Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-08-15
;OUTsIDE POINT OF VIEW.

Written for the Times Republican.
MIR. Pessimist,s Okoboii piary-Co,

lMr. Pessimist's Okoboji Diary-Con-
tinued.l
July 1st, 19o1.-Henry, the travelling
man, has got more sense than / gave
him credit for. Ii seems have less than
a man of my age ought to have. This
sentence is purposely put in here, 80
! that when I read these few words to
our whist club next winter no other ex-
PLANTATION will be necessary. Henry ac-
tually left his route at Spirit Lake and
came down here to Benedicts to see me:
To tell me that the old tabby cats at
home We're talking outrageously about
me; that they said" old Pessimist was
getting fast; that he had Joined "the
smart Set" was in fast company, male
and female. So he advised me to go to
the hosiery where l now am located.
And right here, why is it that respecta-
bility and poor food go together? The
Lord knows this place is respectable"
enough, but the table board is utterly
disreputable. The only way keep body
and soul together is to keep calling for
more. Perhaps Lulu OF Benedict's did
not go to Sunday school, but she knew a
man could eat half of a broiled spring
chicken. and the landlord looks up to the
ceiling because I open pint of Schlits
with my dinner. Still, from what Hen
! ry says, perhaps it is a good thing /
made the change. A man of my age can
not be too careful of his reputation.
sss
July 4.-We had sad illustration of
my pet doctrine of fate near here on
Monday. A man and his wife from
Cherokee were out fishing. Lightning
killed the wife but did not injure the
man or the boat. Now that was fate,
REORGANIZATION or anything else you
please 10 call IT. If the man had been
| where the woman was, ie., on the other
seat in the boat, he would have been
killed. II the boat had been one foot
away in any direction both would have
J been saved. If the man had been born
/ to be drowned the boat would have been
knocked to pieces and he would have
| gone to the bottom of the lake, or IL 1t
lhad been foreordained that she was not
born to be killed by lightning they
would not have gone out fishing that
| morning. / am going to bring this sub
i ject up at our whist club meeting. And
we had another sensational affair Sun
1 day night, that was not fate, but just
1 darned foolishness. A hot, sultry after
noon, with threatening storms IN the
l evening. But young fellow with four
as foolish women We're out sailing In a
4 boat that they say was nothing but a
row boat with a gail attached. A sudden
squall which developed into big thun-
/ der shower capsized the whole outfit
about 10 O'Clock In the evening. They
floated around for two hours. hanging
to the boat, and finally drifted ashore
near Gilley's. Now, there was no fate
or REORGANIZATION about this. Here S
where the free-will comes in, unless II
was fate that they didn't have more
brains. They knew enough to go ashore
before the storm came; they knew
enough to keep out of such rattle-trap
4 affair; they had plenty OF warning that
there was going to be a storm, and this
i crowd need not console themselves With
4 the thought that they were not fated tc
be drowned. They are. next time.
may be old fogyish, but if some OF these
girls and women that go in bathing here
were daughters, sisters, wives, cousins
or aunts of nine I'd read the riot act
/ ON the way they dress. or rather they
4 don't. / know this. that II one of those
/ women appeared in public the way they
do here not 300 feet from where an
\ writing this diary. they would be arrest
4 ed and locked up till some one went al
4 ter the rest of their clothes Those ole
gossips at home would probably do the
same IL they We're up here, but II Mrs
/ Grundy does go in bathing here (where
! we are all SO respectfully dressed as
& some Of these women do, I'll send her 9
pair of long legged black stockings as
sure az my name is Pesslmist.
1 Birdseye was up here over Sunday
and went fishing. Probably he'll write
home he Went Saturday night. We
didn't hire Inman or any other profess
4 sional or fancy fisherman. We hired
i, man to row the boat and to so where
we told him. We gave boy dime L
dig some worms. old-fashioned angle
!, worms, took along a pail of frogs and
pail Of minnows. We trolled for pick.
II erel and didn't get strike. We baitet
s with frogs for bass and finally caugh
one. Then we went over to East Oko
boil, with malice aforethought with
Icalm, deliberate intention Of catching
bullheads, and we caught them, VIII
worms for bait. Caught 1923 big bull
theads, some Weighing from two to thret
;. pounds each, and we could have caugh
Y 12s more IL we had cared to. IT was jus
as good fun for these two old boys as J
was for two certain young boys MT,
Z Years ago. And when the boat got bacl
II to the landing place noticed the land
!, Il 80 ~ sfH,e hnefnlrv spnf the nOrter ant