The Anaconda standard., 1899-01-05
LIFE IN A SMALL TOWN.
Old Song of the Big Toad In the Little
Puddle Tested by a New Yorker.

i 90 not assert tHdl lait ildS any
moral tied to it, but if any young man
wants it he can have it. Maybe there
are some who could Win out on it, but
I couldn't be fixed in any way to try
it again.
The man who opened the talk had
been asked by several men much
younger what he would do If he had an
offer that had been made to them.
IT don't know who said it, he contin-
ued. "but it was by some one who had
been there, you can gamble, and this IS
what he said: There are critical mo-
ments in every mans career when de-
cision decides a destiny.
1.-The critical moment in my life was
when a Yankee from a New England
town played the siren to my hopes.
I am sure I am not the first man who
listened, but ! believe / am one of the
first to tell the result. He demon
strated to me that a young man could
live cheaper in a small toWn-on one
half the money he could earn in New
York and get more out of the exist
ence. He applied the theory to me per-
sonally He had the place and half the
money to offer
Some of the allurements of this gold
brick dealer were, as l viewed them,
enumerated in the following order: No
competition. unlimited credit, social
position at the jump and no questions
asked, immediate membership in the
club, the acquaintance of the leading
men. To these were added the posi-
bilities, namely, chance to get in on the
ground floor Of the business and matri-
mony in a rich family.
"To a man who had been sleeping in
hall room, third floor, back and eat
ing an occasional meal under the same
roof, in the house of a Hungarian over
on the east side, this picture of the
New England man looked like the sweet
fields beyond the, swelling food.
''I reached the New England town. or
city as they call it, Sunday morning,
IF any of you are going to a New Eng
land town on trial don't get in on Sun
day. If the forecaster can locate a tor
nado in the place select that date. In
that case you might find things lively.
OF course all depends upon what you
are going for. I lived in the house of
one of the descendants. l could not
have stopped at the tavern on the sal
ary l had accepted. This was the first
awakening My venerable landlord and
his good wife were frugal indeed. They
had family prayers and retired early.
had been drilled in both. | might have
changed my quarters, but inquiry
brought information about other places
which made them no more desirable
Whenever I left the house in the even
ing l was requested to return early. so
as not to be a nuisance They didn't
call it that, but that was what they
meant; and on the following morning I
was interrogated much closer than l
had ever been in my home
1.-The man who had led me into this
beautiful dream life said to me one
day that as soon as the season opened
he hoped to introduce me into society.
He said society would be home in about
two months. I asked him if there We're
no people in town on whom I could re-
L. 81 ant
turned But I learned that there were
no rehearsalS. There We're but two
classes in the place, the aristocrats and
the commoners. Any association with
the latter cut off approach to the circles
of the former.
FINALLY I was posted for member
ship in the club and was blackballed
But that turned out to be a mistake.
The man who did it apologized. He
thought / was another man of the
same name. I was afterWard accepted,
but I think there were some who never
quite understood it. Whenever game
became interesting to me the other fell
lows had engagements and went to full
fiji them
IT had some friends to dinner at the
club one Sunday. It was dry affair
in spite of my attempt at bribery, for
which I was lectured by the officers of
the club When the season opened l
them. The same rule applies to ac-
ceptances in a New England town that
applies in other towns. To accept
creates an obligation. The obligation
is cancelled only by reciprocity. | like
the reciprocal idea. But the obliga-
tions were created more rapidly than l
desired, or to be honest than l could
afford to reciprocate. You will pardon
the coinage of speech, but before l
knew 1t | was up to my neck in the
social swim of this New England town.
You know you can swim out in New
York. You can't do it in a small city.
And you can't stop once you are in it.
And in New York you can lose yourself
when they begin to crowd you. But in
the New England town you have bell
on your neck, and wherever you go it
rings. In New York You don't have to
drop anything on the plate if you don't
want to. You can't drop a penny in a
gum slot in New England town but
everybody knows the brand you chew.