The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-27

n - 49, NH - r|-W--A 49,
fering untold pain. when suddenl
hs jumped from the table into the Grew
Then followed a battle that would In,
made John l.. sullivan green. That be
swung his lefts and rights like catapault
In less than a minute he wRH spillinR mo
about the floor with quito the same oiret
aa would follow the discharge Of a Gatlin
gun. Those who hammered him over til
head with canes found that their blows ha
no effect. for he smashed right into thor
with his fista until they quit. Then the,
left the room to his sole use. he quietly
put on his clothes and went to his room and
prayed ~ a sual before retiring.
The next day there was an absence o
sophomores at chapel and a multiplicity o
black eyes lodged in various rooms. George
afterward told me that he had once invest
cd ten dollars in a half dozen lessona from {
travelling teacher of boxing who had come
to his town. After this little experience
the sophomores left him quietly alone.
When the "rowing'' days were over he went
right into his books and in a short time was
leading HIS class. No problem in trigo-
nometry was too tough or no Greek or Lat
in phrase too complex, and he never used a
pony He did not argue that the use 0
the animal was not in accord with his con-
scientious scruples. but he simply said he
thought a fellow got more good by working
those things out for himself and, of course.
he was right. He would not "crib"
through an examination, but he would help
other fellows out, and I may confess that !
am indebted to him for valuable services Of
this nature. During all this time he did
not forget his mission in life. He
was elected deacon of the class. not wholly
because he was conscientious but because
he was popular in addition. He attended
the MONDAY prayer meetings with prompt
regularity and he usually led in the exer-
uises. And what a beautiful prayer he
made. Not an intellectual effort, you
know, but a prayer go earnest and c%onvinc-
ing and SO filled with the sweetness and
purity of religion that it made ono look up
at the sky when the little gathering sep
arated at the old SCARED chapel door. Then
he was always about on a little missionary
work of his own. I have often seen him
pick out a classmate who was given to a
little Saturday night beer and with him
walk away over the hills of a pleasant half
holiday afternoon, The next day that fell
low would be at one of the noon prayer
meetings. and on the following Sunday in
the bible class. He was not one Of the cold
blooded Christians who made themselves
offensive by their ''holier than thou"
p%leadings, but a great, warm hearted, SYM
pathetic fellow being whom everyone loved.
Now, then, to return to the text of this
tritiing "Reminiscences. This man had his
weakness like the rest or us, and yet / never
thought of calling him a hypoorite. He
had no money except the bare pittance al
lowed by the local church fitting him to
preach the gospel. And vet at times he
would show more money than any man in
the class. Occasionally he would take a
trip and be gone two or three days. He
would return with u new suit of clothes
or a new overcoat or other signs
of prosperity. One time | saw him paying
a board bill and he pulled out from his in
side vest pocket a roll of bank notes as big
az his arm. When he saw me he blushed
and returned them to the hiding place.
When asked where he had been he would
say, ooh, off on a little trip" At other
times he would quietly come round to my
room and borrow fifty until the end Of the
term and perhaps return it at the end of
W weeks. Then sometimes during the
chill of winter he would be seen around the
campus without an overcoat. 1 never Ques-
toned him much about these matters for
he did not like to discuss them.
I remember the the might Of the freshman
prize speaking contest. George WAS one of
kks~sss= contestants. His selection was a
part of Ingersolrs beautiful Memorial day
address and it was beautifully delivered.
When he had finished the flag was dropped
on the others. The prize of 800 was given
him that night and the next morning he
left town as he said "for a little trip" The
following day I went to Syracuse, a neigh
boring city and during the evening dropped
into a gambling house with a party of
friends. 1t was in a fifth story room and
was carefully guarded. Gambling in the
east. is not recognized as one of the fine
arts that should be encouraged by law.
Well. a big faro game was going on, and
the table was crowded with spectators.
The "bridle had been lifted" and the chips |
were stacked almost to the ceiling. AT the
table, keering cases was a young man who
did the heavy playing. Though disguised
behind a pair of immense blue
l lhu no ulLlculGy Ill recognizing |
him as my friend George. He had a
dollars worth of chips corded up
in front of him and the pile was fast in
/ understood then the object of
the little trips. but said nothing until the
the next morning, when we had a long talk.
Then he told me something about the
fascination of gambling and I have never
forgotten it. 1t was with him a disease. In
his own impressive way he told how he had
against it and prayed for strength
never came. I afterward learned
that his father and grandfather had been
professional gamblers. However, to cut the
story hort we kept the secret between US
he went ahead with his college course.
he finished with most fatterinQ
lonors, and two years later graduated from
the theological seminary.
During d recent trip east I stopped off at
pleasant little village on the line of the
New York Central to enjoy a half days
visit with my old friend. found him in a
parsonage attached to a church of
which he was pastor. He had married a
charming girl and was delightfully."- homed.
After dinner We sat in his study and fell to
about old times. When I incident
ally referred to a man / once saw with blue
a shade passed over his brow and he
said: Old man, you don't know what
Il vice gambling is. | sometimes think no.
body knows. While I am trying TO do GOOD
~ Il A. ~ .