Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-08
SITTING IN WITH JIMMIE


1t can be done. you know. without
partin' with a nickel The sensations
are something like climbing into the
pilots seat Of big bombing plane
and then stepping out again.
At the Piutorta I'd pushed IN
through the main entrance. crossed
the marble lobby and was Just passin'
the dtz.y blondes guarding the hat
check department OF the pink grill
when gets this hearty hail:
WELL well! Shorty McCabe. Ell?
How's the boy?'
It's roared out loud and rollin'. and
was like bein' PACED by megaphone.
Three or four parties turns curious to
see who answers to such q name. and
I expect was blushin' in my modest
shrinkin'-violet way until spots this
bird In the frock coat and the laven-
der tie.
HUH" says Might know II was
you. Jimmy Fincke. by the steam
siren whisper. What you think you're
doin'-announcin' . train?'
Same old Shorty" he chuckles,
poundin' me on the back.
Maybe" says I. But you amt the
same old Jimmy"
Il should hope not" says ke
II that was wish it had come
true. For the ]. Fincke who used to
run garage up on the Post road was
ruddy-faced. clear-eyed husk. who
was generally costumed in q blue
INN and xxrit
two Of grease on him somewhere. He
was always ready to hand out a line
of Josh. boss . tire-shiftin' job and
charge you double ON the time slip.
He had one of those round honest to-
goodness faces, q deep. boomin' laugh.
and. II you didn't allow for the shifty
eyes or have any prejudice against q
cleft chin. you might believe he was
as good as he said he was Anyway,
he was popular with his customers,
and. for garage man. that's sayin q
good deal
Course he was a yawp. You know.
noisy. Everybody.s friend. Got away
with it. too, in most cases. But II you
knew him long enough It gradually
SooAA W Ns~"M w Svu ehOs SkAO oho
particular party he was out to help
most was Jimmy Fincke. Specially
after you'd paid a few repair bills.
Still there was a lot to like about Jim
my. So he had made good. watched
his shop grow from a roadside shack
to a big double-breasted concrete at
fair with two storage floors and
fancy ONCE.
never knew until later how much
Mrs. Fincks had to do with buildin'
up the business. Used to see her in
there evenin's workin' on the books,
but 1t wasn't until Jimmy came to me
with his financin' scheme. when he
wanted to put up the new buildin'
that I found out 1 was the wife who
was the backbone Of the enterprise.
Jimmy really didn't think he could
swing the proposition, which included
interest on a $4,000 loan and big
overhead load. But when Mrs. Fincks
had sketched out her plans and show
ed mo on the books the business
they'd done durin' the last year. I
helped en- get their notes Endorsed.
She had some head on her. Mrs.
Jimmy. Nothing Ornamental. but not
such q bad locker at that. Daytimes
she put In eight hours reg'la as pri-
vate secretary to the manager of the
Nut and Bolt works. job she still
held onto even after she married jim
my. Then even's shed hustle home.
get dinner, and drive down to the
garage with Jimmy, where she'd stay
until IL of after postin'the books and
givin' him pointers. Course. after they
branched out SO big she didn't have to
do the bookkeepin' herself, but she
was there lot. keepin' an eye on
things.
And the next l heard was that JIM
my had sold out to one OF these chain
garage corporations and had bought
controllin' interest in the Nut and Bolt
concern. That was durin' the second
year Of the big war. when we were
just beginnin' to find out where we
were at and the first war baby plung-
ers were gcttin' In their fine work.
Jimmy was one OF the early birds.
1t seems Mrs Fincke was hep to the
fact that the works stood to pull down
some big shell conracts from the Eng
lish and French and before the deal
was closed she and Jimmy had bought
in. From then on II was Just one bold