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JASON JAGGERS’ EXSiSn.™
“TALES OF TEN TRAVELERS"’* SERIES.
I By EDCAR L. WAKEMAN.
/ (Copyright, 1894, by Edgar L. Wakenftin. AU rights reserved.)
' Mr. Jaggers rose up.
It was an unusual thing for Mr. Jaggers
to do this, save for bis nurried lunch at
noon, between his arrival at his great
wholesale establishment in the morning
and his final departure for his pleasant
city home at night.
So when Mr. Jaggers rose up, rose up
almost violently, with his broad back
planted very stiffly against the partition
wall of his box-like private office and
with something like a slam of his revolv
ing chair against his desk, the various
heads of departments and the clerks in
side, within, and Just outside the door
way, who, in the line of their various
duties, were in turn awaiting his atten
tion. knew that nis temper was up as
well.
This they conveyed io one another as
plainly as, men could say it, in subdued
and solemn “Aherns!” sly winks, grave
wrinklings of commercially placid fore
heads and in a gentle buzzing of crisp
comment which boded ill for the three
persons seated beside Mr. Jaggers’ desk,
v 10 had precipitated this unusual crisis
by their exasperating importunities for
charity subscriptions.
“Catch his nibbs’ great tragedy pose!”
whispered a department head behind the
fluttering manifold of an agency’s report
on a doubtful country customer.
“Cold morning for foundlings!” mur
. roared the assistant bookkeeper, gazing
I ata statement of an overdue
• "■'account.
“ We’ll all git a wacatlon an’ a raise,”
was the hoarse comment of the postoffice
messenger-boy, “if th’ governor shakes
off them rank octopuses!”
“Ten to one, Jaggers out-nerves ’em this
time!” was one of the commercial
travelers’ quiet observations, and com
mercial travelers are judges of men.
“Their an ounts are closed!” propheti
cally sighed the credit-clerk to the chief
,Atpck-clerk.who rejoined admiringly with,
“JS'ggers must be loaded this moraine.
Never saw him in such mettle and form I”
•‘Not another penny !” almost roared
Mr. Jaggers, as if desperate enough to
back through the partition, and conscious
of the congestion of bis business affairs
and the observance and criticism of his
employes.
“How can you possibly permit our an
nual report to go to press without your
honored name not only your honored
name, Mr. Jaggers, but, I may say., the
reputation of your great business house
having representation among
O|»ir list of-benefactors.'” pleaded one of
w®>he ladies.
“Jiot another penny, madam.” ( '
“\V.>v. Mr. the lv Moth-|
■Ts “Must sterilize and stew .and-.st-■inn !
m right along without Jason Jaggers 1 chock I
■ this year!” retorted the obdurate trade
F magnate. “I am going right into the
needy mother charity act myself.”
“But ”
“No use now. It’s settled. Done my
share already. Tackle some other fel
low. Sorry. But me and my family are
going to do our own little good our own
little way for a while. Just count Jason
Jaggers out of organized charities this
year.”
The lady treasurer of the Needy Moth
ers’ Sterilized Milk Fund passed out
through the row of bowing employes dis
f.- consolatcly.
“Now our charity,” began the remain
ing lady wheedlingly, “appeals more di
rectly to the practically benevolent.”
Oh Lord, yes. Os course!” groaned the
merchant. “But not another -’’
“Our society for the moral disinfection
of the home atmosphere--”
“Not a penny!” concluded Mr. Jaggers
defiantly.
“Os course,” freedngly added the lady
president rising, “if a gentleman of your
prominence insists upon placing himself
in antagonism to all the great charitable
movements of modern society, his isola
rtion may be marked and painful ; but I
MfapppWß these extraordinary exceptions
are to be met with in all metropolitan
communities. Good morning, Mr. Jag
gers !”
“Good morning, rnadurn.”
“1 really cannot blame you,” commis
-1 eratinsrly remarked, the remaining organ
s ized charity beggar, the financial agent
I of the Bettor Way Wood-yard and the
| Stranded Strollers’ Rest. “These ladies
I no doubt presented excellent, fairly ex-
I cellent, causes; but they art so exeeed-
I ingly persistent.”
c “Humph!” grunted the merchant with
out relaxing In the slightest degress his
stiffness or his furtiveness.
sK- “It is pretty hard to say ‘no’, whatever
|K the character of their schemes,” eontin
ued the sympathetic financial agent. “In
fact, we found that femkle agents for our
grand charity, I may add our charity
Uli which amounts to the actual salvation of
Ssj u large, increasing and deserving mass,
HH were.at times positively offensive in their
importunities, aud would not do. Our
gB patrons are exclusively of tho better
M class, Mr. Jaggers; men, like yourself, of
ability, decision, character; men to
time has specific value; and the
executive board—confidentially, Mr. Jag
gers, many have suggested that you bo
B invited to serve with them!-has for
w gome time insisted that I call personally,
and, I might add, privately, upon our
most prominent citizens ”
“Do. Capital idea!” insisted Mr. Jag
gers with decision.
“And leave tho question of their sub
scriptions entirely to their own gener
osity.”
“Mighty good of the board, wasn’t it
now?”
The veins were gradually swelling in
Mr. Jaggers’ fon-heiid and neck, as he
gave Ins waiting group of employes an
almost pitiful look of appeal.
“But you aroexceedingly busy now, Mr.
Jaggers. I’ll just leave a few leaflets,
comprising extraordinary instances of
our work. ‘Brands from the Burning,’
‘Sawdust Sal ration,’ and a ‘Bundle of
Splinters' are peculiarly illustrative of
the miraculous transformation in charac
ter we have wrought. jpf course, as you
have been exceedingly generous m the
past, wo shall not expect* an increase in
your
“Not another penny I” thundered Mr.
