Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1931-11-12

where for yards around to tell the
tale they already knew
Acres that Ind been carefully tended
so that they might yield their scanty
crop Of cahbages. onions. potatoes were
abandoned to oil. the garden truck rot.
ting In the ground Rnwhoned farm
ers and their scrawny wives and
plndlins hrats. grown spectacuIarly
rich overnight. walked out of their
houses without taking the trouble to
move the furniture or lock the door.
It was not worth while They left
the sleazy curtains on the windows.
the pots on the stove. The oil crew.
clanking In. did not bother to wreck
the house unless they found II neces-
sary. In the midst of an inferno OF
oil rigs. drills. smoke. steam. and seen
Ing oil itself the passer-by would often
see weather-beaten farmhouse. its
windows broken. Its front askew. like
heldame gone mad. gray hair stream
Ing about her crazed face as she stared
out at the pandemonium OF oil hell
about her
The farmers moved into Usage, or
Oklahoma City. or Wahoo. They
bought automobiles and silk shirts and
gew-gaws. like children. The men sat
on the front porch In shirt sleeves
and stocking feet and spat tobacco
juice into the fresh young grass
Mile on mile. as far as the eve could
see. were the skeleton frames OF oil
rigs outlined against the sky like giant
Marian figures stalking across the
landscape. Horrible new towns-Bret
Harte woodenfront towns-spranr up
overnight on the heels OF an oil strike
towns Inhabited by people who never
meant to stay in them; stark and hid
eous houses thrown up by jewellers
who never intended to remain In them
rude frontier crossroad stores stuffed
with the necessities of frontier life
and the Injuries OF sudden wealth all
1umbled together In a sort OF mer-
camille miscegenation. The thump and
clhnk OF the pump and drill: curses,
shouts, the CHATTER Of thick dishes. the
clink OF glasses. the shrill laughter of
women: fiy-infested shanties. Oil,
smearing itself over the prairies like
plague. killing the grass, blightins
the trees. spreading over the surface
OF the creeks and rivers Signs tackled
to tree stumps or posts; For Am
bulance Call 4S7. Sim Neeley. Under
taker. Call 549 Call Doctor Keogh
735.
Oklahoma-the Red Peoples coun-
try-iay heaving under the hot sum-
mer sun. q SCARED and dreadful thing
with the Oil drooling down its face a
viscid stream.
Tracy Wyatt, who used to drive the
bus and dray line between Wahoo and
Usage, standing up to the reins like a
good-natured red-faced charioteer as
the wagon bumped over the rough
roads, was one OF the richest men In
Oklahoma--in the whole OF the United
States. for that matter Wyatt. The
Wyatt Oh company. In another five
years the Wyatt Oil companies. You
were to see their signs all over the
world. The "Big Boys" from the
East were to come to him. hat In hand,
to ask his advice about this; to seek
his favor for that The sum Of his
daily income was fantastic The mind
simply did not grasp 1t. Tracy him.
self was. by now. a portly and not I'M
dignified looking man OF little more
than fifty. His good-natured. rubl-
cund face wore the grave slightly as
tonished look OF commonplace man
who suddenly finds himself a per-
sonage.
Mrs. Wyatt. palmer. more horse
faced than ever In her expensive New
York clothes, tried to patronize Sabra
Cravat. but the Whipple blood was no
match for the Marcy. The new money
affected Mrs. Wyatt queerly. She be-
came nervous full Of spleen. and the
eastern doctors spoke to her OF high |
blood pressure.
Sabra frankly envied these lucky
ones. A letter from the adder-tongued
Felice Venable to her daughter was
characteristic Of that awesome old
matriarch. Sabra still dreaded to open
her mothers letters. They always
sting.
All this talk OF oil and millions
and every one In Oklahoma rolling In
1t. I'll be bound that you and that
husband Of yours haven't 80 much as
enough to fill lamp. Trust Yancey |
Cravat to get hold of the wrong piece
Of land Well, at least you can't be
1t has been like that |
from the day you married him, though !
you can't say your mother didn't warn
you. hope Donna will show more
sense"
Donna, home after two years at Miss |
Dignum's on the Hudson, seemed In !
deed to be granddaughter after
Felice Venable's own heart. She was,
In coloring. contour, manner. and out
look, 30 unlike the other Oklahoma
girls-Czarina Mckee. Gazelle Slaugh-
ter. Jewel Riggs, Maurine Turket-as
% make that tortured. wind-deviled day
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