Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-25

John Tankerrnan lived In a fiat. and he
had been living in for so long a time
that he scarcely knew to the contrary.
The fiat population of the world Is. l
fancy several hundred thousand, OF whom
probably several belong to that population
entirely from choice. 1t Is difficult to i'm
asine any person preferring a home In
fat 10 one all to ones self with. perhaps, a
batch of pretty garden at the rear, DIT Oh
green velvet dooryard in front and great
clusters of soft purple wisieria bloom hang-
ing caressingly over a long, low, lazy porch
before the windows. peeping out TO the
shady street; but there are such people,
and I have put their number vaguely at
several which may mean as few as possible
more than one
With this condition confronting the in
Quirer. it may very reasonably be asked
why the people live in this. And 1t may
be answered that they do so Tor the Same
reason that John Tankerman did. 10 W.T.
because he knew the touch of poverty that
transforms the would that we wish into the
must that We have. Not that John Tan
herman was poor. for he was not that: nor
are thousands who live in flats. You must
know that there are degrees OF poverty ana
degrees of.f flats. One man may be IN pos
session of a moety of the mythical million,
which is the unit of real wealth. having an
income from 1t of So 900 year, and more
than all of ii Is spent to maintain himself
and his family among their richer asso-
ciates. He cannot afford to have home
so he lives in fiat for the sake OF econo-
my another one of the euphemsms of pow
erty Again there the S2O.oO class.
the 800 OpD class the $4,000 class, and so
on down the ladder of dollars until the end
liz reached In the cheap structures. which
may not even be called flats, but are known
as tenements Down at the bottom OF the
ladder il may seem difficult enough for the
srrnpglarS n live but Ii more 50
than ii is for those who struggle farther up
the ladder. The degree of difficulty is not
measured by those who struggle, but by
that with which they struggle.
John Tankerman considerably above
the bottom rung of the ladder. He had
thrifty wife. two and two daughters,
and a salary of $1,000 year; just enough
to leave none for rainy day, which SO
often comes TO those of his kind. At the
moment of this chronicle John Tankerman
was miserable because the last dollar OF
the months revenue had gone TO meet the
annual dues on his life insurance. and the
girls wanted new hats the boys needed
new shoes and the wife hadn't gown nj
to wear. He mad worried all day, and mad
gone TO bed early, matchmaking poverty,
and wondering why every man and woman
did not have an even hundred thousand dol
lars each, they would all be independent
and happy. This was a very reasonable
amount. he thought, seeing that q man
must have a million TO be rich, and this
was but 1.-THE of that. 1t was his last
thought as he turned his pillow, and
the cheer of it seemed to soothe him 10
rest.
He must have OVERSIGHT himself, for he
awoke with that peculiar start when one, I'M
der such circumstances. once more resumes
his daily consciousness of the world. ana lndS
the light streaming in upon him 1t was at
least hour later than usual, because the
sun shone on a certain spot near the Win
dow which he noted from his bed only on
Sunday mornings when he allowed himself
the delicious luxury of an extra wink or
two that he had no time for on week day
mornings. He called to his wife. who.
strange to say, dereltct as her lord.
and when she responded by sudden jump
as if the house were on fire. Mr.. Tanker
man spoke
..Bess me- Jane" he said. what can be
the matter with the cook this morning? It's
Tar after her time and there's sign of
her I've been depending long on her to
wake me up that | simply slept on when
she didn't. | haven't heard the janitor,
either, nor the elevator running, and the
milk or the bread hasn't put IN an appear
anCe yet. It's dead quiet the street,
too. | wonder If It could have showed
= everything under during the night" and
he smiled at his vapid little joke, for it was
a June morning. and the air was delicious.
I'm 1 don't know what's the mat
ter responded his wife, visibly annoyed.
and hurrying about fast she could,
finally going to the door to take OBJ
servation In the hall for further informa-
ton
large. legal-looking envelopes In her hands.
Il don't know. she said where the cook
Is or what has happened, but here Is some-
thing for each of US that may explain. l
wish Mary had let me know If anything is
the matter.
She handed of the envelopes to her
husband, and as he tore 1t open she did the
same with the one still in her possession.
and out of each came neat package OF
bank bills and a note. The note was very
brief, without date line or signature. and
was printed in red letters. 1t ran as fol-
lows:
Herewith please find 100000 Zone hun
dred thousand dollars) in the currency Of
the realm. to be used you see fit
At first Mr. Tankerman was stunned, al
though the full force Of the discovery had
not struck him, because he did not instant
ly realize the measure of his good fortune
and he shortly recovered sufficiently to
make investigation. With fingers that
seemed to stumble over each other he
Sounted the money thus mysteriously come
Into his hands, while poor Mrs. Tankerman,