The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-08-08
THE OFFICE STeVE AND ITS CON
TENTS.

This is the cffice stove. All winter
1t has gloWed and roared ana dis
pensed genial heat except when
the porter happened to overlook it,
which he mostly did, especially On
cold days.
When the thermoneter was down
about half-s-yard below zero, that
stove wasn't worth much as a stove;
but regarded in The light OF refrig.
orator. it had no equal.
But there vele days when it
g!owed ami r,ared according 10
programme mild. spring like
days when there was q soft fog
on the window pane, and in the
brains of the busy Wofkers-days
when you felt ike leaning back an d
dreaming of the innocent fiirtations
of your boyhood, and the b OURS tina t
You used to loaf away in the spring
woods, just when the birch was
young, and this sweet sap began to
move, and the twigs were sharp and
pleasant to the taste, and the opal
mist lay over the far off river; aud
when you grew up you were going
to sail all over the world, and marry
more beautiful woman than Sche-
herazade's husband ever heard of.
Those were the days when the
porter heaped the stove full of wood
and cosl, and raised blaze that
would even make the youngest and
freshest man in the office dry up,
which nothing else could do.
The stove is Geld anu silent now.
Its usefulness has departed, and no
one but the man who cold it TO US
ever claimtd for it that it was beau
tiful. Most OF the isinglass is gone
the knob is broken off the top, o. g
of the doors won't stay shut, and
those foxy spots of corrosion on its
sides-those spots that trail down
from one big spatter-tells Us that
civilization has not absolutely snd
unequivocally SUGGESTED in the job
of refining the human animal and
softening his manners.
Let US look at the contents of the
stove. You may push the loosely
hanging door wide open, now. II
will not burn your fingers and seri-
ously incline you to put your i'm
mortal soul in jeopardy. No glowing
sea of fame and coal gas heaves and
bubbles within. But yet, there ara
lots Of things in there. They appear
to have accumulated since the early
spring. There is the core of an
apple, for instance, that looks like
the twin brother of Samuel j. TIL
den. The Office boy could not eat
an apple down TO inch core a.
that. There is absolutely nothlr Q
edible left on that core. Still there
is the core. There is enough core
to maks 1t useful as missile. In
fact, il probably oaTomed on some
other Office boz s cheek before il
went ID there.
This is the blade of your pen.
knife, that you brake in trying &c
open the arawsr of your desk, thai
DAY you came down late and found
that you had 10 gotten your keys
Yes. mere is the blade; but where is
the profane language you USED
Down in thu recording angel,
entry-book, my boy, and don't you
olget IL.
These little whI;e-brown thing:
are not a colony of caterpillars
They are only the butts of few Of
the cigarettes you have smoked since
last March. Remember what the
doctor said, Ell? Just rap that left
lung of yours bit, will You? Kind
Of mufn d. Ell?
And whst's that? Only a littls
faded fl wer, tied up to wooden
toothp OK with florists wire. All,
yes, you pcs it up and caress it
and nrsss it TO your lips. Well, you
may! She gave it to you at tbs
Arion ball, that girl in pink, that
lovely lit thing with the great
pleasant eTes, and the simple sir OF
! comradeship. and the high, sweet
bell~liks voice, and the email hand
that could rest 90 lightly and yet 81
clingingly on your arm the cir
who ran away at 8 O'Clock like a
belated Cinderella, and left you t.
memory and champagne.
And what is that limp, darI
thing, like a section of snake tina
has been through rolling mill
That, my boy, is the lining band O
the hat that you tried to wear mex
day. 1t was a good band; but thert
was no room foT it and you in tina
| hat.
Let US close the stove door and q
away. Puck.