News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1900-11-07

| with you from the newspaper ONCE.
Edward Blake will never forget that
little experience with President Royce
| that evening When the time came.
| they went up the stairs and entered
the room together.
II was. as usual pretty well filed.
| although there was much larger
! crowd present later in the evening
Their entrance provoked no especial
notice at first Several boys and young
men were at the tables and number
were trying the new device that Ed
ward had seen Willis try. So they had
| lime enough to take note of details and
| had started to go out again when the
proprietor Of the place, who had seen
the president when he came in, rose
and went over to the door
state your business here, your he
said planting himself in front of the
president.
"State yours sir. first" replied the
president, standing up with an athletic
strength that made the man recoil.
| The president and Edward walked to-
gether to the door. and the man backed
away from it. The crowd in the room
nearest them had turned to see what
was going on, but before anything else
was said the proprietor had turned
back. The president and Edward went
out and down the stairs unmolested.
They at once went to the authorities
and swore out complaint under the
ordinance. and that evening the place
was raided by the police, who arrested
the proprietor in the very act of re-
moving his apparatus, having a sus-
piciOn of what was coming. To relate
briefly the results of all this action on
the presidents and Edwards part, aft
eT many delays of the law and much
technical skirmishing on the part of
the attorneys for the accused, the pro-
prietOr was convicted and sentenced.
The conviction frightened all the other
gamblers in Raynor and closed every
den in the city, for time at least.
The owner of the building was also
guilty under the ordinance, but an at
tempt to convict him failed owing to
his social influence and the use of his
means, and nothing ever came of the
attempt. And yet it is said that the
poor man as well as the rich man has
equal justice shown him in our courts.
Does any one in America today dare
deny that wealth and social position
have it in their power to defeat justice
in our courts? If they do not have
that power, how does it happen that
off ~
penalty of the law they have violated ?
The eutire affair caused a great stir
in Raynor. There was a good deal of
criticism of President Royces course.
Good citizens who were very indignant
always when mention was made of
lawlessness in the city and wanted to
know over their coffee and morning
; paper why something was not done by
somebody to prevent such lawlessness
said that President Royce had done a
, thing unbecoming a president of a col
lege. So undignitied and-and-well-
so lacking--in the-the-best Judgment.
: But the ordinance expressly provided
for testimony to convict. The law of
the state plainly said that it was the
duty of every good citizen to inform
; the authorities of a breach of the law.
The president was a citizen, like other
men, and he had simply done his duty.
, What was there wrong about thati
; Well-it was very undgnitied thing
: to act as a spy-to enter such an in
: famous place-to cOntaminate himself
| with touching the thing, so these
; good citizens said, and yet they were
2 the very men who never did anything
? themselves except to find fault with
| the people for electing bad men to
office or for not enforcing the law in
5 some way. The good citizen of this
! country, of this type, will take his
5 rightful place some time alongside the
lawbreakers and be labeled with his
true name. which is bad" citizen
! with a capital letter "B" for bad"
5 But Edwards experience in the af
e fair did not end with his part in the
trial as one of the witnesses. There
' was another chapter, that might have
5 proved even more exciting for hin
r than it was if his training on the foot
. ball field had not stood him in goot
/, stead
1t was during the week of the trial
l and while the case was still dragging
along with delays on technicalities, ant
! the outcome of it was not certain, thai
5 Edward was surprised one evening II
l one Of the Railways of down town
5 office building by an attack made OF
him by some unknown person.
He had gone up to the top of the
] building to deliver a paper at one OF
the places that he knew was a low
gambling den. Since the arrest of the
gambler up town the proprietor Of this
place had kept very strict watch ant
Edward was not permitted to enter, as
? he sometimes had done. He threw the
5 paper down at the bottom of the door
s as he had been doing for severa
e nights, when some one rushed out of {
S side hallway and struck at him will
/ some heavy article that partly missed
t him In the dark, smashing his hat of
D his head and for a second stunning
| him slightly.
' He instantly turned and grapplet
e with a man when another figure came
e out on the opposite side of the hall ant