The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1883-04-03
HIS PA BUSTED.
And the Bad Boy Promptly Does
His Duty.

sliVer mine, aSkeu tee OaQ DOy OF lhe
grocery man, as he came in the store
and pulled from his breast pocketa doc
umpnt printed on parchment paper. and
representing several thousand dollars
stock in q silver mine.
Lookahere," says the grocery N an,
as he turned pale, and thought OF tele
phoning to the police station for de-
tective, ''you haven't been stealing your
fathers mining stock, have you. Grea,
heavens, it has come &C last! I have
known all the time that you would turn
out to be sshnrglsr, or defaulter, cr
robber of some kind. Your father has
the reputation OF having a bonanza in a
silver mine, but if you 60 Juggling his
silver stock around be will soon he ruin
ed. Now you go right back home and
put that stock in your pas safe, like a
good bly,"
Pat it in the safe! o, no, We keep
it in box stall now in the harm Will
trade you this thousand dollars in stock
for two heads of lettuce, and get pa to
sign it over to you, il you say so. Pa
told me | could have the whole trunk
full il wanted it, and the hired girls
are using the silver stock to clean win
dows, and to kindle fires, and pa has
quit the church and says he won't be-
long to any concern that harbors biks.
Whats bilk?" said the boy, as be
opened candy jar, and took out four
sticks of hoarhound candy. a4+5
"a bilk," said the grocery man, as he
watched the boy,"is fellow that plays
a man for candy. or money, or anything,
and don't intend to return an equivalent.
You are small-sizad blk. But what's
the matter with your pa aud the church,
and what haa the silver mine stock got
to do with its' -
swell, you remember that txhorter
that was here last fall, that used to hoard
around with the church people all the
week, and talk about Z'on, and laying
up treasures where the moths wouldn't
gnaw them, and they wouldn't get rusty,
and whers thieves wouldn't pry off the
hinges. He was the one that used to 60
home with ma from prayer meetings,
when pa was down town, AMI who wan
ted to pay off the church debt in solid
silver bricks. He's the blk. / guess
if pa should get him by the neck be-
would jerk nine kinds Of revealed relig.
ion out of him. o, "a is hotter than
he was when the hornets took the lunch
off OF him When YOU strike a pious
man on his pocket-book, it hurts him.
That fellow prayed and sang like an an.
gel, and boarded around like tramp
He stopped at our house over week,
and he had specimens OF rock that were
chuck fnll OF silver and gold. and be
and pa used to sit up nights and look a,
1t. You could pick pieces of silver out
of the rock as big as bucksho,, and be
had some silver bricks that were beau.
tiful. He had been out in Colorado and
found hill full OF silver rock and he
wanted 10 form stock company and
dig out millions OF dollars. He didn't
want anybody but pious men, that be.
longed to the church, in the company
and l think that is one thing that caused
pa to unite with the church so suddenly.
know he was as wicked as could be 8
few days before be j,ined the church,
but this reyivalist, with his words abou,
the beautiful beyond, where all shall
dwell together in peace and sing praises,
and his description of that Colorado
mountain where the silver stuck out so
you could hang your hat on it. conver-
ted pa. That mans scheme was to lei
all the church people who were in good
standing, and who had plenty of money
into the company, and when the mine
begun to return dividends by the car
load. they could give largely to the
church, and pay the debts of all the
churches, and put down carpets aud fres-
co the ceiling. The man said he fell
that he bad been steered on to that sill
yer mine by a higher power, and his
idea was to work it for the glory of the
cause. He said he liked pa and would
make him vice president of the compa.
ny. Pa he hit like bass, and / guess
ne invested $4,000 in stock, and ma she
wanted to come in and she put in 81,
600 that she had laid up to buy some
diamond ear rings, and The man gave pa
a lot of stock to sell to other mem bers
of the church They are all into it, even
the minister He drew his salary ahead
and all of the deacons they come in,
and the man went back to Colorado with
about $4,000 of good, pious money!
Yesterday pa got a paper from Colora-
do giving the whole snap away. and the
pious man had been spending the N 5n-
sy in Denver, and whooping it up. Pa
suspected something was wrong two
weeks ago, when he heard that the pious
man had been on toot in Chicsgo, and
he wrote to man in Denver who used
to get full with pa years ago when they
were both on the turf, and pas friend
said the man that sold the stock was q
fraud, and that he didn't own no mine,
and that he borrowed the samples of ore
and silver bricks from pawn broker in
Denver / guess it will break pa up for
a while, though he is we'll enough fixed
With mortgages and things. But it hurts
him to be took in. He lays it all to ma.
He says il she hadn't let that exhorter
for the silver mine go home with her,
this would not have occurred, and ma
says she believes pa. was in partnership
with the man to beat her out OF her 81
600 that she was going TO buy pair OF
pious diamond ear rings with. Oh, it is
a terror over TO our house now Both
the hired girls put in all the monev they
had. and took stock. and they threaten
to sue pa for arson, and they are going
to leave to night, and ma will have to
do the work Don't you never try to
get rich quick" said the hoy. as he peel.
ed herring and took couple of crack.
ers.
"Never you mind me-" said the gro
Gerry man. "They don't catch me OF
any Of their silver mines. But / hops
this will have some influence on you
and teach you-to respect your pas feel
ings and not play any jokes on hin
while be is feeling 80 bad over his bein,
swindled."
30. don't know about that. l thin
when man is in trouble, II he has
good little boy to take his mind .frou
his troubles and get him mad at some