The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-09-01
HE GAINED HIS POINT.


Charles Howard is hero, in mod
crate way, at seventeen. Like TOpsy,
he never had any father or mother.
He grew. It is doubted if he ever en-.
joyed such lordly sleeping apartments
| as Victor Hugo assigns his gamln.
But he has dwelt where rats were ia
miliar and neighborly, slept in dry
goods boxes, on doorsteps, in rlckety
lofts and by the wayside. He has
lived, as others of his kind, too honest
to steal, too proud to beg, by the fruits
of industry, frugally, modestly. He
has known want, endured cold, has
suffered most of the hardships which
fall to the lot of boys left alone to live
or die, as fate Wills. in wide, strange
world.
The first known of this hero is, that
at a competent age he possessed him
self Of the working tools of that ener-
getic, useful class who greet men In
feathers, with, Shine, sir; black yer
boots?" lie pureued this humble
calling in New Y ork, in recent months,
having his stand in the vicinity of the
Hippodrome. He came to regard
himself as an attache of the great
moral show or rather as . proprie-
tor of the foot-Rear of its visitors.
When the Hippodrome finally closed
in New York, and began its summer
wanderings, the young boot-black
ventured forth in its wake as sinner
to its new patrons.
He got along well enough till the
show set up in Boston There, we
learn from the Globe of that city, he
encountered Observation-Disclosures
which proved to be blessings in dis
guise. He was beset for shining"
without a license. The laws Of the
city may not demand q price for the
right to brush the dust of the Hub
from the feet OF citizens, but the
Boot blacks Union has laws which
the foreign sliiner could not comply
with. He hadn't the funds. and was
denied the privilege of earning any,
even in the shadow of his hippodrome
or that of the cradle Of liberty.
Sorely troubled he was wandering
about the great city thinking what he
should do next, when at a corner
newsstand he chanced to notice in q
daily newspaper a paragraph stating
that the United States receiving ship
Sabine, at Portsmouth, N. H.. had
been made school ship for instruc-
ton for boys. Without pausing to
reason how or why. the boy recognized
that through the receiving ship school
lay his path to greatness and glor:.
He would enlist on the Sabine and
die a second Farragut. Portsmouth
was fifty miles away. Thitherwards
he Immediately took his way. on foot,
of course. box in hand. shining his
way without trouble or question about
license.
Arriving at Portsmouth, he inquir-
ed the way to the Sabine, and with
brave purpose but futtering heart.
mander. He told his story. made
for him! Here, for the first time. he
recounizcd the convenience of having
father or q guardian. somebody re-
mcnts while minor.
Commander Cooke liked the boys
appearance, but without permission
from parent or guardian could not
take him. He was sorry, and the can
away sorrowful, but not discouraged.
The great world might not be able to
do anything for him in the way of q
parent, but it ought to furnish guar
dian.
He trudged about the streets of
Portsmouth looking for that novel ar
ticle of convenience, guardian. lie
scanned faces with great intelligence.
His calling had brought him in con-
tact with every variety of man. and he
had learned to guess the character of
men from their countenances
81 laet hn mat khn Nsfy M~rcho1
Israel Marden. Esq He was kind
looking gentleman. The boy said,
Here is my guardian" and asking
for a moments conversation, he told
his story to the Marshal. And now,
please, sir" he added, will you be
my guardian and enlist me, so that I
can lear0 something that will be of
benefit to- me hereaiter?''
The Marshal said he would. He
went straight to the Probate Judge
and became the legal father OF the
boy. Thence he went with him to the
Sabine, and told the commander he
was responsible for Charles Howard.
The youth was cordially accepted and
enrolled in the school of instruction,
where he is already favorite with the
officers of the Sabine.
Marshal Marden is proud on his
part, and looks to the future with con-
6dence that the boy who enlisted his
sympathies and good Offices by an
earnest plea to be put up in the way
Of learning something that will be
benefit to him hereafter" will make
name that will be honorable in his
tory.
Already Charles Howard is hero,
. small one it may be, but neverthe-
less hero, in having overcome seri-
GUS obstacles and conquered foot
hold from which the way to q useful
and honorable life is open. The pluck
and perseverance which have secured
him thus far SO we'll are qualities nec-
essary in the life he has chosen, and
for that matter in all the battles of