? ST J The Sunday Bee r^\
r jL. 52—NO. 52. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 10, 1923. FIVE CENTS t
k The Woman Hatev <f=:®3=c" By William Dudley Pelley
)_
a Girl Be a Man’s Mate and Benevolent
Fairy Godmother All in One?
me was a drowsy afternoon
day. The place was the dust
d office of our Vermont
aper. the Paris Telegraph,
■et door opened and a young
:ered.
e Benedict was his name,
Jiad come to Paris to work
Ipcter Oates in the office
of the idM'tal pulp mill. Paris called
him "the wWoman-hater." During the
decade he sj-iad lived in town he had
- >—t.tnnun t0 seek the so
taught him the
had expected his
d to the manage
rvative stockhold
decided different
I'll give you flve-thousand-a-year
ability for $1$ a week. I'll guaran
tee to make good in two weeks or
you needn't pay me a cent.”
"But why not put the facts be
fore those stockholders?"
"They can't be called together.
Old Julius Templeton has gone to
Italy. He won't be back for a year.
Since he left two of the directors
have died, and Hastings has gone
to Asia for the Thorne Knitting
Mills people Bird can’t be fired.
The local stockholder* who are left
are helpless. Besides, they don't
realize how fatally Bird’s manage
men: is affecting the company."
“You've got stock in the com
pany. haven't you?" _ _
II . ^'11 "lil.-r min had been lured
1 T from another concern to run
I MIiulp company, though George
P Iretained a place In the office.
■Sptr. Hod.” George said to the
W'3>r, "I'd like to talk with you
L^jkrivate. —I—well, the plaih fact
H J want a job.”
I The editor led the way Into his
I ip u( y office.
I KVhat's the matter that you're
I jUng around a country newspaper
I ,.e all of a sudden, hunting a
F** | at country newspaper wages?''
• demnnded
U fl ve left the pulp company be
Jiuse I can’t stand it another day. I
jl'nnt to start In here and forget I
*ver knew anything about manu
facturing. Give me a place, and you
won’t regret It.”
^ How much money were you draw
ing when Gates died?"
"Five thousand a year."
, "Gee whiz! How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine."
"Sonny." said the old editor kind
ly, "you don’t want a newspaper
job; you want a month in a sanita
rium. A young man who's mastered
the pulp business—or any business
—so that he's worth 1100 a week at
29 in a little town like Paris, Is
either a fool or a. sick man to con
fess himself beaten, because a bone
hea^ like Rlrd has temporarily se
cured control.”
Rut young Benedict only shook
i his head.
e "I've soured on the pulp busi
ness. ' he returned doggedly. "Re
side*. Itlrd was hired under con
tract and put In down there by the
« ekholders. They can't get rid of
him until his contruet Is up. and.
confidentially, that's going to Is* too
Late to save the business No. . .
is ■ job on this paper, and
"I have—all my savings have
gone Into It. But some people are
going to lose thousands where I'm
going to lose only hundreds."
"What sort of work do you want
to c^o around here?"
"Advertising. I want to learn the
business end of newspaper publish
ing."
There was no dissuading the
chap. Before the session with Ham
yvas over he had landed the job.
On Monday morning of the week
following George Benedict's affilia
tion with the Telegraph a young
woman opened the office at seven
thirty. ran up the window shades
and hung her hat on a hook along
side the old green safe. Then she
pinned on a pair of paper cuffs and
started through g pile of correspon
dence which has accumulated on her
flat-topped desk during her absents?.
She had been working but a few
moments when the latch clicked and
she raised her clear gray eyes to
behold a young man. He nodded to
her and passed through to Sam
Hod's room as though he had a
right In there.
"Is there something I can do for
you?" the girl asked.
"I work here,” the inan replied.
"You work here!" she gasped.
"I'm Benedict—George Benedict.
I'm looking after the advertising ”
"But you’re the mnn who ran the
pulp company!”
"Well, what of It?"
The girl gaped at him blankly
"You're not going to buy the
Telegraph?" she faltered.
"No.” he laughed bitterly. "I'm
here working for wages—like all
the others.”
"What'H the matter with you?'*
the girl blurted.
The young man winced.
“I lost my place down at the pulp
company. So I had to begin at the
bottflm again somewhere else."
June Farley had come to us from
the high school over in North Fox
boro. Her father still ran a little
farm somewhere back in the Green
mountains.
As the days grew into weeks.
June's Interest and sympathy* rip
ened into a pathetic, onesided af
fection, from which we older heads
in the office believed no good could
possibly come.
All of this bored Benedict. He
understand. I'm worried—more
than anyone knows. It's—It's—the
pulp company. You know the
story of my experience there, don't
you?”
"Not wholly—at least I’ve never
heard your side of the matter.”
Benedict folded his paper. Almost
before he was aware, he was acting
the unwitting role of the dis
couraged' and embittered boy, tell
ing his troubles to a girl.
She listened quietly, gravely,
somehow, on that ride she ceased
being the plodding little proofread
"Then why not walk in and throw
him out? He's only an employe,
isn’t he? And you're a stockholder.”
