The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-08-07
Little Stories
from the
UNDERWORLD
REFORMATION.
BY w. !. Richardson.

Today the man, we will call him
Charles p. Roberts, for that Is not his
name, is superintendent OF one of the
largest wholesale grocery houses in
| Chicago. Three years ago the same
man was, in the terSe terms of the I'M
| derworld, a barroom beggar. His re-
formation was effected by n little
| kind act at the hands of a bartender
in a little saloon near the lake front.
Many of the mans business aSSoci-
ates have an inkling of the life that
he followed for several years. But
| these men never talk. More frequent
ly the men who know him today would
! not hesitate to say that he has liVed
always a clean moral life. But Roberts
alone knows the depths to which he
Junk n the struggle to rise once
more to the plane of responsibility and
| power.
Three years since I found the man
first in a little barroom on the north
side in Chicago. He was leaning
against the wall With a forlorn aspect
that marked him a man fallen. Traces
of former responsibility had entirely
disappeared. His face was dirty and
hands begrimed. His clothing was old
and worn, and spotted.
l watched him carefully. At times
q steel-like CLINT beamed in his eyes
that WINGED power and determination
in former days. He skunk to himself,
summing all COulpdllOuS Ills Lace
bloated and puffed, was forbidding.
AS l watched him he noticed me and
resented my inspection. 1 urned
away and walked Town to the lower
END of the bar, leaving my glass half
filled. When l turned again the man
was eagerly emptying the remainder
OF the beverage. That finished he
skunk back to the lunch counter and
helped himself to a generous feed" be-
fore the approach of the bartender
drove him back into the corner again.
A week later l saw him in the same
place. The proprietor told me that he
had made that his loafing place for
some day. 1t would be up to him to
seek a new stand then. The newt
able happened and the MAI was missed
from the little saloon.
Four months later I saw him again
in the loop. This time he was in the
Workingman's Exchange, better known
as Hinky Drinks. He was still a bum.
Passing by there on the way to the
office, l saw him almost daily for sew
eral months, always the same dirty
specimen he had been at first meeting.
Then came the reformation. From
this point Mr.. Roberts takes up the
thread Of narrative that winds o
his life. Back of that important date,
he never talks.
A l doZed one evening in a bar
room, a dream of suicide came to me.
1t seemed the only open avenue that
would ave me further disgrace God
knows, l had suffered enough! / arose
and wandered out onto the street. 1t
was abou 8 o'clock n very cool For
1t was then September"
MY Wanderings led me down to-
ward the pier on the lake front, past
the coal yards n lumber yards. The
path was growing dark and no street
Il 10 p,rc chaI fhair lirlt T ,,-,L1ol-o -
my mind on the one thought Of that
fatal plunge into the waters-then all
would have been over"
A faint p~erceptible shudder grasped
the mans frame as he spoke. But he
braced himself and continued.
AHEAD of me I saw a faint light
shining out from a lone window. I
made directly for the light. 1t proved
to come from a saloon. I stopped in
front of the door. In my pocket / had
80 cents, six nickels, given me by a
stranger. l had stopped on the street
and begged for the price of food. What
good would this money do me in the
lake? | reasoned. None, was my con-
| clusion.'
II resolved to spend my last minutes
over a few. glasses Of beer. Once in
the saloon I called for a glass of beer.
The place was deserted but for my
presence. The bartender, a middle
aged German, set down my mug of
beer. In a few MINUTES he came back
again with a small plate of fresh fish.
Il looked UP inq%uiringly. You look
hungry, M man. he said as he ar
ranged the food in front of me, eat
this and be more cheerful I ate thank
FULLY and ordered more beer. The bar
tender and | drifted into a conversa-
ton. He told me of the fight that he
was having to make a living, dding
that he had worked at that place just
two weeks.
IT took an interest in his story. In
many ways his case vas similar to
mine. He told me how he had secured
| his present position and how he ex-
pected to cave as soon as HI could
| get a better position. It developed that
the man had been a bookkeeper in a
mercantile establishment before the
hard times struck Chicago and forced
him out.
THE more he talked the more hope
I began to see in life. My thoughts
were far away from the contemplated
suicide. ] resolved to take another
J fling at fortune, not a weak effort but
a strong manly attempt to regain re-
spectability.
When / left that saloon / retraced
| my footsteps to the loop The Is cents
that remained of my own o had
been increased by 25 cents that the
bartender a given me. / sought a
cheap bed in a hotel on State street
for the night. In h morning I started
out to seek work.
Il was willing to do anything to get
a start. Along toward evening / saw
a banner in a restaurant window call,
ing for a porter. / secured the posi-
ton. That was my start. I saved nv
money and bettered my appearance.
buying a good. serviceable suit of cloth
ing, new shoes and a hat.
From the restaurant I went to a po-
sition in a wholesale grocery house as
checker. I was soon promoted to The
office n devoted all my time to a
study of the business. For I had for
merry worked as the head of a grocery
company in this city. That was before
misfortune and drink drove me down.
ward. Today I am superintendent OF
that house"
Vote With God.