River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1920-02-12

Akers says George rides around over
the bumpy roads, sitting on as much as
three hundred quarts of nitro-glycerin!
MY Lord! Talk about romantic tum-
bIes! II he gets blown sky-high some
day he won: have bigger drop, when
he comes down, than he's already had!
Don't it beat the devil! Young Akers
said he's got all the nerve there is in
the world. Says he gets a fair salary,
and I should think he ought to! Seems
to me I've heard the average life in
that sort of work is somewhere around
four years. and agents don't write any
insurance at all for nitro-glycerin ex-
perts. Hardly!
no" said Eugene. 81 suppose not"
Kinney rose to go. ''Well, it's
pretty funny thing-pretty odd, mean
-and I suppose it would be pass
around-the-hat for old Fanny Minafer
If he blew up. Fred told me that
they're living in some apartment house,
md said George supports her. He was
going to study law, but couldn't earn
enough that way 20 take care of
Fanny, so he gave it up. Fred's wife
told him all this. Says Fanny doesn't
do anything but play bridge these
days. Got TO playing too high for
awhile and lost more than she wanted
to tell George about. and borrowed
little from old Frank Bronson. Paid
him back, though. Don't know how
Fred's wife heard it. Women do hear
the darndest thingst'
'They do Eugene agreed.
"Well, I'm off to the store" said Mr..
Kinney briskly; yet he fingered. II
| suppose We'll all have to club i'm and
keep old Fanny out of the poorhouse
If he does blow up. From all hear
it's usually only question of time.
They say she hasn't got anything else
| TO depend on"
81 suppose not"
"Well-I wondered" Kinney hest
tated 81 was wondering why you
hadn't thought of finding something
around your works for him. You used
i TO be such tremendous friend of the
family thought perhaps you-of
course / know he's a queer lott know
he's"
Eyes, 1 think he is" said Eugene
"No. haven't anything to offer him.
81 suppose not" Kinney returned
th0ughtfully, as he went on. 81 don't
know that would myself. Well, Wen
| probably see his name in the papers
some day if he stays with that job! !"
However, the nitro-glycerin
expert of whom they spoke did not get
into the papers as consequence of
being blown up, although his daily life
was certainly continuous exposure to-
! that risk. Destiny has a constant pas
sion for the incongruous, and it was
1 Georges lot to manipulate wholesale
quantities of terrific and volatile ex-
! plosives in safety, and to be laid low
! by an accident SO commonplace and in
| consequent that it was comedy.
/ Fate had reserved for him the final in
suit of riding him down under the
wheels of one of those juggernauts at
| which he had oace shouted "Git a
hoss!" Nevertheless, Fates ironic
| choice for Georges undoing was not a
! big and swift and momentous car, such
as Eugene manufactured; it was spe-
cimen of the hustling little type that
was flooding the country, the cheapest,
commonest, hardest little car ever
made.
The accident took place upon Sum
| day morning. on a downtown crossing,
| with the streets almost empty, and no
l raacay, IN, Tho xrorId For -rnh fhipu
to- happen. He had gone out for his
Sunday morning walk. and he was
! thinking of an automobile at the very
| moment when the little car struck
him; he was thinking of shiny Ian
daulet and a charming figure stepping
into it. and of the quick gesture of
white glove toward the chauffeur, mo-
tioning him to go on. George heard
shout, but did not look up, for he could
not imagine anybody's shouting at him,
and he was too engrossed in the ques-
ton "Was it Lucy?" He could not de-
! eide, and his lack of decision in this
matter probably superinduced a lack
! of decision in another, more pressingly
vital. At the second and louder shout
he did look up; and the car was almost
! on him; but he could not make up his
mind if the charming little figure he
! had seen was Lucy's and he could not
make up his mind whether to go back
ward or forward; these questions be-
came entangled in his mind Then,
still not being able to decide which of
two ways to go, he tried to go both
and the little car ran him down. 1t
was not moving very rapidly, but it
went all the way over George.
He was conscious of gigantic yio-
lence; of roaring and jolting and con-
cussion; of choking clouds of dust,
shot with lightning. about his head;
he heard swapping sounds as loud as
shots from q small pistol, and was
stabbed by excruciating pains in his
legs. Then he became aware that the
machine was being lifted off Of him.