The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-06
RY FRANK H. s9zAsmAN.

1t was an a smoking room OF a Pullman
car en- route to Los Angeles; we were talk
ing about kickers.
1T Is all right enough to kick" observed
q travelling man. II can kick when there's
need Of IL. Still. there's one kind of kick
ers / don't take to-the fellows that kick
too quick. This coast trip I've made once
q year now for twelve years. I'd rather
give the house a thousand dollars any time
than take it; but can't get out of it. so I
have to pound along over this alkali about
once a year. annually"
you mean-every twelve months" sug-
sested a lawyer. Tipping his ash
Last time when 1 came through" con-
finued the travelling man. ignoring the
amendment, we had a kicker in the car;
q wel1-fed, bull-neck chap. with side whis-
kers and bags and suit cases and canes and
umbrellas and golf clubs, and everything
on earth a man doesn't need. piled up all
around him. He had section four and I
had FIVE. so I got the benefit Of the foreign
tags on his luggage.
I'VE pulled out Of Chicago about IL
o'clock that night. I turned In early. but
of course there are always a lot of people
that never get under way till the last min
ute and they were going to bed all around
me long after The train started. To make
IL worse, after we got past Aurora the por-
ter fshed every blamed thing I had In the
way Of baggage out from under my berth
and crawled around on his hands and knees
TIL he had me as wide awake as a grass
hopper. looking for somebody's handbag.
He said a german lost his bag and it must
be som'er's around under there. After he
got me all stirred up and found nothing
he tackled the baggage Of my bull-neck
neighbor across the aisle. But that man
wouldn't stand for it, not for a minute,
and he beloved at the porter till the boy
was glad enough to get off with his life
and let his traps alone.
cit was about half past II o'clock then.
i though was going to manage some sleep
and worked hard for an hour to get next
TO II, when all Of a sudden No. Z, Just ahead
OF me. began coughing. Cough, I never
heard the beat OF 1t In my life. 1t wasn't
q loud cough. nor a hard one, but Just a
little miserable, aggravating hack that ran
along In triplets as regular as a foghorn.
i turned on one side and turned on the
other; I tried my good ear up and my bad
ear up; stuck my head between the pillows;
once 1 pulled the blanket over it. 1t wasn't
a bit Of use; that kind Of a cough would
go through a burglar-proof vault. There
wasn't a soul in the car could sleep; L
know that perfectly well, because some
body was up and down all night except
that cougher in No. Z. He never got up,
nor let up except when the train stopped,
and when we took a fresh start he took a
fresh start. and we chased along that way
clear TO the Missouri. OF course. when L
saw the case was hopeless l gave up try
ing and turned my attention to figuring UP
my expense account and planning for an
Increase in salary this year-that L haven't
got yet So the night wore along; cough.
cough, cough, and two or three times 1
heard the bull-neck man kicking like sixty
about it TO the porter. About daylight I
did get one little nap; just enough to make
me cross for all day.
After breakfast, when all the car was
made I'D. except No. Z, and we were talk
ing across sections, the man with the golf
clubs began telling what he thought of
anybody that would keep a car full of pas
sengers wide awake all night coughing. We
hadn't heard a sound from I since daylight,
and we wouldn't have known whether there
was a man or a woman behind the curtains
80 49, nat hun5 up ny IhC
ventilator.
Its an imposition on the rights OF
passengers for a man to make a public
nuisance OF himself in any way asserted
Bull-neck. talking across at me good and
loud, so No. Z could hear il. And Them
he went on. after other folks have turned
out without any sleep he takes his good
nap I'm the morning. Travellers that re-
serve space in a private car are entitled to
the rest and comfort they Fay for without
disturbance. They wouldn't allow that sort
of thing anywhere but I'm the United
States
Just as he wound up No. Z opened his
curtains and put his feet down in the aisle.
He was a young man, not a day over thirty.
and all dressed, though his hair was tum-
bled a good deal and he looked tired. He
pushed the curtains back both ways with
his hands and looked at the fellow in 4.
For = minute he didn't say a word: you
may lie sure no one else did. He lust
looked at Goif-clubs a minute and then he
began kind of low.
Tin the meanest man ON earth. I konw
that. Just a miserable. low-down eur. You
needn't have taken the pains to talk so
loud while you Were telling me what you
thought of me. It's not half so bad as
what 1 think of myself
ut appeared a strain for him to talk.
He had big eyes and looked as thin in the
face as a postage stamp. He was so quiet
you couldn't have told ne was mad except
for two warm, red spots I'm his cheeks.
Bull-neck picked up a newspapare and be-
gan to shuttle it around.
You want to know what business a
mans got in a car like this if he can't keep
from disturbing other people, No. 7 went
on. I'D just as lief tell you my business.
I'm going to California to try to save nv
iife- 1 wasn't able to sit up all night in a
chair car and l bought this berth and paid
for IL with money / earned myself. You
say they wouldn't allow this anywhere but
In the United States. l suppose II you were
running this read you'd refuse to sell me
space; YOU wouldn't give me a chance. il
you could help. TO breathe California air.
would you? What are you going To Cali
fornia for?' No. Z seemed 10 be sizing up
his man pretty fast by that time. Going
out there TO play golf and loaf around the
big hotels and lie about what a score you
can make on grass links, aren't you? You
probably never earned a dollar OF the
money you are spending. and you probably
never were sick a day in your life, and