Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-08-20
A PROFITABLE JOKE
a Proof -Readsr's Prank and =
Copy Holders Fortune.
Hs. a4nsfar4sFe8 Telegram SrO 1x a.
Peace o. . 500 ~ f0zk--lAa iDsseeas
gsss Iesaing 80 the Dtsc~ssry
~ /. Lss Goss F0rt@as-


lEanszs Ctr JosrnALl
stors wblcl rsAds I A. . .szend from
CO atagaa. and in tie dsao1smeat OF
Which a poor eopyholdsr aad proof-rs4dsr
of ths Kansas City Tagaes iuherits = vast
forsaae. has lasI coal g. nghG The per
son "a whom the fstes have tnus oenig guiy
sm let > Richard l. Shaaks well knO~D
as resident Of Jackson Couafy sad
kn9~n % ns~spaler tueu as - former
eopyhoider aud proof reader " he Kan
sas City Tistss Nhen the nrst men ate
II the earth aud found Il del. ciousiy sweet
they could not have boen more enraptured
With llfs aud ths charms 0f the earth than
Was '0ld Dick ShAnks" tue boys
famlljariy called him when he recently
found th az q vast fortune awaited him in
Kenfuf ky. Had nymph from fairy land
conferred on b IA her sylvan wealth, or
hal same fablei hat 4 Fortunatus been
placed upon bis head. so that every wish
would at once be fulfilled, the long-lost
heir would not have been more surprised,
for the knowled q Of his wealth came TO
him from joke perp-trated by proof
reader during the sultry nights Of last
summer
One hot night last July. when the bur-
den OF pr0Of-reading in a close room
seemed almost uffocatiug, when the hot
air OF blazing gas-buraers snt the sitting
fumes from hty jets over typos cases
seemed beyond human endurance, Dick
Shanks might have leen seen working as
only night hends mornings papers can
work gazing in emily az the agate and
nOnparell takes, deciphering bad manu-
script, and laboriously contributing his
share 70 make morning paper with
fevered brow and tired eyes the copy
holder toiled on through the busy rush o,
heavy" night, gazing through his spec.
tacles 10 catch a turned 30" or "a wrong
font "s" Abou, $3.50 O'Clock in the
morning there was slack in the run OF
copy, and while Shanks and his fellow
workmen were waiting for other proofs,
he began 10 tell how nght-work
was wearing on him, how he could not
sleep through the hot days, and yet how
dependent he was upon his small salary
for a livelihood! He longed 10 leave the
desk, and told how he had lost fortune
I'm the war and now had 70 work like
slave; that he was poor and discouraged
with his condition. and he did not care
how soon the good angel called him to
another world 4 few minutes later than
this the prOOf-reader, who sat bes ide him,
came 10 a little telegraph take" which
sa a something about vast fortune in
Kentucky. Thinking that he could havea
little fun by inserting his companions
name in tho dispatch, the proof-reader
added in "A few lines on the manifold pa
r.r Of the al snatch tha4a xyDrd--
''The only known heir OF this Kentucky
Shanks is r. l. Shanks lame man and a
proof reader, supposed 70 be working like
a slave on the Times.
The old copy holder read it and laugh
ingly put il in his vest pocket, where IL re-
manned for many months OF course no
one ever dreamed that there was word
OF truth in the silly prank OF n leisure
hour, but il has now come TO light that
every word of that manufactured telegram
Is true. Mrs. Shauks one day found the
telegram in her husbands vest pocket, and
asked what IL meant. Just for fun be said
il was a true telegram which he had re-
ceved. She told a sister lin law. and this
sister -in-law wrote to Stanford, Lincoln
County, Ky, 10 know IL it was so. The
answer came that there was "A fortune
there for the heirs of David l.. Shanks,
formerly of Virginia; that he had at one
time owned number of shares in turn
o ke road. He died in 1911. and the an
nual dividends had accumul ated AMI been
in tue public treasury ever since. and that
the heirs could not be found. When Dick
ShaukS saw that letter ia knew that his
father. who did just before ck was born,
was the former owner Of those shares, for
his name was David L.. and be came from
Virginia The story IS a large one, but 1t
is enough 20 say that subsequent COM
nun cation with the State Trea surer and
county officials has placed Dick Shanks'
identity without a doubt as the heir of
three ffths of the entire fund, which has
been accumulating for over forty years.
The case IL In the hands Of Mr.. c. J.
Bower, OF this city. ani Dick will soon
have his money. The toll-road is twenty
miles long. running from Danville TO STAN
ford, KY. The long-lost heir il to-day the
happiest man IN Kansas City. and al
though the exact amount OF the estate IL
not known, II IL very large, as stated in
the orig Zinal telegram from which the Joke
originated. Thus did one inn 7cent prank
cad 70 poor mans happiness and the
discovery OF lon lost fortune.