The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1907-11-15
A Humble Uncle Josh.

'
before opening the Williams private
bank. Uriah Heep was humble be-
cause he vas u hypOcriie and had an
object in view. Uncle Josh was hum
bic by nature. He was huDbIe and
trusting and honest ard sympathetic.
How such Il man could get along finan-
cially was a wonder 70 every body. but
somehow he slowly got ahead Of the
game and finally announced that he
would open j bank. Lere was no
flourish about the announcement. = 1t
was In keeping with his record-very
hum bic. lie admitted that he knew
nothing whatever about the banking
business, but would open a bank more
for the accommodation Of his neigh orS
than anything else. II was predicted
that he would be made the victim OF
all sorts of gum games and that he
would lose his last dollar within Il year.
WOrkmen prepared a building, and
the bank was opened. 1t was presided
over by Uncle Josh.
The first attempt on the bank was
he was sorry-very sorry. He wanted
to oblige. you kIOw-he'd At up at
midnight TO oblige-but really. now,
he couldn't see his way clear In this
thing. Would the StraI ger call again?
Would the stranger go home TO boil
=, I. H.
ger ride out to his farm with him and
give his opinion on how the grass crop
was coming on?
Then there came man with q lot
Of mining bonds who wanted TO put
them Up as collateral for loan. They
were quoted at 90 and almost the
same as governments. Uncle Josh
looked them over and, although he had
no daily paper 10 refer to, he placed
the true value at 4 cents a pound and
stuck to it-stack TO it in his humble
way. He was real sorry-as sorry as
If the stranger had fallen off the roof
Of a barn and broken a leg He
thought all mining bonds ought 10 be
worth at least 10 cents q pound, but
he couldn't help it If they dropped to t.
Would the stranger take half day to
90 huckleberrying with him? Couldn't
they arrange to go fishing together?
If the stranger was fond of the an
cient, there was ruined old saw
mill down on the banks of the river.
and Uncle Josh would go along and
point out the moss grown points of
interest.
Then there came man with pOck-
ct full Of snuff. He had pipe1 off the
hank and discovered that Uncle Josh
was there alone from Il to while the.
nephew went to Cnner. He called
to see about loan. He got Uncle
Josh interested. He got close to him.
He out with, handful of snuff to.
throw into the old mans eyes and
blind him and then rob the bank, but
somehow the snuff went wrong. Then
something hit him, and he lay down.
Then some one battered his head on
the floor and rubbed snuff in bis eyes.
aud all the vaingloriouSnesS was tax
ell out Of him. Uncle Josh refused to
let him be taken to jail He was sorry
for him-truly sorry.
The people who had taken Uncle
Josh for an easy mark because he was
humble soon began to realize that
there was difference. He had shown
that he could take care of any money
intrusted to him. and the Institution
began TO flourish. 1t got through its
first year without the loss Of penny.
and some folks were very much disap-
pointed about it. One of these disap-
pointed was tough citizen of the
county named William Hayes Will
liam. who was generally called Bill to
distinguish him from William the Con-
Queror, had read the lives Of the
James and Younger brothers and other
similar literature and longed to dis.
tinguish himself
He Kept an eye on the Williams
bank. He thought it a sin and
shame for a humble and innocent old
doZer like Uncle Josh 10 open a bank
and tempt the wicked, and he finally
decided TO remove the temptation and
benefit by 1t himself. He would thus
kill two birds with one stone. He con-
suited with other philanthropists of his
Tx. and at noon of one September day
as a confederate was in the bank talk
ing with Uncle Josh five vhooping.
disguised men rode into Jacksonville
on horseback and made for the bank.
Uncle Josh was Il humble man with
good ears on him. He heard the
whoops and the clatter He WAS talk
ing about taking a mortgage on q
farm, and without breaking the con-
verSatiOn he touched an electric but
ton, and the door of the vault closed.
Then rs the FIVE riders came rushing