South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-02-26

/ ture OF Col. Telfair's residence in
I Jackson. Miss, whence you hail and
you VIII not be set upon. But in
Z New York you must be either New
/ Yorker or an invader Of a modern
Troy. concealed in the wooden horse
OF your conceited proyincialism. And
/ this dreary preamble is OGly TO in
I troduce 20 YOU the unimportant Jig
ures OF William and Jack
They came out Of the west tOse;h-
or. where they had been friends.
They came 10 dig their fortunes out
OF the big city.
Father KnickerbOcker met them
at the ferry. giving one a right-han-
der on the nose and the other an
uppercut with his left. just TO let
them know that the fight was or.
William was for business; JACK
was for Art. Both were young and
ambitious: 50 they cOuntered and
clinched. / think they were from
Nebraska or possibly Missouri or
Minnesota. Anyhow, they were out
for success and scraps and scads.
and they tackled the city like two
Lochinvars with brass knucks and
a pull at the city hall.
Four years aftecward william and
Jack met at luncheon. The business
man blew in like a March wind,
hurled his silk hat at a waiter
dropped into the chair that was
pushed under him. seized the bill of
fare and had ordered as far as
Z T,a ut Of had limo ~
do more than nod After the nod a
humorous smile came into his eyes.
Billy" he said. you're done for
The city has gobbled you up. II
has taken you and cut YOU TO its
pattern and stamped you with its
brand. You are so nearly like ten
thousand men I have seen today that
you couldn't be picked out from
them II II weren't for your laundry
marks"
"Camembert," finished william.
whats that? Oh. you've still got
your hammer out for New York,
have you? Well, little old Noisy
Vile n-the-subway ia good enough
for me. It's giving me mine. And
say. l used TO think the west was
the whole round world-only slight
~ flattened at the poles whenever
J Bryan ran. / used TO yell myself
hoarse about the free expense, and
hang my hat on the horizon, and
say cutting things in the grocery
TO little soap drummers from the
east. But I'd never seen New York.
/ then, Jack. Me for II from the
rathskellers up. Sixth av. is the
west to me now. Have you heard
this fellow CrusOe sing? The des-
ert isle for him. l say. but my wife
made me go. Give me May Irwin
or T.. s. Willard any time ,"
Poor Billy" said the artist. deli
cately lingering a cigaret. You
remember, when we were on our
way 10 the east how we talked about
this great, wonderful city, and how
we meant to conquer it and never
let il get the best Of us? We were
going 20 be just the same fellows
We had always been, and never let
1t master us II has downed you.
old man. You have changed from
a maverick into a butterick"
Don't see exactly what you are
driving at" said William. "I don't
wear an alpaca coat with blue trou-
sers and a seersucker vest on dress
occasions, like ] used TO do at home.
You talk about being cut TO q pat
tern-well. amt the pattern all
right? When you're in Rome you've
got to do as the Dagoes do. This
town seems to me to have other al
legged metropolises skinned TO flag
stations. According to the railroad
schedule I've got in my mind, Chi
cago and Saint-Jo and Paris. France.
are esterisk stops-which means
you wave a red flag and get on ev-
cry other Tuesday. / like this little
suburb OF Tarrytown-on Hud-
son. There's something or some
body doing all the time. I'm clear
ing eight thousand dollars a year
selling automatic pumps. and I'm
living like kings-up. Why. yester-
day, I was introduced to John W.
Gates. I took an auto ride with
wine agents sister. 1 saw two men
run over by a street car. and seen
Edna May play I'm the evening Talk
about the west. why, the other night
! woke everybody up in the hotel
hollering. I dreamed I was WALKING
on q board sidewalk In Oshkosh.
What have you got against this
town, Jack? There's only one thing
in II that I don't care for. and that's
a ferry boat"
The artist gazed dreamily az the
cartridge paper on the wall. This
town" said he, is a leech. II
drains the blood OF the country.
Whoever comes to 1t accepts a chal-
lenge 10 a duel Abandoning the
figure of the leech. II IS a 1ugger-
naut, MoloCh, a monster TO
which the innocence. the genius.
and the beauty Of the land must pay
tribute. Hand 10 hand every new
conner must struggle with the levia-
than. You've lost. Billy. II shall
never conquer me. I hate Il as one
hates sin or pestIlence or-the color
work IN q ten-cent magazine. ! de-
spise It's very vastness and power
II has the poorest n1illionaires. the
littlest great men. the haughtiest
beggars. the plainest beauties. the
lowest skyscrapers, the dolefulast
pleasures Of any town I ever saw
II has caught you. old man. but I
will never run beside its chariot
wheels. II CLOSES itself as the
Chinaman CLOSES mis- collar Give
me the domestic Anish. could
stand a town ruled by wealth or ona
ruled by an aristOcracy: but this IS
one controlled by its lowest ingred-
tents Claiming culture, il is the
crudest: asseverating its pre-erni-
ence, Il is the basest: denying all
outside values and virtue. II is the
narrowest Give me the pure air