The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-06
0RELIEvER STAGE" OFAJAG
,T rs REACHED WHEN ONE SELLS THE
CLOTHES ON mrs BACK.

SoIpntary Trip mt Sea and More Betting.
.wban No. o, at the last meeting Of tho club.
AHA NJ his involuntary steamer trip to Calves
.or and how he won out OF that town / OBJ
.oryed that he wore q certain perky. conceited
~. 40 much as TO say that he was most likely
,hs only member OF this organization that ever
,ound hlmself aboard an ocean-going boat
vithout knowing how he got there" said No.
E-tbe member with the two big diamond rings
of the Harlem Club of Former Alcoholic De-
ear orntes. II Just want to toll him that no
s.snt. or isn't. What's more. when No. o dis
soysred himself on the high seas he had money
and a front. while T.
Look a.herc." said No. z, the kicker. rising
,radenly, What the dickens Ia this outfit get
ding 10 be--a Snug Harbor1 What's the mean
Inc o, al! this sallorizing talk / put the matter
a. the club: Amt we had Just about enough
h~.avr.weather and deep-water chaw in these
s.perience meetings ? Now. here comes Five
,,onR with q salty. green-seas"-
pipe down.. Seven" said the club in chorus.
go ahead. Five. and spring 1t"
"Well, II I'd a-known, when helped to get
,his gang together. that 1t was going to flzzle
into a kind O. Mariners Union, you can bet
your
"Glye us a rest. Seven" said the Chief Tank
rh,, was. peremptorily. Five has got the
deck"
~ was going to say" resumed No. 8, that
ia all right and easy when you como to. wal
lowing In an outside swell and in the teeth OF q
hoUlinc gale. as 1t we're. and find hat you've
cot yourfront and your dustbag practically un-
IMPAIRED. like Nine did when he woke up on
The Galveston boat. But this thing o. finding
Yourself swashing around In blue water after
carrying a jag down to the reliever stage
Wait s a nl Was F!yf Seli i%1 tsru Pssfls sns CHIEF
CARRIED nIh down. to the '%reiieyer st~age'-that's kind
Ola new one on me. and II l can ga . perceive ~. 9 en that hs THE the
the expression. What's the 'reliever stage Of
lag, anyhow ?"
member OF this organization should be igno-
rant OF so simple and direct a inal-stage method
Come to think OF It. the believer scheme is a
Chicago idea. and maybe was the first to work
10 this town: But 11st yOT PEOPLE letms get
rFi'YySa jaE IN the iaii' Of el was set. in, motion
SSsSaess nT'Sw Why. / ceouidn,t lose at that meet:
ing, | tell you honest. ! didn't pack around
s sny oa afg ali con" consideration Of weights. joekeys.
distances. previous. time made. whole thing;
jus, played ,em on their names. and I'm giving
days card. Won so much Of It at that. meeting
when my pockets "'bulged. out at the .wind:up
every ID day y ike so'I hiring | dnSl5 st a6s on S9yNs to 1o tp 5Ro the
PS stsr ten m IN with vi a e 81 s shoe 4qS on na the a" iirst
day. and / had $3.50 at the. finish of the fourth
day. That made me too husky to work at an
When / went back to the office to tell 'em
that | wac too strong for 9 n-pushing any more
was glad Of It. i kept on at the track. and at the
end OF the drst week had pushed two Of the
6SS q ;e 0n to the si Ssa me ais SS6 S9s e oh sa a d n ! ESt
Of the whole six to win on the last day OF the
week week; put ssoSS2I, on nit i, and ~ y went Snd th through 2SsIf IN ma 2
0 Sfu tobace t% and vailed eiss pi }or 1 som & sf@' to S come
along and a him money to start agoing
was doing a beer sezzle all this time, and
the beer sozzie going. ia probably have owned
the track by getaway day. but three days be-
for alton tops ssm fo sns 4, !ast a got to T tsas s sbPrd d ! bad bad
beer to the hot stuff made me SO cautious that
tbsGan then tG play 'em q on y form o To- The he. bo oSoik,i Z;
1 meeting hnssi I 9 only had a%p $4,000 y lett. Pretty good
was Just good enough. anyhow. to make me
work for The re@aIndeer Of, my life, Ne work
by the time the nesting CLOSED the tabasco
sauce and things were producing night pic
bridges and that kind, but l couldn't see any
R9 q. : So9 In i whsn was Weighted down with
~ fs9;S fat Os Gaisl and II IN l o ofdsr tie &c e saS %G e In eo ss a
fort l went uptown and hired a seyen.room
furnished fiat ali for myself. got q Dutehma9
= to r ,l6. NE; Now; 4 "a only ha'
ming ming around TSiaS 'f Town nat i"n% might k RaseGbat
there's no use talking about. what / might
s iF me d alter the gs ssn t nsnt wasn't doW6. sbs S sPepGhf
got downtown with the gang my $500 began
% fall of me SO quick that It made me sneeze.
and figured that would blow in sI0O. pinch
t2O for hospital money and u starter when !
things in the 6ug-ward. and then get a Job
and hold on to It until the spring
r mse is started tns SlH when en-. l ] Intended ter n to drive every
That calculation didn't, 90 through, ] got
tH9ue Sh,d toE the whole $500 by q night-lIInsr
{ eEH lof II I S GO IA 'sT SsVe fasts sisS' it m on h amy
S SH9 ! .R hsq next ' me!niG GSmi BY p pin ve TPf iir sp
Got $50 on that. Then the ring got in Tor $50,
TThhs ring money lasted me q couple 8, days.
Ny month at my flat was up BY this time. and
p 90 rent IN p adyanee up Told Sf him r1F to Sn chase
himself. and Cred my Dutch cook, and moved
I e Z ron sfo Ny On dress t. r f%it h ts6 t. Ias &c ns me
s%ish ssdIi' ffS HoFsg .5 MINUTES ,hs After d1ese, it T TSs
sSSld spare the to topc Sat and "t the eS aS1fe Got
siO on them. and this kept the jaE jogging
pong at = moderate pace for a night. i got
down to the suits the next morning. Got So
ior the couple Of good ones that l wrapped up
ana took out. but by the time evening came
ground the jag was hollering for another out
my Then ] put on the best suit l had. n black
ertsway outfit, and had an Eighth avenue old:
siothes man come around and take g look at oil
fhe dGds had left He gave me ,S2.35 for the
70. and packed them away with him. Next
poTping ! woke up without the price: and |
nhd been nibbled on by. pale blue giraffes all
nshs St that. so I had to put the believer act
"IWent down TO a Baxter street Joint and
htd the gazeeba look over the suit / had on. /
sSked hin what kind of a suit he'd give me,
Win 70 to boot, for the cutaway rig. He rugged
me out in a cottony. secondhand sack outfit,
ena gave me the tiyer in exchange for the good
ssis: That's the reliever act. gentlemen; Thu
kaaeeoa relieves you OF the toys you put up Q
Miont with in exchange for q bum outfit and
me price got back to him the next morning,
sda asked him how much he'd give me to boot,
VIZ any old Kind OF an outfit, for the suit he'd
poudied me the day before. You ought to have
tsen ne rig he put on me then-the high-wateI
HSys that only reached to my shoe tops. vest
snat ne had to split up the back TO get on me
fnd . patched coat that was No. 10. boys size,
ag9t 20 cents TO boot. That was the second
ena nnSl stage Of that ~reliever turn. got over