Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-11-15

tower Monday evening last the town
began to fill up with people from
Little Valley, and it was noticed
that every one Of them had two guns
and fifty rounds Of extra ammunition.
We didn't get onto the game until
about 9 o'clock, when the mob gath
cred in front of the Kicker office 70
see the clock unveiled. The boys had
come over to have fun with that
timepiece. and a howl of diSappoint-
ment went up when it was finally
discovered that nothing of the sort
was on hand. The idea of putting
up town clock had never occurred
to US Had it come to our mind we
should have dismissed it at once.
knowing that it would have been shot
to pieces inside of five minutes.
At $50 O'clock, when the crowd
was informed that there was nothing
to unveil, a few Of them retired to
the saloons to take drink. but the
majority had come tC shoot at some
thing. and therefore began blazing
away at the edifice in which we con-
boot and shoe store. butcher shop and
various other industries not generally
combined with literary pursuits in
the East. AS it was all was in a
good natured way. and as an Arizona
editor must stand in with the boys
more or less, we got out and let them
bang away to their hearts content
n ii
little slow on foot. was graZed by two
bullets as he went over the alley
fence, but no one was seriously in
jrred, and the damage to the doors
and windows did not amount to more
than SIS. Little Valley is nineteen
miles away. and we are sorry that a
crowd Of fifty men should have been
put to so much trouble for nothing.
but it was not our fault. There will
be times when we shall seek that
| tower and Seclude ourselves from the
mad whirl of a busy life, but those
who wait to shoot the hands off a
town clock ticking away up there will
have to live another half century.
! We haven't put up in six years in
! this locality to make such a mistake
as that.
! Drawing the Line-The editor of the
Kicker, who is ourself. and the mayo
of the town, who is OurSelf. has
never wrapped the mantle of dignity
around him and held the public at
arms length because of his social or
official position. Almost every day
for the last three or four years from
three to a dozen of our fellow citizens
could have been found "at home" in
! our Sanctum, and there have been
days at n time when all our exchange
! list has been carried away and moth
| ing left for us to clip from except a
sarsaparilla almanac or patent
windmill circular. Our mail has been
! opened, our dictionary worn out and
our time mostly occupied by sub
| scribers. some of whom had to be
shot at before renewing, and no one
has heard US make a complaint. We
understood from the first that it was
! their way, and the only hope we had
was that they would gradually come
! to realize the situation and drop off
| Matters have been worse at the
mayors Office. AS everybody in town
voted for us we have all along felt
under obligations to the general pub
lie We started out by locking the
door Of our room when absent from
the town hail. but pubic opinion
forced us to leave it open. For
months past every one has felt at
perfect liberty to enter the mayors
office, take possession of his chair
and desk, and on several occasions
we have found the official records
of the common council pinned up
on the wall as a target for bullets.
When first made myOra, we Enclosed u
space with a railing but inside of a
! inch of it up for tOothpicks, and we
month the public had whitfield every
received several vigorous hints that
"exclusiveness'' wouldn't 60 in this
community. We have given up our
official office and done business on the
stair landing and elsewhere in order
to keep the public good will and pre-
vent criticism, but the limit has at
length been reached.
AS mayor of a thriving, hustling
town we are expected to put on a
certain amount Of dignity. We are
officially visited by city officials from
other towns, and the slipshod manner
in which things have been run here
has excited amazement and protest.
While we hope to retain tn. esteem
and good will of the crowd, and while
boys and shall invariably be found
at dog fights and horse races as a pri-
vate Individual, we shall begin next
week on a new line. The mayors
office will be set aside for the ex-
elusive use of the mayor, and there
will be no admittance except on bus
ness. ALI city records will be kept
under lock and key. and the public
stationery will no longer be free to
every Tom, Dick and Harry who
wants to scribble. We have been
forced into this line of action and
hope t. make the reforms mentioned
without bringing about great public
calamity. AS a precautionary meas
ure, however, we have had the may
ors room bullet proof and loOpholes
left i'll the door for us to fire through.
We shall start in with two guns and
100 extra cartridges and determi-
nation to change things for the better
and our horse editor has his instruc-
tons regarding the future publication
of the Kicker in case our plans mis-
carry.