The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-08


member of the staff of parliamentary reporters
OF the London Times at one time, and had been
forced to abandon every position he ever held by
reason of his utter inability to keep sober
Since coming to this country he had been con-
nected with papers in Boston, New York, Chi
| cage, Louisville. st. Louis and Cincinnati every
one Of which had discharged him. He was the
best stenographer l have ever met, and the
superintendent said that he was the best secre-
tary he had ever had I have never heard of
him since.
THE other one of this trio of Bohemians bore
name known all over the country, his uncle hav-
ing been the Governor of an Eastern State, and
candidate for the nomination for President be-
fore recent convention. / was the city editor
or another paper at the time | met this man,
and our introduction did not differ materially
from those of the foregoing cases. He was
dirty, ragged and dilapidated, as were the 9TH
ers, but he was not less gifted than they wera.
lie, too, showed every evidence of having been
ON protracted spree, and was then suffering for
the lack Of stimulants with which to taper off
on He very frankly stated his con-
dltlon and wanted something to do. He
had roll of manuscript with him which he
asked me to consider. but did not want to be
bothered, and told him was too busy to look at
1T Not to be put off in that way. however, he
lett the manuscript with the suggestion that
examine 1t at my leisure. After it had laid on
my desk unnoticed for two or three days,
picked 1t up one night, in leisure moment, and
reao It. 1t was series of brief sketches or
"reminiscences of men who were then dead, but
VINO mad, a few years before, been well known
characters In the State. They were very reada-
bic indeed, and I accepted them The fellow
called several times during the ensuing three or
four weeks, and contributed a number of other
similar articles, which we published, and which
were widely read. At each appearance he was
beautifully and artistically drunk. One night
messenger came to the Office from the police
station, bringing the information that a man
had been taken in by the police suffering with
an unmistakable case of tremens, and had asked
that be notified of. his presence there and his
condition He had not told his name, and / was
at loss to. know who the man could be. So
about midnight, three Or four hours later, l
walked over to the city prison The desk SER
geant said, Yes, there is a fellow here who
asked us to send up for you. He is in the sick
| room alone He had the jim jams so bad we
were afraid to put him in the cel-room with
the other prisoners He had the devils
own time of it for little while,
but has been quiet for the last two hours. Guess
he's asleep observed the sergeant as he insert
ed the key in the lock and opened the door,
which we had reached in the meantime. The
room was lighted by single gas jet, which was
burning only as taper and the blue calclmln-
ing In the walls and ceiling lent to the place
dingy pale tint that was gloomy enough The
only furniture was low iron bedstead, on which
was mattress, from several rents in which the
straw protruded. The bed clothes-a comfort
and blanket-had been torn in strips and were
the bed was the inmate of the apartment, sitting
IN reclining posture, propped up against
the walls. His hands were open and lay
palms upward at his side His SLOUGH hat was
pulled down over his eyes concealing his face,
and his chin had dropped forward upon his
breast: Hello, pard" said the sergeant to at
tract the prisoners attention; but there was no
responsive movement. "Heilo!" he repeated in
louder tone, and as he spoke he pushed the
outstretched legs with his foot, moving the body
slightly from its position. The head pitched to
one side, and the SLOUGH hat rolled off upon the
floor, disclosing view of the face it had hidden.
The eyes were wide open, fixed and staring. One
look at the CHASTITY picture presented was suffi-
dent to explain the cause of the prisoners fail
ure to heed the sergent's salutation. The man
was dead! l recognized the face in an instant,
distorted as 1t was, as that of my late contribu-
tor Hehad died, alone and unattended, from the
effects OF his debauch, and the prison officers
had mistaken the cause of his welcome silence,
doubtless thinking that the noisy prisoner had
exhausted himself with his rawlings and was only
sleeping
"A search of the pockets of the dead man re-
vealed letter recently written, sealed, stamped
and directed to gentleman in neighboring
city. The letter was opened and was found to
be addressed to the brother of the writer. A
telegram was sent Immediately to the address
found on the envelope, saying "Yeur brother
died here tonight; what shall we do with the
bodyF' which was signed by the chief Of police.
The answer received was: ''There must be some
mistake. When last heard from, my brother
was in Australia" Another telegram was sent
giving description of the dead man, and the
next evening the gentleman arrived. He imme-
diately identified the body as that of his brother,
and had the remains sent to his home in the
finest metallic casket that could be purchased.
The brother was very wealthy gentleman, who
told nae of his unfortunate brothers history,
but begged that his story might be withheld
from the public, and his request was complied
with"