The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1920-07-31
DOWN COLVILLE STREETS
IN THE MORNING HOURS
(By the Observer

Colville streets are pleasant in the
morning when go to my work.
The air is sweet and fresh, even if
carrying a hint of the hot day that
is to follow. The people meet,
going like me to their appointed
tasks, are likewise fresh and hope
full. at is going to be warm," they
say, but there is spring in the
voice that carries with it message
of cheerful philosophy.
| like to stroll down the street and
look in at the shops and stores and
enjoy the beginning Of the days
activities. 1t is a very commonplace
street, perhaps, but to me romance
turks there after ALL
In the woodworking establishment,
the hum of saws and the sharp
staccato of hammers stimulates my
curiosity, and | look in and wonder
what the men are making and what
all the machinery is for, and sniff
appreciatively the sweet, resonant
fragrance of the pine.
Cling, Clank, Clink! The black
smith shop!
"And children coming home from
l. school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the flaming sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor"
But this isn't getting me to work
and ! tear myself away.
Buz-z-z-! Buz-z-z! No it isn't an
ogre dentist drilling out giants
tooth. 1t is merely workman
cutting out and polishing piece Of
granite for a gravestone. He whistles
blithely as he works. The words he
is inscribing will stab somebody's
heart with their cruelty strange fam
iliarity; but he knows, if he stops
to think of it, that there is some
thing about the final record he is
carving that, though sorrowful, is
satisfying to the spirit of the one
who bade him make it. For how
many thousands of years have men
carved and cut the records of their
dead upon stone, in the vain hope,
perhaps, that in this unyieldlng
medium they might preserve some
thing of the memory of those they
held dear!
On down the street, men hustle
about automobiles and farm ma
chinery. I catch whiffs of gasolii''
and machine grease, not esthetic
odors perhaps, but comfortably sug-
gestive of something doing.
almost forgot the secondhand
store. Now secondhand store
always appeals to me. There is an
element of the unexpected and un-
explored. Nobody knows just what
he might come across if only he had
time to go in and look around. Every
sale there has made three people
happy: first, the man who exchanged
something he did not want for the
wherewithal to buy something he
did want, second the man who got
something he did want for less than
he would have to pay elsewhere, and
thirdly the philanthrophic middle
man who has achieved these two
foregoing results. Now, that is some
happiness to get out of one trans
action.
The downtown stores are pleasant
places in the morning hours. The
days rush has not yet begun. The
salespeople are bustling about polish
ing showcases and laying out goods.
But they are not too busy to pass
the time of day.
In the restaurants, the late risers
are eating breakfast, the more
hurried of the men perched upon
high stools before the lunch counter
and others with an appearance
of leisure indulging themselves with
ham and eggs at the tables.
And 80 on to the waiting desk and
the mornings mail.