Evening star., 1922-11-19

spotted two who seemed to be just
stalling around.
How about 'em, Andy?' I asks.
Are they going to be useful?"
Them says he. That pair amt
even third-rate wood butchers, and
they told me-
Then, bring 'em up here" says l.
And when I had them on the carpet
I wasted very little breath. Shed
the uniforms. you two" says I.
"Ah. what's wrong. Miss?" asks one.
MY error" says I. II shouldn't
have dragged you in out of the fresh
air. Go back to the park and finish
your rest. On your way now."
And somehow this little slave
driver play of mine seemed to do a
lot of good. Those who were left
stepped a bit livelier and took to
touching their caps whenever they
came up to the desk for orders.
Never mind the polite flourishes,
boys,' says /. "We're all Handy
Andys here, and as long as you stick
to that we're going to get along to-
gether fine. Now. who's shifty enough
with wiring to bring phone down
from the fourth floor and cut it in
here?"
Don't tell any Of the Bell people, but
that little act kept one of my Andys
busy just twenty minutes. Another
rigged up a drop-light over my desk.
A third got some red and black paint
and frescoed big sign over the base
ment door.
Now I guess we're all set to fill
any orders they want to send in," I
announced. Hello! I bet there's one
now"
1t was. A boarding house landlady
on East 18th wanted to know if I
could send a man who could take the
squeak out of a swing door, set a
pane Of glass, stop leak in the sink
pipe and open a wardrobe trunk that
had been shut with the key inside.
"Andy's coming right around" says
I. Then came a call from a private
house on West 11th street, where a
nervous-t talking man wanted two
stair-treads fitted with hinges and
locks.
ITO keep valuable papers in," he
explained.
Il get you," says I. "That'l make
room for about twelve quart bottles.
Andy will be right on the job, and
he'll forget it afterwards"
Next a customer in the West Six
ties asked IL we could rig wire
troIley-run in the back yard for his
police dog and build some sort of
kennel out of dry-goods box.
GAY, they do read the papers, don't
- they? BY noon I'd sent out all
but two of my men and the calls
were still coming in.
I'VE shall need five or six more
tomorrow" told Millish. "See if you
can't work the dragnet again and get
them.''
Sure" says he. 'Tn have the
others pass the word and We'll get
'em."
On the strength of which I wrote
out some new ads for the papers.
Need a balky door cured, or a
sticky wardrobe drawer loosened up,
or q broken window made whole?
Call The Handy Andy Shop" This
was one Of them. Another one that
rather fancied was: "Our Handy
Andys always at your service. They'll
tackle any odd job you may name"
was getting a bit chesty. The
thing had gone to my head. You see,
sitting there at the phone and having
all these different people tell me their
troubles, and sending men out to fix
them up. was giving me more or less
Of thrill. I'd discovered a new iI-
dustry, as it were, and I tho light I
knew all about 1t.
But, say, about the third day I
found that even a two-by-four enter
prise like mine can be complicated.
was running against angles that I
hadn't looked for, problems !, hadn't
expected. Also the business was de-
veloping 80 fast that I could hardly
keep up with it. When you start to
serve any percentage of four million
people you've bitten or quite a
mouthful. For some of 'em are hound
to be queer birds. *
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