Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-11-29
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY.
The Conversion
of Philander


but TO get the full meat of it one must
hear IL from the lips OF the chief actor.
touched 10y the strong flavor of humor
lie imparis to it, 1t is quite a different
heroic from the experience" he gives
in prayer meeting. quite as truthful.
but garnishcd with frills OF expression
that are easily forgiven to an old sol
I dier. phiIandcr being veteran of. the
civil war.
His whole name-it comes Of good
stock and is an honorable one-is Phi
lander kile Tucker, and lac was Il men,
Der of the Twenty-eiShth Wisconsin
volunteers, Company &, with the rank
of first sergeant. And one OF the little
| ironies of fate is expressed in The fact
that he fought hard and bravely and
went through the war without q scratch
To find himself many years later badly
wOrsted by an agent of peace. Sergeant
! Tucker believes absolutely that ii was
divine plan carefully laid and carried
out To bring him into the fold.
Il fought men part of my life, but l
fought the Lord all my life. You see, if
l wasn't for him / must he against him.
/ Why, / was Il terror in those days. l
used 10 swear like trooper before l
was converted. By gum, sometimes the
air was blue with suIphur-wasn't it,
wife :"
| YES" admitted Mrs. Tucker with
smile. Her face. with it's corona of
white hair aud pink color. looked as
sweet and serene as a MadOnna's as
she sat opposite her soldier laddie and
heard his oft told tale with the same
amount of interest as If it were new.
You didn't mean any harm, father,
and you We're honest. but you had
/ great gift of swearing. l noticed it
more after you came home from the
war"
! Il always swOre, ever since l could
! speak, but you got kind of used To it.
Cuss words just seemed to come kind
OF natural. When got mad. l swore.
That was before l was converted. What
year was that? II particular
that l can't remember"
ut was along Ia 1907" his wife said.
Sure. You're right. as YOU always
are. ItNwas In September. at O'Clock
in the afternoon. was helping neigh
Dor harvest, and was driving 4 steam
/ traction harvester, aud that was the
time the Lord got ready to- tackle me.
Il was backing mp To- hitch on TO the
separator before moving To the next lot.
and just at that moment the folks came
/ out and asked me To come i'm to supper.
/ wasn't hungry and would rather have
worked than eat. but farmers are kind
OF huffy IL you slight their vittles and
expect hands TO eat early and often.
$50 1 went in 10 supper. and when I
come ont / found that engine blowing
off at 10 pounds OF steam. Whew, IL
was hotter than-no. mother, l won't
swear-than particular. and l swore
then a blue streak. And l don't doubt
the Lord heard me. l certainly swore
loud enough.
"Then l took hold OF the reverse lever
TO back my engine up TO take on the
separator. and the pressure OF steam
was SO great on the valve the lever
pulled like runaway horse. i gave it
a quick, hard jerk. and that lever drop
ped from my hand To the bottom of the
quadrant and that left the ports wide
open, and the engine lit out like wild
fire and run back into the separator,
and when they came together l was
between the two. / was squeezed like Il
lemon between the two machines. and
the engine run thirty feet with me he
fore IT, jounced away from the separa-
tor. i was saying To myself, old boy.
IL you're going tn get out OF this it's
time you were doing something your
self and with that | gave Il shout, and
the men came running up and / was
taken out i'm sections-at least ii seemed
that way then.
Il said: Boys, catch me. | am going
to faint. This is the Lords doing but If
he thinks I'm going TO accept his love
in this fashion he'll find he's mistaken.
II I'm to go over The road, I'll go just
as L am And then l didn't know
another thing for two weeks. And l
wasn't converted then. by guml
But when they had used barn
door to splinter me together and l was
beginning to suffer the pain of healing
wounds l began to wonder why the
Lord hadn't finished the job and
squeezed me out altogether. aud n kind
of feeling came over me that l might as
well give up; il he cared enough about
my soul as to try to save il l might as
we'll help along instead of kicking
against him, as | had done all my life.
And then l up and asked pardon for all
my meanness and promised TO use no
more cusS WoruS, anu II one uOes sup
out now and then-Td kept them on
tap so long-he isn't going To be hard
on me after putting me through what
he did TO get me. Glory halleluiah.'
Here Mrs. Philander ran her hands
over the keys OF the little parIor organ
I'm an anthem of praise. and the old sol
der stood erect, fine figure of man,
and as the music ceased he remarked:
Il tell you what-since 1 made it up
with the Lord I'm the happiest man in
Cook county, by gumr'-Chicago Rec
ord Herald.
Begged Johns Pardon.
At the Old Bailey il was customary
To- sentence fha rvhnIn Of tho r,risnnnrs