Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-01-23
The Cinder In the Eve.

The Cinder In the Eye.
There is something about getting a
cinder in ones eye, while on railroad
train, that is most laughable to those
who do not get cinders in their eyes,
though terribly painful to those whose
tickets draw cinders. A railroad car is
a splendid place to study character, and
the cindcr that always strikes some ones
eye is the means of showing the charac-
ter of the afflicted person better than a
biography of the individual would do.
There is general feeling that one who
has travelled much enjoys an immunity
from cinders, that the travelled person
has way of avoiding cinders, that he
closes his eyes at the right moment,
and while his hair and cyewnkers and
the wrinkles of his face may be full of
cinders, his eyes escape. 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 II
cinder gets into his eye he becomes a
helpless creature, cross, irritable, un-
pleasant companion. The bully weak
ems when he gets u cinder in his eye,
and will accept assistance from the most
no-account person on the train, and will
stand like trembling coward while
some one probes for IL, with corner of
n handkerchief, and turns up the cyelid
to find the wicked little piece of three
corncred burned coal. A man who can
stand up and fight prize fighter with
out weakening, who can have q bull
| let probed for without wincing
or who can have leg taken off without
inhaling chloroform, will be as weak as
a cat when cinder strikes his eyeball.
and he almost faints away when the eye
lid is turned wrong side out by person
looking for the poor little cinder. There
is something singular about cinder. A
boy will stick his head out of a car win
dow and ride hundred miles, with Gin
ders flying all around his head, and he
will never get cinder In his eye, while
q quiet lady, with veil on, in seat re-
cindcr in her half-clOscd eye before she
has ridden a mile, and she is all broke
up. 1t beat all what difference there
is in people about cinders. A homcly
woman might get n 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 n handsome
young woman get cindcr in one of her
beautiful eyes, and the first tear that
comes to the eye will soften the heart of
every man in the car, and they all want
to probe for 1t, and offer some assist
ance. The bald-headcd man will feel
down in his coat-tail pocket and bring
up silk handkerchief and offer it to
her to use in place of her linen hand
kerchief; the granger will tell her to
blow her nose real hard and the cindcr
will come out; the drummer will go to
the water tank and wet the corner
of his handkerchief with ice water
and offer to wipe out the cinder;
while the beautiful young man with the
linen ulster and the center board hair
will take a lead pencil and tell her he
can get the cinder out in jiffy, and all
the time the other ladies in the car will
look on as though the men were making
| a terrible fuss over small cinder in a
pretty eve. A mean man, travelling
| with his wife, will show his meanncss
more in five minutes, when he gets
cinder in his eye, than he would other
wise in all day. He will act as though
| his wife was to blame for the cinder,
| and II she tries to help him get it out
he will appear to think she wants to
murder him, and il she does not invade
his eye with her handkerchief he acts rs
though she didn't care il he lost hiseye.
Most persons, when they get cinder in
the eye, feel like putting 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
amusement and try to do something for
the afflicted. One little cindcr will often
break up the enjoyment Of party Of
tourists, IL it strikes the eye of the dis
agreeable member Of the party, who
grumblcs and kicks at everything, and
so the railroads should abolish cindcrs.
The President Of the United States,
with cindcr in his eye, Is a mournful
spectacle, and he feels that the power of
his position Is very small, indeed, when
il cannot successfully cope with so small
an enemy as a cinder.-Peck's Sun.
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