The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-26

same grim, silent way-not the poor that
you, my acknowledgement Lady Bountiful
and my very excellent Sir Simon DoGood,
know, or that you would care to know;
nor the poor who march IN professions
with banners and collection boxes; nor
the poor that clamor round your soup
kitchens and sing hymns at your tea
meetings.; but the poor that you don't
know are poor until the tale is told at tho
coroner's inquest-the silent, proud poor
who wake each morning to wrestle with
death till night time, and who, when at
last he overcomes them, and, forcing them
down on the rotting floor of the dim attic,
strangies them, still die with their teeth
tight shut.
There was a boy came to know when
was living in the East End of London.
He was not a nice boy by any means. He
was not quite so clean as are the good
boys in the religious magazines, and l
have known a sailor to stop him in the
street and reprove him for using indelicate
language. But he was boy to shake
hands with for all that, even If it was
necessary to wipe your own hand after
ward.
He and his mother and the baby,
sickly infant about months old. lived in
a cellar down turning off Three Colt
street. | am not quite sure what had be-
come of the father. l rather think he had
been converted" and had gone off round
the country on preaching tour. The lad
earned shiliings a week as an errand boy
and the mother stitched trousers. and on
days when she was feeling strong and en-
ergetic would often make as much as 10
pence or even shilling. Unfortunately,
there were DAYS when the four bare walls
would chase each other round and round,
and the candle seem faint speck of light.
a very long way off, and the frequency of
these caused the family income for the
week to occasionally fall somewhat low.
One night the walls danced round
quicker and quicker till they danced away
altogether and the candle shot up through
the ceiling and became star; and the
woman knew it was time to put away her
sewing and crawl on TO the mattress and
wait.
Jim" said she; she spoke very low, and
the boy had to bend over her to hear, IF
you poke about in the middle OF the mat
tress you'll find q couple of pounds. /
saved them up a long while ago. That
will pay for burying me. And, I'M. you'll
take care of the kid. You won't let it go
on the parish"
jim promised.
Say 'S'welp me Gawd, JIM"
''S'welp me Gawd. mother"
Then the woman, having arranged her
worldly affairs, lay back ready. and Death
struck
Jim kept his oath. He found the money
and buried his mother; and then, putting
his household goods on barrow, moved
into cheaper apartments-nalf an old
shed, for which he paid two shiliings
week.
For eighteen months he and the baby
lived there. He left the child at a nursery
every morning, fetching it away each
evening on his return from work, and for
that he paid tourpence day, which in
cluded limited supply of milk. How he
managed to keep himself and more than
half keep the child on the remaining two
shiliings | cannot say. L only know that
he did it, and not Il soul ever helped him
or knew that any help was wanted. He
nursed the child, often pacing the room
with it for hours, washed it OCCASION
ally and took it out for an airing every
Sunday.
Notwithstanding all of which care, the
little beggar at the end of the time above
mentioned, ''pegged out. to use Jimmy's
own words.
The coroner was very severe on Jim.
at you had taken proper steps," he said.
''this child's life might have been pre-
served" Gle seemed to think it would
have been better if the child's life had
been preserved. Coroners have quaint
ideas.) "Why didn't you apply to the re-
Ieving officer?"
"Cos / didn't want no relief" replied
Jim, sdllenly. II promised my mother it
should never go on the parish, and 1t
didn't"
The incident occurred, very luckily, dur
ing the dead season, and the evening pa
pers took the case up and made rather
good thing out of it. Jim became quite
hero. | remember. Kind-hearted people
wrote urging that somebody--the ground
landlord, or the government, or some one
ofthat sort Ought to do something for him.
And everybody abused the local vestry. l
really think that some benefit to Jim
might have come out of it all if only the
excitement had lasted a little longer. I'M
fortunately, however, just at its height a
spicy divorce case cropped up and Jim
was crowded out and forgotten.
told the boys this story OF mine after
Jephson had done telling his. and when
had finished we found it was nearly 1
O'Clock. So, of course. it was too late to
do any more work to the novel that even
ing. JEROME X JEROME.