The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-29
HERE And THERE n

their wnftin' of perfume;
But to an old-lke codger with all
spring sweets TO taste, 4EA WI
There's nothin in the scenery kin tech
the print shirt waist.
Sec 'em In the village samc as you do in
In town: ~ 80 =, n
In the meetin' house on Sunday an un the
road an. down, IIal
All colors like Ale rainbow an tho num-
bers oil too small - Is
Green an pink an cross-barred--oh, jcs
dote on all! - 4
| Old woman says I'm silly in actin so de.
fH based: s65'a n ~ = 81
But Teller can't help dotIn' on the
spring shirt waist.
Poor Mandy! Why ] love her sanes n
-, spring-time long ago.
Nhen she made the sweetest picture In
tho purtiest calico . 80 w I.
On we're both a-sittin' up in years. as all
OF us must do, go 8 y
An she needn't think ut this late stagc
Nm, I'm goln 10 prove untrue;
ot'li sno iidEets and she fuses every time
~, She finds me faced 80
io~a sol,ar y sNirt nt. figure tosged in
On the Sixteenth street side OF the
postoflice, and continuing from the
building line to the English Lutheran
church, Is a low stone wall. hardly over
two feet above the sidewalk at Its high
est point, yet unimportant as It appears
to the casual glance of the passer BY,
that strip Of stone work Is enshrined in
me grateful memory OF It's many guests
these and the warmer evenings of the
summer months to some. More sub
stantial and less forbiddlng than n
fence. the curb. for It's not much more,
Is sufficiently useful as warning to
interlopers, that they must not pro-
Zane with their presence the grassy plot
extending back the full length Of the
building, and 1t offers rest and comfort
for the toiler after the heat OF the day,
anu likewise for those who toll not
neither do they spin.
There Is no sweep Of traffic along
Sixteenth street at this point. All Is
serene and restful with not too much
electric light to shatter the semi-dark-
ness. Along Market street cars and
wagons are 1angllng and rafting over
the pavement, chlttering crowds in the
lighted stores and out on the sidewalks.
but save for the occasional passing of
q freight train with its putting and
smoke and hail Of cindcrs. little inter-
ruption mars the content OF the gentle
men reclincd on the postoiiice curb. AZ
ter the disturbing engine pulling It's
load has pushed through the old Hemp
field yards, the conversation resumes,
the broken thread Is taken up, and the
band plays on. Few In the crowd that
do not mastlcnte the weed, so the lull
has been taken advantage OF for the
turning of heads and the splitting OF
liquidiied scrap" on the green sward
to their rear.
Any night from April to October you
may see them there. Young men, yes;
but for the most part gray haired slres
whose strength was spent in the glare
OF the mill furnaces In the years when
Wheeling was less metropolitan, and
the mailer was king. There they sit and
talk; sometimes casting the horoscope
on the future and sometimes, aye often
er, In reminiscent vein calling up old
times and old friends. Late hours are
tahooed for physical more than moral
reasons, so these old fellows seldom lin
ger on their seat OF stone after the
capitol clock, further UP the street, has
sounded the hour OF Q. They leave re-
Sretfully. but they know of stiffness
and aching OF their joints next morning
that follow their indiscretioa OF
dews have fallen: and their wives re-
fuse to swallow the doctrine of "the
rheumatism attending old age" after
having cautioned their spouses number
less times against "loaiirE out on the
streets talking politics and other fool
ishness with Il lot OF men old enough
to know better instead of being at
home Of nights as an example to the,r-
families" AS 1t was In their earlier
married life, there Is no compromise
now on the question OF staying out late.
The same crowd haunted the post
Office corner proper in colder weather.
Then the sion" bench was forsnken for
the less comfortable posl,lo. Of stand
Ing or leaning against the poles at the
edge of the pavement, and the old fell
lows appeared only or the scene in the
wintry season when they could basll in
the warm rays Of the sun. There may
be one less In last winters group this
spring. for the long bearded Individual
with his sands and his sic!tle Is thin
ming them out year by year.
They were in their element one Of the
unusually warm evenings for April this
week. The rostrum, nguratlvely speak,
Ing. was held by Larry McNally, Il re-
tired drayman, and ut one time II power
in Sixth ward politics--ln the days
when the Bloody Sixth" turned out
Democratic votes In the fashion of d
corn shelter. McNally lost his patience
Mt the provoking failure of mis- friend,
John Carey, to recall the name OF Il
vital factor In the story he was telling.
II think his name was Smith or Miller"
Carey had said In distracted way for
the twcntith time.
McNaliy's patience was gone. Look
a-herc. John" he said; I'm surprised
ut ye. How long have We lived in
Wheellng?"
Ever. since the war;" replied the per-
turbed Carey in low tone.
80. An ye eXpectin' Of us TO sit
here while ye're wadin' through bunch
o Smiths an Millcrs. Sure, man, We
must be goin' daft intirely not TO know
Their isn't a man In tho country nova
days butts nither Smith or 4 Miller.
'Wud we believe It," continued Mr..
Mentally. as he noticed the derercntlal
air paid him by his auditors" that
there's ten M!llers, all Germans, within
IL stones throw O. my house. an the
half o thin named Herman? But it's
so. livery word OF 1t. l was ilgurin'' II
ont iasht week, be the aid O the city
dirccthry, and Lord gave us from the
Nillcrs an Smiths. along wild the Joncses
an Browns.
There was ISL Smiths registered
there. an who the divvlc knows how
many escapes the assessor an the COL
lector? The bunch o. MIllers numbers
$50. to say naw,hIn o. the little Ai.llcrs
an them's that not old enough TO vote,
or the ones that was missed. Mebbc
IL