The Dickson County herald. (Dickson, Tenn.) 1907-1979, 1915-12-10

Ipg with the high Ftd Of dehAuchery.
leered up at him "A AR passed, A carly
headed youngsta', who would have
been angaiicaily beautiful II hs had
been washed and HE native Alspod
psmped from him, threw mud NJ Rev.
Smith Boyd. out Of u merc artistic de-
sire ~ reduce him to harTAony with
his surroundings. A mouthlng old
woman. with hands elAwed like q paf-
ros's. begged htm for alma. and be was
ashamed OF himsslf that be gave IL
10 her with sueh shrinking. The Mas.
ter could not have been like this A
barly '.panhandler" slapped him with
an artificial wilma A cripple. Display
Ing fis ugly deforrnity for the esneat
and example Of the unborn. took from
hiin dols and wince Of rupalsion.
The poor 20 hava always with yet
FOR ages that had been the excuse
for such ofgenses as vedder court.
They were here. they must be cared
for within their means, anss NO amount
Of paaperixing charity could remove
them from the scheme Of things. IN
30 far. Market Square church felt Jus.
tilted In Its landiordship. that Il
nursed sQualor and bred mora Yet.
somehow. the rector OF that solidly
respectable Institution was not quite
satisfied. and he had added . new ex.
pense to the profit and loss account
In the ledger OF this particular house
OF God He had hired crew Of forty
muscular men. with horses and carts.
and had caused them TO be deputiEed
as sanitary police. and had given them
authority to enter and clean; which
may have accounted for the especially
germ.iaden feel OF the atmosphere this
morning. Down In the next block.
where the squad was systematically nj
work. there were the sounds Of count
less Individual battles. and loud
mouthings OF the fundamental prtn.
cipies OF anarchy. A government which
would force soap and deodoriEers and
germicldes on presumably free and In,
dependent citizens. was government
0! tyranny; and Il had been par;.ca.
lar wisdom. on the part OF the rough
hewn faced man who had hired this
crew. to select none but accomplished
brick dodgers. In the ten carts which
lined the curb on both sides there
were piled such conglomerate mass
Of nondescript fragments OF everything
undesirable that the rector felt a trace
better. as II he had erased one mark
at least OF the long black score agains,
himself. Somehow, recently. he had
acquired an urgent impulse to clean
vedder court
He turned In at one OF the larges,
and most uninvi,ing OF the rickety
stairways. He skipped. with a prac
ticed tread. the broken third step, and
made a mental note TO once more take
up, with the property committee. the
battle OF minor repairs He stopped
at the third landing. and knocked at q
dark door. whereupon . petulant voice
told him TO come In. The petulani
| voice came from woman who sat II
| broken rockered chair. with one les
held stitfy In front OF her. She wal
heavy with the fat which rolls and
buiges, and an empty beer pail, or
which the froth had dried. sat by heI
side On the rickety bed lay a mar
propped ON one elbow. who had beer
unshaven for days. 10 that his sandy
beard made sort Of layer on hi,
square face The man sat up at once
He was a tribe understood, but broad
shouidered and short-necked. and hat
enormous red hands,
"How are you today. Mrs, Rogers 2
asked the rector. sitting on a backlesi
and bottomless chair. with his bat or
his knees, and holding himself small
with an unconscious instinct to not lc
anything touch m.
NO better replied the woman
making her voice weak I'm nevel
know a well day again. The good Lore
has seen at TO affict me. amt say
ing anything. but II amt fair"
fov. Smith Boyd could not resist ,
slight contraction Of his brows. Mrs
Rogers invariably introduced the Lore
into every conversation with the rec
tor, and II was his duty to wres.l'
with her soul. II she insisted. He VA
not averse TO imparting religious In
struction. but, being a practical man
he could not enjoy wasting his breath
There are many things We canno
understand" he granted. What doe
the doctor say about your condition!
He don't offer no hope" returned
the woman, with qualification. "Thi
knee Joint will be stir till the end o
my days. II had anything TO biam
myself with II would be different. bu
Amt. say my prayers every night
but II I'm too sick. DO In tn
morning"
Can tina, stun" srowled the maj
on the bed. You been pray'n' ono
day ever since got you. and moth
ms ever happened"
i've brought you a Job retuTne'
Rev. Smith Boyd promptly. Il has
still ten places tc oil on the sanitar'
squad which Ia cleaning up Vedde
court"