Evening journal., 1899-06-14
LITE IN A SMALL TOWN.
The old Song of the Mig Toad in the
Little Puddle Tested by
New Yorker.

moral tied to it, but if any young man
wants it he can have it, Maybe there
are some who could win out on i, but
couldn't be fixed in any way 10 try it
again"
The man who opened the talk had
been asked by several men much young
er than he what he would do il he had
an offer that had been made TO them.
Il don't know who said it," he con-
tinued, "but it was by some one who
had been there, you can gamble, and
this is what he said: There are critical
times in every mans career when de-
cision decides a destiny
The critical moment in my life was
when a Yankee from a New England
town played the siren to my hopes. l
am sure l 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 existence.
He applied the theory to me personally.
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 or
der: No competition, unlimited credit,
a social position at the jump and no
questions asked, immediate member
ship in the club, the acquaintance of
the leading men. To these were added
! the possibilities, namely, chance to get
! in on the ground floor Of the business
and matrimony in q rich family.
"To 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 flood.
81 reached the New England town, or
3 city as you call it, Sunday morning. If
D any of you are going to a New England
town on trial don't go in on Sunday.
d If the forecaster can locate q tornado
in the place select that date In that
! case you might find things lively. OF
a course all depends upon what you are
! going for l lived in the house of one
r of the descendants. 1 could not have
q stopped at the tavern on the salary
e had accepted. This was the first awak-
n ening. My venerable landlord and his
e good wife were frugal indeed. They
had family prayer and retired early.
u had been drilled in both. might have
q changed my quarters, but inquiry
brought information about Other
4 places which made them no more desir
able Whenever 1 left the house in thu
evening was requested to return early
d so as not to be nuisance. They didn'
j. call it that but that was what they
1t meant; and on the following morning
W ] was Intercepted much closer than
1t had ever been at my home.
II The man who had led me into thi
y beautiful dream life said to me one da,
that as soon as the season opened h
h hoped TO introduce me into society, IL
mn said society would be home in abou
m two months. asked him if there wer
no people in town on whom l could re
hearse, as it were, until the elect re
turned. But l learned that there wer
no rehearsals. There were but tw
IN classes in the place, the aristocrats an
- the commoners. Any association Wit
v tire latter cut of approach to the circle
of the former.
is Finally L was posted for member
r ship in the club and was blackhallet
r. But that turned out to be a mistake
le The man who did it apologized II
" thought was another man of the sam
r,, name. was afterward accepted, bu
,d l think there were some who neve
u quite understood it, Whenever a gam
n became interesting to me the other fe
lows had engagements and went TO flu
" fiji them.
a 81 had some friends to dinner at h
ry club one Sunday. It was a dry affair
a. spite of my attempt at bribery. fC
&c which l was lectured by the officers
"a the club. When the season opened
found some invitations and aceepte
them. The same rule applies to accep
ances in q New England town that al
% plies in other towns. To accept Great,
an an obligation. The obligation is cal
M celed only by reciprocity 1 like Il
tn RECIPROCAL dea. But the obligation
an were created more rapidly than 4
err sired, or, TO be honest, than / could a
to ford TO reciprocate. You will pardc
TO the coinage of my speech. but before
lie knew it was up to my neck in the s
M cial swim of this New England tow
Nv You know you can swim out in Ne
.,i York You can't do il in a small cit
I'll And you can't stop once You are in
M And in New York you can lose yourse
,es when they begin to crowd you. But
the New England town you have be
on your neck, and wherever you go
rings. In New York you don't have
of drop anything on the plate if you dor
of want to. You can't drop a penny in
led gum slot in a New England town b
rue every body knows the brand you che
Of 81 did not remain in the New EnglaI
i0 community 10 which l had been entic,
long enough TO test the possibilities
ID, which the siren whispered. But whit
~" did leave, in fact before l left, di
covered that while l could secure Il
u necessities of life in a New Englai
No town at reduced rates as compar
with home living in New York, the Ia
al ,,nf.1 -, al, Nnrr. nos