The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-01-31
THE OLD ASSIGNMENT BOOK.
Some of the Startling Stories for While
1t Has Furnished Texts.

Some of the Startling Stories for Whic
1t Has Furnished Texts.
1t is put away, laid on the shelf, filed
among the archives of the office-the
old assignment book. Its work is done
Every page from Jan. to December 81,
1888, is covered with pencil marks. II
could tell a story, could that old book
In fact it has told several.
There were murders, The jealous hus.
band in his frantic rage attempted t.
take the life of the woman he had sworn
to love, honor and protect. The de.
spondent soul, weaTied of life, tired OF
the cares of earth, shutfled off this NOR
tai coil and penetrated the mysteries OF
the great beyond. The wroDged oman
who gave herself into the keeping of the
man she loved, only ~ be deceived, and
when the fatal discovery was made, fired
the shot that sent him into the presence
of his Maker. All this was told by the
old book whose life was but year.
The births-those happy events when
the All-Wise Greater fovOred the family
circle by sending another tender bud
which shall bloom on earth and shed its
fragrance round; the marriages--when
strong man led angel woman to the altar
and sealed the solemn compact; the
deaths-when the plying angel bent his
bow and sent the shaft that opened I'D
the mysteries of the city beyond the riv-
er-are all told.
What book it is--or was. Twas
read, and carefully, too. The attention
paid its pages day by day was never ex-
ceeded by theological student who pored
over Scriptures or Jays Commentaries.
Every page was noted, every line re-
membered. And what music there was
in the air at times when one department
was full and another empty. Who but
a reporter can imagine the feelings OF the
sporting editor when assigned to a sell
mon, or the religious reporter boarding
the train en- route TO prize fight. Can
the reader imagine the sensations that
crawled slowly up the spinal column of
the horse reporter, who, in absence of
races, had to write up a high school
in order to draw his
salary? Will the bank clerk, whose
only business consists in figuring out the
Of increase, appreciate the
society reporters errand to a sunken
steamer, or the railroad fiend to an an
nual banquet
But it is over. The old books task ia
finished. 1t will be laid away and new
volume substituted. The one is as yet
spotless; the other is history.
There have been changes since the old
was brought into service. The men
whose names appear in March are now
far away, Some are in New York and
Chicago, while another flirts with the
blond lady in San Francisco. And thus
it will be when the pages of the new are
covered with pencilings, like the old.
But when the heart shall cease TO beat
and the tired brain no longer responds
to the call for ideas-when life's toll
shall cease, and the pearly portal swings
on its hinges Of onyx-then across the
silvery waters will the men be found
whose names are written on the old vol
lme, and on the Great Ledger the new
assignment book will be seen. instead OF
The stereotyped Irregular Runs" the
single line, Happiness Eternal" while
across the page" Everybody" will appear.
Omaha Herald.