Jaggers furiously. “In heaven’s name,
can’t you people understand tae English
language’ '
• r.h? Certainly, Thanks! Take your
. own litre, Mr. Jaggers. Any time before
| our annual meeting. Never mind muil
»’ jng a check. I’lljustdrop in, a day or
B two before hand. The 'Bundle of Splin-
B ter»,’Mr. Jaggers, wdi no doubt interest
B your family. Full of realistic pathos, you
M. know. The board will promptly acknow 1-
edge any favors. Mr. Jaggers. We never
( THE MORNING NEWS. 1
-< Established 1850. Incorporated 1888. V
I J. H. ESTILL, President. )
_____
SAVANNAH WEEKLY NEWS,
MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS.
forget our patrons. Good morning, Mr.
Jaggers.”
The financial agent bowed himself out
with the grace of a cavalier,' leaving the
Impression that Mr. Jaggers was down
for a good round sum, and passed the
two hastily opened ranks of withering
smiles unscathed, as Jasen Jaggers
mopped his forehead with his handker
chief and sank panting and bewildered in
his chair at the desk, while the hoarse
messenger boy whispered to his tempo
rary audience:
“If a 14-story building’d fall on that air
bloke, he’d hold it up till th’ hook-an’-lad
ders reskid everbody in it!”
Business matters went by fits and
starts with Jason Jaggers nearly all that
day.
“Sunth’n heavy on the governor’s
mind!” was the universal verdict of his
hundreds of employes.
Along in the afternoon he brightened
up. He wrote and disnatched a little note
to his residence. It read as follows:
Dear Daughter Edifh: Drive down for me
at 5. I want your co-operation in a little ex
periment in direct charity. Mother and the
girls wouldn't be interested. They areal
ready absorbed in their seaside plans for the
summer. You're a regular little sister of
charity and you 11 have your hands full now.
So nium’s the word! We can do heaps of
good’together this summer; and have a jolly
time besides. Your loving father,
Jason Jaggers.
Meantime Mr. Jaggers had summoned
his confidential clerk, old Joe Hardfax,
with a request for his charity list of the
previous year.
“This is astounding!” he muttered, as
he ran over the items separately and
finally glanced at the footing.
“Nearly a fifth of your total profits;”
retorted old Hardfax in an aggrieved tone.
“I've tried to keep these leeches * out of
the place, but no one would bleed me,
sir.”
“Never mind that, Joe. There’s going
to be a change now.”
“A—a saving, or merely a change,
sir?”
“A change anyhow, Joe. I don’t mind
letting you into the secret. I’m done with
organized charities. From this on, I pro
pose disbursing everything I can afford to
give with ray own hands. lam going to
knovy the recipients are worthy, or at
least, in need, and then I shall see to it
myself that they are generally benefited.
Why, what’s the matter, Hardfax?” he
asked with some asperity.
He had noticed the looks of protest, of
wonder, and finally of alarm and discour
agement, gradually displace each other
in old Joo’s face, and it nettled him for a
moment.
“Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just won
dering where we would move to, aud who
| would take your place at the desk here, I
j Mt. TUarLMI." . | ,
“Wheri we would move, and who
I would take my place !”
“When all the slim-slams and growler
rushers and tramps and individual hum
bugs of the city pass the word, sir.”
“Pass the word!” >
“Yes, that Jason Jaggers was their
oyster to be opened, merely for their call
ing here.”
A cloud stole over Mr. Jaggers’ kindly
face. His plans for direct charity were
not running smoothly at the start and he
also resented the hampering and circum
spection to which all men of wealth are
subjected by their employes. But by and
by his eyes lighted up pleasantly.
•‘Perhaps you are right, Hardfax. But
here’s a charity that you can begin at
home. How many employes have we?”
“Nearly 200, sir.”
“Do you know the condition, the little,
every-day, personal home surroundings of
all of them, Joe!”
“Every one, sir. Blinker ton. the detec
tive, keeps me posted.”
“Posted about those who are living a
little fast and going a little wild, Joe;
but hardly about those who are griev
ously burdened, wretched and silent.
What about those, Hardfax?”
“Well, I know them all, sir.”
“Good! We’ll revise our wage%scale,
then, a little, Joe.”
Aud they did. They worked at it to
gether until this one lived a little leas
scrimped; that one, who was carrying
other people’s loads with as grim a hero
ism as ever flamed through the rift of bat
tle, should find sudden relict and succor;
another could dp a little more for some one
loved but unfortunate; and still scores of
others could exist in the grinding city life
more like men than like hopeless humans
in the attire of gentlemen and the en
vironment and condition of beasts;
worked until more than one-half of the
last year’s charity list had been reached
and they had closed the blessed task of a
direct charity which ever results in loyal
service, happy homes and good citizen
ship, with a gleam of satisfaction in the
face of even grim old Joe Hardfax, and a
rousing exclamation of “There’s the best
hour's work of my life, Joe!” from the
now happy Jason Jaggers, as his daughter
bounded into tho little private office, her
handsome face aglow with the affection
ate curiosity and interest her father’s
note had evoked.
Then these two sat there radiantly to
gether; sat there away past their dinner
hour at home; sat there until the lights
flared out upon the great city, as myriads
of human bats and vultures crept from
their hiding places to the streets of the
town, while its great arteries, alive by i
day with the tremendous activities of the '
world's exchanges, were slimed and clog- !
ged with the hideous night spirits of the
desperate and the lost: still radiant as I
two children in happy play, as they ma
tured their joyous plans for a vocation i
time of experiments in direct charity to I
gether; until the stumping and muttering ’
of Uncle Jimmy Stubbs, tfle night watch- ■
man, warned them of the lateness of the I
hour and brought the expression of a bril- '
liant idea to the lips of Miss Edith.
