Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-11-03
THE CINDER IN THE EYE.

THE CINDER IN THE EYE.
There is something about getting a
cinder in ones eye, while on a rail
road train. that is most laughable to
those who do not get cinders i'll their
eyes, though terribly painful to those
whose tickets draw cinders. A rail
road car is a splendid place to study
character, and the cinder that always
strikes some ones eye is the means
of showing the character of the af-
ficted person better than biography
of the individual would do. There
is a general feeling that one who has
travelled much enjoys an immunity
from cinders, that the travelled per-
son has a way of avoiding cinders,
that he closes his eyes at the right
moment, and while his hair and eye
winkers, and the wrinles of his face
may be full of cinders, his eyes es-
cape. A man may think he is exempt
from cinders, and he will talk big,
and passengers will think he is one
of the worlds great ones, brave and
noble. but the moment cinder gets
into his eye lie becomes a helpless
creature, a cross, irritable, unpleasant
companion. The bully weakens when
he gets cinder in his eye, and will
accept assistance from the most no
account person on the train, and will
stand like a trembling coward willie
someone probes for it. with a corner
of handkerchief, and turns up the
eyelid to find the wicked little piece
of three -cornered burned coal. A
man who can stand up and fight a
prize fighter without weakening, who
can have a bullet probed for without
wincing, or who can have leg taken
off without inhaling chloroform, will
be as weak as cat when a cinder
strikes his eyeball, and he almost
faints away when the eyelid is turned
wrong side out by person looking
for the poor little cinder. There r.
something singular about a cinde L
A boy will stick his head out of ca
window and ride hundred miles,
with cinders flying all around his
head, and he will never get cinder
in his eye, while quiet lady, with a
veil on, in seat remote from an open
window, will have cinder in her
half closed eye before she has rode a
mile, and she is all broke up. 1t
beats all what a difference there are
in people about cinders. A homely
woman might get cinder in her eye
and nobody would pay any attention
to her, any more than to tell her not
to rub her eye very much, but let a
handsome young woman catch Gin
der in one of her beautiful eyes, and
the first tear that comes to the eye
softels the heart of every man in the
car, and they all want 10 probe for it,
aud offer some assistance. The bald
headed man will feel down in his
coat tail pocket and bring up q silk
handkerchief and offer it to her. to
use in place of her linen handker-
chief, the granger will tell her to
blow her nose real hard and the Gin
der will come out, the drummer will
go to the water tank and wet the cor.
ner of his handkerchief with ice
water and offer to wipe out the Gin
der, while the beautiful young man
with the linen ulster and center board
hair will take lead pencil and tell
her he can get the cinder out in a
jiffy, and all the time the other ladies
in the car will look on as though the
men were making terrible fuss over
small cinder in pretty eye. A
mean man, travelling with his wife,
will show his meanness more in five
minutes, when he gets a cinder in
his eye, than he would otherwise in
all day. He will act as though his
wife was to blame for the cinder, and
if she tries to help him get it out he
will appear to think she wants to
murder him, and if she does not in
wade his eye with her handkerchief
he acts as though she didn't care if
he lost his eye. Most persons, when
they get cinder in the eye. feel like
putting a handkerchief to their face,
and being let alone while they think,
but occasionally one will seem to
wonder why everybody does not stop
all conversation, reading or amuse-
ment and try to do something for the
afflicted. One little clnder will often
break up the enjoyment of a party of
tourists, if it strikes the eye of the
disagreeable member of the party,
who grumbles and kicks at every
thing, and SO the railroads should
abolish cinders. The President of
the United States, with cinder in
his eye. is a mournful spectacle, and
he feels that the power of his position
is very small indeed, when it cannot
successfully cope with so small an
enemy as cinder