The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-11-22
The Store Across the Way

The sign ITO Let" had been taken
out of the little store window across
the street from st. Patrick's Church
and no one was more interested in it's
removal than jealous Father Ryan,
who exercised spiritual jurisdiction
over the parish and, incidentally, a
considerable influence over all that
concerned it.
The young pastors heart was in
his work and his work was in the
town. He had had a long fight to eff
feet the closing of the pool-room for
merly located opposite his church-a
substantial-looking structure that was
the boast of Catholics in that par
ticular section of New Jersey. And
now he wondered who was going to
occupy the place.
Even as the priest asked himself
this question, man in overalls that
were once white, stopped before the
window, deposited paint and brush on
the bricks, and standing at the curb
some feet away, made ready for an
artistic" attack on the field of glass.
But just then the rectory door-bell
rang and between visitors and hur-
ried sick-call, Father Ryan did not
find time to return to his chair by
the window until after supper.
He was glad then of the opportunity
to relax a little over the evening paper
and few periodicals, but before drop
ping into his seat, he suddenly thought
of the store across the way. He
looked over, and a low exclamation
escaped him. It was nothing to prick
the conscience of an earnest director
of the Holy Name Society, but it GER
tainly did express disapproval The
new sign read:
JOHN FONG
LAUNDRY
Father Ryan never had liked China
men. To be sure, he had not had
any personal experience with them,
but he had heard they were low
set, especially these laundrymen. His
neighbor, Father Franch, had been
obliged to run one out of the town
because of his perverting influence,
and it was generally understood that
they gambled and smoked opium
whenever they had chance They
surely were an undesirable lot
The young pastor tried to console
himself with the reflection that the
fellow across the way was in any
event under his eyes Still it was an
noying to feel that even his moments
of recreation must be interrupted by
a more or less constant espionage.
As he looked again, he discovered
on the sign, just below the name, a
small ornament which appeared ex-
actly like the letter NJ surmounted by
a tiny cross. He smiled at the re-
semblance between it and the medal
lion on the base of the Blessed Vir-
gins statue in his church.
That was Monday. On Wednesday
John Fong, tall, elean-looking China
man, arrived, carrying a graphophone
case in his hand. A wagon-load of be-
longings came soon afterwards, and
by Saturday morning the same John
was ready for business at the new
stand.
Father Ryan had been watching
operations whenever he could, and he
became so interested that when he
went into the dimly lighted church
on Saturday night, he imagined for a
moment that he saw the young China
man kneeling in one of the pews. He
smiled again at the coincidence.
But the next day, when the pastor
turned to the people after reading the
Gospel at the last Mass, he almost
forgot his announcements as he spied
John Fong erect before him, guard
ing the end of the second pew. 1t
was real struggle to talk that morn
ing, and all day long the priest was
puzzling to find out why the fellow
should have come into the church.
He decided to take the bull by the
horns ct the earliest possible moment.