“Oh, Popa Jaggers!” she exclaimed, ’
clapping her hands joyously together; '
“have Uncle Jimmy come here. lie’ll be
sure to know some one we can begin on '
right away.”
“Capita! idea; capital; here, Uncle
Jimmy ’ Just a moment, please.”
Uncle Jimmy stunq>ed up to the half
door, lantern in his belt and night stick in ;
his hand, leaned his elbows upon the j
wicket top, touched his hat and respect
fully waited for orders.
A quarter century’s night work had
left curious marks upon Uncle Jimmy
! Stubbs. His hair was not gray, but
, rather faded to a yellowish sort of mold.
His face was a paler mold of the same
color. His eyes, from long squinting,
peering and straining, had contracted to
the smallness of a cat's; and his features
undoubtedly Delied his natures, for they
were screwed into a sort of wrinkled
lump of cunning, of wariness, of defiance
and of aggressive defensive scorn; as
though the imps who harried him about
the doors and through the great windows,
in the long nights ’of vigil, had trans
mitted to his face the uncanny lines of
their own.
“Wb wish to consult with you, Uncle
Jimmy;” said Mr. Jaggers kindly.
“Eh!” returned the old man cautiously.
“About a little matter of charity.
That’s all, Jimmy.”
“Oh?” This as though he had little ex
perience with but was not to be
caught unawares in the dark.
“Did you raise his wages, Papa Jag
gers?” whispered Miss Edith.
“By Jupiter! Never thought of it. My,
my! That's too bad. Here—” referring
to the wage list—“it is. Why that’s in
famous. How can a half dozen peple live
ou $8 a week. Let's make it twelve,
Edith?”
“No, no, no! Fifteen, while you’re at
it. Papa Jaggers!”
“All right, daughter. Strange how
one’ll find place for direct charity right
under one’s nose, when they're looked
for! Uncle Jimmy, your wages will be
sls a week hereafter.”
“Lord! You don’t mean it?” gasped
the old man, dropping bis night-stick and
clutching the door-frame for support.
“Sure, sure, Uncle Jimmy!” exclaimed
Edith patting his hard old hand with her
own warm, white little one.
It seemed that his hair and face had
grown moldier and yellower for the in
stant he stood trembling before them.
“Fur twenty year, mother —she’s my
wife. Miss Edith—has been sayin’ ’Jimmy,
’t’ll come sometime.’ I kep sayin’
’twouldn't. She wuz right. Mother’s
alius right. Now there’ll be a mite left
fur ’em when I’m gone. Lord! Mr. Jag
gers, that’s worth gittin’ outen a grave t’
work fur. How can I thank ye rightly?”
Uncle Jimmy was bewildered for a lit
tle, but the subject of charity already
seemed mere comprehensible to him. He
bustled about and brought two chairs to
the great plate gffiss windows. Then he
asked Jason Jaggers and his daughter to
sit therein the darkness for a little.
“Taint, no pictur fur Miss Edith’s
eyes,” he explained deprecatingly; “but
as long as yer huntin’ trouble t’ mend, ye
can’t git a better selec’shun fur miles
’round.”
A few moments sufficed. The brazen
forms of vice, the trembling forms of
penury, the gaunt forms of hunger, the
staggering forms of the besotted, the
skulking forms of those haunted by their
crimes and hunted by the law, all those
accursed forms whose only shelter, whose
only day, is the shadows and the night,
like a warp and woof of passion and fear,
were woven there before their eyes by
the swift, dark shuttles of greed and
dread into hideous texture; until they
turned from it all shuddering and sick
ened ; almost half-hearted at the insig
nificance of what had until now seemed
but a pleasant summer-month task before
them.
“Oh, that is dreadful, Uncle Jimmy!
But we are determined. Y’ou must know
somebody, some poor waif or another,
whom Papa Jaggers and I can take charge
of and just lift, body and soul, right out
of these horrible slums?”
“ Yes, even two or three, Uncle Jimmv,
in a»job lot. Just about as cheap as one,
you iee:” cqntinned Mr. Jaggers blandly
a*i ior it’ was getv/ng
late. 1
“We want somebody really awfully
down. Uncle Jimmy.” pleaded Edith en
thusiastically.
“Might as well have ’em awfully bad,
too; eh, Edith, while we’re about it?
We’re just going to test this matter of
charity and reform in a regular business
like way. Uncle Jimmy.”
“Eh! Oh, yes;—certainlj-;” responded
the old watchman confusedly. “If reg’lar
tough uns is wanted, I might part with a
pair o’ ol’ cats, back o’ th’ store.”
“Old cats!” exclaimed Edith.
“Back of the store?” chimed, in her
father.
“Yes’ ol’ cat ; bull dogs, I might say,
Mr. Jaggers. Been thar reg’lar fur nigh a
genera'shun. Wouldn't mind if they wuz
wimmen, an’ rum goners at that, would
ye?”
“What, real sure enough women. Uncle
Jimmy ! All the better. More tractable,
aren’t they, Papa Jaggers?”
“Y-e-es, I presume so, Edith. Are
they old ones, Jimmy?”
“Wall, as to that I can’t rightly jedge.
They aint no older, as fur as looks goes,
nor tougher as fur as tough goes, nor
they wuz twenty-five or thirty year ago,
when 1 first seed ’em ’round this quarter.
I figured they wuz'bout sixty or seventy
apiece, them days.’’
“Do you know the poor things, Uncle
Jimmy?” inquired Edith sympathetically.
The old man drew himself up and let a
sort of subdued aspirated “Whoo!”
escape his lips, as though knowing them
had been accompanied by divers weary
hours which were even burdensome to
contemplate. He then slowly nodded his
head.
“Tho first time I know’d ’em,” he con
tinued feelingly, “I come right near
thrown’ up my job. They had a awful
jag on. Miss Edith.”
r - Jag, Uncle Jimmy? Why, what sort
of a garment is that?”
