text:
Скачать 0.79 Mb.
|First vice-president the republic insurance
|"Have I not tried? Did I not offer them for one-tenth their cost?
Not even one ~peso~ would any one give. There is not one ~real~ in
this town to assist Dickee Malonee."
Dick clenched his teeth grimly. 'That's the ~comandante~," he growled.
"He's responsible for that sentiment. Wait, oh, wait till the cards
are all out."
Pasa lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "And, listen, heart of
my heart," she said, "I have endeavored to be brave, but I cannot
live without thee. Three days now--"
Dicky caught a faint gleam of steel from the folds of her mantilla.
For once she looked in his face and saw it without a smile, stern,
menacing and purposeful. Then he suddenly raised his hand and his
smile came back like a gleam of sunshine. The hoarse signal of an
incoming steamer's siren sounded in the harbor. Dicky called to
the sentry who was pacing before the door: "What steamer comes?"
"The ~Catarina~."
"Of the Vesuvius line?"
"Without doubt, of that line."
"Go you, ~picarilla~, "said Dicky joyously to Pasa, "to the American
consul. Tell him I wish to speak with him. See that he comes
at once. And look you! let me see a different look in those eyes,
for I promise your head shall rest upon this arm tonight.
It was an hour before the consul came. He held his green umbrella
under his arm, and mopped his forehead impatiently.
"Now, see here, Maloney, "he began, captiously, "you fellows seem
to think you can cut up any kind of row, and expect me to pull you out
of it. I'm neither the War Department nor a gold mine. This country
has its laws, you know, and there's one against pounding the senses
out of the regular army. You Irish are forever getting into trouble.
I don't see what I can do. Anything like tobacco, now, to make you
comfortable--or newspapers--"
"Son of Eli," interrupted Dicky, gravely, "you haven't changed
an iota. That is almost a duplicate of the speech you made when old
Koen's donkeys and geese got into the chapel loft, and the culprits
wanted to hide in your room."
"Oh, heavens!" exclaimed the consul, hurriedly adjusting his
spectacles. "Are you a Yale man, too? Were you in that crowd?
I don't seem to remember any one with red--any one named Maloney.
Such a lot of college men seem to have misused their advantages.
One of the best mathematicians of the class of '91 is selling
lottery tickets in Belize. A Cornell man dropped off here last
month. He was second steward on a guano boat. I'll write to
the department if you like, Maloney. Or if there's any tobacco,
or newspa--"
'There's nothing," interrupted Dicky, shortly, "but this. You go
tell the captain of the ~Catarina~ that Dicky Maloney wants to see
him as soon as he can conveniently come. Tell him where I am.
Hurry. That's all."
The consul, glad to be let off so easily, hurried away. The captain
of the ~Catarina~, a stout man, Sicilian born, soon appeared,
shoving, with little ceremony, through the guards to the jail door.
The Vesuvius Fruit Company had a habit of doing things that way
in Anchuria.
"I am exceeding sorry--exceeding sorry," said the captain, "to see
this occur. I place myself at your service, Mr. Maloney. What you
need shall be furnished. Whatever you say shall be done."
Dicky looked at him unsmilingly. His red hair could not detract
from his attitude of severe dignity as he stood, tall and calm, with
his now grim mouth forming a horizontal line.
"Captain De Lucco, I believe I still have funds in the hands of your
company--ample and personal funds. I ordered a remittance last week.
The money has not arrived. You know what is needed in this game.
Money and money and more money. Why has it not been sent?"
"By the ~Cristobal~," replied De Lucco, gesticulating, "it was
despatched. Where is the ~Cristobal~? Off Cape Antonio I spoke
her with a broken shaft. A tramp coaster was towing her back to New
Orleans. I brought money ashore thinking your need for it might not
withstand delay. In this envelope is one thousand dollars. There
is more if you need it, Mr. Maloney."
"For the present it will suffice," said Dicky, softening as he
crinkled the envelope and looked down at the half-inch thickness
of smooth, dingy bills.
"The long green!" he said, gently, with a new reverence in his gaze.
"Is there anything it will not buy, Captain?"
"I had three friends," replied De Lucco, who was a bit of
a philosopher, "who had money. One of them speculated in stocks
and made ten million; another is in heaven, and the third married
a poor girl whom he loved."
"The answer, then," said Dicky, "is held by the Almighty, Wall
Street, and Cupid. So, the question remains."
"This," queried the captain, including Dicky's surroundings in
a significant gesture of his hand, "is it--it is notiit is not
connected with the business of your little shop? There is no
failure in your plans?"
"No, no," said Dicky. "This is merely the result of a little private
affair of mine, a digression from the regular line of business.
They say for a complete life a man must know poverty, love, and war.
But they don't go well together, ~capitan mio~. No; there is no
failure in my business. The little shop is doing very well."
When the captain had departed Dicky called the sergeant of the jail
squad and asked:
"Am I ~preso~ by the military or by the civil authority?"
"Surely there is no martial law in effect now, senor."
"~Bueno~. Now go or send to the ~alcalde~, the ~Juez de la Paz~
and the ~Jefe de los Policios~. Tell them I am prepared at once to
satisfy the demands of justice." A folded bill of the "long green"
slid into the sergeant's hand.
Then Dicky's smile came back again, for he knew that the hours of
his captivity were numbered; and he hummed, in time with the sentry's
"They're hanging men and women now,
For lacking of the green."
So, that night Dicky sat by the window of the room over his shop an
his little saint sat close by, working at something silken and dainty.
Dicky was thoughtful and grave. His red hair was in an unusual
state of disorder. Pasa's fingers often ached to smooth and arrange
it, but Dicky would never allow it. He was poring, tonight, over
a great litter of maps and books and papers on his table until that
perpendicular line came between his brows that always distressed Pasa.
Presently she went and brought his hat, and stood with it until he
looked up, inquiringly.
"It is sad for you here," she explained. "Go out and drink ~vino
blanco~. Come back when you get that smile you used to wear.
That is what I wish to see."
Dicky laughed and threw down his papers. "The ~vino blanco~ stage
is past. It has served its turn. Perhaps, after all, there was less
entered my mouth and more my ears than people thought. But, there
will be no more maps or frowns tonight. I promise you that. Come."
They sat upon a reed ~silleta~ at the window and watched the quivering
gleams from the lights of the ~Catarina~ reflected in the harbor.
Presently Pasa rippled out one of her infrequent chirrups of audible
"I was thinking," she began, anticipating Dicky's question, "of
the foolish things girls have in their minds. Because I went to
school in the States I used to have ambitions. Nothing less than
to be the president's wife would satisfy me. And, look, thou red
picaroon, to what obscure fate thou hast stolen me!"
"Don't give up hope," said Dicky, smiling. "More than one Irishman
has been the ruler of a South American country. There was a dictator
of Chili named O'Higgins. Why not a President Maloney, of Anchuria?
Say the word, ~santita mia~, and we'll make the race."
"No, no, no, thou red-haired, reckless one!" sighed Pasa; "I am
content"--she laid her head against his arm--"here."
Rouge et Noir
It has been indicated that disaffection followed the elevation of
Losada to the presidency. This feeling continued to grow. Throughout
the entire republic there seemed to be a spirit of silent, sullen
discontent. Even the old Liberal party to which Goodwin, Zavalla and
other patriots had lent their aid was disappointed. Losada had failed
to become a popular idol. Fresh taxes, fresh import duties and,
more than all, his tolerance of the outrageous oppression of citizens
by the military had rendered him the most obnoxious president since
the despicable Alforan. The majority of his own cabinet were out
of sympathy with him. The army, which he had courted by giving it
license to tyrannize, had been his main, and thus far adequate,
But the most impolitic of the administration's moves had been when
it antagonized the Vesuvius Fruit Company, an organization plying
twelve steamers with a cash capital somewhat larger than Anchuria's
surplus and debt combined.
Reasonably, an established concern like the Vesuvius would become
irritated at having a small, retail republic with no rating at all
attempt to squeeze it. So, when the government proxies applied for
a subsidy they encountered a polite refusal. The president at once
retaliated by clapping an export duty of one ~real~ per bunch on
bananas--a thing unprecedented in fruit-growing countries. The
Vesuvius Company had invested large sums in wharves and plantations
along the Anchurian coast, their agents had erected fine homes in
the towns where they had their headquarters, and heretofore had worked
with the republic in good-will and with advantage to both. It would
lose an immense sum if compelled to move out. The selling price of
bananas from Vera Cruz to Trinidad was three ~reales~ per bunch.
This new duty of one ~real~ would have ruined the fruit growers in
Anchuria and have seriously discommoded the Vesuvius Company had it
declined to pay it. But for some reason, the Vesuvius continued to
buy Anchurian fruit, paying four ~reals~ for it; and not suffering
the growers to bear the loss.
This apparent victory deceived His Excellency; and he began to hunger
for more of it. He sent an emissary to request a conference with a
representative of the fruit company. The Vesuvius sent Mr. Franzoni,
a little, stout, cheerful man, always cool, and whistling airs from
Verdi's operas. Senor Espirition, of the office of the Minister
of Finance, attempted the sandbagging in behalf of Anchuria. The
meeting took place in the cabin of the ~Salvador~, of the Vesuvius
Senor Espirition opened negotiations by announcing that the government
contemplated the building of a railroad to skirt the alluvial coast
lands. After touching upon the benefits such a road would confer upon
the interests of the Vesuvius, he reached the definite suggestion that
a contribution to the road's expenses of, say, fifty thousand ~pesos~
would not be more than an equivalent to benefits received.
Mr. Franzoni denied that his company would receive any benefits
from a contemplated road. As its representative he must decline
to contribute fifty thousand ~pesos~. But he would assume
the responsibility of offering twenty-five.
Did Senor Espirition understand Senor Franzoni to mean twenty-five
thousand ~pesos~?
By no means. Twenty-five ~pesos~. And in silver, not in gold.
"Your offer insults my government," cried Senor Espirition, rising,
with indignation.
"Then," said Mr. Franzoni, in warning tone, "~we will change it.~"
The offer was never changed. Could Mr. Franzoni have meant the
This was the state of affairs in Anchuria when the winter season
opened at Coralio at the end of the second year of Losada's
administration. So, when the government and society made its annual
exodus to the seashore it was evident that the presidential advent
would not be celebrated by unlimited rejoicing. The tenth of November
was the day set for the entrance into Coralio of the gay company
from the capital. A narrow-gauge railroad runs twenty miles into
the interior from Solitas. The government party travels by carriage
from San Mateo to this road's terminal point, and proceeds by train
to Solitas. From here they march in grand procession to Coralio
where, on the day of their coming, festivities and ceremonies abound.
But this season saw an ominous dawning of the tenth of November.
Although the rainy season was over, the day seemed to hark back to
reeking June. A fine drizzle of rain fell all during the forenoon.
The procession entered Coralio amid a strange silence.
President Losada was an elderly man, grizzly bearded, with
a considerable ratio of Indian blood revealed in his cinnamon
complexion. His carriage headed the procession, surrounded
and guarded by Captain Cruz and his famous troop of one hundred
light horse "~El Ciento Huilando~." Colonel Rocas followed,
with a regiment of the regular army.
The president's sharp, beady eyes glanced about him for the expected
demonstration of welcome; but he faced a stolid, indifferent array
of citizens. Sightseers the Anchurians are by birth and habit, and
they turned out to their last able-bodied unit to witness the scene;
but they maintained an accusive silence. They crowded the streets
to the very wheel ruts; they covered the red tile roofs to the eaves,
but there was never a "~viva~" from them. No wreaths of palm
and lemon branches or gorgeous strings of paper roses hung from
the windows and balconies as was the custom. There was an apathy,
a dull, dissenting disapprobation, that was the more ominous because
it puzzled. No one feared an outburst, a revolt of the discontents,
for they had no leader. The president and those loyal to him had
never even heard whispered a name among them capable of crystallizing
the dissatisfaction into opposition. No, there could be no danger.
The people always procured a new idol before they destroyed an old
At length, after a prodigious galloping and curvetting of red-sashed
majors, gold-laced colonels and epauletted generals, the procession
formed for its annual progress down the Calle Grande to the Casa
Morena, where the ceremony of welcome to the visiting president
always took place.
The Swiss band led the line of march. After it pranced the local
~comandante~, mounted, and a detachment of his troops. Next came
a carriage with four members of the cabinet, conspicuous among them
the Minister of War, old General Pilar, with his white moustache
and his soldierly bearing. Then the president's vehicle, containing
also the Ministers of Finance and State; and surrounded by
Captain Cruz's light horse formed in a close double file of fours.
Following them, the rest of the officials of state, the judges and
distinguished military and social ornaments of public and private
As the band struck up, and the movement began, like a bird of
ill-omen the ~Valhalla~, the swiftest steamship of the Vesuvius line,
glided into the harbor in plain view of the president and his train.
Of course, there was nothing menacing about its arrival--a business
firm does not go to war with a nation--but it reminded Senor
Espirition and others in those carriages that the Vesuvius Fruit
Company was undoubtedly carrying something up its sleeve for them.
By the time the van of the procession had reached the government
building, Captain Cronin, of the ~Valhalla~, and Mr. Vincenti,
member of the Vesuvius Company, had landed and were pushing their
way, bluff, hearty and nonchalant, through the crowd on the narrow
sidewalk. Clad in white linen, big, debonair, with an air of
good-humored authority, they made conspicuous figures among the dark
mass of unimposing Anchurians, as they penetrated to within a few
yards of the steps of the Casa Morena. Looking easily above
the heads of the crowd, they perceived another that towered above
the undersized natives. It was the fiery poll of Dicky Maloney
against the wall close by the lower step; and his broad, seductive
grin showed that he recognized their presence.
Dicky had attired himself becomingly for the festive occasion in
a well-fitting black suit. Pasa was close by his side, her head
covered with the ubiquitous black mantilla. Mr. Vincenti looked
at her attentively.
"Botticelli's Madonna, he remarked, gravely. "I wonder when she
got into the game. I don't like his getting tangled with the women.
I hoped he would keep away from them."
Captain Cronin's laugh almost drew attention from the parade.
"With that head of hair! Keep away from the women! And a Maloney!
Hasn't he got a license? But, nonsense aside, what do you think of
the prospects? It's a species of filibustering out of my line."
Vincenti glanced again at Dicky's head and smiled. "~Rouge et noir~,"
he said. "There you have it. Make your play, gentlemen. Our money
is on the red."
"The lad's game," said Cronin, with a commending look at the tall,
easy figure by the steps. "But 'tis all like fly-by-night theatricals
to me. The talk's bigger than the stage; there's a smell of gasoline
in the air, and they're their own audience and scene-shifters."
They ceased talking, for General Pilar had descended from the first
carriage and had taken his stand upon the top step of Casa Morena.
As the oldest member of the cabinet, custom had decreed that he should
make the address of welcome, presenting the keys of the official
residence to the president at its close.
General Pilar was one of the most distinguished citizens of the
republic. Hero of three wars and innumerable revolutions, he was
an honored guest at European courts and camps. An eloquent speaker
and a friend to the people, he represented the highest type of
the Anchurians.
Holding in his hand the gilt keys of Casa Morena, he began his address
in a historical form, touching upon each administration and the
advance of civilization and prosperity from the first dim striving
after liberty down to present times. Arriving at the regime of
President Losada, at which point, according to precedent, he should
have delivered a eulogy upon its wise conduct and the happiness of
the people, General Pilar paused. Then he silently held up the bunch
of keys high above his head, with his eyes closely regarding it.
The ribbon with which they were bound fluttered in the breeze.
"It still blows," cried the speaker, exultantly. "Citizens of
Anchuria, give thanks to the saints this night that our air is
still free."
Thus disposing of Losada's administration, he abruptly reverted
to that of Olivarra, Anchuria's most popular ruler. Olivarra had
been assassinated nine years before while in the prime of life and
usefulness. A faction of the Liberal party led by Losada himself
had been accused of the deed. Whether guilty or not, it was eight
years before the ambitious and scheming Losada had gained his goal.
Upon this theme General Pilar's eloquence was loosed. He drew the
picture of the beneficent Olivarra with a loving hand. He reminded
the people of the peace, the security and the happiness they had
enjoyed during that period. He recalled in vivid detail and with
significant contrast the last winter sojourn of President Olivarra
in Coralio, when his appearance at their fiestas was the signal
for thundering vivas of love and approbation.
The first public expression of sentiment from the people that day
followed. A low, sustained murmur went among them like the surf
rolling along the shore.
"Ten dollars to a dinner at the Saint Charles," remarked Mr. Vincenti,
"that rouge wins."
"I never bet against my own interests," said Captain Cronin, lighting
a cigar. "Long-winded old boy for his age. What's he talking about?"
"My Spanish," replied Vincenti, "runs about ten words to the minute;
his is something around two hundred. Whatever he s saying, he's
getting them warmed up."
"Friends and brothers," General Pilar was saying, "could I reach out
my hand this day across the lamentable silence of the grave to
Olivarra the Good, to the ruler who was one of you, whose tears fell
when you sorrowed and whose smile followed your joy--I would bring him
back to you, but--Olivarra is dead--dead at the hands of a craven
The speaker turned and gazed boldly into the carriage of the
president. His arm remained extended aloft as if to sustain his
peroration. The president was listening aghast, at this remarkable
address of welcome. He was sunk back upon his seat, trembling with
rage and dumb surprise, his dark hands tightly gripping the carriage
Half rising, he extended one arm toward the speaker and shouted
a harsh command at Captain Cruz. The leader of the "Flying Hundred"
sat his horse, immovable, with folded arms, giving no sign of having
heard. Losada sank back again, his dark features distinctly paling.
Who says that Olivarra is dead?" suddenly cried the speaker,
his voice, old as he was, sounding like a battle trumpet. His body
lies in the grave, but to the people he loved he has bequeathed
his spirit--yes, more--his learning, his courage, his kindness--yes,
more--his youth, his image--people of Anchuria, have you forgotten
Ramon, the son of Olivarra?"
Cronin and Vincenti, watching closely, saw Dicky Maloney suddenly
raise his hat, tear off his shock of red hair, leap up the steps
and stand at the side of General Pilar. The Minister of War laid
his arm across the young man's shoulders. All who had known President
Olivarra saw again his same lion-like pose, the same frank, undaunted
expression, the same high forehead with the peculiar line of
the clustering, crisp black hair.
General Pilar was an experienced orator. He seized the moment
of breathless silence that preceded the storm.
"Citizens of Anchuria," he trumpeted, holding aloft the keys of Casa
Morena, "I am here to deliver these keys--the keys to your homes and
liberty--to your chosen president. Shall I deliver them to Enrico
Olivarra's assassin, or to his son?"
"Olivarra! Olivarra!" the crowd shrieked and howled. All vociferated
the magic name--men, women, children and the parrots.
And the enthusiasm was not confined to the blood of the plebs.
Colonel Rocas ascended the steps and laid his sword theatrically
at young Ramon Olivarra's feet. Four members of the cabinet embraced
him. Captain Cruz gave a command, and twenty of ~El Ciento Huilando~
dismounted and arranged themselves in a cordon about the steps
of Casa Morena.
But Ramon Olivarra seized that moment to prove himself a born
genius and politician. He waved those soldiers aside, and descended
the steps to the street. There, without losing his dignity or
the distinguished elegance that the loss of his red hair brought
him, betook the proletariat to his bosom--the barefooted, the dirty,
Indians, Caribs, babies, beggars, old, young, saints, soldiers
and sinners--he missed none of them.
While this act of the drama was being presented, the scene shifters
had been busy at the duties that had been assigned to them. Two
of Cruz's dragoons had seized the bridle reins of Losada's horses;
others formed a close guard around the carriage; and they galloped
off with the tyrant and his two unpopular Ministers. No doubt a place
had been prepared for them. There are a number of well-barred stone
apartments in Coralio.
"~Rouge~ wins," said Mr. Vincenti, calmly lighting another cigar.
Captain Cronin had been intently watching the vicinity of the stone
steps for some time.
"Good boy!" he exclaimed suddenly, as if relieved. "I wondered if
he was going to forget his Kathleen Mavourneen."
Young Olivarra had reascended the steps and spoken a few words to
General Pilar. Then that distinguished veteran descended to the
