The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-01-18


and finally had to climb over o great
high bridge. level with the roofs OF the
highest building. and take another
train. We rode all the way even with
the second story windows of the houses,
and should hate to have to live in
one of those rooms. You know you
can look right in and see everything.
Won't you ever tell if 1 tell you some
thingP Well. actually say man in
one of those rooms l almost blush
when l write tin his shirt Sleeres.
Don't you remember we have always
heard that New York people are awful
ly fast? guess that's pretty true.
Why, whole families frequent the sa-
looms together. l know it because
every saloon we passed had family
entrance. Isn't it shockingp should
hate to live here because haven't the
slightest doubt that if we did Toby
would grow up to drink beer.
But haven't told you a word about
the bridge yet. When we finally got
down to what they call the "City Hall
Station" it was about eight o'clock in
the morning-you see we got in on q
very early train and everybody was
rushing down town in such hurry
that we thought that there must be a
fire. and pa asked policeman about it,
and the policeman said it was only men
in hurry to get to their offices. Then
pa asked the policeman what that was
we were standing by, and he said it
wasn't depot. it was the Brooklyn
br dye. Pa told the policeman he'd
better not try to guy him. because he
was acquainted with his superiors, and
that horrid policeman actually told pa
to 60 and fall off the dock, and said
he d better tie string to himself or
he d get lost. Then ma said very dig
nified to the policeman that he was an
impudent wretch, and do you know
! what that policeman did? He told ma
to pull down her vest! l was never so
shocked in my life! Then we asked
another policeman where the bridge
was, and sure enough that was the
bridge we were standing by.
Pa said we d walk across and then ride
back, and so we started in where lot
of horses and wagons were coming out,
and two more policemen stopped us
/ never saw such an awful lot of police
men as there were around there-and
told us to go in further up through the
ticket Office. So pa took hold of
ma and ma grabbed Toby by the middle
of his arm, and we went in and had to
pay five cents apiece. Then we climbed
high flight of stairs and came to a
place where there was railroad track
and side track beside it, and we walked
out to the end of that sidewalk, and pa
asked another policeman if it wasn't
dangerous to walk out on the railroad
track, and the policeman told us there'd
be car there in a minute. Pa told him
he wanted to walk across, and he told
US to go down the stairs and back
through the ticket-office and get our
money back, and then go through the
next gate and only pay one cent apiece.
Pa said the facilities of the bridge were
very poorly arranged, and we went back
and got into the right place at last. Pa
went into ecstacies and talked so loud
about the bridge being monument for
all ages that everybody stopped to look
at him. 1t was simply grand, and after
all had heard about the bridge l was
not prepared to find such an absolutely
immense structure. We could look right
straight ahead, it seemed for mile, up
the broad pathway with stone parapet
on either side, clear up to great tower,
with an arch, through which the road
way led. And that tower was only the
first pier of the bridge. After that came
the tremendous span high in mid-air
across the river, and then another tall
tower, and the same long descent down
the Brooklyn streets.
There were whole crowds of people
coming over from Brooklyn, and, on
roadway little below the path for foot
passengers, wagons and trunks, and
butchers and bakers carts and car
riages and coupes were gathering down
to the str, ct, on one side, and starting
up the incline toward Brooklyn ON the
other, and then the cars ran on both
sides of us, too. There were any num-
Der of awfully swell young fellows COM
ing over from Brooklyn, all in the
greatest hurry, with nice little canes
and umbrellas and patent leather shoes,
and the sweetest little short overcoats
you ever saw. l wish Howard Smith
would wear one of those coats, though
l don't know as l need to care what
he wears after what has happened this
morning-but l haven't got to that yet
(Now please don't skip down to that
placeD There were lots of other peo-
pie coming over besides young men
though, and you never saw such lot
of shop girls. I'm glad I'm not shop
girl 1t must be perfectly horrid to
walk on the streets with your luncheon
done up in paper. should think
they could carry it some way So people
wouldn't know what it was. Do you
remember how Howard Smith used to
carry his dinner in an opera-glass case?
His sister said that he almost starved to
death before his salary was raised, be-
cause he couldn't afford to buy his
luncheon down town and didn't have
time to come home at noon: and he
would no. carry enough luncheon down
to his Office for fear he might be taken
for person that had to work for a living,
if people could see the parcel. But some
of those shop girls were real pretty, and
some of them were awfully jolly and
full of fun, and were laughing and tell
ing stories and smiling at some of those
young men. But there were some of
them who looked so faded and worn
out! Their faces appeared so weary
and sad, as if they had nothing to live
for and not half enough to eat. and they
seemed so unattractive and bitter that
l couldn't help plying them awfully,
and they've been on my mind ever
since.
Well, we walked up the bridge toward
the great tower. We started even with
the street, and gradually we got up to
the second stories of the houses, and
then TO the third and fourth stories, and