The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-09-17

ever, it reused the savage. What NJ
was king of doesn't concern us here. 1t
was immense and it was Incorporated
ii had officers who received large saa-
Ties, employees who Tecei sd small sala-
ries and stockholders who received moth
ing at all.
If YOU frequent lower Broadway dur
ing the midmorning hours You may have
seen the king a hundred times as he
stalked downtown to nurse his royal sim
ecure. He is thickset man Of 50, i'm
maculately groomed from the gloss of his
hat to the gloss of his boots He has close
cropped, steel-gray hair, small hard,
steel-gray eyes and square, clean-shav-
EN- face, so inhexible in expression il
might have been forged from the same
metal. His bearing and walk are infused
with equal rigidity, and his voice resen-
bles the clang of a hammer upon n ser
ton of armor plate. He would make an
imposing fgurehead for first-class BAT
tleship,
Every morning the king stalks south
ward, figure erect and eyes front. IL
HE doesn't know you he doesn't see YOU;
If he does, you may or may not receive a
steely nod, according to his royal mood.
You must bow and scrape in any case.
He expects and receives it all the way
down the street; then the doorkecoer
scrapes, the bootblack scrapes, the ele-
vator boy scrapes, and the entire court
rises and makes profound obeisance.
The day over, salaams are repeated, and
he stalks northward to his great, hand
some, lonely bachelor apartments, and
spends his evening heaven knows how!
Certainly not at concerts. He bated
music of every kind, save the harsh
jangle and roar of downtown traffic.
He might have replaced the pipe and
bowl of that other monarch, by a drink
and cigar; the fiddlers three he would
certainly have strangled.
Which brings me to a certain moinng
when he stalked stiffiy southwark, with
an ugly look in his eye and strangulG-
tion i'm his thoughts. And he didn't al
low any one to divert his attention from
it either. The doorkeeper, the boot
black and the elevator hoy bowed and
scrared in vain; and the entire court
rose u2 and salaamed to- utter vacancy.
He assembled his throne, pressed a button
and stared his calendar out of counter
ance until the imperial stenographer dr-
rived, when he sunk lower i'll his seat,
thrust his fists deep in his pockets.
scrowled ferociously at the toe of his
boot and dictated as follows:
Editor of the New York :
''Sir-While heartily applauding the
complaints published in your columns
from time ITO time against petty nuis-
ances, | regret that the most obominable
outrage practiced upon New Workers has
SO far escaped censure. | aliude to the
matchmaking practices of those Italian
vagabonds who, until the necessary bride
is extorted, grind out their ear-spiitting
discords beneath their victims windows.
/ am not an invalid nor a crank; on tine
contrary, normal and good-temperei.
(Here the imperial stenographer felt his
eye turned on her and moved not a mus
cle.) But, sir, could the inventor of the
piano organ be found today, | shou,l
unhesitatingly say 'strangle him;' AMI
as for these mendicants and their equally
criminal supporters, nothing short Of
slow torture would do them justice. |
was racked all last evening by one. of
these hideous Instruments, and the neigh
borhood of my office is positively haunt
ed by a certain rascally italian black
mailer, who renders work absolutely inn
possible by the repetition of mlaudlin bai-
lads. / allude especially to the pre- sent
epidemic of - But here he was inter
rupted.
Sweet Rosie O'Gra-a-ady,
My dear little Rose!"
The blackmailer had arrived. A lord
in-waiting rushed ito the window. The
king grasped paper weight and stood
by. The imperial stenographer shudder-
ed. The wizened little Italian below
melted into a joyous smile, poor, deluded
wretch, and waved his hand playfully.
"She-e-es my steady lady,
Most everyone -"
What most everyone did, was never
divulged The blackmailer trtmdied his
organ off, still wearing the joyous smile.
The lordin-waiting was dispatched to
the street with orders to have him ar
rested If he continued within earsho1.
u he inperial stenographer resumed her
pencil with trembling fingers, while Lis
majesty. stalking up and down, cOnrin-
ued at white heat. He closed with this
powerful peroration:
"Why are these gross violations OF
public order permitted by the authori-
Ties udIiy lilC tolitohiIe7 N'iONca
unavoidable nuisances without our fos-
tering this one, which is disturbance to
all, pleasure to none, and, u repeat,
virtually petty Matchmaking scheme.
Truly we are a long-suffering people.
A few hours later the king, who pos
sessed considerable interests on the East
river, boarded car and jolted across
town. That is, the other passengers
jolted; he retained his adamantine rigid
ity. But fate decreed that horse Should
drop sunstruck across the track, block
ensued, and the royal horse-car was stall
ed quite a distance from the river. The
king, who regarded any obstruction TO
his imperial progress as personal at
front, fretted and fumed, pulled out MS
watch and tried to make himself believe
me was in "a tremendous hurry, but ap
parentHy the horse, a dozen blocks away,
was an anarchistic beast and wouldn't
truckle Ito royalty. His majesty might
have got off and walked, but the sun
was hot and the way unsheltered, so he
preferred to mop his brow and scowl UP
the cross street.
Tt was short one, consisting of
grimy, stunted houses and one barge,
handsome building at the further end.
The front of each house was decorated
with it's inmates underwear: and on