Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1905-05-27
OLD SPIRIT STILL STRONG.
Veteran in Desperate Straits Adopted
Reckless Succession

Veteran in Desperate Straits Adopted
Reckless Suggestion.
1.-TWO or three years ago." said the
doctor, Il was living in New York,
and was engaged in profitable bust
ness. One evening 1 was seated at
a table in restaurant when a we'll
dressed. elderly man came in from
the street. walked straight toward
me and said in a low voice: 81 am
in great distress. 1 am at the end of
my string. 1 have no money, no place
to sleep. and 1 am hungry. What
would you advise me to do?'
"Of course, 1 was annoyed, and 1
showed my annoyance. There was no
reason why the man should have
singled out me for such a speech, ex-
Army button. However, that did not
occur to me at the time, and l said
jccularly, 4 know what 1 would do I'M
der like circumstances. 1 would go
outside, look for a good-sized stone,
clutch it firmly in my right hand, find
a large plate glass window, and hurl
the stone through it. After that l
would be sure of board and lodging
for some weeks at the expense of the
city.
''The stranger said with jaunty po-
likeness: You are very kind. Thank,
you, sir. l will act on your sugges-
tion.' Thereupon he walked straight
to the door and went out, and I or
dered my supper. In less than five
minutes there was a crash in front, a
tinkle of broken glass and a clamor
of voices. 1 went with others to the
street and saw that my acquaintance
of five minutes before had taken my
II
thrown a stone through the window of
a jewelry store and was awaiting ar
rest. There were all sorts of theories
on the lips of men who were awaiting
the second move in what they regard
ed as daring scheme of robbery.
Meantime several policemen were
closing in cautiously on the man who
had thrown the stone They evidently
regarded him as a dangerous charac-
ter, or insane. Divining this, the
stone-thrower said, oh, / will go with
you. No trouble on that score. In
fact, broke the glass that 1 might be
arrested AS a policeman grabbed
Elm, 1 said, Wait a minute. 1 am
afraid 1 am to blame for this. I said
to this man when he asked for assist
ance that l would throw stone
through plate glass window, and in
that way secure board and lodging
from the city. That was a joke, but
he seems to have acted on my advice.
and I feel in a measure responsible
1.-THE upshot of the affair was that
agreed to pay for the broken glass and
to take charge of the man who had
broken it. paid for the supper of the
stone-thrower. secured lodgings for
him. and told him 1 would listen to his
story the next day. 1 never expected,
to see him again. but he kept his ap-
pointment the next morning and told
his story. He had been in the employ
of the house for twenty years, and
when it failed thought he would have
no difficulty in securing other employ
ment. But he found no other place
and finally found himself with no re-
sources and 20 chance of employment.
"The sensation of being turned out
of doors, of being without friends, and
of being hungry, affected him strange
ly, and, noticing my Grand Army but
ton as 1 went into the restaurant, he
decided to lay his case before me. In
his desperate mood my suggestion
struck him as being much better than
suicide. 1 secured him employment
the next day on trial, and he did so
well that he was regularly engaged
came to my office looking so much
better that 1 did not recognize him.
He said the. jeweler of the broken
window had told him that I paid bill
of $40 for replacing the glass, and he
had come to repay the money.
HE said he had good position
and was abundantly able to pay the
bill; that he was indebted to me for
the position and for the general brac-
ing up he received in following my
advice, and that he wanted to be a COM
rade in good standing Then it came
out that he had seen service in the
same brigade as myself, and he re-
called an exploit in which he and
some of my own regiment had been
engaged-to their credit understood
| then the reckless, devil-may-care spirit
of the fellow who threw a stone
through a window on my advice.
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