Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-11-18
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Case of Grit.
rcopyrieht. 1902, by c. B. Lewis

copyright. 1902. by c. B. Lewis.l
"Yes, it's nice, very NICE" said the
retired capitalist as he put the thou
sand dollar greenback he had been dis
playing back into fat wallet. Its
not only nice to have such things
about, but to look back and remember
that owe all I've got to the state of
Connecticut
But why particulariZe Connecticut"
Because of its laws and because of
its people. When got my diploma as
Il pharmacist, 1 went into business in
that state. In those old days II drug
gist who started in business in Con-
necticut town found about forty old
laws on the statute books to confront
him and render his life miserable, and
the stranger who opened business in n
small town found all other business
men against him. / got n corner store
i'll big village and began to hustle.
The first thing l did was to take full
page al. in II local paper Can you be-
lieve that 1 was arrested for it?"
"On what groundsI" was asked.
For unduly exciting the public,
Yes, sir; the warrant read that 1 was
seeking to stir up anger and excite
ment against public welfare, and was
fined SO and cautioned to 20 slow. l
paid the newspaper $50 for that adj,
and yet the editor came out in the next
issue and said it was evident that u
dangerous agitator had settled in the
community and ought to be carefully
looked afteri 1t was the proprietor of
the other drugstore who instituted the
proceedings against me, and in revenge
l marked all my patent dollar remedies
down to 3 cents That left n humping
big profit, as You know, but in less
than thirty-siX hours l was arrested
again. The charge was that l was
preparing to defraud my creditors. 1
proved that 1 hadn't any, but owned
my stock and had 81, 800 in the bank,
but the court held that there must be
some sort of fraud in my knocking
down prices, and l paid another fine.
L realized by this time that they We're
after me, but l was born of fighting
stock, and made up my mind TO hang
on
"And the next mover
"Well. l had Il grocer next to me and
n shoestore ON the opposite corner.
L
cough medicine to peddle out, and the
shoe man put lot of sponges and
tOothbrushes on sale. ut once bought
two barrels of sugar and sold it at n
cent less n pound than the grocer, and
l got case of boots worth So Il pair
and gave every man his choice for
$50. l made those fellows tired in
about three days, and they had me
arrested for false pretenSeS. l turned
about and hauled 'em up for selling
goods not covered by their licenses,
and they let go of me as if they'd
picked up Il hot potato. Meanwhile the
other druggist was laying for me
again. There was n law that every
prescription should be filed with the
town clerk, but, not knowing of ii.
had taken no steps. l pleaded guilty
when arrested and was fined $40 and
costs. / wanted to get even. of course,
and the chance soon occurred. He Wis
tied his store on Sunday to see that all
was right, and 1 swore out n warrant,
and he had to fork over 50. The law
at that time even kept man out of his
own store on Sunday unless in case of
fire or serious illness.
"a dry goods man went into toilet
soaps, and l bought and almost gave
away calico enough to last that county
ten years. When l had settled him,
bookstore man took up scidlitz pow
ders and pills, and supplied the town
with free paper and envelopes. | had
got the better of him when / was fined
for using obnoxious language. 1t
wasn't anything / said. but q sign in
the window reading You've All Got
EN-, but I've Got the Cure 1t was
a cold foot remedy, but the judge de-
cided that the sign might refer to bugs
and other things and was at any rate
icalculated to shock sensitive people. |
paid the usual fine and Shouldered my
gun to get back at the chap who
swore out the warrant. He was a
furniture man and Il church deacon,
and after a bit l had him fined So for
obstructing the sidewalk with a bed
stead. AS to trade and profits, l hadn't
any, of course, but as my expenses
were light and my stock all paid for l
could afford to hang on. When they
had made n general boycott on me, ]
used to go off fishing and hunting, and,
Queerly enough, was arrested for
that. Under an old law. which read
that n drugstore must he kept open
during reasonable hours on weekdays.
/ was fined SO and costs. My rival
was the man who caused it, and the
very next day | got even with him.
A chimney burned out, and he rang
the fire bell The law read that any
person ringing the bell unless there
was fire was guilty of n misde-
meanor, and as there was no fire it
Ia, To
But they let you alone ut last"
was asked by one of the listeners.
''Yes, after year or two more of
it." replied the retired druggist.
"And then you shook hands over the
chasm and began to make your million
and a half?" was asked as the retired