“We know that every person in Oakvale who has taken the trouble to pay any attention to the way things are going,” he began to say, “has been pained by the conditions prevailing. It is the consensus of opinion that something must be done, and that immediately, to better things. The only question that has kept this movement from crystallizing before has been the lack of cohesion; no one seemed to be able to present a proper plan that would unite all the different organizations interested in the good name of our town. And that is the object of this meeting to-night. We must all get together, and put our shoulders to the wheel.”
Mayor Strunk, seeing that most eyes were immediately directed toward his quarter, got up to say his little piece. As usual, he was for procrastination. He had attended several other meetings during the winter just passed and always advised going slowly, so as not to make any mistake. The ladies had now become indignant, and quite out of patience with him.
So when the suave politician commenced by saying that he realized as well as any one the need of something being done to improve living in Oakvale, and then went on to repeat the old advice not to be too hasty, because Rome was not built in a day, and all that sort of thing, there were quick glances passing around, and one lady had to be held down by main force, so eager was she to take the speaker to task, regardless of parliamentary rules.
Hardly had the mayor finished speaking, than she was on her feet, with flashing eyes. A ripple of applause greeted her taking the floor, because those present understood how fluently Mrs. Beverly could speak when her heart was full of a subject.
“Mayor Strunk advises delay, and delay,” she broke out with, indignantly. “I decline to agree with his policy. I have heard it advocated many times before, and nothing was ever done. The time to strike is when the iron is hot! Conditions are daily growing more unbearable. To-day our fair town has fallen from the position we once so proudly boasted. There are hidden snares for the feet of our young men and boys, about which the police must know. They should be wiped out pitilessly. There are numberless nuisances that are painful to the eyes and noses of sensitive people; these should be rigorously pursued with fines and other penalties until they are abated. If we have not laws on the books to cover all these offences let us see to it that they are immediately placed there. Then there is another crying evil that should be stopped without delay. I refer to several dangerous crossings where accidents have been known to happen, and at any day a terrible tragedy may stun the community. Listen while I tell you something that by the merest accident I witnessed myself, and only a few hours ago.”