The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1928-08-31


in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
1 walked up TO the door of a small
house in the outskirts of Aberdeen
anu rang the bell. A little old wo-
;uan answered it and ! handed her my
card and began in my best voice to
IL her what was, VINO | was, where
was, and why. l was Just becoming
o. operly eloquent, when she cooked
aer head on one side and demanded,
Not you say p
! repeated my speech, little more
Loudly and when | got to that part o'
my ritual which explained my reas MS
o. taking the trip, she interrupted /
again. / was just saying, ito see
the country in novel way
eyes," she agreed, "It's an awful
way"
| thought it was awful too. In fact
the awfulness of it came home to Inc
with such emphasis that l had to bite
my tongue to preserve my tottering
gravity. But | showed her one Of my
patent needle threaders which was
then selling and managed to explain
its use. She seemed very distressed,
and said:
"Iss idt for me-? Maybe mine poy
ISIS opp down, und he might puy Won,
pudt helf me Colt if l amt got in de
! house rot a penny, ach! vot can /
do?"
assured her that under the cir
cumstances she could no nothing,
which seem to cheer her a great deal.
Jonrneying on, l learned new me-
thodS of pursuing happiness. In Port
land, North Dakota, i had been given
complimentary ticket to a showing
Of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
at the local theatre and this gave me
an idea. Thereafter, when l saw a
movie announcement which intrigued
me | would simply present my card
at the ticket window and in the ma
jority Of instances | would be admit
ted. Sometimes | was asked a few
polite questions, and once in a while
was refused a ticket. This method
proved effective until l tried it in
Pierre, South Dakota, at the theatre
owned by ga certain rich man" called
Hyde, who, IL the language of con-
sumate courtesy, practically told me
that | was making myself cheap. ]
never had the courage to try it again.
Also in Pierre, | visited the first
newspaper office (that of Nipple
owner of the Capital Daily Journal)
in which | was given to understand
, that | was unwelcome. Previous Il
| this | had formed the habit of calling
on at least one editor in every town
{ in which | stopped, provided that Il
) had newspaper or several newspa
pers, and this had become one of the
! thoroughly enjoyable features of the
hike, largely because of the hearty
friendlness which / had encountered
Nipple, however, was not friendly
Rather he made me feel that if haC
, inadvertently interrupted an empero
a at his work (if an emperor has am
! work. | could not have been any NOR,
J unwise than l was in interruptinl
, him, Nipple. This discouragement
however, was only temporary, and
continued to call on editors in thei
lairs, and continued to be receive,
> with courtesy and with more tina,
= courtesy--until | reached Cheyenne
Z. and Denver. In Cheyenne my visit t
p the office of one of the newspaper
= resulted in an editorial cancrnin
= freak travellers" who were crOssin
J, the continent in ali sorts of absur
: ways, III the hope of getting thei
i names, and perhaps their pictures, i
:" the paper" Evidently the Cneyenn
EDITOR was one of those clear-sighe
= philosophers who understand the ir
:, wardness Of any matter rs matte
- of course! To him, 40 doubt, i seen
y cd perfectly plausible that sane ma
would undertake the arduous task {
~ walking several thousand miles lner'
y ly for the rather unimpressive priv
q lege of having his name printed in
e ew papers-preferably the CheyenT
u papers, whose circulation and infll
p ence extend over probably two
81 three southern Wyoming counties!
y Nevertheless, / hated to forego Il
~ pleasure of those friendly visits, az
x persisted until | reached Denve
nu There called on the city editor of ii
Post who informed me, albit apol
n getically, that such doings as mil
nd were Of no news value whatevec, al
de he would rather not be bothere
rs Again my courage crumpled, grie
20 ously stricken, and / never enter
EN- another newspaper office until / a
int rived at Porterville, California, whe
lg. I was invited to come and be into
nut viewed.
bic
Next Week: Mr.. Stahlberg te
lgs of various ways of securing rides
lat and also how he called on Warli
10 Waitress.