The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-04-03
A MjIliuer.Seu0tOr.

AZ made surprising discovery the
other day."
This was the remark made by n busi-
ness man. n new arrival in the commun-
ity, to reporter for the Tribune. Ripe
for ANYTHING calculated to disturb the
sitting serenity of local affairs, the intel
ligent news collector was moved to ask,
"IIow sopn
Take n seat and I will tell you," and
thereupon the merchant who, by the way,
is New Yorker, proceeded as follows
81 ran away from home when l was
fifteen years old. Thought | Twas restrain
ed at home and needed more scope. Twas
living near Hornellsville, N. Y. and on
my first launch for freedom reached
Adrian, Mich, n then quite remote city.
This was in 1851, believe. / roamed
around the town tor two or three days
before / found anything to do. Finally,
one afternoon, without the least idea that
anything would come of it, | dropped
into Il little store-a sort of ladies' fur
nishing store; that is, the stock consisted
of collars and cuffs and lace and necktjes
and thread and yarn and all such little
truck. The store was q small affair
hardly eight feet wide by perhaps fifteen
feet deep. I walked in and .accostcd n
small. thin, white-haired and tair-com-
plexioned young man, with an applica-
tion for employment, must admit that
the proprietor-fo1rI the young man was
the ,,roprietor-did not seem to care
much whether | went to work for him
or not. But after n little talk, mostly on
my part, / was .engaged at S3per week,
with the privilege of sleeping in the
| store"
Something in the expression of the re-
porter's face suggested to the narrator to
say that 1.-THE point of the story was To
come" So the yarn was continued:
MY proprietor did not do very
heavy business, and did not seem to care
much either. He belonged to some
secret society OF other. and was con-
stantly called upon by brether, members.
On these occasions the proceedings were
quite mysterious, and little sort OF a
wash-roOm in the back part of the store
was used for consultations. My boss
seemed to be the head ring-master of the
concern, and, though his store was a
small affair, l noticed that the leading
men of the city sought his guidance. He
paid little attention TO the customers-I
had most of the waiting on to do, and
nearly all day when not engaged in those
to me-singular conferences. my en-
ployer would stand in the middle of the
store thinking, thinking, thinking, while
he kept constantly rapping his front
teeth with pencil. He was troubled a
great deal with pain in his back, and
complained of an af1liction of the kidneys;
had only been with the pale
young man a few months when | was
prevailed upon to return home, and never
gave my casual employer at Adrian a
thought till within the past few days.
The other evening at the hotel l was
glancing over the advertising columns of
the Tribune, when among the bank adj
vertiscments ! noticed the name OF
jerome B. Chaifee. 1t ,jingled familarly
in my mind. Where had | seen or heard
that name before? | could not help its
running through my head. All at once
it came to me. jerome b. Challee was
the name of the young fellow | worked
for in Adrian, Mich, SO long. ago. ]
could hardly believe that my old Michi-
gan employer and the noted bank presi-
dent and United States Senator were one
then my own q had not got into business,
| happened into the First National bank
one morning and made n few inquiries
in about this style:
Anxious Inquirer-Is jerome b. Chat
fee connected with this bank?
Bank Mantle is, sir. slightly.
A. I.-When did he come to Colorado
and where from?
b. Mile came here in 1857, think
and lived previously at or near Adrian
Mich.
A. lis he of fair complsxion-ver,
: fair-and is he troubled with kidne,
complaint?
, b. Mile has an exceedingly fai
complexion and, l believe, is troubled
: somewhat with chronic disorder of tn
kidneys.
This was all that l wanted. ] wa
= and am satisfied that my quondam em
ployer of long ago was identically tn
same person who is the richest man ant
the keenest politician in Colorado. Now
is not that rather funny thing, any
| how?"
+ The reporter, somewhat weary, ad
t mitted that it was.-Denrer (COlO Irt
= baiRc.-