The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-09-09

hack, the writing drudge, the butt OF
the office. Evidently he did not like
recurring to painful subject, nor did
| feel Just then that / had the right tc
be inquisitiye. We talked about oul
calling, of writing letters paid for will
the fraction of penny, and we ended
by laughing over our miseries. From
the conversation | had with the man ]
found / had to do with person whose
information was not only vast, but solid
Tgertuled to sayto him that, with hi,
talents, even at his age, he was sure in
time to better his position.
"Why," | asked, "do you stay in
the Office? Had l your gift of Ian
guage, 1 would soon find good posi-
! ton. -
'.Have you ever read Hoffman,
asked Quasi. ''If you have you may
remember how he tells a story about a
painter. Now, this artist was partially
insane. That longing after the ideal SO
many natures seek for and never find ,
had got the better of his reason. Forms
of grace and beauty had oyertaxcd his
strength. The only relief the stupid
fellow found was in working out with
| rule and compass the most rudimentary
! figures. At certain hours of the day F,
very brief ones, lovelyT faces would
come before him and heA9onkl out
lime thenl on his scanvas but q garish
riot of color would make his pure
drawing but the vilest daub. Then
he would go to his church---he had
hired himself to paint it---and would
rnethodically lay the color on its wooden
walls, in imitation of stone, bringing
ont with Chinese accuracy even the in
terstices Of the building blocks, Po-
land and liberty! The former is my
ideal; she exists: how she shall be free
that increasingly occupies my
! thoughts. 1t may have crazed me at
times, ike the hero of the story-teller's S
| history. In the meanwhile, in the me-
! chanical humdrum toll of copying let
ters addressed to cheese sellers or tail
ors my mind finds relief. 1t may be
with me somewhat of a necessity, some
thing of choice. | am purifying my
views :. What means | may have de-
vised for the liberty of my country are
less crude than they were. have adj
vocated, have even practiced, the more
terrible methods. Baptisms of blood
are necessary for human regeneration.
Poland every ten or twenty years must
hoist her enSanguined sign, toss alOft
the holocaust of victims, her advertise
ment of despair. How otherwise ap-
peal TO the instincts of an illiterate but
impassioned race, peasants who have no
book-learning? BY showing Poland
those blood-red letters, printed on the
body of her sons, these become so many
primers. A single lesson impresseS it
into their souls; the father tells the son
of it, the grandmother the grandchild.
| strive to eliminate some of the grOSScr
factors. Life seems to me, as | grow
older, more sacred than it used to be-
Yet, | who speak to you have run
many Il terrible risk. That | am alive
now simply means that may be some
dozen other men have been brushed out
of nv path and out of existence. There
is where the whole enigma of the mat
ter lies. That Poland must be free, if
not this year, at least in this century, /
will not doubt But how? But You
have led me into a topic rarelyyenture
on, save with my own people. / am
one of the Polish Legion in America
Some have thought that aid might come
from this quarter, but that is neither
probable nor possible. l am here for
another reason. Many a Polish refu-
gee, many a dissatisfied one finds a
home here. They seek me for advice.
The dole give them -" .
"What!" l exclaimed, "and you
are starving at times!"
FPray, pardon my arrogance. Well,
what little money may be sent me, is
more theirs than mine. My occupation
at the Office fits one purpose of my life.
For four years | have been making out
a list of Poles in the United States. !
| have poured over directories from every
city. Some day, when the final effort
is to be made, money, the sinew of
war, will be forthcoming, and my long
catalogue of names, the labor of many
a night of inceSsant toll, will bring its
fruit. l am expansive tonight. VIII
you walk home with me?''
We crossed Broadway, and near the
North River, in miserable tenement
house, mounting up the stairs to the
uppermost story, Quasi had room.
In that room were bed, chair, and
waShstand. For decoration there
were a sabre, a pistol, and lance with
tattered pennOn. 81 have often
wanted canary-bird in my room, -
said Quasi, ''but then seed is eXpen-
Sive, and working at night would have
disturbed it, and it might have frozen
in winter. See, my work is here, "
a., hA 4 %
of huge foliOs. "TheSe are my lists.
Many of these men have prospered Won
derfully in America. In their af1iUence
they will not forget their mother. See
here-here is name. That man ma
tured plot at PoSen. There was a
| traitor, and he had to fly. We snug
gled him over to Constantinople 1t
was during the Crimean war. He came
here a beggar. lie was Il Jew, and
cried = glass to mend,n through New
York streets, He is 4 banker to-day in
San Francisco ] might draw on him
fora large amount for the cause. He
has given already, and will give yet
without stint
"And the traitor?' inquired.
alt was a family matter. His own
! brother put knife into his heart. lie
did not live day. Here is my black
/ list. No true Pole ever talks with
these, or breaks bread in their houses
Once my fiat passed, once our mother
| sighted, they are pariahs." Quasi
with his threadbare coat, his inky
| finger, his squalid appearance i,
here assumed the defiant, AFRO
CANT mien of an emperor. as'Here
/ in this poor room, l execute my
plans i it is in our dingy office,
on an empty stomach mostly, that
mature them. VIII you STAY with me
yet awhile? 1t is absurd that / can't
even offer you a cup Of coffee, but am
as poor as rat But see gou,s Ameri-
ca has been to me a school of proba-
ton. This makes my sixth year here d.
In month or so l shall be promoted to
European port. An important post
will be confded 10 me :, When the time
comes l shall be happy to return you
the dinner you shared with me to-day. -
Quasi and l met frequently after that,