The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

OSHAWA, ONTARIO, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1922 THE COW PUNCHER By Robt, J. 7 C. Stead CHAPTER 7 CONTINUED It was an eventful night for him. His shyness soon wore off for during these months he had been learning to &ccept any new experience gladly. 'Life is made up of experience," his teacher had said, 'therefore wel- come every opportunity to broaden your: life hy travelling ip new tracks, There ave just two restric tions--the injurious and the immor- al, You must grow by experience but be sure you grow the right way. Only a fool must personally seize the red iron to see if it will burn. , But most of us are fools." And as he sat among this company of the best minds of the town he felt that a new and very real world was open- ing before him. His good clothes seemed to work up in some way through his subconsciousness and give him a sense of capablity, Ile was in the mental atmosphere of men who did things, and by conform- ing to their customs he had brought his mind into harmony with theirs, "80 that it could receive suggestions, and--who knows?--return sugges- tions. And he was made to think, think, think, As he walked home with Mr. Dun- can under the stars he spoke of the subtle sense of well-being and ability whieh came with good clothes. "1 don't mind confessing I have always had something like contempt for stylish dressing," he said. 'Now I i feel that there's something to "There is some good quality in everything that survives," said Mr, Dunpean. "Otherwise it would not surylve, That doesn't mean, of course, that the good qualities out- weigh the bad, but the good must be there, Take the use of liquor, for instance: perhaps the greatest source of misery we have. Yet it touches a quality in man's life--so- ciability, conviviality, if you like-- but a quality that has virtue none the less, And the errors of sex are 80 often linked with love that one can scarcely say where virtue ceases and where vice begins. I know: convention placards them plainly enough, but convention does not make virtue vice, nor vice virtue, There are deeper laws down beneath, and sometimes they may set at de- fiance all accepted codes, "Yet I would not quarrel with the | pted codes--until I knew I had something better. Accepted' codes represent man's net progress through .| and sacks of merchandise, experience to truth. The code, for instance, 'Thou shalt not kill'; we accept it in general, but not com-| pletely. The State does not hesitate! to kill in self-defence, or even to! carry out purposes which have no re-| lation to defence. And shall we not | allow similar exceptions to the other | codes? And yet, although we may | find our codes are not infallible, are | they not still the best guides we have? WHAT MADE ME HAPPY "lI was congratulating myself that I had passed the winter without catching a cold, when I got one at'the beginning of last May, It was because I was run down. Being run down I had <D "To return to clothes. Clothes won't make*you, but they will help you to make yourself, Only don't become a clothes-tippler. You can run to intoxication on fine raiment as well as on fine wines, It has vir- tue in it, but just beyond the virtue lies the vice." CHAPTER VIII The summer was not far gone when Dave, through an introduction furnished by Mr, Duncan, got a new job, It was in the warehouse of a wholesale grocery, trundling cases It was cleaner than handling coal, and the surroundings were more congenial, and the wages were better--fifty dollars a month, to begin, "The first thing is to get aut of the dead-line," said Mr. Duncan. "I am not hoping that you will' have found destiny in a wholesale ware- house, but you must get out of the dead-line. As long as you shovel coal, you will shovel coal. And you are not capable of anything better until you think you are." "But I've liked it pretty well," said Dave. "As long as I was just working for my wages it was dull go- ing, but it was different after I got to see that even shovelling coal was worth while, 1 supbose it is the same with groceries, or whatever one does. As soon as you begin to study what you handle the work loses its drud- gery. Itisn't a man's job that makes him sick of his job; it's what he thinks of his job." A light of satisfaction was in his teacher's eyes as Dave made this answer, Mr. Duncan had realized that he was starting late with this pupil, and if there were any short- cuts to education he must find them, So he had set out deliberately" to instil the idea that education is not a matter of schools and colleges, or courses of reading, or formula of any kind, but a matter of the five senses applied to every experience of life. coarse or commox that passed through Dave's hands. Coal had ceased to he a smutty mineral, and had taken on talismanic qualities un- guessed by the mere animal work- man; and sugar, and coffee, and beans, and rice, and spices, each would open its own