St. Landry democrat., 1884-02-23

neT LGdu ID a buU "a Wat6F 9uuJi1 Su0
drowned Tell me woman who does
that is entitled to the benefits of tho
nineteenth century! Why, if such peo-
pie were fairly balanced on the fence
round Heaven, they would hang with
their heads downward of choice. HUI
man tadpoles, all Of themn'
Eugene had horror OF death; ceme-
teries were his special aversion. He
was never known to attend funeral
He could not bring himself to witness
the ceremonies in The house or at the
grave He had prejudice against
burial.
s'Why can't everybody have vaults,
with nice pleasing colors on the walls
have the interior as well as the exte-
rfor ornameDted, and made so atUrac-
tive that people going into them would
feel as they do when they enter an at
tractive chamber with bed in it?'
do you mean the dead?''
s1You know well enough I refer to
visitors to the living"
Il am afraid could not help say
ing, gravely, '.you have yet to learn,
Eugene, that not all the religion, all
the learning and all the philosophy in
the world can never make death other
than death. =
'But that is no reason why every
body should make death SO horrible and
erisly. They make it CHASTITY, and in
the same breath tell you it is the way to
Heaven. The way to Heaven ought to
be beautiful. Y
Have you forgotten Pilgrims Prog
ressP''
IA piece of rank plagiarism. The
idea is thousands of years old"
.'Why do we introduce discords in
music?''
Nonsense! I'll name you thou
sand pieces famous compositions
without discord,H Eugene answered.
s'The fact is, the world doesn't believe
what it processes. =
'Why don't you advocate crema-
tion?n retorted eff your theory is
correct, burn EN- all up; burn the
whole world and carry twenty genera
tions in Watch-charm. =
A friend called upon Eugene F. and
solicited his counsel and services in a
business matter. It was responsible
trust. The friend was going abroad to
remain for years, perhaps permanently
He owned, Jointly with his sister, a
piece Of property near the great Oil
Belt. 1t might be worthless, and it
might prove very valuable. What the
friend required was honest dealing.
For himself he did not care. He had
great wealth. but his invalid sister was
entitled to all that could be realized
from her half of the land. 1t was for
Eugene F. to discover the value of the
land and to exercise his Judgment in
disposing Of it. He undertook the task
with ill-conceaIed repugnance He dis
liked travelling; had horror of I'M
aired beds and pot-luck. He went to
the oil regions in a bad humor. When
he returned, q great change was noticed
id his manner. A month had worked
wonders.
Just think of it, he said to me,
when he dropped in to shake hands in
his CHEEKY, hearty way. Il thought
about FIVE dollars an acre. At the end
of week I was offered sixteen thou
sand dollars; in another week it jumped
up to q hundred thousand, and finally
I let it 90 for four hundred thousand,
half cash, balance in three months.
1t struck us all as a surprising streak
Of luck, and everybody put it that way,
but Eugene, who was convert to the
Belt theory, held it was simply
matter of management and business ex- 4
perience and sagacity. He asserted
there was abundance of oil territory
undeyeioped, and his friends were sur
prised beyond expression when he an
nounced las resolve to demonstrate the
correctDz ss of his conclusions. He un-
dertoo14 the task of developing, and.
like .nany another who started out on
The '.Belt" theory, he ended wildcat
Eng In other words, he assumed ex-
traordinary risks His efforts were at
tended with varying success. He expe-
rienced downright bad luck. and rare
good fortune, too.
In a year--lesg time-his old friends
scarcely knew Eugene F. He was
energetic, confident, positive and de-
eisive: a very fair specimen of a thor
ough-going American business man.
His ventures proved profitable in the
main, and then, all at once, accident
filled his pockets one night when he
slept. He was the possessor OF half a
million. He was in the middle of the
current, prominent craftin the stream
that allured thousands, hoated a frac-
ton into safe harbor, and stranded the
great majority.
] seldom met Eugene now. We were
in different channels Chance brought
us face to face one day in front Of the
Era office.
"HoW are you, Ned? Had dinnerP
Come with me. want company. No
refusal now.
make it tonight, at home, and I'll
be on hand. y