The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1915-09-17
AMEN |!
A HUMAN INTEREST STORY.
(By N. K. Smith,


A true story this is, of a recent
happening in Georgia town. James
H. Clark, of Salem, Ca, was a mer-
| chant and a farmer. One bright
morning in May he was standing in
front if his store talking to some of
his friends and one of them suggest
ed they take ride out to his farm
two miles in the country to the farm
OF Mr.. Clark, in looking over the
crops and conditions Mr.. Clark stated
to his friends that he owned three
| hundred acres in the tract on which
he owed 100000, which he hoped
to be able to pay off in two or three
| years if he lived and had good health.
They returned to town and Mr..
Clark went home to dinner His
wife splendid housekeeper had
| splendid dinner on the table, when
the dinner bell rang the family came
in to dinner consisting of his wife,
| three sons, Charlie, William and
George, and two girls, Mary and An
ME, the youngest five years old and
| the oldest sixteen, most interesting
family After eating dinner Mr..
Clark went back to the store and in
| looking over his books he found that
his Indebtedness for merchandise
was over 100000 and he had cash
on hand about 100000. About 8
o'clock in the afternoon he began
to feel headache and when he went
home to supper his face was flushed
and he was in much pain, he ate lit
tie and retired, in the night he ask
ed his wife to send for the doctor,
the doctor came and took his tenn
perature and found he had high few
err. During the next several days
typhoid developed very rapidly and
within ten days James Clark was
lowering on the border land where
the lights and shadows come and go
and where the anxious faces of loved
ones tell of the struggle that was
going on.
This is the tale that James Clark
told me after he had won the battle.
He said, after days that seemed like
years | was unconcious of the sur
roundings in the world and had gone
down in deep valley. In my deli
| 7 oil
struggling to climb out of the val
ley, some would get nearly to the
top and then fall back on the rocks
below and cease to move, these Il
knew were dead, many more climb
ed and fell and l knew that soon I
must climb. At times l was rational
in thought but, unable to speak or
move, thought of my wife and chill
dren, l thought of my farm, my store
and mercantile buinsess,I thought of
my debt on my farm, l thought of
the debts on my store and l wonder
ed what my wife would do with five
children on her hands and how she
would pay this debt. l knew she
could not, and would surely lose the
farm or the store. These thoughts
fitted through my mind like phan-
toms OF despair, and then another
thought which gave me strength and
hope, thought of the paper that lay
in my safe, it was the 100000 pol
icy on my life in the Equitable. II
knew then that they were my trus-
tees and that this was safe and sure
other climbers up the rocky side
of the valley had fallen and it was
my time to climb started UP the
steep side of the valley and felt that
in my hand was staff and | leaned
on it,, | climbed higher and higher.
my foot slipped,I caught and l climb
ed again and at last out of this dark
and loathsome valley went. I OMEN
ed my eyes and looked at nv wife
and children, that were gathered
around my bed, and into the face of
the doctor, the doctor said James
you have been in the dreamland for
three weeks and we thought that you
would not come back, but you have
won the fight l took my wife's |
hand and in weak voice told her of
my journey and CT my policy in the
Equitable that would have saved her
from want if | had failed to return. =