Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1893-07-08
The ELUSIVE cockRoAcH.
The Free Press Tells or = C0mpanionsbls
Fellow.

Il
The Free Press Tells or . CompanIonsbls
| Fellow.
The flea which you've got when you
haven't him is fairly nimble aud act
i've. but he is nothing in the line Of
agility compared to the cockroach.
The latter is so elusive that you won
der if he is real or fanciful A GER
tain cockroach has annoyed the writer
for u long time. 1t must be the same
one, for he has an individuality there
is no mistaking. There are all kinds
of cockroaches just as there are all
kinds of people. This cockroach is
always de trop. He always appears
at an inOppOrtune moment. Right in
the climax Of an article he presents
himself and of course diStracts atten-
tion by his presence. 1t is remarka-
bic how obnoxious he makes himself.
He appears on the corner of the desk
and looks at you in his horrible IA
miliar fashion. He does not present
himself modestly and apologize for
coming, or resentment might not be
so strong. But he deliberately sits in
front of you and glares at you in the
most insulting manner, almost as
though he were sneezing at the mag
niticent thoughts which are being
placed on paper He is such an old
timer and he has seen so many mag
niticent thoughts. He has been COM
ing like this so long. He has seen
others sitting at that desk and also
penning magnificent thoughts. He
is most arrant cynic. The most
tender pathos that causes the tears
of the writer to fall and blot the
pages do not move him. He never
changes countenance. He has seen
other occupants seated there and is
not moved by any kind of emotion.
He has no patriotism and will look
at the most fervid utterances un-
moved. He doesn't care whetherThe
country is saved or not. Even a
charming poem is not solace for his
soul. AS he sits there you resent his
presence and aim at him swift blow,
but in an instant he is gone. He is
accustomed to lodging. He has been
doing that for many generations
Poetry is his especial aversion, al
though he dlslikes pathOs exceedingly.
Once it is Oh record that he disap-
peared of his own free will The
writer at the moment Of his noiSeless
entrance was about to write a poem
in keeping with the season:
so. snow. snow, beautiful snow.
Watch the whirling flakes as they 60,
o, the snow the beautiful snow"
Then for the first time he left the
scene without lodging. He disap-
peared as fast as he could scud and
did not come again for a week. 1t
was feared that he had expired be-
hind the debris above the desk, but
one night he came and perched him.
self as usual On the corner of the
desk. He looked rather thin and
worn, but otherwise he seemed in
good health. 1t takes good deal to
kill a cockroach. Some Of the former
occupants say that they have really
hit him before he could get away,
but he always got off and recovered
in his lair.
His sense Of humor is dead or sleep
ing. A writer about ten years ago,
however, wrote a joke that scintil-
lated. 1t pleased him so much that he
read it aloud and roared. The cock
roach heard it and even he could not
resist it. At first it merely tickled
him, and then the more he thought
about it, the better he liked it. He
shook all over and finally got up on
his hind legs and waved his arms and
shouted. At least so the writer Of
the joke said and he was truthful
man!
The cockroach quite approves Of
the introduction Of the typewriter on
the editorial and local staff of this
paper. In the beginning he wondered
a great deal, but now he has become
reconciled to the change. He doesn't
stay on the corner kof the desk any
longer, but chambers right up on the
He appears first on one
side and then on another. He likes
TO watch the copy evolved by this
means. His face expresses real inter-
est. 1t is not what is written that
pleases him, for he is still cynic in
that respect, but the clatter and noise
are amusing. He is very careful to
dodge the blows of the type and so far
he has escaped with his life. Whether
fortune will favor him in the future
is, of course, matter Of mere coniec-
ture. However, he had better look
out or he will get hurt some of these
days
The Sharp People Of Cape Cod.