Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31
THE ODD SIDE OF LIFE.


How John s, Sullivan Met General Hays
Riches Thrust Upon Him-Dreams and
Doors Broken-The Pirate King Last
Year-True Tales by the Topical Taiker.
DECORATION DAY brings to mind no more
heroic soldier son Of Pittsburg than General
Alexander Hays, and ii was only the other
day that met in far-away corner OF
Arkansas one of his aides-de-eamp, Jonn o.
Sullivan, who told me many thrilling taies
OF which General Hays was the nero. MI
Sullivan, who, married daughter Of ten
eral Hays, by the way, and Is one OF the
most substantial citizens In Jefferson CITY,
Mo, dwelt with peculiar delight upon sne
first time he met General Hays on the morn
ing of July s. 1868 the final day of the ter
rible three at Gettysburg.
81 was ordered on that morning by the
Colonel Of my regiment to take up certain
position with detail Of men," said Mr. sui
livan, "and 1 had written orders to tnat
effect, with the added proviso that was not
TO move at anyone's command, not even
Generals. was First Lieutenant tnen,
all events. Well, i had not been there long
when certain Major Hammond, OF tne
regular army, came mp and wanted me 20
move my men further to the right de-
He got angry. So did 1. He said something
abusive and told him that If he didn't clear
out I'd cut his ears OF. He went away in
towering rage. / held my position all day,
but in the evening was summoned to Gen.
eral Hays headquarters. He was in COM
mand of the brigade. When entered the
tent General Hays, whom had never seen
before, said in answer to nv salute; inns
is serious charge Major Hammond makes
against you, Lieutenant Sullivan. he says
you threatened to cut of his ears.
Let me read my written orders nrst,
General replied, and ne giving me per,
mission, / read the orders, and explained
why had threatened to take liberties with
the majors ears. General Hays didn't take
long to decide, but, as soon as had nnisne9,
said with great emphasis; Leuseda9' ed n that aa
major bothers you again, cut his ears on /!
Good nightr
"T never saw him again till I received an
appointment on his staff. After that was
with him till he fell in the wilderness"
Had to Get Rich.
~ TELL you sometimes riches are forced
upon a man." said q New York real estate
man to me the other day. "Tl illustrate my
meaning by O case from actual life. A man
named O'Neil had built up a nice little trade
in q restaurant where oysters were
speciality on very desirable corner in Sixth
avenue, New York, when in 1873 the "wner
of the property died. 0'Neill's lease ran out
shortly after and the heirs of the estate re-
fused to renew 1t. They wanted to sell it,
and it was put up at auction in due time.
O'Neill was willing to pay $15O,OO0 for the
property. He had $4,000 Of his own and
could raise another s10O, 900 on mortgage. The
bidding began and somebody ran it up
against O'Neill till the price went be-
yond his pile. He wouldn't bid above
$50, 900, which at that time was big
NJ na
when other parties bid sl60, 900. All his labor
for years in building up business seemed
to have been for nothing. But, as he was
worth, the oyster dealer and yachtsman, who
was a stranger almost to him, touched
O'Neill on the shoulder and said: Bid 81, 900
more! I'll lend it to you. This O,Neill did,
know anything about New York you do not
need telling that O'Neill never has regretted
his investment, and know that he has re-
the timely aid II years ago who can say that
he would have acquired riches as he has"
'slumber Miles Deep.
'1 HAD an experience last night" said q
gentleman who lives in the East End, "that
ought to have turned my hair white. 1 was
down town in the evening, and while there
received word of relatives death. That
turned my thoughts into gloomy channel,
1 suppose, but there was nothing particular
the matter with me when reached home
about II O'Clock. My wife had been out with
me in the afternoon; so had the baby, and
both tired by the exercise and the open air
had retired early, as indeed they are wont to
do generally. My sister had gone to her
room also, but stopped at her door as
passed to tell her of the death in the family.
Then I went on to my own room. 1t was
locked, for my wife has the East End
hall In, Kon ,fr1a<
q door between the baby and any sort
Of danger. I knocked. There was no
answer. I knocked again. Still no reply.
1 put a little more force into my knuckles
and called to my wife. Silence still reigned
within the room. My sister came out to see
at the door and called as loudly as we could.
l was thoroughly alarmed, and as re-
doubled my efforts to arouse my wife. q
vision of her and the babe lying dead upon
eye, and it drove me frantic. l fancied 1
smelt gas; and remembered the gas
fire. was usually kept burning. Perhaps 1t
had gone out and then come on again.
eco down and get ladder and climb into
the room from the outside my sister sug-
gested 1 started to try that plan, but had
not descended six steps before guess my
senses left me, and ran back and with one
tering splinters everywhere. My wife was
not dead. but nearly scared to death. She
had lust walked up as l burst through the
door, and fell over again on the pillow from
q case of deep slumber. And the baby, more
wonderful still, slept through the whole
scene" --
The Pirate Kings Pluck.
t1 WONDER whether j. Palmer O'Neill re-
membered yesterday the last time he took a
team to play ball in Brooklyn?" said base
ball expert to me yesterday. 81 was with
the Pittsburg League team when it landedat
Jersey City, bound to play the last series OF
the disastrous season of 1890 in Brooklyn.
They had great difficulty in raising the
money to pay ferryboat fares to Brooklyn,
and things were awfully blue. 1t was rain
ing hard when met Mr.. O'Neill later that
morning at Spalding's Broadway store, and
the prospects of taking the $50 guarantee at
the game in the afternoon were very slim.
But the Pirate King, although he had not
won that title then, was not bit downcast,
Some newspaper reporters came into the
store while / was there, and when they
asked Mr.. O'Neill about his club and
the outlook for the League generally, he
said enthusiastically: Never better! never
better! We shall come out on top. sir, sure.
We've got the winning cards and we mean
to play themr At that moment he must
have been casting about in his mind for a
way to get the club out Of Brooklyn, but his
voice never showed tremor; he wore his
largest and most confident smile, and used
the most rosy words in his vocabulary to
paint the Pittsburg clubs condition. Such
pluck compelled the fates to relent, L sup
nose for sure enough the rain soon after
stopped, the sun came out, enough of a
crowd attended the ball game to insure the
guarantee, and finally j. Palmer went out of
BROOKLYN with 81, 900 or more in his clothes.
How he must appreciate the comparative
picnic of to-dayn