Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-04-23
IT MADE HIM 4 HERO.
AN ACT THAT BROUGHT a LAWYER
FAME AND FORTUNE

IL Looked Like an Exhibition of
Pure Nerve and Daring. hut In
Reality Ii Was simply an Outcome
of His Nearsightedne~..
~ person who enjoys good eve
sight" said man who most decidedly
does not. would be greatly astonishei
TO know how little is seen by those who
are nearslghted even in Il moderate do
gree. The average shorrsighted man,
of whom there are hundreds in every
large city, sees nothing distinctly more
than a foot away from his nose. BE
yond that distance the outline Of oh
jects becomes hazy and indistiuct.
growing rapidly more and more 80 un-
til everything is finally merged into
one general blur. The faces of people
across the street are mere pink blotch-
IS. their figures are destitute Of de
tail, signs are indecipherablc 80 feet
away. and the whole movement Of traf
nc and passing show of the thorough
fare is a misty panorama. in which
nothing much smaller than a cab can
be definitely distinguished.
.Of course a nearsighted person can
see as well as anybody through prop
erly fitted glasses, but a great many
folks regard them as such a disfigure
ment that they prefer TO do without
their aid. That kind OF pride is GER
taInly very foolish because it causes
one to miss at least nine tenths or
what is going on. TO say nothing of be
ing an open invitation TO accident.
~ an In,
which il actually saved a mans life
and laid the foundation of Il fortune.
The hero of the episode was a law
yer in city in Ohio where | spent my
boyhood. He was beyond middle age
at the time. but was straight as an ar
row and decide IDLY handsome, soldier
ly looking parsonage. These good looks
Of his We're his weak point. and al
though he was extremely nearsighled
he was vain enough TO deny himself
glasses and kept the fact of his in
trinity a secret. The consequence of
this folly was a wide reputation for
haughtiness. as he rarely recognized
ybody on the street. and il undoubt-
edly damag ed him in his practice. At
any rate, he had never made anything
more than a very modest living when
the curious incident | have in mind Oc
CURED.
The city government had been for
long time under ring rule" continued
the story teller, land it finally became
so bad that the decent people revolted
and organized a reform movement. The
good looking lawyer-call him Colonel
Jones for conyenience-was one of the
reformers, and, among other things. he
made himself active in securing in
dictments against a number of gam
bling house keepers.
The boss ringster of the place was a
typical bully and ward politician nam
ed Harding. who was financially inter
urally furious at any interference. He
was giant physically. he would fight
at the drop of Il hat. and the personal
fear he 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
)n. Colonel Jones was rash enough TO
write newspaper card in which he
scored the authorities for allowing such
| ruttian to defeat the ends of justice.
The colonel looked like a soldier, but
he was really a very bland and peace
able gentleman. and he never drea med
hat his little effusion would get him
INTO personal difficulty. On the morn.
ng the card appeared he was walking
calmly to his office when Harding rush
ad out of Il bar across the street. called
him by name and at the same time lev
aled a six shooter at his head. At that
distance all coons looked alike 10 the
nearsighted lawyer, and, turning in the
direction of the voice, he made out the
vague figure of a man with outstretch
ed arm apparently beckonins him TO
come over.
"A little surprised. but still perfectly
placid. he started to cross the street
glared at him in amazemeut
and once or twice was on the point of
pulling the trigger. but the spectacle
Of that serene and dignified 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 ANONYMOUSLY fed.
Needless to say, the episode made
tremendous sensation, aud Jones. who
bad sense enough to hold his tongue,
was the popular hero Of the hour.
on the contrary, was ruined.
for his prestige had disappeared like s
fash of lightning. and, unable to stand
the disgrace of the affair he quietly
sold out his belongings and left the
city. That broke the back of the ring.
the reformers went 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 of the state and
died worth nearly quarter of mil
lion dollars.
.In explanation of my inside knowl
edge of the case | don't mind saying
that he was distant relative of mine
and in the family circle. where his
nearsightedneSs was well known. he
owned up to the facts as a good joke.
He said he had a vague idea when he
started across the street that Harding
was a farmer client who bad promised
to pay him n fee that morning New
Orleans Times Democrat.