ground and approached Pasa, who still stood, wonder-eyed, where Dicky
had left her. With his plumed hat in his hand, and his medals and
decorations shining on his breast, the general spoke to her and gave
her his arm, and they went up the stone steps of the Casa Morena
together. And then Ramon Olivarra stepped forward and took both
her hands before all the people.
And while the cheering was breaking out afresh everywhere, Captain
Cronin and Mr. Vincenti turned and walked back toward the shore where
the gig was waiting for them.
"There'll be another '~presidente proclamada~' in the morning," said
Mr. Vincenti, musingly. "As a rule they are not as reliable as the
elected ones, but this youngster seems to have some good stuff in him.
He planned and maneuvered the entire campaign. Olivarra's widow,
you know, was wealthy. After her husband was assassinated she went
to the States, and educated her son at Yale. The Vesuvius Company
hunted him up, and backed him in the little game."
"It's a glorious thing," said Cronin, half jestingly, "to be able
to discharge a government, and insert one of your own choosing, in
these days."
"Oh, it is only amatter of business," said Vincenti, stopping and
offering the stump of his cigar to a monkey that swung down from
a lime tree; "and that is what moves the world of today. That extra
real on the price of bananas had to go. We took the shortest way
of removing it."
Two Recalls
There remains three duties to be performed before the curtain falls
upon the patched comedy. Two have been promised: the third is no
less obligatory.
It was set forth in the program of this tropic vaudeville that
it would be made known why Shorty 0'Day, of the Columbia Detective
Agency, lost his position. Also that Smith should come again to tell
us what mystery he followed that night on the shores of Anchuria when
he strewed so many cigar stumps around the coconut palm during his
lonely night vigil on the beach. These things were promised; but
a bigger thing yet remains to be accomplished--the clearing up of a
seeming wrong that has been done according to the array of chronicled
facts (truthfully set forth) that have been presented. And one voice,
speaking, shall do these three things.
Two men sat on a stringer of a North River pier in the City of New
York. A steamer from the tropics had begun to unload bananas and
oranges on the pier. Now and then a banana or two would fall from
an overripe bunch, and one of the two men would shamble forward,
seize the fruit and return to share it with his companion.
One of the men was in the ultimate stage of deterioration. As far as
rain and wind and sun could wreck the garments he wore, it had been
done. In his person the ravages of drink were as plainly visible.
And yet, upon his high-bridged, rubicund nose was jauntily perched
a pair of shining and flawless gold-rimmed glasses.
The other man was not so far gone upon the descending Highway of the
Incompetents. Truly, the flower of his manhood had gone to seed--seed
that, perhaps, no soil might sprout. But there were still cross-cuts
along where he travelled through which he might yet regain the pathway
of usefulness without disturbing the slumbering Miracles. This man
was short and compactly built. He had an oblique, dead eye, like
that of a sting-ray, and the moustache of a cocktail mixer. We know
the eye and the moustache; we know that Smith of the luxurious yacht,
the gorgeous raiment, the mysterious mission, the magic disappearance,
has come again, though shorn of the accessories of his former state.
At his third banana, the man with the nose glasses spat it from him
with a shudder.
"Deuce take all fruit!" he remarked, in a patrician tone of disgust.
"I lived for two years where these things grow. The memory of their
taste lingers with you. The oranges are not so bad. Just see if you
can gather a couple of them, O'Day, when the next broken crate comes
Did you live down with the monkeys?" asked the other, made tepidly
garrulous by the sunshine and the alleviating meal of juicy fruit.
"I was down there, once myself. But only for a few hours. That was
when I was with the Columbia Detective Agency. The monkey people
did me up. I'd have my job yet if it hadn't been for them. I'll
tell you about it.
"One day the chief sent a note around to the office that read: 'Send
O'Day here at once for a big piece of business.' I was the crack
detective of the agency at that time. They always handed me the big
jobs. The address the chief wrote from was down in the Wall Street
"When I got there I found him in a private office with a lot of
directors who were looking pretty fuzzy. They stated the case.
The president of the Republic Insurance Company had skipped with
about a tenth of a million dollars in cash. The directors wanted
him back pretty bad, but they wanted the money worse. They said
they needed it. They had traced the old gent's movements to where
he boarded a tramp fruit steamer bound for South America that same
morning with his daughter and a big gripsack--all the family
he had.
"One of the directors had his steam yacht coaled and with steam up,
ready for a trip; and he turned her over to me, cart blongsh. In
four hours I was on board of her, and hot on the trail of the fruit
tub. I had a pretty good idea where old Wahrfield--that was his name,
J. Churchill Wahrfield--would head for. At that time we had a treaty
with about every foreign country except Belgium and that banana
republic, Anchuria. There wasn't a photo of old Wahrfield to be
had in New York--he had been foxy there--but I had his description.
And besides, the lady with him would be a dead-give-away anywhere.
She was one of the high-flyers in Society--not the kind that have
their pictures in the Sunday papers--but the real sort that open
chrysanthemum shows and christen battleships.
"Well, sir, we never got a sight of that fruit tub on the road.
The ocean is a pretty big place; and I guess we took different
paths across it. But we kept going toward this Anchuria, where
the fruiter was bound for.
"We struck the monkey coast one afternoon about four. There was a
ratty-looking steamer off shore taking on bananas. The monkeys were
loading her up with big barges. It might be the one the old man had
taken, and it might not. I went ashore to look around. The scenery
was pretty good. I never saw any finer on the New York stage.
I struck an American on shore, a big, cool chap, standing around
with the monkeys. He showed me the consul's office. The consul was
a nice young fellow. He said the fruiter was the ~Karlsefin~, running
generally to New Orleans, but took her last cargo to New York. Then
I was sure my people were on board, although everybody told me that
no passengers had landed. I didn't think they would land until after
dark, for they might have been shy about it on account of seeing that
yacht of mine hanging around. So, all I had to do was to wait and nab
'em when they came ashore. I couldn't arrest old Wahrfield without
extradition papers, but my play was to get the cash. They generally
give up if you strike 'em when they're tired and rattled and short
on nerve.
"After dark I sat under a coconut tree on the beach for a while,
and then I walked around and investigated that town some, and it was
enough to give you the lions. If a man could stay in New York and be
honest, he'd better do it than to hit that monkey town with a million.
"Dinky little mud houses; grass over your shoe tops in the streets;
ladies in low-neck-and-short-sleeves walking around smoking cigars;
tree-frogs rattling like a hose cart going to a ten blow; big
mountains dropping gravel in the back yards, and the sea licking
the paint off in front--no, sir--a man had better be in God's country
living on free lunch than there.
"The main street ran along the beach, and I walked down it, and
then turned up a kind of lane where the houses were made of poles
and straw. I wanted to see what the monkeys did when they weren't
climbing coconut trees. The very first shack I looked in I saw my
people. They must have come ashore while I was promenading. A man
about fifty, smooth face, heavy eyebrows, dressed in black broadcloth,
looking like he was just about to say, "Can any little boy in the
Sunday school answer that?' He was freezing on to a grip that weighed
like a dozen gold bricks, and a swell girl--a regular peach, with
a Fifth Avenue cut--was sitting on a wooden chair. An old black woman
was fixing some coffee and beans on a table. The light they had come
from a lantern hung on a nail. I went and stood in the door, and they
looked at me, and I said:
"Mr. Wahrfield, you are my prisoner. I hope, for the lady's sake,
you will take the matter sensibly. You know why I want you.'
"'Who are you?' says the old gent.
"'O'Day,' says I, 'of the Columbia Detective Agency. And now, sir,
let me give you a piece of good advice. You go back and take your
medicine like a man. Hand 'em back the boodle; and maybe they'll let
you off light. Go back easy, and I'll put in a word for you. I'll
give you five minutes to decide." I pulled out my watch and waited.
"Then the young lady chipped in. She was one of the genuine
high-steppers. You could tell by the way her clothes fit and
the style she had that Fifth Avenue was made for her.
"'Come inside,' she says. 'Don't stand in the door and disturb the
whole street with that suit of clothes. Now, what is it you want?'
"'Three minutes gone,' I said. 'I'll tell you again while the other
two tick off.'
"'You'll admit being the president of the Republic, won't you?'
"'I am,' says he.
'Well, then,' says I, 'it ought to be plain to you. Wanted, in
New York, J. Churchill Wahrfield, president of the Republic Insurance
"'Also the funds belonging to said company, now in that grip, in
the unlawful possession of said J. Churchill Wahrfield.'
"'Oh-h-h-h!' says the young lady, as if she was thinking, 'you want
to take us back to New York?'
"'To take Mr. Wahrfield. There's no charge against you, miss.
There'll be no objection, of course, to your returning with your
"Of a sudden the girl gave a tiny scream and grabbed the old boy
around the neck. 'Oh, father, father!' she says, kind of contralto,
'can this be true? Have you taken money that is not yours? Speak,
father!' It made you shiver to hear the tremolo stop she put on her
"The old boy looked pretty bughouse when she first grappled him,
but she went on, whispering in his ear and patting his offshoulder
till he stood still, but sweating a little.
"She got him to one side and they talked together a minute, and then
he put on some gold eyeglasses and walked up and handed me the grip.
"'Mr. Detective,' he says, talking a little broken, 'I conclude
to return with you. I have finished to discover that life on this
desolate and displeased coast would be worse than to die, itself.
I will go back and hurl myself upon the mercy of the Republic Company.
Have you brought a sheep?'
"'Sheep!' says I; 'I haven't a single--'
"'Ship,' cut in the young lady. 'Don't get funny. Father is of
German birth, and doesn't speak perfect English. How did you come
"The girl was all broke up. She had a handkerchief to her face,
and kept saying every little bit, '0h, father, father!' She walked
up to me and laid her lily-white hand on the clothes that had pained
her at first. I smelt a million violets. She was a lulu. I told
her I came in a private yacht.
"'Mr. O'Day,' she says. 'Oh, take us away from this horrid country
at once. Can you! Will you! Say you will.'
"'I'll try,' I said, concealing the fact that I was dying to get them
on salt water before they could change their mind.
"One thing they both kicked against was going through the town to
the boat landing. Said they dreaded publicity, and now that they
were going to return, they had a hope that the thing might yet be
kept out of the papers. They swore they wouldn't go unless I got
them out to the yacht without any one knowing it, so I agreed
to humor them.
"The sailors who rowed me ashore were playing billiards in a bar-room
near the water, waiting for orders, and I proposed to have them take
the boat down the beach half a mile or so, and take us up there.
How to get them word was the question, for I couldn't leave the grip
with the prisoner, and I couldn't take it with me, not knowing but
what the monkeys might stick me up.
"The young lady says the old colored woman would take them a note.
I sat down and wrote it, and gave it to the dame with plain directions
what to do, and she grins like a baboon and shakes her head.
"Then Mr. Wahrfield handed her a string of foreign dialect, and she
nods her head and says, 'See, senor' maybe fifty times, and lights
out with the note.
"'0ld Augusta only understands German,' said Miss Wahrfield, smiling
at me. 'We stopped in her house to ask where we could find lodging,
and she insisted upon our having coffee. She tells us she was raised
in a German family in San Domingo.'
"'Very likely,' I said. 'But you can search me for German words,
except ~nix verstay~ and ~noch einst~, I would have called that
"See, senor" French, though, on a gamble.'
"Well, we three made a sneak around the edge of town so as not to
be seen. We got tangled in vines and ferns and the banana bushes
and tropical scenery a good deal. The monkey suburbs was as wild
as places in Central Park. We came out on the beach a good half
mile below. A brown chap was lying asleep under a coconut tree,
with a ten-foot musket beside him. Mr. Wahrfield takes up the gun
and pitches it into the sea. 'The coast is guarded,' he says.
'Rebellion and plots ripen like fruit.' He pointed to the sleeping
man, who never stirred. 'Thus,' he says, 'they perform trusts.
"I saw our boat coming, and I struck a match and lit a piece of
newspaper to show them where we were. In thirty minutes we were
on board the yacht.
"The first thing, Mr. Wahrfield and his daughter and I took the grip
into the owner's cabin, opened it up, and took an inventory. There
was one hundred and five thousand dollars. United States treasury
notes in it, besides a lot of diamond jewelry and a couple of hundred
Havana cigars. I gave the old man the cigars and a receipt for the
rest of the lot, as agent for the company, and locked the stuff up
in my private quarters.
"I never had a pleasanter trip than that one. After we got to sea
the young lady turned out to be the jolliest ever. The very first
time we sat down to dinner, and the steward filled her glass with
champagne--that director's yacht was a regular floating Waldorf-
Astoria--she winks at me and says, 'What's the use to borrow trouble,
Mr. Fly Cop? Here's hoping you may live to eat the hen that scratches
on your grave.' There was a piano on board, and she sat down to it
and sung better than you give up two cases to hear plenty times. She
knew about nine operas clean through. She was sure enough ~bon ton~
and swell. She wasn't one of the 'among others present' kind; she
belonged on the special mention list!
"The old man, too, perked up amazingly on the way. He passed the
cigars, and says to me once, quite chipper, out of a cloud of smoke,
'Mr. O'Day, somehow I think the Republic Company will not give me
the much trouble. Guard well the gripvalise of the money, Mr. O'Day,
for that it must be returned to them that it belongs when we finish
to arrive.'
"When we landed in New York I 'phoned to the chief to meet us in
that director's office. We got in a cab and went there. I carried
the grip, and we walked in, and I was pleased to see that the chief
had got together that same old crowd of moneybugs with pink faces
and white vests to see us march in. I set the grip on the table.
'There's the money,' I said.
"'And your prisoner?' said the chief.
"I pointed to Mr. Wahrfield, and he stepped forward and says:
"'The honor of a word with you, sir, to explain.'
"He and the chief went into another room and stayed ten minutes.
When they came back the chief looked as black as a ton of coal.
"'Did this gentleman,' he says to me, 'have this valise in
his possession when you first saw him?'
"'He did,' said I.
"The chief took up the grip and handed it to the prisoner with
a bow, and says to the director crowd: 'Do any of you recognize
this gentleman?'
"They all shook their pink faces.
"'Allow me to present,' he goes on, 'Senor Miraflores, president
of the republic of Anchuria. The senor has generously consented
to overlook this outrageous blunder, on condition that we undertake
to secure him against the annoyance of public comment. It is a
concession on his part to overlook an insult for which he might
claim international redress. I think we can gratefully promise him
secrecy in the matter.'
"They gave him a pink nod all round.
"'O'Day,' he says to me. 'As a private detective you're wasted.
In a war, where kidnapping governments is in the rules, you'd be
invaluable. Come down to the office at eleven.'
"I knew what that meant.
"'So that's the president of the monkeys,' says I. 'Well,
why couldn't he have said so?'
"Wouldn't it jar you?"
The Vitagraphoscope
Vaudeville is intrinsically episodic and discontinuous. Its audiences
do not demand denouements. Sufficient unto each "turn" is the evil
thereof. No one cares how many romances the singing comedienne may
have had if she can capably sustain the limelight and a high note or
two. The audiences reck not if the performing dogs get to the pound
the moment they have jumped through their last hoop. They do not
desire bulletins about the possible injuries received by the comic
cyclist who retires head-first from the stage in a crash of (property)
china-ware. Neither do they consider that their seat coupons entitle
them to be instructed whether or no there is a sentiment between the
lady solo banjoist and the Irish monologist.
Therefore let us have no lifting of the curtain upon a tableau of
the united lovers, backgrounded by defeated villainy and derogated
by the comic, osculating maid and butler, thrown in as a sop to
the Cerberi of the fifty-cent seats.
But our program ends with a brief "turn" or two; and then to the
exits. Whoever sits the show out may find, if he will, the slender
thread that binds together, though ever so slightly, the story that,
perhaps, only the Walrus will understand.
~Extracts from a letter from the first vice-president of the Republic
Insurance Company, of New York City, to Frank Goodwin, of Coralio,
Republic of Anchuria.~
~My Dear Mr. Goodwin:~--Your communication per Messrs. Howland and
Fourchet, of New Orleans, has reached us. Also their draft on N.Y.
for $100,000, the amount abstracted from the funds of this company
by the late J. Churchill Wahrfield, its former president.... The
officers and directors unite in requesting me to express to you their
sincere esteem and thanks for your prompt and much appreciated return
of the entire missing sum within two weeks from the time of its
disappearance.... Can assure you that the matter will not be allowed
to receive the least publicity.... Regret exceedingly the distressing
death of Mr. Wahrfield by his own hand, but... Congratulations on your
marriage to Miss Wahrfield... many charms, winning manners, noble and
womanly nature and envied position in the best metropolitan
~Cordially yours,
Lucius E. Applegate,~
~The Vitagraphoscope~
(Moving Pictures)
~The Last Sausage~
SCENE--An Artist's Studio. The artist, a young man of prepossessing
appearance, sits in a dejected attitude, amid a litter of sketches,
with his head resting upon his hand. An oil stove stands on a pine
box in the center of the studio. The artist rises, tightens his waist
belt to another hole, and lights the stove. He goes to a tin bread
box, half-hidden by a screen, takes out a solitary link of sausage,
turns the box upside-down to show that there is no more, and chucks
the sausage into a frying-pan, which he sets upon the stove.
The flame of the stove goes out, showing that there is no more oil.
The artist, in evident despair, seizes the sausage, in a sudden access
of rage, and hurls it violently from him. At the same time a door
opens, and a man who enters receives the sausage forcibly against
his nose. He seems to cry out; and is observed to make a dance step
or two, vigorously. The newcomer is a ruddy-faced, active, keen-
looking man, apparently of Irish ancestry. Next he is observed
to laugh immoderately; he kicks over the stove; he claps the artist
(who is vainly striving to grasp his hand) vehemently upon the back.
Then he goes through a pantomime which to the sufficiently intelligent
spectator reveals that he has acquired large sums of money by trading
pot-metal hatchets and razors to the Indians of the Cordillera
Mountains for gold dust. He draws a roll of money as large as
a small loaf of bread from his pocket, and waves it above his head,
while at the same time he makes pantomime of drinking from a glass.
The artist hurriedly secures his hat, and the two leave the studio
~The Writing on the Sands~
SCENE--The Beach at Nice. A woman, beautiful, still young,
exquisitely clothed, complacent, poised, reclines near the water,
idly scrawling letters in the sand with the staff of her silken
parasol. The beauty of her face is audacious; her languid pose
is one that you feel to be impermanent--you wait, expectant, for her
to spring or glide or crawl, like a panther that has unaccountably
become stock-still. She idly scrawls in the sand; and the word that
she always writes is "Isabel." A man sits a few yards away. You can
see that they are companions, ever if no longer comrades. His face
is dark and smooth, and almost inscrutable--but not quite. The two
speak little together. The man also scratches on the sand with his
cane. And the word that he writes is "Anchuria." And then he looks
out where the Mediterranean and the sky intermingle with death in
his gaze.
~The Wilderness and Thou~
SCENE--~The Borders of a Gentleman's Estate in a Tropical Land.~
An old Indian, with a mahogany-colored face, is trimming the grass
on a grave by a mangrove swamp. Presently he rises to his feet and
walks slowly toward a grove that is shaded by the gathering, brief
twilight. In the edge of the grove stands a man who is stalwart,
with a kind and courteous air, and a woman of a serene and clear-cut
loveliness. When the old Indian comes up to them the man drops money
in his hand. The grave-tender, with the stolid pride of his race,
takes it as his due, and goes his way. The two in the edge of
the grove turn back along the dim pathway, and walk close, close--
for, after all, what is the world at its best but a little round
field of the moving pictures with two walking together in it?
|Кто не знает. В слове fox зашифровано число 666. Несмотря на то что...
Уильямом Фоксом в 1915 г, в ходе слияния с Twentieth Century Pictures основанной в 1933 г появилась компания 20th Century Fox (20...
|Morning News «Информатор»
|Английский язык с Мэри Поппинс Mary Poppins (Мэри Поппинс)
«по вашу правую /руку/»), second to your left потом: «вторым /пунктом/» — налево), sharp right again (направо снова; sharp — острый;...
|Отчет о мультигонке Red Fox Adventure Race 2012. Поселок Чупа, Республика Карелия, Белое море
Кв 60 часов, 120 км – велосипед, 25 км – горная река (водного опыта нет совсем, этап сильно пугает), 50 км – трекинг, 50 км – морская...