“Wall, its mostly wore inside Miss
Edith,” returned the old watchman,
stealing a glance as of inquiry and per
mission from her father, who was en
deavoring to repress a smile behind his
twinkling eyes; “mostly wore inside, an’
’straordinary heatin’, too.”
“Gracious me!” exclaimed the mer
chant’s daughter wonderingly.
“Yes.” continued Uncle Jimmy, “an’
they said they'd <ome to stay.” ’ ■
“Where did this happen?” inquired Mr.
Jaggers.
“Right out back thar, under th’ arch
way;” returned the old watchman, point
ing to the rear of the building with his
night stick, “whar goods is received and
shipped. Lots o' empty boxes thar, ye
see. Wall, when Mugsy Mary an' Slim
Liz—them's their names—first arrived,
they wax clawin’ an’ hammerin’ one an
other fur keeps. Th' crowd follerm’ ’em
sort o’ slid oil when I come out; an’ th’
wimmin got mixed up among the empty
boxes, an' lost like.”
Oh that's dreadful!” inter
rupted Edith.
■•Wall, rather. I went over in among
’em an’ began separatin' ’em. an’ orderin’
’em off, when Liz says, ‘ljet's do ’im,
pard” Mary, who wuz on top, says, ‘Do
it is, Liz!’ With that—l hates to own it,
Mr. Jaggers!—they hanged the boxes up
with me on tidy enough, sir; an’finally
hove me in th’ elevator hatch, whar I re
member bearin’ of 'em say, dim like,
‘This place is pie fur reg'iar londgiu.’
When th' glimmer comes to, we'll men
tion of it.””
“And have they held possession of the
archway ever since, Uncle Jimmy?”
laughingly inquired the merchant.
•Mr. Jaggers, they have,'' responded
1 ne’e Jimmy solemnly, “iu th'
o’ th' house!”
“Well, well, well! This is getting ro
mantic-,” exclaimed Mr. Jaggers.
'.They’re just the ones we want!’'
urged his daughter. “What would be
nobler than to place two such
creatures beyond the captious formalities!
and grinding discipline of organized!
charity?” fl
“Nothing; positively nothing!” eagerlß
SAVANNAH, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1894.
responded Mr. Jaggers, while the old
watchman, under pretense of adjusting
his lantern, stole a sympathetic glance at
the pair of generous hearted enthusiasts.
“I mention th’ interests o’ th’ house,
Mr. Jaggers,” he continued byway of ex
planation, “as Mugsy Mary an’ Slim Liz,
an’me alius got’long agree'ble after th’
first interduck’shun, an’ th’ pair alius
kep’ tother tough uns outen the arch
way.”
“Remarkable!” insisted Mr. Jaggers.
“Good as bull-dogs,” continued the
watchman,” an’ I’d almost hate t’ lose
ern! Mightn’t ye like a peep- at ’em, now,
afore ye take ’em on yer—yer—?”
“Direct charity experiment,” inter
posed Mr. Jaggers with decision. “Cer
tainly: certainly. Excellent idea.”
“Just grand!” gleefully echoed Miss
Edith, “for I can see just what garments
they will need an’ what colors will match
their dear old faces. Oh, this is just
splendid. Papa Jaggers!”
“ ’Cause,” explained Uncle Jimmy
dryly, “they’ve jess a leetlo extry oii,
t’night, an’ they turned in early.”
Uncle Jimmy, lantern in band, led the
way into the debris-strewn depths of the
archway. The old man paused and they
all listened. Snortlngs and snorings like
the gurglings of half-smothered calliopes,
were heard from the base of one of the
huge pillars. Tho three moved forward
cautiously.
“Zactly. Here they be. I call ’em th’
Siamese when they get tumbled up this
way;” remarked the old watchman in the
indifferent tone of a showman.
He lowered his lantern beside a huge
empty box, His companions at first saw
only what appeared to be a large 'bundle
of dusty rags. The old outcasts’ grimy,
gray garments, their grimy gray hair arid
their gray and grimy faces were so blen
ded in the grime and gray of a common
age and filth, that limbs, faces, heads and
rags were indistinguishable.
“Shall I poke’em bp a lectle?” asxed
the old man, preparing to prod the
mass with his night-stick.
“Dear, no!” begged Mr. Jaggers,
touched by the pitiful spectacle.
“On, do let the poor things sleep, Uncle
Jimmy!” insisted Edith compassionately.
“But they’re just what we want,” said
Mr. Jaggers as they turned away.
“Couldn’t be better!” enthusiastically
murmured his daughter. “Oh, you’re
skeptical Uncle Jimmy, but you just wait
until we’ve had old Mary and Elizabeth
out to Glen Corrie”—this was the Jaggers’
country house, but a few miles beyond
the city limits among the pleasant north
ern hills—” a month or so!” '
The old watchman gave the two a
startled, appealing look.
“With all those peaceful country sur
roundings;” added Mr. Jaggers.
“The sunshine, the breezes, the stately
hills, the smiling valley aud the little
lake, the flowers and the flowers and the
endless melody of the birds!” chirped on
Edith radiantly.
“Yes, and the .good honest food, the
early hours, the hush and quiet of the
old place and unvarying considerate
treatment” continued Mr. Jaggers
warmly.
“To be sure,” returned Edith in gener
ous anticipation, “and above ail, gopd
books pur own ccmgtant ejhcour:ige
that, Uncle Jiniiuy!” \ ' M
He merely opened his little eyes to an
alarming extent, and. at Mr. Jaggers’
bidding, called a carriage in which the
happy philanthropists were whirled away
to their waiting home; while the old man,
returning to his duties, stumped and
trundled about the great establishment
as if in a dream, muttering and fussing
by turns and finally exploding over the to
him astounding project, with,
“Jerushitywhiz' Which'll both’ worser
done fur—th’ Jaggerses, or Mugsy Mary
and Slim Liz?”
