The Coolidge examiner., 1931-08-28

1dnCeH, Tor example, was inclined
to write his first editorial entitled
"Whither OklahOma? before the
hand press had been put together.
He was more absorbed in the eff
feet of the sign tackled up over the
front of the shop than he was in
the proper mechanical arrangement
of the necessary appliances inside.
| THE OKLAHOMA WIGWAM. read
| the sign in block letters two feet
high, so that the little cabin itself
was almost Obscured. Then. be-
| meath. In letters scarcely less i'm
pressive: YANCEY CRAVAT,
PROP. AND EDITOR. ATTOR-
NEY AT LAW. NOTARY.
The placing of this sign took the
better part of day, during which
! time all other work was suspended
| While the operation was in progress
Yancey crossed the road fifty times,
Ostensibly to direct matters from a
proper vantage point of criticism,
but really 70 bask in the dazzling
| effect of the bold fat black letters.
| AS always in the course of such
proceedings on the part of the Ia
! boring male there was much
| hOarSe shouting, gestlculation, and
| general rumpuS.
1t was Sabra's first realization
| that the male of the species might
| be fallible. A product of southern
training, even though a daily wit
ness. during her girlhOOd, to the
! dominance of her matriarchal moth
er over her weak and war-shat-
tered father. she had been bred to
the tradition that the male was
always right, always 10 be deferred
to. Yancey, still her passionate
lover, had always treated her, ten
derly. as a charming little fool. and
this role she had meekly-even
gratefully-accepted. But now sus-
picion began to rear its ugly head.
These last three weeks had shown
her thar the male was often mis-
taken, as q sex. and that Yancey
was almost always wrong as an in
dividual But these frightening dis
cOverieS she would not yet admit
even to herself.
"Yancey, this case of types bad
ly pied" Jesse Hickey, Journey
man printer and periodic drunkard,
was responsible for this miSfor-
tune. having dropped a case, face
down, in the dust of the road while
assisting Yancey in the moving.
It'll have to be sorted before you
can get out a paper"
"Oh. Rickey'll tend to that. I've
got lot of important work to do.
Editorials to write, news to get,
lot of real estate transferS-and
I'm going to find out who killed
Pegler and print it in the first is
sue if it takes the last drop of
blood in me. I'll show them, first
crack. that the Oklahoma Wigwam
prints all the news. all the time.
knowing no law but the Law of
God and the government of these
United States! Say. that's pret-
ty good slogan. Top of the page.
just above the editorial column"
In the end it was Sabra who sort
ed the case of pied type The five
years of Yancey's newspaper own
ership in Wichita had familiariZed
her. almost unconsciOuSly. with
many Of the mechanical aspects of
a newspaper printing shop.
The hand press was finally set up,
and the little job press, and the
case rack containing the type. The
rollers were in place. and their lit
tie stock of paper. CuriOusly
enough. though neither Yancey nor
Sabra was conscious of it, ii was
she who had directed most of this
manual work and had indeed ac-
tually performed much of it, with
Isaiah and Jesse Hickey TO help
her. Yancey would lose himself
in the placing of his law library,
his books of reference. and his fa-
vOrite volumes, for which he con
tended there was not enough shelf
room in the house proper. He had
brought along boxes of books
slowed away in the covered wag-
ons. If the combined book wealth
contained in all the houses offices.
and shops of the entire Oklahoma
country so newly settled could have
been gathered in one spot il prob
ably would have been found TO
number less than this preposterous
library of the paradOxical Yancey
Cravat. Glib and snowy though
he was with his book knowledge
Yancey still had in these volumes
of his the absorption of the true
book lover.
Lost TO all else he would call
happily in to Sabra as she bent
over the case rack. her cheek
streaked with ink: "Sabe Oh.
Sabe-listen to this" He would
clear his throat. "'Son of Nestor
delight of my heart. mark the
flashing of bronze through the
echOing halls. and the flashing of
gold and of amber and of silver
and of ivory. Such like. methinks
is the court of Olympian Zeus
within. for the world of things that
are here; wonder comes over me
as look thereon Cd.
Sabra. it's as fine as the Old Tesla
ment. Finer!"
1.-The world of things that are
here" echoed Sabra. not bitterly
but with grave common sense.
perhaps if you'd pay more atten-
ton to those. and less to your non
sense in books about gold and sill
yer and ivory, we might get set
tied"
Rut hn WAS ready with hOneVed