Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-24
AND THERE WERE OTHERS

ABOUT CLOCK on SUNDAY morning idSt u
stout. square-jawed man bought a newspa-
per from boy at the northwest corner of
Corcoran and 14th streets, and then walked
out onto the asphalt to await the passing of
a downtown 18th street car. He took his
stand at the near side of the street, as
usual. After about four minutes a two-car
train came along at full speed. The man,
VINO had been glancing over the headlines
OF mis- paper, folded it up and placidly wait
ca Tor the car to stop for him. 1t didn't
stop. 1t went by like an ice yacht, there
being few people crossing the street at that
hour. AS the train whizzed by the man
waiting at the corner of Corcoran and 14th
streets, the motorman shouted some indis-
tinct directions and pointed to the other
side of the street.
The man looked mad.
what's the matter with that Internal
idiot, I'd like to know he growled. And
You'd think the darned old train was going
to fret If there's any one particular
thing that makes me hot all over it's to
have car shoot by me this way and leave
me standing like a blasted hobo that's been
ditched from hog train. I'd give SO. so to
have that condinged motorman's number.
"a take day off and go ito the superin-
tendent of the line, and if ! wouldn't
burn that dog-Soned-but 1 suppose they'd
tell me the trains were bit late on the
schedule, or some such fuzzy-wuzzy excuse
a. tha u, anu u get Tanned, ike everybody
does mat goes up against a bloated corpo-
ration"
Thus the man stood and growled to HIM
self looking all the time up toward the
curve at FLORIDA avenue for another train.
The rooked-for train curled around the
curve presently, and in a few moments it
was at r street. The man at the corner of
i4tn ana Corcoran streets stroked his mus
tache and prepared to swing himself
aboard. He was surprised to observe that
the motorman made no move toward shut
slhS OH the power and putting on the brake
me car shot by him, and again the motor
man pointed across the way and yelled
some things that couldn't be heard by the
citizen, owing to the rafting of the cars
and the buzzng of the power
linen the citizen turned purple with wrath
ana the veins stood out on his forehead
What he said can't be set down He shook
ms INST at the train growing smaller down
i i'm street, and he rayed and tore around
ike a man whose good thing horse has
been left at the post. He whired around
ana jumped up in the air and all but
frothed at the mouth
ION, you dad hinged coyotesr' he shouted
shaking both fists at once as if he had the
whole board of directors of the line in front
Oh MN and was giving them what was
eSlning TO them You'll get yours, all
right. Just wait. dod-gast you! I hope
Congress'1 reduce the fares on your line
u one-eighth of a cent a ride, consarn you,
and make you run the cars every twelve
seconds. night and day, and then wind up
dy w,
on general principles, you hyenas! Oh,
YOU
Well, the citizen just stood there and
worked himself up to the verge of apo
pIeXy, rehearsing the things he was going
to pour into the ear of the conductor of
the next train when it came along and he
got aboard He was going to find out the
numbers OF the two motormen ahead, and
ne was going to blow the gaf on them to
the boss of the line if it the last act
OF his life: If they thought they were GO
ing to make monkey and a pin-head out
of him. they were up in the air. that's all,
and if he didn't get even with somebody.
then he didn't know the multiplication
table. and YOU heard him shouting, etc No
one really did hear him shouting, for the
streets We're still deserted but if ANYBODY
had been by and seen and heard him he'd
no doubt have been put down as a fugitive
from the large government foolish house
across the Eastern branch.
He was still breathing fast and hard
when another train bore down on him from
r street This time the man was going to
see to it that the motorman should have no
excuse for not stopping. He raised both
arms and tagged the train like a freight
brakeman on the top of a caboose tackled
on to train Of thirtyseven cars. But it
was no go. The motOrman didn't choke off
the power nor did he give the brake airy
a twist. Instead, he pointed down the
street, smiled good-humoFedly and pro-
nounced a number of indistinct words. The
car continued on its charted course.
thought that he'd been marooned on a
desert isle, or that he'd been clinging to
raft in the middle of the Indian ocean and
a steamer had just passed him by and de-
clined to pick him up. But he was too mad
to say anything. He just looked it all.
After while he managed to articulate:
All right. It's all right. The next train'll
stop-I'll bet five hundred billions on that
or l go to a slab in the morgue, one or the
other Oh. frabjous day, Calico, calIay"'
He didn't use these latter CALCULATIONS ex-
actly. but they'll serve to give an idea of
his state of mind
When, a few minutes later the next train
gained the little rise at the corner of r
street the citizen deliberately spread out
his newspaper in the middle of the track
and sat down thereon, clasping his knees
with his hands Then he looked around
calmly. seeming to be quite oblvious to the
swift approach of the train. The motor
man changed his foot-bel and shouted, but
the citizen seated in the middle of the ira ck
seemed to be immersed in a study of the
signs over the shops 14th street. The
car came to a halt about five feet away.
Hey. die want to git run Overt! ex-
claimed the mOtorman, wrathily.
But the citizens mad made him speech
less. He rose from his sitting posture.
walked back, and swung on to the platform
of the first car just as the conductor was
pulling the bell. The motorman was growl-
ing. IF a cop'd seen that duck, he'd ha'
been pinched all right
When the citizen sat down in the car, he
pulled the conductor over to him.
II would about two thousand words with
your he muttered In tone of subdued
ferocity. Il want you to make me a per-
sonally-conducted explanation. here and
now. how it was that three pulp-headed
poliywog- Drained imbeciles employed by
your company to run trains deliberately
disregarded my signals and whizzed by me
like as IL they were making up time or
cannon-bali expresses. and why they"
DIE wait for 'em on the nearside of the
street?' interrupted the conductor, with an
amiable grin.
Where else would I wait for them"
shouted the man. Where the"
But the conductor, still smiling cheerfully
was pointing to nice new sign tackled VI
in the front of the car.
THAT signs been there for the past week
or ten days" said the conductor.
The ferocious citizen looked up and reat
the sign, which went as follows:
Beginning Sunday, March IL, cars will
stop after crossing the street.
Then the man remembered. He moppeG
/ his forehead, spread out his paper, an6
mumbled something about the Commission
ers of this District being too blamed of
l dcious.
| ChicagO's Noted River.
Il