Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1901-07-20
TT MADE HIM A HERO.
AN ACT THAT BROUGHT A LAWYER
FAME AND FORTUNE.


sight" said a man who most decidedly
does not, would be greatly aston ned
TO know how little is seen by those who
are ncnrsighted even in a moderate de-
gree. The average ShOrtSightcd 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 OBJ
jects becomes haZy and indiStinct,
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-
eS, their figures are destitute of de-
tail, signs are indeciphcrable 80 feet
away, ana the whole movement of traf
fic and passing show of the thorough
fare is Il misty panorama, in which
nothing much smaller than a cab can
be definitely distinguished.
"Of course a ncn-sighted person can
see as we'll as anybody through prop
erly fitted glasses, but a great many
folks regard them as such a disfigure-
mcnt 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 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 it actually saved n mans life
and laid the foundation of n fortune.
The hero of the episode was law
yer in n city in Ohio where | spent my
boyhood. lie was beyond middle age
at 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
trinity a secret. The consequence of
this folly was n wide reputation for
haUghtinrss, as he rarely recognized
anybody on the street, and it undoubt-
edly 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.
"Thc 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 n reform movement. The
good looking lawyer-call him Colonel
Jones for cOnvenienCe-waS one of the
reformcrs, and, among other things, he
made himself active in securing in
dictmentS against a number of gam
bling house keepers.
THE boss rngster of the place was a
typical bully and ward politician nam.
ed Harding, who was financially inter-
ested in several of the games and nat
urally furious ut any interference. He
was a 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
on, Colonel Jones was rash enough to
write a newspaper card in which he
scored the authorities for allowing such
a rutiian to defeat the ends of justice.
1.-The colonel looked like n soldier, but
he was really very bland and peace
able gentleman, and he never dreamed
that his little effusiOn 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 n bar across the street, called
him by name and at the same time lev
eled six shooter at his head. At that
distance all cOOns looked alike to 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 reckoning him to
come over.
"a little surprised, but still perfectly
placid, he started to cross the street.
Harding glarcd Mt him in amaZcmcnt
and once or twice was on the point Of
pulling the trigger, but the spectacle
of that serene and dignitied 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, 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 a
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 rcformcrS went into control, and
tie colonel was elected mayor by ire
mcndOus majority. He served two
terms, built up one of the biggest law
prac'"' in that part of the state and
died IA nearly a quarter of a mil
lion dollars.
''ln explanation of my inside knowl-
edge OF the case l don't mind saying
that he was a distant relative of mine,
and in the family circle, where his
nearsightedness was we'll 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 had promised
to pay him fee that mOrning."-N
Orleans Times Democrat.