is awful fussy.
Now, that trolley line--he put that in, but we didn't need it."

"Not but what Wakefield is enterprising," Spate added, anxiously.

Pettibone nodded and went on: "People used to think the old bobtailed
horse-car--excuse my language--wasn't much, but the trolley-cars are a
long way from perfect. Service ain't so very good. People don't ride on
'em much, because they don't run often enough."

The President started to say, "Perhaps they can't run oftener because
people don't ride on 'em enough," but something counseled him to
silence, and Pettibone continued:

"Same way with the electric light. People that had gas hated to change.
He made it cheap, but it's a long way from perfect. He put in an
independent telephone. The old one wasn't much good and it was
expensive. Now we can have telephones at half the old price. But result
is, you've got to have two, or you might just as well not have one.
Everybody you want to talk to is always on the other line."

The President nodded. He understood the ancient war between the simple
life and the strenuous. He wished he had left the subject unopened, but
Pettibone had warmed to the theme.

"Shelby built an opery-house and brought some first-class troupes here.
But this is a religious town, and people don't go much to shows. In the
first place, we don't believe in 'em; in the second place, we've been
bit by bad shows so often. So his opery-house costs more 'n it takes in.

"Then he laid out the Pastime Park--tried to get up games and things;
but the vacant lots always were good enough for baseball. He tried to
get people to go out in the country and play golf, too; but it was too
much like following the plow. Folks here like to sit on their porches
when they're tired.

"He brought an automobile to town--scared most of the horses to death.
Our women folks got afraid to drive because the most reliable old nags
tried to climb trees whenever Shelby came honking along. He built two or
three monuments to famous citizens, but that made the families of other
famous citizens jealous.

"He built that big home of his, but it only makes our wives envious.
It's so far out that the society ladies can't call much. Besides, they
feel uneasy with all that glory.

"Mrs. Shelby has a man in a dress-suit to open the door. The rest of
us--our wives answer the door-bell themselves. Our folks are kind of
afraid to invite Mr. and Mrs. Shelby to their parties for fear they'll
criti