The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-07-18

1 camp SHeeUS over tO the young ma Il
that constitutes the circulation de
partment. He had to work night
and day to do it, but the paper didn't
miss single edition. That's the
kind of man Jim Robinson is. He
doesn't know what it means to be
licked
] know him well. | have known
him of old. He is one OF the best
newspaper men in the whole South. III
his lines had fallen in the larger cities
instead OF in Durham, am con-
WINGED he would have made his mark
just the same. Ii his fate had led
him to a greater field of endeavor it
is very likely he might have made a
fortune. But whether or not he
would have accumulated wealth, this
is certainly true-he would have
made friends by the thousands, just
as he has done in the circumscribed
zone in which he works and is known.
Greater possibilities would have
given him greater fame. Whether
he would have been happier or not
is an entirely different question.
He has plodded ahead all these
years. lie has been good citizen.
He has edited good paper. He has
given good advice, and taken good
advice He has been friend 20 those
who needed friends. He has prosper
ed materially in a small way. He
has Il clear conscience. And after
nearly IS years in the one position
there isn't man in North Carolina
whose opinion is worth its weight in
tobacco dust who will not tell you
that Jim Robinson is a good fellow.
There was very real grief through
out the State when Jim Robinson
fell, and the doctors said he was APP
preaching the Valley of the Shadow.
There isn't man in North Carolina
who could 60 down to meet Charon
with lighter heart, or a clearer as
surance that over on the other side
OF the Styx he would find the reward
of well spent life But this is small
consolation to the real friends of Il
man whom the doctors say is on his
last sickbed. The news Travelled over
the State like wild-fire: ".Jim Robin
son is going to die" Everybody
was sad, and with reason.
1t was several months ago that
friend, writing me from North Caro-
lima, told me that Jim Robinson
was fiat on his back in "a Virginia
hospital, and that the doctors were
carving him up. Other letters, from
other friends. contained the same in
formation. 1t seemed as if everyone
in North Carolina regarded it as the
most important news OF the day.
And every correspondent said cts
too bad. He's a good fellow. He'll
be missed
Now, among his other character
istics, Jim Robinson numbers Il
strong will. When the surgeons fin
ished taking him to pieces something
inside him, where his heart and ap-
purtenant organs had been before
the operation, told him he was going
to die. Nonsense" he said to him
self, I'm going to get WE'LL Then
being Il Christian man, he added,
with Gods help"
The doctors came finally and broke
the news to him that he would never
leave the hospital until they came
to carry him out-at which time he
would have no consciousness of the
Journey He smiled wanly. "You're
mistaken, DOCTOR" he said, 'I'm
going to get well-with Gods help
They advised him to arrange his
earthly affairs, and he did so, con-
scious that there was chance that
they might know more about it than
he did-but with mental reserva-
ton all the time that by and by he
would get well and set all these ar
rangements at naught-.with Gods
help"
Jim Robinson has fooled the doe
tors. He is out OF the hospital and
back at his desk All of him isn't
just like it used to be. When they
finished patching him he was just
like an Elgin watch with three or
four Waltham wheels distributed
about in it's works But the result is
all right. He is running with every
indication that the wheels won't stop
until he reaches the three score-ani-
ten years the prophet said was the
allotted life of man. All North Caro-
lima is glad.
This illness impresses Jim Robinson
deeply. He knows that by every
rule of medicine, and science, and
surgery and therapeutics, and pa
thology, and all the other things
that doctors go by, he ought to be
dead. In theory, he is dead. And
yet he is living and walking about
the streets and sitting at his desk,
and bending over a case of type, and
shaking hands with his friends in his
old, wholesome way, and asking
them how the wife is, and whether it
is true that the new baby has his
fathers eyes. He is impressed by it.
He believes that he is only living be-
cause OF that "by Gods help" that
he breathed-and believed every
time they came to tell him that he
wasn't long for this world.
He has thought it over and decided
that he wants to do something that
will stand as "a memorial to his al
most miraculous recovery. He wants
to hustle for something that will re-
| dound not to his own honor, but to
the glory of the Creator. SO he is
planning to get a set of chimes for
st. Philips,
st. Philips Episcopal church is one
of Durham's old institutions. Its
members have recently built hand.
some brownstone church edifice
There is a place in the tower for Il set
OF chimes-but there are no chimes in
the place. Nor could the most far.
sighted communicate of st. Philip
see where or when the chimes were
coming-until Jim Robinson got we'll
Robinson is a communicate of St
Philips. 1t came to him, as sort OF
inspiration, that il he could get tn.
chimes for the church they would be
a memorial of those who presented
them-and the labor of getting them
would be his testimonial to the cur
ing of his ills. For Jim Robinson