Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-06-06
CHAPTER I.
introducing Her.


None but the residents consider
{ Mount Mark, Iowa, much Of town,
v and those who are honest among them
Z admit, though reluctantly, that Mount
Marx can boast of far more patriot
\ Ism than good Judgment! But the very
/ most patriotic of them all mas no
word Of praise for the ugly little req
10. B. q Q. railway station. IT pretty Is
g pretty docs, as We have been told
!. % unpleasantly often, then the station
ssls handsome enough, but as an orna-
4 ment to the commonwealth 1t Is dis.
/ nal failure-low, smoky and dust
\ sriuned. In winter Its bleakness and
baroness add to the chill Of the rigor'
sOus Iowa temperature, and In summer
( tho sap oozing through the boards IS
4 disagreeably suggestive OF persplra-
tion. The waiting room itself Is
] ~cleaned" every day. and yet the same
dust lies in the corners where IL mas
! lain for 10. these many years ana
- for the cobwebs, their chief ais
& tincttcn lies In their ripe old age. II
there were only seven spiders IN the
ark after tho subsiding of the waters,
~ least . majority Of them must have
found their way to Mount Mark sta-
Il tion Ia southeastern Iowa.
s Mount Mark is anything but proud
90 the little station. It openly SCOTS
"a II ana sniffs contemptuously at the
sticket agent who bears the entire 9.
I'D. = G. reputation upon his humble
1 ehouldors. At the same time, 1t GER
8Aanly does owe the railroad and the
etate debt OF gratitude for its pres
& anco there. It IL the favorite social
srnndoSvous for the community! Only
\ four passenger train daily pass
Through Mount Mark-not including
& Tho expresses, which rush haughtily
nv with no more than scornful
whistle for tho sleepy town. and IN
return for this indign1ty Mount Mark
cherishes most unchristian antip-
athy toward those demon hters.
But the "paasengen"-ah, that Is
different matter. The arrival Of pas
eouxer train in Mount Mark Ia an
event in the nature Of
w. b. Z q. lat home,'' and is always
attended by q large and enthusiastic
gathering of sour best people" All
that Is lacking are the proverolal
Tight refreshments"
a 50 It happened that one sultry morn
\ ing late In the month of August, there
vas the usual dutter of excitement
ana confusion on the platform and IN
tho waiting room Of the station. The
Shabitues were there in force. Con-
y spicuous among them were four gaily
dressed young men, smoking cigarets
( and gazing with laok-luster eyes upon
I the animated scene. which evidently
& bored them. All the same. they in
svar1ably appeared at the depot to wit.
I ness this event, stirring to others no
doubt. but incapable OF arousing the
Interest of these life-weary youths.
They comprised the slaughterhouse
quartet and were the most familiar
and notorious characters IN all the
town.
The Daily News reporter, in we'll
creased, light gray suit and tan shoes,
and with eyeglasses scientifically bal
anced on his aquiline nose, was max
Ing pointed inquiries into the private
plans OF the travellers. The Daily
News reporters in Mount Mark al
ways wear we'll creased, light gray
suits and tan shoes, and always have
eyeglasses scientifically balanced on
aquiline noses. The uninitiated can
mot understand how 1t Is managed but
there lies the fact. Perhaps The
News includes these details in its re-
Squirements of applicants. Possibly 1t
furnishes the gray suits and the tan
shoes, and even the eyeglasses. OF
course, the reporters can practice bal.
ancing them scientifcally-but how
does it happen that they always have
aquiline noses? At any rate. that is
the Mount Mark type. It never varies.
The young woman going to Burling-
ton to spend the week end was sur
rounded with about fifteen other
young women who had come to see
her off," She had relatives in Burling:-
ton and went there very often. and
she used to say she was glad she