The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-09-18

Central, who used to slam a cal
through in such a crisis, replies:
Don't get fresh, mister; / can't dc
everything at onct."
And when you do get the doctor and
excitedly explain the case. Instead OF
announcing that he will be there in a
jiffy, he says:
Broken leg, hey? Well, put him to
bed and I'll be around about noon"
But, Doctor" you protest, what can
we do? The child is suffering and
Now, see here" say the doctor; 81
Just got back from France, where fifty
] calls for help come in at once and all
OF 'em bad ones. Dc you think Pm
going to put myself out for a pecadillo
like a broken leg?"
Time was it was reasonably safe to
expostulatae when a policeman on the
corner told you to move on and not
block up the sidewalk conversing with
a friend in an automobile. Do that to-
day, and in fifteen minutes you are in
the station with any charge from arson
to kiting checks lodged against you.
The old-time tolerant policeman, who
used his power like a g~ood-natured
giant, is not with us any more. The
only way you can get by at all is to
post on your car a big placard bearing
the legend: More Pay for Cops" II
you haven't a ear there is no help for
you, for few persons would care to
wear these placards on their chests
and backs, like a sandwich man..
The government, as you may remem
Der, tool over the railroads early in
the wal period. Mr.. McAdoo, then rail
road director. and a firm believer in
kindness, instructed all ticket agents
to be patient and polite with their pat
rons. For a time the instructions were
needed. But now!
81 want a ticket to New York." SAID
the man in a Chicago terminal.
you do, do your" sneered the ticket
agent. "Well I'd like one myself"
Il tell you l want to buy a ticket to
New York"
well, that's different; why didn't
you say so?"
How much is it?"
How do l know how much it is?"
Isn't it your business to know"
mot till you tell me the kind if a
ticket you want. l amt no mind
reader"
81 want a Pullman ticket on an ex-
press train, with a lower berth"
Fat chance you got to get a lower
berth! When do you want TO go?
Next Christmas
mo, mex week"
We'll, l s'pose you think l been
keepin' a lower berth in the icebox for
you, expectin' you in at any moment"
Now, my friend, aren't you just a
little bit i~mpudent?"
Say, Bill, if you don't like the way
| am why don't you wire to Presi.
dent Wilson about me? See that line
o people behind you-they want tick
cts, too, an they know what they
want. Get out O. the line now or I'll
call a cop an have you put out"
We quote the foregoing scraps of
conversation merely to show that
scores Of conversation of that sort can
lead to other scraps very readily,
You'll overhear enough of the same
sort, if you listen.
You can hear it any day from the
plumber who somes to repair your
kitchen sink, the carpenter who puts
a single on your roof, the ice man
who slams a chunk of ice into your
icebox, the milk man who drops half
a dozen empties on the back stairs
and wakes the whole family up at 5
a. M, and a good many other persons
who used to be tickled to death to get
your custom. Something has hap
pened to the good old planet.
The pocket book nerve of the ma
ton has not only been touched, but
exposed to the prods Of every passer.
by. %Irritability has become a natural
and it is getting worse every
day.
Now, we don't want to be a moral |
list or a preacher or a philosopher or !
anything of that kind, but we would /
that keeping your temper for
the mex six months or so might help. /
Anyway, we'd like to see somebody
try it. We've made the effort a num-
Der of times, but we never lasted be-
yond 9 o'clock in the morning.
Wv. s. S. h