The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-09-04
SadCy
BeSS'
Comment,

1t has always been said that this Is
an easy town to work" Anyone with
any sort of a plea of distress or a plan
with millions in 1t, Is sure to receive
favor and assistance from our gener-
Gus and sympathetic citizens One of
the recent demands upon the public
was made this week by a glib-tongued
young man who, by his wonderful gift
of language, worked q vocal film fam
game on a number of ladies of prom
inent social position. Approaching
one of these as she was about to step
off the veranda to leave her house the
other morning, he addressed her by
name, and without taking breath pro-
ceeded to declaim something like the
following: '' .
MY dear Mrs. M.-----. wont you
take a seat? / shall only detain
you a moment. / thought you would
be glad to know, my dear Mrs. M, p
that 1 have come to you In the inter-
ests of Mrs. Richards. You remember
Mrs. Richards had two children die
with diphtheria the other day-sad
case, very. OF course you remember
about her piteous case. Indeed, Mrs.
M. Mop" as the lady addressed en-
deavored to disclaim any knowledge of
Mrs. Richards. .-...r. ,-.-. .. ..
"Oh, yes, you surely must remennr
Der the story, very sad; yes, indeed IL
was Diphtheria, two at once, poor
things. I'm sure you can recall It."
BY this time Mrs. M felt ashamed
that she couldn't recall the ease"
and almost assured herself that she
could, and all the while the young
man was fastening on with his re-
marks. .t...
Yes, / thought you might be de-
lighted to give small donation. or
course you don't need to do so If you
don't care to, but there's Mrs. B. up
here at the corner; she knows all about
this case She does indeed. She gave
me a nice donation. You see my
mother, Mrs. Reynolds, on Jefferson
avenue, gave little musicale last eve-
ming just a little affair She didn't
| ask Mrs. B. to the musicale, because
you know Mrs. B. might think she
was expected to donate something. OF
course she might. We'd have loved to
have Mrs. B. there, and you. too, Mrs.
| NJ, but we thought, you know-well,
| after the musicale my mother passed
| around q plate and we got a nice lit
tie $102, yes we did, for the poor wo-
man; and we thought you know, that
| If we could get little more we could
send her to Asbury Park for a time,
| and when she gets back we can take
her out to st. Luke's Summer Home.
| You see If she doesn't get better we
| fear she won't get well. Nom. We
want to give her milk with a little lime
| water in It. She didn't go to st, Lukes
| church much, but her husband used
| to be my mothers millSman. My
| sisters are such workers in the
| church. you know. or course you
know my sisters, Mrs. M. they have
| met you often out in society. Yes,
they almost kill themselves working
in st. Lukes church, they do indeed
We had some little things for sale
at the musicale last evening, yes'm,
we did. Very nice lot Of little articles.
There were some left and my sisters
thought ] might take them around to
some of their friends houses and try
to sell them. Yes'm, but he! he! you
see / couldn't, nom. 1 really couldn't.
You see I'm a bachelor, he! he! and
the things left were mostly dolls, and
being a bachelor you see, couldn't
very well, he! he! but thought you'd
probably like the chance to give a.
small donation. Yes'm, 1 thought you
would"
Mrs. NJ. asked his address so that
she could send her donation to his
house, but he was very coy about the
exact place. At different houses where
he called he gave his residence vague
ly as on Jefferson avenue Olive street,
Quincy avenue, and various other
thoroughfares, and 1t was only after
comparing notes that the different
persons approached by him discovered
how clever was his trickery. Many
gave him money before they found that
no such people belonged to st. Luke's 8
church, and that as for the woe-strick-
en- Mrs. Richards, like Mrs. Harris,
there amt no sich person." His ceases
less and unlimited talking abilities
seemed to have a sort of hypnotic eff
feet on some of his listeners, and they
gave him money under the influence
of the dazed spell which his words
produced. He Is a blue-eyed individ-
ual with a long. slenderly constructed
nose. This is about the only descrip-
tion that can be gained of him, with
the exception of a vivid portrayal of
, his lingual abilities.
The Womens Christian Temperance
union in neighboring city has decided
to allow the men to go on getting drunk
for a time while they halt to start a
crusade against the morphine habit
1 among members of their own sex and
class. This unusual step seems to have
i much that is commendatory in its
place. The great multitude of morphine
3 victims among women offer spec
: ial scope for the reformer. and
while doubtless the task Is even more
hopeless than that of retaining the
t | drunkard, it certainly lies close to wo-
: mans hand and of its importance there
0 can be no question. While, perhaps,
5 the work of curing the morphine fiepd
F: may not be attended with startling
D | success, there is a wide field along
educational lines and If every mother
; were converted to the Importance OF
{ training her daughters with view to
: the insidious danger of the drug habit
5 there would be small need of organized
: society effort.
4 Perhaps the training should begin
with the physicians. The great diff
{ Guilty is that too many women are
: willing to throw AL responsibility
q upon the physician and to miti-
A gate the stings of conscience by the ex-
o cuse: "Oh, the doctor said my nerves
. are too weak to be racked by this
misery. / am so dellcately constituted
q that / must have some relief" and the
: little tablets are used or the small
needle pricks grow closer in the arm
once plump, while day by day the
1