The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1900-11-15
MASTER JAMES horn,
THE HERO PAGE NO. 2

THE HERo PAGE NO. z
Senate Bill 57s,
Brand Whitlock In Saturday Evening Post.
He was page in Illinois leglslatur
-"House Page No. T." the bright me
tai badge on the lapel OF his coat sale
and all day long he heard nothin,
but Here, boy !" from city members
or "Hey, bub !" from country mem
bers, or "Hi, there kid !" from the 9th
er pages, or "Get move on you, Sey
en- =! rs the chief page snapped hi
fingers at him in his lordly way. Hi
real name was James, but he neve
heard that, now that his father wa
dead. His mother called him jamie
Jamie was kept very busy and ye
he enjoyed his legislative duties. He
felt that it was big thing to help
even in his humble little way, to make
laws for all the people in the State. II
was pretty important, for instance, tt
carry a paper from some member up tt
the clerks desk, for after the clerk had
read 1t, on three different days, and
the House had voted on 1t and passed
it., and after it had been read on three
different days and passed by the Sen ate
and after the Governor had read 1t and
thought over it as he walked back and
forth between the Executive Mansion
and the State House, and had written
his name on it, it became q law, and
everybody in the State had to obey 1t
or 60 to Jail.
The people were called constituents
they seemed to be divided up amongst
all the members of the Legislature
everybody in the State House had his
constituents. Jamie islt that, as a
legislator, he should have some constit-
uents, but he couldn't decide who his
constituents were, and he didn't like to
ask anybody. But finally he thought
of his mother, and when he told her
that she was his constituent she took
his little face between her two hands
and kissed him and pressed her cheek
to his. Her cheek was moist with
tears.
If everybody In the State House had
been az good to his constituents as
Jamie, Illinois would have been a very
happy place in which to live. When
his father died, Jamie's mother had to
take in sewing and to work hard to
keep things going. She was sad much
of the time, and always looked tired,
and this made jamie sad. He longed
to help her but he did not know what
to do. Then friend of theirs, Mr..
Woodbridge, said he could get Jamie
a place In the House ss page boy
they always say "page boy" In the Leg
one morning Jamle's
mother dressed him in his Sunday
suit and sent him up to the State
House with Mr.. Woodbridge.
And so he became a page. He was
paid dollar and halt day. Every
twenty days tho pay-rolls were made
out, and jamie would 20 down to the
Treasury, sign his name in a big,
round hand, "James Horn," and then
take home to his mother thirty
lollars in fresh, crisp, green bills !!
His mother had wished him to stay in
,chool, but OF course, being a page
vas better than going to school. There
we're no books to study, and then you
zot out so much earlier. every day
And more than all, you could not take
nome money from school!
The House net every morning
It ten o'clock, and after the Speaker
had taken his place under the canopy
where the beautiful flag was draped,
md had raped for order, and the
,haplain had prayed. the clerk would
,all the roll for Introduction OF bills.
This was Jamie's busiest time. Every
,ody would have bills to introduce or
petitions from his constituents to pre-
,ent, and for an hour jamie would be
up and down the aisles be-
,ween the members desks and the
Jerks desk. But after that he had a
spell, and could sit on the
Speakers steps and whisper to the
Speakers page, or look about over the
House and watch the members. There
we're grave members from the country
districts with long whiskers and steel
bowed spectacles, there were city men,
bers with fancy vests and diamonds,
there were Irish members and German
there was Polish member
named Kumaszynski, and there was
negro member, who sat away back on
The Republican side almost under the
and was very quiet, and wore
black clothes and gold eyeglasses.
But there was one whom Jamie
liked above all the others. He was
all, with smiling blue eyes that saw