The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-12-21

asked him his name and he said II was
George, Being asked what bis llastt
name was he said that was his last
"But you must have another name"
urged lhetsaCher, sis it George smith,
or George Johnson, or George WhatY
"Nope" he said, shortly. ""Taint
George What, nor George Nothin' It's
George. halA't got no oder name,"'
But the Joke came when the teacher,
wishing to know whether he had learned
anything at all, asked him, "Do you
know who made your"
At the same instant a boy behind him
stuck q pin into George. Such tricks
were very common among the little saw
ages, butt did not hurt any the less be-
cause 1t was not unusual. George
Jumped from his seat and shouted at the
top Of his voice, "Goddlemltey,"
hWell, that's right" said the teacher,
who had not noticed the trick. but
don't shout so." The story was told
afterwards, with engagements, until II
became q chestnut" many years ago.
II was a long time-many months
before the teachers could learn much
about the boy, for he was d%lstrpsttnl 70
the last degree, He kicked the Rev.
Mr., Van Meter"on the shins very Vlo-
lently, and twisted himself away like an
eel when that gentleman, according TO
his habit, laid hands afIeCtionately on
the boys shoulder. George thought he
was going To be beaten, and took his
usual p~reCautiOn OF eluding the prelimi'
nary hold. He had, 1t seemed, never
known what 1t was to have anybody
take hold Of him In kindness, and was
no more TO be handled than a young
bird or a squirrel, There was hardly
anything, III fact, that he did not know,
as the good mission people reckoned
knowledge. He knew how 10 swear
iluently, as his accidentally correct an
sWera to his Maker indicated, but he
did not know, and 1t was q long time be-
fore he could be made TO understand,
that swearing was wrong. In TACT, ne
did not know what wrong was. So far
as his experience OF life went, every
body did precisely what seemed at the
moment desirable to do, unless pre-
vented by superior physical force, or by
bodily fear. Stealing was to him q per-
feCtly legitimate mode Of acquiring any.
thing that he might happen TO want, and
the only reason why it should be done
secretly was that too much ostentatton
about the act was apt to provoke inter
ference on the part OF the owner, who
might and probably would want the artl'
clio himself. Lying was simply the east.
eat way OF Concealing anything that he
did not care TO reveal, and the only
inkllng he had oithe Objectionable char
aCter OF the act was that anybody to
whom he told a lie would beat him
sayagely II he did not lie ~Cleverly enough
TO escape detection. AS to the Sabbath,
the first knowledge he had OF the differ.
ence between one day and another came
from his noticing that once In q while
these people who had whole clothes on
and who spoke gently came into the
neighborhood and opened the little mis-
sion room and tried TO get the children
to 90 into 1t,
George was among those who were
Coaxed III with much difficulty, but after
going once no went regularly. The
room was clean and pleasant, and as the
autumn days came on there was q stove
put in and a fire made 1t warm. That
wasa novelty to him-being allowed to
sit undisturbed in u warm room. The
story the good teacher obtained from
him after winning his confidence was
appalling by It's very absence Of detail;
but 1t was only one OF many like stories,
and she could do very little 70 alleviate
the misery that was all around her.
George lived with q woman whom he
had been taught to call Aunt Sally.
Whether she was his aunt, who his
mother and father was, whether they
were alive, or whether, indeed, no had
ever had q mother or father, were mat.
tiers concerning which he absolutely
knew nothing, even by hearsay. Aunt
Sally wa negatively good to him, 1t ap.
peafed. She did not beat him, except.
ing when she was drunk, which was,
however, much Of the time. She let him
sleep in her room, and when she had
food she gave him some. When she was
drinking heavily she did not bother
about eating, and George had learned, as
young as he was, to keep away from her,
and get his food for himself. How or
when he got It, only Gods ravens could
have told. Such cases are not as common
in New York as they were twenty-five or
thirty years ago, but they are found now
and again, even in these days. Who
Aunt Sally was, or why she took any In.
terest whatever In him, lie knew, moth
ing about. She was a fact, and her In.
terest, faint though 1t was, was q fact,
aud ho had not come to the age Of rea.
sonlng about facts. He only recognized
Cue day-and It CHANGED to be Christ
mas eve-a lady and gentleman APP
peared In the little room as visitors.
They had read Of the mission work, the
gentleman explained, and had come
from their homes in a nearby city to
SEQ 1t, andt 10 give what little help was
In their power. There was a story back
OF II, but this story was not told Till al.
terward. Their name was not Harrison,
50 l may call them that.