Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1908-06-18
The Companys
Announcer.
fOri.inal.l


WIS killed 1T his work the ofhci'is ~
e. tn some of the dead mans trIchds ~
inform his family of their loss No"
o, os,ecial pcrson is appointed to inc
nosition of announcer OF CALAMITY nc
.nnounccr is usually selected tor He
4act end benevolent appearance. il'S
duties are certainly not attractive -
90 10 the home of Il woman. 10 he"'
hcr singing at her work. to see h'l
children playing about the CABIN ana
toll tnat the husband and father Has
been mashed between two cars -
about as hard task as sympathe'i'
person can perform
Thomas Nolan was announcer at mat
noint on the V. Il. and y. railroad Whefe
the shops are located and held the po-
s;tion so Tong and his duties became SO
well know, that his simple appear
ance at a work mans. home was Az
the announcement needed. Indeed, ne
could not walk through street linG
With cabins but each housewife Wouid
watch him with beating heart. fearing
that he was looking for her.
Patrick O'Rourke, machinist in the
railway compsny's employ, had been
in America ten years, and. having
learned his trade and become SO pro-
fcient as TO earn good wages, be sent
to Ireland for Mary Maloney. his sweet
heart. He had loved Mary when she
was sixteen, a raw girl, and found her
at twenty six full blown woman.
When he looked at her he felt that his
wait and work had been we'll rewarded.
All went we'll till children came.
and. with the Group and the measles
and the constant attention they neea-
ed even when well. Marv's nerve
began to take on an edge and she lost
her equanimity. When Pat came home
in the evening. tired with STANDING.
over a machine all day and an occa
sional depression in lifting some heavy
weight, he would find her cross and
irritable He was good natured chap.
full of Irish humor and would usually
try to laugh his wife out OF the com.
plants she poured forth. But such
work is harder than handling machin
cry. be it ever SO heavy. and after a
while Pat began to get irritable him
self
At last there came a breach. The
pair had quarreled most Of one night,
but in the morning Pat tried to make
it up with his wife.
Yer havin' hard time Of it, Mary.
l know, with the constant cookin' and
SEWN for the children and havin' to
keep EN- from dom the thousand
things they shouldn't do all day long
till they're asleep at night, but don't
the wife of every workin'm man who has
children have to bear the same? And
them as hasn't children are awful ell
vious Of them that has Try and take
more reasonable view of it, Mary.
Think of how well yer off to have !;
man to earn Twin for you and the
children and how bad it would be if
We're takin' away from you and you
had to work for Twin as well as loak
out for the Children
She turned away from him in a
huff. and he was obliged to 60 to his
work with the breach still open. Mary
spent the morning btooding. She con
sidered that she'd married the wrong
man. She recalled the hot words be
had said to her during the night and
either forgot the hotter words she had
said to him or considered them Justly
spoken. Toward noon she began TO
cool down. Pat never came home to
dinner, and perhaps it was as well TO-
day that he did not for she was not
in condition to avoid treating him
harshly. Fly evening she would be
ready to at least drop the quarrel,
though she never went through proc
ess OF making up. Pat often wished
they could end their misunderstanding
as they used to, by lovers kisses, bat
the time for that seemed past
When the hour for Pat to come home
for the evening drew near Mary began
to feel uncomfortable She wished to
go to him and throw her arms around
his neck and say that she had acted
''horrid" and all that. but somehow she
couldn't. Perhaps she thought that If
she did it would only encourage Pat to
"tyranniZe" over her in future. But
she made a nice dish Of beefsteak and
onions for Pats supper. He was very
fond of the combination and by giving
him the dish she could get the comfort
of a confession without really making
it.
She was standing over the supper
when something, she knew not what
prompted her to turn her head and
look out through the open door. The
cabin stood alone and she had an un
INSTRUCTED view. There came Tom No
Ian, the cOmpany's announcer, making
straight for her cabin.
few minutes later there was n STE,
on the threshold. Mary did not hear 1t
for she lay on the floor in a swoon. ].
was not Tom Nolan's step. for he had
passed on without entering the cabin
1t was Mary's husband, who entered
and saw her lying. white and rigid, on
the floor. He was terribly frightened.
MARY Garlin' what's hammond 4<