The San Francisco call., 1910-10-30

ran through the ray streak of black
letters ieaped upon the undulating cur
tain; ana then, from the packed tri-
angle. from the blockaded cars black
with people on platforms, buffers, roofs
from the hundreds of yellow lighted
windows in the canyonlike street-from
all the 10000 humans in this smother
came the cry again, breaking from the
savage throat of the city, overwhelm-
ing all else, a tornado beating on the
girl in the street Appalled, she turned
TO her lover. who was gesticulating to
a young man in the howl of the crowd.
Then he seized her arm.
Come: Benny'll get us a window.
Kid. 7 stand to win $500 if the fight
doesn't go the limit. Come-here-thi
way"
Sylvia was hurried from the street.
the two young men fighting the mob
for way; she was beaten and ha-
rassed. men jammed into her, yelling in
her ears: young woman, Historically
laughing, was pommeling a mulatto in
the back just before her and crying:
20. come, you Kid-slip over tn right.
1t means clo'es fo' me-O, winter cloes
fo mer'
Arnold and the stranger smashed
through the hysteria of the mob and
to the entrance of building. where
Sylvia was flung against an old man
with a patriarchal beard, who, alone,
by the elevator shaft, was capering
fantastica1ly and quavering, a mere
squeak of senile obsession Kill i'm,
Kid, get i'm on the point, Kill 'imi'
The two young men hurried Sylvia
to the mezzanine floor of the building
and TO a dark office. The tumult of
street voices lessened so that they
heard the whip of the wind about the
plaster gargoyle bove the window the
host was opening, And as they crept
through the space the voices rose
again. not so loud, but with a snarl of
a childs goad.
Cover. Branny" yelled the reporter.
Keep off and ride the STORM"
Amid the howl of fury from the
crowd at the plight of it's idol Sylvia
saw the black letters dance on the
glaring screen:
ROUND is
SIaVin stronger. Carries the fight and
stings Brannan left 60 face, right to
ribs. BrnnnaR closes Chicago boys
eye with straight right. SIavin
lands left swing, staggering native
sos.
The wavering lines of letters were
blotted out. The below OF the street
people lessened, died away to a humble
of discontinue, Of shame and outrage;
the packed throng relaxed, only break
ing here and there into growls and
retorts and denials. shuffiing from
one foot to another, pushing out
for relief during the minutes inter-
mission of the fight The young men
in the window made place for Sylvia
in the wide space under the pro-
tecting gargoyle, and sat by her, their
feet hanging free. Arnold passed a
cigarette to the other.
This is Benny Hendricks of The
Can,' said he; ''he does police
MY brothers a dentist" explained
Benny. so I had the entree to this
Office. Now that's a sight, amt it?
Look down Third street--they haven't
been able to run car since the eighth
roundr'
From the window. Sylvia could look
either way. On both the newspaper
buildings the great spIotones of light
wavered. and the falling rain spun
itself into golden notes through the
glare.
Below, from the store fronts on one
side to those on the other. the people
occupied every inch of pavement. gut
ter, street and car tracks. The clamor
of the car gongs, menacing, strident,
but unavailing. rose in the intermis-
sion; the rain-wet helmets of the police
glistened as they tried to fight the
tracks clear. In the mob, wedged
captain with his raincoat back showing
the gold braid of his collar sat his
horse, cursing the blockade and his
scattered detail. In the comparative
silence of the minute rest the crowd
put up thousands of umbrellas against
the dreary night. At once the street
looked like a bed of black mushrooms,
bobbing slowly under the arclights,
glistening, twisting, scattering a little
here and there as if the wind had bent
them, then reforming, always with that
eerie bobbing of round bodies shining
under the arcs and the yellow outpour-
ing from the numberless windows of
the buildings.
The country girl shrank from the
sight; at last she had come to realize
that somewhere two naked boys were
fighting on white canvas field, sur
rounded by ten thousand more of these
mad people of the c.ty; the rich, the
great, the strong, bankers, brokers'
merchant princes, writer's, Illustrators
politicians and legislators, the mayor,
and the subtle, real rulers-the doors
of things IN the city, the miracle work
ers in this diamondpoint lust of life
they called city
1t was monstrous with evil I'm
der the night, under the falling
rain. she looked down on the
thousands, the umbrellas bobbing
anu BllStenlnS ike tOul blossoms,
ranR. bulbous-a black flower of sim
and watching it she suddenly cried out
in terror; for the groveling thing
writhed and dissolved before her eyes
and instead of the dull bloom, She was
looking into thousands of upturned
faces. pallid. tense, obsessed, in the
slant of the rain. She clutched her
lovers wet sleeve. but he was eagerly
straining his eyes past her at the
screen. On it now, in the wavering
letters, was another bulletin:
Round 19-Kid Brannan rushes from
corner at gong. Slavin meets him with
two rights to kidneys and misses left
Branny jolts him with left to ear
Slavin ducks into clinch, and Native
Son cuts him cruel in breakaway. Both
boys bleeding badly. Brannan opens
wound above Slavin's eye with right
hook Brannan sends him to ropes with
left to jaw and right to wind Brannan
uppercuts to mouth. Left to. Slavin
down. He rises at count of nine. Right
to
The thousands under the glare of
the lights became silent Even the clang
OF the streetcars stopped: the helmets
OF the police were motionless,as though
the wearers had been statues The
mounted captain, with one arm extend
ed over the vast throng, was a man