The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-05-14

1.-Mr. Grandgrind and His
System"
In IN cherries mouse called stone
Lodge in Coketown, a factory town III
England, where great weaving mills made
the sky a blur of SCOT and smoke, lived
a man named Gradgrind. He was din
obstinate, stubborn man, with SQUARE
wall Of n forehead and a wide. thin, get
mouth His head was bald and shining.
covered with knobs like the crust OF
y n plum pie, and sklrted with fristllhg
hair He believed III nothing bu t''factss'
EVERYTHING in the world to him was good
si only to weight and measure, and whatever
llc went one would have thought he car-
d red a rule and scales and the mGlt1pl,-
cation table in his pocket. IIc seemed
{, kind of human cannon loaded to the
muzzle with facts. He had grown rich
In the hardware business, and was a
school director OF the town.
@ 8s Nov. what / want is facts!'' he used to
saw to Mr.. Choaknumchild, the school
master. Teach boys and girls nothing
but facts. Facts alone are wanted IN III g.
y Nothing else is of any service to any
M body Stick to facts. sir.
f35s He had several children whom he had
brought up according 10 this system OF
his. and theyiled wretclled lives. No little
C1radgrnd child have ever seen a face
IN tho moon, or learned Mother Goose, ,
S or listened to fairy stories, Or read the
Arabian Nights" They all hated Coke
town always rafting and throbblng
with machinery; they hated its houses
all built Of brick as red as Indians
faces, and Its black canal and river,
tn purple with dyes, and most OF all they
Il LOUISA, the eshest daughter, Cooked
faded, for her imagination was quite
starved, under their teachings Tom.
her younger brother, was defiant ana
suen. 81 wish" he used 70 say, th IIs
M could collect I'LL the facts and all the
U figures in the world and all the people
W Z, no found them out, and wish ] could
mt n thousand pounds Of gunpowder
under them and blow them all up to-
gather, ssagg
Louisa was generous. and the only
love she she fsE baS h seS Wth YG little
affection. of-theiri mother they saw very
little she vas a thin, white. pink-eyed
raunde of shawls, feebleaand ailing, ana
n had too little mind to oppose her husband
III anything. Strangely enough. MI.
Gradgrind had n tender heart, and down
benen tn the facts of his system he hau IL
still though it had been covered up 80
long that nobody would have guessed 1t,
least of all, perhaps. his own children.
Mr. Gradgrind's intimate friend, AND one
whom, he was foolish enough TO admire,
was Josiah Bounderby, big, loud star.
ing man with puffed head whose
skin was stretched so tight 1t seemed
to hold his eyes o8en he owned the
tCoketown mills and n bank besides, and
vas very rich and pompous lie
was a precious hypocrte, OF an ode sort.
Wis greatest pride was to talk continually
81 of his former poverty and wretchcuness.
and he delighted to tell everybody that
he had been born In a ditch, deserted ry
his wicked mother, and brought up a
vagabond by a-a-drunken sranuil,ol, ,p,,,
from which loW state no had made NM
SELF wealthy and respected by his own
unaided efforts.
Now. this was not in the least true.
AS a matter of fact, his grandmother iiaa
1,een a respectable honest soul ana ms
mother had pinched and saved 70 prihs
81 rim I'm decently, had given him some
sahoolinr and finally apprenticed him IN
q good trade But Bounderby was so UNI
grateful and so anxious TO have people
think lie himself deserved all the credit
that after he became rich he forbade iier
even TO tell any one she was MS mothei,
and made her live In little shop IN lhe
country forty miles from CokctoWi, i'ut
in her good and simple heart sho was 50
nroud Of him that She used TO spend all
her little savings 10 come into toWh,
sometimes walking q good part OF -Etile
way, Clearly aid plainly dressed ana "lth
"a her spare shawl and umbrella, Just 70
watch him go into his fine house or 70
r look in admiration at the mus or W
IS fine hank he owned. On such occasions
she called herself Mrs. Ploger" and
thought no one would be the wiser.
The house in which Boundcrby liVea
had no ornaments II WIS COW n',u
lonely and rich. He made MS miilha,'uh
moro than earn their wages ana Wiiei'
any OF them complained ne hneereu In,
they wanted TO be fed on turtle soup '''ie'
ycnison with golden spoon
pounderby had for housekecper Il MIS-.
snarst who talked n great deal OF ier
genteel BIRTH, rich relatives and me pet.
q ter days she had once seen She "'s 9
l,nsybody, and when she sat ot at.eVs-
Ming cutting out embroidery with sharp
SCISSORS her husky eyebrows and Roman
,,orc made her look like hawk picking
All tho ewes of a tough little bird, IN
her own mind she had set her cap Tor
@ I2ounderby. u.
So Nrmly had Mr.. Gradgrind put ms
trnst in the gospel of facts which he h&d
fangh, Louisa and Tom that he was
greatly shocked one day to-ratch them
81 Unstead of studying any one of the dry
8 sciences ending ~ 'olosy, when ~. he
made them learn, peeping ,thIoneh the
Enotholes In wooden paNllion ny tne
roadside at the performance Of a travel
5 ing circus The circus. which was run
by a man named sleary had settled Itself
in the neighborhood for considerable
period, and MI the performers meahWin y,
boarded In a nearby public house, lht
"Peeasus's Arms" The show was givel
every day, and at the moment Of Mr.
& Gradgrind's appearance ono "signo
y Jupe," tho clown, was exhibiting IN
tricks OF his trained dog, Merry iess
and entertaining the audience WIN IN
choicest jokes.
Mr.. Gradgrind. dumb with amazemenf
seized both louisa and Tom and leg
then, home. repeating at intervals, Wit
Indignation, What would Mr.. Bounderb
y saYg"
foundcrby Was, at Stone Lodge When the
arrived, He reminded Mr.. GraaErnd tina
there was an evil influence In the sehoc
shA children attended, which doubles