Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1917-01-26

ana met everybody VINO was anyOOuy
in that cosmopolitan rendezvous.
Adams went into the back room,
bought a drink at the bar, carried II
over to one Of the little green tables
hedged in between the barrels and
cases and deposited his valise on the
floor.
He appeared to be browsing, but
was in fact listening to the hum Of
gossip and scrutinizlng every face.
Presently Toxic appeared with a high
ball and sat down in one Of the unoc-
cupied chairs at the same table, fixing
his eyes upon Adams. Adams never
blinked. He acted as though he had
never eel Toxic before. Adams took
a long sip; likewise Toxic. Yet no
word passed between them.
The topic Of conversation among the
freQuenters mainly concerned Ralph
Payne, the effect on world politics Of
the assassination of the Granadian
ambassador; the sudden maneuvers Of
the Atlantic squadron with decks
trimmed toward the caribbean; what
all this Canal plot" newspaper talk
was about anyhow to an incompre-
hensible people, and whether oil not 1t
was true that the president had or
dered the chief Of the army staff to
prepare for mobilizing a million volun-
teers on an emergency call to arms.
Behind 1t all, war was the theme
and our condition Of national unpre-
p%aredness for 1t.
"Bosh !" exclaimed q Western farm
er to his congressman, warming up in
the Schumacher atmosphere. WAR?
How can we 60 to war with the oun
try short Of men as 1t is-a million,
they say! The farms won't yield up
any volunteers that's sure-nOt with
wheat at two dollars a bushel, no
stree"
The congressman smiled indulgent-
ly. Don't forget when you go
back home, Lew, to tell the railroad
boys that I'm for the eight-hour work
ing day. 1t ought to re-elect me, eh?'
The constituent shut one eye and
screwed his face. "Waal, I'm not
nutty ON this short w~orking-day prop
osition-not with wheat at two dollars
Il bushel and help scarce. Still we
got to keep the trains moving, with
all this here prosperity in the country.
Gosh! Bill, the country mustn't go to
war. We've simply got to keep the
wheels of industry hummin'. The
way for you fellers down here to get
reelected Is to keep or keepin' us out
of WARMTH wheat at two dollars q
bushel. Let those that want to fight
go over on the other side, l say!"
At the other end of the bar a stately
gray-haired gentleman was speaking
to an attentive audience. "Antletam
sub, Antietam," corrected he politely
to q statement that had been made
He held up an empty coat sleeve. "Bu'
l want to voice these sentiments, sub
Just as l fought for the lost u OF
the South, so would l again fight t.
uphold the independence Of this unit
ed nation"
. with wheat at two
dollars a bushel," tralled the insisten'
voice of the Western farmer.
49,. l feah the gov
eminent, sub, is sleeping-1 regret t.
say it, sub, about this noble land" L
was the one-armed colonels accents
you, gentlemen, must not misunder
stand me, but / feah that while w
are maintaining the lighting machine
of Europe, u W Is getting yer.
rusty. The government and the arm!
remind me sadly of old Mother Hub
bard and her dawg. You-all know
what I mean, sub:
When she got there,
The cupboard was bare
"Where are our soldiers? Where |
our equipment Where are our sup
plies? You-all must agree that al
though we r preparing Eu
rope
at two dollars
bushel ..."
we are unpreparini
ourselves to resist her if she SHOULD
turn against us. / feah that Jul ma
tional pride is being sacrificed to ma
tional greed for money. l hope, sui
l am mistaken. Thank you, suh," h
interpolated with a smile, 1.-THE sam
with a little more sugar and lemo
peel. Now take our National Pre-
paredness committeeman has
done, who knows . . :"
, I'D like to b-butt In here a minute,
|, interrupted an apologizing newcOme
who had attached himself to tn
group.
1t was Adams. Toxic at the littl
green table was watching him wit
gimletlike eyes, not a little astonishet
II want to ask t-this highly eddy
Gated gentleman a q-Question," Adam
explained to the curious ~bystander
0A LG.