Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1902-06-12
4 SHAKEN ATTACHMENT

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"A SHAKEN ATTACHMENT
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The cannery cook looked nervousl
1t bis watch. Quarter past eight an
10 fruit He stopped to the tank cocl
and three experimental jets OF stsar
sputtered up In impatient bubble
through the cold water. Somewhat re
lieved, he shut the valve and glance
at the clock on the wall. APPARENT,
1t had stopped like the rest Of th
works.
1.-THE slowest gang Of girls l eve
saw" he snortcd. Dave was higl
pressure boiler, but he frequently lie
of.
A youngish- brown whiskered man, II
q pink golf shirt, jumped on the edgs
Of the tank and balanced there peril
ously. He was the manager OF the Cal
ifornia Consolidated Apricot Company
Restlessness and vehemence bOilet
down, he often said he paid Dave ex-
ira wages to help him fume, One rea-
son why thu nager managed every
thing SO WI 3 because he knew Sc
we'll how GSfage the manager.
Hang ltlpRyk!' said he, the min
ute girl VA be good for anything,
she quits apd marries. II could keep
my best helpl life would be worth liv-
ing. Come. girls, comet"
1t quicke4Al the workers across the
half partition, this clarion call and the
glimpse Of the managers tense face.
1.-THE boss Is getting cranky" said a
brown haired girl with rubber glove
fingers on, hurrledly poking half ap-
ric0t through the little round hole In
the top OF the can. All the packers had
their fingers protected against the
cruel curve Of the tin. White cotton
rags would do
Have you noticed how the boss has
duded up latelyY' asked the blonde who
sozzled the syrup into the packed cans
with the rubber lawn hose that came
down from the vat in the attic. She
was rather stately and ambrosial, and
reminded one Of Hebe on frieze irri-
eating her row Of gods with sweetened
water. The California Consolidated
had dumped ton Of sugar into It's nee
tar pots that very morning.
Don't you sabe?" asked another
girl. Jessie did pretty pronto."
Spanish adapts itself elegantly to slang
In the Southwest.
"Oh, you're locoed!" rejoined Hebe,
swishlng the nectarous nozzle from one
little tin god to another with an ely
sian disregard Of the spill. "The man
ager will look above jessie she
added.
"You see"
Dave had turned the valve again, and
the steam roared into one of the big
tanks. Another Kissed and growed,
and the conversation OF the girls was
inaudible. The packers had caught up
with the process room, and the apricot
factory was In full blast. How deity
the sealer blistered the yarn of solder
around the can tops, which spun on the
revolving disks in front of him! The
metal string ran down from a coil over
his head, the whlrllng man caught it,
and the hot iron tied the knot The
other workers might fall behind but
the sealer could stand in his tracks,
hold his hands over the whirliggs, look
pleasant and keep caught up.
The manager drew a breath Of salts
faction as he saw the platform of cans
lowered into the Kissing bath. Give
'em forty-fve minutes this time, Dave
he said, and passed into the labelling
shed.
If there was anything that pleased
the manager more than another 1t was
his labelling department; and perhaps
he could not have told whether his la
bells or his labeller gave him the more
pleasure To the eye they were equally
inviting. The cream and yellow under
tones Of the enameled wrappers ap-
pealed to ones imagination; they tast-
ed good. Upon them the designer had
ripened two juicy apricots, suggesting
that the only bite in the world worth
taking came from the fabulous orchards
of California, IT'S the label, and not
the stock, that sells the pack the
manager would admit in a confidential
moment. The golden apples Of the
Hesperides would have humbugged
more people than they did had there
been photographers in those days.
Jessie's left hand picked up q gisten-
Ing label, and her right seized a can Of
fruit; one end Of the label ilirted dam
tily through a little pool Of paste at
the end Of her bench; the can revolved
once and rolled itself into the wrap
per-done. An ugly tin had turned
into a thing Of beauty, Jessie had
merely beckoned, and 1t had jumped
into Its yellow Jacket. Small wonder
was 1t that the other girls thought she
had beckoned the manager into his
pink shirt.
He stood for a moment and admired
her. The lines Of her fair young face
and blooming figure had not been hard
ened by the month she had spent in
the cannery, earning her SLIGO a day.
Il wonder II shall lose her, too?" the
manager said to himself. 1t would be
hard to tell all that was in his thoughts
then. Most Of the time he was think
ing Of the success Of the company and
the difficulty Of keeping good help.
by Jove!" he went on, his counte-
nance lighting up with business in
spiration. am nut her picture on the