The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1903-03-25
spoke in lstonishmenr.

thinks otherwise. She Will never DE
my wife"
s:It's not so serious break as that:'
G'he older man spoke with great kind
ness and came nearer. BE was really
fond Of Gordon, and the unexpected
news affected him deeply.
"Ycs, sir. To make long story short,
l. asked Luella to go into Hope House
as q resident with me. She refused
and
Into Hope House! and you eS-
pected her to live there With you:'
Il certainly asked her to. Whether l
expected her to or not, am not quite
so certain
'You asked too much!" The words
came sharp and incisive, and john Cor
don at first shcank back rs if from q
blow. "Iou had no right to expect q
girl brought up as Luella has been to
make such q complete change in her
life as such a course would demand. 1t
was unreasonable"
perhaps it was," replied John Cor.
don quietly. Nevertheless made it,
and r.
"You have come to ask my inter
cession with Luella? am sorry, but I
don't think I can ever grant it. As |
say, your demand is unreasonable. I
don't object so much to the reform
business I have heard you discuss, but
there are extremes l cannot sanction.
would never wish to see my daughter
living in such surroundings as those of
Hope House"
II have not come to ask you to make
any intercessioD for me, Mr.. Marsh.
The matter between Luella and myself
has been settled by her own refusal,
and am not going to trouble her or
you by any pleading"
"Why-why''- Mr.. Marsh seemed
unable 10 frame sentence that fitted
the occasion, and John said calmly:
What came TO see You about, Mr..
Marsh, is matter connected with GER
tain tenement property on Bowen street,
in the Waterside district, near Hope
House. l have been making certain in
vestigations there, and in the course ct
them I find that you own Or control
tenements Nos. 81 and 81.
Mr.. Marsh struck bell On his desk,
and when a clerk appeared he asked
him to bring a volume from the safe.
When it was brought and the clerk had
gone out, be turned oveI: the pages IN
til he came to a certain number.
'.Ninety-one and 81. That's right.
Fronting Bowen street and in the Wa
terside district. Well?'
John Gordon paused moment. He
had not the remotest inkling as to Mr..
Marsh's probable action. His expert
ence with his father had given him
reason to believe that what Miss An
drews had said about the Golden Rule
in business was only too true. Besides,
If that experience had not come to
him there remained the deadening fact
of the tenements themselves, which
preached powerfully Of the landlords
neglect.
sSThcse tenements, Mr.. Marsh, are
simply q disgrace to civilization. do
not like to believe thai you know the
real facts about thera, and have
come here today to asl: you as a man,
with a mans feelings and with
mans powers, to helE' right some or
the dreadful wrongs that humanity
suffers in those buildings"
Mr.. Marsh did not move q muscle.
There was not quiver or q change
of color on his face to indicate to John
Gordon whether he was angry CT indif-
ferent or interested, and the first
question he asked when John Gordon
paused did not reveal to Gordon the
mans feelings.
"Why don't you so to the board Of
health and make a complaint"
"N-ill you go with me, Mr.. Marsh?
But don't go there first because you,
as the owner of the property, can, if
YOU will, make most Of these wrong
conditions right. Take, for example,
the double decker, the dumbbell tene-
mentsNo. 81. That is simply IN in
stance Of the worst form Of tenement
building in existence. There is moth
ing to compare with it, not even in the
cities of the old world. The testimony
of rs high an authority as Jacob Riis
says, The committee after looking IN
vain throughout the slums of the old
world cities for something to COM
pare the double deckers with declared
that in their setting the separateness
and sacredness of home life were in
terfered with and evils bred, physical
and moral, that conduce to the corrup-
ton of the young That, this is true
must be evident, Mr.. Marsh, to any
man who knows the construction Of
these houses. And as owner of one Of
them you must be more or less IA
miliar with their evils, and I plead
with you to help remove them as far as
possible"
There was a moment of very embar-
RAISING silence, which Mr.. Marsh final
ly broke by saying:
ITO be very frank with you, Gordon.
I must tell you l never have seen the
property you describe"
"Never saw it! And you are the
ownerr'
The lots came into my possession
lust before I went abroad five years
ago. Ny agent was instructed to put
up tenements on the lots. The actual
work was done while was away. II
certainly does not sound very humane
or even businesslike, but the fact is
have never been down to look after the
property. Davis is very prompt With
his remittances, and the teAements
have been good paying investments.
From his specifications and plans as
he submitted them from the contractor
I understood the buildings were sub
stantial, and they certainly have
proved a source of steady and hand
some income. You say they are called
dumbbell tenemcnts or double deck