Telegram-herald., 1890-08-11
AFUNNY FUNNY NAN
A Few OF the Eccentricities Of
C. B. Lewis.
As OBSERyEDBYOxE WHO KNOWS Hin
some al His Generous Aetioas-ao~ as
Pieks - fdsas-oacs he Played ths
k0ls of DsteeEiss-His ExVsri-
eaEs a. = Boxer

ZIG % LbE t-V-t frAN4-Lkf CNt~A-4--
and generoushearted men l have ever
had tue pleasure * meeting, . &. b.
Lewis, the celebrated m. Quad" OF
the Detroit Free Press tie = a man
who would not attract any par
tcular attention ca the streets, a. be Is
not blessed with any great physical de-
yelOpment. He Is below the medium
height, sight Of build, and on the
shady side Of -. Unless on SOME par
tcular mission, he goes along apparent
ly obhvious OF everything that IS pass
Ilg On around him. There are Occa-
SONS, however, when his gray eyes
twinkle, and he Will enjoy a good thing
when others fail 70 see any point IN il.
In ordinary conversation ne 5 quite
commonplace and uuassuming. bat
again have seen him, when he becomes
interested. engage ID the sharpest kind
Of wit and choicest repartee.
lJ Is very seldom that one can ind
him m MS office A. the Free Press, aud
there are reporters who have worked
on that paper for years, who do not
know hlm personally, Or even by sight.
/ remember on one occasion / called TO
see him, and asked q reporter, whom
met "a the editorial department, 10
direct me 10 ms room. The
scribe looked aslonIsaed, and
said. "Why have never
seen him herc." TINS surprised NE to
say Tie least, but as | knew that he
always goes 10 his office at I O'clock,
managed % find his room, and there
he sat. lie was opening his mail,
which Was strewn all over ms desk
There were communication OF all
kinds and from ali over the world, as
be informed me. There were letters
from young authors, and manuscript
Of wOuld-be newspaper writer's and
funny men. Every one OF them was
carefully reviewed, and finally he re-
marked: "DO you know that from
these communications. some of them
crude As they are, | get great many
idea2 some of them are ridiculous IN
the extreme, but rs | am always look
ing for something out of the ordinary,
they Just suit me. Here Is a letter
from Abrams. lt Is from cOlOred
man, making inquiry about the Lime
Kiln Club. lie wants TO know how he
can address one OF the characters |
write about every week"
Lewis does very little of his work at
the Free Press Office. lie ssys ms
humor does not seem 20 flow easily
there. Ills study IN his beautiful
home, on CaSs-ave., however. is the
place TO see HIM. lie sits there for
hours at time grinding away for the
edihcauon OF the public He writes
very easily and quckiy, rs a man of
nervous temperament usually does,
and when he has finished. there Is
nothing that he enjoys more than Il
good cigar. lie Is an inveterate
smoker.
The charitable deeds of "M. Quad"
are many. but tlc pubic hears very
little OF them. HIS salary IS munificent
and ne can atori 20 De liberal. A
newspaper man ,o distress need never
so away from him empty handed,
whether ne be- deserving OF not. There
u a case OF one brilliant writer who
has sunken o. tle lowest depths OF
degradation. Every week TINS man
goes 70 Lewis aud receives certain
sum- AuOut year ago two young
men " ne o. hm and obtained the
loan OF SO. They wanted to
go 20 Pittsburgh and they prom scd TO
return the amount "A soon as they got
there. Lewis hud never seen them bc-
fore ana nc never expected 20 get the
money back, but when ne learned some
time afterwards that tlIpv were gamb-
lers and bad non $500 Oft his $40 and
then forgotten his generosity, he WAS
much pat out.
"1l tluad's writings arc not always
purely hctcioul. tie picks up a great
deal from Ol servltOn and actual ex-
perigncc. Every now and again he cir
culdtcs among tie cOi0rcd wh.tewAsh-
Crs on the m srket just 90 study them.
IL isteus % tueir odd speeches and
quaint sayings and they furnish hlm
with plenty OK material with Which 20
work out nis Lame Kin Club articles.
once during hls rambics he formed the
acquaintance of % negro prize ight ter
re was no other than George Peters,
and he was down in the heels at
the time. Lows took him in
tow. clothed. ted and looked
after him for two years During this
time be made q study Of him and oth-
er c0I0rCd chara whom he uatur-
ally came Ia contact. Niter tnis
"Quad determined on becoming de-
tcctlve. Tie haunted police headquar-
ters daily. and Ger fns Z was b nted
that he was bon .d by tie Depart
meut There wes uo truth the as
strton. however Ie would go about
in the most mysteF eIs manner. aud be
soon became snoru 50 ATT the buns In
the city At ONE me the police de-