The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-08-12
the PRIEST AND
the CLUB MEN
A Little story OF Manhattan That
is Stranger Than Fiction.

ls Stranger Than Fiction.
Three young men sat drinking be-
fore great roaring wood fire in the
luxurious home of a fashionable club
Just off Fifth avenue It was the dusk
Of an unusually cold evening, and the
wind was playing high iinks 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 men
were enjoying the spectacle OF the
snow driving through the narrow
street, and 1t was pleasurabe to turn
from II to the fire as it burned ever
brighter in the gathering gloom.
Perhaps the young men were rather
maudlin. At least the blond member
Of the group was, and II was not
strange, for he had been drinking
hard and steadily for a week From
the music room, some distance away,
came the soft notes Of piano They
probably accentuated the hard drink
er's mood.
Gentlemen" he said. I'm tired of
leading a frivolous life. I'm going to
turn over a new leaf 1t doesn't pay"
The others laughed; but presently
they were all engaged in discussion,
la Schopenhauer, as to whether there
was such a thing as happiness. The
strikingly original conclusion reached
was that, If there really was such
thing, IL lay in unselflshness.
More drinks were ordered and with
each additional libaticn the enthusi-
asm for unselfishness grew. At length
the young man who had so long been
vainly seeking happiness in the com
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, even
exasperating. But the blond young
man came to the rescue. He had heard
of Father -, a priest. whose
parish lay in q 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 keenel
realization of what it meant to leat
the unselnsh life If they breasted thu
storm and walked over. They did.
Two of the young men had never be
fore been in the part Of the worlC
and one was nearly frozen AS they
trudged on ankle deep in snow, anC
among the squalid tenements and low
groggerles encountered the bitter
blasts sweeping up from the river, the
! entire party's enthusiasm for the un
selfish life slowly oozed, but fortunate
ly enough remained to keep them go
ing until they reached their destina
tion.
Now It Is to be feared that their eX
perlence at the parish house will reac
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 usheret
into was as cold and bare as cell
After a brief interval the priest en-
tered. BY this time all three yount
men were feeling somewhat foolish
Their long walk in the cold had made
things appear In a different light.
But it was too late to retreat. 81
the blond young man cleared his throa
and awkwardly stammered that they
had some money to spare-about $50
and they thought 1t barely possible
that the priest might know of somC
worthy family that needed help Thu
priest looked the three young mel
over. and then, without saying word
pulled a bell cord A little servlnl
girl responded.
ask Sister -- II she will pleas,
come here said the priest
In a few moments the sister entered
She was sweet-faced woman and sht
wore the garb of her order
Sister ---." said the priest, "yol
have been praying all this Afternoon
that you might receive some help 70
the --, have you not?"
. Evidently wondering, the sister re
piled: Yes, Father"
We'll" said the priest, the nell
has arrived"
Ways Of Women.