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si rrt the acton free press thursday november 6th jttl yaw he old riveradde hotel had f m been bold william kendall the night clerk handed a couple of letters acroes the desk to a guect who had inquired for mall be fore he turned again to his informant willi 0dy the real estte man veat goedy went on it wai old yeaterday x understand thats why dawson went down to new york cant tell you very much th6ugh about the new owner except that hes said to be a live wire youll prob ably see htm yourself in a few days take my advice and watch your step if you value your job my job huh the telephone buzzed and william reached for it mechanically ho frowned as he recognized the voice that fellow in room 313 ngnln he had another complaint the third within the past hour first a pound initrndutor bothered him then a rat tling window nnd now no towel r were in the bathroom im sorry sir kald william 1 11 see that you get some nt once he called to the sleepyeyed boy sprawl ed on the long sent opposite the desk joe take a couple of towels up to 313j as the boy made his way toward the dim stairway that opened off the lobby a big heavynet man in a dark overcoatcame in with a rush o wlnd he asked for a firstfloor room with a bath on the card that the clerk pushed toward him he wrote w j kramer new york william assigned him to room 126 just down the corridor the newcomer who hnd some thing of the look of an alert middle- aged traveling man glanced down ward at his big suit case have x got to lug that hi voice was sharp but his blue eyes were not un kind william stepped out from behind the desk and picking up the suit case led the way along the corridor only one boy on duty tonight he explained and hes on an errand i dont trant to keep you waiting the man nodded and grunted back at the desk william looked for willis coady intending to ask him several questions about the sale i but the real estate man had gone i myjob1 wniamaaldto himself i dont know that i value it much even with jobs as scarce as they are the telephone buzzed again a guest on the second floor asked to be called promptly at a quartqr past seven the next morning william jotted on his memorandum pad call 396 at 7 is before he glanced up as a group of half a dozen men came crowding in through the main door carrying cumbersome bags and suit cases they were traveling salesmen just arrived from new york wil liam recognized familiar faces greetings william hows tricks best room in the house william my lad thats me how you been since last time my boy brr s a lot colder up this way look now wil liam any room at all so long as its warm atta boy william did the best he could for them all the while listening to their line of talk and now and then re sponding to a goodhumored jibe two or three others from the same train came in and by that time it was twenty minutes past ten he yawn ed as he looked at the clock above- the desk lie would bo on duty until eight oclock n long stretch no lie thought i wouldnt caro ono bit if i lost this job tomorrow the telephone buzzed one of the late nrrivnk had misplaced his gloves had william seen anything of a pair yes you left them hor on the desk ill send them up william smiled faintly as he handed the gloves to joe and told him to take thorn to room 233 in the safe behind the desk awaiting claimants were artuus that earlier guests had forgotten gold fountain pen a wauh an old bill fold one gold cuff link the big heavyset man who had signed himself 4 j kramer strol led into the lobby and glanced at the clock one more new york train tonight isnt there he inquired ys sir it gets in at eleven fiftv when its on time cold night theres lee tn that wind front off the river mr kramer bought a copy of the local newspaper you been on the job ber long a tittle over a year like u william was on the point of say ing h would like it much better if things were run more efficiently when the telephone buzzed on more complaint a man in room 109 said he could not get to swp on account of a faucet that dripped dripped drin gktd he wanted the management to do something about it all right sir saai william ill see what can b dot about it who covitd fix a dripping faucet 7 it sounded llkeft job for a plumber william nevertheless stepped out from behind the desk number 109 was just two doors down the corridor he would have a look at the faucet himself yes it was a job for a plumber william realized nothing except a new washer would stop the drip he wrapped a towel round the faucet there he said you wont hear the drip now for a long time llhe man grinned sleepily i never thought of that the telephone wns buzzing when wtllium reached the detk a guest in one of the corner rooms on the top floor wanted to knpw if he could not have more heat tn the radiator the pipes were almost cold 1 11 see what i can do sir another gucbt al on the top floor voiced the same complaint he said he did not wnnt to freeze wllllnm sent joe with a message to tho furnace man a lot of good that would do it was impossible to heat the topfloor rooms properly on n very cow night especially when the wind was blowing the hotel need ed a larger heating apparatus mr kramer had seated himself in one of the shabby armchairs near by and was reading his paper two or three other loungers were 6h the long- settee beside the fireplace william looked at his memorandum pad call 305 and 271 nt 7 30 bus schedule to beckvllle for mr chnl- mcrs- call 225 at 7 10 telephone for taxlcnb for mr benson at 8 35 call 206 at 715 asortwif glorified servant thats nil i am he said to himself twontytwo dollars n week a dull thankless job in n small town no future no chance to do anything really worth while and the telephone