The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-09

vi u uOWn tONncTS winch
: has been getting up petitions in favo,
: of the building of municipal rapid
; transit system. and its president and
moving spirit, Mr.. Slower | had en-
joyed the witticisms at Mr.. Stover's
expense some days, when one day |
saw him coming out of the rooms of
the rapid transit commission. and like
flash remembered when and where I
had seen his face before.
| had been Investigating particu-
larly dreadful case of something or
other down on Cherry street; down
where, winter and summer, Slumdom
rears its awful front, where crime
Jostles misfortune and honest poverty
'hobnobs because it must with vice and
nameicss iniQuity: down where the
shrlIl voices Of singers in low concert
nails float out to the street to mingle
with the ribaldry of drunken corner
ioafers, and where, in the worst sur
ronndin@s conceivable, arc growing I'D
pure and sweet young women, as if to
show how hopeful is human nature
after all, when first met Slower.
1t was in particularly dirty tene-
nent whose tenant was volubly ex-
planning to me some case of landlord
tyranny. With me was man born of
the Sums and the most remarkable
character / ever meta young framer
with the face of an angel, who worked
hard all day at his trade. and at night
when he was not studying out at
Cooper institute practically devoted his
life to the boys of the street The ap-
pearance on the scene of Mr.. Slower
drew to him all eyes. and a babel of
tongues saluted him as he drew his
notebook. What strange contrasts-I
nave sand it before-do we see in city
life!
Stover was of medium height or less.
stoutly built, very carefully and nicely
dressed, with a fine, flank countenance
and golden mustache yelling a mouth
whose smile was singnlarly sweet. A
man of ample wealth and good ability |
he was, and presume is, an inmate of /
the college settlement" on Forsvthe |
street, and, living in the very heart Of
the siun1s, was trying his good-aatured |
best TO do good, be chummy with the
people and keep his eye peeled for
abuses.
The young Trainer was dark as an
Arab, beautiful as one of Raphaers
angels, and, not to exaggerate his
merits, somewhat dirty. His speech
vas an unintelligible gibberish of
broken German, English and Hun
5arian. But he was the founder of n
boys club, which was actually say
ng from the devil a good number of
Jherry street boys, and every cent he
'ould spare went to buy for it books,
pictures and gymnasium tools.
In basement room was q kinder
'arten where sweet-faced' lady from
p town" nightly taught what she
ould to the innocent wee babies of the
In the hall the janitor, brutal
vrant, was dead drunk as usual Next ]
cor woman moaned her dead baby.
ust below was family to be evicted .
n the morrow. In the room, a queer ,
ouncil Of war, were an Irishman. a ,
ernan, an Italian man and woman |
nd, OF course, two Russian Jews be- I
des those | have named. r
Perhaps Slower is, as the newspapers G
ltimate, crank. Perhaps the young r
amer was crank. / don't behave s
e IS alive now. He was one of those 9
npetuous souls who wear out rapidly.
erhaps the lady of the kindergarten e
as another crank. If SO, my blessing, h
least, on crankdom, and may its
emile tribes increase. O