Author Archive: Retro

Prevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.

The supposition was that she was born a tease, for from her first teeth to the time she was almost grown, she vented her witcheries on her unsuspecting parents and the wild things of her mountain home. But that was before the man from the valley lost his way and later found it back again, bearing away the little tease to the valley. While she suffered the qualms of broken faith, her father passed through a like struggle, for he felt the precepts of the “beloved book” had failed him. He closed the door of his cabin upon the world and the light from his window, lighting the wayfarer over the mountain path, disappeared. The struggle over, it came hack in its place in time to beckon the little tease as she left the valley behind.

An old soldier on the frontier, the father of a dozen children, a staunch patriot himself, brings these children up with rigid military training. He conducts his household as a garrison with strict discipline, drills, etc. On the evening of the day the picture opens, the oldest boy wishes to go out to make a call on his sweetheart, but the old soldier commands the boy to stay at home. This command the boy is loath to obey, but his father, himself brought up under rigid military rule, rails at his insubordination of the boy, and threatens that if the boy goes out he goes for good. The boy does go, however, and returning finds sure enough the door barred against him. Sad and homeless he wanders, but it is fortunate he goes for the next morning he views from a distance a tribe of Indians starting out on the warpath. With this lead, he [...]

A physician, through his love for his only son, whom he desires to see wealthy, is tempted to sacrifice his honor by concocting a soft drink containing cocaine, knowing how rapid and powerful is the hold obtained by cocaine, even in the most minute quantities, feeling assured that there will be an enormous demand for the drink. As he expected, the drink meets with tremendous success, and his balm to his conscience is the thought that he will be rich. But his son, ignorant of the ingredients of the drink, cultivates a liking for it, unknown to the father. The father discovers his son’s weakness too late, for he soon becomes a hopeless victim of the drug. What a powerful lesson the final scene teaches, as we see the stricken father mourning his son’s death. He did not care whom he victimized until he found the result of his dishonor at his own door.

A girl wants to go to a ball, admission one Liberty Bond, but rather than go herself, she loans the bond to a girlfriend. A soldier and a sailor find out and take her to the ball with them.

Dutch girl Johanna loves poor Joachim, but marries the weathy Miller. When the miller finds out, he takes revenge.

Sound asleep in his comfortable armchair next to a high-pressure retort, a mystic silver-haired alchemist can’t even notice the strange manifestations emerging from the vessel’s bottom. Is this a dream, or a cornucopia of secreted desires?

Perhaps no two subjects have concerned both judiciary circles and public alike more than the third degree and circumstantial evidence. The justice of their use in convicting a victim has always been an open question. While this subject takes no side in the matter and leaves the question still unsolved, it attempts to present the situation as it is in vivid, logical portrayal, and perchance may cause the more thoughtful to consider whether these principles, as carried out, work for the common good. The youth of the story passes through both ordeals. Truth is brought to light and the strong arm of the law foreseen.

Priscilla, after a long and weary search, secures work at a farmhouse. She is at once ordered to do the washing, and is just ensconced at the tubs by the well when a young Italian peddler appears and is directed by her to the mistress. His wares appeal to the farm wife and he succeeds in disposing of quite a bill of goods. Leaving the mistress, the peddler passes on to Priscilla to thank her for bringing him to her mistress and to show his gratitude presents her with a cheap finger ring, at the same time bestowing upon her words of flattery. The poor innocent little girl is quite overwhelmed and believes every word he utters, treasuring the ring highly, which was not worth more than a nickel. The peddler’s principal weakness is gambling, and he not only loses his money, but becomes involved in debt. His creditors press him for payment and he [...]