Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-10-18
DAZED BY THE CITY'S GLARE,
Anderson Girl Disillusioned by tho
Atlanta Terminal Matron,
(The Constitution, 12th.)


eyed runaway girl with dwindling
courage and thirty-six pennies faced
the big and heartlcss city from the
vantage point Of the Terminal sta
tion plaza when Nellie Parker, Of
Anderson, S. G., arrived on the way
to career I'm the land Of cafes and
taxis, footlights and fame, luxury
and loss, gaiety and woe, wealth and
want, plenty and poverty.
Atlanta was her first big city. She
rode two days on a day coach, which
stopped at every way station to take
on and let off passengers Of every
description. She ate little on the
trip and hungered much.
She had read Of the city in story
books and the Sunday page supple
mcnts. She didn't dare believe it
was as big as she discovered. The
Terminal track area was sufficient to
dismay the unaccusto toned girl be-
fore she even gained the street level.
Clingmg to her telescope bag ESQ
thcatrically typical a possession that
she might have been looked upon as
fake country GRID she threaded
through the astonishing crowds in
the main waiting room and made her
timid way to the many and confus-
ing d0orways leading to the plaza.
There she stopped, bcwildcrcd.
TaXicabS and limOusincS whirrcd or
women and parcels, then whirrcd or
purrcd away. Cabs and hacks rolled
along the plaza hundreds oF per-
sons. going and coming. threading
their way miraculously between Il
maze Of vehicles. Eilaxons, bulb
horns, trolley gongs. the shouts OF
rabbics and hotel porters, the cries
OF newsboys combined to assail Mel
the city.
She stood transtiXed, hanging on to
her telescope. Nobody noticed her.
Crowds brushed by her, giving no
heed to the simple, unassuming gar
ments she wore, or the plain, meth
eaten hat tilted over her blond curls.
and boasting a feather that once was
blue.
Bewildercd When Night Fell.
If Nellie was transfixed by the
restless sights Of the Terminal plaza
late In the afternoon, her emotions
were mild in comparison with the
awe which seized her when dusk be-
gan to draw its deepening veil over
the tops OF the skyscrapers that
mounted high in the background,
and the electric eyes Of the night be-
gan to wakcn.
She had stood for an hour, per-
haps, nstounded at the sights which
pitched her mind and Imagination
into chaos. Confused. bewildercd,
she held to her case with one hand,
and to her handkerchief that con-
tanned her fortune Of thirty-sx cents
with the other.
Away in the distance over the
heart Of tho downtown district an
electric sign winked on the roof Of
was as a warning to the little conn-
try girl. Other signs winked and
ollnked. each as ominOus as warn
ings for her to go back home. They
winked with such mechanical mex
orability, all night long they would
wink like the flashes from the light
houses on reefs.
I.oncSomcneSS SciZcS Her.
The sounds Of the city began to
die away. The noisy, nervous auto
mobiles became less frequent. but
those which now came sent piercing
blades OF light ahead Of them like
ire dragons. serving also as blades
to pierce the heart Of the little girl
with awe and trembling. 4 police
man strollcd past, eyeing her and
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