Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 170, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1916 — Tales of GOTHAM and other CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tales of GOTHAM and other CITIES

Topeka Girl Objects to Cowboy’s Fierce Wooing TOPEKA, KAN^— High-heeled boots, a broad-brimmed Stetson, corduroy trousers, a flannel shirt, a blue handkerchief for a collar and a 6-foot-4 man Inside of them, are all right in their proper setting. Associated with a lariat,

a cow pony and prairies that fade away into distance they form a combination that might appeal to any city girl and justify a summer flirtation. But somehow the romance that surrounds such a combination on its native heath has a habit of fading away when the man togs up in store clothes and makes a visit to the girl’s home town. That’s the reason L. F. Fountain wgs put in the Shawnee county jail and Marie Palmer has gone away on a

visit That’s the main reason, although the interval between the alleged flirtation and Fountain’s arrest is filled with reasons. Miss,Palmer says It was a flirtation. Fountain says it was the most serious thing that ever happened to him. Fountain lives in what is left of the cow country down in Pratt county. He is typical of that country 20 years ago. Marie Palmer visited In his neighborhood with the latest creations from -Topeka millinery and dressmaking establishments. Fountain fell and he fell hard. He decided there was just one woman in the world for him, and she was not one of the Pratt county girls. He didn’t tell Miss Palmer all this at the-time. He’s telling about it now. One day he turned his pony out to grass, threw his saddle and bridle In a corner of the ranchhouse, dressed up in his store clothes and bought a ticket for his girl’s home town. The only familiar thing he wore when he stepped from the train in Topeka was his artillery. He carried a six-shooter in a holster and an idea In his brain. His Idea was to take Marie Palmer back with him, peaceably if possible, but to take her back. Fountain called at Miss Palmer’s home and calmly announced that he had journeyed to Topeka to wed her. He didn’t look like the same fellow she had known out West. The store clothes spoiled the effect. Out on the prairie he had been a picturesque figure. Out on West Seventh street, In Topeka, he was Just a tall, gangling man with clothes that wouldn’t pass inspection at a fashion show. 1 , , When Miss Palmer demurred Fountain pulled his six-shooter, she says, and threatened to make a sieve of the whole neighborhood, including herself. He must have created something of a scene in that quiet locality. He left, but promised it wouldn’t be for keeps; that she might just as well pack up her clothing, for he Intended to take her back to Pratt with him. Miss Palmer made complaint and Fountain was arrested, but released on promise to leave town.