The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-02
HOW TRAMP GOT FORTUNE.

Minneapolis Tribune.

~AA@AACnBOAAc lAADhnC.
1.-TWO months ago." said Reginald w. Bill
ger, a prosperous looking resident Of Du-
luth, " L was as poor as a country justice
of the peace, and had no prospects beyond
a broken Jack-knife and a plug OF tobacco.
To-day l am worth over $4,000. 1 made
every cent OF IL myself by my own efforts.
l do not mean that l made the money by
counterfeiting, but that / earned it"
Mr.. Bilger was sitting comfortably in an
easy leather chair in one of Minneapolis's
most prominent hostelries, calmly smoking
a good scent cigar with the gusto of a
connoisseur.
He continued:
II should like to give the youth OF this
country an object lesson in the value OF
strenuous perseverance,. How, even from no
beginnings at all, a man may acquire repu-
tation and wealth and the ability TO pour
down several Scotch highballs one right
after the other without showing that he is
unused to the game.
My young friend. two months ago I was
a ragged tramp, many, nea-bitten, with a
vivid desire TO loaf and surround al tho
free handouts ! could annex. Two months
ago to-day 1 had but Z cents In this wide
world; to-day l am worth $4,000.
Two months ago"
times. What happened?"
We'll, sir. l was sitting in a railroad sta
ton out In the iron range country north OF
Duluth, waiting for a convenient ore train
TO come along, and / was EARNING with the
telegraph operator about things In general
and in especial about my inability to pur-
chase a small amount Of liquid r~efreshment-
My. remarks evidently failed TO please him,
as he was busy writing on a typewriter,
and he got mad, wadded up a piece Of car
bon paper and fired IL at me. II was not
a dangerous missile, and was hurled with
the Intention TO annoy me. L gathered IL
unconsciously I'm my pocket and wendeo my
way TO the freight station. When / had
wended there / happened 10 look at the car
bon paper, as / really had paid no attention
to il, and did not know what II was. Upon
IL. / found that II was a new
sheet. and had been used for writing just
one letter. The traces where the type OF
the machine had struck IL were so plainly
visible that / could read IL. IL conveyed
some secret from a wealthy
t~erests. 1t apparently had been used il
making a copy in the typewriter.
While 1 may have been a tramp, my
early training in the Massachusetts Insti-
tute OF Technology did not forsake me. and
/ appreciated that the message conveyed
by this mean looking carbon paper would be
of immense value 10 the interests at war
with the man who wrote n.
Il went back TO the town and had q quiet
talk with a foreman With whom ] man.
aged TO get acquainted. he gave me the
necessary Information, and 1 soon was az
the Office OF the people TO whom 1 later sold
my II took a good deal OF
persuasive talk to get past the clerks in
the outer Office. but when / landed inside
and made my business known, 1 received
immediate audience
Il bargained sharply, but az last secured
a contract for $500. II my Information
should prove to be correct.
'The little sheet OF carbon stood my friend.
and when the smoke OF battle had cleared
paper had earned me $500. II WAS worth
n. too, to the man who paid me. as he made
well over $4,000 out Of 10.
I am now on my way 20 the Hot Springs
In Arkansas. where l want 10 buck the
tiger and see a little real life. Goodbye. My
train VIII leave In i've minutes"