buzzwl this time it was an outside call a man with a throaty voice speaking from jacobs- town across the river wanted to talk to a mr hess william explained thafflo one bylhat name was regis tered at the hoftl the man tft once protested he insisted in positive and emphatic tones that the clerk was mistake ivbocausc n letter iiaclcome from mr hess that afternoon saying he was stopping nt the riverside no doubtnbotrtit william toldhlm again that no such name uas on the hotel hst thereupon the man be came- angry andwnnted to talk to the manager and quite obviously did not believe the clerk when he said the mnnoger was in new york at that point mr kramer rose nnd 4 walked over to the desk his eyebrows quizzically lifted finally william said to the man on the wire its possible that your friend mr hess may mine in on the lato train tonight if he does is there any message for him after some further discussion the man gave a number which mr hess was to call at once if he should ar rive on the late train then ran off 1 abruptly as if he had been mis- f treated mr kramer sat down again nnd once more became interestedtn his newspaper or at least he appeared lo be interested the elevenfifty was thirteen min utes late shortly after it had pul led out of the station n tax i cab come grinding up the slope and stopped in front of the hotel a puffing red- faced fnt man lurched into the lobbv carrjlnr two enormqjm block bags i a room he said and blinked about him william pushed the usunl slip to ward him and with chubby fingers he wrote thomas hess staten is lanh william smiled falntlj ami then told him of the telephone cnll and gave him the message and the number that the man with the throaty voice had left the fat man grunted i hat wns teorge becker know him i 11 cav j him in tlu morning do him iood to wait mr kramer rot and snunttrcd j over to the desk aguin he was the only guest in the lobbynow i ask ed you a question awhile baik he said abruptly william raited his eebrows remember i asked ou how ou liked your job here the young man ahxuggod hla shoul ders there are worse jobs than mine he replied with an a tempt at indifference he wrinkled his nose seeking to identify a vague odor that had just reacrbd him of course agreed mr kramer only that wasn t what i asked you you know hsmlled in a curiously friendly manner william frowned then wrinkled hla nose again still trying to identify that odor it was a little stronger now mr kramer leaned an elbow dh the desk and waited expectantly his clear blue eyes unblinking william felt vaguely resentful he had no desire to talk about his job to ull an utter stranger whether he liked it or not joe came down the stairs at that moment he was through for the night so long william see you tomorrow night joe the boy went round the desk and down the narrow stair way that led to the basement where he had left his hat and overcoat ive had a good chance to observe things mr kramer went on easily and maybe i ra wrong but i got the impression youre not exactly happy or am i wrong 7 william suddenly laughed brio fly mirthlessly oh well why not got the matter off his chest perhaps lie would feel better no youre right heaatd the fact is id like to be doing something worth while instead of just being everybodys servant you mean the job is beneath yjju no i dont mekh that but theres much thats petty about a job like this thats what i mean a great lot of trivial details and who cares well theres the fellow in room 296 i guess hed care all right if you forgot to call him at sevenfifteen yes thats the point william agreed if things go wrong theres trouble but no body gives a thought to the other side of the picture and then in an old rundown hotel like this one well its hard sometimes to make the guests comfortable youve done a pretty good job of it tonight remarked mr kramer wllllnm brightened it wns the first expression of positive approvnl that he had heard during his fourteen months behind the desk mr daw son the old proprietor hnd boon ha bitually tightmouthed taking every thing for grrintod well sir he began diffidently then turned his head suddenly toward the narrow stairway leading to the basement some ono was shouting some one was running footsteps pounded on the stairs a moment inter joe burst into tho lobby his face red his eyes wild william he cried fire in the kitchen fire grease or some- thing on the stove boiled over fire william leaped out from behind tho desk and caught the boy by the shoulders shut up he ordered dont shout like that do you wnnt to start a panic he ran to the stairway nnd went down it throe steps at a time now he knew that odor bumlrik grease his first glimpse of the big square kitchen seemed to send his heart up into his throat flames all along a section of the opposite wall yellow flames licked upward gray smoke stung the eyes he took a step or two forward nnd stumbled over some thing it was a rumpled length of heavy carpet that evidently served as n rug he seized it nnd with head bent and eyes half closed crossed to the farther wall he swung the carpet against the flames again again again showers of sparks flew nt him he brushed them from his coat sleeves the smoke was becoming more dense more acrid he coughed half strangled with it his temples throb bed bang went the carpet against the burning woodwork sparks flew in all directions they stung his hands his wrists bang bang with the old carpet he swu it until his arms acnes his vision blurred he stumbl ed against a chair heard it clatter upon something metallic the stovo perhaps 3ome one else was in the kitchen now he heard the thud of some thing soft striking the wntt he thought he heard some one shouting a sudden glddinew iel7ed the youngj man he staggered went to