Mexico Missouri message., 1912-11-21
fLD INNINGS COUP
gw Easy-Going Bookkeeper Got
spst of Pompous Employer.
BY FRANK FlLsoN.


40 mice, though he was not much
forlr But then he had been a
.,gleepty for the Hammer Press
..,,rary fnr twenty years and was by
-, the longest employed of all the
$40 hundred odd persons in the big
t,udipg dsgoted to the manufacture
!, tbe patent printing machine. Jen-
.i,es autedated President Bland, and
a. treasurer, Mulcahy, and he could
, ..rember the time when the Hammer
o.sss company was a small concern
.os-ating in a tiny shop on Master
nan street
Inst as Jennings was the oldest of
Il, men. so Miss Mary Hewlett was
a, Oldest of women employees. In a
an few years people would begin to
i ,,s,k Of her as an old maid. Miss
g,vlett was past thirty--in fact, she
"a. mast thirty-five. She was the head
= the card index system, and her
hsk was Immediately opposite that
Old Jennings in the aisle down
,sich President Bland walked pom
ynsy to his Office three times week
md sometimes four.
ola Jennings had never been any
Alpg but bookkeeper. lie had been
booLkeeper for Van Tuysen, the in
,sptor Of the famous press, in the
inst days of the company: he alone
the old employees had been retain
when, thirteen years previously,
ne little organization had been taken
over by Bland.
Van Tuysen, had he known the real
value Of his invention, might have
bs,o.ne a millionaire. But he was an
aggoing credulous sort of fellow.
he had let himself be jockeyed out
Shs property-had sold it almost for
,ong and gone steadily downhill. He
Smetlmes haunted the company's
,aCes a disreputable wreck, asking
br aid, especially after his recovery
non a drinking spree. On the last
NCason Bland had told him not to
nurn He never came back.
But on Saturday evenings Jennings
would visit him at his cheap lodging
house on Fourteenth Street, and there,
Raed upon the dingy bed, they would
discuss old times together Van Tuy-
sens hatred Of Bland was profound,
BIS pride In his invention supreme
vas grief at the loss of his factory
aa drove him deeper and deeper into
be mlre. The old mans days seem
Numbered, and, conscious of it, and
q bis Importance, he felt a resent
Efnt that drove him into paroxsyms
i dtry.
On Sundays Old jennings would
al on Miss Mary Hewlett and they
Ips3 take a quiet stroll in the park
hNther. They had been engaged for
inumber OF years. But we can't be
narried on sixty dollars q week." said
Old Jennings. And Miss Mary, who
night, perhaps, have risked the ex-
pertinent, would sigh a little and be
'ilent. AT the door of her boarding
house Old jennings would kiss her
| goOd.by
Better times will come; they must
come my dear" he would say. And
Miss Mary Hewlett would re-echo the
hope Surely his salary would be
nised the next Christmas.
On the Saturday before Christmas
Vd jennings was not at his post. Ev-
sybody wondered, for he had never
Neh known to miss day during the
Whole period of his service with the
company But that evening he was
van Tuysen's lodgings, as usual.
Inc old fellow was in bad way.
guess I'm done for, John" NUT
'eIed the old inventor, stretching out
s0ony hand In greeting. And you'll
% al your old post years after I'm in
The ground"
ola Jennings laughed shortly. Not
wi me he said. I'm out of it,"
WHAT'S that?" cried Van Tuysen.
lalsng himself and staring at the
"leF incredulously.
I've lost my job" said Old Jen-
.usS prosaically enough. Bland sent
", ne yesterday. Jennings. no
S S' guess Wen have to let you go.
we're cutting down expenses and
''I aHord to keep you any longer
a., n.y. shouted Van Tuysen.
Ne! We got money to burn. They're
@ nch as-as-" He could not find
) Asltable smile.
wi. why, It's this way" said Old Jep-
Jugs philosophically. You know the
Hammer Press has the monopolv Of
s %e market everywhere for printing
a'anS on the new double-roll GER
s s-'a'e paper, And the shares have
,s~peu from the original ten doIlars
W. me see, elghty-four. isn't 10
, "en' Shater and his crowd have been
y"e 70 get control of It. They've
,t ' al but the barest majority of
,., Suares and they're leaping up in
h. ate every hour. Now Bland has all
so ' 'or'une tied up in the concern. and
,,o. "as Mulchay, and it's just a cues
r .u whether they can keep their ma.
A. t.N OF the stock by taking I'M all
,,a ' 0omes into the market. So You
Sir. imagine they're pretty wen
- S,4'Hed And that's why they let me
H., .ouh' said Van Tuysen, bring me
c., u" ooX In the cabinet, won't you?
ana now take this key off my neck