Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-15
GOOD AT THE CORE.
He Was All Right, but Appearances
Were Against Him.

Were Against Him.
Star reporter was talking with a friend
in an uptown hotel when young fellow of
about twenty-six or seven came by noisily
ine5riated. And not that only, but he ap-
peared TO be coarse and vulgar and gener
ally undesirable.
What Il pity" remarked the friend,
that decent man will let liquor so trans
form him.
YES" replied the writer, "but in this
case 1t seems to me that the man about
as bad as the liquor
There you are wrong" said the friend
with positive maaner of defense. 81 know
that chap and he is all right when he is
SOBER
Then he ought to take In his sign TO the
contrary"
Is. mo tell you about HIM He is a
vesterner and is worth probably hundred
thousand dollars, only the income of which
- can reach, and he gets on druuks like
mis- once or twice year and keeps 1t hot
for week or ten days. Then he sobers I'D
and goes to work. l confess thai he IS
pretty tough when he Is drinking, but let
me tel! you a story of his real character
and delicacy OF feeling and sympathy. Two
Years ago he was here, stopping with A
friend on Capitol Hill, and it happened
that he sent some Of his clothes out to n
cor woman 10 be repaired. She was a
woman of fifty with an old mother to sup
port, and both of them were ladies and ex-
tremely proud.
$50 proud that hey would have willing
Iy starved rather than accept charity. They
lived in one room and did their own cook
ing, somehow ekirG out a bare existence
This chap learned all about them from his
host and proffeEed assistance, but the host
told him they WoIld not have it thai way.
Later. the mother was taken sick AMI then
the daughter vas compelled to have money
medicine q fal
and came to him with a ring which her
father had picked up in scme foreign land,
and which she held so sacred thai until
row she had not even thought OF Iarting
with 1t. though everything else had been
sold pledged
The ring contained a t;'Ght stone Of
some kind the al &c of which vas I'M
known 10 Ter. she told he story to the
young fellow and he told mr. nt would let
her have some money on he ring, and she
could pay him back, but he must first take
the stoi.s 10 \ jewele- and find oCt It's
value. She agreed to borrow The money
with the ring as collateral. and he went
out to see jcUeler, and told her to call
at 3 O'Clock in tho afternoon. When she
came, she found him perfectly radiant over
the ring, and he told her that the stone
vas very rare and valuable, and he would
be more than safe in letting her have two
hundred dollars on It
THE woman almost had a a. over this
piece of startling news and when he gave
her the amount in ten-dOllsr bills, she
cried like baby. He swears he never shed
tear, but l don't believe him. Any how
it was Joyous occasion, and there was
mora comfort in the house Of those two
POOR ladies' that night than there had been
for years"
And what kind of stone was it, ask
ed the writer, WHO knows little some
thing about precious stones, and is always
Interested i'll hat sort of thing.
His friend locked almost lovingly over
toward the young chap trying to- raise a
row with The clerk.
'Glass,' lie said. "and the setting worth
about dollar and q half on rising mar
ket"