Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-02-19

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was working il Iscddy's home town
that tine on little afternoon paper Of
which Reddy was foreman. We had
three printers. two journeynen and
'two-thirder,' and Reddy used to set up
the ads. Re was one Of the best job
printers I ever saw, and our ads. looked
better than the ads in any other paper
in town. But Reddy was as unreliable
as policeman's testimony. Just about
the day the boss would hustle ont and
get a good ad., contracting to have il
set up certain way. Reddy would show
up missing. / would chase out and
search the saloons for him, find him
and take him to the Office, where he
would drown Us in eloquent excuses.
Then he would set up the ad., and it
generally looked like a wall paper pat
tern after he got through with it,
AT that time the Kelley cure fad
was strong. Some of the most notorious
drunkards in town had gone down to
Dwight and come back with their appe-
titles too dead to hold an inquest on.
Whenever one Of them would land in
town, would make a note of it in the
paper, and then Reddy and would take
q drink and revile the men who couldn't
stop when they wanted to. guess there
was nobody in the world more surprised
than when the boss proposed to pay
all expenses if Reddy would take the
Kelley cure, and Reddy took him up.
We put Reddy on the train one night so
drunk the conductor wanted him put in
the baggage car and started him off for
Dwight. In a month he came back
cured.
HE was the most annoying man
when he got back you ever saw. He
wouldn't go up to the Kelley club room
and swap horrible "reminiscences with
the other reformed drunkards He used
to hang around saloons frequented by
people who didn't take much stock in
the Kelley cure and talk about its ad-
vantages. He had way Of taking some
young fellow off to one side and point
ing out to him the horrible finish he
was saving up for himself. He made
such an unmitigated nuisance of HIM
self that he was soundly licked two or
tlmCs, OAt tlidl OIl Alul III BuUu.
Neither did it help matters to try TO
guy him, because he could guy back
harder than anybody. There was some
talk of taking him ont and throwing
him in the river with his pockets full
of rocks, when there was a change in
Reddy.
81 walked into our little composing
room one morning to register kick
about something and found the printers
in trance and the 'two-thirder' in o
fit. When looked at Reddy, saw the
reason for it and tainted away myself.
Reddy had ON a clean white shirt, col
lar and a necktie, and had submitted
his hair to the mowers of q barber
THAT clean shirt was an event in the
history Of the town that ranked with the
semicontennial anniversary of its foun-
dation and German day. deemed if of
enough importance to celebrate, SO /
wrote an ode to the shirt nearly Il col
umn long. which Reddy said was the
best stuff he ever read. He had it set up
in long primer, with slug head, and set
O fancy border around it.
"a couple of days after that was
sitting at my desk writing q roast on
the city council because they wouldn t
order certain Improvements in the alley
back Of the boss house, when Reddy
came in. pulled chair up close to mine
and expectorated about pint Of tobacco
juice in my wastebasl,et. He had on q
new suit of clothes that didn't fit him,
and his shoes were shined. knew he
had polished them himself, because the
toes shone like new tin pan. and then
the sparkle decreased back to the heels,
where the color of the leather was dull
brown. He had on one of those run
around stand up collars. which he WASH t
used to wearing, and his neck was as
stiff as though he had brace in it. His
red hair, pretty scant ON top, was comb
ed carefully, and / could smell hair oil
and perfume on him. He had had his
long musrache narrowed out smooth, and
the ends Of it Were waxed. All together
he was wonderful sight, and his thin,
freckled face was as red as his necktie,
and that looked like a case of scarlet
fever.
Auuy eoe cllll lOT sumo time CleW-
ing tobacco and depositing the juice in
large quantities in my wastebasket I'M
til l reminded him that our stock Of life
preservers was short and that the sane.
tum wasn't river bed anyhow. Reddy
blushed redder than ever and then re-
marked in tone of voice that could be
heard to the courthouse:
Say, You know Mrs. Look, don't
you:'
Il heard suppressed laughter from
the composing room, and I was ON in a
moment Dave was mashed on Mrs.
Look.
"Of course I knew Mrs. Look. Every
body in town knew Mrs. Look. She was
the divorced wife of a doctor who had
graduated from four inebriate asylums
and was at that time taking a prepare
tory course for another term. She used
to dress like a'garden Of peonies and
paint her face like Sitting Bull. Tall
and thin and spare, she was the home
hest woman in the state, and everything
about her was false-teeth, hair, eye
brOwS, form and evorv<b;n, Sho oIso