Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-03-12

The next morning 2 StsoDger editorial
met the mayors expectant and eian
eye. After be had read It he crushed
the paper ia his big list and rammed
1t Into the waste basket.
"All right. Sally Johnson" he NUT
tered vindictively: then it's war;"
Later in the day he dictated a bris-
ling statement to the Herald. the op-
position evening paper. When the ed
itor of the Banner read that statement
blazoned on the front page of the sour
rilous sheet he gurgled joyously:
Bully. All right. Lucy Withers;
you shall nave all the fight you want"
From being one of the most popular
of the chief magistrates of his states
cities Withers became one of b most
hated and despised. The few that
stuck to him were impelled to loyalty
only by the patronage he bestowed.
Among the latter Dennis Finnegan.
the janitor of the city hall. was the
most outspoken. For twenty-eight
days of each month Except February,
when it was only twenty-sixl Finnegan
was the best ~janitor the city hall ever
had. but for the other days Of the
month-the two or three Immediately
following pay day-he vas the worst
possible. In fact. ON these days he
was no janitor at all except for the
empty title.
Thus. In the heat OF the fight, when
the Banner was roaring its loudest.
we find Finnegan %descanting to an at
tentive audience In Schlegels saloon
on the woeful state Of dilapidation to
which this shameless administration
had allowed the rope on he city haD
Flagstaff to sink.
~Ye're taxpayers an we're citizens
be declared rhetorically. 'an We have
the right to know. an I'm a free man
an a friend of the peepul. even II !
am a j~anitor. That p gents, is go
in to the devil. | done my duty by
the peepul of the city; ! asked Fred
Withers for a new rope. An what
does be say. fellows an citizens? He
says there amt no preparation"
He paused to empty his glass and
resumed sarcastically:
It'll bet a new hat If the trolley
company or the gas company or amy
of them other robbers wanted some-
thin he'd fall all over himself tryin' to
find a way to get 1t. It's a shame.
gents. the way he knuckles down to
them Wall street. New York. inter
ests and neglects that there rope. 1t
allus was a good rope until Withers
started monkeyin' with them money
barrens. Wan of these fine days
there'l be a lot of trouble about this
same rope; you see If it don't"
To- forceful to bend. Withers kept
up the uneven battle until something
had to break. Something did break In
the stiffness of a night-his health.
The mex day the mayor left Pill
lingsby.
The true reason-a sudden nervous
breakdown-was announced as the
cause of the mayors departure. but
the ensuing editorial in the Banner
came nearer voicing the general opin-
ion held by the community.
1t announced that Withers was pre-
tending illness and bad gone east really
for the purpose of consulting his Wall
street masters and learn how he might
further serve them.
The mex day the Banner printed a
dispatch from Asbury Park announcing
that the mayo of Plllingsby. accom-
panied by his wife, two daughters and
his private secretary. was stopping at
one of the most fashionable and ex-
penslve hotels at that resort. and an
DtIas. cf1uIfnfr oIftoufaI oonoorad ro4tnd-
ly condemning the mayors ostentatious
display.
The following day the mother of the
mayors private secretary received a
letter from her son advising her con-
identially that Mr.. Withers was a very
sick man and would have to stay i'll
Asbury Park for some time. The OLD
lady told not a SOU except her bosom
friend, the wife of the editor of the
Banner.
The latter lady kept the news a pro-
found and guilty secret from every
one except her husband, to whom she
went for consolation. But the latter
snorted contemporary when he heard
the tidings and commanded his wife
to tell no one else or this palpable plot
to create sympathy.
The morning after the editors wife
had appraised her husband of the al
legged alarming state of Mr.. Withers'
health Dennis Finnegan got up bright
and early to make an attempt to raise
the city hall flag.
He pulled at the rope. Suddenly he
felt that the rope would pull no more
and. with a satisfied grunt at the &c
complishment of this duty. he fastened
its end and went forth on his joyous
rounds.
When Galdorf johnson reached the
square that morning he found a large
assemblage of Pillingsby's best citizen
ship and its clerks and stenographers