Show liD lEAI ED Z A liTTLE WHEN HEN THEY HUNTED A I COLE COLD TOT IN N S ANSAS As our train neared the Kansas state stateline i iline line ine I be began nn hemming humming that old refrain I Ever Every be Sunday by and i iby by by Mac and I were ere both from St. St Louis Loui and we e knew what it meant to be unable unable un un- un able to buy a bottle of beer for OD ono one whole day in e each ch week We ha had bad maD many manyi manya a i time timo denounced the Sunday lid Jid as a aretty prett pretty retty tough proposition and wh when n I bejan be be- jan gsa singing ingin that son song which contained a n prediction of ot otan an all week ek lid Mac Itc asked What do 1 you mean n 4 4 1 Why they Sit say the lid lids lid's s 's screwed down all al allover over Kansas anEll No exclaimed Mac Ia not I true TUO about Kansas lid Hd Kansas has been a prohibition state all its life a adry adry adry dry state to let lot tho the prohibitionists tell it t. t But theres there's more beer sold MId there than han there is in Missouri Dont Don't you worry well we'll ha have C all the beer wo we want same Mme as if we were in little old St. St Louis Our first attempt to buy bits a P. bottle bottlo of beer eer in Kansas was in Wichita I had been there man many a J time before and had always ays found the saloons wide open At Athe Atthe Atthe the he Care Carey house there had bad been ever since the hotel was built a beautifully appointed bar Wo We went to its door loon and looked ook d in It had been converted into a sample room for tho the display of traveling travel travel- in ing ng salesmen's wares Not a vestige of the he bar remained not even a bottle or a cuspidor There were barren tables around its four tour walls and there was nothing else in the room Sought Porter in Vain All right said Mac ther there e moved it Lets Let's ask the porter We Ve asked him T They ey aint a drop in town boss was his reply Shucks exclaimed Mac ac as ag he turned awas' awas in disgust not a drop in Wichita Ha ha That's a n joke Well We'll I ask the clerk lerk Ho knows everything The Tho lids lid's on tight boys the clerk said Mac became more in earnest than han I had bad ever seen him He Ho leaned I both poth elbows on the desk aa advanced hi his face ace half haf way across it and glared lared into the he very eyes of that clerk Do you mean to tell teU me with great emphasis upon the me do YOU ou mean to tell me that we cant can't get geta a bottle of beer here i iNot Not Even to Save va Life Not a drop rop if you were cre dying and it t would save your life Not Not in Wichita i iNot Not in Wichita I Mac said nothing until we reached the street Then he exploded I dont don't believe belie it Not a word of oft it t Well We'll try the Manhattan house We did try it there and had the same experience Mac became reaB really anxious now It be began an to look as if it would take ake some keen Sherlock Holmes' Holmes work to o get a bottle bottlo of beer Mac ac walked along alone in silence and cr very downcast for awhile Then he be bri brightened upI up I have it he be said Well hunt up Dave t old newspaper man here born jorn and r raised here knows every nook and cranny of this old town can give you OU the pedigree of every man woman woman wom worn an and child clear back to Adam Come on Well We'll probably find Davo Dave with a I bottle settle right at his elbow Why didn't I think of him before 1 We Wo went to the office of the Wichita Eagle and there was Dave but he was sober Bober and dry too After greetings were over Mac took him behind the drum of the bi big cannon stove an and whis whis- to him Ti a drum be orra I heard Dave say eay in his rich Irish bro brogue e. e They walked to together ether from behind the stove Mac arguing insistently Our OUT next stop was at t Belvidere a little town upon the prairie in the tho short gra grass s country of western Kan Kan- sas Ill bet we F got t a cool bot here all allright allright ri right ht all an right said Mac as the train stopped at the red frame framo depot ranchmen and cowboys are great eat They just lick it up by the bucketful When we had deposited deposit cd our suit c eases cases ses in the only hotel Mae Mac ac whispered to the landlord Can we wo get et a cool bottle of beer beed You can cant can't t even Jet got a drink of water water wa ter tAr here let alone beer was the an an- Not water either Milk and Muddy Water That was a fact In all the village there was not a drop of anything to drink but cows cow's milk and that muddy alkali water We stayed thero there two days actually suffering from Mac ac even bc began an a system of buttonholing ing lug the residents and offering them a abri bri bribe be of ot 2 if they would di dig up a bottle of beer but there was none there At wo we e had the same sort eort of ot otan an experience There was waa not a a. bettie bottle bot bet tle tie of beer in the tho town and whisky could only bo be had by committing per per- jury We Va transacted our business in Sauna Salina and were going leisurely to toward ard the depot to take tako the on only train that would go eastward that day when a aman aman aman man opened a door and hollered Hey Mac MacIAn MacI An Oasis is 18 Found It was a l man manTho who Tho worked upon a R. little lit tIe tle weekly newspaper He lie had become friendly during our stay Hey come hero he said lIe He opened the tho door of his office slyly glan glancing ing up and down the street He le locked and bolted it behind us pasted up another newspaper net to the tho only window window win win- dow and then got pot down upon his knees reached under tinder a a. type case and aud pulled out a water bucket Tho The glistening tin caps eaps and necks of half a dozen beer Deer bottles stuck out of the cracked racked ice ico that filled fined it It was the most comforting comfort ing cooling refreshing tempting Bi sight eight bt I have ever seen soen in my life so far as asI asI asI I could recall then Mac Mae simply dropped ed his suit case and fell feU into a chair The editor took hold bold of the neck of one of the bottles and drew rew it gently out There was a soft musical tinkle of the cracked ice and a clink of glass lass Without a word the editor handed the cold bottle to Mac lc He took it reverently rev rev- and fondly brushed tho the particles of ice ico and frost from its sides Then he hc stood up removed ed his hat and holding holding hold hoM in ing the bottle out at arms arm's len length th ho he recited something written by EU hugene lne Field about the tho tinkle of ice ico in the pitcher as the bo boy comes down the hall hail He laid his hand upon the shoulder of tho the editor and said 4 You are aro a a. J. J Philanthropist II Charles CharIest you ou are arc a benefactor a philanthropist a good Samaritan a friend in need and everything e else thatis that thatis is good and noble and true with pleas pIcas ure sir sir I drink to your Jour good health The editor explained that a friend o ohis othis ot of his in Kansas City bad had sent him a n. whole barrel hurel full of ot b bottled beer packed in in straw We sat there and drank four bottles apiece and then we remembered the train and Rod grabbed our bJ baggage ga e and ran a half balf milo mile to tho the depot lepot Tho The train had just pulled out We went t back to the e editors editor's office He had closed up and gone cone homeI home I Ibm Im m going to swear sw off ft said MacSo MacSo Mac So amI whilo amI while Im I'm in Kansas Kansas said I. I And those were ere the only two bottles of beer we bought while in Kansas and v we didn't even en open them St. St St. Louis Post |