Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1869-09-30
A shrewd CoIored Man.

n OuI0Wu OO1OIO4 I16us
We have heard a good story OF
a colOred man named John, who
resides at place not quite thou
sand miles from Savannah. John
lad a ''boss" who is fond of tie ex-
citement of playing at the game
known as "lottery policy" but he
does not like TO be seen in such
offices. and so be furnishes John
with the numbers and the money
to play upon them. Now John
has learned to read, and some sew
en- or eight months ago he read
a story about lady who was in
the habit of dreaming about num-
bers and giving her husband mon
ey to play at ''lottery policy" how
the husband pat the money in q
box and did not purchase any pol
icy ticket, but took home q. copy
of the drawing every night and
paid her all the prizes she drew,
and how on New Years day he
told her she had at last shit the
lottery and drawn a handsome
little prize, and gave her the mon
ey which remained IN the box af-
ter paying all the prizes she had
drawn during the year. Upon
reading this story, a bright idea
made its way through Johns wool.
He reckoned up the amount of
money his "boss" had given him
to buy tickets and the amount Of
prizes drawn, and found that the
former largely exceeded the latter.
From these premises John reason
ed.
So John procured a small tin
box, in which he deposited all the
money his "boss" gave him with
which to purchase ''lOttery policy
tickets" but bought no tickets.
He continued, however, to take
the numbers and the money from
his "boss," to furnish him with a
copy of the drawings every day,
and to pay him from the box all
the prizes which bis "boss" would
have drawn upon the numbers fur
nished if he had purchased tickets,
and at the end of six months John
counted the money in the box,
and found that after paying all
the prizes drawn by the numbers
furnished by his <'boss," it contain
ed the handsome little sum OF
5000. At first John was very much
elated with his success in winning
money from his "boss,' but after
while be began to feel uneasy
about the 5000 in the box, and
began to reason with himself thus
ly: "My boss" pays me good wa
ges, he gives me plenty of good
victuals to eat and a good bed to
sleep in, and be don't require me
to work hard, and now have got
5000 of his money in that box,
which did not cost me cent, and
Idon't feel right aboutit, so Idon't.
Something tells me that ought
to give him the money and tell
him how badly he has been fooled.
But suppose | had purchased
the tickets as he told me to-
would not the lottery man had
this money, and would he now
think of paying it back. Ger
tainly he would have it, and
would never think Of paying it
back. Why, then should | not
keepit? Ipaid all theprizes drawn.
just as the lottery man would
have done Tin fact l was the lotte-
ry man. and therefore | have fair
ly won the two hundred dollars,
and have just the same right to
keep. it as the lottery man would
have if / had purchased the tick
cts from him and he had paid the
prizes as | did"
John had never heard Of a logi-
clan or a professor of ethics, but
he looked at the money in the box,
and somehow or other he could
not help thinking that it belonged
to his "boss," and that it was not
right for him to keep it, and so he
went to him and told him all about
how he had obtained the money,
and proposed to return it. His
''boss," however, told John that
he had learned lesson worth
more than a thousand dollars,
and therefore he begged him to ac-
cept the money as o present
Both John and his "boss" have
come to the conclusion that the
game of Lottery Policy" was made
to win, and that the man who
plays against it is simply a fool
Republic1R.