Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1921-08-05
The Girl in the
Thin Coat
BY WILL T. AMES
90 1921. BY Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.

Broadway, where 1t traverses the
upper West side, is divided into two
parts. Between a brace Of ample
thorOughfares lies long, slender park
way, q string Of narrow parallelo-
grams Of fenced greensward, scored
across at regular intervals by the
transverse streets.
Down the westerly side Of this
double street fits. each morning an
amazing horde Of motor vehicles-pri-
vately owned cars Of all degrees save
that Of shabbiness, and squadron upon
squadron Of taxicabs; while up the
easterly side hurries a somewhat
smaller stream, largely consisting of
taxis whose drivers are hustling for
their share Of the "going down" bust
ness.
For here are passing on their way
to the days. affairs, tens Of thou
sands OF those who scorn to battle
their way downtown by subway or L,
and whose time is worth far too much
In dollars and cents to be spent on
dawdling surface cars.
10 the humble citizen who cools
his heels beside the parkway railing
at one Of the cross streets, awaiting
perhaps one Of the very occasional
trolley cars which, lower down, sheer
OF to penetrate the squalid Tenth
avenue region, there is Haunting
arrogance about that rushing river of
automobiles that arouses envy. vicari-
GUS pride. cynicism or the blues, &C.
cording to his temperament.
Patrolmen Dan Travers, trim, slim
and clean-eyed, loved, better than any
other duty that fell to his lot, the &C.
casional detail from eight to nine
o'clock, at the Eighty-second street
crossing. For 1t filed with joy the
breast of the amiable Dan to raise his
gloved hand against the progress Of
q dozen grandiose limousines or
breathless taxis and bring them to an
impatient halt while some skinny
legged little girl of nine led her six
year-old brother over the crossing to
the west sidewalk, on their way to
school.
As there are many hundreds Of
these children who must daily cross
the Broadway vehicular torrent to
reach the big public school over to-
ward 1.-THE Drive" Dan had plenty
Of opportunity to interpose that in
exorable Il ID Of the law. his own good
right arm,s stween the wheeled Moloch
and Its potential sacrificants. And,
as he privately confessed to his moth
er, 1t "tickled him blue"
Yet no traffic officer in New York,
regular or detailed, better knew the
drivers rights nor more infinitely re-
spected them than this serenely digni-
fed young copper.
Eighteen months ON the force was
Dan, and his record was perfect. To
his work he brought all the sense Of
responsibility, the understanding Of
discipline, the dauntless will to serv-
ice, that had developed lover there"
In the A. E. f. And he loved 1t and
was proud Of his uniform.
Came a time when a shift in the
system brought Dan to the Eighty
second street traffic post every MORN
ing instead Of now and then. 1t was
at the beginning Of this period that
he first noticed the girl in the thin
coat. The morning was keenly cold
and the coat was very thin, indeed !;
the girl shivered a bit as she waited
for q surface car. It struck Dan as
odd that in that neighborhood one SO
g0od-looking should be unfitly clad,
for luxurious coats and furs are as
common as the very taxis themselves.
Dan saw the girl every morning for
a week, and noticed that she always
took a car Of the same line. Once
when she glanced at him he caught
himself on the very point Of nodding
to her, out Of the friendliness he had
felt toward her from the first, and he
turned quite red and stopped the next
squad Of cars with an even more aus
tere gesture than usual when he real
lied It.
But when he saw the girl next day
absent-mindedly preparing to board a
Broadway F0rty-second-street car, he
ventured to suggest: "That one doesn't
70 down Tenth. lady," And when the
girl bestowed on him fairly be-
wildering smile and said: "Oh. thank
you |" In a voice Of vocal velvet. Dams
heart gave jump such as no Ger
man shell had gotten out OF II In the
Argonne.
After that the girls thin coat be-
came a positive personal worry to
Dan. He wasn't sure. but he had a
shrewd notion that policeman's wife
could dress better than that, even
though he did keep his fingers clean
from all the graft. And when the
girl, each day for three, greeted him
with cordial "Good morning, officer"
Dan almost, but not quite, lost his
head. between the Riddles and the au-
t0mobiles.
It was on the fourth morning that
things broke badly for Officer Travers.
THIRD WHEAT FORECAST FOR
INDIA
According to the third wheat fore
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