Hill Country Living
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Hill Country Living
By Coulter Fussell
Its’ a Wagner Week. Eugene Wagner’s friend, Tom Odell, has moved to Chicago. Tom, you need to behave yourself, young man! It starts with a production of “Floradora” and only gets worse from there!
Chicago, July 13
Dear Eugene,
I have been intending to write you as soon as I could get some ways settled. I’m pretty well adjusted to my work now and I’m beginning to look around a little. You could never get through looking around up here however, there’s too much to see.
I’m in the arc-lamp department of the Western Electric Company and just now I am in a way simply laboring until I can catch up on things. There is a great deal of testing done in my department. I’ve been working a whole lot of overtime lately and will continue to do so until a certain big order is filled. I don’t mind the overtime in the least as you were always paid now more for overtime work and you can’t get a hold of too much money in a place like this.
By the way, Floradora is now running in Illinois. It has been on already for nine weeks and this is the last. I think I will scrape up the price and take it in.
I was out walking the other evening in a rather tough district. It wasn’t so bad that a fellow needed a body of mounted police to protect him, but it was necessary to keep your eyes open. I had several sharpers to accost me. I didn’t know that I did look so much like a rube, but they are very quick to catch on to a fellow they can’t work. All sorts of women try to get you to follow them. I was passing a rather dark entrance to a stairway and a strikingly pretty woman was standing inside and tried to get me to step in and talk with her. It was a big temptation, for she was a very pretty woman, small and shapely with jet black eyes and hair. This is a common occurrence and I am going to let the whole lot alone.
It’s a very great temptation however. One night up in the business part of the city, I passed a swell, dressed woman, and I noticed she looked at me rather hard. I was just strolling around and I passed her again and she still looked. I walked onto the corner and turned and waited for I knew she was coming back. She came by and looked at me and led the way for me to follow her on the next street.
I believe if old Nick does reach human form, sometimes to lead people off, he must’ve been in that woman. Well, I mention these little experiences for I am new to such, whereas a fellow that has been here sometime wouldn’t notice them any more than he would any other ordinary occurrence.
Well, I’ve written you a letter and haven’t got much in it either. Write soon and let me know about things in Water Valley as I’m always interested in what’s going on in our crowd.
Sincerely, your friend,
Tom Odell