text:
PPC – Pay Per Click
Pay Per Click is an elaborate bidding system that allows Search Engine Marketers to bid on specific key phrases to promote the products or services of their client's company. At Dogs of Design Studios, we are prepared to analyze your company's products and services and prove that we can get you profits from a PPC campaign.
By making bids on a keyterm, your company is guaranteed a percentage of searches to show their listing on the sponsored results of a Search Engine Results Page.
Pay Per Click & Magazine Advertising
Whether you are interested in Yahoo! Ads or GoogleAds, we've got packages for you!
Use the link below to read more about our specialized services, and as always, contact us if you want to start a conversation.
View All Services

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Anti Aging products from 30 years oldFrom age 30, boost your skin's radiance with the Wrinkles & Radiance anti-aging programs.
After six years of research, Yves Rocher Botanical Beauty Researchers have found the perfect botanical extracts to fight skin's dullness and wrinkles. The powerful anti-wrinkle action of the Ice Plant is combined with Oryza extract, which recreates skin's cohesion and boosts its radiance.
products per page: all
Wrinkles & Radiance - Luminizing Eye Roll-on
The beauty tip for a youthful look!
instead of $42.00
Sleeping Care
Smooth signs of fatigue for rested and radiant skin upon awakening.
instead of $49.00
Wrinkles & Radiance - Smoothing Care - Day
Smooth skin for more radiance!
instead of $49.00
Smoothing Cleansing Milk
Your anti-aging routine starts from makeup removal !
instead of $20.00
Wrinkles & Radiance - Perfecting Toning Lotion
Add it to your beauty routine for optimal results !
instead of $20.00
Wrinkles and Radiance - Express Beauty Vials
The exact dose for an instant radiance boost!
instead of $16.00
Wrinkles & Radiance - Ultra-Smoothing Serum
Reduces the appearance of wrinkles and boosts skin's radiance.
instead of $49.00
products per page: all


