Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1889-09-05
BILL, THE LINEMAN.
The Friepd Ho Found at tho Top
OF Telegraph Pole.

OF q Telegraph folc.
Bin was very well known in cer-
tain quartcr--and not the ploasantest
quarter cither-of certain great
city. He patrolled tho wiros Of the
Eastern Union Telegraph Company
FOR about half n mile along River
street. narrow, dirty thoroughfarc
lined with tall tonement-houses, whose
very windows and stairways told OF
the poverty-stricken condition of most
Of the families that dwolt therein.
Bill was large, lanisy fellow. with
big hands and feet and a face that was
as hard as rock and as brown as a
berry, through years OF exposure TO
sun. wind and rain. The clothes he
wore were not made to order. and by
the time BIZ got to wearing them at
his work they were by no means new.
Upon his head in the summer he gem
orally wore an enormous ten-cent
straw hat, and in winter he pulled an
old rabbit-sSin cap down over his ears.
His ieet all the year round he encased
In monster-boots. to which he strapped
his climbers. For the rest OF his attire
he usually wore a heavy blue flannel
shirt and jean trousers fastened by a
broad belt that held his tools, to which
IN cold weather he added rough pilot
coat.
There really was nothing remark
able about Bill the Lineman's appear
ance. and yet "A keen observer might
have noticed u merry twinkle at times
In his gray eye. and kindly lines play
ing about his large mouth-but then,
the denizens of River street were not
in the habit Of studying the counte-
nances OF those who worked in their
midst So, TO them. Bill was a COM
mon everyday workman, who minded
his own business up in the cross-arms
while hey attended 10 theirs in the
stores upon the street below.
Indeed. all the store-kecpers and
their customers were so very busy
that not one Of them remarked the
fact that there was a certain pole up
which Bill the LinemRn stayed every
day. except Sunday. for several min
utos-sOmetimes remaining aloft as
long as a quarter OF an hour-al-
though the average condition OF the
wires, insulators and cross-arms at
that pole was as good as the rest Of
them.
The why and wherefore OF Bills
strange prediction for pole number
f74 was on this wise; The long cross
arms OF the pole in question were very
close 70 a window on tho fourth story
OF shabby tenement house. The
frame OF this window was quite
crooked and the squares Of glass we're
exceedingly small and full OF cracks,
while two at least Of them had such
large holes that brown paper had been
pasted over them 10 keep out the wind
and the rain.
For nearly two years the room which
that window dimly lighted had been
unoccupied. and Bill had long since
arrived at the conclusion that II would
never again be rented. But one day
towards the close OF a dreary winter
he noticed that the unbroken squares
OF glass had been rubbed bright and
clean, and, looking through the win
dow. he perceived that the floor OF the
room had been well scrubbed.
''Ahr" thought Bill. new neigh
bors. chi" Bill always considered the
folks who occupied rooms near his
poles as his own especial neighbors.
.'Well,' he muttered, e" pears they
ain't fond Of dirt and I'm GLAD Of
that"
The very next day there was another
surprise Ia store for Bill the Lineman.
On the sill Of the crooked window was
a long. narrow green box. and. al
though il held nothing but brown
earth Ct being too cold yet for plauts).
Bill judged that the new tenant was
partial 10 flowers. And he was glad
Of that too. for Bill liked flowers him.
self, because they reminded him OF his
old homo in the Berkshire Hills.
The lineman was now anxious TO
soc who the new tenant might be. but
his curiosity in that direction was
doomed 10 disappointment Never, in
all the many times that Bill after
wards climbed the tall teleg aph pole.
did he once sec through the window
tie owner Of the hands that scrubbed
the 6oof and cleaned the glass and
placed the ilowor box upon the win
dow-silL.
But before very long he did see q
face al the window-such wee, wan
little face il was, too-so pale and YET
90 pleasing faea OF little girl,
perhaps seven or eight years old. Biz
saw that she was a cripple lying upor
an adjustable invalld's chair. and. a,
tbe lineman turned his head from In,
white face With It's large. sad eyes
something ioll from his brown and
roufhened check 10 the sidewalk no
low. whero Il made wei spot about
as big as . twenty -hve-caat piece
For the sight 81 the crippled child
awakened memurles 10 the heart alii
mind of Bin The Llpeman that wer.
Norp hitter ihan sweob aud Away
tel1 Aed
- ..|.....|..., ~. NJ.