San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-01-21

"What. SAID Joe, not UNDERSTANDING
The strangers eyes frightened. "Yor
local?" he asked.
Joe stared. 1t was all Greek to him
Are you a photographer the
stranger said impatiently.
Joe nodded. -
Got any good pictures of the flood?
Sure" said Joe, Lot of en-"
"Sell them" asked the stranger.
"Sel 'em!" exclaimed Joe. Sure
You want to buy 'em?"
Lets see them" said the stranger
Where are they? Come on, I'm in
hurry"
Joe led him to the law office on the
top floor of the stone building where
he had camped during the disaster, and
showed him the prints and plates he had
made. The stranger was almost hysteri,
cal with delight. as he went through the
collection. "Whatll you take for EN-
all of emf" he said excitedly.
"Whatn you gimme:' Joe countered
amazed.
stranger. "All you've got; every mega
tive and print you've made while the
flood was on. What do you say, kid!
Talk quick :"
Sure" said Joe stupidity. Sure
thing"
The stranger stripped the money from
a plethoric roll, handed it to Joe, and
began wrapping up the collection. NUT
tering excitedly to himself the while.
whats your name. kid?" he said as
he prepared to depart.
Joe told him.
who you with. here in town"
The McHenry Plow Works" Joe
replied.
.Plow Works." the stranger exclaim-
ed. Come on along with me and I'll get
you a regular job"
What doin'?" said Joe.
"Photographing, you fool !" said the
stranger. Come on, talk quick! got
to be moving"
Sure said Joe.
Come ahead :" said the stranger.
A breathless scramble on foot and by
boat out of the devastated town, hair
raising dash in an automobile, a short
waist in a station. and then the warmth
and luxury of the Chicago express. Then
through a crowded station TO a taxicab,
rush across town, trip up nine
flights in an elevator. and Camera Joe
Kelly entered for the first time the sur
roundings in which he belonged; the art
room of a big city newspaper.
Within six months he was recognized
as the best newspaper photographer in
the city. His big-featured, ugly face,
diversified hands and feet, and skinny,
stringy body were always good for a
smile of recognition from the governor
of the state. the mayor Of the city, the
chief of police. and big men of the bust
ness world. From the beginning he de-
manded admittance to guarded places
and ordered big men about with an air
Of authority that was both comical and
compelling. He never fell down on an
assignment. What he went after. some
how, sOmeway, he came back with.
Within less than year he became the
star staff man on one of the New YORK
dailies. His circle of acquaintances
grew wider. The President OF the
United States knew him and smiled
whenever he appeared. Senators, con-
gressmen and cabinet officers called him
by his first name; internationally known
financiers dreaded and admired him.
Prize fighters, ball players, actors and
actresses posed at his curt bidding.
When he had been in New York a
little over a year the World War be-
gan and he was sent to Europe. For
three years be roamed the warning coun-
tries as addressed, soiled-looking, tough.
ugly and awkward as ever. shooting"
kings and queens, prime ministers and
generals, living in the best hotels in the
storied capitals Of the old country, in
terested as ever in everybody and every
thing that was a good picture, and hav-
ing no interest in anybody or anything
beyond the picture value Of the place or
person.
When the United States entered the
war he got a commission as captain in
the Signal Corps. He made some battle
pictures that are wonders, no more ruff
fled by bursting shells and whistling
bullets than he was by gold lace and
great regulations.
Immediately after the armistice he got
his discharge from the army, but stayed
on in France to cover the Peace Confer
ence for an American news syndicate.
And then the booze got him. He had
no rooted interests in life except his
work, and in the intervals when he was
not busy he drank; drank heavily, to
escape the dull pain Of boredom.
After the Peace Conference, and on
his return to the United States. he
cracked suddenly under the strain Of
dissipation; cracked wide open. He be-
gan falling down on assignments. He
lost one job after another. The little
he had saved was soon spent. He be-
gan sleeping on the park benches. He
was drunken bum.
Jennie Potter found him early one
morning alongside the railroad track
Just on the edge Of town, only a few
hundred yards from her home in Miller
town, Ind. Her uncle came running in
answer to her screams, picked uD the
poor wrecked body, and carri,i It to the
| house.
Millertown was too small to boast
hospital. so they laid all that was
left of Camera Joe Kelly on the bed in
| the already overcrowded Potter cottage.
and there DIR. Bowerman set his broken
arm and leg, and sewed up the nasty
/ gashes in his back. And in that bed
Camera Joe lay for many days before
| the doctor could declare with certainty
that he would live.
Jennie, the girl who found Joe by
the railroad track, was the daughter Of
Mr.. Potter's dead brother. She was a
stOop-shOuldered, pinch-faced. over
worked, and underfed girl of 10. who
did most of the work about the Potter
place and took the blame for whatever
was wrong.
Jennie was the first person Joe saw
when he recovered consciousness. She
came to the bedside and looked down.
beaming at him. Now, don't you fret ="
| she commanded "non't mind What