Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-06-15


sinks into oblivion and he roams the
fields helpless idiot. Shifting the
scenes again the harsh sounds and dis.
cords bring to mind the scenes of the
city. the despairing laborer the struc
Cling masses. the cruel bosses and the
grasping capitalists. Another curtain
is lifted and the music breaks forth
into peals of joyousness, sinking again
into tones of sorrow and moaning sad.
ness. telling of dead hopes and unre-
Quilted love, unfulflled promises and
ruined lives.
g Meantime an insistent and continued
chorus which must be led by the devil
himself for they resemble nothing like
q horde OF lost souls and seem to be
like the sands of the sea in number,
and all of them in torment, are
screaming in all sorts of keys for Gen
trial. Central, for heavens sake why
don't she answer" HAS she gone
to sleep?" GIVE me No. !" "Is
No. z on .time7" II want to talk to
Towards Smoke House." Whats the
scorer" "Who pitched?" Oh, Central
give me-" II want say - s..For
the love of heaven give me Doctor -
Somebody yells:
Talk louder, put your mouth closer
to the phone, stand on your toes"
Somebody else asks If the Burlington
is in yet and receives the answer:
mo Twenty-three hours late and a
thousand miles away"
Everybody wants everybody else and
wants them right away. Not mum
Der in the book that is not called.
You suddenly wonder If you are not
in the midst OF horrible nightmare
and, your mind taking another tack.
you begin to think over what you nave
had to eat and drink during the day
and evening. Maybe you are only
drunk or dreaming after all. Perhaps,
after all you are only spectator at
some fantastic extravaganza show
struck by lightning and pitched head
first into snow bank. But never
mind. whatever you think 1t is, 1t is
only crossed wires and II your mind
is not weak you will pull through the
ordeal. at least with your life. You
will never forget the experience and
you may have 1t often, but Its never
failing variety cannot help but en-
trance you, fascinate you, craze you.
Suddenly lull. the quiet is SO In
tense you can feel it. You can see
trees outside writhe and twist In the
furious wind and you hate to think of
venturing out. The instrument Is as
mute as the dead. The stiffness seems
uncanny after such an uproar as had
preceded 1t.
Then suddenly you hear the whir-r-r
again. The click and snap Of metal
meeting metal, the connection Is again
made and the voice of Central saying:
ssI0id uo,, exo% vo,Yr no r,fv Ia dyoUD ad
out by the sudden sweep Of combina.
ton of noises that seems to be made
of every conceivable air vibration tnat
is known to the human ear. Dimly
you hear the strains of Waiting at the
church." gradually separate them
selves from the other heterogeneous
mixture of sounds and somewhere, far
away probably Hedrick or Eldon, can
| be heard the notes of graphophone
grinding out the strains, "Bill Bailey
| Won't You Please Come Home" This
| in striking contrast to the wheeling
notes of an organ some place, probably
on the South Side. laboriously trying
to make itself heard above the din
with the melody Nearer My God to
Thee"
Vainly you endeavor to collect your
scattered sense after the din ceases
but when central succeeds In making
you understand that unless you want
somebody you must hang up your re-
ceiver, you are In maudlin state OF
mind and weakly you hang your hat
on the receiver hook and try to place
the receiver on your head, as you mad
ly bolt for the door and race down the
street in the rain for half mile to
| toll P,,fn hot 70
say in order to save time and trouble.
1t was evident that he had seen bet
ter days. Obviously he was relic Of
some moss-grown manor house with q
grand old name. With spare shoulders
thrown back, his emaclated frame lily
concealed by greenish black coat
that had once laid claims to be dress
garment, he faced Police Judge Kirby
one morning recently with all the
| naughty mien that he could command
Vainly he tried to expand his fallen
chest as he faced the magistrate. His
long yellowish stained fingers twitched
spasmodically, while with all his might
he tried to center the shifting gaze OF
his bleared nicotine tinted eyes upon
the Judge.
He was the last of a long line OF
vags that had one by one received
their sentence or acquittal from Judge
Kirby. With the exception Of a pc
liceman and the Courier reporter. he
was alone in the room.
His name was Algernon Carter, al
though that Is not the name entered
upon the police records. The mans
general appearance. attitude and ever
name suggested in a curious intermin
Cling of the old English nobility and the
aristocratic south Of our own country
At the first words of his conversation
4 the resemblance was even more pro
nounced 1t was a mixture Of the pre-
else language of the Britisher with the
musical flowing speech Of the south
i erner.
4 A battered derby hat lay tenderlJ
In the fold of mis- crooked arm, which
he caressed nervously at intervals as
he waited for the examination to BIZ
4 drawn to close. Deep disgust wal
written on every lineament of his once
classical face; complete adherence O
the surroundings was shown by the
4 co,, ctonf cbruooino ~ ahouldarS am