Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-02-08
AN vNsolveo MYSTERY.
The Singular Chain of Events That Broke
George BaEiey's Heart.


George Bagloy was tho first man to de-
yiso a satisfactory system OF oonsecutively
numbered tickets, and after the delay n &C.
ossarlly connected with the introduction
OF q new thing be did q prosperous md
constantly Increasing business. Half the
railways In tho country were bis Gus
TONERS. His establishment was Kept busy
day and night, and IN q few years bo
nmaIsed a considerable fortune Tho pros
peots were, too, that his business would
keep paos with the growth Of passenger
tufllo, aud that ho would become oven
richer.
But after awhile passenger officials mo-
ticed that tho tickets supplied them by
Bagley were not up to the mark. They
were printed on good paper, tho workman.
ship was artistic and tho numbering ac-
curate but in each Issue there was some
error that destroyed Its usefulness Some
times tho mistake would be more glaring
thnn ct Others but always II was trouble
some and annoying. How II occurred
could not DO understood, for Bagley en-
ployed the most competent workmen he
could find and took the greatest palms with
his work We supposed, OF course, that
somebody's catelessnoss was responsible for
the trouble, and Bagley began to receive
rather sharp letters from bis customers.
They thought TINT perhaps success had
made him indifferent and wanted him to
understand that the work could DO sent
elsewhere
But that was very far from being the
case
Bagley replied in anything but an In
different strain He was entirely unable,
ho said, to account for the errors, but
would 500 That they did not occur ngnin.
Then be took back tho whole batch and
insisted upon reprinling them at bis own
expense. Under the circumstances 1t is
easy to believe Bagloys statement that
with the new Issue every precaution was
taken to guard against mistakes. Trusted
men were placed in charge and Bngloy |
himself supervised every step
But when the tickets reached thor des-
tluhtion 1t was found that they were even
worse than tho others. Paper and print
Ing and general appearance were FIRST
class, as before, but in the body of tho |
matter appeared one or two gross errors
In some cases the alteration OF q word |
changed the whole contract, In others an |
Important word was omitted. and in still |
others meaningless or indecent word
was inserted. The thing seemed unac-
Countable
by this time Bagley had become con-
WINGED that some malicious employee was
trying to ruin Lis business, and this in
deed seemed the only possible explanation.
He made oy9ry effort to discover the Of
fendor, but without success. Time and
again he discharged whole gangs Of work
men, reorgt lized his office, shifted the
men around from one position to another
and resortod to every ezpedient to prevent
errors from creeping into the tickets. 1t
was all to no purpose. Every issue was
seut back to him by tho road which had
ordered IT, and apparently no amount OF
or revision could set matters
right. One by one the railways trans
ietrcd their orders to other establishments,
and Bagleys once dourishing business
fell Of to nothing. His customers were
gone, his money was gone, and he was
compelled to shut up shop"
IL broke tine old mans heart. He had
been proud Of his success, jealous OF his
reputation ms nm honorable man, and the
stain, real OF imaginary, upon his charuo.
.er Affected him more than the financial
disaster. When he died, he was, as said
N the beginning, q heartbroksn paupor,
md tho man who wrecked his life and
worked his ruin was never discovered, -
ST. Louis Republic.