The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-04-24
1T MADE HIM A HERO.
AN ACT THAT BROUGHT A LAWYER
FAME AND FORTUNE.


II Looked Like an Exhibition OF
Pure Nerve and Daring, but In
Reality 1t Was simply an Outcome
OF His Standardization
"A person who enjoys good eve.
sight" said a man who most decidedly
does not. would be greatly astonished
TO know how little is seen by those who
are nearslghted even IN moderate dc.
gree, The average shortsighted man,
of whom there are hundreds In every
large city, sees nothing distinctly more
than foot away from his nose. Be.
yond that distance the outline of oh.
Jects becomes hazy and indistlnct,
growing rapidly more and more so un.
til everything Is finally merged into
one general blur. The faces of people
across the street are mere pink blotch.
es, their figures are destitute of de.
tail. signs are indecipherable 80 feet
away and tho S,shsiv $780, ...~-.4 .. -
flc and passing show OF the thorough.
fare is misty panorama, In which
nothing much smaller than n cab can
10 ueuulteiy uisllllb uiSHeu.
"Of course nearsighted person can
see us well as anybody through prop.
erly fitted glasses, but great many
folks regard them as such Il dishgure
ment that they prefer to do without
their aid. That kind of pride Is GER
tainly very foolish because 1t causes
one TO miss at least nlne-tenths OF
what Is going on, TO say nothing OF be-
ing an open invitation to accident.
Yet, oddly enough, | know of a case In
which 1t actually saved Il mans life
and laid the foundation of Il fortune.
"The hero of the episode was a law
yer In n city In Ohio where l spent my
boyhood. He was beyond middle age
Mt the time, but was straight rs an ar
row and II decidedly handsome. soldier
ly looking parsonage. These good looks
Of his were his weak point, and al
though he WAS extremely nearsighted
he was vain enough to deny himself
glasses and kept the fact of his In
FIRMLY II secret. The consequence of
this folly WIS ii wide reputation for
haughtiness, as he rarely recognized
ANY tttiN bl1 lile SlIttl, uuN II uHuOuDt-
eddy damaged him In his practice. At
any rate, he had never made anything
more than very modest living when
the curious incident ! have In mind oc-
CURED.
The city government had been for II
long time under ring rule" continued
the story teller, "nnd Ii finally became
so bad that the decent people revolted
aud organized a reform movement. The
good looking lawyer-call him Colonel
Jones for convenience-was ole of the
reformers, and, among other things, he
made himself active In securing In
dictments against II number of gam,
bling house keepers.
"The boss ringster of the place was n
typical bully and ward politician NAM
ed Harding, who was financially inter
ested In several of the games and nat
nrallu furious at any zintsss"rsss,aas Lis
WIS giant physically. he would fighl
at the drop of IL hat. and the personal
fear lie inspired was really the secret
of his Influence After the gambling
indictments were found he proceeded
to use his pull TO have them pigeon
holed and, learning what was going
on, Colonel Janes was rash enough To
write n newspaper card In which he
scored the authorities for allowing such
rufian to defeat the ends of Justice.
"fhe colonel looked Ike Il soldier. but
he was really n very bland ana peace
able gentleman, and he never dreamed
that his little cffusion would get him
into personal difficulty. on the morn.
Ing the card appeared lac WAS walking
calmly To his office when Harding rush
ed out of bar across the street called
him by name and ut the same time lev
cled six shooter at his head Atthat
distance all coons looked alike TO the
nearsighted lawyer, and. turning IN the
direction of the voice. he made cut the
vague figure of II man with outstretch
ed arm apparently Reckoning him 10
come over.
"a little surprised. bat ain perfectly
placid, he started to cross the street
Harding eared at him In anazement
and once or twice was on the poiut of
pulling the trigger but the spectacle
OF that serene and dIgnliicd figure
calmly advancing straight on the muz-
Zle Of the gun was Too much for his
nerves, and before the colonel travers.
ed half the distance he dropped the
weapon and lgnominiously fed.
Needless to say, the episode made II
tremendous sensation. and Jones, who
had sense enough to hold his tongue.
was the popular hero of the hour.
Harding, on the contrary, was ruined,
for his prestige had disappeared like q
flash of lightning. and. unable to stand
the disgrace or the affair, he quietly
sold out his belongings and left the
city. That broke the back OF the ring
the reforHers weat Into control, and
the colonel was elected mayor by tire
mendous majority. He served two
terms. built up one Of the biggest law
practices In that part or the state and
died worth nearly n quarter OF mil
lion dollars
'Tn explanation of my Inside knowi.
edge of the case | don't mind saying
that be was a distant relative OF mine,
and in the family circle, where his
nearsightcdness was well known. he
owned up to tL1 facts as good Joke.
He said he had II vague idea when he
started across the street that Harding
was farmer client who had promised
20 pay him fee that morning. New
Orleans Times Democrat
Not Troubled.
I.ota frapapt osLad vou whom |