The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-10-28

ing but faded antiques in the way OF
knickerbockers, bandit-like shirts and
weird ties of impossible hues, rumpled
hair, and hard lines in cheeks where
dimples might be-for even the hard
est featured golfer once was nice
sweet, dimpled. laughing baby, al
though this fact is difficult to recon
Cilc with the present conditions. In
almost any other endowment or
amusement. above the ash cart busi-
ness known to civilization a man who
would appear arrayed like unto n
crack golfer would be looked upon
with suspicion IL not positive distrust.
But the more dishevelled a golfer, the
dearer he is The more disreputable
his shoes, the more you admire him.
The more indescribaby baggy and ILL
fitting and dun colored his Jacket and
knickers, the more his outfit speaks OF
illimitable rows of cups and medals.
If added to all these indications, he
has a fitful glare in his eye, an abrupt
sort of smile and a pair of stockings
that the unconscious owner has put on
spirally, you recognize him as a pro-
bable il not an assured champion and
fall down and worship accordingly.
It's rather a silly thing to grumble
about the city government, the bad
management of schools, the iniuuities
of municipal officials generally. We
usually get what we want or rather
what we deserve in this world. II We
very much want clean streets and a
quiet Sabbaths we can have them. 1t
only needs a little agitation properly
sAI se oil Il JfV,er rNp-
thy benumbing public spirit which is
al fault. We say we are so busy mind
ing our own business that we cannot
bother about public affairs. We can
only sit at home between times and
mourn the degeneracy of the city and
its management. The fact is that
when we really want a change and
want it hard enough to make a little
nersonal effort we can have 1t. OIL
cials little and big will display enough
alacrity in reform if the people give
significant proof that they want re-
form The great difficulty is that most
of US do not care enough about reform
to take any trouble to bring it about.
We wouldn't bother to ask a few of
our friends to go with us down to the
mayors office and make a request to
have the shops and saloons on Lacka-
wanna avenue closed on Sunday. We
do not care enough about cleanliness
to go to our councilmen and insist that
radical measures be taken. We do not
| care enough about education and the
| morality and the safety of the country
to bestir ourselves and see that intelli-
gent and representative school control
lers are elected. The men who could
best manage such affairs disdain to
serve in the councils or on the Board
of Control. We women, who after all
| do control the city or could III we took
| the trouble to interest ourselves, do
not care to have our husbands or faith
| ers occupy places in either of these
| bodies. We say, "Oh, You don't want
| to mix in politics. 1t is such low busi-
ness. Then it takes you out nights
when you might be accompanying us
| to the theatre or to prayer meeting.
| Then there will be such queer people
coming to the house WHY we wouldn't
| have you on the Door board or any of
| those things for the world. We never
could get a chance to eat dinner in
peace They'd be sitting round on the
porch and in the kitchen, and it would
would be a great nuisance. The teach
| ers would be pursuing you all the time
| for positions, and then they do say
that those school bookmen are likely
| to get the cleverest and brightest con-
| troller into trouble. No, don't you in
terfere in such matters. Let the peo-
| pie who like that sort of thing hold the
| offices"
OF course it is all wrong, but it is
no worse than we like to have it else
we would take steps toward a change
\ city's government is about what
| the people like. 1t doesn't take a very
| large number of citizens with public
| sentiment back of them to make a
vigorous protest that Will be felt-for
nothing is more sensitive than a little
centre to a big piece of machinery
which can be operated by wires pulled
| from the outside.