Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-01-21

his ingenious Tlaraphernail3s ne lelt hSndlneI
in the presence Of these pathetic realities, and
turned to 60 back, but his great boots creaked
incautiously. Only two or three looked
around, a poor man more or less does not
count for much with the poor or with the
rich. Two or three grave, worn faces, two
or three pairs of tired, hopeless eyes rebuked
him unconsciously for the idle freak that
brought him there What right had he there,
who came ont of curiosity to watch the I'M
healthy symptoms of the disease called pow
ertyi What an insult 10 their bitter needs
were his mock trimmings, il which he came
Ike one masquerading among a graveyard
full of ghosts!
Hold on, friend, ye needn't 60" and
long whiskered man beckoned to him.
He found his way to a seat with hang
dog air. the best piece of acting he had done
vet. The same stolid look was ON this mans
face, bleached to a settled paleness from the
confinement of years in the walls of the mills,
and there was bitterness about the mouth
and nostrils as if he had not kissed the rod
that smote him.
''No call to be shamed, young man. | sup
pose them's the best clothes you got Your
heart may be just as white as if you had
better livin'."
The poor don't talk except when they have
something to say. So Philip said nothing, to
act in character.
II suppose you think you're pretty hard
up" resumed the big whiskered man, who
was no other than Graves, the man who had
peered into his companions parlor window
only an hour ago. And he glanced signifi-
cantly at Philips boots and soiled panta-
looms.
"Jest look at that little chap over yonder,
all bowed up. He don't look very hearty,
does hea Up to his house there's a wife all
faded and broken, and two little cripples for
children, q whinin' and n screechin from
mornin' tonight He would chop his head
off to help them, but he is slow and weak,
and don't git but ninety cents day, and he
can't save them babies single ache, nor ease
their poor misshapen little bones one twinge
1t takes every penny to keep the wretchef
breath in 'em all, and him and his wife, opss
as purity gal as ever you seen, has only 10
stand and see 'em cry. They used TO cry
themselves, too, but that was long ago.
Graves looked about him. $40 you see
that leap faced man with the hurt arm, at
the end of the seat ye're ong Well, he's got
the smartest little boy in town. All he
wanted was schoolin', and his father and
mother saved and scrimped so he could have
it. You oughter seen how proud they was to
see their lad struttin' Off to school while they
kept a thinlzin' of him all day long in the
mill. And they was never too tired to hear
the boy tell them over the hard names
| he had learned. And then they would
tell the neighbors, who sometimes got
| jealous, how they was savin' every
cent and how their boy was goin' to col
lege like old Breton's son. But there was no
call for the neighbors to be jealous; the
woman went to work one day when she was
SICK and caught her death o. cold and it took
a mint of money to nuss and then bury her.
Then the man fell and got hurt and the little
boy cried enough to break your heart when
they took his books away" The face Of the
| long whiskered man softened an instant, but
he turned his head away.
"He needn't a CRIED" he said gruffly;' al
| don't know as he was any better than the
| rest of u.s."
Now there came little connection on the
| platform.
A man who sat head and shoulders above
the group on the platform rose to his full
height like young giant and came forward.
He looked down into the upturned faces for
a moment in silence, and Philip felt his
steel blue eyes piercing him like a sword
"Men," he began. Then he stopped speak
| ing a moment eyes, men you are, in spite
| of all the degradation the rich and the pow
| erful can put upon you. The time is coming
when the principles of equality Wanted on
| the pages OF so many lying constitutions, and
breathed on the lips of so many false tongued
| demagogues, shall be fully realized The
| tine is coming when the work shall not be on
| ohe side and the reward on che other. We
| thall not always wear rags as the livery of
| our masters. Not always shall the poor rise
| early and toll late, wear their skin till it be
shriveled like parchment, and their bodies till
| they be ready to drop into the grave for
| WEAKNESS, only to pluck the fruit Of Gods
| bountiful earth for the lips Of the idle and the
| proud to taste. The gracious favors of ten
| thousand smiling hills and valleys are gath
! cred only for the few, and those whose AFRO
| gance and hardness of heart have least de-
served them. And they tell us it must be so;
| that the few who are more capable and pru-
dent should thus be rewarded for their
! superiority. They point to six thousand
years oppression of the poor, and say
| what has been must be- Yes, for six
| thousand years the groans Of the poor have
| gone up and as long the few, for whom alone
| all the beauty and bounty of the great earth
seemed to blossom, have answered with
curses and contempt" Now his magnificent
| chest seemed to expand; his voice lost its pa
thetic tone and rang out like a trumpet.
'But the knowledge they have given to
make us better slaves is bursting our letters
before their frightened eyes The astonished
people see at last the black and monstrous in
| justice of their subsection. They have num-
| bered their hosts, as countless as the sands Of
the sea. 1t is the strength of their arms has
| girdled the earth with unceasing streams of
wealth 1t is the ingenuity of their brains
has harnessed each Of the untamed forces Of
nature to service. The infinite number OF
their cunning fingers has woven the fabrics
| to clothe Christendom, and their red blood
| poured out on a thousand battlefields has
bought vain triumphs for the pride of their
| masters
| His lips suddenly curled in majestic scorn.
"And how long win your patient, calloused