The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-07-30
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
Sugar Shortage
~ BERTHA CURRIE PORTER.
(CopyYight, 1918, by the Mcclure

Som Of our best families don't have
ougat noWadayG."
"WOll, I'll bet the Clarkson girls are
! rolling IN sugar."
sli they are, all we need TO do is 10
Shako them over the cups, and there
you are!"
you needn't joke about IL, Anne.
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 we'll able TO have things as they
are, even II they do carry fifteen dollar
knitting bags, all covered over with
pin-cuShiOn fruit and tassels.'
II don't know how you're going 70
get Il. I've telephoned to every store
] can think OF and they all say the
same thing-'nO sugar
"TelephOning and asking face 20 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 flat.
Il was the worst day OF that never.
OmembeFed.such-a-Winter." There had
been Q heavy snow fall. . thaw and
then q 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 It was still raining, with a
heavy wind. i was a day when sensi-
Die folk we're creepers over their rub.
bbfB, and ether people lost their pride
in the good old Biblical way.
Josephine appeared, clad in q very
becoming brown raincoat and little tan
hat. She wore brown boots and ridicu.
l0us low rubbeTS, and carried a brown
umbrella.
Sister Anne stood at her tower win.
dow and watched Josephine slip down
the hill, using her folded umbrella as a
stan. Anne began to chop nutmeats
Cor sandwiches, wondering what her
orFatic sister might be doing. The
reality was this:
In the nearest store Anne marched
bFavely up to the counter.
1.-TWO pounds Of sugar, please" she
said, with her sweetest smile.
mo sugar In the store" growled the
harTassed 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, madam" to a sleek.
haired Italian woman in q 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-seyen varieties
Josephine paused on a corner to col
lect her forces and decide where to at
tack next. This particular corner was
at the foot Of a hill-thls 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
oughiare. Josephine had seen so many
people fall that day that she now me-
chemically watched them all. Perhaps
that was why she noticed the gray
FaineOat behind the big market basket.
"New style coat" she thought, and
looked again at the basket. She gasp
Cd! Not for months had she seen a
sight like that. She looked again. 1t
was absolutely true. In that basket,
eamouflaged bya Tapping paper cover
ing, but with tell.tale little yellow
ehOFp corners sticking out, were six
tWO.pOund cartons Of sugar! 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
grain!
She looked above the basket TO see
who this plutocrat might be, and met
4 pair OF serious blue eyes staring
straight into her brown eyes. 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
alid down the side street, and vanish
"a, N the midst Of arms and legs and
bodies that came faster and faster un-
% they piled up in q slipping, stopping
snaFl Of humanity. And high in the
or, flying merrlly toward the blue sky
before descending to the soaking side
walk, went the six packages Of sugar.
Josephine lodged. She escaped the
pedestrians because they all Slid into
TIE cutter. but q couple OF pounds Of
sugar landed on her stylish little tan
nat and bounced down into her yawn.
INC Knitting bag. Josephine had no
recollection Of opening her bag, but
che knew exactly when she closed t.
And then, with the most outrageous
politeness, she stopped and picked up
two Of the other packages. She hand
e them 10 the young man IN the gray
Faineoat, crawling out from the chaos.
"Your sugar. sir" she said, smiling,
and went on her way, entirely unre-
pontant.
Perhaps the precious ballast IN her
bar preserved her equilibrium. She
hurried toward home. and after din
neF Josephine and Anne awaited the
ClaFkson girls. In the little kitchen.
cite q teapot waited, with q fat little
red jug Of cream and q plate Of nut
and cheese sandwiches. And four
cheerful little red Chinese cups and
saucers. And . sugar bowl that didn't
match. but whose glass sides display.
ed proudly itS white and gliStenlng
'cOntents.
"Ths walking isn't = BIT better" o.
served Josephine, looking out the win.