The Parma herald. (Parma, Idaho) 1903-1917, 1912-01-04


I'm N. G.--that's cinchl The
sooner l chuck 1t the betteri"
| Caught in the swirl OF the buy
clty's midday rush. engulfed In Broad
ways swift moving food OF hustling
humanity, jostled unceremoniously
by the careless. indifferent crowds,
discouraged from stsmming further
the tide Of pushing, eibowing men and
women who hurried up and down the
great thcroughfare. Howard Jeffries.
tired and hungry and thoroughly dis
gusted with himself, stood still at the
corner OF Fulton street, cursing the
luck which had brought him to his
present plight.
II was the noon hour, the important
time OF day when nature loudly claims
her due. when business AFFAIRS. no
matter how pressing. must be tenn
porariIy interrupted so that the hui
man machine may lay in fresh store
or nervous energy. From under the
portals OF precIpitous ONCE buildings,
mammoth hives OF human Industries,
which to right and left scared dizzily
from street to sky. swarmed thou
sands OF employees OF both sexes
clerks, stenographers. shop girls, mes
senger boys-all moved by common
Impulse to satisfy without further de-
lay the animal cravings OF their phys
teal natures. They strobe along with
quick. nervous step. each chatting and
laughing with his fellow, interested
for the nonce in the days work, ma
king plans for well-earned recreation
when five o'clock should come and
the uptown stampede for Harlem and
home begin
The young man sulleniy watched
the scene, envious of the energy and
activity OF all about him. Each one
In these hurrying throngs, he thought
bitterly to himself. was a valuable
unit In the prosperity and welfare OF
the big town. No matter how humble
his or her position. each played
part In the business life OF the great
city, each was an unseen, unknown,
yet Indispensable cog In the whirling,
complicated mechanism OF the vast
world metropolis lntuitively he felt
that he was not one OF them. that he
had no right even to consider himself
their equal. He was utterly useless
to anybody. He was without position
or money He was destitute even of a
shred of selfrespsct. Hadn't he
promised Annie not to touch liquor
again before he found jobY Yet he
had already imbibed all the whisky
which the little money left in his
pocket would buy.
Involuntarily. instinctlvely. he
shrank back into the shadow of a
doorway to let the crowds pass. The
pavementn were now filled to over
flowing End each moment newcomers
from the side streets came to swell
the human stream. He tried to avoid
observation. fearing that some ono
might recognize him, thinking ali
could read ON his face that he was
sot. sslf-confessed failure, one Of
lifes Incompetence In his painful
self-consciousness he believed himself
the exposure Of every eye and he
WINGED as he thought he detected on
confederation and contempt.
Nor was he altogether mistaken.
More than one passer-by turned to
look In his direction, attracted by
his peculiar appearance. His was a
type not seen every day In the COM
mercial distrlct-the postgraduate
college man out at elbows. He was
smooth-faced and apparently about rs
years Of age. His complexion was
fair and his face refined. It would
have been handsome but for q droop-
ing. irresolute mouth. which denoted
more than average weakness OF char
acter. The face was thin, chalk-like |
In its lack OF color and deeply scanned |
with the tell-tale lines of dissipation. |
Dark circles under his eyes and a |
peculiar watery look suggested late
hours and overfondness for alcoholic |
refreshment. His clothes had the cut |
OF expensive tailors. but they were |
shabby and needed pressing. His linen |
was soiled and his necktie disar-
ranged His whole appearance was
careless and suggested that reckless
ness OF mind which comes of general |
Generalization.
Howard Jeffries knew that he was a
failure. yet like most young men
mentally weak. he insisted that he
could not be held altogether to blame.
Secretly, too. he despised these sober,
Industrious people who seemed con-
tented with the crumbs OF comfort
thrown to them. What. he wondered
Idly, was their secret of getting ony
How we're they able to lead such well
regulated lives when he. starting out
with far greater advantages. had
failedY Oh. he knew well where the
trouble lay-in his damnable weak.
ness OF character. his love for drink.
That was responsible for everything.
But WAS II bis fault II he were born
weakY These people who behaved
themselves and got on. he sneered,
we're calm. commonplace tempera-
ments who found no difficulty In con-
trolling their bsser instincts. They
did right simply because they found
1t easier than to do wrong. Their vir-