The morning news., 1888-10-16

FACTS AND FANCIEs WOVEN INTO
ROMANCE

VIII Quickly See.
The following is the first chapter Of Hon.
Thomas Nj. Norwood's novel, "Plutocracy,
or American White Slavery" 1t is a very
interesting chapter, and it is given entire
because it gives very fair idea Of the style
of the entire book, and besides it is interest
ing disconnected from all the other chapte s.
In his preface Mr.. Norwood says: "Ihis
fabric is a woOf of some fiction on a warp
of many facts. The warp is strong-hemp-
| Strong-to the sufferers; the wool must be
| judged by the reader. 1t was woven in tie
hours that I could snatch during long and
busy session of congress. The work was
undertal en- with the intention and aim to
do sonnet ing to point out certain political
wrongs, mercantile evils. and social follieS
and vices that are growing at rapid and
dangerous speed in our republic."
CHAPTER 1.
THE HAPPY sPECULATOR AND HIS BROKER.
In the after loon Of Friday, eayly in
| December, few years ago. Mr. GalusAa
Smiling >at in his Office, which was o5 Wal,
| street, New York, between Broad and
| William streets, waiting for his broker. Mr..
| Smiling was many times over millionaire
|
vas called a fortune, by cotton NIL g
| Lowell, Mass, and the son, under the high
| protectlYe O tariff, small wages ard increased
| olant, had added greatly to his inheri arce
| When the ~ was at the age TO receive
| thorough academic training, the father,
| grasping and avaricous, did not think he
had money en- ugh to keep his son at cl0ol ::
| and when he had become wealthy, Galus
vas too old to take regular. or even an
| irregular course. The bulk of the father,
estate WAS accumulated during the war by
contracts to supply the army with ten
| cloth, and hospitals with sheeting. Galusha
inherited three of his fathers possessio IS,
wit: s tate, his capacity for getting
| money, and his avarice.
Mr.. Smiling stood by a window, looking
| down in Wall street. The hour was three,
the hour when the gavel in the Stock Ex-
| change fails; when Fate, that sports with
men, closes her book for the day, and some
| times, IN fitful mood, closes her account
with them forever and passes them to the
rear. 1t was the hour when the
| imates of that bedlam, who have
yelled aud screamed like maniacs for
five hours of shifting fortune, rush into
New, Broad d Wall streets to transfer to
daybook and ledger the memoranda of the
days trading, and to report to SPECTATORS
the results OF their ventures.
The weather was cold and stormy The
wi set from the east and was high and
gusty.
Snow had been falling since one o'clock
and was, on a level, near six
inches deep. The wind rose and fell, now
| sweeping past with the wild, wierd whistle
which, heard by children at night, revives
the horrors of ghost stories aud tales of lost
| spirits; and now lulling into the sobbing
moan that follows the first convulsive
| screams of a soul overwhelmed by sudden
heart-rending grief.
Big flakes of snow swirled sank a little
then rose, paused, flew to the window,
| paused again, patteriug against the panes,
then rushed away through the air-the cold,
| cold air that helped to make them aud tuen
did not, would not give them support.
Now they whirl rouGd and round seeking
| in every direction for shelter and safety,
bat the cruel wind-the blast-ssemed 10 be
saying: There's no help for you-move on
| go down" They rush again and again to
the window of Mr.. Smiling and rap on 70
| glass to he let into be sheltered from the
| cold-from the cruel wind that was beating
them to the ground. into the mud, and mire.
1--WE are falling, Mr. Smiling! We are
| sinking! We try TO bear up-we try to rise.
We are pure-see how white we are. We
are children of the sky-so pure-so beauti-
| ful-but we are sinking to the earth. Save
| us-for mercy's sake, save us! If we have
no help, we must fall-yes, fall-to be trod-
den on by feet of men-coarse, vulgar,
brutal, sensual, unfeeling men. AT the first
| step upon US we will utter one crunching
| cry-and all our purity, our loveliness will
be gone forever. Then as foot after foot
| tramples upon uS-we will become hard and
then dangerous to every wayfaring man
not only, not'sinply to the first who heard
not our cry when crushed under his feet,
but, TO all who, pass, our, way:
| out Of Of -hnx- oil a
into the gutter-mixed with mud and al
uncleanneSs-and at last, be carted away
no one knows, no one cares, where"
While Mr.. Smiling sat facing the win
dow, waiting for his broker, and saw the
flakes of snow whirling-then suddenly
driven down-then rise again-then swim
i'll an eddy of the air-and fipaly siukinp
to the earth, did he think of anything else
that they were likel Did their purity
whiteness, beauty; their passing along Wal
street-(perhaps no other street in any city
on earth could have suggested such reflec
tioi-s so well as Wall, passing door after
door-window after window-buildina
after buildng-but driven on-on with nc
| pause, no rest, except for moment in at
eddy, or when trying to rise-did al
that suggest any resemblance oi
parallel in human lifel Did ht
dream, that what he was doing a
that moment could have any possible rela
| ton to any pure, whlte-SOuled, beautiful
beings! that he was Just then engaged il
driving hundreds, thousands, millions OF
pure, beautiful girls into the street TO beg
for work, driving them from door to door,
window to window, building to building
driving them on as they pause; beating
them downtown TO the earth, down il
the street, down on the pavement to bt
trodden on by brutal men until they are
disfgured in soul, hardened in sin, slippery
and augerous-imperilinG the character
the safety and the life Of every one who
goes their way!
Did he think, or reflect, that every million
dollars gathered without labor aud by the
turn Of the dice, makes a hundred families
poor-installs Hunger in their homes-a hicl
in time drives them out--ejects them like a
heartless landlord; turns pure girls on the
street, begging first for work, then foi
bread, then for shelter, then falling TO b,
trampled on, then to be shoveed out ant
carted away TO the Potter's Fieldf
What! Mr.. Smiling have such thoughts
Why should he! lie was never hungry
He needed no raven TO bring him food Hi
cruise was always full of oil. There was nc
need Of any invisible hand-(by some called
Special Providence) to keep mis- barrel re
furnished with meal every day. He was
millionaire many times over, vet was ht
content. IL 30, why was he waiting for the
! brokerl lie had been playing with dice
far more, with loaded dice; not with ivory
| cubes loaded with lead, but with millions
for p,arpius with which ha could sit dow,