Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-22
JoBSoN PUTS IN COAL

tho price Of anthracite coal. duo to the big
strike In Pennsylvania. BY ordering nvs
tons Of furnace coal yesterday afternoon.
said Mr.. J0bson ut breakfast one morning
last week. ETH be dumped In front OF the
house about half-past o this morning. !
also engaged colored man to put 1t In the
cellar. and he'll be around In the neighbor-
hood Of 10 clockg only mention .nis
little matter b yo& IN order that. II you
have any ide& of ru5hing down town before
I'm block vay that you'll be first in
line at the ba rain Z unters. you may aban-
don that idea
The coloredEman Sngaged by Mr.. Jobson
to put in thekcoal didn't make his appear
ance at 10 O'Clock, Inor at II, nor at II.
Mrs. Jobson Spent the entire morning, to
the neglect Of her work. peering out be-
tween the parior curtains for him, but 1t
was obvious that Mr.. Jobson's man had got
sidetracked somewhere. When half-past II
came around, and no sign of Mr.. Jobson's
coal heaver, Mrs. Jobson hurriedly donned
her street apparel and went in search Of
anotner man to stow the coal, which had
arrived in procession of wagons shortly
before 10 o'clock, In the cellar. In this
search however. she had no luck at ALL
Sne met up with at least seven strong,
nardy-iooklng youths of color within q
radius OF two squares of the Jobson domi-
Gle, all or whom appeared to be in the en-
1oyment of high-noon siestas, but she
Couldn't induce any of them to undertake
the coai-stoWing job. although she offered
as much as $1.50 to have 1t done. All Of
the siesta-enJoytng colored youths had "jes'
DIN gagged tub do uh job o. wuk TO uh man
down de squayuh dat 'ud tex 'em all de
aItuhnoon. Mrs. Jobson returned home
very much disheartened. knowing that Mr..
Jobson would hold her personally respon-
sioie lot the slowing of those five tons Of
c 1.. sne resumed her vigil at the front
.t ASKING every other colored man
that passed II he wanted the coal-stowine
job. but each and all of them looked diff.
Gently at the pyramid of black diamonds,
scratched his head, remarked that he
., aion new no shovel" and fed the tempta-
ZION al greatly accelerated pace
AT half-pa 2 Mrs Jobson received a
message from Mr.. Jobson, notifying her
tnta ne De up with the horse and buggy
at TO take her for drive She dressed
~, .ae uriVe without any great degree Of
sba t,a..s. Sne had premonition that
afternoon. ' o'o laae
eT premonition was correct, of course
~ 'opson drove up in front Of the house
wbsn n hn sa 10 and he scowled heavily
when ne saw the mound of coal still stand.
ing on the asphalt. Mrs. Jobson noted the
scowi from the front window and she
son o4 j,,, ny, as mariners put it. Mr.. Job
wa;g jt ~ OUT OF the buggy, clasped the
the house. anu 'ioiipeo INTO
t., might l venture to inquire" he asked
IN tone OF awful calm. whats the rea
So .arh mat coal hasn't been put away?'
Inc man you hired to do II didn't
come, replied Mrs Jobson.
oh, ne didn't, hey?" snorted Mr.. Job
SUI sor mat sounds pretty good, Mrs job
word Of that man I engaged TO mt me me
Ioai IN is Just as good as his bond. and If
ne wasn't here promptly at 10 O'clock to
me ia,t minute then there's something al
hIIshty queer about it. You are perfectly
certain. 1 suppose, that You were hers
came?" ~ 'iie Htih
The man didn't come" repeated Mrs
day, except for, the mortal hour that
spent trying to beg and implore numerous
coiored men to put the coal in
!. III shifted MI. Jobson. IT have
ing her valuable time over any such
triVial and frivolous a matter. I'll bet a
mliilon dollars to hatpin that I can get
me me very very hrst eolored man that passes by
burned glad of the Job" 10
Whereupon Mr.. Jobson took up his stand
on the front steps and awaited the pa ssinp
o. tne nrst man and brother. The first
Pressive clerical makeup. but Mr.. iobson
didn't notice that. 'o'S'n
Hey. Zeb," called, out Mr. Jobson from
nus nus position on the steps, dye want the
III u
dollar for the job II you hustle"
The dark-skffned man in the clerical rail-
ment stopped and regarded, Mr. Jobson re-
mo, sir he replied. looking Mr. Jobson
square In the eye: Il am not in quest OF
employment Of that character and Won
VIII permit me TO say that you exhibit a
peeunar ., lack OF Judgment in making such
proposition to a man Of my Cloth
Mr.. Jobson just stood on the stems and
gurgled and choked wrathfuliy as the man
anu prother passed on down the street,
ana az the ei ne glared into the parlor window
70 see II Mrs Jobson was laughing at him.
Mrs Jobson wasn't visible however. and
SO Mr. Jobson Whistled to a white youth
across the street and gave the youth
quarter to take the horse and buggy h.oL
to the livery stable. Then Mr. Johson
went upstairs, put on the most disreputa bile
suit OF clothes that he could find in the
store room and clomped down again. He
dug bushel basket and an old, ragged
edged shovel out of the cellar and made
his appearance in the basement areaway
with these tools.
What are you going to do?" called out
MRS Jobson from above
DO look like I'm going to a harvest
dancer" growled Mr.. Jpbson "Pm going
to put every solitary ounce Of those five
tons or coal In myself. that's what I'm
going to do. The only way / can get any
thing done around here is to do 1t myself
III L don't have the spot where that coal
STANDS swept and brushed clean inside of
al even HIty-nVe minutes I'll deed Won
this house and lot. that's ALL"
Mr.. Jobson began to work as II he were
putting out a confagration He piled the
first basketful about a foot over the rim
thereof, with the result that he could ba re-
ly move 1t. But he knew that Mrs. Jobson
was watching him out of the front win
dow. and he resolved to lift 1t or die, with
out jettisoning any Of the cargo. 1t was
a tremendous effort but he finally achieved
1t, not. however, without splitting about a
third of the coal on the trip from the pave
ment to the cellar. He only filed the NEXT
basketful up to the top; nevertheless. he
snorted and grunted good deal as he car
ried the load to the cellar The perspira-
ton began to stream down his redeemed
face, and the clouds of coal dust mingled
with the perspiration and inside of ten
minutes after Mr.. Jobson had gone at the
Job he was a sight. He might have passed
for somewhat over-heshy stoker in the
furnace room Of a steamship
Meanwhile, the heads of all of the wo-
men neighbors began to appear at their
front windows. Mr.. Jobson saw their heads
between the curtains out Of the slants of
his eyes. and the sight made him boil with
In. When he was just about to stoop over
to lift one Of the loads the merry, roguish-
eyed little widow down the street tripped
by, nOdding sweetly to Mr. Jobson as She
passed. Mr.. Jobson felt that she was laugh
ing at him, and this didn't increase his
happiness. Then one of Mr.. Jobson's neigh
bors, who was taking his annual leave at