The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-01-19
HOW HE BEGAN.

speaking o. Opic =. keaa recaus storg
he told affer his hopeless efforts In the IN
congenial atmosphere Of Cleveland. He sat
In Bank street restaurant taking farewell
meal. Speaking 20 a newspaper man whom
he imagined had suffered less vicissitudes
than himself, he said, Never throw away
anything you write. fits good, you will al
ways find some one wise enough, II it's bad.
yoa vii. always End some cne fool enough. 20
pay you for il. Keep your eyes open, and let
even your misfortunes furnish you saleable
material.
sOnce," ne continued, when l was at the
case, went on tramp from Louisville to-
ward Memphis. had no more reason to 20
than cat has TO chase its tail, but went
| The weather turned bad took a lodging in
little Tennessee Jail. ! wasn't proud. |
| begged some paper from the sheriff, wrote a
realistic description of my experience on the
| tramp, sent II TO the New York Ledger
boarded on my expectations and cheek for
| ten days, and received in return check for
SIS. "-Clezeiasd Sentinel.
There are times, though perhaps not
often, when a Straightforward attempt at
truth will serve quite as well as the most
determined wobble in the opposite di-
rection. The weary man in question,
thanks to an uprightness Of purpose and
excellent locomotion, was never in Jail.
He has attended festivals and borrowed
money to pay blooming young ladies for
less blooming flowers, but he was never
in jail only, to catch the few last words
of condemned wretch, or to ask some
friend, recently removed from society,
why he stole the horse. The Sentinel
man must learn to pick the few grains of
fact from bushel of chaff. The story
which the above quoted writer no doubt
honestly attempted to relate, was that of
young man who strolled from Nash
vile in the direction Of Memphis. Only
few invitations to dinner were extended
to him, and one night, while lying in a
police court room at Milan, Tenn, he
accidentally found piece Of candle.
Then he went around the dark room
feeling for match. Strangely enough
he found one. He wrote an article on
the leaves Of an old note book, borrowed
stamp next morning, and sent the
tangled network of hungry thought to a
New York paper, requesting, in case the
article was accepted, that check be inn
mediately forwarded to some town far
ahead, which he would reach in due
time. Arriving at the town, after walk Of
more exertion than pleasure, he called at
the postoffice and asked: Amy letters
here for me!' The postmaster regarded
him for a moment and replied: Il don't
know" Please look" Again he re-
carried the inquirer. What do you take
me for" "A postmaster replied the
anxious young man. Glad to know it.
Thought you took me for fool" " EN-
cuse me. supposed that as this is a
postoffice letters sometimes come here.
Kind of dead letter Office, presume"
Come here, Nath," turning to a red
headed fellow who stood back shor,
distance, stuffing egg and mashed potato
into the widely CAPPED mouth of young
mocking- Come here and look a,
this fellow" whats the matter with
him - asked the young fellow, approach
ing. Why, he wants to know il there
are any letters for him, but won't tell his
name" The name was m obesity given,
and after looking over lot of letters in
manner of such unconcern that the
wayfaring man. though a fool, almost
cried aloud in evaporation, the post.
master threw off letter as though il
were an everyday occurrence. The
wanderer seized it with an eagerness
which an empty system knows how to
prompt. Eight dollars. All, the earth
he'd not entirely ceased to revolve. Soon
afterwards rude pine table in catfish
restaurant looked as though hungry
bear had raked his paw across it. This
Is the true story. Let not history be per-
verted. Let the record be carefully made,
for in after yexrs, when the literary ICON
oclast attempts to pull down the hard
earned regulations Of to-day, some fel-
low may attempt to prove that the road
side loiterer now under discussion did
not eat anything. 1t may not be out OF
place to state that the young religionist
did not 60 into the police cour, on COM
pulsion, but that he was kindly invited
by a war-scarred veteran to come in and
sleep, perchanee to dream OF turkey and
roast pig eaten in childhood's feathery-
winged hours.