"Ha, Bill! You thinka your man can worka all right, firsta day, huh?
You talka crazy so much as a fool! I laugha tinkin' of you startin' on
a patcha for my boota! You lasta just a half hour. Thisa library all
righta. This town too mucha what I call tight-wad!"
Oh, hum!! It's a tough job making old dogs do tricks. But our
Organization was now holding almost daily sittings, and soon a
bright girl thought of having band music in that now popular park.
And _what_ do you think that stingy Council did? It actually built a
most fantastic band-stand; got a contract with a first-class band,
and all without so much as a Councilman fainting away!! So, finally,
on a hot July Sunday, two solid hours of grand harmony brought joy
to many a poor Soul who had not for many a day, known that balm of
comfort which can "air out our brains' dusty corridors," and bring
such happy thrills, as Music, that charming Fairy, which knows no
human words, can bring. Around that gaudy band-stand, at two-thirty
on that first Sunday, sat or stood as happy a throng of old and young
as any man could wish for; and Gadsby and his "gang" got hand-clasps
and hand-claps, from all. A good band, you know, not only can stir and
thrill you; for it can play a soft crooning lullaby, a lilting waltz or
polka; or, with its wood winds, bring forth old songs of our childhood,
ballads of courting days, or hymns and carols of Christmas; and can
suit all sorts of folks, in all sorts of moods; for a Spaniard,
Dutchman or Russian can find similar joy with a man from Italy, Norway
or far away Brazil.
II
By now, Branton Hills was so proud of not only its "smarting up," but
also of its startling growth, on that account, that an application was
put forth for its incorporation as a city; a small city, naturally,
but full of that condition of Youth, known as "growing pains." So its
shabby old "Town Hall" sign was thrown away, and a black and gold onyx
slab, with "CITY HALL" blazing forth in vivid colors, put up, amidst
band music, flag waving, parading and oratory. In only a month from
that glorious day, Gadsby found folks "primping up"; girls putting on
bright ribbons; boys finding that suits could stand a good ironing;
and rich widows and portly matrons almost out-doing any rainbow in
brilliancy. An occasional shop along Broadway, which had a rattly door
or shaky windows was put into first class condition, to fit Branton
Hills' status as a city. Old Bill Simpkins was strutting around, as
pompous as a drum-major; for, now, that old Town Council would function
as a CITY council; HIS council! His own stamping ground! According to
him, from it, at no far day, "Bill Simpkins, City Councilman," would
show an anxiously waiting world how to run a city; though probably, I
think, how _not_ to run it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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