Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-01-10
WOMEN IN STREET CARS.

.eri,c late Maurioc 49,. sore. The
actor. WAS noted throughout his life
70, Tie ,nivalry h" dispI. a,c toward
women. said an actor alo visited
Washingtrn recently. Hltit I'M spite of
this iic; he always ltid Fl de theory
that ne great maIority OF American
won en- wore not williog ep make que
return fnl The kindn,ss shieh Amer
ican men lavish upon thf
"On, day while IT, ut- here in
Washington with his unsuccessful play.
Roaring Dick ] met va With tiatrS
moe IN Pennsylvania aN,iuo WAS
hero With another company and. some
Way or another. The subject driftcd
&roui 10 tn public marNeis of NOM
On. believe barrymore h8l a couple
at storm door slammed H. his face by
@orrel passing into shops ,Eat day.
and probably that's how il came about
tina, HI. subject w.l.s ulnstrmosl in his
mind. Hc went on at considerable.
iength about how much american mcu
do for American Monsen 81 tn" WY Of
courte y. and what sc;ini roturu iliey
get for il all.
HoW many times in Saui HE have
You ever seen a woman get up in :,
street ear to give hes scat t" soine
old on disabled person he inquired OF
me.
# Mas forced to ropl> that while III
seen women do that occasionally. il
hadn't been Il common occurrence in
my observations.
Nc nor anybody .ls"'s.' replied
Barrymore. IN bet you 4 lna, that l
can get ON any street car in Washing
ton here, where the women are bet
ter behaved By far than they are in
New York IN bet ! can get ON a can
here. pretending that I'm Il man With
u cork leg. and that M Wornln1n offer
10 let me have her seat. OF course.
WI htN c - nick ami on, ra,. ~
ing through the shopping district nj
IN hour when Wo,nen hav. ali The
seats and The men an" clutching tn.
straps. And IN b., ynu another hat
win the bet.
Il told Maurice he was ON for both
Of those bets. 1t didn't seem possible
TO me that he could win it. He was
such II good-looking chap. for one thing.
that il Seemed certain 10 me thai any
woman. observing that he was Il Grip
pie. as he'd pretend To b.. would be
sure To offer him her seat.
50 we tried ii on. We boarded ::
car al the corne of T and Eleventh
streets at about quarter To =. ON "A
brilliant winters afternoon. osten-
iatiously assisted Barrymore To board
The car. and he simulated the move
ments of Il man with cork leg per-
foctiy. The car was damned. but ey-
cry woman had "a seat. the men hang
ing on to straps and Swaying around
as usual.
Barrymore made his apparently
painful way up the aisle. clutching here
and there for ii strap as he proceeded.
1t was perfectly plain To all of the
women seated on both sides that he
was a man with only one leg-it must
have seemed that way 10 Them. for
Barryinore's movements would have
deceived the most scrutiniZing eye. l
would have sworn. had not been in
on the game. that he was Il cork
logger.
But nary a woman offered to give
him her seat. They all looked at him
c~uriously. quite Il number of them. |
thought. gazing all too pointedly al
what they unq~uestionably thought was
his game leg. But that settled 1t.
That was the end of their activities in
his behalf--just looking him over. Even
when the car rounded the curve al
Fourteenth street and Barrymore. still
finely Stimulating his lameness. wa
sWayed about and almost thrown with
tho Jerk. and 1t vas seen by every
woman i'm the car hat he was AN in
apable not a move was made by one
of the women TO give him II sitting
down chance. And Barrymore. at that.
kept turning about to give me a fur
tive glance of triumph.
i felt sure that | had lost my bet
with him. but. just to carry the thing
" "a sH ~ Wbulu 20, i ItafltQ over 10
a stout. buxom and thoroughly strong
and healthy woman who was occupy
ing about two seats with herself and
her skirts and her packages. and
said To her:
Madam. pardon me for address
ing you, bui my friend here. noddins
toward Barrymore. is unfortunate
enough to be one-legged. and today he
Tried on his now cork leg for The first
titne. 1t seems to be a bad fit or
something. for it causes him acute
pain. and | fear ! may not b. able 10
get him home. | SHOULD appreciate ii
immensely. if you are not riding far.
if you would be so kind as Ia let him
nave your seat seeing that there are
no men seated in The car-fol the bal
ance of his ride. Will you
The stout. buxon woman slared at
me. but made not the slightest reply.
| took a chance. and, moving up the
aisle. addressed three Other, hearty
looking women in precisely the same
way. j got the long glare from all of
them. but no seat fOy my crippled
friend.
FINALLY. when the car WAS going up
one of the uptown avenues. | won the
bet-not IN any way that Barrymore
had anticipated. but 1 won it ali the
same. and he acknowledged that / won
il fairly.
In one of the very front seats of The
car an old, fat, colored nanny VAS
riding. Barrymore had gradually made
his way up To the front OF the aisle.
The car swayed AT q turn. and the old
black nanny face took on an expires
SION of motherly sympathy when she
SAW that Barrymore Was apparently
lame.
We. bless nah hah, Of de pore
chiie amt lame, she exclaimed in a
loud. hearty tone. 'Heah. honey
promptly getting UP ard touching Bar
rNmore on the arm, git into mah seat.
and she fairly pushed him into her com
portable place. which on account Of
bel size. Ms almost roo,ny enough for
two.