Author Archive: Retro

Both “Alkali” and “Mustang” Pete loved Betty Brown, and the lady had her hands full in keeping the lovers from shooting each other. One day “Alkali” called on Betty with a pair of handsome saddle horses and asked her to go riding with him. She agreed, but the resourceful “Mustang,” driving up with a handsome horse and carriage, carried off the lady. “Alkali” goes to the village inn, inclined to drink himself to death, but finally trades for an old junk automobile his two horses, and clambering in the seat, starts in pursuit of his rival and the lady. Overtaking them, he has no difficulty in persuading Betty to ride with him. But the auto breaks down and “Alkali,” endeavoring to fix it, turns on the juice and the rattle-trap car starts down the trail at lightning speed, leaving “Alkali” behind. After a thrilling and exciting ride the car is ditched and poor Betty is [...]

An eccentric inventor has thought of a way that automobiles can run on radio waves, without gasoline. His plans put him in conflict with the owner of an oil company, who is also pursuing the inventor’s daughter. This rival begins to scheme against the inventor, and it is left up to the inventor’s hired man to try to stop him.

Mary, a poor but well-born girl, is invited to join a sorority club in the high school she attends, while her chum, Sophie, is ignored. Mary is flattered by the attention, accepts the invitation and gradually drifts away from her former friends. The spirit of snobbishness and unrest enters her life, and in her attempt to keep up with her richer companions, who are purse-proud and pretentious, she changes from a lovable girl into a discontented one. A sorority dance is arranged and Mary, unable to pay the assessment for the dance, steals the amount from one of the members of the club, in order to keep up with her new associates. The other members are so self-centered they do not realize the influence of their false pretenses and mistaken ideas of true worth. They are entirely unaware of the demoralizing effects of their example. Having taken the first step, Mary is still further tempted [...]

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.