But a week had intervened, when all
tlffi Jaggers family, save Mr. Jaggers and
Miss Edith, were snugly ensconced in
their villa at the seaside, leaving the lat
ter two lull opportunity for carrying out
their cherished plans for the reception
and reformation at Glen Corrie, by means
of directly applied charity, of the ancient
outcasts of the archway.
These plans, however, did not proceed
so smoothly as had been hoped. Mugsy
Mary and Slim Liz absolutely refused tri
leave their accustomed haunts.
It had not been taken into account that
the outcast heart twines about his fami
liar scenes, its hideousness of association,
its hopelessness of environment, its very
soddenness, hunger, besotment and wal
lowing, precisely as those of the better
conditioned cling to the heart-warming
and blessed things of life.
This was the first disappointment and
cause of astonishment to the good mer
chant and hife daughter. Their entire
kindly project seemed certain of failure
at the outset, until a happy thought oc
curred to Uncle Jimmy Stubbs.
“Ye’ve got a ol’ black carry all, sort o’
picnic wagonette, up t’ th’ stables, Mr.
Jaggers!”
“Yes, indeed. Its there yet Uncle
Jimmy.”
“If ye don’t mind Joe, th' coachman,
hiebtin’ it up an’ bringin’ it here, late at
night—an’ bein’ partic'lar ’bout Joe
havin’ all his brass buttons on, we can
fetch 'em, Mr. Jaggers.”
“Bless me! I’ll have it done to-night,
Jimmy.”
“Wail, git another man on in my place
an’ I’ll gqrn’tee havin’ ’em out V Glen
Uorrie in th' mornin’: if you an’ Miss
Edith ’ll be on hand, an' garn'tee t’ keep
'em. when ye git ’em!” «
“Well, well, well! That is a great re
lief. No trouble about keeping the poor
old wrecks, once there, Jimmy.”
Mr. Jaggers and his daughter accord
ingly took the evening train for the coun
try house in high spirits, and along to
ward midnight the old wagonette, for all
the world like a prison-van, with its long
body, covered top, black sides, rear and
front doors and pendant steps, with
coachman Joe gleaming with grins arid
buttons, were in waiting beneath the dark
archway,
Then Mugsy Mary and Slim Liz, more
than usually stupid from drink, were
rudely awakened. ‘
Thej' fought for a little, but a few well
directed and familiar tappings of night
sticks upon their shoe-soles, with the
gruff voices and the glint of brass but
tons, soon silenced them. They were
carried bodily and flung into the. to
them, prison-van upon a pile of loose
straw. As the door was slammed and
apparently locked against them, after a
great jingling of keys, they recognized a
friendly voice at the supposititious key
hole.
“Sh-h-h-h! Ye’re up for it now, gals!
Be ladies, an’ ye’ll not git more than
thirty days’”
“Oh. we'll make ’em dizzv with our
gentle ways!” and “Keep th’ archway
i clear o’ beggarly tramps till we're out,
Jimmy dear!’’were shouted back with
greateful emphasis; when Uncle Jimmy,
after a cherry “Good luck, Mary an’ Liz!”
sprang up beside Joe. and alter the old
j wooden doors in front were secured,« the
and its strange freight rattled at
out over the hard old streets
Siocean nts
similar journeyings scores of times before,
! when the real hand of authority had
; its firm grasp upon them. They favored
passers and their confused drivers with
, gibes and taunts innumerable, and now
■ and again broke forth into hoarse song,
the refrain of which ran:
For thirty days or more,
’ • For thirty days or more.
Without a jug.
We’re in for “jag,”
For thirty days or more!
> But all this at last subsided, and finally
: the gentler movement of the van over the i
quiet country road brought the snoring :
familiar to the old watchman’s ears '
within the somber conveyance.
, When Uncle Jimmy triumphahtly de-,
j livered the abducted subjects 1 of direct
; I charity at Glen Corrie house the next
; i morning, they were still asleep.
■ Both Mr. Jaggers and Edith thought a
, ' good long sleep would do them good, and
accordingly the wagonette was pushed
into the stables and its doors softly
opened opposite the entrance, so that
their eyes, when they awoke, should
, first fall upon the really sweet and sooth
ing scene of the mossy old mansion, with i
its red. ivy-covered chimneys, its quaint '
old gables, the bright reach of lawn
between and the restful hills beyond.
Impatient as were the generous hearst
to begin the softening influence of per
sonal reformation, it was not until nearly
evening that the two figures upon the
straw began to stir. Their day time was
now approaching.
Mr. Jaggers and his daughter had
finally concluded to go to the stables to
welcome Ahem. The first words which
greeted their startled ears were from the
lips of Slim Liz as she hammered her
companion with her heels. *
“They cud make it ninety days, fur five
fingers o’ th' right stuff, Mary!”
“Lord! A year, fur half as much!”
groaned her companion.
“By Jupiter, you shall have it!” burst
from the sympathetic Jaggers, as he
called the stable-boy and gave him a
whispered order.
The two women sat bolt upright at the
unexpected answer to their form of prayer,
rubbed their bleary eyes, and beu.-n piti
ful lamentations mingled with crooning
beggings to know what strange fortune
had befallen them.
“You’re where you’re going to have
comfort and peace,” stoutly asserted
Jason Jaggers.
“And where your old lives will slip
from x>ur shoulders like Pilgrim’s bur
den ;” added Edith tenderly, as she took
the women by their hands and assisted
them to the stable floor.
“Come, come now, Mary and Elizabeth ;
don’t be afraid. Here now!” They
gulped the proffered liquor down fiercely.
