Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-02
sIDELIeHTs ON THE
 MORNING COAL LINE.
You Have to Get ua Early These Days
 If You Want to Buy Coal.

If You Want to Buy Coal.
 The past few weeks have seen a new line established-not line like those established by Won Hinderbdrg.
 but coal line, which if traced back
 may be said to originate from that same Von Hindenburg. If one has l never stood in line on a bitter cold l morning for about two hours and
 half waiting for the privilege of buy l ing one-half ton of coal, they have
 an experience coming to them which they will remember. Some insight sof
 the joys and sorrows of the experi- fence may betgathered from the expe-
 rience of one of those in line.
 F. Here's the experience of one Norwich man as he tells it:
 | My friend, who works in the same l office. with me, and who was in the
 same need of coal as I. decided that the | only way to get coal was to get up early in the morning. We also decided that if we were to stand any chance of
 getting coal we would have to be at the office of 8 local dealer by 4.30 a.
 m., and that hour found us in line,
 with only six others ahead of us. Those six who were there said that
 they had been there every morning for nearly aweek and had been unsuccess-
 full. This was certainly a happy out
 look. Stand in line for two hours and
 then be told there was nothing doing. We were game and we stuck it out.
 Others began to- arrive and the six
 in line greeted each one as an old
 friend. One man in line, who arrived
 after we did, suggested that it might
 be good idea to have reunion in years to come. He was immediately folA f41 o-a 4l- mittee
 Others began to arrive, some com
 ing on the run and others taking their time. One we'll known man arrived with big board under his arm which he used to stand on to keep him from
 getting cold feet. This modern Sir Walter Raleigh gallantly gave up his board to a young woman who arrived after he did and was next in line By this time there were about forty : in line, and more arriving every min ute. The man who carried the board , had a brilliant idea The line when :, first formed extended into the street ! and those who were not in the shel- ter of the building were shivering and shaking. The man suggested that the
 line be reformed in the opposite di- rection so IS to keep all out of the l. cold. Everyone gave their word that they wouldn't steal the other fellows ! ! place and the line changed. This was the source of amusement, as persor
 i coming to the office in either direction =. iscoufo not see how many were in line V A man would appear up the street ant a not seeing anyone there would TUT down and up the steps only to bt greeted by the words ITO the foot o : the class!' and then he would be give1 g the laugh s- Someone would ask the time. Only !. another herlf was the answer. It seem ,e ca as II we had been there two hour: already. One man came with violin : under his arm but refused to enter, B. tain the crowd.
 = A prominent barber who had arrivet . early stated that he knew that ther, v was coal in town. This was encour y agement indeed. He said he had seer
 t and even felt it. He was the hero IT But this hero became chilled like tn '- rest of us and he went to restauran = to get some coffee. On his return h. nj announced that he wasn't going t.
 wait any longer as someone had toll l. him. in the restaurant that the tw V cars of coal were for another deale,
 He said we could be foolish and wait
 We waited all right. But just imagin
 the barber's feelings when he find L out we all bought coal after he wen
 home. This same barber had been a k the office every morning for nearly
 week.
 Along with the humorous side wa # the pitiful-7,aWomen who were old an w gray were in, line and someone told u they had been there each morning an .d had pleaded for coal but had not re d ceived any There were those scantii lI clad, waiting for chane to get a littl . fuel to warm their homes.
 After we, had been there about tw g hours the man who has charge of Il, e' office arrived and he was at once SC s upon and asked if there was any coa n Oh, Boy! He said there was Ther ;c was a frosty cheer, everyone bein ~ so cold it was even an effort to move ,- The man unlocked the door and "
 filed into the office. One of the pop
 ular policemen led the grand marc
 window where tine orders were take1 Some. called out that if he tried t
 place an order the crowd would mo
 him.
 Some of the late stragglers tried t ls edge their way into the, front rank l. What a chance they had! It was lils trying to break into bank. Not s bit of sympathy did they get and may e be not any coal. because they wel ls' near the last Of the line.
 a- At last the man at the desk starte s- taking orders and soon we were ou rt' Someone said that the coal was of a1 large size. but it could be broken u al and used. One man near the end ( lS' the line remarked rather dejectedl lo 1 that the first thing to do was to g 5 the coal to break up. ga Our order was filled and, belle, T. me, we certainly went out of that O y flee as if we had just purchased a. ne nd satisfa c+ion on o,,r facss B,+ Nzr - should have seen the faces of tho. T. at the end of tine coal line! , n-