The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1928-08-10
HIKING TO
FRISCO
Continued from last week.
By John Arthur Stahlberg

This announcement elected all sorts
of curious comment. One OF the
neighDO1ing eulUO1s objected to my
declaration concerning the two vii
lagos, seeming to think that it was
not nice of me to prefer one before
the other. lie defended the injured
hamlet by asserting that if | did not
care much for it, perhaps it was not
exactly enthusiastic about me, either
"a supeIfluOus quip, considering that
no village has ever been known to
think kindly of a man who has re-
fused to Halter it.
Not 1elishing the prospect of start
ing during the cold weather without
a certain supply of money, | continu-
ed working as long as / could find
work to do, pOstpOning several times
during the winter the hour when
must fare forth. In the early DAYS
of February l fixed the 23rd of that
month as the date on which | would
begin the journey. February, howev-
er, was cold, and as the decisive day
drew near l dreaded tn prospect more
and more, and finally found an ex-
cuse to wait until March l. Had
been one of those men of heroic de-
termination that you read about in
popular novels, l suppose l should
nave started, anyway. But somehow
1t seemed so ridiculousatO develop any
herolcs in such a matter that mere
ly laughed it off and allowed the crit
les of my conduct to reassure them
selves and each other. Most of them
had already decided that would new
er get under way at all and each de-
lay was meat and drink to their
| souls. Later, when March 1 arrived
and L decided on another postpone
ment they were triumphant. When
finally | started this triumph changed
to chagrin but they found much COM
fort in the thought that | would not
go through with it but would present
y e"f n .S~Si<, defeated
In tnlS last postponement | found
a way to overcome the psychology
of delay, by making a decision which
had strong suggestion in its ia
vor. Besides, spring was coming and
l no longer had to consider the DOS
slDlllty of having to face those biz
yards which are such an unpleasant
feature of northwestern winters. The
following, published early in Marcs
tells the story:
Here is How 1t Happened
cannot remember it at all. I do
not know anything about it except
by hearsay. And though it is con.
sldered bad form to do so l shall now
repeat that which l have heard. (Yor
are wrong. 1t is not a scandal Il
is not gossip, even, in the best sense.
1t happened on the morning Of
March 10, 1902 Cat least, so the stor,
goes) while the worst blizzard of tn,
year was raging. The weather wa
SO pad that another baby who ar
rived on the same day was christen
ed Storm, in honor of the unusua
Jury OF the elements. | am not pre
pared to say what the elements Wer
furious about, but it is certain tina
they gave me chilly welcome
welcome which, by the way, was sym
bollc of what | have since met wit
right often.
The first words l heard spoke
were uttered in tone of horror
For the LAND of the Living Sakes
Is THAT the baby?" The speake
was visiting neighbor of my unfol
tunate parents, and she was S,
shocked, don't you know! Ny! my
= Dear Me! l cannot have been beat
tiful even at that early age, obv
! ously. | have since been greeted &
various times with variations of TIL
exclamation, and l will doubtless COZ
! tinue to hear them at frequent il
! tervals until the day when my frienC
q open the long box for the last loo
at the interesting arrangement whiC
used to be my face, and some lit
boy or girl not yet arrived wonder.
Mamma, can that really be CRANE
pa?"
Storm and | grew up together.
perhaps | should say that we ore
up in succession, since Storm. beiu
calf, naturally had it all over me
a growing contest. 1t must be fou
teen or fifteen years, now, since
! last saw him, and he was then a BIZ
= ger brute than l can ever be. su
g pose he is dead by this time. while
: All very much alive, and preparir
! to celebrate my % anniversary |
!. starting on much postponed trim
= the Pacific coast. Which is what
wanted to tell you in the first plac
but words got the better of me.
hope to goodness the weather W
* be better WIN l leave than it w
"a when l came. John A. Stahlber
p On the 10th of March, accordingl
D | left Karlstad and strolled Frisc
e ward. A slide had been run at Il
= movies" on the evening before. a
= nouncing that l would start from i
ID