text:
Detailed plans to revamp St Mary's Lighthouse have been unveiled as the final funding bid is lodged.
North Tyneside Council and its partners are bidding to secure £2.1million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to carry out vital repairs to the iconic Grade II listed lighthouse and former keeper's cottages.
Development funding of £164,300 was awarded by HLF, thanks to National Lottery players, in May 2016 to progress the proposals and the final bid for the rest of the money has now been submitted.
A planning application has also been lodged detailing what the proposed restoration would involve if the funding bid proves successful.
The proposals, which have been drawn up in partnership with appointed designers Beaumont Brown Architects, include restoring all lighthouse facilities and rebuilding the original optic (light) to create a fascinating new feature for visitors.
There are plans to improve and expand educational facilities to give visitors the chance to learn more about the heritage and environment of St Mary's
Other improvements featured in the designs include:
A glass-covered first-floor viewing area to provide a sheltered space during bad weather
Open decks to the south and east to provide additional viewing areas
Upgraded toilet facilities
Increasing the size of the shop
Improved and updated visitor interpretation, including a new, flexible learning area linking the cottages to the lighthouse
New lifts providing access to all floors
The proposals also include replacing the causeway leading to the island. Repairs will be carried out to the existing walls and gates outside, new
surfacing will be installed and the bird hide will be refurbished.
Plans to improve disabled access have also been backed by the North Tyneside Coalition of Disabled People, who have been involved in drawing
up the designs.
Norma Redfearn, Elected Mayor of North Tyneside, said: "St Mary's Lighthouse is a real jewel in the crown for our coastline and it is absolutely vital that we carry out these repairs to preserve it for future generations.
"A great deal of hard work has gone into preparing a robust bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and I would like to commend everyone involved for their efforts.
"The final designs look fantastic and fingers crossed our bid will prove successful and we'll be able to start to make these changes a reality in the
near future."
The project is a major part of the council's £36million Seafront Master Plan for Whitley Bay to breathe new life into the stretch of coastline between Cullercoats Bay and St Mary's Island.
As part of the development, a full environmental assessment has been carried out which considered the potential effect on wildlife. All appropriate controls will also be in place and the proposals will be subject to consultation as part of the planning process.
An activity plan featuring various educational and heritage themed events will also run alongside - and following the completion of - the capital works,
including celebrations to mark the 120th anniversary of the lighthouse.
A Back the Bid campaign (#BackTheBid on social media) is ongoing and is aimed at encouraging people to support the HLF funding bid. A number of people have also showed an interest in becoming a volunteer at the attraction while the capital works are carried out.
A decision on the final funding bid to HLF is expected in December 2017. If successful, it is expected that main capital works could begin in spring 2018 at the earliest with completion due in spring 2019. Use to show your support for the campaign.
For more information about the Seafront Master Plan, including details about the lighthouse restoration proposals, visit: http://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/642/coastal-regeneration