“My daughter here'll show you where to
clean up a bit.get on some different cloth
ing, take a little look at your new sur
roundings. and then we’ll all have a bite
to eat together;” concluded Mr. Jaggers
in a fatherly tone that did him honor.
It was a pretty but still a pathetic sight
to see the fair Edith leading the two old
and now almost voiceless outcasts across
the lawn and through the servants’ hall
Tor their bath, where she playfully pushed
them into the room with bundles upon
bundles es new clothing arM„ hjjppy
h€*Artod. cheery* eu<ouiagitgs,^ '"M
bird-like gurglings of delight; to see her,
a little later, conduct the strangely--
changed old women to a sweet and roomy
apartment not far from her own, where
she showed them countless little objects •
her own hands had thoughtfully pro
vided; and then, while Jason Jaggers
beamed with happines and paced the
lawn impatiently, as he looked again and
again at his watch, to see her sit there
and straighten out with her own dainty
fingers their frayed and ragged
locks, setting pretty caps upon their
heads, making sure of this fasten
ing, adjusting that bow or ribbon
and patting and twisting and jerking this
and that fold into place upon their
scraggy forms, and finally, to see this '•
brave, good girl bringing the two Lj.’ht
ened souls to the dinner table, where Mr.
Jaggers lustily welcomed them with:
“Sit right down, now, Mary and Eliza
beth. No formalities here. We’re old
fashioned folks with old-fashioned ways:
and nobody cares a rap if you eat up
everything in the house! Eh, Edith?”
“Not a soul. Papa Jaggers; not a soul!”
And thus, with hearty sallies and sim
ple pleasantries, the dinner was eaten;
good Mr. Jaggers adapting his commer
cial line of experiences and chatter to the
lowly minds of the old women with little
avail, but with a positive grandeur of
magnanimity and good intent: when the
two scared things were taken for a walk
about the beautiful grounds.
While Edith fluttered prettily around
them, Jason Jaggers, out of the boundless
goodness of his heart, explained to the
dim and wondering souls all his projected
improvements for Glen Corrie house and
grounds, the different varieties of fruits
and vegetables in his gardens, and the
rare species of exotics in his conserv
atory, until oid Mary ana Elizabeth had
attained a maudlin imbecility' of submis
siveness. when Edith entertained them at
the piano; after which came a quiet hour
of reading,, by Edith, of selections from
the«humorous authors; while Jason Jag
gers. with moist eyes and joyous face,
thanked all that is good lor his happy in
sj.iration of direct chanty; and after ‘
Edith herself had conducted the now tot- t
teilng women to their room for the night,
and bad exchanged glowing congratula
tions with her father as they, too, passed
to their respective apartments, Mugsy
Mary and Slim Liz sank in a hysterical
heap of ill-befiitting attire and abject
misery upon the floor and wept bitter
tears for the first time in all their lives
together.
“Thirty days o’ this, Mary, an’ I'm
done fur!” sobbed Slim Liz as.tbough her
heart were breaking.
••Half that time’ll ‘db’ Mugsy Mary!”-
wailed her utterly disconsolate compan
ion; whereupon they dragged their skirts
over their poor old heads and wliimi>ered
themselves Msleep where they lay.
It. was well for the peace of mind of
Jason Jaggers and his daughter Edith
that the progress of their experiment was
interpreted by the sunny, hopeful and
; thoroughly tender quality of their own '
! loving natures. .
I r l’he tremendous ageing of the outcasts i
! in ihe brief period of a few days; the !
' gradual paling of the fires of their keen
old eyes; the dropping and retreating of \
their wolf-like jaws; the constant lag- ;
: ging of their tottering steps: the s udden
j and certain shrinking, bending and di
minishing of their ungainly aud grotesque
forms, were ail attributed to the almost
miraculous changes brought by tho soft
ening influences brought to bear upon
them.
{ Indeed, this was Jas»n Jaggers’ mental !
' theme for congratulatory reflection when,
i one morning a week subsequent to the i
arrival of the outcasts, he was awaiting !
ihem and his daughter at the flower
laden table in the pleasant breakfast j
room. Suddenly Edith burst into his :
presence, her face bathed in tears, and, ;
sinning into a chair beside her father,
she uttered these startling words:
“Papa Jaggers, they’re gone!”
Then, while she had a good cry, Jason
Jaggers bustled about her, essaying to
comfort her with,
“Tut, tut, tut! Impossible, impossible!
Nonsense, nonsense! Why, they’ve just
wandered off about the grounds for a lit
tle. Como, cheer up, daughter. We’ll
have Mary and Elizabeth back here in a
few minutes. Dear, dear, dear!”
i Being a man of action, Jq,son Jaggers
I did more than bustle about and exclaim.
Servants were sent to hunt over every
portion of the grounds. Others were dis
patched to all the near byways, lanes and
hills. Still others were sent along the
: highways country ward, and far upon the
i thoroughfare leading back to the city.
■ Mr. Jaggers himself' mounted his favorite
! horse and galloped hither and thither,
returning from time to time to Glen Cor
rie, hoping to find Edith and the old
women smilingly awaiting his coming.
But night returned, and still no word
from the poor old outcasts.
“I have an idea!” then exclaimed
Jason Jaggers. “Come, daughter, we’ll
take a little run into town. I would like
to see Uncle Jimmy a moment.”
“Ah, sure eriough she returned joy
ously as they set out together. “We
ought to have thought of Uncle Jimmy
j before!”
I All that day residents of the northern
outskirts of tne city had been interested
in glimpses of two strange old women,
oddly dressed and with curious caps
upon their heads, who had been gradu
ally nearing the denser quarter of the
town. Hand in hand they glided from
place to place like runaway though happy
children, radiant as long-time travelers
at glad home coming; halting now to
chatter and laugh over some old-loved ob
ject or scene; straggling in and out of by
street and ‘alley as’ if following sudden
impulses of rediscovery; and again push
ing forward in greedy, tireless quest, un
til lost in the great ebb and flow of the
night throbs of the city’s turgid heart.
