Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1901-05-23
TT MADE HIM A HERO.
AN ACT THAT BROUGHT A LAWYER
! FAME AND FORTUNE.

1t Looked Like nm Exhibition Of
Pure Nerve and Daring, hut In
Reality III Wns Simply IN Outcome
of His Ncarsightcdncss.
"a person who enjoys good eye
sight" said man who most decidedly
does not, would be greatly astonishcd
to know how little Is seen by those who
are nearsightcd even In moderate de.
gree. The average shortsighted man,
of whom there are hundreds in every
large city, secs nothing distinctly mere
than q foot away from his nose. BE.
yond that distance the outline Of OBJ
jccts becomes hazy and indistlnct,
growing rapidly more and more SO I'M
til everything Is finally merged into
one general blur. The faces Of people
across the street are mere pink blotch.
cs, their figures are destitute Of dc.
tail, signs are indcciphcrable 80 feet
away, and the whole movement Of traf-
tlc and passing show of the thorough
fare Is misty panorama, In which
nothing much smaller than cab can
be definitely distinguished.
"Of course nearsghted person can
see rs well as anybody through prop.
crly fitted glasses, but great many
folks regard them as such dlsflgure-
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 ninc-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 mans life
and laid the foundation Of fortune.
1.-THE hero Of the episode was law
yer in city In Ohio where spent my
boyhood. He was beyond middle age
Mt the time, but was straight as an ar
row and 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 secret. The consequence Of
this folly was n wide reputation for
haughtlncss, as he rarely recognized
anybody on the street, and it undOubt-
any rate, he had never made anIiG
more than very modcsty
the curious incident havGV
cured.
"The city government had be
long time under ring rule" CO..
the story teller, "and 1t finally be-
so bad that the decent people rcvolt~
and organized a reform movement. The
good looking lawyer-call him Colonel
Jones for Cunvencnce-was one OF the
rcformcrS, and, among other things, he
made himself active in securing In
dictmcnts against n number of gam
bling house keepers.
"Thc boss ringstcr Of the place was a
typical bully and ward politician NAM
cd Harding, WHO was financially inter
cstCd In several Of the games and nat
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
holcd, and. learning what was going
on, Colonel Jones was rash enough to
write a newspaper card IN which he
scored the authorities for allowing such
ruiiian to defeat the ends Of justice.
THE colonel looked Ike a soldier, but
he was really very bland and peace
able gentleman, ana he never dreamed
that his little cflusion would get him
into personal difficulty. On the morn
Ing the card appeared he was walking
calmly to his office when Harding rush
ed out of bar across the street, called
him by name and at the same time lev
clcd six shooter at his head At that
distance all coOnS looked alike to the
ncarsightcd lawyer and, turning in the
direction Of the voice, he made out the
vague figure Of man with outstrctch-
cd arm apparently bcckoning him to
come over.
~ little surprised, but still perfectly
placid, he started TO cross the street.
Harding glarcd at him In amaZement
and once or twice was on the point Of
pulling the trigger, but the spectacle
Of that serene and dignifcd figure
calmly advancing straight on the muz-
gle of the gun was too much for his