text:
Logona Age Protection Firming Night Cream - 30 ml
All LOGONA age protection products are perfectly matched and complement each other. The 4-step care system provides effective protection and natural skin regeneration. The products can be applied according to individual needs and current skin condition. Individual care requirements can vary depending on environmental and living conditions.
During the day, the system care supports with moisture and protection against external influences, at night by gently stimulating the skin's own regeneration functions.
1. Remove: Gently remove eye make-up first. Gently rub over eyes from top to bottom and remove make-up.
2. Cleanse: Clean your face, neck and décolleté with the right product for you. Extensive cleansing is therefore particularly important so that the skin can optimally absorb the subsequent care.
3. Clarify: Clarify your skin intensively with the peeling gel or the cleansing mask and moisturize the skin with a facial toner.
4. Care: Your skin is now optimally prepared for the following care. Choose the right care products for you from the various series.
Firming Night Cream: Step 4
-Activates cell renewal
-Promotes the natural repair function of the skin
-Reduces expression lines
-Provides the skin with intensive moisture during the night
-Natrue certified
The LOGONA age protection FIRMING NIGHT CREAM activates the cell renewal and promotes the natural repair function of the skin. The high-quality formula with the Cell-Vital Complex + Hyaluron reduces expression lines, intensively moisturises the skin during the night and promotes its regeneration.
Application: Apply to cleansed face in the evening and massage in gently.
Ingredients INCI: Aqua (Water), Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil*, Alcohol denat.*, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter*, Squalane, Cetearyl Alcohol, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil*, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter*, Isoamyl Laurate, Cetyl Alcohol, Hydrolyzed Ulva Lactuca Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder*, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract*, Alaria Esculenta Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Fruit Extract*, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Sodium Lactate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Parfum (Fragrance)**, Limonene**, Linalool**, Geraniol**, Benzyl Salicylate**, Citral**, Coumarin**
*from controlled organic cultivation
**from natürlichen essential oils
Customers who bought this product also bought:
Dr. Hauschka Facial Toner - 100 ml
20.50 € * 1 100 ml | 20.50 € /100 ml To cart
Martina Gebhardt ROSE Cleanser (dry-sensitive) - 150 ml
16.50 € * 1.5 100 ml | 11.00 € /100 ml To cart
Dr. Hauschka Revitalising Day Cream - 100 ml
35.00 € * 1 100 ml | 35.00 € /100 ml To cart
Dr. Hauschka Lip Care Stick - 4.9 g
7.50 € * 0.049 100 g | 153.06 € /100 g To cart
Logona Age Protection Firming Moisture Treatment - 15 ml
4.25 € * 0.15 100 ml | 28.33 € /100 ml To cart
Write Product Review
- No review available for this item.


