Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-12-19
a Z NIGHT
OF 1901
Nv WILLIAM b LOSS.
copyright, 1901, by Authors syndicate.)

LONG aDOuC Iue uuAuuIC VI 'A'"
~ series of school READERS which
was most used a generation ago-it
nav have been the "third,' or it may
have been the Fourth" reader-was
one which, among other classic Sc
lections, contained the account in
verse of how, when the queen
of the medieval fete had ban
tered Lord Francis to chase aft
er the glove she had wantonly
thrown into the arena among fero-
cious collection of man-eating lions,
the active and astute Lord Francis
eighty leaped'' down to the arena
sands, deftly snatched up the lady's
glove before the astonished lions could
figure out what he was up to, climbed
nimbly back to his seat by the fair
lady's side, and then-good Lord Fran
cis!-threw the glove, slap bang, right
in the lady's face.
"Not love-" quoth he, ''but vanity,
prompted such deed as this"
The poet fails to inform us upon the
point, but one can imagine that after
this there were no wedding bans for
the fair ladye and Lord Francis, who
was the catch of the season, and that
she was exceeding sore about it, and
repented her folly at leisure.
There may be different mental atti-
tudes regarding the propriety of this
tempestuous conduct of Lord Francis,
some, no doubt, contending that no
true gentleman would under any stress
of irritating circumstances return to
lady her glove by throwing it sharp
ly into her face, and that this breach
of decorum at once stamped the knight
as boorish-mannered and racous-
minded person, whose name should be
stricken from the blue book of his day;
but it appears to be a majority point
of view that the lady was served ex-
actly as she deserved, and that if she
went unmarried to the end of her days
she received only such measure as she
1neted. And strangely enough, it is
the ladies themselves who most ar
IDENTIFY uphold this latter view of
the case.
In the midsummer of this first year
Of our newest century, the big city of
Chicago, stirred by the public spirit of
a generous citizen, discovered in sud-
denness what had been a readily ap-
parent fact for three whole genera
tions-that it's far-stretching shore of
sandy beach and cooling water was a
heritage of the people, and had not
been designed by nature as riparian
asset for land-gra bling corpora tions
or an easy dumping spot for the refuse
of contractors. Accordingly, private
means having furnished the equip
ments of which the civic purse had de-
MED, or never thought of, there were
established all along the shore, from
the mouth of the sedgy Calumet to
far Lake View, public bathing beaches,
provided with convenient DRESSING
rooms, with soap and towels and bath
ing suits, free for the uses of all who
came, with life lines and floating RATS
upon which the bathers could disport,
and, above all, with expert attendants
to teach the art of swimming and to
be at touch in any moment of peril
which might unhappily overtake the
inexperienced or the venturesome,
The waters of Lake Michigan are cold,
and only when an east wind rolls it's
sun-heated surface in upon the shall
lows of the western shore is it really
adapted for pleasure bathing.
Public appreciation of this new.
found luxury-and tacit condemna-
ton of the civic stupidity which had
SO long denied it to the people. it's
real owners-was evidenced at once
in the vast popularity these free bath.
ing beaches leaped into in an in.
slant and continued to hold until the
nipping air of fall rendered undress
disporting on the sands no longer a
pastilne and JOY. Hundreds of thou
sands of visitors, the records show
partook of their advantages during
the brief season.
1t was at the most frequented OF
all these beaches so opened to pub.
lie use that young Elmer Armstrong
a university matriculant, whose leg
acy had been a stout heart and am
bition to rise, a strong body and the
hardy constitution bequeathed by
sturdy forbears, pure mind and in
trepid resolution. He had, besides, {
widows blessing and a couple O:
hundred dollars he had earned as ar
amateur life saver before he became
freshman at 10.
Not much, you will say, when i
must be reckoned that this was alb
solutely all he had in the world, be
yond the dear memory of how hi.
mother had loved him, and had toilee
long that he might go through tn.
high school. Well, there are thos,
worse equipped, many men who's,
white hairs speak of that wisdom
whose seed are trial and experienc,
would prefer Elmer Armstrong; cap
ital of youth and courage and hop
and loyalty to two hundred times tw,
hundred dollars in the bank, withou
those things. 1t wasn't the pawn
brokers, but the youth who wer
swift and strong, whom the ancient
crowned with laurel.
And Elmer Armstrong passed use
full and a prosperous and a sunli
summer. Useful because his swift
daring in the water served to brin
safely ashore many foolish swimmer
who were overtaken by cramp in dee
water, and many unaccustome
bathers who lost their balance an
their heads when the wind blew ten
pestuous breakers out of the cas-
and made dangerous underto,
when the wild waves sought hui
riedly to retreat, astonished, fro1
the shore to the depths which ha
horne them. nrOSnerOus becauSe h