The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1922-12-29
IA QUESTION
OF CLIMATE
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
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Copyright. 1922, by tho Macmillan Co.

initials, so the town NATURAL
~ called him Alphabetical" Nor
rison, and dropped the Colonel" H
came to our part of the country In al
early day-he used to explain tina
they caught him in the trees, whel
he was drinking creek water, eatinl
sheep-sorrel and running wild with
buffalo tail for trolley, and that tn,
first thing they did, after teaching
him to eat out Of plate, was to Sc
him at work in the grading gang tina
was laying out the Cottonwood anC
Walnut rivers and putting the lime
stone in the hills. He was one Of the
original five patriots who laid out the
Corn Belt railroad from the Missis
sippi to the Pacific, and was appoint
ed one Of that committee to take the
matter to New York for the inspec
ton of capitalists, and be it said to
the credit of Alphabetical Morrison
that he was the only person In the
crowd with money enough to pay the
ferryman when he reached the Mis-
souri, river, though he had only
enough to get himself across. But In
spite of that the road was built and
though 1t missed our town, 1t was be-
cause we didn't vote the bonds,
though old Alphabetical went through
the county, roaring in the school
houses believing at the crossroads,
and doing all that a good, honest pair
Of lungs could do for the cause How
ever, he was not dismayed at his fall
ure. and began Immediately to organ
lie company to build another road.
We finally secured railroad. though
It was only a branch.
Over his Office door he had a sign
LAND Off1ce"-painted on the false
board front Of the building in letters
newspaper knew Of him was twenty
years ago, when he brought In an
order for some stationery for the
Commercial club. At that time we
had not heard that the town support
ed a Commercial club-nor had any
one else heard of 1t, for that matter
for old Alphabetical was the presi-
dent, and his bookkeeper, with the
Miss dropped off her name, was Sec
rotary. But he had wonderfully
alluring letterhead printed, and
seemed to get results, for he made a
living while his competitors starved.
Later, when he found time, he organ
ized a real Commercial club, and had
himself elected president of It, He
used to call meetings of the club to
discuss things, but as no one cared
much for his monologues on the fu-
ture of the town, the attendance was
often light. He issued circulars re-
ferring to our village as "the Queen
City Of the Prairies," and on the cir
culars was a map, showing that the
Queen City Of the Prairies was 1.-THE,
railroad axis of the West" There
was one road running into the town i
the others old Alphabetical indicated
with dotted lines, and explained they
were In process Of construction.
He became possessed of a theory
that canning factory would pay in
the Queen City Of the Prairies, and
the first step he took toward building
1t was to invest In high hat, long
coat and white vest, and pair Of
mouse-colored trousers. With these
and his theory he went East and re-
turned with contract. The canning
factory went up, but the railroad rates
went wrong, and the factory was
never opened. Alphabetical blnked
at 1t through his gold-rimmed glasses
for a few weeks, and then organized
a company to turn 1t into a wooden |
mill. He elected himself president Of .
that company and used to bring
around to our paper notices Of direc-
tors meetings. and while he was in
the Office he would insist that we de-
voted too much space to idle gossip
and not enough to tho commercial
and Industrial interests Of the Queen,
City.
At times he would bring in an edi-
torial that he had written himself,
highly excitable and full Of cyclonic
language and II ve printed 1t Alpha
betical would buy a hundred copies
Of the paper containing 1t and send
them east. His office desk gradually
filled with woodcuts and zinc etchings
of buildings that never existed save
In his dear old head, and about twice
a year during the boom days he would
bring them around and have a circu-
lar printed on which were the pic
lures showing the imaginary public!
and theoretical business
thoroughfares Of the Queen City.
The wooden mill naturally didn't
pay. and he persuaded some eastern
capitalists to install an electric plant
in the building and put a street-car
line In the town. though the longest.
distance from one side OF the place
to the other was less than ten blocks.
But Alphabetical was enthusiastic
about II. and had the governor come
down to drive the first spike. II was
and Alphabetical pulled It.
up and used II for a paper-weight in
his Office for many years, and II Is
now the only reminder there is In
town OF the street railway, except a