Milford chronicle., 1895-02-15
AN dNsoLvtp MYSTERY.
The Singular Chain Of Events That Broke
George Bagley,s Heart.

C~~NN@--
George Bagley's Heart.
George Bagley was the frst man TO de-
wise a satisfactory system Of consecutiYely
numbered tickets and after the delay nee
essarily connected with the introduction
Of new thing he did a prosperous aud
constantly increasing business. Half the
railways in the country were his GUS
toners. His establishment was kept busy
day and night, and in a few years he
amassed a considerable fortune. The pros
poets were, too, that his business would
keep pace with the growth of passenger
traffic and that he would become even
richer
But after awhile passenger officials no
ticed that the tickets supplied them by
Bagley were not up to the mark. They
were printed on good paper, the workman
ship was artistic and the numbering ac-
curate, but in each issue there was some
error that destroyed It's usefulness Some
times the mistake would be more glaring
than at others, but always IL was trouble
some and annoying How it occurred
could not be understood, for Bagley en-
ployed the most competent workmen he
could find and took the greatest pains with
his work. We supposed, Of course, that
somebody s carelessness was responsible for
the trouble, and Bagley began to receive
rather sharp letters from his customers
They thought that perhaps success had
made him Indifferent and wanted him to
understand that the work could be sent
elsewhere.
But that was very far from being the
case.
Bagley replied in anything but an in
different strain. He was entirely unable,
he said, to account for the errors, but
would see that they did not occur again.
Then he took back the whole batch and
insisted upon reprinting them at his own
expense. Under the circumstances it is
easy to believe Bagley's statement that
with the new issue every preoaution was
taken to guard against mistakes. Trusted
men were placed in charge and Bagley
himself supervised every step.
But when the tickets reached their des-
tination it was found that they were even
worse than the others. Paper and print
ing and general appearance were first
class, as before, but in the body Of the
matter appeared one or two gross errors.
In some cases the alteration of a word
changed the whole contract, in others an
important word was omitted, and in still
others a meaningless or indecent word
was inserted. The thing seemed unao-
COunUdDl9.
By this time Bagley had become con-
vinced that some malicious employee was
trying to ruin his business, and this in
deed seemed the only possible explanation.
He made every effort to discover the Of
fender, but without success. Time and
again he discharged whole gangs Of work
men, reorRanized his Office shifted the
men around from one position to another
and resorted to every expedient to prevent
errors from creeping into the tickets It
was all to no purpose. Every issue was
sent back TO him by the road which had
ordered 1t, and apparently no amount Of
reprinting or revision could set matters
right One by one the railways trans
ferred their orders to other establishments
and Bagleys once hOurishing business
fell of to nothing. His customers were
gone, his money was gone, and he was
compelled to shut up shop"
1t broke the old mans heart. He had
been proud Of his success, Jealous Of his
as an honorable man, and the
stain, real or imaginary, upon his charac-
ter affected him more than the financial
disaster. When he died. he was, as said
in the beginning, heartbrOken pauper,
and the man who wrecked his life and
worked his ruin was never discovered
st. Louis Republic.