"Throw him out?” Benedict
laughed harshly. "You mean figu
ratively or literally?"
“I mean literally. - That is, if ha
refuses to resign and there's no al
ternative.”
"Do you know what would hap
pen if I tried that?”
"What?”
"Why, Bird would — would —
would—"
"Well, what would he do’ If you
CauAtAlf
MiXL* /
Thereupon the assembled office employes beheld Iheir late lord and master
moving swiftly toward the outer door, a very capable, athletic
young body supplying the power for his locomotion.
was one of those chaps who mature
early; a woman had cut her pound
of flesh from his heart, and the
wound had never healed.
On Independence day. June Far
ley went down to visit an aunt who
lived In Rutland, and returned on
the last train. The day coach was
crow’ded. 8he wandered down the
long aisle looking for a seat. The
only place available in which she
might ride in comfort buck to Paris
was a half seat toward the forward
enil of the car. The other half of
that seat was occupied by George
Benedict!
"May I—share this seat with
you?" she asked, flushing ns she
recognized him.
He nodded curtly. He had a
newspaper and read It industriously.
The train started and turned up
through the cool, fragrant ravines
of the Green mountains.
"I take it you've been spending
the day in Rutland also," she de
clared in a pitiful attempt at con
versation.
"You." he answered, in a tone
which implied that It couldn't pos
sibly be any of her business.
The girl was piqued—mightily.
"You certainly do hate one of us
with a terrific hatred, don't you?”
she commented. ''I can't make out
whether you hate me worse or—
yourself.”
“X—don't—hate—anybody,” he
defended.
Then what's the matter with
you? You go about as If you’d lost
votir Inst friend, and when other
people would Is- friendly with you.
you—slap them. I've worked In the
same office with you for over a
month now. And there's hardly
l>eon a day when you haven't slap
ped me. somehow, before It ended "
He meditated on this
''I'll have to apologise to you,
then,” Us said finally, "you don't
er and office girl in a country news
paper office up In Vermont. She
was a very practical young lady,
and her criticisms were construc
tive and sympathetic.
The train pulled into Paris before
either was aware they had covered
half the distance. They alighted,
left the depot and walked side by
side up through the streets in the
hush of the summer night.
"But why don't you make a
fight’" she demanded as they sat
for a time on the steps of the Whit
ney house on Pine street where June
boarded. "You're still a stockhold
er, aren't you? And all that's
standing in your way is the stub
bornness of this man Bird "
"Oh. you don't understand." he
answered, lapsing at length Into his
usual cynicism. "It takes money,
slathers of it, to get control of
enough stock to oust that contrary
bonehead. And It'a superfluous to
say that I haven't got It. I didn't
even have enough to support myself
ho I could wait around Paris for
something to crnsh up there at the
mill. A fat chance I've got of buy
ing any controlling interest In the
business "
You nienn you re pennlies*
"All my saving* went to pay for
the stork Mr. Oates gave me the
opportunity to huy. He thought all
along that I was to succeed hint He
trained me for It. and now I'm—
I’m helpless.”
"Does It really take money to do
what you would like to do in the
pulp company. Or does it take Just
plain liraina and nerve?"
"What do you mean?” he asked.
"Iki you know how to run that
business better than Mr Bird?"
“Naturally. I think an "
"That Isn't answering my ques
tion Do you?"
"Vua. '
e
really are a better man than he is,
couldn't you match him nerve tor
nerve and move for move? Bird
would have no one to whom to ap
peal to back him up. And If you
can't make good between now and
the time the majority stockholder
get back, can you ever do it?"
"It isn't done." he declared. "No
body ever heard of one lone stock
holder walking In and ousting a
corporation manager just because
his fellow stockholders were absent "
"I see," the girl remarked acidly.
"You lack the nerve!"
"I do not lack the nerve'" he re
turned hotly.
"Then why don't you do it? Wh it's
stopping you?"
"The law! Bird would have the
law on me—wimchow."
"But you have as much brains as
Mint Dig up a few laws of your
own."
"That's caveman sniff!" he tried
to explain. "We don't get the things
we want by knocking our competi
tors over the head with a club "
"Don't we? I’ve been under the
Impression that real men did—
when they had sufficient provoca
tion and all other expedients had
been exhausted."
This stung him to anger.
"You're only a woman." he de
dared contemptuously. "You're not
supposed to understand "
"And I'm reluctantly compelled
lo believe that you're only a—
toward. You're not supposed to
understand, either."
nenedlct arose stiffly.
“So you're whipped as easily as
that?" she mused. "Well, I can
understand now why the stock
holders elected another man to the
position you expected "
"If you were a man. Miss Farley,
you'd apologise mighty quickly for
that."
The girl smiled sagely.
"Indeed' If you're feeling so belli
cose, why not try some of It on Mr.
nird "
Hhe had hurt him deeply. Hut
she had meant to hurt him Intui
tively she felt that he required ex
actly such a Jolt. When he did not
reply, merely stood there with hi*
face averted, she arose and laid her
hand upon his arm In quite
another voice, she snid:
“Please forgive me. I don't
mean to be—cheap K very body says
