The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-02-22
THE FRIEND IN NEED.
lRVIN0'S STORY OF THE 'DUSTED'
ACTORS GOOD cAMh7ITAN.

A Reminiscenco which Seemed TO Tocch
he Realtors Heart-Once rIc Was vcry
Poor and Unknown. but Now lie Is rici,
and Famon. In Ala Laad<.
The place was n coy room in a coy
housc in a quiet street off the Strand,
London. The time was Saturday; the
hour, midnight. A company of p1ofcs-
sional men. composed of some of tho
lawyers, doctors, newspaper men ant
actors whose names are famous on both
sides Of the Atlantic. was scattered ir
groups about the rooms smoking anS
chatting after the Saturday night SUP
per, which had become a standard ,nsti-
tntion with them. In a sheltered cor
ner over by the fireplace sat a small
Knot Of men, every one of whom had
reached the top, or at least the front
rank, of his profession. The talk, drift
ing in a smooth, desultory, half sleepy
way from phase to phase, had gradually
assumed a retrospective hue. From one
to another the story had passed, each
telling the tale OF an empty stomach, or
an empty pocket, OF a hopeless tramp
Of 80 miles or so IN thin shoes along a
snowbound road in search Of employ
ment.
Henry Irving, t%houghtfully smoking,
with an air Of deep attention, had not
spoken and did not speak until the
others, having exhausted their stock,
turned to him. He had experienced
harder luck than any Of them, and they
knew it. He looked up at them for a
moment and then, after a pause, said:
Tho recollection uppermost in my
mind just now, while you boys have
been talking about tramping and winter
roads and all that. is Of a certain Christ
mas dinner at which l was present. ]
wonder whether any of you rememb Der a
poor fellow. long since dead-Joe Robin
who played small parts in London
and outside it. and who made the one
big mistake OF his life when he entered
the profession. Joe had been in the
men, underwear business and was do
ing well when IN amateur performance
for a charitable object was organized.
and he was cast for the part of the
clown in "a burlesque of Guy FawkeS.'
Joe belonged to one of the bohemian
clubs, and on the night of the show his
friends among the actors and journalists
attended in IL body to give him a send
Off He played that part capitally, and
the mischief might have ended there,
but some n compared him to Girl,
maldi. His fate was sealed. He sold his
stock, went on the stage, and Il few
months later | came upon him playing
general utility on a small salary IL Il
small tneater in Manchester. One relic
of his happy days still remained to him.
He had retained shirts, collars and I'M
derwear sufficient to last him for a gen
GRAFTON.
But If Joe lacked ability as an ac-
tor he had a heart of gold. He would
lend or give his last shilling to a friend.
and piece by piece his stock of under
wear had diminished until only a few
shirts and underclothes remained to
him.
The Christmas of that year-tho
year in which We played together-was
perhaps the bitterest | ever knew. Joe
had a part in the pantomime. When
the men with whom he dressed took off
their street clothes, he saw with "a pang
at his heart how poorly some of them
were clad. One poor fellow without an
shivered and shook with every
breath of the wind that whistled through
the cracked door, and as he dressed there
was disclosed Il suit of the lightest sum
gauze underwear which he was
wearing in the depth Of that dreadful
winter. Poor as Joe was, he was deter
mined 70 keep up his annual custom Of
giving his comrades a Christmas dinner.
Perhaps all that remained Of his stock
OF Undertaking went to the pawnbrO-
ker, but that is neither here nor there.
Joe raised the money somehow, and on
the Christmas day was ready to meet
his guests.
Among the crowd that filed into the
roOm was his friend with the gauze un-
d~erclothing. Joe beckoned him into an
adjoining bedroom, and %poi"ting to a
hung a suit of underwear. 1t was of a
comfortable scarlet color: it was of silk
and wool: it was thick and warm, and
chung around the actor as if it had
been built for him. AS the shirt fell
Over his head there was suffused through
his frame Il gentle, delicious glow that
thrilled every fiber Of his body. His
heart swrlled almost to bursting. He
to be walking on air. He saw
all things through Il mist of tears. The
faces around him, the voices in his ears,
the familiar objects in his sight, the
very snow falling gently outside the
seemed as the shadows of q
dream with but ono reality-the suit of
His feelings seem to have entered
your heart said one of the listeners.
'They might well do so, replied Mr..
Irving, for | was that poor actor -
New York Tribune.
Valuable Pump s.
The by draulic pumps at the COmbina,
ton shaft cost 81. 600. 900; the first set
put in cost $50, 600. The surface pnmp
900