wonderful world before this young and fertile mind. As a heritage from his boyhood on the ranges Dave had astonishingly alert senses; his sight, his hearing, his sense of smell and of touch were vastly more acute than those of the average university graduate...And if that were true, might it not fairly be said that Dave was already the better educated of the two, even if e, as yet, knew nothing of the classics? As Dave parted from the Metford gang he felt that he knew what Mr. Duncan had meant by the dead-line. These were men who would always shovel coal, because they aspired to nothing better. There was no atom of snobbery in Dave's nature; he knew perfectly well that shovelling coal was quite as honourable and respectable a means of livelihood as managing a bank, but the man who was content to shovel coal was on the dead-line. And, by the same logic, the man who was content to manage a bank was on the dead- line. That was a new and some- what startling aspect of life. He must discuss it with Mr. Duncan. Dave's energy and enthusiasm in the warehouse soon brought him pro- {| motion from truck hand to shipping clerk, with an advance in wages to sixty-five dollars a month. He was prepared to remain in this position for some time, as he knew that pro- motion depends on many things be- sides ability. Mr. Duncan had warn- | is entirely ; . If they made would d 8 terrible temper. Se ty them so that I am i | p2f if | i Bi ! : i ! i i p ] i ql ' 5 : i l tf A 1 [ht 1} : ] i i t a i i g : = ] | cent. | cent. is yours. | money Dave took his ed him against the delusion that man master of his destiny. "Life, my boy," he had said, "is 50 per cent. environment and 40 per heredity. The other 10 per But that 19 per cent. is like the steering gear in am auto- mobile; it's only a small part of the mechanism, but it directs the course of the whole machine. Get a good grip on the part of your life you can control, and don't worry over the | rest." To economize both time and lunch with him and ate it in the warehouse. He had also become possessed of a pocket encyclopaedia, and it was his habit to employ the minutes saved by eating lunch in the warehouse in reading from his encyclopaedia. it chanced one day that as he was 'reading in the noon hour Mr. Trap- per, the head of the firm, came through the warehouse. Dave knew him but little; he thought of him as a stern, unapproachable man, and avoided him as much as possible. But this time Mr. Trapper was upon him before he was seen. . "What are you reading?" he de- manded. "Yellow backed non- sense?" . "No, sir," said Dave, rising and extending his arm with the book. "Why, what's this?" queried Mr.' Trapper, in some surprise. "Tea tea--oh, 1 see, it's an encyclopaedia. What is the idea, young man?" "I always like to read up about the stuff we are "said Dave. "It's interesting to know all about it; where it comes from, how it is grown, what it is used for; the different qualities, and so forth." "H'm." said Mr. Trapper, return- ing the book. "No doubt." Amd he walked on without further comment. But the afternon he had something to say to his manager. "That young fellow on the ship- is. How do you find him?" "Very satisfactory, sir. Punctual, dependable, and accurate." "Watch him," said Mr. Trapper. The manager swung around in his chair. "Why, what do you mean? suggestion of a smile about the corners of his mouth, and rather kle in his eye. ping desk--Elden, 1 think his name You haven't occasion to suspect--?" Mr, Trapper's customary sternness slowly relaxed, until there was the more than a suggestion in the twin- "Do you know what I caught that young fellow doing during noon hour?" he asked. "Reading up the encyclopaedia on tea. Tea, mind yop. Said he made a practice. of reading up on the stuff we are handling. We, | mind you. Found it very interesting to know where it came from, and all about it. I've been in the grocery business for pretty close to forty years, and I've seen many an em- ployee spend his noon hour in the pool-rooms, or in some other little back room or just smoking, but this is the first ome I ever caught read. ing up the business in an encyclo paedia. Never read it that way my- self. Well--you watch him, I'd risk a ten-spot that he knows more about tea this minute than half of the travellers," But Dave was not to continue in the grocery trade, despite his read- ing of the encyclopaedia. A few evenings later he was engaged in reading in the public library; not an encyclopaedia, but Shakespeare. The encyclopaedia was for such time as he could save from business hours, but for his evening reading Mr. Dun- can had directed him into the realm of fiction and poetry, and he was now feeling his way through Hamlet, From the loneliness of his boyhood he had developed the habit of talk; ing aloud to himself, and in abstract- ed moments he read in an audible whisper which impressed the sub- stance more deeply on his mind, but made him unpopular in the public reading-rooms. It