The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1934-02-23

Its teTTlOle W sec O @SAANN o.
jittery, jumpy, when you know ne
used to be strong as an OK. POOR
Joe," they said when Geary
wheeled the baby carriage down
| the block. "Looks like he's goin'
TO pieces"
"Poor Joel" Three years with no
more than a few days work. What
did they expect? 1t wasn't Poor
joe when the Chelsea Stevedoring
grabbed every healthy man they
could get, when young husky
like Joe Geary was a natural in
the shape-up on the docks. Fifty
dollars a week-that was chicken
feed to Joe.
| And Cornelia Hagg! Maybe she
didn't get bargain in Joe. When
Cornelia, freckled, white-skinned,
tall, and altogether lovely, finally
landed Joe, the wedding in st.
| Agatha's was a bigger event in
the teeming life of Tenth Ave. and
Twenty-Seventh than Vanderbilt
show in the Little Church Around
the Corner is to the society column
sob-sisterhood.
: Back in those days Saturday was
: big-time night for Joe. Saturday
/ noon was payroll. On week days
= Joe would come home filthy and
: dead. Even after a hard scrub
bling, and good steak, a man was
E fit only for the hay. But Satur-
D day was different matter. Sat
urday night was reserved for the
gang, and round of the speak
n easies on Tenth Ave-, and then tt
meet COTnelia at the Democratic
club for the dance. Then came
Sunday-sleep late, go to Mass
read the papers, a swell chicken
or corn beef. and cabbage dinner
: and after that a round of neigh
. borly visits, with arguments on
\ baseball. boxing, or politics for
Joe, and gossip for the ladies.
f Now they seemed to Joe lik'
O he had dreamed, all these good
times he'd had. They were all h,
J. had to live on now, memories. A
o he played around with them, hal
! asleep under the sun in Chelse;
i park, they took on grandiose pro
portions. Is his day-dreams it wa
{ not Cornelia who had run after
o him; the days before their mar
! riage became magnified into
e hodge-podge of all the romantic
movies he'd seen. Those hot time
on Saturday sights-"Geez," Jot
would murmur in his half-sleep
10 'but we was wild in them days.
v The speakeasy rounds became, i
II his phantasies, herculean blowout
4 When the first blow came, i
!? wasn't so tough. It came 81
months after Joe and Cornell
were married. day knocked Of
:, the working week.
= II guess we got a little some
thing socked away, hey Connie ?
= Joe said when he brought her tn
bad news.
% Pretty soon, another days lay
off. "Sure glad we got somethil
- :. put by for rainy day." said Jo'
y 1--WE better start goin' easy" sal
= Cornelia. "And lay off the booz
y joints, Joe," she added. CorneliI
le hated to say that. When a ma
4 works like a horse all week, he
got to look forward to something
y Then the first thing you know
there was another notice down {
~ the pier. Two days week, i
VI said.
e Holy mackerel. Two days
81 week, thirteen bucks.
AS It was awful news to be brinj
n ing home to Cornelia. She W;
q beginning to look faded nowaday
!e' making ends meet. There was
is little Joe home now.
WI There was silence for a it'll
while after Joe broke the new
e Joe just sat at the little tabl
as with its oilcloth that was rubbir
st. off in big spots. you'd beet,
be eating something Joe", sa
D. Cornelia gently.
20 1--WE amt got but a hundred dc
mt lars left in the bank" said 10
is "God forgive me for saying it b
H. I'm afraid your mothers out
T. luck from now on"
Poor Cornelia! That was tn
X hardest blow to face. 1t mea,
nd the Catholic Home for the old W
=" man.
No chicken on Sundays nov
Chicken Every trip to the butte
re ers meant bargaining, begging.
he brought back an irritable Cornell
er hating everybody except Joe al
Little Joe.
at It hurt the pride of man III
sir Joe more than words can tell, Il
tie things they had to do to save t
dy money. "Good mornin' Mrs. Reg,
to and how's himself? / thought '
"a would be after stoppin' in for
r little neighborly visit." They 9
ways timed the visit so that tn,
ci- arrived Just before dinner. Pc
he Cornelial How irritable it ma,
of her, even toward Joe. It wasl
list his fault. she knew, but who ell