Here at a certain corner, where a fes
tering quarter pushes up against high
palaces of trade, a nrnht policemansmiled
grimly as be heard one of them gleefully
exclaim:
“Lord! Liz, this is life?”
And then the other as ecstatically
answer: '
“Life, Mary!—it’s life an’ grub an’
drink!”
Then with a shrill chorus of delight,
still hand in hand, they plunged into an
alley glittering with signs of the three
golden balls and ablaze with the beacon
flames which beckon to vice and drink,
A few hours later Uncle Jimmy Stubbs
was startled by an imperative knocking at
the front doors of the great Jaggers estab
lishment. He answered the summons and
found Jason Jaggers and his daughter
Edith requiring admittance.
“Uncle Jimmy,” sa’d Mr. Jaggers
quietly, “we’ve another favor to ask of
you to-night. We wish to see if there
aren’t two more -reg’lar tough uns’ under
the archway for possible experiment upon
in direct charity.”
The old watch man shook his head, but.
lantern in hand, led them out as ho had
done before. Theyhad proceeded but a
little distance when they suddenly halted,
and they all listened. Snoring was heard
in tho direction of a huge pillar base.
Pushing along, they came to a large
empty box. When the litrht focused
fairly upon its contents, the,)’ saw among
an alxnost indjstinguishable massiof rags
tilt: irices ui the’two old' outcastsJ peace- '
ful in sleep. • ....
“Jerushitywhiz!” exclaimed Uncle
Jimmy Stubbs, “if it aint Mugsy Mary
an’ her pard, Slim Liz!”
A few minutes later, Mr. Jaggers was
writting rapidly at his desk. He filled in
a number of checks, inclosed them in
separate envelopes, which he carefully
directed from his private address book,
stamped the letters and carried them in
bis hand, as he and his daughter returned
to their carriage.
“Papa Jaggers,” inquired Edith archly,
“may I ask who those are for ?”
“My daughter, they are a few trifling
annual suoscriptions to various deserving
charities, which I fear have been over
looked. How would you like to go down
with me and join mother and the girls at
the seaside to-morrow?”
“Well. Papa Jaggers, I certainly think
that would be lovelier than—”
“Further experiments for the present
in direct charity!” added Jason Jaggers
with emphasis and decision, as he drew
his daughter affectionately to his side,
and the two now somewhat experienced
philanthropists sought their city home,
instead of Glen Corrie, reflectively to
gether.
SENATORS AT OUTS.
Senator Abrams and Senator Marks
Having a Few Words.
Orlando, Fla., June 13.—There is blood
on the moon between State Senator M.
R. Marks, who represents Orange and
Osceola counties, and Senator Alex. St.
Clair Abrams, of Tavares, who represents
Lake county. Abrams is one of tho con
spicuous figures in the reform movement
inaugurated in Jacksonville by thirteen
of Florida’s politicians a few weeks ago.
The reform campaign was to have opened
with a flourish of trumpets at Ocala last
week. A galaxy of reform orators were
to have been present, and It was ex
pected that the political field would
be subsoiled as it had never
been before. But aside from Gen. Bul
lock, who resides in Ocala, Maj. Abrams
was the only spellbinder present. He
gave considerable attention to himself,
and some to other men who were with
him in the last legislature. Among others
Senator Mark’s came in for a share. The
newspaper report sent out fiom Ocala
state that Maj. Abrams intimated that
Senator Mark’s vote on the railroad com
mission bill was influenced by lobbyists.
Os course Senator Marks got hot under
the collar over such an imputation, and
yesterday evening’s Orlando Reporter
contains a scathing letter from the pen of
Orange and Osceola counties’ senator.
He dips his pen in Mexican pepper sauce,
and wherevey he writes he leaves a red
line on the article of the Lake county
If Maj. Abrams is to be left to carry on
the reform movement of Florida, and if
he succeeds in drawing the fire of col
leagues in each case as effectually as he
did in his Ocala speech, his will he no
bed of roses for the next few months.
A watermelon weighing fifty-one pounds
and a tomato weizhirie twenty-one
ounces were s.n exhibition at once" the
stores yesterday. This section has pro
da- ed a large crop of vegetables this sea
son, and some of the specimens have been
immense in size.
Campbell Oounty’B Vote.
Fairburn. Ga., June 11.-j~The managers
of the primary election held here on Sat
urday last met at the court house and'
consolidated the vote. Atkinson rec eived
251 votes, Gen. Evans l!ll, Candler 347,
Clifton 22. Wright and Hardeman received
each ;>!A. R. I.’. Nesbitt ; J. D. Waddell
6 and Calvin 2, J. M. Terrell 354.
J he dernoeratic executive committee
ele.-ted tne following delegates to cast the
vote of Campbell county : George F. Lon
gino, C. B. Moseley, G. L. Tanner, M. H.
Uollins. T. 1:1. Penningtot, W. C. Kiser,
C. F. Brooks. Rush Irwin, E. B. Chap
man, C. S. Reid. One district failed to
bring an 5- returns. It is thought it went
for Evans by a small majority.
I WEEKLY, (2 TIMES-A-WEEK) fl A YEAR. )
< 5 CENTS A COPY. }M (> 9K
( DAILY, 810 A YEAR. V» AV. ,
fey via
f O times]
l week]
’ A NEW BOOM FOR THE SOUTH
■ i
;, Business Men to Hold a Big Meeting
At New York.
Many of ths Most Prominent Finan
cial and Commercial Houses of the
' Metropolis Give the Meeting- Their
Indorsement A General Inter
i change of Views From a Purely Busi
ness Standpoint to Be Indulged In.
