The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-28
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY E. HOUSE
tFFom Ph;iadelphia Public LedEer.I

Damon Runyan's story of the Kan
saS farmer who, having been swept
into the funnel of a cyclone at his
home near Clay Center. arrived in To-
peka, his first stop, with his sod house
in his hands. is good. But Il is mac
curate in one of it details. When the
funnel-shaped cloud dropped the Clay
county agriculturist near the Reform
school in North Topeka. his right
arm broken in two places. he clutched
in his left hand not the remnants of
his home but a bottle OF Jamaica
ginger.
We recall the incident perfectly.
! the agriculturist's name was Jones.
: We came, in after years. to know him
very well He was a mild-mannered
little man, slight astigmatic in one
| eye His horse, Sleepy Bill, won the
fouF-minute trot for biaze-faced geld
| ings foaled in the dark of the moon
! ton City races in 1897. Time. 5:17A i.
But We lose the main vibration of
/ the story in a weller of detail. The
Kansas farmer. years ago, learned the
futility of any attempt to preserve his
fooftree intact in the face of a funnel
, shaped cloud. His first concern is for
! his stock of lubricants, provided he
has lubricants in stock. After that he
! thinks OF his wife and children. Only
those who have lived in the remote
districts of the old aqua pura belt
know and properly appreciate the
luorieating qualities of - Jamaica
! ginger.
1t was our fortune to be one of the
; reporters who interviewed Jones i'm
/ medlately following his arrival at his
destination. AS the doctors set his
arm and placed it in a plaster cast
| he
! various scalp wounds he told us in
| language that was simple, almost
quaint. the story of his ride. 81 seen
the cloud acomin'," he said, land 1
! knowed 1 couldn't git a drink between
Clay Center and Kansas CITY. so 1
grabbed me my last bottle of tick,
! told Mirandy and the kids to scatter,
and hers 1 am"
1t must. indeed have been a peril
and beaten by the tornado and was SO
occupied with the detail of his per-
sonal safety that nearly three-quarters
OF the original content remained in
the bottle of Lick" upon his arrival
But none of it was wasted; the re-
porters drank it.
Vice. We pause to observe as we
scan the morning papers, is making
another stand, this time in Downers
Grove. Ill. On Saturday Downers
Grove voted. by majority of nearly
four to one, to permit the sale OF
cigarets within the village.
OF course. the repulse of the up1ift
sustained at DOwners Grove is only
temporary. A great many persons
both ladies and gents, find enjoyment
in the cigaret 1t is, as we interpret
IT, the sense of the ruling classes. thai
anything that contributes to the pleas
ure or enjoyment of the public is ar
evil. The cigaret is doomed.
Temporarily, at least. we are Off
Cal Coolidge AS we feel about il
now. no candidate for vice president
who puts on a smock and goes out ant
sprays potatoes and cuts grain with {
scythe for the benefit of the motion.
picture operators gets our vote.
You will note that we interpolate {
saving clause in expressing our atti
tude toward the Republican candidate
We nearly always plow a fireguard
We did so in this instance for thu
reason that. having read one of Mr.
Roosevelt's speeches and having stud
led his newspaper pictures with sons
care. we are convinced he will d.
something equally asinine before tn
campaign is over.
we may vote the Republican tickle
yet provided the now of flapdoodl
| doesn't inundate the country, thereb.
making it impossible for us to reacl
the polls.
Tho Exception Proves tho Rule.
Sir-In your column this morning
you state that no woman was eve
kissed against her will. AS one VIII
was never kissed willingly, 1 deman
hearing. In the first place. the law
of sanitation are against it In tn
second place. woman should hav
some choice in the matter, and I hav
. never had the opportunity of selec
ton. MY three experiences along tina
line follow:
When I was about thirteen years oil
and my mothers youngest sister
husband died. saw my father kis
my aunt, out of sympathy, I suppose
and when he found / had seen him
he kissed me too, Sc I would not tel
mother, for she had brought us u