Produced by Brendan Lane, Josephine Paolucci and PG
Distributed Proofreaders
1921
XXV. McIVER's OPPORTUNITY
"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."
No well informed resident of Millsburgh, when referring to theprincipal industry of his little manufacturing city, ever says "themills"—it is always "the Mill."
The reason for this common habit of mind is that one mill soovershadows all others, and so dominates the industrial and civic lifeof this community, that in the people's thought it stands for all.
The philosopher who keeps the cigar stand on the corner of CongressStreet and Ward Avenue explained it very clearly when he answered aninquiring stranger, "You just can't think Millsburgh without thinkin'mills; an' you can't think mills without thinkin' the Mill."
As he turned from the cash register to throw his customer's change onthe scratched top of the glass show case, the philosopher added with agrin that was a curious blend of admiration, contempt and envy, "An'you just can't think the Mill without thinkin' Adam Ward."
That grin was another distinguishing mark of the well informed resid