The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1893-09-09
A MODERN ARDEN.

: e A MODERN ARDEN.
George Crowley, cabinet maker of
the firm of Wentworth & Myers, fur
nfture dealers, received his pay reg
ularly the first Saturday Of every
month; and just as regularly the
senior member. Mr. Wentworth,
would say: .,..~ ~ 80,
f:Well, George, shall I takerout the
life insurance pr TO-"
And George would $miutte@1r, tt@1, a ..yes," :"
and then with the rest of his money
hurry across to Jimmy Sullivan's,
where the&boys were Maiting g for: him.
1t could not be said that he was
much troubled by sremorse, for his
headache bothered him a good deal
more. s,~ Still he had some pride left,
and when he thought how his little
wife. by washing and sewing, and
Tom, by his work in a grocery store,
supported the family, he would be
troubled somewhat, but would. COM
fort him self with the thought that
he was keeping up life insurance
OF which they knew nothing: That
life Insurance was his only redeem
ing feature, and for it Mr., Went
worth was mainly responsible.
During the month: George. worked
hard and skillfully at his trade. He
was very quiet man, and always
seemed, as in; reality he was, to be
merely existing till he could have an
other drink,
At. breakfast one morning one
of the children was unfortu-
nate: enough to tip ever a
dish. George promptly boxed the
child's ears and sent him howling
away. Tom brought his fist down on
the table with bang. =
'1t's a shame" he said.
Instantly both men were on their
feet. 4 The little wife ran screaming
between, and George drew back as if
to strike, but: before he could move
Tom had caught. him round the
waist and thrown him. The strug-
gle was short. The father, feeble
with drink, was no match for the
athletic SOD who held him down and
reproached him fiercely. Finally,
Iom let his father get up, and white
with passion, George took his hat
and rushed from the house. H..
He tramped all day. The one
thought that was always uppermost
was that his son had. t.shamed'' him,
and he must leave. But he had no
money; he had lost it all at Sulli-
van She: always did. He couldn't
remember the time when he had
brought any home from there. He
knew, however,, that his wife had
some, but could he find it! He
thought he could, and he made up
his mind that he would try it that
nighv.
A friend gave him some dinner: for
supper he smoked his pipe. About
II he sneaked into his house, and
found that his wife. who had sat up
to wait for him, had fallen asleep be-
fore the. fire. He blessed his luck
and went upstairs. Fifteen minutes
:, afterwards he sneaked out again and
ran to the depot to steal ride on
the through freight. ...5.>
A week later he obtained a situa-
tion in q big furniture store in Chi
cago. He had wandered round the
city for two days first, and when the
clerk who enrolled him asked his
name he had replied, for no reason
which he could assign, "George
'Crawford:''' He had also found a
lodging place-very cheap and hardly
respectable, but it suited him, for it
was over saloon. In his new place
he was paid once a week, and conse-
quently his former monthly sprees
were superseded by weekly ones.
1t was six months after this that
at :. o'clock one Sunday morning "a
policeman heard some moaning in an
alley near Georges lodging, and, on
.hurrying to the spot, found George
leaning dazed and Mortified against
a door post, while before him lay a
man dying OF an ugly stab in the
breast. On the ground was bloody
knife. At the trial no outside testi-
mony of Importance. was produced.
George Crawford, as. ha persisted IN
calling himself, testified that he had
met the man, who was a.. perfect
stranger to him, at a saloon-that
they had drunk together, that the
man had insisted on accompanying
him to his lodging, that on the way
the man had tried to rob him, that
they had fought, that the man. had
drawn the knife and tried to kill
]. him, but that he had wrenched it
from Il him and struck in self-defense.
The body was never identified, and
as George refused to give any testi-.
mony whatever concerning his former
life, he was sentenced to six years at
hard labor. al 81 5< RS: :s.s.s..zz s:
When he first put on his prison
suit he aWoke to his situation; and