Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1908-04-14
BY WILLIAM LIE QUEUx

meet. His smart electric brougham he
used only once a week to take him
to the city and back again. At other
times he strolled about the streets so
shabby as to pass unnoticed by those
desirous Of making his acquaintance
and worming themselves into his good
graces; Or else he would idle in the
parks where he passed for a lounger
who, crowded out by reason of his age,
was down on his luck
Samuel Statham loved the park.
Often and often he would get into
conversation with the flotsam and Jet
sam of London life-the unemployed,
and the mon who, in these days Of
hustle, alas! find themselves too old
at forty The ne'er-do-wells he knew
quite well, and they believed him to
be one of themselves. But he was ever
on the lookout for a deserving case
the starving despondent man with wife
and children hungry at home. He
would draw the mans story from him,
hear his complaint against unfair
treatment, listen attentively to his
wrongs, and pretending all the time
to have suffered in similar way him
self.
Usually the man would, in the end,
invite him to the home or the lodg-
ing-house where his wife and children
were, and then on ascertaining that
the case was genuine, he would sud
denly reveal himself as the good
Samaritan.
To such men he gave himself out
as Mr. Jones, agent OF benevolent
society which was nameless, and
which did it's work without adver-
tisement, and extracted a pledge of
secrecy BY such means many a doz-
en- honest, hard-working men, who
through no fault of their own had been
thrown out of employment, had been
" put upon their legs" again and gain
ed work, and wet not one of them ever
suspected that the shabby, down-at-
heel man Jones was actually, the mil,
lionaire Samuel Statham, who lived in
the white house in full view of the
seat whereon they had first met.
Even from Rolfe he sought to con
ceal this secret philanthropy, yet the
young man had guessed something of
it. He had more than once caught
him talking to strange men whose
PAASHSu laws anu IIlu dppCdFduC6
told the truth.
The man whose vast wealth had
brought him nothing but isolation and
loneliness, delighted in performing
these good works, and in rescuing the
unfortunate wives and families Of the
deserving ones who were lucklesS. He
loved to see the brightness overspread
those dark respairing faces. and to
hear the heartfelt thanks which he
was told to convey to the mythical
society"
Never but once did he allow a man
to suspect that the money he gave
came from his own pocket That
single occasion was when, after a man
whom he believed to be deserving a
sovereign, he next evening found him
in the park the worse for liquor.
He said nothing that night, but a
few days later, when he met him, he
gave him piece Of his mind which
the plausible good,for-nothing would
not quickly forget.
Such frauds as you," he had said,
prevent people from assisting the de-
serving poor. I've made inquiry into
your story and found it false from the
beginning to end. You have no wife,
and the four children starving and i'll
that you described to me do not exist
You live for the most part in the bar
of the Star off the Edgware Road,
and on the night after | gave you the
money you were SO drunk that they
wouldn't serve you. Such men like
you," he went on with whitening sar.
casm, his gray beard bristling as he
spoke, and his fist clenched fiercely
are disgrace to the human race, for
you are a liar, a drunkard, and a
blackguard-a man who deserves the
death that will, hope, overtake you
death in the gutter"
| And he turned upon his heel, leaving
the accused man standing staring at
him open-mouthed, utterly unable te
offer single word in self-defence
This secret charity was Sam Stat
hams only recreation. BY it he made
many friends whom he had taken out
of the slums-friends who were per
haps more devoted and true to him
than those to whom he had giver
financial tips" and who had made
many thousands thereby. In many {
modest homes was Mr.. Jones a vel
come guest whenever he called to see
how his friends were progressing
and many time had he drunk hum
BILE glass of bitter sent out" for by
his thankful and devoted host who
was all unconscious of who his gues
really was. The world would have
laughed at the idea of working mar
standing Samuel Statham a glass O
ale
One case was old Sans particular
pride. About eighteen months before
in the park one day, he came across
despairing but well-educated, middle
aged man, who at first was not at al
communicative, but whose bearing an(
manner was that of refinement ant