The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1914-02-20
The I imothy Riggs
Ghost
1t PHILOSOPHERS on Christmas
By F. A. Mitchell
By F. A. Mitchell

Ny Ills UcuSIUc. EreSeuIly puy SlCIdI
laid his hand Oh the mans heart ant
said:
"He is dead"
The dead man awoke to his new ex
istence. He felt that he had the power
to move over great distances in an in
finitesimal space of time. He could
see, hear and touch, but could no
make himself seen, heard or felt. II
was his corpse, not he. that was lying
On the bed. Those who were in the
room shed no tears, going out silently
but without reverence.
HE was the meanest man that ever
lived" said the butler to maid.
"A good time for him to die, or
Christmas eve," the maid replied. "He
wouldn't have given away anything
tomorrow"
The spirit of Timothy Riggs heard
and saw those who were passing out
from the body he had left behind him.
When a boy he had often picked up
the shells of locusts or Of marine ami
= mails, and he felt toward his body as
he had felt toward those shells. When
all had left the room he passed out of
the house. going straight through the
walls.
eff they hadn't discovered the Y ray
and radium before I died." he said to
himself, II would not have understood
how l do this. AS it is, I see it very
plainly"
Though he could be everywhere at
once, for the present he concluded to
remain in the city where forty years
before he had begun life a poor boy
and by thrift and stinginess had &C
cumulated millions But now his val
uation of riches had dropped from him
as his body had dropped. All the
treasures of the Indies seemed worth
less to him. Yet. following instincts
that chung to him. he passed into the
vaults of banks and other places for
storing money.
Then he passed in among the houses
of the rich. Those in them seemed to
him to be satisfied with material pos
sessions. He noted the poor and how
many they were and how they suffered
for want not only of comforts, but the
necessaries of life Since he could be
among the rich and the poor alike, the
great difference between them came
home to him as never before.
A rich family were preparing for
Christmas but without fervor. The
oldest son had quarreled with his
father because he had made will
leaving another son more property
than his share.
Money" thought the ghost of Riggs
to itself, that I have been heaping up
all my life is, after all, a bad thing.
1t has made enemies Of this father
and son. 1t has been truly said that
money is the root of all evil"
Then he took cOgnizance of the jails
where men wore striped clothes.
marched in lOckstep and when not
working were kept in little cells Not
one of them had any enjoyment in
Christmas
NO" thought the Riggs ghost, cit is
not money alone that is the root of
evil, but the want of it."
Events succeeded one another in diff
ferent times from when he was NOR
tai and he had power to will them to
move slowly or fast He willed it to
be Christmas morning. Everywhere
children were waking from sleep and
running to their stockings to see what
Santa Claus had brought them.
'Why is it," thought the ghost Of
Tim Riggs, that the desire to possess
comes with little children? Some of
these are so young that they can nei-
Their speak nor walk. Yet when their
parents hand them a bauble they
stretch forth their hands eagerly to
grasp it. Surely mortality takes its
chief delight in possession"
Now that Tim Riggs had passed into
a spiritual world and had no use for
material things he wondered that he
could have been so absorbed in this in
herent passion to own things. Nor
could he understand it. These little
ones did not know what it was to be
without comforts ana measures IDog
were born cOvetous. Was it not this
that had made him a mean man?
From the time that he had accumulate
ed property to give him $4,000 or 49,
600 year he had all he needed. Why.
then, had he wanted more and more
and more? His answer was, "For the
same reason that a little child dives
down into his stocking on Christmas
morning for all there is in it."
Then the spirit of Tim Riggs heaved
deep sigh. He had loved a girl in
early life. Had he not been born
with this universal passion Of covet-
BUSINESS he would have married her.
and, instead Of passing through a life
time heaping up riches that were now
dross to him, he would have had a
companion and would have seen chill
dren growing up about him. Instead
of servants standing about his bed
when he was dying, his loved ones