November 25 Page 12——P. A. Features, ‘Mr. Hangers Tosses ’Em Out “Seems tuh be Hangers. Cer r A FISHERIES inspection boat had brought .a_sackful o carelessly on Mr. Hangers’ boathouse, float as a, more or | “in which he ‘might be interested, and had then purred away again == *""to give 'them*a try ”’ We. were a "room above the ‘open: ‘boatshed through “which “the November "= wind was whining freely, mak- “ing queer sounds in the bows and sterns of skiffs and. other small craft berthed on brac- kets against the wall, laid up for the winter. Gustomers after October came only for out- boards and’ power boats. As the anchovies frizzled in the pan, we learned why the fisheries crew had dumped them off. “TI allus thought those guys ‘liked me,” Mr. Hangers pen- Sively remarked, “but now I’m wonderin’ what they got agin’ me. Ever smell anythin’ like it before ?” “Maybe they taste better than they smell,” [ suggested hopefully, for on Mr. Hangers’ phoned invitation to “try out a new fish” I’d come down 3 ea a lot o’ that sort of obnoxiousness lately,’ said Mi “Is the general’ standard o tenants depreciatin’, would 2 e ‘say, or are landlords. just a b By How. ‘without my dinner. He looked. down doubtfully at the beauti- _ ful silver shapes shrinking and wrinkling in their copious E grease. “Heard tell 0’ people enj- ~yin. mushrat an’ groun’hog,” he said. “Mebbe these things are like them, an’ work out al their nastiness in the fryin’ pan too. There’s one ‘thing about it anyway—nobody but Mme can. kick if the aroma 0’ this here culinary experiment turns the shack into a fish re- duction plant. Think you’d like to try ’em on th’? electric range in that there flat o’ yours?” “No thank you,” I assured him, “I’d be an obnoxious ten- ant sure!” e@: GEEMS tuh be a lot o that Sort 0’ obnoxiousness lJate- ly. Is the general standard o’ DEATH KNELL. CLWE UFFron i na eed Pr athaven) Crcuisones ° at: more ornery than usual.” f anchovies in a: ess fare product of Gulf waters attempting to fry them, up i nd_ toss t er enjoining 1 Mr. Hangers’ tenants depreciatin’, would ye Say, or are landlords just a bit more ‘ornery than usual?” x ay guess the landlords resent “having controls over them,” I ventured. “I. never believed in givin’ a. landlord an even break anytime on general principles, but it’d be just downright Sabotage an’ mayhenr to let ’em have their own: way durin’ a war, with the natural defenders o’ women an’ children no longer sittin’ on the porch with a sockful o’ sand, come rent-day. But-why don’t the gov’ment build more houses So’s there’d be some pick an’ choose, regardless o? who owns 7em? That'd settle the rent- shark racket.” “The government has some Schemes underway, but I’ be- lieve they’re dependent on civic cooperation, and this city does not seem inclined to play ball.” “Too many landlords on the council, I suppose,” he remark- ed. “This what: does he do for a livin’ ?” “Tt think he sells china. but I’m not sure.” “Like enough. There’s a hook- up there—nothin’ makes a. wo- man mad enough to throw her pots an’ china around, like livin’? in a shack when there’s: money in the bank for a de- - cent home. But I think T saw a sign up somewhere on Dun- ““bar the other day, “Will build ‘on this lot to suit tenant,’ an’ it was signed, ‘Buscombe.’ Meb- be he’s the same f£uy—believes in gettin’ them both ways!” “Anyway, there’s plans _for housing, at least two very good ‘ones, but the council wont act,” I told him. ; “WELL 0” course there’s two points oo’ housin’ View on the question, just there is on anchovies,” and he slid a malevolent eye over the Seething, smelly mass in the pan, “There’s the shark’s point — of view, one sort likes ancho- vies an’ the other sort likes rents, easy-come-by.”’ fellow Buscombe— ° like . vy nA = = VAG. = Meet Mr. Hangers a Tas & “Then there’s viewpoint 0? cooks ticlans — maybe some cooks the an’ poli- think anchovies worth botherin’ daca about, an’ some politicians think the housin’ question can be intelligently solved. Other cooks no doubt believe ancho- vies should be made as nause- atin’ as possible so’s. the boss’ll tell ’em to exercise ents on chicken a la king, just as some politicians hope for rottener an’ so’s tenants’ll vote for ’em in desperation.” “But the present city coun- cil doesn’t seem to belong in either class,” I objected, “They official — their tal- . rottener housin’ with the present council, to’ just don’t do anything, or ¢, appear to think about it.”- “Qh, them—they’re like tt splutterin’? oil-w here—they just don’t hele period!” he snapped back, » with a deft motion of his w flipped the frying pan of stove and heaved it throt the open window into the w ers of the inlet. : “That's what should be di | toss ’em out! Come on up the Greasy Spoon an’ Ill i: you 2 beefsteak.” I put on my coat with al =a 2 :