Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-05-29
WASHINGTON LETTER,
The Story Of the Light Fingered I.sy,s
and Its lndisputabls Moral,
With a DEPRESSION on Wall Street WAYS
and Tariff Methods.
Special Correspondence Of The cs,.,,o

Special Correspondence of the o;aze,,a
WASHINGTON, May 24.--It is a little
curious that everybody in Washing.
ton, full as the city is of nice. civi,.ser.
vice reform graduates Of Eastern col.
leges, did not know that Lewis means
Tight" and that the word had refer.
ence to the fingers OF the elegant zen.
tleman who conducted the Wall street
gambling agency on + street in this
city. Every dude and clerk must
have known that sooner or later
Lewis would light out,n aud all must
have known as we'll that it would then
be necessary for them 10 keep shady. ~
The inimitable scoundrel must have
plucked one-third of the government
clerks in the capital. The result ia
is that Senator Pendleton, who has the
clerks specially in his charge.
Is coddiing, an amendment to
MS civil service code
prohibiting outright any dabbling in
stocks and futures, as we'll as in lot
terry tickets, by department clerks.
The all seeing, all-pervading govern.
ment must guard tile morals and
watch the personal conduct Of its en-
ployes.
HOW HE RoPED THEM IN.
Lewis induced his victims to believe
that he was in close confidential COM
munication with one John Brown"
the secretary of the Standard
OIL company, and it was
the shadowy soul of this John Brown
that captivated these innocent clerks
and the dudes and "young men about
town" and the blessed women as
well, of this imperial capital.
IT is A SAD STORY.
L cannot alleviate the woes of
the victims of Lewis. must
tell the story as it is. The moral is
pitiful. Two weeks ago, drug
gist, an excellent gentleman,
pointing down L street towards an
office crowded with clerks, men and
and women, asked, "Why don't YOU
go over aud invest? IL is said to be a
dead sure thing. Lewis, the broker,
is in with the oil ring, and always
knows which way the cat is going to
jump. He will take your money and
| y ou %--soV ob CNcll flV, CssCti
month. My young man there has $50
in Lewis hands, and has been drawing
at this rate for two months on his in
vested capital"
Let us wait and see whether Lewis
suffers the youth to get back the
whole $50, and then we may know
whether he is in partnership with
John Brown the oleaginous,
and whether he may not be robbing
those who think they are robbing
somebody, through John Brown, in
Wall street. If John Brown
betrays his employers in New York
and in Cleveland, fear greatly that
he might be induced to betray us
There is knavery somewhere, or thi.
fellow could not pay such enormous
profits to his depositors. Somebody i.
being robbed"
Such was the conversation substan
tally, and such the opinions of the
honest, straightforward druggist.
THE DRUGGIST AGAIN.
Lewis "levanted." as the dispa'cbe
told, some days ago. Thu
morning l again encountered IN.
friend, whose notions are medicatet
with strong tincture of downright
honesty which goes clean through
him. He was standing in his door
way. He pointed to the closed door
of Lewis bank and said, "You hav'
heard of the common trick of the los
pocket-book.' A plainly and poorl.
clad thief walks beside you. III
jostles you. He stOops, picks up al
old pocket book. He opens it, ant
YOU see it filled with fresh new bills
He tells you he knows it is yours. III
saw it fall from your pocket; bu
thinks (moGestly and virtuously) yo
ought to pay him at least s. for lindini
and returning it 10 you. You ar
bribed to lie; you pay the rascal IS an,
take the old pocket book to find that
is not worth, with its contents
ten cents. You are properly swindled
You keep your mouth shut. Nobod.
ever hears how you have been the dup
of your exaggerated love OF gain. ;,
"Levis is the thief who found tn
well.filled pocket-book. His victim
are the GOOD fellows who paid him nv
dollars each for its fictitiou
contents. Each thought he was gel
ting somebody's money without pay
: ing for it, and don't see in what the
, are better or worse than Lewis. III
served them right, and they shout
keeps their mouths, rs they VIII here
after their pockets, shut
/ present the druggists view OF III
8 moral und financial condition OF ID
capital in its relations to WAL stree
There is sorrow and silence in many
t household, whose master, IN pickin
: up somebody else's pocket-hook, Ion
3 the contents of his own. The lesso
I TAUGHT nv "I,evisn should not |
0 "ljghtlyn considered. He Will l
q deemed public benefactor. He tel
d us that honesty conducts the best po,
:, lev shop; that ina
8 rect contriyances for money-makin
!. naturally and necessarily breeu a.
u honesty; even that money-makins, :
It sheer force of law, taking from one ~,
g give to another, is not Gods law. ~
d wool.grower has no right, through y
Il Intervention of congress, anon
o Lewis in this behalf, to demand "
n on every $40 produced by The toll
n wheat and cotton growers that he mt
d ha enriched at their cost. the custol
>. bonsa ia Lewis policy shop, robbiI
IS Peter to pay Paul, finally CORFU
s. ing everybody. and in no ~ Se,,e
J. beneficiaries of the tariii 70 pstie
n that they have the moral Ilghs s, ~
, enriched at the cost OF .hose ssup
l. enough to pe plundered by cunhi'
es indirect methods OF taxation.
u THE HIGH COURTS.