The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-05-18
BUCK mceIHNIs' ILL LUCK.

Buck McGinn, the tough stage hand.
was il usually truculent mood. He had
fallen victim to the all pervading craze
for speculation. He had seen ten bos1rs'
earnings at the regular union rate of
sixty-two and a half cents per hour swal-
lowed up in less than four minutes OF
bucket shop experience rashly ventured
Al an unlueky period when the market
sagged suddenly ike q back drop that is
upiifted for transfer to the scene truck.
Nor was his irritation in any degree
allayed, but rather intensified, b. the
fact that one brief, heeting instant after
his marginal resources had become ex-
hausted, the blackboard quotations indi-
Gated that values had rebounded with the
residence OF a rubber ball.
1t was with sullen and eveil-eyed aver
sion, therefore, that Buck McGinn
glowered upon Mr.. J. CadwalIader Cow
perthwaite the debOnair leading man,
who entered the stage door with the
springy step and blithe and bouyant
bearing OF one unburdened by financial
cares and joyously exhilarated by the
invigorating ozone of a fair and pros
porous trade wind.
Mr.. COwperthwaite, whose admirably
fitting new blue serge suit, ox-blood
barred shirt front and Immaculate tan
gloves We're in perfect form, proclaiming
the man Of opulence and elegance, sa-
luted Mr. McGinn with democratic cor
diality as if no abyss OF social conditions
yawned between them
Thou hast not that alacrfty Of spirit
thou vert wont to have" remarked ].
Cadwallader Cowperthwaite breezily,
but Electrically. "Didst the back door
mans tip go awry? Hath the tickle jade,
Fortune, frowned upon thee and shorn
thee of thy frail possessions whilst thou
languished confdingly in warm but
treacherous dalliance%'
IF you mean am I a farm hand" re-
piled Buck McGinn, hoarsely, then
I'm the best ever I'm the sunburned
soap package the dollar bin is wrapped
in. I'm the easiest hayseed that ever
picked up the wrong shell. All I need
is chin whiskers an carpet bag to be
the finest specimen Of cOme-on that ever
crossed the Hoboken ferry to grab the
little bunch Of green goods"
AN incatiate craving for the acqui-
sition Of sudden riches has wrought the
undoing of many a good man. cOnsol-
ingly replied Mr.. Cowperthwaite, lapsing
into ordinary and unaffected form Of
speech. You should not reproaeh your
self for yielding to a weakness which
thousands Of great eminence and expert
ence are powerless TO resist"
Somebody ought to knock my block
off," reiterated Mr.. McGinn, modify.
I'D ought TO have a strange hold took
on me. I'd ought to be dubbed all the
way to the green light joint in Thirtieth
street an give thirty days on the island.
I'm a good thing if one ever came down
the old dirt road
You have but fallen victim to a dis
ease widely prevalent and directly trace
able to lack of moral sanitation" con-
tinued Mr.. COwperthwaite, refectively,
as he bit off the end Of a fragrant per-
fecto and scratched a waXen taper on
the gold match box with the ruby, dia-
mond and sapphire setting.
1T is a disease which is epidemic
rather than sporadic. and nothing but
heroic measures VIII check its spread and
restore healthful conditions. We are
dazzled by the meteoric success Of the
individual and blind to the disaster
which befans the many. The stockbrol-
er's clerk Of yesterday corners the mar
ket today and is bankrupted tomorrow.
The dull-eyed Italian bootblaek is sud-
denly missing from his accustomed stand
and IS anon discovered behind his own
swift steed upon the Speedway"
AN even the chatterin' maybe Of the
chorus girlst' interrupted Buck McGinn,
with a sense OF deep personal chagrin-
why, you can't pick up a paper without
seem their half tones, two columns wide,
an readin' about how they've coIlaTed a
billion an commenced BLOWN themselves
to private automobiles an hundred thous-
and lolIar diamond necklaces It's
enough to make an honest but unfortun-
ate member Of the Stage Carpenters
Union ripe for any old thing from simple
larceny to manslaughter."