was well known among the patrons of the rooms that he read Hamlet. This fact, however, may not have been alto- gether to Dave's disadvantage. On the evening in question an elderly man engaged him in conversation. "You are a Shakespearian student, I see?' "Not exactly. I read a little in the evenings. But I haven't gone far enough to call myself a student." "I have seen you here different times, Are you well acquainted with the town?' "Pretty well," said Dave, scenting that there might be a purpose in the questioning. "Working now?" Dave told him where he was em- ployed. "I am the editor of 'The Call," said the elderly man. "We need an- other man on the street--a reporter, you know. We pay twenty-five dol- lars & week for such a position, If you are interested you might call at the office to-morrow." Dave hurried with his problem to Mr. Duncan. "I think I'd like the work," he said, but I am not sure whether I can do it. My writing is rather--wonderful." Mr. Duncan turned the matter over in his mind. "Yes," he said at length, "but I notice you are begin- ning to use the typewriter. When you learn that God gave you ten fingers, not two, you may make typist. And there is nothing mo. worth while than being able to ex- press yourself fn English. They'll teach ygu that on a newspaper. | think I'd take it. "Not on account of the money," he continued, after a little: "You would probably soon be earning more in the wholesale business. Newspaper men are about the worst paid of all professions. But it's the best training in the world, not for itself, but as a step to something else. I have often wondered why edi- tors, who are for ever setting every other phase of the world's work to rights, are content to train up so many thousands of bright young men | --and then pass them along into other businesses where they are bet- while, and it's the training you want. Take it." Dave explained his disadvantages once got beyond control much dam- age might have been done. Nobody seems to know how the fire started." REFORMER STORY GALLEY 7 It was with mueh quiet excite- ment that he awaited the appearance of the evening edition. He had a strange eagerness to see his produc- tion in print--a manifestation, no doubt, of that peeuliar trait in hu- man nature which fills the editorial waste basket with unaccepted con- tributions. At last he found it, but it read like this: "Fire this morning gutted the Great West Clothing Store, with a loss of $8,000.00, of which $4,- 000.00 is covered hy insurance in the Occidental. Frank Beecher, pro- prietor of the store, was overcome hy smoke, and i8 in the city hospital. "Smoke was first seen issuing from the back of the store by Fred Grant, a delivery man for the Im- perial Laundry, who turned in an alarm at 10.08, Owing to the fire team colliding with a dray owned by Sheppard & Co., some minutes of delay occurred, During this period the building, which was of frame, burned flercely. It was almost 'com- pletely destroyed, although some of the stock may he saleable. "Beecher rushed into ithe back room for certain papers, where he was found by fireman Carey in an unconscious condition, He is recov- ering, and is already planning to re- build." Dave read the account with a sinking heart, By the time he reached the end it seemed his heart conld sink no further. He found that the editor had not left the of- fice, so he approached him with as | much spirit as he could command. "I guess you won't need me any it] ther than the first paragraph; give them the raw facts there; if they want the trimmings they will go down for them. That is where a fietion story is exactly oppesite to a newspaper story: a newspaper story shows its hand in the first para- graph, a fiction story in the last. "Then, gdt the facts. Nobody cares whether the fire-bell rang or net, but they do care about the man who was suffocated; who he was, what he was doing there, what became of him. Revel in names. Get the names of everybody, and get them right, The closest tight-wad in the town will buy a paper if it has his name in it. Every story, no matter how short, is good for a number of names, it in'"--the editor picked ft up from his desk; he had evidently saved it for such an occasion as this-- "the only name you had was that of the clothing store. 