Washington, June 13.—A meeting
fraught with the utmost significance to
the interests of the whole south will be
held at the Fifth Avenue hotel, New
York, Thursday, June 21. It is a direct
outgrowth of the many public conven
' tions held of recent years in the south to
induce capital, industrial plants and de-
■ sirable immigration to this section. The
general invitation to this New York meet
ing will be published in the Balti
more Manufacturers’ Record to-morrow
and is made at the request of Senator
Patrick Walsh, Col. B. Dyer, of Au
•gusta, Ga., R. H. Edmonds, editor of the
Manufactures Record and others, and
fifty New Yorkers who have investments
in the south, trade with the south and
southerners who now live in New York,
but whose interests are south. The gen
tlemen named directly own or represent
not less than $1,000,900,000 of capital.
THE PAI’EK.
The paper signed by this splendid and
most complimentary list of names of
famous mercantile concerns of New’ York
is as follows:
New York. June 13.—We have considered
the communications of Col. D. B. Dyer, lion.
Patrick Walsh and Mr. R. H. Edmonds, sug
gesting an early meeting in this city of New
York southerners and prominent New York
business men Interested in the south or
southern trade, to confer with representa
tives of .leading interests from that section.
Recognizing the vital importance of the sub
ject not only to the south, but to the whole
country, we will be glad to meet southern
business men for conference at the Fifth
Avenue hotel on June 21.
The names are R. T. Wilson & Co.,
Hon. R. M. Trenholm, J. H. Parker, In
man, Swan Co., Cofilng, Etmus & Co.,
Hubbard, Price&Co., Hopkins. Dwight Ao
Co., E. M. Lehman, of Lehman Bros., H.
B. Claflin Co., C. P. Huntington, G. M-
Sorrell, C. H. Mallory <& Co., E. H. Allen,
Coates Thread Company, Henry B. Plant,
Willis J. Best,. William Guilleaudeu,
Samuel M. Jarvis, Roland R. Conklin,
Hugh R. Garden, C. C, Baldwin,
George Gordon Battle, E. K,
Martin, Charles A. Desbou, John Allen
Wyeth. John C. Calhoun, Woodward,
Baldwin & Co., W. L. String & Co.,
Teift, Weller A Co., Francis H. Leggett
& Co., E. (L. Sampson, Col. William P.
Thompson, Mills &. Gibbs, William
Steinway, Waiter Stanton. Wheelwright,
Eldridge A Co.. E. B. Fielding, T. M.
Ives, Nautnberg. Kraus & Co., Berheim,
Bauer & Co., Ijornthal, Weissman & Co.,
Bierman, Hieflelbejc in—Lky. Hammers-.
' F, LassUt Co.TiialflF Ruckott. WW
Mallet.
IMfOHTANCB OF THE MEETING.
Judged by the financial prominence of
the men who have signed this invitation,
this promises to he the most important
meeting ever held in behalf of southern
advancement. Men representing not sim
ply millions, but hundreds of millions,
who recognize the fact that the advant
ages and resources of the south
only need to be fully known to
the world to bring about a great increase
in population and' wealth, have united
in asking others interested in the south,
and its future to meet them in New York,
in order to have a general interchange of
views from a purely business standpoint
as to the best means of advancing the
prosperity of the south.
This invitation is general. It is ex
tended to all business men, whether they
be farmers, transportation officials,
bankers, merchants and manufacturers,
or property owners, interested in the
south.
As the notice of this meeting is neces
sarily brief, all business men who desire
to attend can receive all particulars by
addressing, by mail or telegraph, R. H.
Edmonds, editor Manufactures’) Record,
Bal tiinore, Md.
It is expected that the outcome of this
meeting will be of momentous con
sequence to the entire south.
WAYNE’S VOTE.
Atkinson and Clifton Far in the Lead
of th 3 Rival Candidates.
Jesup, Ga., June 13.—After consolidat
ing the returns of the primary election
held Saturday, the followiug is the re
sult:
Atkinson 301
I Evans TO
Clifton SM
Candler 36
Nesbitt SCO
The remainder of the state house of
ficers were nominated.
Henry G. Turner receives the unani
mous vote for Congress.
Politics in Decatur.
Bainbridge. Ga., June 13Candidates
: for the legislature are bobbing up all over
the county.
The democrats of this comity favor the
re-election of the Hon. Ben E. Russell to
congress almost to a man.
On last night there was formed an or
ganization to be known as the Young
Men’s Central Democratic Club. Its ob
ject is to encourage and advance the in
terest of democracy in this county, to ar
range for political gatherings and to
furnish speakers whenever necessary for
the coming campaign. Seventy-five mem
, bers were enrolled. The officers elected
were: .President, A. L. Hawes; vice
president, E. T. Hines; secretary, B.
Nussbaum: treasurer. Sig. Nussbaum.
Res') ut.iom- indorsing Hon. Ben. E. Rus
sell and common ling him to the people of
theSeeomi district for a re-election were
passed. The chxb also, by a vote of 1< to
2, indorsed the {capdiuac.v of W. M. Har
rell, Esq., for the legislature.
FLORIDA'S LAW OK FIGHTS.
A Motion to Advance the Broward
Case in the Supreme Court.
Tallahassee, Fla., June IB.v- In the su
preme court, Attorney General Lamar has
had a motion entered on the docket for
the advancement of the case of N. B.
Broward vs. the Duval Athletic "Club?"’
After ten days' notice io the appellees
(the club;, on motion of Mr. Lamar the
court will take the case under ad vise
men t. This is a suit to test the validity
of Judge Call’s decision? granting an in
junction restraining Sheriff Broward
from interfering with the Corbett-Mitch
ell fight at Jacksonville last January. It
is understood that the club will not be
represented when the case is called ten
days from now, so the state i* likely to
have a walkover.