The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-29
A Bitter Misanthrone.

Burdette, an the Brooklyn Ea0Le.
People who have met me on the train say that
am OF all men most morose. unsociabls and
unaccommodating; that / never offer to omen
the window for any one, never close the door
after the brakeman has gone out and taken the
end or the car and a crashing noise with him.
wish to monopolize four sittings with a trip mass
and scalper ticket; never, in short, offer any
OF those little attentions of my fellow travellers
which the fresh young man and the simple old
one are SO ready and glad to extend plead
guilty. never do. | will do ANYTHING T am
asked to do, if have time, and feel lust like il
and there seems to be no good reason WHY
snoulon ., put won volunteer 10 do anything
on the train. used to-some. lam older now
and know SO much less than formerly that both
my nefghbors OF the road and myself get alone
much more comfortably Years and years ago
one day picked up a shawl which fell from a
lady's lap into the aisle of the car As picked
1t up sucn miscellaneous assortment of arti-
cles, mostly of an edible nature fell out of that
shawl that was paralyzed W 18th amazement,
and nothing but the lurid language of the
owner brought about the reaction that was
necessary to save my life. For the largest fee
ever was paid never afforded a car full of
people so much amusement as did for nothing
by that little act of kindness. With the excenn
ton of the lady whose lunch basket the shawl
was, and myself. think everybody in the car
O %fs dars all ana the passengers in the
smoker to >. the sleepers, hearing
the sounds of mirth, came into our car and
asked about it. And the people who had the
loudest and cearest voices told the incident re-
ferrlng to me as that man, " or, to avoid tau
tology, as the st Try had to be repeated MANY
times in the course of 145 miles, that fellow :,
or That chap" or that man settin' there. -
sawed wood very conscientiouSly for a long
time after that, but on another evil day enter
tanned another travelling audience by tugginp
at a car window which had never been oDened
since the car was built. / wore porous nj aster
on the plinth of my spinal column for Couple
of weeks, and reformed again. burned the Old
resolutions on the tablets of memory. and en-
graved them with pen of iron on my heart. 7
also made up my mind that would endeavor
to remember them.
Well, a week or two since l was thunderiny
along through the miles OF exquisite landscape
gardening that mark the suburbs of Philadel-
phia. young gentleman sitting lust in front
of me lett the train at local station and inst
as we started again half a dozen female voicas
shrilled out upon the startled air: ~Oh,
Obi OH That-young- man as left -nis-uno hrella
Oh! He'lnever-see-it-again Call-him- onicEi
On! Throw-lt-out-to-him-do do do DO -throw-that-
young man his UMBRELLA And as thew pointed
at the young man and shrieked at me hastily
raised the window, the powers OF darkness
assisting me, yelled at the young man. hurled
the umbrella at him, like javelin, and we were
gone.
In about two minutes a young man two
stories and mansard taller than any member
of my whole family came down the aisle of
that car with a darkened brow and looked
long and earnestly into the vacant seat whence
L
mered silver bead. He looked under the seat
and then he looked into the rack Then ma
looked at me. j didn't look up, but l felt his
eyes go clear through me, as gazed fixedly
out of the window and tried hard to think Of
the form of prayer to be used for a man who
expects to spend the rest of the winter In the
hospital, Before l could remember it the
athletic looking stranger said kindly but very
firmly: II left an umbrella In this seat a few
minutes ago" For one moment the ghastliest
silence you ever heard settled down on
that car, and then those shriekiDp
women giggled as though II were light thing
10 uie when yon bad q return ticket In your
pocket that would be wasted. tried 10 tell
the stranger that the young man who was sir
ting in the seat took il with MIN, but / thought
had done enough wickedness and folly for one
trip / owned up and told him the truth He
was a magnanimous man, and he spared me
But IL was moment Of agony, and today
there are white hairs on the back OF my head
that / never saw before, and never pass
through Merton astatiQn without a ehudder
And ] never again viii offer 70 extend ~,
slightest helpful courtesy 70 a stranger No. IN
train should jump on bridge 400 feet high
Into q cataract nerceF than 10000 Nlaearas
wouldn't offer 70 hold q Ions WOnans ba6y AID
gct her hani-bAg out N tue racs for Der whiie
s4e pot un her sossa .ner and hnniei for her lost
che M case SIZE should want her baEeaes
when Nc got q Tie buflom