Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-12-25
THE TRUTH AT ALE HAZARDS

| THE TRUTH AT ALL HAZARDS
The Boy who Testified to the Truth il
| Spite of His Seeming Self-Interest.
Some time after the beginning of TIN
| present century there were living in
busy country town in the North piou
couple who had an only son. For thi
son they daily prayed to God. So tn
foundations of an upright life were lait
in the boys heart, and among thes
very especially regard for uprightnes
and truth
In the course of years, the boy
school-days We're ended. and also hi
apprenticeship to business life in thu
country town; and, as there was n,
T prospect for him there, he came up Il
England, to- ONE of the great seaports
and by-and- by he got good position il
| a merchants, office.
| But he was not long in this excellen
place before he was put to the test in
very painful way with respect to the
/ lessons he had received about truth. /
was part of the business of that Office
to have ships, coming and going. And
port, that its, Captain sent word to the
office that he. had arrived and was now
waiting instructions where to discharge
the cargo; and it was the duty of the
manager of the office, to, send back in.
structions, to, the Captain where and
when this. was to, be done. A few
months after this little lad from the
North came to,the Office, al ship laden
81 nd
sage from the Captain Games but, some
how or other, no answer was sent back
to him. The Captain waited week,
/ but still no word came. back. Now,
that was very hard ON the Captain.
I Until his ship got free. of it's cargo, it
had to lie idle in the Dock: and all who
So, at the end Of al week, the Captain
sent word to the office that his ship had
been kept so long waiting for instruc-
tons where to,discharge its cargo that
it had missed a good offer of a new car
go,, and the Office would have to pay
him for the loss This payment is
called s'demurrage.
When the manager of the office got
this message from. the Captain, he was
very angry He sent for the. little lad
HUN tIiC NOI Ill anu Sstlu III DlA LII
send you down to Captain Smith with
instructions to discharge bis coalsp"
The little lad said: mo, sir; do not
remember being.sent down.
s'Oh, but / did, answered the mana
ger. .'You have forgotten" And there
for a time, so far as the office was con-
But the Captain did not intend to let
it rest there. He applied for his de-
murrage. And when that was refused,
he took the master of the Office to law.
And, by-and-by, hisacomplaint came be-
fore the Judges in the court of law.
The day before the trial. the manager
came to the little lad from the North
and said, to him: Minds I sent you to
charge the ,coaE;'
..But, / assure YOU; Team not rcmem-
Der your doing so,' said the lad.
'.Oh, yes, but. L did. You have for
gotten
1t wassa great trouble, to- the lad. He
had never been sent to the dock. He
could not Say he had BEEN sent and he
foresaw that he would. have to say be-
fore the Judges what would certainly
offend the manager, and lead to the loss
of his excellent place.
On the morning of the trial, he went
to the court. The manager came up,
and the poor lad tried once more to as
sure him that he was mistaken, but he
would; not listen..
.It is all right. he said hastily. 81
sent YOU on such day, and you have
got to bear witness that did-and see
you say it clearly!'"
Iiffla uybilo. 0a11oI into
the witness-box,, and almost the first
question put to, him WAS whether he re-
membered the. day when Captain
Smith ship came, i'm And then this:
You remember during that day being
sent BY the manager of the Office to the
dock with a. letter to the Captain?"
.tNo, SIR
don't you remember taking instruc-
tons 10 Captain Smith to discharge his
coals?''
NO, sir:''
4sWere you not sent by the manager
OF your. office to the coal ship on that
dayg''
II WAS not. sir -
@Nor next daya'
tNoA''
Nor any other day?"
.sNoss'
The gentleman who put the questions
was harrister. He had been engaged
by the manager to win the case for
them. But when he heard the little
lads replies, he turned to the judge.
and said: .sMy lord, I give up this
case. My instructions were that this
witness woul5 prove that message to,
discharge haz been sent to Captain
Smith, and il is plain no such proof. is.
to be got from him.
So the case ended in the Captains
favor and against the office in which
the little lad had found SO excellent q
place.
He went to mis- lodgings with q sor-
rowful heart and wrote to his father
and mother that he was sure to be dis
missed. Then he packed his trunk TO
be ready to go home next day; and In
the morning, expecting nothing but his
dismissal, he went early to the office.
The first TO come in after him was the
master. He stopped for moment at
the little lads desk, and said: I'VE
lost oar case yesterday. =
fes. sir, answered the lad; land
/ nm very sorry l had to say what T
did
By-and-by the manager came in; and,
after little time, he was sent for to the
masters room. It was long while