The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-19

| whisky barrels, sat Simon Slade bloated.
blear-eyed, dirty in dress and person, a
miserable wreck Frank Slade had grown
| into a stout man, though his face pre-
scented nothing manly in the true sense
OF the werd-it was disgustingly sensual.
| Simon maundered in his talk and COM
| planned that those temperance peopls
were running everything. The Sickle and
| Sheaf, as well as its owner, was APP
parently on its last legs. Mrs. Slade, the
| stranger learned, had broken down under
tho terrible strain of seeing her boy and
her husband descend into the pit and
was now in an insane asylum, where
Flora was In attendance upon her.
| But the barroom was well filled that
night as usual and, as usual, most of the
customers were young men. The stran-
ger was witness to a pathetic scene-an
| old man came and brought away front
| the drinking and the gambling which were
goiEC on young mana mere boy-who
had evidently begun to travel the road
| that Willy Hammond once followed.
/ Frank Slade, half drunk, got into an
alteration with his father, who was a
little more than half drunk Father and
son would have come to blows had the
bystanders not separated them. This was
the strangers Eighth Night in a bar
room.
Simon did not appear until about 9
o'clock the next morning and looked
ghastly until he had swallowed about
half pint of brandy, when he began
to have some color and animation. Poor
Simon No one would have known him
for the prosperous, good-looking miller.
In the fight on the night of Hammonds
murder Simon had had one eye gouged
out by his assailants and that face, once
so bland and good-natured. was hideous.
repulsive, sinister. That night the news
was brought to the barroom that Judge
Hammond had been taken to the poor
house He had lost all his money, even
the old homestead of which he was so
proud Joe Morgan was running the MILL
a gristmill once more, and doing well.
About o'clock, when there were few
loungers in the baroom Frank Slade
and his father renewed their quarrel.
Each accused the other of being drunk.
Simon hit Frank in the face and Frank,
who had just raised bottle of brandy
to pour out drink, struck his father
over the head with the heavy piece Of
glassware. Simon went down as if felled
by an AK. In three minutes from the
time the blow was struck Simon Sade
was dead and within half ar hour Frank
Slade was In prison cell charged With
patricide. And this was the Ninth Night
m barroom.
| The tenth night a mass meeting vas
held in the barroom of all the best people
Of the village. The speakers went over
the history of the tavern and the story
of its demoralizing work in the COM
munity. Simon Slade, it was found, had
died absolutely penniess-all he left was
debts. 1t was supposed that he and his
son had lost large amounts in gambling.
Judge Lyman was among the largest
creditors of SHADES estate. It was re-
solved at the mass meeting that all liquor
in the Sickle and Sheaf should be de-
stroyed and collection taken up to de-
fray the cost of it. SO that SHADES cred
itors should not lose. The sign post was
solemnly chopped down. The Tenth Night
in a barroom was over and the next
morning the stranger left Cedarville, to
see it never again.
Next weeks one-page classic will bs
cali Baba and the Forty Thieves" from
| the Arabian Nights