Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-09-26

Average American Citizen eubmito -
Much Impositi0n.
w. w. Watson, Of Chicago, waited six
months before he complained about a
peanut-vender's whistle on one Of the
postoffice corners. though he suffered
acutely in mind and body from the
piercing shrek 1t emitted all day long.
He lost flesh worrying about 1t, It
stirred every fiber In his being, his
ears rang with its sound after he had
gone home ut night, lie dreamed Of II,
1t destroyed his appetite and his temper,
and untitled him for business. But 1t
was not until six months of this tor
ture had passed that he thought Of COM
planning. When he did complain the
noise was stopped.
There you have the American citizen,
all over. He will endure any annoy
ances rather than make row about 1t.
Fruit peddlers disturb his rest In the
early morning and awake him to day
of nervousness and ill-temper. He is In
terrupted I'm his progress downtown by
an open bridge. His nostrils are filled
and his skin blackened with the nasty
smoke of noisy tugs. He stumbles along
a narrow path in a sidewalk almost
wholly covered with fruit baskets that
have no right to be there. He picks his
way through mud and filth at the cross
ings. People dig their elbows into his
ribs and step on his foes in the eleya-
tor. He lunches I'm room crowded to
suffocation and nausea; he is served
by insolent. careless, unclean walters,
with food dumped upon a thick and
greasy plate; he orders coffee and gets
a vile liquid that tastes like dishwater.
He is importuned by newsbOys who
cease from yelling only while they
make change. He walks in the perilous
street around the mortar-beds and
heaps of brick and lumber that occupy
the sidewalk in front of buildings be-
ing torn down or put up, and he is spat-
tered with mud from head to foot. He
climbs upon street car and hanging
on to a strap or clinging to rail Is
crushed by all sorts Of people. He Is
detained in tunnel by broken cable
and cheerfully walks the rest of the
way. In the evening he listens to the
strident cries of gamins and hoodlums
and to the wrecking noises Of the
strolling brass band and the portable
hand organ, goes to bed to spend the
whole night inhaling the sickening odor
of Bridgeport and part of 1t hearing the
wall Of the switch engine and the
humping crash of the freight car-and
N Iot f,
him to complain. He will stand any
thing rather than complain, even
though he knows complaint will end
his suffering.
The American citizen is the good-na-
tured man of the fables. He knows he
has rights, but is too easy-going and
complaisant to stand up for them. He
has horror of scene" He is afraid
of disagreeable prominence. He pre-
fers to stink alone harried, insulted,
browbeaten, with shattered nerves. 1t
Is easier
But how much longer the city dweller
would live, how much pleasanter his
life would be, how much healthier he
would find himself, if only he had lit
tie more courage and a little more OBJ
Stinacy. One-half the noises that make
him miserable are totally unnecessary
and could be stopped il he took firm
stand, and the other half would not be
necessary If he set his ingenuity to
work. But he will do neither. Is 1t
any wonder neumsthenia grows COM
mon? Is it any wonder the race is de-
generating?