The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-08-25
and a radical change seemed nee

essary.
See here" Adoniram said. we've
got TO pull together more. DIvid-
ed we stand-to. lose our last cent;
and united we fall-from our Ideals,
but win the coin. We must coop
crate. Personal influence with the
editors is what counts, nowadays,
and We must get our stuff pushed
that way. Who's going to push TT"
He paused dramatically for a reply
He always was keen on the Socratlc
method OF argument.
But none OF us seemed to answer.
We'd had some personal experience
with editors. and had failed to Sc
! cure sphere OF influence. Some
how none of US had the magnetism,
the charm mad the Certain Some
thing necessary to change MSS. III
to copy"
Adoniram waited for us to be-
come sufficiently pessimistic, and
then he sprung his bolt. What
we've got to have" he exclaimed.
waving manuscript, rs a girl
the prettiest girl we can hlre-to
caiole editors with. Who is the
prettiest girl In Railway"
There was only one answer to
that question. Clara Foster"
we cried as ore man.
Clara Foster Is elected" said
Adoniram. She is now typewrt-
Ing for ten per In Hoboken, ut the
spool factory, and on that stipend
she arrays herself Ike the Queen OF
Sheba with Il Marcel wave. and goes
tc mattnees In New York. Query:
Can we raise the ten week, and
peril, raise 1t to eleven, wand train
her to bewilder the Gotham editor
with our genius? Answer: We
can! hereby appoint my
self committee OF one 10 investl-
gate. bride and report. The col
lection for incidental expenses will
now taae place"
We make 1t unanimous. Adoni-
ram got away with twenty-four dol
lars and disappeared Three days
!"ter he appeared ut the headquur-
tiers OF the $. S S. with the Prettiest,
paid for fortnight IN advance.
The Prettiest knew something
about business methods from her
experience in the spool factory, and
this wisdom she combiNd with the
use of her blue eyes In proportions
that made the ordinary man throw
up his hands and empty his pockets.
She wac very patient when we gave
her her instructions as to how to
approach the throne rooms, but 1t
was evident that she intended TO
see the thing through in her ovl
sweet way.
We loaded her up with fresh. new
laid MSS. as she declined to carry
any shop-worn stock. That put us
behind about a week, but In the
meantime she had been In New
York during editorial sancta, aud
had inserted few wedges. We
asked no questions, the way she had
hypnotiIed us being pretty coed Sc
cur1ty for her ability to soothe and
| charm. In her idle time. while we
watched her, with the points OF our
pencils in our mouths, she sat about
and made pictures of herself in
the s. S. S. office, and ate choco-
lates.
She set out In earnest, loaded for
Zig game with two short stories OF
Adonrams, humorous article OF
n,tne on Hearing New York" (the
scheme was to bottle the noises and
sell them as remedy for nostal-
glaD, and half dozen Christmas
poems OF Macs. 1t was July then,
but they were all written under the
influence of her azure glances,
etc. and they did have a Zip to
item. To our mad surprise she
sold seventy per cent. OF them ana
returned with forty dollars spot
cash. We raised her salary imme-
diately to twelve a week and ex-
Penses. Then We got busy turning
out stuff. You've no idea how It
helps to have few things sell!
She used the common meeting
room as her headquarters, but she
seldom had 1t to herself, for we
would work like mad to get chance
to read our things to her and watch
for her expression to change.
She had only about three-pa-
ttent boredom, patronizing amuse-
ment and rapture. We seldom drew
rapture, but We always hoped for
1t. and expected 1t. The Prettiest
had a mind as near to that of the