text:
There will be plenty of pride at stake when the Reds take on the Rebels, in their final fixture of the 2016 campaign, in Brisbane on Friday.
Both teams are out of play-off contention, so bragging rights and giving their departing players a winning send-off will be the biggest motivating factors for these sides.
The Reds say goodbye to Greg Holmes, who heads to Premiership side Exeter Chiefs, and Liam Gill, who is joining Toulon in France while the Rebels' Luke Jones is heading to fellow Top 14 club Bordeaux-Bègles.
While the Reds have won eight of the 11 fixtures between these clubs it's the Rebels who've enjoyed the most recent success, winning three of the last five matches between these sides.
The Reds have won three of their last four matches at home, though they have won only two of their last 10 home games against Australian opposition.
The Rebels have lost their last three away matches, conceding 157 points and scoring just 71 of their own. No side has won more penalties per game than either the Rebels or Reds this season, who have been awarded 11.4 per game on average.
The Rebels have recorded the worst goal kicking success rate this season (63%), missing 2.1 shots at goal per game.
The last time these teams met: The Rebels held off a late comeback from the Reds to claim a narrow 25-23 win in Melbourne in Round Three. Rebels fly-half Jack Debreczeni led the way with a 20-point haul via six penalties and a conversion and Jonah Placid scored the home side's only try. For the Reds, Nick Frisby and Andrew Ready crossed the whitewash and Jake McIntyre kicked three penalties and two conversions.
Players to watch: All focus will be on the players who are heading overseas to further their careers. For the Reds, Greg Holmes will be determined to give a strong scrummaging display in his 144th Super Rugby match for the men from Brisbane while his team-mate, tearaway Liam Gill will also want his last match for the 2011 champions to be a memorable one. Gill's prowess at the breakdown is his main strength but he also has other fine attributes and he should have a big influence on the result.
For the Rebels, Luke Jones will also be keen on a winning send-off as his last home match for the men from Melbourne ended in disappointment after he suffered a concussion against the Stormers. The second-row has been with the Rebels since the club was established in 2011 and a big shift at the coalface of the Rebels' forward effort is expected as he aims to go out on a high.
Team news: The Reds have made three changes to their starting XV for this encounter. The changes are headlined by the return from injury of veteran tighthead prop Greg Holmes who will play in his final match for the Brisbane side before joining English club Exeter next season. Injury has forced the other changes, with prop James Slipper (sternum) and full-back Jack Tuttle (shoulder) replaced by Sef Fa'agase and Tom Banks respectively. Slipper's absence has prompted the promotion of departing flanker Liam Gill to the role of captain for his final match at Suncorp Stadium before heading overseas for a two-year stint in France.
Meanwhile, Rebels head coach Tony McGahan has made four changes to his starting XV. Luke Jones, Sean McMahon and Mitch Inman return from injury, while Paul Asquith will make his run-on Super Rugby debut after two weeks as a reserve. The Rebels welcome back a wealth of experience with the returning trio combining for 202 games of Super Rugby as the team looks to equal the club's record of seven victories in a season.Jones, who missed last weekend's trip to Christchurch after he suffered a concussion against the Stormers, will make his 72nd and last Super Rugby appearance for the club before his departure to France. McGahan has made a surprise selection with Australian U20's rising star Jack Maddocks set to make his Super Rugby debut after being included on the reserves bench for the first time in his career.
Form: The Reds' last victory came in Round 13 when they beat the Sunwolves in Brisbane. Since then, they had a bye in Round 14 and after the break for the June Tests they suffered heavy defeats against the Brumbies and Chiefs.
The Rebels ended a three-match losing streak with a home victory over the Western Force in Round 14. After the international break they conceded more than 50 points in losses to the Stormers in Melbourne and Crusaders in Christchurch.
Prediction: With little at stake, don't be surprised if this is a high scoring affair. Home ground advantage will be decisive, so the Reds will win by six points.
Previous results:
2016: Rebels won 25-23 in Melbourne
2015: Reds won 29-46 in Brisbane
2015: Rebels won 23-15 in Melbourne
2014: Reds won 20-36 in Melbourne
2014: Rebels won 30-27 in Brisbane
2013: Reds 20-33 in Brisbane
2013: Reds won 13-23 in Melbourne
2012: Reds won 17-32 in Melbourne
2012: Reds won 6-11 in Brisbane
The teams:
Reds: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Chris Kuridrani, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Henry Taefu, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Duncan Paia'aua, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Curtis Browning, 7 Liam Gill (c), 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Andrew Ready, 1 Sef Fa'agase
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lukhan Tui, 20 Michael Gunn, 21 James Tuttle, 22 Alex Gibbon, 23 Campbell Magnay
Rebels: 15 Paul Asquith, 14 Sefa Naivalu, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Tom English, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker (c), 8 Colby Fainga'a, 7 Jordy Reid, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Culum Retallick, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 James Hanson, 1 Toby Smith
Replacements: 16 Pat Leafa, 17 Cruze Ah Nau, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Sione Tuipulotu, 23 Jack Maddocks
Date: Friday, July 15
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 19:40 local (09:40 GMT)
Referee: Will Houston (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), Amy Perrett (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)


text:
LEWISTON – Politicians, educators and business people will step away from their normal routines Wednesday, pick up a children's book and read to pre-schoolers at up to 50 locations throughout Lewiston-Auburn.
It's part of a first-ever "20 Minutes a Day, Ready for K" campaign to encourage adults to read every day to babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
Reading simple books like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," or "The Foot Book" can make powerful differences, said Betty Gundersdorf, director of Lewiston Adult Education, one of the event's coordinators. Children as young as babies and toddlers benefit by being read to. Their young brains are wired to learn language, she said.
The best predictor of school success is a child's pre-reading skills when they reach kindergarten, Gundersdorf said.
Children who are regularly read to develop skills that will help them learn to read. Those skills include: knowing their letters, their numbers, understanding what letters sound like, how to hold a book, understanding reading is done from the left to the right, and sitting still long enough to take in a story.
Youngsters who enter kindergarten without those skills "have to work extra hard," Gundersdorf said. "They're always in a catch-up mode."
Locally, many who enter kindergarten each fall don't have the pre-reading skills, said Lewiston School Superintendent Leon Levesque. "Some are very ready. Others could be one year, two, even three years behind."
Some come from homes where they're read to and see others read. But others "unfortunately come from homes where the TV is used as a baby-sitter, and children are not read to," said Martel Elementary School principal Stephen Whitfield.
Schools try to compensate, "but we don't have the luxury of time," Levesque said, especially when expectations are on the rise.
Levesque agrees with the No Child Left Behind goal that all students should be reading at their grade level by grade 3. "But when we start the race without an equal footing, it's grossly unfair."
The idea for "20 Minutes a Day, Ready for K!" came about after educators wondered about what if more students were ready for kindergarten. A child's first teachers are the parents, Levesque said. "We want to create a sense of awareness" that early reading is critical.
To get ready for Wednesday, more than 10,000 "ready … read" flyers were distributed to doctor's offices, day care providers, businesses, hospitals, and social service organizations. Pledge cards asking parents and others to commit to read to their preschoolers are also being distributed.
Celebrity readers are signed up for certain locations. First Lady Karen Baldacci will read at the Auburn Public Library. Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce President Chip Morrison will read at the Lewiston Public Library. Lewiston-Auburn mayors Lionel and Normand Guay will read at pre-schools.
Aid coming to try to improve Maine's high cancer death rates
Nation / World
Judge blocks Trump from building sections of border wall
Boston Bruins
Bruins' veteran quintet could be key in latest Stanley Cup bid
National Sports
Bruce Arena and New England Revolution seek a fresh start in each other
Boston Red Sox
Marisnick's bat, glove help Astros top Sale, Red Sox


text:
Software services
BLASTMAP™ III is a design programme that has been developed through a number of generations by BME for our clients and our own blasting engineers. It is a powerful tool for blast planners who routinely need to design each blast in a mining operation.
Complete blast planning, design and analysis software. Powerful, Easy to Use, Flexible, Accurate. Applications are surface, civil engineering and underground blasting. BLASTMAP™ III includes Densdepth and Wallpro modules that are no longer supported as separate applications.191.07 KB Download


text:
But hey, to each their own and a'!
My question was rhetorical in nature...
As I really think it's really not important why others choose to enjoy things I find questionable. That's a brick in their wall and to knock, or denigrate, their choice makes no sense to me.
As to Brass being a base metal, I find it an interesting alloy, historically and in it's uses today. The bactericidal properties are especially fascinating. It doesn't hurt that it's also used in ammunition cases, which to someone like me who has used firearms daily for almost 40 years, makes it an old friend. But your mileage may vary, etc.
Click here to login


text:
There are very few bonds that can be bought in small amounts. In fact, I know of only three bonds for purchase in the United States that are sold in increments under $100. They are the EE Savings Bonds, I Savings Bonds and eMitzvah bonds which are a … [Read more...]
Giving Savings Bonds as a Gift has Become a Ridiculously Complicated Process
Leave it to government to make a simple, easy process like buying savings bonds as a gift, complicated, cumbersome and time consuming for both you and the recipient. The process of walking into a bank and walking out with a savings bond is over as … [Read more...]
Savings Bonds
Below is the most comprehensive guide on the internet covering how savings bonds work, the different types of savings bonds how to buy and cash in savings bonds, special tips on how to get the most out of your savings bonds, and … [Read more...]
The Paper Savings Bond
While paper savings bonds are no longer available as of 1/1/12, the savings bond certificate for paper savings bonds which have been issued in the past is full of interesting information including: Face Value In the Upper Left Hand Corner, there is … [Read more...]
5 Best US Savings Bond Websites
Part 3 of a 3 part Series on Savings Bonds In part 1 of this series we looked at why canceling paper savings bonds will end up costing the government money with a look at "What Groupon Can Teach us About Savings Bonds". In part 2 of this series … [Read more...]
What does GM know about savings bonds?
Part 2 of 3 In The Saving Bonds Series In our last installment we explained why the end of paper savings bonds may end up costing the government more than it saves, with a look at what Groupon knows about savings bonds. Today we will look at what … [Read more...]
US Savings Bonds Maturity
When Can You Cash Them In? Are They Still Paying Interest? What is the the maturity date of the US Savings bonds? The answer is 3 fold. 1) You can cash in a US savings bonds without penalty after 5 years. If you define a saving bonds maturity as … [Read more...]
Lost Savings Bonds Can Still be Redeemed. Learn How.
Have you lost savings bonds that were given to you on your 10th Birthday or other special occasion? You are not alone. According to the US Treasury, billions of dollars of savings bonds have stopped accumulating interest without being cashed … [Read more...]
Buying US Savings Bonds: 5 Things You Should Know
1) There are two types of saving bonds: EE Savings Bonds & I Savings Bonds. EE bonds provide a fixed interest rate which will remain constant through the life of the bond. I bonds are more complicated, they have a fixed component , and a … [Read more...]
How to Cash in Savings Bonds
You can not cash in savings bonds that are less than one year old. After holding a savings bond for 1 year you can cash it in at anytime, however there are some additional factors to consider. Here is a video overview of how to cash in savings … [Read more...]


text:
Lowe Dress. I just love the peplum waist.
Iona Shell. This is probably my favorite piece right now because it is so versatile. I could definitely wear this to work - and to play.
Juliana Dress. The skirt is the lucky charm print I am loving this season.
Callahan short in Pretty Pink Tootie
All images via
What are you loving from Lilly's current collection?


