The Bossier banner., 1909-03-11
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IA NEW YORKER
By o. HENRY.


called a tramp. but that was
only an elliptical way Of say
ing that he was philosopher. an art
ist. traveller. naturalist and dis
coverer. But, most Of all, he was
poet. In all his life he never wrote 4
line of verse. He lived his poetry. His
Odyssey would have been a limerick
had 1t been written. But. to linger
with the primary proposition. Raggles
was Il poet.
Raggles' speciality had he been driv-
en- to Ink and paper would have been
sonnets to the cities. He studied cities
rs women study their reflections In
mirrors. as children study the glue and
sawdust Of dislocated doll. rs the
men who write about Wild animals
study the cages in the zoo. A city to
Raggles was not merely pile of bricks
and mortar peopled by a certain num-
ber of Inhabitants. It was thing with
soul characteristic and distinct an
individual conglomeration Of life. with
its own peculiar essence. flavor and
feeling. Two thousand miles to the
north and south. east and west Rag
giles wandered In poetic fervor. taking
the cities to his breast. He footed II
on dusty roads or sped magnificently
in freight cars, counting time rs of no
account And when he had found the
heart of city and listened to its Sc
cret confession he strayed on. restless.
to another. Fickle Raggles! But per
haps he had not met the civic corpora.
ton that could engage and hold his
critical fancy.
Through the ancient poets we have
learned that the cities are feminine
So they were to Poet Raggles. and his
mind carried a concrete and clear con-
ception Of the figure that symbollzed
and typified each one that he had
wooed
Chicago seemed to swoop down upon
him with a breezy suggestion Of Mis-.
Partington. plumes and patchouli. and
to disturb his rest with a soaring and
beautiful song of future promise. But
Raggles would awake to a sense Of
| shivering cold and a haunting impress
sion Of ideals lost in a depressing aura
of potato salad and fish.
Thus Chicago affected him. Per-
| haps, there are vagueness and inac-
curacy In the description. but that is
Raggles' fault He should have record
ed his sensations In magazine poems.
Pfttsburg impressed him as the play
| of "Othello" performed In the Russian
language in railroad station by Dock
stader's minstrels. A royal and gen.
erous lady this Pittsburg. though,
homely. hearty, with flushed face,
| washing the dishes in a silk dress and
white kid slippers and bidding Rag
giles sit before the roaring fireplace and
drink champagne with his pigs feet
and fried potatoes.
New Orleans had simply gazed down
upon him from balcony. He could
see her pensive. starry eyes and catch
the f1utter Of her fan, and that was all
Only once he came face to face witt
her 1t was at dawn, when she was
flushing the red bricks Of the ban
auette with pail Of water. Sh'
| u
and filled Raggles' shoes with ice colo
water. Allons.
Boston construed herself to the poeti,
Raggles in an erratic and singula
way. It seemed to him that he hat
drunk cold tea and that the city wal
white, cold cloth that had been bount
tightly around his brow to spur hin
to some unknown but tremendous men
tai effort And. after all, he came t
shovel snow for livelihood, and tn
cloth, becoming wet, tightened Its knot
and could not be removed.
Indefinite and unintelligible ideas
you will say, but your disapprobatiol
should be tempered with gratitude. TO
these are poets fancies-and suppos
you had come upon them IN verse!
One day Raggles came and laid sieg
to the heart of the great city of Mar
haitian She was the greatest Of al
ard he wanted 10 learn her note In tn
scale, to taste and appraise and class
fy and solve and label her ana al
range her with the other cities ths
had given him up the secret Of the
individuality. And here we cease
be Raggles' translator and become b
. chronicler. >.
, Raggles landed from a ferryboat OF
. morning and walked into the core {
the town with the blase air Of co
mopolite. lie was dressed with cal
. to play the role of an "unidentifle
, man." No country. race, class. cliqu
! union, party. clan or bowling ass
citation could have claimed him. II
clothing. which had been donated
, him pieeemeal by citizens OF diferel
height. but same number of inch'
around the heart. was not yet as n
comfortable to his figure as those spee
: mems Of raiment. self measured. tn
) are railroaded to you by transcon,
mental tailors with suit case. suspen
{ ers, silk handkerchief and pearl stu,
as bonus. Without money. as
poet should be. but with the ardor
an astronomer discovering new st
In the chorus of the Milky way or
man who has seen Ink suddenly ho
]. from his fountain pen, Raggles wa
dered into the great city.
Late in the afternoon he drew out
o the roar and commotion with io
r of dumb terror on his countenant
;. He was defeated. puzzled. discomhte
n frightened Other cities had been
a him as long primer to read. as count
maidens quickly to fathom. as ser
price Of subscription with answer
buses to solve. as oyster cocktails
J. swallow. but here was one as co
glittering. serene. impossible as 10