Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-11-09
Euening Story
WHAT'S IN A NAME?

II LOcHlHy OLOIy
WHAT'S IN A NAME7
| BY Vincent G. Perry.
I Copyright. 1917, by the \McClur'
| Newspaper Syndicate.p
The village of .Wattsville was hard
lily large enough to support one news
paper, and here 1t was with two. FREQ
Burnett, proprietor, managing editor
| and compositor Of the Wattsville Ad
vance. walked up and down the little
room in front of his plant which he
called the ofiice, and bit at mattel
furiously. Wattsville had been with
out q paper for q long time, and the
idea of starting up q weekly again was
originally his. He was sure of that
He had come over from the city, and
looked over the plant of the Echo, q
paper that had not. been published for
TEN years, and had decided it wasn't
in good enough shape to be put in
working order. Not to be beaten in
his effort to make himself recluse
from his friends, he bought out the
plant Of the Wainwright advance and
moved it to Wattsville to the little
building it now occupies. In the mean.
time the Echo Office had been sold by
a real estate broker in the city, and
the purchaser, who had bought the
plant without looking at it, was coIx
ing to Wattsville to publish a paper.
To make matters worse, in the eyes
of Burnett, the purchaser was WON
an, the niece of Widow Spur, Of the
village.
The idea Of the thing was prepos-
ferrous, he thought. Nobody could
make the Echo plant work, let alone
a woman. A woman wasn't much
use around newspaper Office, any
way There was only one whom he
had ever known that earned her sal
airy, and she could do the work of
two men. Like him she had been
brought up in newspaper Office and
knew the business from A to u. But
there wasn't another woman in the
world like Norma Cousins. he was
convinced. Just the same, it bothered
him.
Poor thing-if she does know any
thing about newspaper work she will
get shock when she sees the Echo
plant" he muttered.
He was right. Margaret Spur did
get severe shock when she saw the
Echo plant. The real estate broker
had told her it was in splendid work
ing order, and her aunt had verified
30 fo<n No oh -
take the word of either she thought
She should have visited Wattsville
before making the purchase, as she
had intended to do. The real estate
man was trying to make a sale, and
her aunt didn't know any more about
newspapers than she did about auto
mobile. manufacturing should
have known that. Then there was
this opposition paper. 1t was just like
an unfeeling man to come and make
things miserable for her, as If they
weren't miserable enough. Why could
MT he stay out? But what good would
lit have done if he hadn't come, with
a white elephant like the Echo plant
on her hands? She asked herself this
question again and again.
II Margaret had belonged to another
profession she would have wept, but
her newspaper training had fortified
her for just such disappointments as
this one. Perhaps the plant wasn't as
bad as it appeared, she thought, as
she started to get things in better
shape. AS she worked over the type
cases her mind went back to the city
and the life she had left.
1t was to find an occupation to take
her mind OF the biggest dissapoint
ment Of her life that made her give up
her position on the Times in the city
and invest her savings in the country
newspaper that proved to be so I'M
promising. The winter before she had
been introduced to Tommy Mckay at
the Ironworkers' convention. He was
representing the Tribune and she was
reporting the convention for the
Times. Tommy had pleasant and
attractive way, and as they sat side
by side chatting gaily, she couldn't
help thinking that perhaps all the
girls that wrote to her advice to the
Fair Sex" column. were not as silly as
she had thought The next day she
missed her car and was late. Tommy
lent her his notes, so that she would
not miss the important points in the
mayors speech. After that kindness
she couldn't very we'll have refused
his invitation to the theatre that even
ing. After the theatre they went to a
cabaret He was the brightest boy
she had ever known, and his sense of
humor appealed to her.
The next summer they had their va
cation at the same time. They met
again at a seaside resort. The moon,
light aights helped lot. and before
they had been there a fortnight they
had decided that they couldn't very
well get along without one another
Their happiness was brought to an
abrupt ending when Tommy was sent
for to take position he had applied
for in the North. 1t meant much
larger salary, he explained to Mar
garet, and would be quite comfort
able one for two. Margaret had had a
strenuous, nerve-racking winter; so
had been granted a two months vaca-
ton. Tommy promised to write regu-
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