both places. Formerly 200 divorce cases were filed at Independence every year. The number has been reduced to 34, and largely by the vigorous action of Judge Klmbrough Stone, son of Senator William J. Stone.

Judge Stone is a man of high ethical standards and is working with the eight Judges of Kansas City to stop the divorce scandals which in the past made Jackson County a byword all over Missouri. The Lawyer and the Lady. "Tim Murphy." Mr. Wright said to me. "really began the crusade which led to better divorce conditions here.

He wrote up the situation Just as it was. For instance, he. showed howi a rich woman came to Kansas City from Atlanta and applied for 'a divorce. Some friend told her that divorces could be procured without any trouble and, with but very little expense. The lawyer whom she employed wrote her three letters and sent her two telegrams assuring her that while the law required a year's residence in the state, the requirement was merely formal and that she could get her divorce right off the bat.

"Events of that sort and the publicity given them brought matters to an Issue, and I was chosen to investigate all cases In which no defense Is made. Where both the plaintiff and defendant face each other In Court, the facta, of course, come out. Cases which are to go to trial by default are sent to me. I then look Into the situation, visiting the home of the plaintiff and making inquiries among the neighbors. A written report of my investigation goes to the trial Judge and I am permitted to be present when the case is heard and ask questions of the plaintiff and the witnesses.

"When They Lore Each Other. "During the three years I have acted a. proctor I have learned many surprising things things which the public do not Imagine can exist. In my opinion there are but two reasons' why persons ordinarily seek divorce. First, th ere 1 immorality and a desire of the delinquent to marry some one else.

Second, there is the purpose of the applicant to protect property interests. I go so far as to say that nearly all those who ask for divorces mean to marry again and have already chosen the persons they are to take in wedlock the second time, or maybe It Is the third or fourth time, because most divorces are repeaters. "The wish for a change of mates. If I Divorce Lead To So Many Do- mesticTragedies and Suggests Remedies Reform Started in Missouri By Young Reporter. -ft 'frx i Evil from; It.

but I cant understand now a city man can support a family on $40 a month! He pinches and scrapes, and by and by his little daughter finds a work place, and, pressed by poverty, something happens. ISuch can't be argued down or covered up. Meanwhile we make It harder for all such little girls by condoning the offenses of men, who, we think. Jf we don't declare It, have certain rights that are denied to I i A Boycott Against Men. i "The double standard of morals Is also the cause of a great many divorces, and the women, themselves, by their treat ment of unclean men.

are largely respon sible for Its existence. It Is up to them to end It once and for all. The social boycott will do the business. "You asked me to tell you about ray experiences and ray convictions," Mr. Wright continued, I am doing; so Just as facts and thoughts occur to me as I go along.

Put them together if yoU ban and make a coherent article. Ninety jper cent of the children brought Into pur Juvenile Court forj a' hewing belong to separated or divorced parents. Men should not marry under the age of 25 85 would be better4nd women not until they are 22. Well, they have ceased to be a Joke. When active they are dangerous members of society.

I have studied them Incidentally since holding the office of proctor. Some whom I have TvF XCELLENCT!" I turned from my half-finished manuscript to find him sitting cross-legged In his baggy, red trousers behind his pack on my study floor.j'hls dark face wearing a winning smile, his red fez tipped back. He seemed to have slipped In out of a dream; but my housemaid being an African In the second stage of her evolution. there was. an easier explanation.

Excellency?" 'That Is what you said before. What next?" His left hand swept across the pack, which opened as by magic. Excellency, behoia the tnumpn or Persia! 'Tls the rainbow shawl of the East!" The shawl made a transient glory in the little room, but I shook my head i gloomily. I There would be a riot In my harem!" said. He smiled affably.

A flood of yellow sunlight burst from his mysterious pack and overflowed the shawl. "Excellency! Silk from the street by the gate of the Forbidden City. The Em press has its matei" I only sighed and turned toward him the palms of my hands. He drew from a cloudy heap a veil of gossamer and cast It open aeove his head where It floated in spirals, his graceful hand half circling beneath It like a fish's tall under a lily In crystal waters. Excelleney! 'Tls the web of the spider at dawn where the breeze ripples run from the grass out into the blue Bos porus!" I moaned as one in distress who refuses comfort, "and turned away my face.

I "Excellency! A bed of roses from the vale of Cashmere! He used his left hand again, and unrolled with graceful gestures a gorgeous rug. The roses were all there, the hues melting Into each other as In the verbena flowerets of a neglected garden. 'Hold!" I cried. "No more; or by the beard of yeur Prophet my soul will perish!" He waited a moment, his hand over his eyes, his lips moving as in pray er. Then from yards of scarf, silken and scarlet, as gently as one would handle a snowflake of rare form, he produced a curious box.

filagree and arabesque, sliver and gilt. It opened at touch of bis finger on the secret spring snd, reposing on a mat of was displayed a tiny cat, carved from blaok and white ivory. perfect, from the curve of the tall around Its flank, to the dimpled nose re posing on its paw. It would have been the representation I of a cat asleep, but that, through narrow slits of eyelids. light was reflected from bits of green and yellow stones.

known nagged their daughters-in-law and taunted them with the boast that their sons could have married girls with lots of money. I looked up a number of the girls with lots of money and found them to be stenographers and clerks. The busy father-in-law is not so malicious as the busy mother-in-law. but he Is a nuisance and often mischievous. "Now, then.

