The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1915-08-27
SERVING A
SUMMONS
BY JOHN Y. LARNED


law L secured legal position, the
principal duties Of which were to serve
papers on those who were sued for
debt had one experience that made
me the laughingstock of the town.
Jason Parke as n boy was the dare
devil or the place in which he lived
! lie was up to all sorts Of pranks, much
TO the annoyance of the older citizens,
| but which amused the youngsters. He
was afraid of nothing and had head
| capable Of enabling him to look down
irom immense heights. Had he been
Dorh In Switzerland he would doubt
less have been n mountNin guide. AS
1t was. becoming an ironworker, he
was often engaged in Joining together
the steel framework of buildings, and.
some OF them being skyscrapers, he
was obliged to work up in the air.
Jason was favorite among his COM
panions. He was tender hearted. gen
erous to fault and suffered, rs such
persons generally do, from spendthrift
procliv1ties. Instead of laying up
money for Il rainy day he ran into debt.
One or his creditors, to whom he owed
several hundred dollars, after vainly
trying to recover, sued him, and was
directed to serve the summons upon
him.
was told that he was working on a
bridge across n river. went to Arch
vile, where he was engaged, and to
the bridge. 1t was a cantilever struc-
ture across broad river and had not
yet met in the center
Parke had got wind Of the suit
brought against him, and n LAWYER had
advised him to keep out Of the way SO
long as possible SO that service upon
him could not be secured. This l did
not know; but Of course, I never gave
away Tor what purpose I wished to see
person on whom I wished to serve a
summons.
Inquiring of a workman where ]
could find Jason Parke, he looked Mt
me suspiciously and asked what wish.
ed OF him. 1 replied that I had q
matter or business with him. Looking
up at an Iron structure extending from
the farther shore nearly to the middle
OF the river and couple Of hundred
reet above the surface, he pointed to a
man on the outer extremity, saying that |
ne was the person 1 wanted
was young, had a good head for
helgnts and saw an opportunity by |
climbing out to where the man was to
corner him and secure service. Hiring
boat pulled myself across the river.
clmped the bank and, walking inland |
ull reached what would eventually |
De the floor of the bridge, walked te |
the first pier, then worked NV way t6ff'
ward mX- -nuarrtS--.- -ssS..--x--.m IN tneG
effort / was making, was glad to
crawl along the unfioored steel string
ers. He did not apparently notice me.
going on with his work, which was riv-
citing. i dared not look down for fear
Of losing my head and falling into the |
water. and kept my eyes fixed stead |
lily on my man. l must get near enough |
for him to hear my voice while I read
the summons, and since If he suspected
my purpose he could hammer enough
noise out Of the steel to drown my voice
1t was necessary for me to get very
close to him.
When 1 was 100 feet distant he
caught sight Of me. He seemed sur.
prised to see one not a workman in
such position, but after glance went
on with his work. paying no further
attention to me. l was quite assured
by this that he did not suspect my pur-
pose and climbed on, though every mo
ment l dreaded dizziness. l had reach.
ed a point not twenty feet from him
when he stepped off the iron beam on
which he was standing and went down
feet foremost into the water below.
had been baked. Quite likely
Parke had received signal from the
man of whom / had inquired for him
that l was coming and had thus been
enabled to give me the slip. | had had
enough of the job climbing out to such
place and had no mind for following
him down into the river The moment
he jumped boat put out from the
shore. and the moment he rose to the
surface he swan toward it. was taken
aboard and carried to the opposite
shore.
My return to terra firma was even
more trying than my outward climb,
for I was becoming dizzy every mo-
ment- However, l reached the pier
without falling, and after that the
danger was much less.
On going down to the margin OF the
river l found that the boat had come
over in was missing. I did not doubt
that every workman on the bridge
was I'm league with his fellows to warn
Parke and to render my duty as diff
| cult as possible. After much delay
secured ferriage. AS l approached the
shore saw my quarry sitting on some
ironwork at the base of the pier on
| that side of the river. He had evident
ly got on some dry clothing or dried in
the sun what he had worn and was
| looking ot mo with anna orpntlv no con-