The Lamar register., 1918-11-27
Sugar
Shortage
00
(CopyriEht. 1913. by the Mcclure Newsps
per Syndicate.)
By BERTHA cuRRIR PORTER


haven't any sugarl"
"What difference does that makef
Some of our best families don't have
sugar nowadays"
well, I'll bet the Clarkson girls are
rolling In sugari"
"If they are, all we need to do Is to
shake them over the cups. and there
you areW
You needn't Joke about 1t, Anne.
I have some pride II you haven't, and
I'm not going to have those rich Clark
sons coming here and thinking we're
not as well able to have things as they
are, even If they do garry fifteen dollar
knitting bngs, all covered over with
pln-cushion fruit, and tnssels."
81 don't know how you're going TO
get 1t. I've telephoned to every store
l can think of and they all say the
same thing-'no sugar."
'Telephonlng and asking face to face
are two different things. I'll run out
and see what can do"
Josephine Bruce. not In this bad
weather."
But Josephine had vanished into the
bedroom OF the little fiat.
II was the worst day of that 'never-
remembered-suc winter. There had
been heavy snow fall. thaw and
then a sudden freeze. with thick, black
Ice over everything. And In the night
the weather had moderated and rain
had fallen in torrents on the Ice. This
morning II was still raining. with a
heavy wind. II was day when sensi-
BILE folk wore creepers over their rub
bers. and other people lost their pride
in the good old Biblical way.
Josephine appeared. clad In very
becoming brown raincoat and little tan
hat. She wore brown boots and ridicu-
lous low rubbers. and carried brown
umbrella.
Sister Anne stood at her tower win
dow md watched Josephine slip down
the hill. using her folded umbrella as
staff. Anne began to chop nutmeats
for sandwiches. wondering what her
erratic sister might be doing. The
reality was this:
In the nearest store. Anne marched
bravely up to the counter.
Two pounds Of sugar. please" she
said, with her sweetest smile.
mo sugar In the store" growled the
harassed clerk for the one hundred
and thirty-seventh time that day.
There's no sugar In the store" the
next grocer told her, "and more than
that. there's no sugar up to my own
house. and I'm in the grocery business.
What was yours. madamT to a sleek
haired Italian woman In red shawl.
Josephine went out on more ice.
For an hour she slipped and slid
from one store to another. and heard
the same story in fifty-seven varieties.
Josephine paused on a corner TO collect
her forces and decide where to attack
next. This particular corner was at
the foot of hill-this city was built
on more than seven hills-and the side
walk sloped at an unpleasant angle;
also the building on that lot projected
In such a way that pedestrians coming
down the side street were completely
hidden from those on the main thor
oughfare. Josephine had seen so many
people fall that day that she now me-
chanically watched them all. Perhaps
that was why she noticed the gray
raincoat behind the big market basket.
New style cont." she thought. and
looked again at the basket. She gasp
edi Not for months had she seen
sight like that. She looked again. II
was absolutely true. In that basket.
camoufaged by tapping paper cover
ing. but with tell-tale little yellow
sharp corners sticking out, were six
two-pound cartons of sugari And the
food commissioner had ruled that no
dealer should sell more than ten
pounds to any one person. And she.
Josephine Bruce. had not one single
graini
She looked above the basket to see
who this plutocrat might be. and met
a pair Of serious blue eyes staring
straight into her brown ones. She had
only time to realize that this law
breaker was young and very good
looking when his feet appeared where
had been his face-he bounced up and
down, landing on the woman who had
slid down the side street, and vanished,
In the midst OF arms and legs and
bodies that came faster and faster un-
I'll they piled up in slipping. stopping
snarl Of humanity. And high In the
air, flying merrily toward the blue sky
before descending to the soaking side
walk. went the six packages of sugar.
Josephine lodged. She escaped the
,adaotrfopo harausa fhav oil slid into