Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-10-07
PLAIN TALK FOR PLAIN PEOPLE.
Crisp and Breezy Comment on Mat
tiers in the Public Eye.
lMrItten for the Reformer.l

Yes. had great time In 81, Johns
bury, lively time, ! reached there
something past seven a. m. after half
the night on the. train and the rest
waiting round stations. or course i
visited the brethren Ia the caledo-
ninn and Republican offices and MI.
Sillowny of the former did up the town
with me. Art gallery and library, mu-
scum and public schools, and-the
boulevard. It's really the only one OF
It's kind In Vermont; half n mile long.
macadamiZed lawns turfed and smooth
both inside and outside the sidewalk,
trees. not too many, and houses. plain
and good. There are plenty of avenues.
but this, so far, was my first boule-
ward.
The scale works YOU know about
and can find out about-elsewhere
This Is q kind OF chronological letter
and I dipped somewhat In men and
the things they do. First, the Lily
white nj home. He's much like other
men and takes his evening drink
when he thinks he needs II. He
doesn't require a bar because he keeps
one In his trunk and sends To Woods
Vile when the inverted Lily fails 10
shower Dew A pleasant cop In an
empty coop showed me his drunk
book Business light--very. Apparently
the jug does not always produce jag.
Yes sir" said the cop the law works
we'll Not half the DRINKS as when
four or five dives, dozen kitchen bar
rooms and fifty pocket pedders were
doing business. Yes. there's lots OF
drinking yet. but no open violations
and practically no DRINKS" Conclu-
sion No. /; the Lilywhite knows what
he wants.
Hildreth of Newport. playwright
editor, traveller and pharmacist told
thrilling tale that sounded like the
third act of "Old Kentucky" Then
he quoted the Cracker who said:
'Yaas. we-uns is to blame but you
see a niggah's a niggah and we amt
got no use for him." At White River
Junction a bunch of "Creoles' from
some Troubadour company got on the
train. The car was full. Ahead of me
pink checked Yankee girl sat, at her
right the butted-off sde-seat that be-
longs TO the brakeman and , lanterns.
A big black Amazon spotted the seat
beside little Prue and undulated TO IT,
Prue sidled to the window, then slid
quietly to seat with the Ian
terms. There were other seats and the
Creole might have sat with the ian-
terms. No, insolent, ebony and sloe-
eyed, throwing loose eye around the
car, the barbaric EARRINGS and coarse
finery completed a picture of an in
ferior race triumphant.
Paid for her seat? Sure she
did, but | could feel my gorge rise to
see that little Vermont girl, her back ,
turned a bit primly, sitting with the ,
lanterns while that black hussy chat I,
ted with her niger porter, and. be-
tweenwhiles, turned and viewed the
public, loose Tipped and dangerous,
| guess | must be a Cracker, for a
niger gets on my nerves, and I've
known some mighty white niggers at
that.
De Boer. inquisitor: A finer thing ,
hasn't happened in Vermont FOR
years than a man, WHOSE time Is
worth SAL a day, putting in three days !
to clear beyond all question the re-
cord of a successful political rival !
Charlie Walter tells me, and he wasn't |,
exactly a De Boer man, that for en- /,
ergy, concentration, grasp and ability,
Mr. De Beers conduct of the inves- ,
tigation of the Bell vouchers made a ,
profound impression on his associates ,
and won't be forgotten in hurry. The /,
report shows II. Full, explicit and yet 7
absolutely unbiased and without one
needless word, the document Is
model. Men less wise might have
made 1t political instrument. whereas
it is now a plain severe statement
a ,sx1 a.1f- fInt
about the hardest spanking that even t
Belknap of the Falls could wish for t
poor old Davenport. strong. wide I
angled man is that same Joseph A. h
De Boer. AS few of us have believed /
for some time. s
Il
Yes, as Davenport put 1t when after
80 hours of hard, firing work. all were
agreed on main facts. Il guess the old !
man was honest after all. He was
and is: and | have it from unimpeach-
able authority that he could have in
creased his expense account several
hundred dollars in a perfectly legiu-
mate way-and didn't. He did the L
work, and it was disagreeable, thank I
less work, drew the pay, and, in many d
cases. advanced considerable sums of a
money TO the state for expenses. re-
covered afterwards by slow process g
Of voucher | think Vermont has been e
soaked" all right enough, but II $
wasn't done by C. j. Bell
II anyone ever needs regiment OF
athletes it can be recruited from the !
in the Fairbanks scale {
shop. Such biceps, deltoids and eX-
ensors l haven't seen outside gym
lasium and mighty few such there. q.
They were pouring a big casting IN II
he iron foundry when our party went Il
through The flaming metal, as 1t e
suffered and sizzled into the mould,
it up a group of men. and their cord
ID arms, strong, shapely shoulders and y
huge chests would have made the ply y
steal director of an athletic team q
gasp with admiration. And the brass !,
aren't exactly the diseased, y
wasted specimens that one somehow !,
ooks for in the pungent fumes, ana u
charged air they breathe.
I'd hate TO line up against them In
football game. !. y
l watched a yard crew making up
freight train the other day. | used to
10 it myself and l was Interested
IN my time-and that's less than Is
FEARS ago, ii was a case of link and
Din. with a chance always of losing !. y
niger, hand or limb, even If a couple y
If drawbars didn't slip past one an
,ther and squeeze man to death be- !,
ween the deadwoods. There's danger y
ret but with knuckle couplers almost :,
universal and no more man-killers :.
,eing built the brakeman or yardman ~
s getting to be a fair insurance risk -
md that's saying a good deal. -
f.
The railroads said the automatic OF
coupler law was interfering With their q