text:
From 2012 to 2017 Eusebio Di Francesco led Sassuolo from the obscurity of Serie B to the bright lights of the Europa League. The Italian coach has an astute tactical mind able to produce incisive and attractive attacking football.
In the summer of 2017, Roma decided to give him a chance. The time has come for Di Francesco to use everything he has learned to guide the club to even greater heights.
*Data by ASRoma.it


text:
People possess fundamental rights that deserve respect at all times. In some rare circumstances, there is an infringement of such rights. As a result, it is necessary to protect the fundamental human, civil and migrant rights to boost a peaceful coexistence in our communities. Read more: Michael Larcey | Crunchbase and Michael Larcey | Twitter
There is an advocacy team whose role entails giving a voice and reason to the individuals who have gone through exploitation. Apart from demanding accountability from the factions that bring oppressions through the evil acts they perpetrate, they also require action taken against them.
To the people whose love and dignity is under threat, they have a reason to smile since various countries in the world have stood firm to defend their rights. Even though oppressors tried to evade the long arm of the government that is trailing them, they hardly get away with their criminal activities. Many thanks to the stable governing laws for offering maximum protection.
Humanitarian groups have emerged to assist in championing for civil, human and migrant rights in the globe. The organizations have pursued a rigorous exercise that requires planned and objective investigation to defend and maintain actions that fight against ill-treatment of human beings.
One of the famous groups is the South Texas's Human Rights Center whose locality of operation is among the local communities. The organization protects and defends human rights and dignity through working closely with various community initiatives. Besides, they have collectively and successfully brought to an end the deaths and afflictions around the Mexican and Texas border.
Another favorite group is the Lacey and Larkin Frontera Fund. It comprises the founding partners of Village Voice Media and Phoenix Times, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin. The duo made huge strides in support for migrant rights institutions. They raised a payment total of $3.75 million.
Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were under accusations of having revealed the presence of a panel of judges proceedings that relied on reporters articles in covering the Maricopa County Sheriff. The two were taken from their places of residence in the middle of the night and put in custody.
An additional group that is very active in advocating for human, civil and migrant rights is the American Friends Service Committee. The organization is known for its support in the development of groups with the same interests as theirs. They function while being guided by the goal of bringing the voice of concern among the immigrant communities.
Additionally, AFSC has managed to introduce theoretical and fruitful discussions that aim at uplifting civil and migrant rights to different levels of state such as the local to national level.
One more organization is the Border Network for Human Right based in the United States of America. The group is among the leading human rights and reforms advocacy around the globe. The organization success can be attributed to the effective leadership from the top level to the lowest level. Besides, Border Network for Human rights group is presently educating various elected government officials on matters concerning the border societies.
Learn more about Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey:


text:
Boxing News
Boxing Schedule
Swords Crossed
Swords crossed, duel issued. This image, it doubles as both perfect choreography and symmetry in one. It has acted to spark the interest and opened the flood gates. Others who share the same sporting realms have seen the potential to follow suit, blur the lines of combat sport on a mainstream level not witnessed before.
Is it healthy? Many sign up for boxing with the integrity and sporting achievements at heart, but all sign up to fill their bank balance in time. For some it is a forlorn dream, for other it culminates in the Las Vegas desert in front of the eyes of the sporting crowd. Not just boxing fans and UFC enthusiasts, but those from the broader platform of sporting interest.
It is healthy for the individuals involved and their multitude of hangers on, the TV Execs, the businessmen masquerading as sporting folk. But it needs to pay its debt back to the sport. It is borrowing, it is needy and wasteful. It is taking from the real world, stealing light from your Terence Crawfords, your GGGs and Canelos.
The least the sport can ask for in return is that it pays its rent. No fucking about, no choreography, no symbiotic relationship. Everyone is getting paid here, but the sport needs to gather it's rent. For that is exactly what this is, a rental agreement. Floyd, Conor; you are borrowing the spotlight at a cost. That cost is the integrity of boxing, for no man should believe that a debutant is capable of winning this fight.
Ignore the rhetoric and the stories and handle the facts. The records, or lack thereof, in the boxing ring paint a final picture. One more poignant than the two men exchanging knowing glances in front of the baying crowds. One more honest and forthright than anything that comes out of with an Irish twang.
The sport needs to be paid on August 26th. Anything other than a Mayweather decisive victory is a black mark on boxing. Anything other than an easy win, at a canter with no bruises nor marks will be an embarrassment. That is to offer no disrespect to McGregor; were this fight to be offered inside of an octagon, I would fully expect the roles to be reversed.
Questions will be asked if Mayweather does not make it 50-0. Questions should be asked if it is not one of the easiest victories on his illustrious record. He may be older, slower, more brittle and rusty, but he is no debutant. He has handled debutantes, taken them out in seconds. The facts tell us that.
All that is asked is that the sport is respected. If you must take the spotlight, please hand it back unbroken. Nobody is expecting an improvement, nor the bulb to shine brighter. The sport has suffered an incongruous relationship with integrity in the past and, despite sometimes the efforts of those trusted with making it at least appear a more truthful business, it has seemed to be rebuilding the faith of the fandom.
Swords crossed, duel issued. Only one outcome will repay the debt.


