The St. Johns herald., 1889-02-28
STORY OF A TOY BANK.
It Tells of Mans Love for His
 BeneS1c.or,

Sitting in the office of one of Boston S
 prosperous lumber merchants the other
 afternoon, enIoying friendly chat,
 noticed on the aesK small toy bank. My
 curiosity beng excited, remarked to the
 merchant:
 '.Kecpine that little bank Tn the of1ce to drop pennies in for Inc son and heir, l sup poseE'
 s'Oh, no,' was the reply. "That toy has quite history; and although It may DC used in future for the purpose you speak of, it never has up to the present time, for it only came into my possession yester- day.''
 Still curious, inquired as to the nature of the "history'i alluded to- and finding Cne merchant rather unwilling to tell it, po-
 itely pressed hln for particulars.
 'Wcll, you seem to be determined to get it out of me, anyway, so I'll tell you the whole story of how the little bank came into my possession, for it is so refreshing to be able to speak of genuinely hon orablc man in this age of shams and i'm posters.
 ''It was in 1881, and was in the employ of large firm over the way as book-kecpcr, occasionally transacting lumber sales in this city, l had been on a visit to East Boston one afternoon, making a sale of lumber, when, on returning to the ferry, l reached the landing just as tho boat had departed. walked around the wharf, and noticed. seated on one of the benches, a young fellow, apparently in great pam, for he was moaning and holding his head be- tween his hands.
 |" A number of persons kept passing and repassing him while waiting for the next boat, but no one seemed to notice him. ], however, thought there must be something the matter, and when 1 reached the spot again where he was ocatco l asked him the cause of his apparent pain.
 He told me that he had a short time be- fore met with what he had thought to be trifiiIg accident up in the railroad freight yard. He was a brakeman, and during the shifting of some cars had been slightly squeezed between them, but had not taken much notice of it for a while. Soon after, however, he felt very bad, and was now on his way to his lodging, being unable to keep on with his work. He sad he was q stranger in Boston, and had no homo further than a room in a lodging house, and not friend who could do any thing for him.
 "Feeling sure the poor fellow was hurt much moro than he thought himself 10 be, I offered my help when the boat came into the slip, and walked with him 10 tho cabin. On arriving at the city side foand he had grown much worse, but with my help he managed to walk to Hanover street.
 ''I now began to feel quite alarmed for him, but by cheerful persuasion he man. aged to walk as far as the police station, where we entered, and I spoke to tho Cap tain explaining under what circumstances l had found hun, and suggested the aRbu- lance to convey him to the hospital.
 "Thc Captain, however, thought that as he had been able to get so far, he could get on horse car, and by that means reach tho hospital I felt that I ought not to leave him, and finding that he had not cent about him, placed him in a horse car and accompanied him to the hospital, where he was admitted in very weak condition.
 "Whcn I parted from him l gave him some money, and he promised to write or call upon mo as soon as he was able, which he hoped would be before long, and as he thanked mo for my kindness, with tears in his eyes, was indeed a proud man, and felt well repaid for my trouble in looking after hin.
 "Somc three weeks after when the little incident had gone from my mind, received a letter from him stating that he should be pblo to leave the hospital in a few days, and that he would call upon me at my home; and ono evening shortly after he did so.
 "After thanking me for my kindness again, he told mo that he had been injured much moro than he thought. his skull being somewhat crushed, besides injury to other portions of his body, and during our conver- sation found that he was pcnniless. In as quiet manner as possible pressed upon him a few dollars to help him along. He accepted my offer, and on part ing told mo that 1 should hear from him again when he would repay what he insisted should be loan and not gift.
 "This occurred, as said, in 1881, and I had never seen or heard of him since that time until yesterday.
 'It appears from the story he has told me that after visiting me he secured employ ment to take charge of a carload of cattle to the West, where he remained at work for some time. He afterward came to New York, remaining there year or two. While in that city business called him on two occa- sions to Boston, and each time while here he had tried hard to find me. He had gone to my residence, but found had left tho city, ls 1 had moved out into the country after my marriage, and I had not given him the address of tho firm in whose employ had been at tho time. So he had to return to New York without seeing me.
 "During the present year he removed TroIR Now York to Boston, and still kept up -he search for me, all his endeavors. proving rruitless until the other day, while passing along this street, he was attracted by tho name of the company with winch I was formerly associated. There, that is the sign, straight across the street The naiRc of the firm came to his mind IS that of tho enc had told him worked 'or, and he at once entered tho counting room. mado inquiries, giving such a de 'cTiption of ne as he could best remember, pp, was aSaln RRsu>cessful, for no one of