1 had one of the other hoys get to work on the tele- phone, and you see he got the name of the proprietor; of the insurance company, with the amount of the in- surance; of the man who turned in the alarm; of the owner of the dray team that obstructed the engine, and of the fireman who carried Beecher to safety, Everyone of these people with their families, their cousins, and their aunts, hecome especially interested in the story the moment their names are. introduced, 'Next, remember that it is not the business of a reporter to pass editorial eomment. It may have heen too bad that the fire engine was delayed, but that is a matter for the editor to decide, The husi- ness of the reporter is to find out why it was delayed, and state the In your copy as you turned |. more," he 'said. "I'm sorry I made a mess of that fire story." There was a kind twinkle in the {facts without regrets or opinions. {You must learn to hold the mirror {up to nature without making faces ter paid. But the training is worth |; chief's' eye as he answered, "Non- sense, Of course we need you. You have merely made the mistake eyeryone else makes, In supposing you could write for a newspaper without training, We will give you the training--and pay you while you learn. The only man we can't use| is the man who won't learn. Now let me give you a few pointers," and | the editor got up from his desk and | held the paper with the fire story he- | fore him. "In the first place, don't! start a story with 'the,' at least, not more than once or twice a week. In | the second place, get the meat into | the first paragraph. Seventy-five | per cent pf the readers never go fur-| in it, You know what I mean--keep vour own reflection out of the pic- ture. If you think the incident calls for an expression of opinion by the paper, write an editorial and sub- mit to me, But remember that the editorial and news columns of a paper should he as distinct as the two sides of a fence." "Thank you very much," said Dave, slowly, when it was plain the editor had finished, "I, think I he- gin to see, don't understand. Why did you not mention the origin of the fire?" (To he continued) _. 100 why you Tod's There are 99 reasons out of should insist on getting Bread from your grocer But there's one thing I| COUGHS AND COLDS few doses of Balsamea--and : Alo for Brisas sad | BASIN yt. neta letely. mea loosens the phlegm hye Had 3 grea clears the lungs and bronchial because it tastes good. (J gly tubes. | Relief guaranteed or money refunded. BUY A BOTTLE TO.DAY, FOR SALE BY THE REXALL STORES: JURY & LOVELL, LTD., AND F. W. THOMPSON, OSHAWA | Essentially Different "THERE are two most important things about any Electric Range--the cooking.element and the oven, Everything else is of lesser importance. And in McClary's Electric Range both these points are different and superior, The Cooking Elements sragtotscisd, The heating coils being embedded ineto: orce! are protected from spilled fous and other § S048) pute heat as quickly and remain hot much longer than any other kind, The Seamless Oven--of welded steel, porcelain enameled with rounded corners is sanitary and easily kept clean. It oper~ ates like a fiseless cooker, because when once heated it stays heated until the baking is done, lectric Range London, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, St. John, N.B., Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatoon and Edmonton FOR SALE BY JOHN BAILES & SONS Hardware = Oshawa to the editor of The Call. "I didn't want you to think," he said with great frankness, 'that because I was reading Shakespeare I was a master of English. And I guess if I were to write up stuff in Hamlet's lang- uage I'd get canned for it." "We'd probably have a deputa- tion from the Moral Reform League," said the editor, with a dry smile. "Just the same, if you know Shakespeare you know English, and we'll soon break you into the mews- paper style." $0, almost before he knew it, Dave was on the staff of The Cal. His beat comprised the police court, fire department, hotels, and general pick-ups. And the very first day, as though te afford a fuel for his gen- ius, a small fire occurred in a cloth- ing store. "'S good for two sticks--about four inches," said the editor, when Dave had given him the main facts. "Write your story to fit." Dave suddenly realized that, al- though he had been a persistent reader of newspapers during the re- cent months, he had scarcely the re- motest idea how many words went to a column, or to an inch. It was a piece of information needed at once, so he set about to count the words in a column. his story to fit. 'He had already learned that everything in" a news- paper office, from a wedding to a ball game, is "a story." When he turned his in, it looked like this: "The fire-bell i soon after crowds were seen wending their way to the Great West ing Store. There was a heay Plumbing Service is ' Heating Tinsmithi 23 CELINA STREET Our Motto J Cy Talk with the boys and girls, regularly By Long Distance "Hello, Mother! How are you all? Your voice sounds just as natural as if you were sitting beside me!", Long Distance is so satisfactory that in an' increasing number of homes a regular weekly talk with the boys or girls at College or Schools at an appointed hour, (often at Station-to-Station rates) has be- come an established habit. There is a feeling of contentment, of satis- faction, when you have actually talked with the absent ones that proves worth many times the small charge for a Long Distance message. A After 8 P.M. the evening rate on Station- to-Station calls is about one-half the day rate. Try it. Aaa Local Branch, Victoria St. 3 aL Manager"