Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1899-06-08
Mother Hubbard
By j A. Flynn.
6A.s;a.s6Mota.0 cM.sam.eAseA

y sat opposite to me- am subeditor-so
I the fact impressed itself upon my no.
tice; but somehow [ didn't take to her.
She was fond of slang,Ishe bicycled in
nationals" and she hoped that didn't
object to cigarette. I felt inclined to
say that objected to her altogether,
but didn't. She was remarkably
smart in her work, and couldn' a ford
to object to anyone who was useful.
She hadn't been with us more than
fortnight when the editor was laid up,
and had to be editor, sub, leader
writer and political critic all at once.
Then our financial expert went bank
rupt and bolted, and so had to do the
city news in addition.
The. next week our sporting author
ity idisappe had backed some
& Of his own tips, poor fellow-and we
.conldn't get another.
The only members of the literary
< staff left were our art and theatrical
critic, who doesn't know horse from
a donkey; our tame poet, who doesn't
know anything, and Miss Violet. I felt
70 I had about come to the end of my
|. tether, and Isaid SO pretty forcibly.
Miss Violet looked up from some out
rageous costume she was drawing and
laughed at my outburst. She was al
ways laughing.
Don't put yourself OUT she said.
I'll knock off the Sporting Notes for
you.' I jerked my eyeglasses from my
nose in my amazement.
.'You?" said. ''You?'' a
'sWhy not,?'' o,s3,
What do you know about it?'
For the matter of that, what did he
I know about it. + She nodded her head
!. several times and pressed dimples in,
her cheeks with her pencil. ''You really
cant do any more yourself" she said.
Nc" said, YEARLY. ''But I'm
afraid" $3.50
''You needn't be. I'll run it out to-
night, and you can cut it up tomorrow
morning"
She wrote the sporting article as if
she had been brought up in stable.
and from that time she became our
sporting tipster, and allowed herself an
extra cigarette when she and I were
working late in the evening. She al
ways insisted upon lending "a hand
when I was extra busy
You'll kill yourself, if you don't
mind" she remarked, suddenly, one
evening, when we were making up the
issue had just announced that we
were short, and must do another COL
umn.
Il can't let the paper break down."
1 said, feebly. 1 had been working for
IL hours, and nature was almost ex-
! hausteti. ~ t4ae
.'Of course not. Fill up with this"
She threw over a manuscript headed
Answers to Correspondents and be-
gan laughing, as usual. 81 knew we
would be short''
''Why?" I said. "What? Who are the
correspondents? ?"
81 am, of course. You didn't think
there were such things as correspond
ents,' did you?'
"Umph I didn't know"
you're a fine editor!"
didn't reply. was deep in the man
uscript, which might have passed for a
page out of several journals could
mention. "Nellie O." was given recipe
/, for sponge cake; ''Devout lover was
advised upon the etiquette of presents;
Molly" was cautioned against the per-
nicious habit of smoking cigarettcs-"a
most, unbecoming and unladylike prac-
, tice!" ''Abstemious'' was encouraged
in teetotalism; ''True Tommy" was told
toperscvere with his obdurate ladylove;
4 'F'icssie' was warned against slang; 1
Careful Housewife" was recommend
ed to insist upon having IA penny scenes
for shilling, etc. zn.4t
upon my word" I said, warmly,
you're "a little brick. I'll only wish L
could get you something extra for
''Oh, shut up!" she said. She was
given to saying things of that sort.
thought it a great pity, because she was
otherwise a very charming girl; but
never could tolerate anything unfem-
mime in womans manners.
No sooner had the number appeared
than real applications for advice poured
in, and our correspondents column be-
came a regular feature. When we had
aspare moment she would read US some
Of the letters with her answers. She
. used to make us roar. She was such a
comical girl never could be serious
about anything. The pseudonym she
adopted was s''Mother Hubbard"
About this time the paper began to
get better, and advertisements came in
more freely. i persuaded the propri-
Z etor to give Violet a raise, and I offered
to Go the sporting myself, now that
we could afford city editor, but she
wouldn't hear of it.
"You couldn't do it half so well,' she
stated. Nov, don't get savage, old
chap. Have cigarette?"
II WISH" / said, you wouldn't talk
in that beastly manner" She flushed
little.
when want you to editgmy CONVEX
sation I'll ask you,' she rejoined,
tartly. .-'~.-.-s-'-r'e'-',-'-
So 1 shrugged my shoulders and went
on with my leader. "
'.You have been glad enough" she OBJ
served few minutes later, ''for me to
do mans work, though you want to
keep me in my place as woman
Il do not look upon womanliness as
degradation"
Nor do object to manliness in
man."
IF you mean that T."
you'd better attend to your leader,
or it will be worse rubbish than usual.''
Iconclnded my peroration in furious
silence. rather pride my self upon my
leaders. Then made few remarks.