The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1906-08-17

14cC lo1ene0 Ae0 the white
Aan's burden on his shoulders. 2ds
1aA been slectsd mayor 81 Belitown.
And Bslltown ~ ! bankrupt town:
dnanclai1y ana matsrfaliy. Belltown
~ sunk into the. Slough Of Despond.
William McClenaAan was something
more than the mere mayor OF Bell
town. He. was the sole proprietor Of
the White Store In New York. He
had good stun to sell ana no knew how
g talk about Il; and people listened,
and came and bought His White Store,
. store built upon . mammoth scale,
vas the result None but McClenahac
knew that the receipts Of the store
baralys balaneads 4 expenses; that ne
store hung Quivering on the brink Of q
precipice.
McClenahan was bachelor, q tall.
broad-shouldered young man Of SO or
thereabouts. He enjoyed the Injuries
Of life; he wanted comfort. He had
looked about him for 1 home, and his
eye had rested upon Belltown. He
thought he saw In Belltown place Of
possibilities. But he had not lived
there six months before there settled
dswn upon him the pail Of discourage
ment that all the other Belltowners
stelt The place was dead.
What Belltown needed, first, was
money: and. later, people. The OUT
side world must take an interest in
Belltown, or It was doomed. But it
needed money to put It into shape.
I've got to get that money" whis-
pered McClenahan to himself, "ana
I've got to get It on the outside. I
can't spend cent Of my OWL can't
AFFORD it: and these chaps in Belltown
won't hand out a dollar. I've got to
get It somewhere, on the outside"
rs Two days after his election as mayor
Of Belltown, he swung into the private
ONCE Of the president of Food" a
corporation on Broadway. Food. the
corporation, knew how to advertise
Food. the product It had been the
advertisements that had attracted Nc
Clenahan, past master in the art Of
advertisement.
I'm William McClenahan Of the
White Store, and mayor of Belltown,'
announced McClenahan to Barker, the
head Of the Food corporation. II used
to advertise for the Manhattan, and l
want to make q DEAL"
McClenahan didn't stop there. He
told him many things. And when he
had finished, the president rose and
tapped McClenahan on the shoulder.
by George, Mr.. McClenahan!" he
said, 'the very thing, the very thing.
by George!"
Two days later, all Belltown, and all
New York, were electrified by Food
corporation advertisement that was
spread thickly and literally upon the
sheets Of dailies, upon the outsides Of
the weeklies, and over all the available
stumps and posts and fences.
It announced in substance, that for
q period Of two weeks before Christ
mas, William McClenahan, proprietor
Of the White Store, and mayor Of Bell
town, would walk daily, in Belltown,
to his train in the morning and from
his train in the afternoon, clad, as a
sandwich man, between boards plas-
tered with the gaudy advertisements OF
Food, itself. The advertisement stated
further that the mayor would receive
for this service the sum of $25, 900, to
be paid by Food into the Golfers of the
town Of Belltown, beautiful but bank
rupt town. The whole thing was to
be done in the interests Of Belltown:
for that town McClenahan was raising
money in the only way it could be
raised.
The newspaper reporters besought
McClenahan for statement, but he
refused to be interviewed. He main
tanned silence that was discreet. II
not significant.
The performance was to commence
on the morning Of Monday, the 18th.
On Saturday, he was once more in
terviewed at his store and at his
home.
Now" He said, finally, "wha. are
you fellows talking about? What adj
vertisement?" They produced the an
nouncement which he had already
looked upon a hundred times. He read
It through again.
its lie," he said, ''from the be-
ginning to the end. What!-I? Catch
me as sandwich man. for any half
baked food concern1 Not much!"
This terse sentence spread like Wild
dre. The mayor Of Belltown had re-
fused. to carry out the conditions Of
the contract at least, so he had said.
The public waited until Monday
morning. New York waited. Bell
town waited. MI
N When the 7:49 train pulled into the
little town that morning, it's passen.
gers from up the road pushed up re-
fractory windows and leaned far out
TO see the fun. The station crowd at
Belltown had trebled In numbers. FIX
citement was rampant. ia Il
But where's the mayor? q queried
the crowd. No one knew. But sud-;
denly, 6 the train once moro started
up. neat little trap darted around
the corner. q man jumped out, sprinted.
across the plat form and caught the last
car Of the train. It was McC lenahan.