, 1907-08-22
The PRIEST AND
THE GLUBMEH
A Little Story of Manhattan That
Is Stranger Than Fiction.

Is Stranger Than Fiction.
Three young men sat drinking be.
fore a great roaring wood fire in the
luxurious home of a fashionable club
just off Fifth avenue 1t was the dusk
of an unusually cold evening. and the
wind was playing high jinks with the
snow in the dark and narrow street.
A uniformed attendant stole noise
lessly over the thick, silken rugs to
turn on the electric lights. He was re
quested to let them remain as they
were for the present. The young mer
were enjoying the spectacle of the
snow driving through the narrow
street, and it was pleasurable to turn
from 1t to the fire as it burned evel
brighter in the gathering gloom.
Perhaps the young men were rather
maudlin. At least the blond member
strange, for he had been drinking
hard and steadily for a week. From
the music room, some distance away,
came the soft notes of a piano. They
probably accentuated the hard drink.
er's mood.
Gentlemen" he said, I'm tired OF
leading a frivolous life. I'm going tc
turn owe a new leaf. 1t doesn't pay
The others laughed; but presently
they were all engaged III a discussion
q la Schopenhauer, as to whether there
was such a thing as happiness. The
strikingly original conclusion reached
was that, If there really was such a
thing, it lay in unselfishness.
More drinks were ordered and With
each additional Dbation the enthusi.
asm for unselfishness grew. At length
the young man who had SO long been
vainly seeking happiness in the CON.
pany of the demon rum smote the
table and exclaimed:
Gentlemen, I'm going right out now
to do something for somebody"
His companions received the an
nouncement with acclaim. Only one
thing dampened their ardor-where
could they find somebody to do good
to? None of them knew a soul who
was in need. 1t was annoying, ever
exasperating. But the blond young
man came to the rescue. He had heard
of Father --. a priest, whose
parish lay in a poverty-stricken neigh
borhood away over near the East river
Surely the good father would know Of
somebody who could be helped.
Fine! Fine!" cried the others, and
before setting out they all had another
drink.
On the stoop Of the clubhouse they
debated as to whether they would call
a hanson; but it was eventually de
cided that they would get a keeneI
realization of what it meant to lead
the unselfish life if they breasted the
storm and walked over. They did.
Two of the young men had never be
fore been in the part of the world
through which they wendell their way,
and one was nearly frozen. AS they
trudged on ankle deep in snow, and
among the squalid tenements and low
~groggeries encountered the bitter
blasts sweeping up from the river, the
entire party's enthusiasm for the un.
selfish life slowly oozed, but fortunate
!y enough remained to keep them go.
Ing until they reached their destina-
ton.
Now it is to be feared that their ex-
oerience at the parish house will read
suspiciously like the fiction one en-
counters in the magazines at Christ
mas; nevertheless every incident here
recorded actually happened. The room
that the party of three was ushered
into was as cold and bare as a cell.
After a brief interval the priest en-
tered. By this time all three young
men were feeling somewhat foolish.
Their long walk in the cold had made
things appear in a different light.
But it IA too late to retreat. So
the blond young man cleared his throat
and awkwardly stammered that they
had some money to spare-about $50
and they thought it barely possible
that the priest might know of some
worthy family that needed help. The
priest looked the three young men
over, and then, without saying a word,
pulled a bell cord. A little serving
girl responded.
ASK Sister - il she will please
come here said the priest.
In a few moments the sister entered.
She was a sweet-faced woman and she
wore the garb of her order.
Sister -" said the priest, you
have been praying all this afternoon
that you might receive some help for
rho - have y-ot1 MT ov
Evidently wondering, the sister re-
Piled: Yes, Father" "A
WELL" said the priest, "the help
has arrived"
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