Hutchinson gazette., 1900-08-16
LUCK AND ooINcIDENoL.


NlShLNlAi hWlll OHu| VI " group VI
late workers to q New Orleans Tlmea
man, "l remember u queer story along
tll0l llne,' he continued, (which once
| heard from the elder Hermann, In
his onIllcr performances, as you recall,
hc made u feature OF n clever second
call on mind.repdlng act lie would
request people from the audience to sc'
lect small articles, which would then
be described by Il blndfoldcd assistant
on the stnge, As u multer Of fact, Herr
mann really gave the cue 10 the de-
scrlption mthe way he framed his ques.
tions, but II wNs very deN.erlously done
aud not one person In u thousand
"cOught on"
zone evening, Ms he told his story,
he was giving nm entertainments In IN
Ohio city and was just returning to
the stage after u mnd-rendlng special
ty when an elderly gentleman sudden
ly jumped up at the ether end OF the
house. II this thing Is genuine he
called out In loud voice, Il want to
you to tell me what card | ann think
ing about at this moment The man
was n wealthy merchant and known
as somewhat OF crank on spiritual
ism, OF course, Herman had no idea
what he was thinking about, but he
replied without hesitation, 1T is the
deuce OF clubs, his intention being to
turn the laugh on the old fellow by
some bit of repartee when he declared
the guess was wrong. But, 10 the ma
sssal .fs i.,Ia ma hn
rhised both hands in the air md bel
lowed, Correct by thunderl' This
mlracuously lucky and wholly unex-
pected hit made profound impression
on the audience and no doubt convert
ed many 10 the belief OF mlnd-relding.
Hermann told me that the proprietor
Of the theatre, who was an old personal
friend, was very curious to know how
the thing was done, and when he was
finally Informed In confidence that II
was mere luck, he declined TO credit
the explanation, 1t was too simple to
suit him"
"Ooincdcnccs do play an important
pNrt in every day life" commented an
other party, "and dare say they have
been the pivot on which many nm event
OF the first magnitude has turned, One
ease of the kind cnme under my per-
sonnl observance when first went into
business in New Orleans. AT that time
there was large mercantile house,
located IN the same block that did an
immense business with planters up the
river. As usual in that trade, they OPP
Grated on II credit bnsis, and occasion.
ally they carried some formidable nc.
counts. The largest of these at the
period Of which ! speak was against
u planter who had had bad luck and
allowed the majority Of his bills to
run over for several seasons, The firm
believed him to be good aud although
the amount involved amounted away
up into the thousands they decided not
to press him. in full confidence that
the money would ultimately be paid,
zone day the planter came TO New
Orleans on some business, and while
he was still in town a member OF the
firm Glanced to see him in u n0ary's
Office to get acknowledgement Of some
local papers. AS he entered the oillccG
he overheard one of the clerks in an
adjoining room asked another whether
had campleted the plantation transfer
to Colonel IS mother You know
he wants to take it all up with him
when he goes home tonight, he added.
Colonel ---, was The delinquent debtor,
and the accidental remark was like
the revelation Of flash of lightning in
n dark night The merchant said no.
thing, but transacted his own business
as speedily ns possible and hurried
back. Then he wired local attorney
10 institute proceedings, and when
the planter arrived home he found ev-
crything tied up with an attachment.
He was forced to make settlement in
full and doesn't know to this day how
his plans were so suddenly ycheckmNted,
Five seconds sooner or later in that Wis.
it to the notary's would have made n
difference of many thousands of del.
lars DO the firm"
81 think cnn tie that story myself"
said one Of the party. "Do you remem.
ber the death of Lewis Redwine, a not
ed bank dcfaulter of Atlanta, Ca. who
created an immense sensation some
years ago? Well, when he was placed
on tTial Redwne maintained stub.
born silence, and he was convicted and
sentenced to five years in the federal
penitentiary at Columbus, o. 1t was
generally believed that he would break
down when he actually started for the
prison and implicate some people who
stood high socially, and the papers de-
cided to send reporters to the train
with him, For some reason the au
thorities didn't approve of the plan
and arranged to slip him out of town
day in advance of the time officially
given out. The train was to leave at
noon, and about twenty minutes before
that hour reporter, out on other busi.
ness, happened Ito use a telephone in
down town store. While he was TALK
ing the wires became crossed and he
heard a voice say: we have arranged
for the train to stop at the outskirts Of
town to-day to take Redwne.' lie re-
cognized the voice as ,nnt Of the deputy
marshal talking to the jailer, and re-
allied in flash that a scheme was on
foot Ito get the noted prisoner out Of
the city twenty-four hours ahead of
time. He dashed away from the store
and got to his office in time TO draw
S25 and caught the train. Redwine
didn't confess after ALL but that does
NOT affect the marvellous coincidence OF