The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-26

A Benevolent Gentleman Who Tried to Aid
in the Development OF the South.

A Benevolent Gentleman Who Tried to Aid
in the Development OF the South.
/ Atlanta Constitution.
If there was ever man who was all dazzle and
dash, with bewildering afauence Of glare, that
man was Captain Bitter. When the gallant
Captain bore down upon Atlanta in the earlier
reconstruction days, everybody stood aside to
give him elbow-room. Bitter suddenly bobbed
up at my desk one morning and introduced him
self as retired army officer from Pennsylvania,
who had decided to settle here, invest his cap
ital and grow up with the place.
Here are a few testimonials" he said with
grand air.
glanced at the documents They weighed
about five pounds Bitter spread them out on
my desk, and l saw letters from clergymen,
| teachers, editors, Governors, congressman, gen.
| erals, capitalists and the Lord knows who. 1t
was the most astonishing array of recommends
| tons and letters of introduction that any one
| man was ever burdened with. Then I took a
| look at the Captain He was small man, of
stylish bearing, faultlessy dressed, and the indie
scrlbable glitter In his black eyes, and the sparkle
Of his diamonds impressed me. Everything
| about the man shone with lustre. His waxed
| mustache and his polished boots made my eyes
| blink with wearied feeling and several medals
| and badges on his breast gave my little sanctun
| the appearance of being involved in general
confagraton. 1t is needless to say that Bitter
| succeeded IN getting good local notice from my
| pen. He was equally fortunate at the other
| newspaper Offices, and commenced his career
auspices week or two later met the Cap
| tain, and casually asked him if he had engaged
| in any enterprise
| "Oh, yes, said the shining midget "Ha, ha!
| Got good thing on foot already"
l ventured to ask the nature of it.
We'll, it is this said the Captain; Il have
| circulated among the colored citizens, and /
| have organized about a thousand of them into
| the Holy Brotherhood of the Republic"
BEG your pardon" L said in my mystification,
| but l can't see what that has to do with bust
ness. and investing your capital and all that"
You don'tW replied the Bitter, with CHEEKY
laugh. why here's the point There are
millions of acres of good public lands in the
South. am going to petition Congress to par
| tition out these lands among the members of the
| Holy Brotherhood.
We'll, what good will that do!'
| Bitter looked disgusted. He had no patience
| with my obtuseness
81 will tell you this much, he said; the mem
| bers pay me So head for initiation, and then
| shall levy assessments on them when the proper
| occasions arise"
But, sir"
! TITS all right" continued Bitter rapidly. II
have almost unlimited influence at Washington.
| You saw my testimonials you know. And even
| If fail TO secure anything for the brotherhood
| the money paid into my hands will be applied to
| carrying out this grand object"
| Without reply walked off. The mask had
fallen. My enterprising immigrant, my capital
| ist, my developer was only common CARPET
|
est, meanest grade. Some months later my at
tention was called one night to an internal hula
| balo on the street. l looked out and saw, it
| seemed to me, the entire population of Congo
| parading through the town with bands of music,
| torches, transparencies and banners bear
| ing the device, ''Holy Brotherhood of the
| Republic" Prominent all along the line, now
| heading the procession, now Strengthening the
| ranks, and again charging the rear to drive the
| tagging members into place. was dashing rider
| wearing plumed hat and medals decorations
| and rosettes without number. He wore Grim
| son sash and fourished bright sword. It need
| ed but glance to see that it was Bitter, tho
| grand master of the Holy Brotherhood" A
| few inquiries rewarded me with the informa-
ton that Bitter had found it necessary to allay
some growing dissatisfaction in mis- party by get
ting up grand torchlight procession. This in
volved levy of dollar head, but it was cheer
| fully paid and the grand master regained his
popularity, filling his pockets at the same time
| How much Bitter made out of the brother
! hood never heard, but it was several thou
| sand dollars. When things began to wayer he
| resigned and got out of the society with flying
coors. 1t went to pieces after that, and the ma
| lority Of the members firmly believed that they
failed because their old leader found it necessa-
| ry to leave them. About year after meeting
this spectacular fraud, an old negro preacher
came to me one Cay. and laying down printed
| card, said:
BOSS, is dis any goodF'
The card contained table of mortality. 1t
was such an affair as is used by many life insur-
ance agents.
mo good in the world" replied; 'why9"
Den l frows up de job" said the old darby.
! dat Capen Bitter, he done got me an dozen
folks after dollar apiece an we gifts 10 per cent.
| fur selin' dem,"
Its a swindle" said, "and you'll get into
| jail the first thing you know"
| 'Tanky, Marse Boss" said the victim of mis-
placed confidence, Else done done wild de bust
| ness.o
There were so many other rascally carpet
haggers, just at this time, stealing land by
| the square mile, stealing railroads, stealing
public Offices, and whiriing every mate
rial thing of value out of sight in perfect
! cyclone OF spoiiation, that Bitter did not come
! IN for his full share of exposure and denuncia-
ton. But his time came at last. He entered
| politics and became candidate for Office.
| Then the press ventilated him He WAS showed
| under by such Alpine avalanches of snowy
ballots that we lest sight of him altogether Not
village where the people retained the aggressive
freshness oftheir Puritan grandfathers. They
| were all good people. inhumanly moral, and
| sternly determined to enjoy their own rights, at
| the same time preventing everybody else from
| doing the same. As wore slor!ch hat and a
| long tailed coat. and received daily mail from
the South, these people looked upon me as a
monster. The novelty of the thing pleased me,
and aired my opinions freely
1--WE may be mistaken" said the oldest inhabi-
| tant to me one day, but our pastor knows the
South we'll as you de- He had his property
destroyed by mob because he Repub-
lican. and he narrowly escaped with his life. The
| recital OF his wrongs has produced a lasting i'm
preston upon our people. You should hear him
preach, and by the way, there he is now, the
short man across the street. going into the post
/ Office"
looked. I rubbed my eyes. There could be
no mistake, In that sleek parson, with the ro-
tund paunch, with the glittering eyes, the white
choker. the shining boots and the subdued gen
eral simmer Tightening up the clerical garb, I
recognized the man. 1t WAS my carpet Dagger,
Bitter!
EsazxszEr.zazzx...xasssszzzmzz~e
EXPOSURE will induce colds, throat diseases,