Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1919-01-17
WHAT'S in A NAME
BY VINCENT G. PERRY.

The village of Wattsville was hard
~ large enough to support one news
paper, and here 1t was with two. Fred
Burnett, proprietor, managing editor,
pressman and compositor Of the
Wattsville Advance, walked up and
down the little room In front of his
plant which he called the Office, and
bit at a match furiously. Wattsville
had been without paper for a long
time, and the idea of starting up
weekly again was originally his. He
was sure of that. He had come from
the city and looked over the plant Of
the Echo, a paper that had not been
published for ten years, and had de-
cided it wasn't in good enough shape
to 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 Ad-
vance and moved it to Wattsville to
the little building it now occupied. In
the meantime the Echo Office had been
sold by real estate broker in the city,
and the purchaser, who had bought the
plant was woman, the niece of the
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.
Poor thing-if she does know any
thing about newspaper work she will
get a 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
his statement. She was foolish to
take the word Of either, she thought.
: If 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 1t 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 off the biggest disappoint-
ment Of her life that made her give
up her position on the Times in the
city and invest her savings in the coun-
try newspaper that proved to be so
unpromising. The winter before she
had been introduced to Tommy Mckay
OF %Er
was representing the Tribune and she
was reporting the convention for the
Times. Tommy had a 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 Of the
mayors speech. After that kindness
she couldn't very well have refused his
invitation to the theater that evening.
After the theater they went to
cabaret. He was the brightest boy she
had ever known, and his sense Of hui
NOR appealed to her.
The next summer they had their va
cation at the same time. They met
again at seaside resort. The noon
light nights 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.
Margaret couldn't help running this
all over in her mind as she worked.
The editor Of the Advance stopped
in front Of the Echo Office. It wouldn't,
be out Of place to call on this Miss
Spur. He could find out what she
thought of the Echo plant.
Margaret heard the step in the door
way and turned around. AS her eyes
met the visitors, she uttered a little
scream and her handful Of type fell
to the floor.
TOMMY" she gasped. ''Tommy
Mckay"
Norma, what are you doing here?"
he cried in surprise.
Why, I'm the owner Of this plant,
Margaret Spur"
you, Margaret Spur? Isn't Norma
Cousins your right name? Why didn't
you answer my 1etters2''
"Your letters, Tommy? I never re-
ceived them" Norma was excited,
"Tell me did you address them to
Norma Cousins?''
Eyes: thought that was your real
name."
1T is only my pen name, the name
under which wrote for the Times.
To think I never told you my right
name! But didn't you get my letters,
Tommy"
mo, not a letter." Then it dawned
upon him. did you know my right
name isn't Tommy Mckay; that that
is only pen name, too? My right
name is Fred Burnett"
So that there would be no more mix
ups in names, the first issue of the.
Echo-Advance had printed at the top
of the editorial column in bold type,
"'Fred Burnett, managing editor: Mrs.
Fred Burnett, news editor"
Copyright, 1917, by the Mcclure Newspa-
per Syndicate) (