The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-05-23
hopeless cripple from nip-joint dis

- AAeA LIZ Viii 1N1
ease.
Bowed and broken, this former lead
er in all the industrial movements and
enterprises OF his native town could do
little against the misfortunes which
accumulated on his devoted head. He
sought employment: but. beyond an oc-
casional job in posting a set of books
he had become too old and feeble to
be Of any value, and awoke to tina.
most bitter realization of Il proud
heart, that he had ontIiyed his useful
ness" Little by little the remnants of
his former wealth-pieces of family
plate, sjeweiry Il even pictures and
books-were sacrificed as .,sopss' 10
keep the wolf from the door, his
house was mortgased. the proceeds
eaten up, and the mortgage foreciosed:
until at last, six or seven years after
the WARM "A poor rented cottage in
the outskirts OF the town where n
all had saluted him with unbonneted
head, and where now there were ''noile
so poor TO do hin reyerence"-he died
IL the arms Of his daughter, nearly IL
feeble as he, leaving her to the battle
OF life in the ceaseless foil of the nee
die, or the irksome drudgery OF the
village school room.
Shortly after this death there was :;
newcomer in the place: a man seeia-
ingly % or 30 years old. stoutly built.
of ruddy complexion. sandy hair aGa
light blue eyes, badly dressed and over
dressed, who murdered the queens
English and Wore much jewelry. But.
with all his coarseness Of fibre, there
was about him Ii directnesS and stead
mess of purpose which carried him
forward, n worked out his will. H.
took the LAY of the land" was pleased
with the opening offered, and in less
than Il week he had rented a suitable
building, had procured a license, and
had opened a bar room well stocked
with wines and liquors.
One evening a leading lawyer of the
community spent three or four hours
with the stranger in the latter'S room
at the hotel, Ii the next morning call
ed on the widowed daughter of the
dead wholesale merchant. Poor, strick-
ELI woman, doubtless her cheek paled,
and her heart Jumped into her
, mouth" when the attorneys name was
announced, for in her experience mis-
cry and h law were close associates.
Intense was her surprise when her Wis
itOr Informed her that ne was instruct
ed to pay over to her, until further no.
tiCe, fifty dOllar every month: that she
was to feel under no obligation in re-
ce:ving this money, as it was in salts
faction Of a debt due to her father, but
it was absolutely impossible for him to
enter into particulars as to the claim,
she must rest content with the asSur-
ance that she was receiving justice, not
charity.
With her economic habits, this in
come. though not large, would more
than have Sufficed for her simple
wants; but by far the larger part of it
b expended in a devoted but futile
effort to effect the cure of her crippled
child. Life held it's place in the feeble,
mal-formed little body for only a lit
tie while, and when the boy slipped
from her hold it was not long before
she passed from the world which had
in her last years so filled her cup with
sorrow. knowing the poverty which
had pressed heavily upon the little
family, even before the death of the
merchant, n%eighbors were kindly rails
ing a purse to provide a proper burial
for the daughter, when, not q little TO
their establishment, the lawyer men,
toned above stopped this benevolent
movement by the statement that he
had in his hands money belonging to
: Mrs. Blank sufficient not only for al
the expenses of interment, but to place
above the heads of father, daughter
and child plain but suitable memorial
tablets.
The barkeeper was not of the stuff
of which heroes are made. At least
twice he had been indicted for selling
liquor without payment of the govern
ment tax thereon: while he did not en-
courage youth in loafing about his sa-
loon, more than one boy has drunk
there to intOXicatiOn: and in a back
room of his place were cards for gam
blers. But deep down, underneath the
stains on this mans soul, vas a vein
of pure gold: and the barefoot boy ten
years of g never forgot the day when
the rich merchant flooded his heart
stunned, torn and lacerated by mans
inhumanity to man'-with the light
of a great kindness, which brought a
saviour to his mother in the skilled
physician, comforts to the household,
nourislfing food and fresh milk for the
baby" II hope to himself.
This queer, worldly philanthropist, in
loud" clothing, with blazing diamond
pin Illuminating his shirt front, and
his stumpy, freckled fingers weighted
down with rings. must himself DaSs
away soon, in the very nature of things
for he has now reached three-score
years and more, is very gray, stoops
badly, and is so famed by rheumatic
govt that for some time before he gave
up liquor selling he left the care Of tho
business wholly to an assistant. \ few
(fOr he makes no secret Of the matter)
identify him with the poor boy tramp
ing the streets for a job long. long ago,
but to the large majority of the COM
munity he is a stranger: and when he
is no more, of the gains accumulated
in a calling which the world of morals