Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-05-02
Pretty Good Compensation.

Pretty Good Compensation.
We read of men who devour widows
houses, and we hear Of savages who eat
missionaries without--so far as one can get
Internationally kind of sauce; but do
civilized beings in civilized countries de-
Hberately live on and swallow up other
civilized beings2 Not perhaps, literally !;
but they do fguratiyely, and if they do not
exactly devodr widows houses, they de-
your railway companies, that is sharehold-
ers, that is, fellow creatures, and make
certainly not for a mere pretense-long
prayers for compensation. Of course, no.
body would plead the cause Of a company.
How can any body's bowels Of compassion
be moved fora company, any more than a
cOmpany's bowels of compassion can be
moved for anybody2 } Men act towards
companies as they would not act towards
individuals, as individuals. Nevertheless,
company--even a railway company
may be the victim Of an individual, Just
as an individual is-every day, according
TO letters in the neWspaperS--the victim of
company. ~ - 'E- '''"N -
My opinion is that the Great Southern
Railway Company is the victim of Hop
per-. Not that Hopper would have had the
heaft-indeed, might say the vito vic
timize the Company on his own account,
or, at least out of his own head s; but then
he had friends, and amongst them solicit
or and q doctor, and it is astonishing what
light can be thrown upon apparently
simple matters by doctor and solicitor.
The circumstances were as follows Hop
per being licensed victualler, felt bound,
sitter his kind, to attend all manner of
races, and so it happened that in attending
certain races, the train in which he was got
run into by another train. Now, there is
no intention here to make light of railway
accidents; he who can speak lightly of or
smile any but the ghastliest of smiles at a
railway accident, can never have been
witness OF One-can never have felt the
shock, followed by the crash, succeeded by,
tue shrieks, i1ltermingled with the groans
OF mutilated passengers and of engine
drivers boiling to death. But life is to
certain extent'a melodrama |; after we have
supped our fill of horrors come the droil,
grotesque, laughter-moying dance and song
OF the niger minstrels. So it was in Hop
pers case. Three widows and many
fatherless children bore witness that the
accident was nothing to laugh at but
there was something to laugh lin the way
Hopper was affected by the accident 1t
will be easily believed that flourishing IL
censedS yictualler whose bar and parlor
were always full of customers, was not like
ly to make a secret Of what had betit]len
him. Hopper was naturally a man with
out the least guile, but also without the
least strength of mind !; but his mental
weakness had rather increased than dimin-
1shed by practice which he considered
was his duty, of showing his customers
that he was not afraid of his own liquors,
and that there could therefore (from his
point of view, be no reason why anybody
should be. So, when his 'flatterers land a
licensed victualler has great many of
them), after hearing his story, said every
one of them; II 'ope, Mr.. Copper, you'll
be down on thes Comply" Hopper at
nrst opened his eyes in honest 'amazement
and said Il" What for, Il should like to
know? l consider I was uncommon lucky
to git off with this here little scratch on
the nose; why, there can't be more than
ha'p'orth o. bark took off, and dye think
us with while to go to law for that? But
when one person coughed, and another
grinned, and a third winked, and~a fourth
put his finger on the side of his nose and a
NTH declared he " must have something to
drink after that" and sixth asked him
how he could be sure he hadn't played old
gooseberry with his .sinnards,",, a
seventh whispered slyly 3" You go to
Achan the lawyer, and he'll git you a
undred pound" Hopper grew uneasy,
for he was doubtful, ;, first of al, whether he
showed as much knowingness as was to be
expected of sporting publican secondly,
whether there might not be more than he
liked to think of in the hint which had
been thrown out with respect to his Gin
nards;" and lastly, if. he did not deserve
some compensation for the mortal fright
into which he had been thrown. = .ogi785'
He resolved, therefore, to consult Achan,
to whom he had recourse in all little diff
cultes to which the (tohim) unsatisfactory
state of the law with respect to victuallers
especially suehyas have sporting tenden-
Cyl from time to time involved him. But
Achan, being keen man of business las
became his lineage and hook of his nose),
always having his eye on cases of compen-
satlon, Knowing Hopper's sporting tenden1
cles, and having seen in the paper an ac-
count OF the accident, was beforehand with
his Client and appeared at the Rat-taIled
Mare SO very soon after his name had been
pronouneed, that everybody present was
struck with the aptness of the saying, to
The effect that the mentionsof the name is
speedily followed by the appearance of
somebody, TO whom Mr.. Aehan was de-
clared by all present to bear in many re-
Achan was apparently much flattered by
the characteristics ascribed to him, for he
bowed, smiled, and kept repeating, "Ah !!
my dears, i wish it was true--I wish it vas
true" He then drew Hopper aside into
the latters sanctum, and asked with the air
OF one who should ask you whether you
had won the prize: 20 Vas you in the ac-
shldent, Mr.. Hopper vas you indeed ?"
And when he had heard Hopper's story. he
rubbed his hands glecfully, and said en-
couragingly: "Yesh yeshi my dear, but
depend upon it, you're injured internally !:
II lsh better than nothing; but if you'd
been killed, Icould have got e-nor-moush
compensation" 9!s's
"Thankee," said Hopper, dryly; and
away went Achan, having settled that
steps should he Immediately taken with a
view to compensation, and that doctor, a
friend of .Achan's, "a very clever man
"espeshiaiiy," said Achan, with diaboli-
cal leer, SIN cashes of internal injury },
should call and examine Hopper The
doctor called, and examined Hopper both
.! word and decd he punched the publ
can ABOUT, and as he didse, muttered under
ms breath broken sentences which made
hopper shudder. At last the doctor said /:
ana now, pray tell nae how the accident
happened, and what your sensations we're