I would say in conclusion, each city should have a Court of Domestic Relations for the hearing of every divorce suit that is brought within its Jurisdiction. The further I go into the subject the more I am of the opinion that there should be no divorces granted except In very unusual cases. Our efforts have helped the situation in Kansas City, but they are not adequate. "I would choke off divorcee almost entirely. I would have seasoned investigator's hunt out the facts in every instance.

I would work away; until I learned why a divorce is desired. I would put the rich, the well-to-do and the poor under a microscope. I would tear skeletons out of closets. I would push the woman aside and look for the man hiding behind her skirts. What Mr.

Wright Would Do. "Then I would publish all that was learned to the listening world. I would call In the reporters and the multitude. The decree, if entered, should be Interlocutory; that Is, I would hold the divorced couple up by the necks for six months. That would stop a wedding, and j- s-s My visitor, lifting one hand in warning, leaned forward and noiselessly placed the cat on my table.

I did not faint. "Excellency! EfTendi! Touch It not!" I looked up from a close inspection of the toy. for such It was, though well done, to find him pointing excitedly to a little picture on the study's wall that had been sent to me by my Tom, who. after years at Heidelberg, was touring the world. It was a representation of a Turkish scrivener by the door of a mosque Inditing a letter for a veiled houri.

She was. stealing time from prayer to commit the same old indiscretion. "Ef-fendl, it Is my brother my very brother!" he lisped dreamily. "Allah is great. We meet again.

My very In a bound the traveler had become my professional brother-in-law; my very professional brother-in-law. Necessarily, I handedhim one of my hands, which he took fervently and laid against his forehead. There was a tear on it when he handed it back. "And this? What soul conceived, what cunning artist caned this marvelous Jewel?" There were husks on my voice. "Excellency, 'tls a story older than the cross!" "This is better," I said.

"Allah has sent you!" Again that happy smile. "Effendl, listen! Six hundred years before your era, Euxenes, a-Greek trader, traveied from Phocea, an Ionian town of Asia Minor, to find the black and white ivory combined. Ivory there was In all the great cities of the East, both black and white, but not combined. It was a saying older than the writings of the wise that it carried with it for man. empire and the love of woman: for woman, safety the love of man.

Princes staked their hopes and kings their kingdoms for It. Men traveled afoot searching for It by land from Sheba's mines In the South to the White Sea in the North. Ships sailed every coast of the Euxlne Sea and out through the Tuscan and Mediterranean. Into the unknown wastes beyond the pillars of Hercules In search of the wonderful ivory. They found gold and silver and cedar and precious stones.

Effendl, they set the boundaries of knowledge afar; but to every one who came back, the question, 'Have you the was asked in vain. "To Euxenes there came one day a rumor of this hidden wonder, as It had come to hundreds before him. Back Into Asia, whence they had wandered westward nine centuries before his day, there drifted a tribe of those fierce people whom Christians named Celts: and they told to a shepherd, as one tells wonder stories to the child, that in distant Gallia, near the blue sea, dwelt the Invincible Sego-briglans, whose chief's daughter possessed the ivory. To Euxenes, who Journeyed across the mountains, the shepherds told the story in gratitude for a handful of salt, and Euxenes, fitting his best ship with trader's wares, sailed the coast to where to-day rises the city of Masllla, or, as the Franks call it, Marseilles. I have opened this pack there, Effendl, and sold, sold, sold!" "He sailed to Marseilles! Go on, my Son!" 'Twas a wooded coast, then.

Landing, he found himself surrounded by a strange people, fierce, rough, but kindly. They made him welcome, for he bore a maybe two weddings for the time beine If I had own way with the law. how ever. I would absolutely prevent the remarriage of- the guilty man or woman so long as Injured husband or wife wer alive. "At the end of six months I would have another! Investigation by the experts of the Courts.

If the facts support-fd It, I would make the decree per-manent. No case would need to be tried by Indeed. I would shut them out altogether. The Judge would hear the testimony of the plaintiff and defendant and such witnesses as miht be nece. sary.

and he would have before him the reports of the Investigators reports open to the public and would decide the case on lta merits. "I have known men and women to walk, right out of the Divorce Court and j-j straight to a minister's house for another launching on the matrimonial ocean. Well, I would tie them up to the dock good and tight at least six months, and I might keep one of them there indefinitely, if he or she had mightily disgraced or Injured the other." "But surely a drunkard or a wife, beater" "I know what you are going to say." Mr. Wright interrupted. "Let the wif call In the police.

She Is safer married than divorced. A woman is rarely murdered before she Is divorced that nearly always happens after the divorce Is granted." fCoDvHifht. 1614. by James B. Morrow SWOT riAjrWarv- Stiiavkll, goodly shipload of arms, ornaments and wines, all of whi-h Euxenes knew were much prized by savage people.

