The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13

something of the extent of the poverty existing in this great city of New York in which we live"
 The club members, among whom wal an artist rendered somewhat conspicuous by the length of his locks and the exceed ing breadth of his soft black tie, ht their cigars as Reynolds rose.
 Tt was snowing"-he began.
 Skip all that" hastily put in news paper man. "Of course. if 1t was Christ mas eve. it was showing"
 "The hapless outcasts in the park had ranged themselves as nearly as possible according to the tree branches; but. being large in number. they over-lapped them. some to the length of two branches or more, so that these sat unprotected from the snow, which softly soaked theml'
 The newspaper man raised his hand admonishingly.
 "wm you permit me. Arr. President" interrupted he. ''to suggest that all de- scription be eliminated? Otherwise we'll be sitting here in broad day light"
 Tt may be as we'll" assented the pres ident suavely. ito omit descriptions of scenery. for. as the gentleman has just , stated, 1t may have the effect of cetain- ing us longer than is absolutely neces- sary."
 Reynolds, reaching for glass of wa ter, wet his lips before he began again. I buttoned my overcoat to the throat" he said then, "for the wind was raw and keen. and walked up to the first tramp I came to. He sat near the foun- tain on the corner seat of a long bench. I touched him gently on the sleeve and said to him:
 My good man. how come you to be here?"
 The 6awapanar man IeanAd forward ab- sorbedly his eyes agleam. Were those your exact wordsT" he | inquired in so rapt a manner that the president once more let fall the fork.
 Reynolds. disdainlng the question. sought in several pockets for a pocket handkerchief, and. finding one at length. delicately ,mopped his Ids.
 'The story he told" he stammered, would have brought tears to the eyes of the coldest hearted. ~-,
 Tt was not so different from the usual run of such stories" faltered Reynolds. | "He had seen better days;l he had not always been obliged to sleep in a park. etc.; he had a wife and two ciildren;. he had been unable to support them; they were all three with his wife's mother. As I say. 1t was not so much the story as his manner of telling 1t. It affected you beyond description It couldn't help but affect you. I took a i've dollar bill from my vest pocket and thrust 1t into his hand"
 And then" queried the president. what did he do?'
 He became so deeply affected" re- turned Reynolds. that whirled about and left him. unwilling to witness the overwhelming nature of his gratitude"
 He sat down. The artlst coughed slight ly. covered his mouth with his hand A moment. relit his cigar which had gone quite out, and blew the smoke to the cell ing.
 The president motioned to his neighbor to rise. His name was Caruthers. He scanned his listeners attentivelN frown- ing as he talked.
 My experience" said he "resembled to a certain degree that of my friend Reynolds there I must have visited the same park. Union park, was it?" with nod to Reynolds.
 Yes, replied Reynolds: "Union park"
 "l circled the fountain" he went on. and proceeded to a long bench, where l stopped near seedy looking indiyid- ual who in spite of the steady fall of snow sat mapping there. I tapped him on the shoulder, reused him from his sleep and asked his history It was ram bling. as that related by Reynolds. He had seen better days. Most of us have He had not always slept in parks. Few have. And, like Reynolds tramp. he had