The day book. [volume], February 25, 1915, LAST EDITION, Image 18

About The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

                
A DRE$S REHEARSAL
By George Munson
(Copyright by, W. G. Chapman.)
J"Looking for local color, you say,
miss? I guess you can find it here,
all right We've had lots of authors
-from New York-in these parts, study
nig our peculiar ways and writing
about the simple habits of us unso
phisticated rustics. But we didn't
know it until Mr. Peter Polhemus
woke us up to that fact.
"That was the Mr. Peter Polhemus
who made such a stir witbJns book
on New England folks last year. Sold
a hundred thousand copies, they say,
and must have made three or four
hundred dollars out of it, I reckon.
Jane Topaz, who came here to milk
the cows when I had rheumatics in
my hands, was the heroine, Mr. Pol
hemus himself was the hero you
could tell that the minute you set
eyes on the book; and Jim Bowers,
who's now editing and printing the
Pfasfield Gazette, was the rustic vil
lafn. "He was a nice man, we thought
then Mr. Polhemus, I mean al
ways fussing and fuming around to
learn our unsophisticated ways. He'd
stop me in the middle of the street to
ask the meaning of some common ex
pression he'd heard, which everybody
uses, although them city folks don't
know- them, in their ignorance. And
afyer he'd spent three weeks at Cy
brown's, taking up Jane Topaz's time
she's his niece and aggravating
Jiitf Bowers until he talked of fight
ing him, Mr. Polhemus took his de
parture. "Next thing we heard about him
he'd written 'Jane's Honeymooners.'
Everybody was saying it was as good
as Shakespeare. Cy Brown ain.'t
much of a hand at reading, but he
said it was as plate as a pikestaff, the
things he'd written, and how in. thun
der did he knpw 'em. Cy Brown
raised Cain with Jane for he things
she'd done in the book. The hero
was Mr. Polhemus, under another
name. He was an authprseking lo
cal CQlor, and in the end hi married
Jane, in spite of Jim Bowers, who
was the villain, only he'd given him
a mustache. As for me and Cy
Brpwn, -we -Was just ignorant old
country people who 'used gtfange
words, and I'd told him the meaning
of 'em all myself.
"Jim was so mad when he heard
about it that he got a copy and when
he'd read jt he wouldn't speak to
i Ilj" LI v " '
MBr",--s
ifS
Wanted to Know Where He Had
Worked.
Jane. It seefc,that the. hero ''had
used to kp$jttae behind thebarn.
and Jim thouHtt Mr. Polherauhad
done it It took Jajurthebest part of
a week to persuade Jim 'mffee had
not kissed Mr. P9femui,littwfw sooa
as she Tiad convfe'eei him that she
hadn't Jane started in and wanted to
know why he'd robbed a bank 3n his
youth and had to"Sgve her iqffo Mr.
Polhemus se he shouldn't teUtm him,
and why he'd won hef ste$fe rustic
iiHttiistfidiaaliHii