Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1910-06-03

and felt the grip OF circumstance keen upon him. AS
wandered about the strange streets he discovered
ed in the lining of his coat envelope, until then
oced Its contents four onehundreddollar bills
this note:
Irvington Oct. IT,
Dear Sir Here's your dust We kept your gum would
Soardg na5terS You would get dr9n o5 and we
need a foP BACK IS cera Y04 to gf1 turn Ou dead
broke. Quit boozng and be a man man,
PETER SHERMAN
The friendly faces of Uncle Sans greenbacks
gave him courage He made plans and acted on
them then and there Meeting that English mate
in the street, he gave him most artistic beat
ing, paid fine, and took the next boat for Lon
don town Incidentally, he forgot all about his de-
sire to travel six seven thousand miles and kill
the sailortown kings. What spasm of virtue caused
them to give him back his money he never knew.
They were not noted for doing such things.
That the kings continually escaped punish
ment was small wonder. The men injured never
had chance to tell their stories until they
ashore in foreign land. Consuls in foreign
ports could not libel ships detain captains
their unsupported word The ships papers were
always straight at any rate the face of them
The most that could be done to report the
and there it ended. The Sherman boys
the other side of the earth heard
echo of it. The witnesses against them scat
tered over the seven seas and prosecution could
not touch them
The United States district attorney and his staff
did their best to keep the Shermans within the let
ter, at least, of the shipping laws but they had
hard shedding In the kings were indicted
Charlie Marsden, the star witness for the prosecu
ton locked up in jail for safekeepng. Charlie
Marsden disappeared. The jailer told a story of
masked men, guns and general confusion, but could
identify having taken part in the Jail
delivery With the witness gone, prosecution halt
ed Long afterward Charlie Marsden back
and told moving tale. He had been bound,
gagged and carried aboard a ship just she
sailed When released at sea, he told that
he had been regularly shipped and was led sorry
life aboard. In foreign ports he appealed in vain
to consuls, who showed him his name-forged, Of
course-on the ships articles and laughed at him.
When he finally worked his way back to Irvngton
his story awakened interest and prosecutions
were begun. The Sherman boys had wellpaid
lawyers who dragged out the cases with adjourn.
ments and legal tangles Irvngton too busy
to be long excited the wrongs of few sail
ors. Prosecution faltered and paltered along it's
usual dismal way, and what at last brought the
saortown kings up with round turn was the
united public opinion of Irvington directed against
them.
Irvington suddenly walked up to find itself blot
on the map. Unexplained dead no good
advertisement for any town. neither mysteri
disappearance of strangers within it's gates to
desired, if their friends make fuss about them
Captains who refused to be held up for extrava-
giant blood money, and to play villain at small
profit, avoided the port. Business was falling off,
Upper Irvington hit where it lived and the
Sherman boys notified to quit.
The kings OF sailortown have abdicated. Steam
vessels make voyages short that advance
notes" no longer prizes Seamen's unions
have given measure of protection to deep
water sailors, who to have fewer rights and
more hardships than most The bullying cap
tain the buckle mate and the boarding master have
all been singed by the feeble and tardy fire Of
; United States maritime law The railroads had
their share in the revolution. But what really
caused the Sherman boys to become private cit-
: zens was the wrath of upper Irvington When it
was hit in it's pocket and its selfesteem-that up
set the kingdom of the sailortown tyrants.
l ON HER DIGNITY.