Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1903-01-15
Lite { I e
N G [ |
Fowler
Copyright, 1901, By Il. s. Richardson

! men and children, cheered and waved
/ paras1ls. hats, handkerchiefs and min
/ iature flags.
| The great Labor day parade passed
slowly along. and parties of picnickers
! filed the street cars on other thorough
! fares.
Fathers, husbands and sons were
where every son of toll should be on
| such a day, in the ranks of the labor
! men on parade. A few were working
/ In miniature shops erected as floats
representing some particular line of in
| dustry and drawn along the streets by
| gayly decked horses, but the multitude
! were in the ranks, each in his respec-
| tive union, doing his little to swell the
| showing in the army of the laboring
man, the bone and sinew of a great
| nation.
! Ted Gardner, as usual, was in line.
Ted's friends always looked for him on
one of the huge floats that preceded the
various unions and labor organizers
representing the different branches of
! mechanical art For six years Ted had
been with the Westchester company,
and there was not a man of the five
hundred and more employees who
earned his livelihood within the walls
but had CHEEKY word for Ted. Since
the last Labor day parade, however, to
his most intimate friends Ted had not
appeared to be just as cheerful as in
the old days. Moreover, he was doing
| too much night work at home.
ITS enough to work your eight hours
1 -o1f 10 !, 4Ja
morning of the parade, "and put in
your evenings knocking around"
"Not the kind that knocks around,
| Fits replied Ted.
go over and see the girl, then, my
boy" responded Fitson as a parting
! shot. That's better still.''
Good advice" muttered Gardner to
himself, "but l quit that a year ago"
The Westchester employees always
met after the Labor day ceremonies
| and had an excursion of their own in q
general, good, old fashioned picnic
| style. This year Ted had decided to
| take charge of the two floats that came
| from the Westchester shops and see
| them safely returned. He was not 60
| ing to the picnic.
On one float, showing a small marine
engine and three benches with the
| same number of men busily at work,
was Ted attfred in working clothes and
doing nothing in particular, but moving
| about.
| His mind was evidently on the other
| float ahead, for he continually glanced
| in that direction. On this float was a
| genuine, if small, naphtha launch, and
| to add to the realistic effect three Ia
| dies of the office snmff and as many
men from the same department, be-
| comingly attired in boating costumes,
were lounging about on the cushions.
The small engine in the craft was not
working, but the naphtha was occa-
sionally lighted to keep steam up for
the purpose of blowing the ear split
ting whistle at stated intervals.
1t was not the float itself that at
| tracted the attention of young Gard
ner, but little Nell Fowler, one of the
| three ladies. Nell was the Oldest
daughter of big Joe Fowler, for many
years foreman of the Westchester
works and a man who thought well of
Ted and had kept his eye on the boy
| in the early days, for there's some
| thing more than ordinary in that cuss,"
| he would say. But Joe contracted diph-
liberia during the epidemic in the shops
| In 1899 and was the third Of the eight
men carried off that never to be forgot
| ten spring.
The company did something hand
some" as the boys put it, for each Of
the bereaved families, and In addition
in Fowler's case took into the office at
a fair salary his daughter Nell, a young
woman of some twenty summers.
The day of Joe's death Ted had met
Nell walking down to the works to
deliver the message. She was weep
ing. He had never spoken to her be-
FORE but he suspected her mission
and, raising his cap politely, said feel
ingly: "Please, Miss Fowler, I'll tell
them at the works. Don't you go down
there"
Nell hesitated a moment, looked ap-
pealingly at him, then "Thank you,"
she said. you are very kind" Quick
ly she retraced her steps, and Ted,
watching the retreating figure for a
moment, sauntered off to break the
news to the Office staff.
Yes, he remembered all that as
though it were yesterday, yet it was
almost three years ago. Labor day of
that year Nell was not at the picnic,
but on the next holiday she was there,
and on that very day he had told her.
1t needed no telling, for Nell had
known long ago. as every woman does,
and she was proud of it, but she sat
silently picking a wild flower to pieces
rs he spoke, and finally when he asked
that she give up the office and come
with him to n new home OF their own
she rose to her feet and moved away.
He had followed. From then on she
seemed to change. At least Ted thought
So Again he had spoken and this time
got an answer. 1t was NO" If she
held any love for him, 1t was hidden
deep somewhere beyond the vision Of
human eyes.
"If it's on account of your mother,
Nell" Ted ventured, "why, of course,
she'll live with us. I want her too.
Why. bless you, Nell" he went on with
q cheerful smile, 81 believe 1 want her
as bad as | do you"
But Nell only shook her head. and
day after day, as Ted passed the office,
he watched her bending over the desk,
and she seemed to be slipping farther
and farther away from him and his
love
All this flashed through his mind as
the parade moved on. and he glanced
from the cheering crowds to the little
figure in the float ahead
The procession was now near the
end of the line of march and had
stopped temporarily at the bridge over
the river, which rushed past the south
entrance to the park, where the hnal
review and sports were to take place.
In the small launch ahead the occu-
pants were taking advantage of the
stop to change seats. The engineer
was starting the flow of naphtha under
the boiler to produce more steam Tor
Il final screeching of the little whistle
as they entered the grounds
Nell had moved down to the stern OF
the boat. Before she was seated, how
ever, there came deafening report and
blaze of light, followed by the
screams Of women.
Ted heard and saw 1t all. For
second he did not move, could not, Dut
IT was only for second. Then he
leaped over into the crowd; in another
In