Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1883-08-31
4 coMMoSpLAoE HERO.


Aud took him on the fly sss.
s0 p va 8 -nprhOtn HauAsps
- i COMMONPLACE HERO.
Morning at Erie. A faint breeze 4
blowingoh the land. that makes onl,
the lightesI ripples ON the surface Of th'
lake and bay. A mile or two out from
The shore Il few sails are outlined against
the horizon, and tho course of pro
peller 50 far distant rs not to be seen
may still be traced by q light line 81
smoke. The courthouse clock strikes
four long, lazy strokes, according TO lis
deliberate habit, and a little later the
Keeper of the Prcsqu' Isle lighthouse at
the entrance OF the harbor puts out his
light He may well do so for TIE flush
In the east has deepened into flame.
The slender shaft Of the water-tower Is
crimson at Its summit, and the city
spires one after another are tipped with
fire. Upward comes the sun and down.
ward sinks the glow. The water-tower
Is crimson pillar now the ungainly
elevators at the waters edge look al
most beautiful in the fair light, the trees
on Presqu Isle are bathed in it, and tho
distant sails rudden as il touches them.
Still upward comes the sun till the hori-
zon line can no longer conceal il, and
II seems As If II must in moment more
come rolling in fiery splendor along tic
~ blazing path has burned across the
8water. A small boat from the life
saving station crosses tie glowing track,
and red drops flash from the cleaning
oars. And now the whole broad lake
glistens as the sun climbs higher, but
the red glow has gone the glory has
faded, aud another commonplace day
has begun. ~ h
A commonplace day to you Or to me;
but never yet did there dawn day that
was not ere its close consecrated by
some net OF loyalty to the best emotions
of the human heart. You or | may
have watched thesplendor Of the dawn
ing day from Garrison HILL and gone
home thrilled with its grandeur, only
to forget few hours later the fine
feelings that have sprung up within us,
the vague aspirations that the sight has
evoked. For us, then, the splendor has
been exchanged for the commonplace
Frank Gaskell has had no time this
morning for seeing the sunrise from
Garrison Hill had he wished to do so
which is quite unlikely. sewer con-
tractor with large force of laborers in
his employ is not usually a man to-
way, or one who INDUCES in vague talk
about the commonplace And, looking
at Frank Gaskell you will say he is the
last man Of whom anything vaguens
can be predicated. "A tall, well-built
fellow Of thirty, only passably good
looking, hut with sasfrIn mouth, and
sk8eyes whose angry flash, the workmen
under him do not care TO encounter.
When he speaks it is in short, nervous
sentences that leave no doubt Of his
E aheaping. Alert, keeA afdenergetic,
@fa~ hesallows no dIersaborr hfh and you
would call him merely pushing, COM
mon-pace man, and seek to know no
more Of him. AT present he is con-
ducting the excavations in Poplar street |
preparatory to constructing sewer for
Ia that locality, aud very busy this oceu-
patton keeps him. Through the middle |
Of the street for several squares the cut
IL ing extends, its course marked by two |
long lines Of sand and gravel. 4 yawn-
Aa Ing ehasm twenty or more feet deep it |
Is, its walls carefully boarded at inter-
walls. Down there in the half darkness
some Of Gaskell's men are laboriously /
digging, while others are hoisting |.
buckets Of earth TO the surface and sdd- /
ing thus to the height Of the yellow l
piles oneAch side of Tie cutting. 1t IS II
nine o'clock when Gaskell, after care
fnl directions to the laborers on the
surface, descends TO the bottom OF the [
isexcavalion 10 make his daily inspection /
of the work there As he passes slowly
along his quick glance takes in every
feature Of the work. Now he stops TO
direct some clumsy workman - ;lso his
spade IN less awkward way, aud now
he pauses to tap the boarding atvarions
places 10 see ifit can sustain the pres
sure Of thellooser earth behind IL Sud
teolY be turns about angiiy. EatN,
Didn't I tell yoilast hight 70 have
this place right here boarded on both
sides?n he says 70 one q the men near
est to him. t8A#t@E4#
"I belive You did" siammers the
man, 'shut there wan'tno good boards
here then. and Jim Mhlligan said be
would bring some the fir1 thing this
morning. but he hasn't come yet
Gaskell hardly hears the excuse. he
is so occupied With his examination Of
the walls Of the cutting Mt III
"This ought to DC boaFaed for iftvf
feet each side, he says land IT'S rot
to be done this morning Send Ma
hahey here 70 me Al once He's up
above there bv the Sixth street cross
ing;f and the man thus bilden hastens
away.
The place where Gaskell is nov
standing Is about midway Of lie
length of the sewer cutting Ard be- ]
tween him and the northera end some
thirty laborers are digging busiiy
Toward the southern end the excava- ]
lion is shallower. and several ladders I
near furnish the means II ascent Or de- {
scent. One d these j. about sixty feet j
4 a Al - -