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Newspaper Page Text
H 2 GOODWIN'S WEEKLY- ! H some of tho $1,400 a yonr men the families woro H . in debt - , Hj The report recommends a scala of salaiies from IH $1,000 a year for the first year men to tho present H $1,400 a year for flva-yoar men. It was found that Hi in nearly every enso debts in pollcemen'H families I weio contracted during the first 'year because of H the heavy outlay for uniforms and other depart- H ment expenses. H The povorty-strlokon condition 'of tho first and H second year patrolmon was shown by tho discovery H that eight fumiliasi ware in absolute want, and. in H five extreme cases were subjects of charity. H Wives of polioomen who are moth era told tho In- H -estigators that in times of sickness they were often H forced to go to the free medical dispensaries for H treatment, and that they wore refused when it be- H enme known they wore wives of patrolmen. H The dire circumstances of the first nnd second- H year patrolmon 1b shown in tho statement that H "thirty-throo families are without baths," that the H average patrolman's apartment consists of four H looms; that tho average number of children to a B family is two, and that the first-year patrolman m contribute R6-SJ5 tobonpfjt soeietios and $28.83 H for insurance; the second-year man $20.07 for H benefit societies and $27.24 for Insurance. H Tho Investigators fix the cost of living In New B York for tho ordinary small family in decent clr- H iumstances at from $826 ta $850 a year, and this j does not Include the mandatory expenses of police H uniforms and extra charges which fall to the lot H of a policeman, who is therefore much woi-te off H than his civilian brother who earns the same sal- H ary H The practice of getting into debt is carried to H such an ox tout, according to the report, that one H patrolman actually jald $C0 for a loan of $30, and H falling Into the hands of loan sharks is tin every H t'ny occurronce. H " What is the homo life of Salt Lako policemen H and firomon'?- Aro they undorpaid? Or is the H stipend doled out to them suffclent to keep the H wolf and the loan shark from the door? It might j be a good thing to investigate. H Thirteen opera singers have sailed' for Eu- H r rope with $660,000 us: their season's earnings. H Will the income tax oatch the outgoing ar- tists? Will it? H "THIS GOOD OBI) TIMES," HISH? H They talk about tho good old times, and wish H those days could return, do they? Wall, if you fl could get boclc to them you -would pray whatovor H gods may be to grant you tho grand new days H and the days that will be better still as time goes H I am lose than a hundred and ten years old, and H yet I can remambor somo of the old days, and will B try to Indicate to you something of tho spirit and JS condltidh of them. In the first place, I don't sup- jfg pose there wa a toothbrush in my whole Indiana B township There may have been a few in town, H but those who used them kept the habit a secret. H People were just as sensitive to ridicule then as H they are now. Maybe more so. There certainly B wasn't a bathtub. And thero was all tho sewage H tho Lord provided in making that part of tho coun- H try, and no more. Sewers were- doseribod by Q traveled gontlemon who occasionally went to New H York and Boston and got back again. But no one H in my country Relieved it. H And Indiana was the peer of any other western H slate, at that. H One man in my township had. a two-seated car H rlage. The rest of user rode- in tho farm wagon. H We hod-hlokory pole run along the inside of the H ' box Sunday mornlBgv and on these we-placed plank H sawed- to JLb proper, lsngtlv laid a folded quilt on H the plank for a oashion,. and went to church trl- H umphajit. i don't suppose there were a dozen nightgowns in the possession of all the men in fr afawalyijl. Ttye- women may -havo. piiide a betffer showing. They usually" do, I am tofd, m nlgTit-" towns. How did they bathe? Well, every one , 'wont swimming in Yollow River or In Protty X.ak Jn summor; and thero wore some representatives of tho offete who would hoat a kottlo of wator and take a plungo in the washtub onco or twice in tho course of tho winter, whethor thoy needed it or not. Oh, thoy may have" washoti' tholr 'foot somewhat -oftanor, but if they did, thoy used tho common tin wash bnsia of the family. Good old days, eh? "Two Strong Mon." Those were the days of tho fighting spirit. And it whs bofoie tho war, at that. Every Saturday afternoon here was a stieot fight in the county Sicat. It v 8 as certain as tho recurrence of the day. Peo,o expected it, and as they drove into town women would tell their husbands to hitch the team where it would bo out of tho way of tho pi rappers when they got to work. Also, the big boys of the family, If thoy were permitted to drive, would certainly select a place where the ilight would certainly fall in their lino of vision They would sit or stand around until the trouble began, and then they would run to tho vantago grounds of their wagons, and use them for box seats at the entertainment. I have seen two mon fight half a block up street and half a block back, tho crowd I'bout them one'solld mnss from sidewalk to side walk, struggling, crowding, pushing for a sight of the combatants. I hao seen two men go into a street fight with hats and coats removed and flung to the guardian arms of friends, nnd emerge after tho row with nothing but trousers and boots on. EJvorything'elso was tc n off and lost In the strug gle. And the" town' marshal and tho county sheriff liked to seo a" good fight us much as any one In tho'Vsrawd.' So there was no interference. Good $fmes? There