The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-07-07
TEE llAKiiasE oaF1
A NEW YORKER
BY o. HENRY.

L piefer ltrt.5s " oSts Of ~ !; he iNytis O
iis|ct. lnsail h!s fife ne tieSer wrote d
me df verse Ne lived his poetry. lis
~ ys,sly would lin sc lsceh d limerick
nd II been written. But. 70 llnscf
,yith tlis Urinary proposition. Rss:s;lcs
iyss llhet. 4.
ii;.stsles sllttiAl ~ hid he been driys
into ltils aud ltaIScrJ would have been.
3onhrss 10 the tiitiss lie stuliedstitIcs
IS wiihiptl study their reflections In
aiirafss az elitiarristnty tl,syglfieS.l
i;INNtllSt % d I0rattsti doll as INC
zen Who write about Wild aliiiIis
sstdy the cages Isl the 200 "a tlty a..
:s.gt;i.g was no; merely a iiile 5rs lrit.is
nj iahFtar Fcitileitl! by q tcrtalnsnum
Gf.irHal,it:ints ltwas tliins WEI
sopl clllttlc;elis;Ie np,l tlisliMet. ,lii,
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., ton of Iifc.,witlii
=. p@n .iacnlIar essence. i.ayor. aud
S,llnsa Two thousand mltes 10 the
f,prth ard septli. east nnd west i.;;;
t;:'eS Wandered In pYetlc fersor.! t:lt;ln:i
h ::iS cities To Ills breast. lie footed IL.
IN il;iSlS roit.s or sued alaglificcutly
u fright ss:l.s5 counting tti:le as OF no
s'iS1irht: And wien he Ind found the
S,Iii.lrt o. q eii; aud listened 70 its 81.
s.rcttcQls lieu lie StlaSetl gu. restless
soSnintlier. iiEekIe lsasgIcs! hit per
5sns lie had nrt the civic CORPORA
Ion TINT could ensese and h6ll his
.erltlvnlsf fancy.
Through the nnclcnt poets ave have
searled that the CITIES are, feminine.
So they were to Port liagslcs, and his
mind carried u concrete and clear con:
scptInlls Of the figure that symBolizcil
and tyIitied each one that he had
tXoocd
Chlcaso seemed to swoop down upon
him with breezy suggestion OF Mrs.
Darlington. plumcs and patchouli. ana
to disturb his rest With a soaring and
beautiful song OF future promise. But
,Ragglcs would awake to a seuse Of
shlverlng cold and a haunting impress:
sion Of; ideals lost in a depressing aura
oftpotatol salad and fish.
Thus Chicago affected him. Per.
.haps there are vagueness and mac.
,curacy In the description, but that Is
Raggles fault. He'should have record:
ed his sensations In magazine poems.
Plttsburg impressed him as the play
of "othellor performed in the Russian
language in a railroad station BY Dock.
staders minstrels. a royal and gen.
'erous lady this Plttsburg, 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
5uponshlm from a balcony. 4 He could
see her pensive, starry eyes and catch
the futter Of her fan. and .thatswas all.
Only once be came face to face with
her. 1t was at dawn, when she was
flushing the red bricks Of the ban.
Iquette with a pail Of water. She
laughed and hummed a chansonnette
and filled Raggles' shoes with ice cold
water. Allons!
Boston construed. herself TO. the poetic
Raggles in an cratic and singular
way. 1t seemed to him that he had
drunk cold tea and that the city. was
a willie, cold cloth that had been bound
tightly around his brow to spur him
to some unknown but tremendous mem
tal effort. And, after all. he came to
shovel snow for livelihood, and the,
cloth, becoming wet. frightened its knots
and could not be removed.
Indefinite and unintelligible ideas,
YOU Will say, but your disapprobatlon,
should be tempered with gratitude, for
these are poets fancIes-and suppose
You had come upon them in verse!
One day Raggles came and, laid siege
to the heart OF the great city of Man.
-hattan She was the greatest of all,
aud he wanted 10 learn her note in the
scale, to taste and appraise and clqssi-
fyi and selye and label her and ar.
range her with the other cities that
had slyea him up the secret Of their
Individuality. And here we Icease to
be lligglcs' translator and become his
,chronicler. Il 4, \, ~
Raggles landed from a ferryboat one
morning and walked into the core Of
the town withSthe Sblase air of a cos
'mopolite. &c was dressed with care
TO play the role of an Unidentified
man, no country, race, class, Clique,
union. party. clan or bowling asso:
.ciatloh could have claimed him. lis
Clothing. which had been donated TO
him piecemeal by citizens of different
height. but same number Of inches
around the heart was not yet as sun-
,cotnfortablc;toihis figure rs those speci.
!hisnsgo Of ratment, ss,f measured. that
are raIIroaded to you by trdnseoatts
mental tailors. with d suit case, suspend
iers silk handkerchief and pearl studs
as q bonus. Without money, as
n0ak ottot,1d ta Kt,t S,,-s4t, kt.,l !.