The record-union., 1891-07-11

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| they had weathered the gales of adversity
and padded in prosperity's calm sea to-
! gether for at least five and fifty years
| He said he had came purposely TO hear
/ the speaking and had missed it all
| whereat his disappointment was bitter as
the Dead Seas fruit. / assured him that
| he had companion in his sorrow, that
! had come with but one thought-that of
| hearing the speeches, and if there was
! one thing above another | enjoyed it was
Fourth OF July orations. He will never
know that with malice aforethought we
| planned our lunch hour so happily as TO
! escape the Grating.
This bond of sympathy led us to speak
OF other subjects, and opening the throt-
tle-valye of my questioning ability, the
queries flew like swift rockets against
his sunburned ears. He was sure Sebas-
topol had 1000 inhabitants, but | pinned
him down finally to acknowledge 500
He was a travelled mamie had been 10
! Bloomfield, Forestville, Windsor, and on
several occasions had gone as far as Santa
Rosa.
He was an Eastern man and liked Cali
fornia pretty well, but pitied me because
l had never crossed the boundary into
the land Of SHOWS and ice.
You don't know what you have
missed" he said, mot to have had
sleigh-ride."
''No. guess it must be rare sport; a
few other Eastern people have spoken of
1t just as you have'
"Ah, yes" he returned, eagerly, "and
the funniest part Of it is where you get
dumped in the drifts, and have to pack
the girls out. Us boys didn't mind it
though, you bet.'
Ss''Yes? and skating, too" said /, de-
hghtedly. do you skate?"
Now, you're talking. Why, it's worth
getting your fingers froZe off to skate on
a winter evening. Never see much ice,
did your
No said deiectedly, with a cloudy
countenance; Il never have I intend
going East purposely to take part in
those dizzy joys. My lie has been dun
and void heretofore; | want to say that |
have lived for some noble purpose"
'Ia-as. Wen, now, tell you it'll pay
you. I'd advise you to go"
When he impaired the tidings that he
was widower my spirits rose above the
snubs, the darkening glances of my com
panions, and made haste to tell him,
meanwhile beaming from my sun-bon-
net like June rose, that | loved Sebas-
topol-I even liked it better than Santa
| Rosa. Visions of fair acres of corn and
beans, Of squash vines, squandering
themselves in wanton luxuriance. q
! house with picket fence, table in the
window, with an album and a crochet
cover, danced before my eyes they were
to be mine. Just then an acquaintance
of the duster came by and said:
Hello! You here? Where's your
wife?''
EiAin't got no wife now, and if I hadn't
been married so many times I'd be better
OF to-day"
:! !! !! !!
at the jumping off place at the end Of
one of the streets of the village sign
proclaims the abiding place of the Times,
L like TO visit country newspaper offices.
for they invariably give one q personal.
presence in the sanctum, but there are
columns yawning, like a poor mans
lease, that must be filed. Reposing like
an ear on one corner of the trim building
is a real estate sign, blandly inviting the
public to walk in and get bit. Per-
haps you have never noticed it, but
| have. the fact that newspaper
Offices and real estate signs 90 trudging
down the path OF time together hand in
hand. Whether the preyaTicating pro-
ciivities that attend each branch of bust
ness intuitively prompts the affinity Of
kindred souls, or whether it deyolves
upon the editor to sell bedrock land at
frst-class prices-no, / mean first-class
land at bedrock prices-in connection
with catering to the literary taste of the
public in order to keep the gaunt, gray
wolf from clanoring at the door, it has
never been my satisfaction to determine
But, anyhow, leaving this weighty
problem unsolyed, there We're no prints
fthe VOLTS claws on the outside door
and the editor looked smiling and sleek
III a billed shirt and Stand-up collar. He
was knee-deep in ink and bolts of orange
ribbon, printing Alliance on dancing
tags. So anxious was the public to
shake its foot that the supply ran short.
he apologiZed for the untidy appearance
OF his office, because ''his wife was away"
That's like man-blame everything on
the wife. But in truth, this Office is the
cleanest one in Northern California.
This statement will cause hard feelings,
deep wounds on the pride OF all the Off
ces in that mentioned circuit, so as a
curative agent to said gaping wounds,
will add that the Times office is clean on
the same principle that some people are
good. They have to be good because
they are made that way, any ugliness of
disposition is as foreign to them as good
ness is removed from their unfortunate
brethren who are susceptible to sin, so
they deserve no cards of reward with
snow scenes and pansy wreaths thereon,
as monuments to their merit. Whereas,
should their poor unhappily con-
Stituted brother resist the beckonlng
arms of some evil, he deserves the re-
spect Of the world. The Times occupies
but q few score more than it's allotted
modate the presses, editorial shears and
other heavy pieces of furniture q scarcity
Of junk and disorder is matter of ne
cessity. The short acquaintance was
progressing charmingly when the little
jerk water train had the unparalleled au-
dacity to pull up to the depot and utter
a hoarse toot. There was q hegira to-
ward the door with more haste than
grace, and my last lingering memory of
the Times editor, as | threw a backward
glance while blowing along in the heavy
dust, was an apparition in the door,
waving its long arms and yelling cor
daily at our retreating figures to ''come
again when we couldn't stayssso long,!
The whistle that announced the home
ward bound express tore the visiting
delegation away from the Witchery of the
scene, and the animation that filled tho
clouds OF dust to the road to the depot
was something astounding. The engine
waited awhile for the tagging ones near
est, bat it thought it had to canter along.
1t is a grimy little affair, and bears its
name, ''San Jose,'' on its weather-beaten
sides. 1t is soeiable, though. 1t is III its
second childhood, and prefers going
backward so it can look in the door of the
adjoining coach and on through the aisles
lined with faces.
In the torrents of dust wildly gesticu-
lating arms and legs could be discerned,
and the penalty OF those who fingered too
long in Pleasures enchanting realm was
to be left behind. Apropos of the broken
ranks comes the effort of the evergreen
poet:
Plunged in the engine smoke,
Right Ger the track they broke,
Granger and dude;
Gained the retreating train
Shattered and stunned.
Then they rode home, but not
Not the six hundred.
Santa Rosa. July 10th. A. r. L.