Nixht falling, he was taken by the chief to his own home, that in the marriage of the chief daughter, which was planned that eve- nlng, he might behold the customs and the dress of the country. Euxenes did not. hearing this, fail to take with him a necklace of great beauty for the brlle, which vas very acceptable, being la every respect new to her people. "Now, in this country a curious custom prevailed. No man mlht ask the daughter of his chief in marriage; no mm might know her choice until at the wedding banquet she placed in the hand of her elected husband a goblet of wine.

No man might dispute her choice, for lift hand against the chosen one wouVl provoke the anger of the god. "Euxenes sat in silent wonder by tr. banquet table when the beautiful Gyptss entered and, her bright eyes searching the faces turned toward her. passed slowly down the room. Presently she paused and, leaning over the board, silence having fallen on the revellers, poured into a goblet from a flagon a portion of win's and replacing the flagon, touched hor hand to the goblet.

But at this moment, while bending forward, her dress being loosely planned at the throat to display her fine necklace, there slipped from bosom a curious object which, rolling toward Euxenes, might have fallen to the floor but that he caught It by a Quicker movement He would have returned It to the owner with a graceful gesture anl compliment, but suddenly his eyes read the truth. He held In hla, grasp the famous black and white Ivory! He rose to his feet In great excitement; but before he could speak, the young woman, with a wondering gaze on her face and moving as though in a trance, reached out the goblet unto him. "Effendl, Excellency! Euxenes and the maiden stood a full two minutes facing each other and gaaing into each other's eyes, love bringing their hearts Into Joyous unison, though the shouts of. angry men and the flash of weapons encircle them. Then, when the chief, crashing his battle axe through the banquet board, cried, 'It is the will of the gods, touch, them Euxenes stretched forth hls hand.

Yielding to him the goblet, the bride sank to her knees and hid her face in her arms! Excellency, does the (die story weary?" "No. my son. But your Brother your very he told this tale?" "No, Excellency. My Brother-tells Only the little lies which lovers slip to eacn other through the lattice." "And what next, my charming raconteur?" "The Segobriglana recognised the wUl of the gods. They yielded Gyptis to Euxenes, and with her the adjoining coast on which, to build him a city.

He. gave her another name. Excellency, Aristoxena. which is to say. 'the unrivaled Opening up closer communication with Phocea he soon filled-the section with prosperous strangers ami established a commercial enterprise that continues until this day.

But as may be guessed. Effendl, the Segobrfgians soon repented. Their chief dead, their Princess wedded to a stranger, their wonderful Ivory behind the walls of a city full of skill people, they were unhappy. EffendL In your country they have a phrase which covers it all, but" "My Son, I have heard Tom use the term 'not In which seems well adapted to this point in the career of the i Segobriglana." I "Excellency! It Is perfect The Ivory was behind the walla of a city full of skilled people, and the Segobrlgians were not In-it. They were Indeed for Euxenes was In the hands of the gods.

"Well, in time the Unrivaled Hostess" raised two fine sons, the elder taking'' his father's name, the younger the name of Pharoa The young Euxenes, with the aid of the ivory, married the most beautiful woman of the colony and had a son of his own. Pharos, -however. Inherited the wandering and adventurous heart of his father and desired to travel; especially would he go back Into the won derful country whence his father's peop a had come and behold the monuments and splendid buildings there. In Masillia there was not much for him. being second to his brother.

Besides, he wanted power and dominion. "About this time he began to reason with a true trader's spirit that his brother, having already a wife, did not need another; and that if he wss not man enough to defend his kingdom without a bit of whale's Ivory" "Whale's Ivory?" "Excellency, so they called It. It was-not, however, of the whale, but of the walrus; although until this day the ivory of Gaul is called for the whale. It is well to be truthful. I have known trades to' fall because of a trivial error In speech.

Facts are defenders of truth. So the Koran has it." "Well said! But proceed. How gained Pharos the Ivory?" "A woman's weakness, Effendl. Strange, is it not. Excellency, that trouble springs always from "Not strange when you remember, my son, that she Is the mother of man.

'A woman's you were saying' "Gyptis desired of all things that her children be loved. She let them cut their teeth on the ivory; and now her grandchild was doing the same thing under Its own mother. He fell asleep with it once. Pharos traveled away into Phocea, taking the black and white Ivory, but unsuspected. The Gallic servants were thought' to have stolen It, and were promptly exeouted.

"Pharos employed in secret a Jeweler at whose house he tarried, to produce for him the beautiful carving that has pleased Excellency's eyes, and brought my foolish 'speech. EfTendi, behold the stripes of white, the white spot over the eyes, the two white paws, and. admit te skill of the artist!" "He has done well, indeed. Proceed'." "Pharos had been a welcome visitor. W' et in in th VI hi C'i ai 81 tr tr tc A st in te ol ui It ci it hi hi ei tl tc ID si ei sv tr tr ai hi t-l lo ti hi si a ni 1c si "a I a di ir A h1, it1 si li 11 tr.

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