Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-24
Christmas Altruisnn
BY JOSEPH II. WILKINS.


trpeaee on earth. good VIII toward
men was the Christmas Eve HesSage Of
chimes m a church tower The Salvation
Army sang the carol, and men and boys
whistIed the refrain. An evangelist IN a
rroarp Of Volunteers OF America dehned
"AltrIsm.
aHeH on earth for the fallen" John
Harrington rnuttered. There ls no al
tr1Iisn on earth
It was beautiful night. Jupiter and
gcptllne were resplendent, and the moon
wed with electric light IN changing from
silver 10 gold the color Of the snow that
cllng to objects beyond the tide OF travel
John harrington was not impressed p
the t@alltv III the scene, hut heard thf
REGULAR remark of bystander, who saId
stUel] NAV freeze over, but i has n
snow" Repeating Hell On earth foT IN
falIenH' John Harrington spoke ilgaTallYe-
prornenaders thronged Phi ladeiphia :
mercantile district All were ga eTcep'
John Harrington, FIVE years, penal seTFi-
tilde Ind made him sad. because d 70 he
confinement he was CHASTITY pale II ny
persons in the multitude rcrog1rzed NJ r.
they did not indicate recognition. ff
saw former friends, but Thought they
xo,,ld not speak to one who mad grav1tst ted
from gentleman to thief, ~ vagTant.
stores we're crowded by Christmas
ebonners. but John Harrington do mi
erter. show windows contained fire eT-
hibits. but thev did not interest hlnl,
Hunger grlawed his vItals when ne passed
restaurants. but he could not buy fo9d'
he had been released from the penltentlary
~ -ueH
without cent and, although social out
cast. was TOO proud to beg. tic FFas nome
less and had lost trace Of wife and children.
.IostJed bv the throng. John Harrington
wandered down and up Market street;
Next he proceeded 10 Chestnut street and
turned westward He was clad 10 rags and
suffered from cold. An electro sign on an
elegant clubhouse attracted MS attention.
..ATtr,isti, Chtb." he read. Was It the
Atr,lstir Club Of which be had been 2
member Had the old club moved INTO 2
new building Such questions iieVeu
through his mind. He wondered whether
his portrait Was N the clubhouse. illie
he uas utterug anathemas and shaking
his fist. = sedan stopped a. tie curo' ana
Thomas .Ieffrles fashIonably dressed
and carrying a Sable overcoat, stepped
ont John harrington did not recognize
tEaIFfAZ 1t
recognized John harrington before
Thnnnss .leffrias could speak. jacob Ber-
am \ rcusboy. threw IA arm around
Iohn Harrington ard said come. John,
lst5s % To ditrer, YoG were klnd - Ine
nn.e. and want Il repay your klndhess.
Alter the departure Of the vagrant AID
the nawsbov Thomas Jetfries entered the
building.
The Altruistic Clubhouse had an IN
posing exterior and 3 splendid interior
Lavish expenditures Of money had oeSh
made IN decorating and furnishing IN
4dornment the card room Vas IN 3rtls'ic
gem. On the sldeboard were all kinds q
beverages champagne, Whisky, &C, ii
MAS a rulillonalres clubhouse u every
respect. -
When Thomas ,jefTries appeared, al
~ senbers except one we're pFeSen y
Portraits Il he members were hung IL the
card room. Tic aI-entees portrait was
hidden behind door, lie had been s5is-
pended but on the pretense Of altrulsm bis
nortrajt had been retained. THIS portrait
was LABELED "Iohn harrington Five
men we're playing draw poker, heilo
Tom. thew shouted. Good evening
gentlemen. Jeffries replied. he SKY Is
the limit. aud the cards are running tine
"" one Of the players remarked. hurry
rom. get in the game, the other iour
chor,ised Not vet, Jeffrles said.
Il want to plan something, honas
,Jeffries explained as he seated himself IN a
lounginr chair. Clouds Of smoke from his
cigar soon enveloped him, and his plan
ning was not interrupted. Play continued
for high stakes, delayed occasionally by
.stay-outs' ,rying TO ascertain what they
would have caught had they come IN and
by players calculating results had they
drawn differently
Thomas Jeffries remained quiet until
one of the elubmen asked when would
John Harrington be released from the
penitentiary John has been released,
Tom announced. Conversation next re
lated 10 the possibility of John desiring
reinstatement aa member OF the club
With the exception of Tom, all agreed
that such desire would be absurd Rem
state a convicted bank wTecker2 That
would be prcposterous, they declared
John had left in the bank only desks and
postage stamps.
who got the hank funds?' Tom IN
auired. I'VE did not steal them, be
stated, but We got them. We enticed
John into the club and led him astray
lie was "a Sunday school boy. We thought
for awhile that ho was too good for our
set, but after admission to the club he sur
prised us by raising more hell than any
one else tie lost III gaming; and not satis-
fled with losing his own money, he squan-
dered the hank funds. He paid the penal
IL, and we escaped punishment. While he
Iang,lished in Jail, VIC became milionaires.
The money he stole vas the foundation of
our fortunes We invested IN oil, copper,
rubber and almost everything else that
afforded profitable speculation: and while
We are receiving extra dividends and large
slices OF financial melons. John hasn't q
cent
In imagination Thomas ,Ieftrles saw
Iohn Harrington vie putting the
- G,.ka