his knees gasping and choking things were going round and round flames smoke that chair he had knocked r r over still clutching the carpet he crept backwards as far as the door a wave of copl air came sweeping in from the passage he opened his mouth gulped swallowed gulped again then rose to his feet not so many flames now some one had switched on the light through the swirling smoke he saw mr kramer in his shirt sleeves swinging his codt against tho wall joe was beside him william advanced again carpet in hand once more ho was beating at the flames he felt n sud den wild sense of triumph ho was winning wllllnm and mr kramer stood gaking at each bther irr tho blacken ed kitchen victorious tho fire was out joe had opened two of the base ment windows and tho room was rapidly clearing of smoke what shall i do now the boy asked go upjto the desk sold william answer the telephone if it rings ill be up in less than five minutes he felt his head suddenly go light again he braced his legs then took an awkward step sideways mr kramer reached forth and caught hlm then led him to a chair william seated titmsoh heavily in it i ill bo all right in a minute are you burnt william shook hla head just my hands and wrists a little ill be all right in n minute dlzsy thats nil i mr kramer said n surprising thing soon as youre able i wnnt jou to go home and go to bed youve earned it oh but i cant do thnt wllllnm protested i m on duty till eight oclock no you ro not im lotting you off i ii jnko your job myself you the mnn suddenly smiled why not i bought this hotel yesterdny wllllnm stared nt him dumbfound ed just thought id like to see how things worked before i made myself known mr kramer went on and theres ono thing im sure of ive got n flrstrnlc night cterknow my boy if you feel better william roso slowly to his feet i think were going to got on well together mr kramer was saying wevo made a pretty good start eh with a friendly smile ho added it isnt often a night clerkis called upon to put out a fire nnd prevent a panic and save lives yet tlferoa always that possibility you know because he has a job with a lot of responsibil ity a job thats in every sense worth while dont forget it paper knives from bits of bombs arrive from london as blitz souvenirs thousands of miles from tho war zone people are now slitting then let ters opon with paper knives made from bits of bombs rained by the nazis on london in the bllti tho larger pieces nre melted down nd used again by industry but small fragments have been shaped into blades leaving the handle in the rough of the original splinter the paper knives are from six inches to two feet ions and quantities of these souvenirs have already been shipped to the dominions and u s a bars iwjwn lor doctors london cpy a now defence regulation provides that n foreign doctor with a foreign diploma and debarred from practising in his own country by racial legislation may be given the right to practise temporar ily in britain i 4 auctptton of he ujjiiy i xxxlxrh ki mettt of votx on their irmi in montreal front ike glmtj on ihc 28th jurtfr lfl pmlng utuhrf the triumphal arch u ih pu d am au einkofmonirii compliment at tho request of her fifteen-year- oldsonvo young toronto matron the other day called at the neighborhood cleaners shop to pick up his hat that hadbeen left there for reblocklng asking for the hnt eho said j son brought i tintoyoulast week was that your con said the cleaner what a fine big boy he ls r ttieyoung matron a youre sure that was your son thnt loft the hat said the cleaner show ing incredulity flattered by the implied compli ment the mother smilingly sold thnt she was sure at tho dinnertable thnt night she told the story only to have her plea sure spoiled when her son piped up but mother it was father who took the hnt in the printed word living historic times with canada for just one yr ihort of century and a quarter 124 dramatic dynamic historic years the dank of montreal hai lived worked and watched with cauda the flank hatteeowaicomcsndpwcc go peace come and war depart shared canadas struggle through every ntght of economic depression since i8t7 rcjotced to tec canada always triumph over ail adversity founded two years after the battle of wat the bank witnessed the cnmean war the indian mutiny and with other loyal canadians eouited for the duration in the south african war soil world war i now marches with the dominion vnd the empire in world war ii always canada has come through stronger better triumphant may she so come through the present fiery trial tohis end we work and dedicate the institutions service just as our 6000 loyal employed are working and dedicating their personal services bank of montreal a iahk where iujill accounts abe welcome- modern experienced danking service the outcome of 124 yen sutcntful opcnmon save t fir vittorf acton branch w h clayton manacer for best buysconsult the ads a naval gun each month for the duration the jos ts mot half q0he make our objective a reality with your dollars 46 tfl thu tw if tijppimg vp must tj hmy tbtt tommg wk lo aitur sufttss acton must not fait- our war wiapohs drive guis for allout ptrsonal sacrifice o we still have a big job ahead of u our objective if coming to life but we must speed it up we must get wholeheartedly behind this national war weapons drive we must increase our regular individual purchases of war savings certificates to the limit remember our soldiers our sailors our airmen are counting on us theyve offered their lives we must give them the weapons our community has pledged us all to take a vital part in canadas war effort can any of us turn a deafrar to the call acton war savings committee double your pledge to buy war savings certificates regularly 63ng