The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-26

poverty and degrees of flats. One man
may be in possession of moiety of the
mythical million. which is the unit of
real wealth, having an income from it
Of $4,000 a year, and more than ell of it
10 spent to maintain himself and his fam
lily among their richer associates. He
cannot afford to have a home, so he lives
IN a fat for the sake of economy, another
one of the euphenisms of poverty. Again
there are the $4,000 class, the 100000
class, the $4,000 class and so on down
the ladder of dollars until the end IS
reached in the cheap structures, which
may n0< even be called flats, but are
known as tenenents. Down at the bot
tom Of the ladder, il may seem difficult
enough for the strugglers to live but 1t
fl not more so than il is for those who
Struggle farther up the ladder. The de-
gree of difficulty is not measured by those
who struggle, but by that with which they
struggle.
JOuu Tankerman was considerably
above the bottom rung of the ladder. He
had a thrifty wife, two sons and two
daughters, and salary Of $4,000 year;
Just enough to leave none for a rainy
day which so often comes 20 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 "hadnt a gown fit TO wear"
He had worried all day, and had gone to
bed early athena tizing poverty, and
wondering why every man ana woman
did not have an even hundred thousand
dollars each, so they would all be in
dependent and happy. This was a very
reasonable amount he thought, seeing
that man must have million to be
rich and this was but a 1.-THE of that.
It was his last thought as he turned on
his pillow, and the cheer of it seemed
10 soothe him to rest.
He must have oversight himself, for he
awolNe with that peculiar start, one, un-
der such circumstances, once more re-
sumes his daily onsciousness of the
world, and finds the light streaming in
upon him. 1t was at least an hour later
than usual, because the sun shone on a
certain spot near the window, which he
noted from his bed only on Sunday morn
ings when he allowed himself the de-
hcious luxury of an extra wink or two
that he had no time for on weekday
mornings He called 90 his wife, who,
strange TO say. was as derelict as her
lord, and when she responded by q sud-
den jump as If the house were on fire,
Mr.. Tankerman spoke.
BLESS me. Jane" he said, what can be
the matter with the cook this morning?
IT'S far after her time and there's no
sign of her I've been depending so long
on her to wake me up that 1 simply
slept on when she didn't haven't heard
the janitor. either nor the elevator run
ming, and the milk or the bread hasn't
put in an appearance yet. It's dead quiet
on the street too. / wonder If it could
have showed everything under during the
night" and he smiled at his vapid little
Joke. for 1t was a June morning, and the
air was delicious.
Tn sure l don't know what's the mat
ter" responded his wife, visibly annoy
ed, and, hurrying about as fast as she
could, finally going to the door to take
on observation in the hall for further in
formation.
Presently she returned, bringing two
large, legal looking envelopes in her
hands
u don't know" she said, where the
cook Is or what has happened, but here
Is something for each Of us that may
explain. I wish Mary had let me know
II anything is the matter"
She handed one Of the envelopes to her
husband, and as he tore It open she did
the same with the one sull in her pos
session. 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 let
tiers. II ran as follows:
Herewith please find 100000 Zone hun
orei thousand dollars) In the currency
or Che realm 10 be used as you see 1T"
Af first Mr.. Tankerman was stunned,
although the fun force OF the discovery
had not struck him. because he ala not
Instantly realize the measure OF his good
fortune. and he shortly recovered sun
GENTLY 10 make on investigation. With
fingers that seemed % stumble over each
other, he counted the money thus mys-
terloualy come into his hands. while poor
Mr. Tnnkerman, utterly overcome, had
fnt fat down on The floor, ciuichinR the
money 20 her bosom and Laughing hys-
tericsily When Mr.. Tankerman was sure