Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-06-10
MOVING NIGHT
CA Community Coined,

Z.
Rise of curtain discloses Winthrop
| hill with Prospect street at right and
Wyman street at left. All sur
rounding houses dark-apparently
all the inmates are deep in clumber.
All is quiet and Tranquil Faint
chirp of frogs the only sound to be
heard. Street light and moon illum-
| inc scene. After an interval faint
shout and heavy rumble heard from
! direction of Prospect street, sound
/ grows steadily louder-finally pair of
! horses driven by well-known Angus
ia truck man appear from Prosrcc ct
! street hauling garage on big fiat bot
tom wagon, turn onto Winthrop
! street and start down hill. When the
wagon strikes the down grade there
! is something doing. The truckman,
realizing the weight of the structure
will be too much for the horses to
hold, jumps off. digs his heels in the
| dirt, and pulls violently on the reins
at the same time shouting a lusty
Whoa" that skaters the midnight
| stiffness like a clap Of thunder and
! penetrates every bedroom within five
blocks. The horses thus inspired
| plant their forefcet firmly in the
dust and squat on their heels strain
! ing every muscle to avert the threat
encd annihilation of garage and driv-
er. Thus checked SO sharply in its
impetus rush the garage tips danger
ousy but except for a few protesting
crcaks comes to stop.
During these anxious and exciting
moments the truckman's eyes had
protruded dangerously until they
seemed on the verge of falling ont
altogether but now like the dust they
settled back to their accustomed po
stion., The truckman brcathes cas-
| Ter and finding his voice shouts lus
; tily for his helpers to bring up the
reserves. After few more crashing
verbal volleys the reserves appear in
the form Of another pair Of horses
/ Now q terrible and dcafcning ha-
rangUe eminatcs from the truckman
as he labors to impart to his assist
| ants what he wants done with the
! horses. Later events disclose that he
!
! hitchcd to the rear of the wagon to
help hold back the garage in its
i descent down the hill. Perhaps un-
der normal conditions he could have
revealed quickly in a few well-chos-
en- gentle words his desires But
now handicapped by the necessity of
! keeping his own pair of horses IN
hand and excited by the constant
danger that the garage might again
: at any moment lunge forward the
trucllman delivers his orders so
swiftly and SO forcefully that his
helpers are more confused than en-
lightencd. Furthermore, every now
and then the garage creaks ominous-
~ as though about to make dash
fer liberty. These threats and feints
on the part of the garage interrupt
the truckmans discourse and evoke
from him explosive commands to his
steeds to Whoa" Back up,
STEADY steady" whoa, whoa"
Naturally the intersections of these
orders to his horses regardless of
whether or not he has completed the
train Of thought which he is trying
to impart to his assistants by no
means assists to their understand
| ing.
BY this time Augusta citizens Ct
| the neighborhood who had been en-
loving the sweet oblivion of slumhcr
no longer do so-all are aware that
| things are not as they should pc.
Heads appear at windows but none
! of the spectators appear to enjoy the
scene. none have q word of sympathy
! or announcement for the truckman
or his crew; in fact quite an audible
muttcring and sputtering is heard
| and it seems one can make out
few remarks such as What in H
t is going on" mice time of night to
/ be moving the City hall" Flows
fcllar going to sleep with that racket
going on?" And one spectator more
frank and more awake than the rest
bellows Hire a Hail." This uneX-
pectcd advice so startles the truck
man that he almost drops the refs
and he actually forgets to shout his
orders for most half minute.
But at last after his assistants have
tried hitching the horses to every
part of the wagon except the one the
truckman has been trying to desig-
nate Cone spectator swore afterward
that he saw them at one time trying
to hitch onto the nearby lamp posD
they finally, by accident, get the right
| connection. Then with a few final
reverbirating commands the truck
man starts his horses, the garage
rumbles down the hill and passes
from view. The last thing to be
heard is the truckman's whoa as
he stops his team for a rest opposite
the Universalist church. The spec
tators now crawl back to bed and try
to get to sleep again and soon the
neighborhood is once more tranquil
| and quiet.
Curtain
| Note: This Community comedy
which was enacted Wednesday eve
ming at midnight probably will not
be presented again for some time, at
least the citizens of that neighbor-
hood declare it won't be if they have
anything to say about it and they ad-
l.