Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-07-08
DAILY SHOR STORY
WHEN cLoVERDALE GRoANED.

was Aunt Sarah Dutton. She had lived
| In single bIesSe,lness TO the age of
forty five and was fairly well OF and
had opinions of her own.
| Six o'clock supper had been eaten in
/ Cloverdale. and the hens We're thinking
| Of going to roost. and the village cows
were coming home 10 he MIXED, when
a shiver suddenly r..a through the burg.
| A tow headed boy OF ten years was re-
| sponsible for the shiver. Aunt Sarah,
So she was known TO all, had been
| away visiting her sister for fort
night. She had now returned. she
had not only returned, but she had
come across the country from Greggs-
vile on a bike, and at that very mo
ment the said bike was leaning up
| against the front of her house In way
to defy public opinion.
For some minutes the town was SO
| taken by surprise that no one knew
Just what to do. 1t was Uncle Reuben
Phelps who soonest recovered from
the shock and called an Indignation
| meeting on the steps or the postotice.
| For some time he was ia doubt as TO
whether to ring a fire alarm on the
! church bells or build bonfire to call
out the town, but finally compromised
| by making a speech in which Ice con-
WINGED every nearer that the bulwarkS
of morality were in danger and that
every citizen with sentiment in his soul
must arise to do battle.
4 committee of five had just been APP
pointed to proceed to the house of Aunt
Sarah aud investigate. taking the tow
headed boy along as a hostage, when
the woman they were looking for mp
peared. She was on her bike. She was
wearing bicycle outfit, and she
whizzed 50 close to Uncle Reuben that
the wind caught his coat tails and
made them stream out like flags.
Gentlemen" he remarked as he tried
hard to crowd back his emotions. 1.-The
crisis has arrived, and the crisis has
got to be met Let us meet it at any
cost of blood and treasure.
Thereupon the committee let 20 of
the tow headed boys hair and returned
to the postoffice. Aunt Sarah was
there before them and cavorting up
and down and around Oh her bike.
Fifty men and boys looked on, but she
was not abashed. The silence of the
crowd was Ominous of dispIeasure, but
she smiled and giggled as she rode. 1t
was Deacon Nottingham who reached
the limit first and stepped out into the
street and burst forth with:
woman, | never expected to see this
day. If you have gone crazy l pity
you, but If you are here in your sober
senses-if this shameless exhibition
But at that moment the front wheel
of the bike struck his knees and Slowed
him into the ditch and caused him to
forget the remainder Of his peroration.
Then Josiah Green, on whose land
the annual camp meetings had been
held for the last twenty five years and
who had always held that n woman
who climbed over rail fence instead
Of through it was menace to fOunda-
ton principles, called for the cycllst
to stop her gambols and uttered Il
groan and began:
When my wife died two years ago
thought l could never be recOnciled
TO her loss, but when now behold one
of her sex wObblin' around on a wob-
BILE
Il don't wobble." interrupted Aunt
Sarah as she headed for him and drove
him out Of the street
When l see one OF her own sex
wobblin' around on wobble'- cOntin
ued Josiah from the sidewalk. But he
had only got that far when Aunt Ssr-
alb disnounted and faced the crowd
and said:
This is woman's wheel. l have
learned to ride. l shall ride every
day. shall ride up and down every
street, and such Of you as don't like 1t
can lump 1t"
GrOans of anguish followed her as
she mounted and rode away, and then
Uncle Reuben was called upon for an
other speech. lie made one. He pref
aced It by saying that he was fifty six
years old and had passed through sew
eral epochs. but never before had he
been called upon to face such an epoch
as this. As he stood there he could
feel the bulwarks of morality and re-
spectabIlity tOttering to their fall
1t had been predicted that the time
would come when women would climb
trees and turn somersauHs off the top
Of hsystacks. but he had refused to be
lieve. He must believe that unless
something were done they would go
further.
Uncle Reuben wanted to close his re-
marks with few words on Washing
ton crossing the Delaware, but the
crowd had decided to appeal to Aunt
Sarah's pastor to bring her to book and
began to move of. A dozen OF them
were ready to make charges and de-
mand that she be tried by the church,
but the smiling pastor waved them
aside and quietly said:
"In the first place. brethren, II may
not be unknown TO you, though tenn
porarily forgotten, that Aunt Sarah
holds a mortgage on our church for
$3.50 and can begin foreclosure any
har and In tho naxf uIana &c nv ,.-sfo