was a sturdy old Democrat named Jim Thompson in my county, and he dearly loved a fight. Ho was short, stocky, rather stout, but by ro means fat. He was a rich old faimer with eight hundred acres of good land in a body In West Township, and he was getting richer and .JUchar.everyysar. JIsu.aJway.is -knocked off work on the farm at noon Saturday, and went to town v ith his boys and a hired hand or two, and they took a drink as soon as they got the team tied to a hitching post. Thompson always had some busi ness to do, down town or in the court house, and he always attended to it after that initio 1 drink. Then ho was free for the day's entertainment. lie always managed to get into a discussion with some good man. Ho never hunted for lamo ducks. Ho didn't want anything but the best. And ho usually found it. What the trouble started about was a matter of no consequence. That thoy quarreled, and agreed to go out on tho street and settle it, was the one thing. The code was perfectly under stood, and carefully observed by the rest of the population. No Three-Miimto Rounds. Thqmpson wasn't any sort of boxer. But he was strong, and had all the wind ho nooded. His bullet head would stop all sorts blows from prac ticed sparrer. I have seen his face cut into rib bon in tho first five minutes of a row. And five minutes is a long time to fight without resting. Of course suoh o thing as rounds was never thought of. He would take all tho punlshmotn the other man could bring him, and might bo knockesd down ten or a dozen Umes. Jlo would come up for more, and without waiting for any count. He would bore In without hesitation or change ot Jaetics, and after a while tho other man would get winded, and then Thompson would take his time. Ho would Maybe the California legislators toojc a slant at Bryan because of his indorsement of grape juice as a diplomatic drink. make a very thorough job pf it, and usually wouldwflail his man. And he would como out, growling and swearing, and hunt up tho son who ,. held his coat, resume his garments, allow himself w to bo washodup-nt the town pump, cursing and telling what ho would do to his lato antagonist or to any other man who wanted to fight, and then, after some more drinks vory likoly in all - friendship with tho man he had licked he would get into his wagon and allow himsolf to bo carried home. Good old days, did you say? One timo ho mot a man named Stansbury, who lived at tho odgo of town, and about tho first thing that happoned Stansbury knocked him down. Then Thompson felt tho weight of tho Stansbury Loot. And ho felt it again. It came in his ribs, j in his back, In his bieast, in his face timo and I again. And he was left helpless and moveless in I tho street while his able antagonist stood over him and swore at him, and told him to movo so I much as tho tip of his little finger if ho wanted I some more. It was tho first example of the prac tice called "tin owing tho boots into him" thut had I eon soon in tho good old county of Marshall. Nlco times, oh? ! ' But that was tho exception. Usually Thompson carried off tho honors of battle, oven when they tried to doublo teams on him, as thoy did on occa sion. But that was looked on with aversion by tho populace, because two to one was not con sidered fair, and It usually resulted In a general low, far from orderliness and system and diffi cult to witness. Which may have been the ground of tho chief objection. Fight was Too Brief. Ono time, aftar tho war began, Brazil Bradley, a soldier, wroto that he was coming homo on fur lough, and Thompson stated with no attempt at secrecy that ho would whale Brazil on sight. That bit of news was carried to Brazil, and ho doclnied himself ready. When he camo he visited about his reighborhood for some days, and then .Saturday afternoon came. It was required by the code that he go to town, and ho did. He was in Colburh's grocery when someone told him Jim Thompson and his crowd were coming down tho street. j Brazil went to the door," There was a little shelf , of stone jars and jugs on the front. Brazil saw j his enemy approaching, ell hoard the roar of tho j leader, and tho noise of the attending crowd. Ho was scarod, nnd ho picked up ono of those gallon Jugs, and smashed It. at old Jim with all tho power I of his good right arm. It landed squnroly on tho ) forehead of tho veteran, and ho wont down for . keeps. Ho carried the scar ctf it to his grave. 3t was tho end of that battle. Tho .afternoon looked uipld nnd unlntorostlng to tho people. Thoy had missed thoir regular show. 'Nice timos to go bnck to. What? J Republican boys, during war time, used to wear ' little lapel pins of tin painted to represent tho stars and stripes. Democrat boys would snntch ( at these pins to tear them off, and then thero would be a fight. And Democrat boys would wear n pin mnde of a copper cent in boasting confes sion of their character ns copperheads. Or a pin made of a cross sootion of butternut tho snme having a Hko political slgnifioanco. AndRopub- l lican boys wore under obligation to pull off those, j and made tho best fight they could. Young woman wore ttyo pins of their respective j parties, and tho girl of an opposite purty would 1 snatch that feminine bit of decoration, and tho swains accompanying the two girls woro under obligation to take up, the fight, and sottlo it. The best mon would get up, dust his clothing and walk away, his girl triumphantly wearing tho pin sho started with, and the other girl hiding hers if she had been fortunate enough to rotaln posses sion. That would happen at singing schqola In the evening, at preaching service pr directly after at the country school houses, on Sunday nftor-