text:
A very important experiment was made by the Sultan in shifting his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad. Barani points out that Dualatabad had a central situation and were nearly equidistant (700 miles) from Delhi. Gujarat, Lakhnauti, Telingana and other important places.
The new capital had its strategic value. It was safe from Mongolian invasions which constantly threatened Delhi. The Sultan also did his best to make Daulatabad a suitable place for his officers and the people.
All facilities were provided for those who were required to migrate to Daulatabad. A broad road was constructed for their convenience. Shady trees were planted on both sides of the road. A regular postal service was established between Delhi and Daulatabad.
However, when the people of Delhi hesitated to shift to Daulatabad, the Sultan got annoyed and he ordered all people of Delhi to proceed to Daulatabad with their belongings. Ibn Batuta says that a blind man was dragged from Delhi to Daulatabad and a bed-ridden cripple was projected there by a ballista.
Regarding the transfer of capital to Daulatabad, Barani observes: "Without consultation or weighting the pros and cons, he brought run on Delhi which for 170 to 180 years had grown in prosperity and rivaled Baghdad and Cairo. The city with its Sarais and suburbs and villages spread over tour or five leagues, all was destroyed (i.e., deserted). Not a cat or a dog was left.
Troops of the inhabitants with their families were forced to move broken-hearted; many perished on the road and those who reached Deogiri, unable to endure their exile, pined to death. All round Deogiri, an infidel land, spread graveyards of Muslims. The Sultan was bounteous to the emigrants both on the journey and arrival; but they were tender and could not suffer exile.
They laid down their heads in that heathen land and of the multitudes; few lived to return to their native home."
The Sultan realised the folly of his experiment and ordered a return march of the people. The result was that those few who had survived from journey to Daulatabad also died on their return journey. The net result of this experiment was that Delhi lost its former prosperity and grandeur.
It is true that the Sultan "brought learned men and gentlemen, tradesmen and land-owners into the city of Delhi from certain towns in his territory and made them reside there", but when Ibn Batuta came to Delhi in 1334 he found certain parts of Delhi still deserted According to Lane- Poole, "Daulatabad was a monument of misdirected energy." According to Dr. Ishwari Prasad, it is doubtful if the transfer of capital to Daulatabad would have helped the Sultan to keep a firm hold upon the different parts of the empire.
The Sultan did not see that Daulatabad was situated at a long distance from the northern frontiers of the empire and those required to be constantly watched. He disregarded the warning that the Hindu revolts and the Mongol invasions might imperil his empire at any time. If such a contingency had arisen, the Sultan would have failed to meet the same.
Dr. Syed Moinul Haq refers to the various statements of Barani and points out that the Sultan had ordered the emigration of the upper classes only who were comprised of the Ulema, the Mashaikh courtiers, commanders of the army and the civilians of rank.
It is beyond doubt that Delhi was not evacuated in entirety. The frequent reference of Barani and other writers to the destruction of Delhi simply mean the loss of its prosperity which according to them, was mainly due to the presence of those distinguished families.
When Barani says that not even a dog or cat was left in the city and its suburbs, he merely emphasises the point that emigration was on a large scale and affluence and prosperity had disappeared to a great extent. If his phrases were to be understood literally, he would be guilty of making contradictory statements.
There was no meaning in the Sultan bringing the nobles and Xllemas from provincial towns if Delhi had been converted into a wilderness where neither a cat nor a dog could be seen.
Moreover, the statement of Barani that it was a calamity for the selected few and not the masses is borne out by documentary and circumstantial evidence. Two Sanskrit inscriptions dated 1327 and 1328 A.D. confirm this view and establish the prosperity of the Hindus of Delhi and its vicinity at that time.
One of them "records the foundation of a well by a Brahman of the name of Srindhara at the village ofNadayana, the modern Naraina, near Delhi." The verses of this inscription speak of Muhammad bin Tughluq as "the mighty Saka Lord" and throw light on the favorable conditions in which the Hindu families of Delhi lived.
The second inscription found at the village of Sarbar, five miles from Delhi, also refers to the prosperity of a Hindu family. These inscriptions, read with Barani's remarks about the "misery of the selected people", lead to the inference that Sultan Muhammad's orders for migration applied to the leading Mussalman families only. This is also supported by Barani's references to heavy casualties in these words: "And on all sides of the old infidel land of Deogiri, there sprang up graveyards of the Mussalmans."
This view is also supported by the stray references made by the editors and compilers of the Malfuzat of the Sufi saints. Their study reveals the incontestable fact that the Sultan wanted only the Mussalman nobles, the Ulema and the Mashaikh to go to Deogir because his scheme was to have a large population of his co-religionists in the Deccan and thus eliminate the possibility of the success of frequent rebellions of the Hindus.
That could be achieved through migration and conversion and those appear to be the motives of the Sultan in sending the distinguished Ulema, the leading Mashaikh and other influential Muslim families to Deogir and raising that city to the status of a capital. He knew that his stay there, for some time at least, was as essential as that of the Shaikhs and Ulema.
His scheme of planting a strong colony of the Mussalmans at Deogir and making it the centre of his political activities as well as the missionary work of the Ulema is clearly referred to by the author of the Seirul Aulia who was a contemporary of the Sultan and whose family had migrated to Delhi.
In his chapter on Sultan's interview with Maulana Fakhr-ud- Din Zarradi, Amir Khurd says: "At the time when Sultan Mohammad Tughluq had sent the people of Delhi to Deogir and wanted to conquer Khorasan and Turkistan and overthrow the descendants of Changiz Khan, he convened a meeting of all the Sadrs and leading persons of Delhi and its suburbs who had assembled in the city, under a huge tent. He had ordered the setting up of a dias so that he might stand on it and address them in order to induce them to be ready for Jahad." Amir Khurd also says that both his father and Maulana Fakhr-ud-Din were sent to Deogir.
Maulana Fakhr-ud-Din wanted to go to Mecca. He consulted his friend Qazi Kamaluddin of Deogir. The latter warned him that it would be impolitic to go there without the permission of the Sultan because the Sultan was anxious to populate Deogir and enhance its glory and reputation by the presence of the Ulema, the Mashaikh and the Sadrs.
Besides these, other Shaikhs are also stated to have migrated to the Deccan. Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din, a Khalifa of Shaikh Nizam-ud-Din Aulia and the famous poet Amir Hassan can be mentioned as examples. Makhdoom-i-Jahan, the mother of the Sultan, also migrated to Deogir.
Dr. Sayed Moinul Haq further points out that the greatest misconception in regard to the scheme arisen from the error in interpreting in too literal a sense the phrase.
"Destruction of Delhi" which Barani and other contemporaries seem to have used only as a metaphor in order to impress upon their readers the magnitude of calamity. Ibn Batuta who visited Delhi six years after the emigration testifies to the greatness and prosperity of Delhi.
He tells us that Delhi was the biggest town of the East, had beautiful massive buildings, was surrounded by a wall, the like of which could not be found anywhere in the world and covered an extensive area which was all populated. It consisted of four different towns, viz., Old Delhi of the Hindus, Siri of Ala-ud-Din, Tughluqabad and Jahanpanah.
The view of Dr. Haq is that the population of Delhi was not evacuated in entirety and the Sultan never intended to make Deogir its substitute. What he seems to have in his mind to make Deogir a stronghold of his power by converting it into a large colony of the Mussalmans.
It would have been unwise on his part to have openly proclaimed that he could not depend upon the people of the Deccan and wanted a large Muslim population to support his Government. Hence he tried to justify his scheme by seemingly harmless arguments and gave out that he wanted to set up his capital at Daulatabad because it was situated in the centre of his dominions.
It was not a case of mere transfer of the capital as is proved by his anxiety not to let Delhi fall into obscurity. His efforts to bring Ulema and Shaikhs from provincial towns and make them settle down in that city gave a clue to his true intentions in spite of the official version which Barani seems to have stated, Barani complains that the Sultan did not consult his adviser on this question, but consultation could result in the leaking out of the true purpose of the scheme and might have hampered its success.
Dr. Haq points out that for two decades, the Deccan Kingdoms had been under the suzerainty of Delhi, but their submission did not go beyond their sending presents and tributes occasionally. They could throw off their allegiance with the appearance of the slightest symptom of weakness in the Central Government.
Ala-ud-Din Khalji had remained contented with these unsatisfactory arrangements because his hands were full with the problems of the North. Muhammad Tughluq found himself in a better position and therefore, decided to bring the Deccan within the orbit of his direct rule. For that, he required a tolerably large population of Mussalmans upon whose support he could rely at any difficult time.
He was fully conscious of the fact that in crushing the supremacy of the Hindu States in the Deccan, he would have to face tremendous opposition and nothing would be more foolish than to rely upon sheer force for the permanent subjugation of those territories. By making Daulatabad the centre of a vast Mussalman colony in the South. Muhammad Tughluq was trying to achieve what can be called in Modern Phraseology "a peaceful penetration".
Dr. Haq concludes thus: "Sultan Muhammad's project of the so called transference of the capital was in reality a novel experiment in the administrative history of India and was a peculiar invention of his ingenious mind. It has been generally held that it was a disastrous failure, but we cannot ignore the fact that the foundation and maintenance of independent Mussalman Kingdom in the Deccan would not have been possible of he had not planted a strong Muslim colony there.'
Similar views have been expressed by Prof. Mohd. Habib and Prof. K. A. Nizami, Prof. Mohd. Habib says that the Mongol invasions of Central Asia and Persia had driven a large number of refugees to India who settled in the country for good.
At the same time, the Chishti and Subrawardi mystic orders carried on an extensive religious propaganda in every village and town of Hindustan and their efforts brought a considerable minority of poor Indians within the fold of Islam.
This minority of gardeners, cooks, barbers etc., converted to Islam gave to the Empire of Delhi the strength it needed. The view of Muhammad Tughluq was that something like the above had to be done in the Deccan to strengthen the Muslim position in that area.
Hence was the necessity of deporting a large number of Muslims to the Deccan. Muhammad Tughluq made up his mind to accomplish the task. The population of Delhi was a fine social and economic unit for a southern capital and he would like to take it there. That alone was not considered enough and it was necessary to set up in the Deccan centers of Muslim social and religious culture. Hence was the necessity to transport a large number of mystics for the purpose of preaching and propaganda. That explains why a large number of mystics were forced to migrate to Dualatabad at the time of the transfer of the capital.
The view of Prof. Nizami is that it was in all probability during or immediately after his campaign against Bahauddin Gurshasp in the Deccan that Muhammad Tughluq realised the urgent need of having a strong administrative centre in the south to cope effectively and instantaneously with all situations that arose in that region. His councilors suggested Ujjain for that purpose but his decision was in favour of Devagiri.
To the beauties of Devagiri and its claim to a pride of cities in the world, his attention had been drawn by the poet Amir Khusrau. Muhammad Tughluq embarked upon his Deccan project after considerable thought and attention. It was neither a haphazard plunge in administrative experimentation nor an eccentric craze for novelty, but a well-thought-out solution of a problem by one who of all the Sultans of Delhi had the most intimate experience of the difficulties in the administrative control and the military operations in the South.
Prof. K. A. Nizami points out that the general impression that Muhammad Tughluq transferred his capital to Daulatabad is not correct. What Muhammad Tughluq did was that he made Daulatabad the second administrative city of the Empire. Al-Qalqa-shandi says that the Empire of Delhi had two capitals: Delhi and Devagiri or Qubbatul Islam. In two separate coins, Delhi is described as Takhtgah-i-Delhi and Daulatabad as Takhtgah-i-Daulatabad.
Prof. Nizami says that when all contemporary and modern interpretations are taken into consideration, it appears that the Deccan experiment was basically dictated by political exigencies. In an Empire in which simultaneous insurrections were operating in areas so far off as Maabar and Bengal, there was no other alternative to deal with the situation except in the manner attempted by Muhammad Tughluq.
Prof. K. A. Nizami further states that the impression of mass exodus given by contemporary historians is not correct. In fact only the upper classes consisting of nobles, ulamas, Shaikhs and the elite of the city were shifted to Daulatabad. The general Hindu public was not affected by this project.
The elite of Delhi constituted a fine social and economic unit for a Southern Capital and the Sultan forced it alone to change its habitat and settle in a new region and amidst new surroundings. The exodus took place during the hot summer months and that considerably added to the miseries of the people. Isami says, "The people had to tread over the soil which the burning sun had made hot like iron."
Prof. K. A. Nizami refers to the immediate and remote effects of the Deccan experiment of Muhammad Tughluq. According to him, its immediate effect was widespread resentment against the Sultan who forfeited the confidence of the people. The bitterness created by their sufferings continued to rankle in their hearts for decades.
As regards its remote effects, the Deccan experiment of Muhammad Tughluq was a remarkable success. The boundaries which had separated the North from the South broke down. It is true that the extension of administrative power of the Delhi Sultanate into the Deccan failed, but so far as the extension of the cultural institutions was concerned, it was successful.
Barani tells us that "on all the four sides of Daulatabad there appeared graveyards of Mussalmans." The view of Prof. Nizami is that these graveyards connected the hearts of the people of the North with the soil of the South and the rise of Bahamani Kingdom was made possible by this influx of population.


text:
The Aussie Sausage Sanga Is Proving A Snag To Good Health
'A massive concern'
New research has revealed the humble snag in white bread and tomato sauce contains nearly half of the recommended daily salt intake.
As part of World Salt Awareness Week, The George Institute for Global Health, VicHealth and the Heart Foundation reviewed the salt content in more than 1000 of Australians' favourite processed meats like sausages, ham and bacon from Australia's four major supermarkets from 2010 to 2017.
Their report found, on average, one sausage contains more than one-quarter (28 per cent) of your recommended maximum daily salt intake.
While other salty offenders such as bacon and sliced meats reduced their salt content over the years, there was no change to the salt content in sausages.
Heart Foundation Victoria Dietitian Sian Armstrong said the drop in salt in bacon and sliced meat products proved manufacturers can make their meats less salty.
"It's a massive concern that in almost a decade there's been no change to the salt levels in sausages. The average Aussie eats 44 sausages a year totalling 16 teaspoons of salt," Ms Armstrong said.
"And some sausages are three times saltier than others. We need targets to drive manufacturers to make their sausages less salty and improve the health of the population.
"Excess salt is directly linked to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack, kidney disease and stroke," she said. "One of the best ways to keep your blood pressure down is by eating less salt."
VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter said with most of us consuming almost double the recommended amount of salt per day we needed to re-think what we put on the barbie.
"Australians love our snags on the BBQ but I think most people would be surprised to learn just how much salt is in these sausages," Ms Rechter said.
"Ultimately it shouldn't be left totally up to the consumer to make healthy choices.
"We want to see manufacturers committing to reformulating their processed meats to have less salt – it can be done."
Tips for reducing your salt intake.
- Try lean meats such as chicken breast and steak on the BBQ instead of sausages – these have much less salt.
- Try chicken, beef or lamb skewers and add veggies for a healthier and lower salt alternative to sausages.
- Fill the BBQ with vegetables like corn on the cob, eggplant, mushrooms, capsicum and onion. You can make these into skewers to make them easier and more fun to eat for the kids.
- The best way to reduce salt is to eat more fresh foods and reduce your reliance on processed and packaged foods.
- Sodium is one component of salt – it is the sodium that is labelled on nutrition information panels on packaged foods.


text:
How are progesterones administered?
Most immune docs prefer to prescribe gestone as its absorption is supposed to be more guaranteed than other forms of progesterone and they feel that having a high level of circulating progesterone may be more important for ladies with immune issues due to its anti-inflammatory effect – whereas for 'normal' ladies the concern is generally only for maintainance of the lining for which pessaries normally perform well for most patients. Gestone (progesterone in oil/prontogest/agolutin) is given by daily (or twice daily) injection usually into the upper outer quadrant of the buttock. The generic name for injectable progesterone is 'progesterone in oil' or 'injectable progesterone' but in the UK, the normal brand name is gestone. However, occasionally there are shortages, so products from other countries may be substituted e.g., Prontogest (from Italy) or Agolutin (from Czech), although Agolutin comes in 30mg ampoules rather than 50mg like Gestone and Prontogest. It may be necessary to ask y