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The Brussels Post, 1893-5-26, Page 66 TEE BRUSSELS POST The Story of Merry McAuley's Life. Ate fattier wee a counterfeiter an' ran away from justice before ever 1 eon re• member him. There was a lot of use an' they put me with me grandmother, She Was old an' a devout Romeniet, en' many'e the time when she wee tellin' her beads an' kissing the floor for pen. anoe, I'd shin thiugs at her just bo hoar leer aurum an' swear et me, an' thee she'd back to her knees, I'd got well beyond her or anybody by the time I was Chir. teen. They let me run loose, I'd no eehonlin', en' got blows for meat an' drink till 1 wished meself dead many a time. I thought could I only get to me eider in America I'd be near the same as jn Paradise, when all et once they sent me to I,er, an' for while I ran errands an' helped me brother-in-law. But I wag tall o' meyears an' strong, an' had no fear for any man linin', an' a born thief as well, so that stealth' cane neteral an' easy ; an' soon 1 ivas in a den on Water street, learniu' to be n prize fighter, an' with a boat on the river for thievin' itt bight. By this lime X was nineteen, en' I don't suppose a bigger nuisance nn' loafer ever stepped above ground. I made good hauls, for the river polies didn't amount to much in thein days, an' it was pretty easy to board a vessel an' take what you pleased. The fourth ward belonged to my kind. It's Uad enough now but it's heaven to what it was them Now, I'd enough to send me to prison forty times over, an' I knew it, but that didn't make it any easier to go there for something I hadn't dope. A. aritne was sworn on me by same that hated me bad an' wanted me ont of the way. Fifteen years in prison 1 That was the sentence I got, an' I not twenty years old. That hour goin' up the river was the toughest I'd ever Dome to. I was triad with rage, but band.oeffee an' forced to keep quiet. It was in me mind to kill me keeper, an' I marked him then. "Wait" said I to meted, "I'll be even with you some day if I have to hang for it.. An' when I Ind on the prison dress an' they shut me in, I knocked me head agin the wall, an' if I' dared I would a killed meself. At last I made up me mind I'd obey rules and see if I couldn't get pardoned out, or may he there'd come a ohanee of escape, an' I set my mind toward that. I tried it for two years ; learned to read an' had a pile of cheap novels they let us buy ; an' I learned carpet weavin' an' no one had a word to say agin me. But then I grew weakly. I'd been used to the open air always, an' a shut-in life told upon me. Tben I got ugly an' thought it was no use, an' then they punished me. Do you know wbatthat is? It's the leather collar that holds an' galls you, an' you strapped up by the arms with your toes just touchin' the floor, an' its the shower bath that leaves yon in a dead faint till another dash brings you out. I've stood it all an' cursed God while I did. I was that desperate I would have killed the keeper, but I saw no chance one even if I did. It was one Sunday mornin', I'd been in prison five years. I dragged meself into the chapel an' sat down ; then I beard a voice I knew, an' looked up. There by the chaplain was a. men I'd been on a spree with many an' many a time—Orville Gardner. Ho stepped down off the platform. "My men" seys be, "I've no right anywhere but among you, for I've been one of you in sin," an' than he prayed till there wasn't a dry eve there but nine ; I was (Int shamed to be seen eryin', but 1 looked at him and won- dered what had Dome to him to matte him so different. He said a verse that struck me, an' when I got into my Dell again I took down the Bible an' began to hunt for it. I read awhile till I found something that hit ethe Catholics, I thought, an' I pitched me Bible down and kicked it all 'round the cell. "The vile heritics 1" I says. "That's the way they show np the Catholics, is it ?" 'It was the verse that says, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that be the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving Beed to seducing spirits and dos - trines of devils ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and oommanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be re- ceived, with thanksgiving of them whioh believe and know the truth." "1x11 have a Catholic Bible," says 1, "an' nob this thing tlab no decent Catholic would teuch with a ten -foot pole." So I got me a Catholic Bible from the library, but it was pretty much the same, only more lumbered up with notes. I read 'em both an' the more I rend the more miserable 1 was. I wanted to be different. I thought about the new look in Gardner's fade. "What makes it ?" says 1, "an' if he is different, why can't' he ? Now if I send for the priest, he'll set me to doin' penance and eayin' so many prayers, an' all such like. The chaplain says I'm to be sorry for me sin nn' ash God to for- give me. Which is the way, I wonder ?" You wouldn't think I'd n minded, but if ten thousand people had been in me cell, I couldn't a felt worse about prayin'. I kneeled down, blushin' that hot as I'd never done in me life before, an' then I'd np again an' that't the way it was for three or four weeks, till I was just desperate. Then theta comes a night when I said I'd pray till some gene' comes to me, an' if it didn't I'd never pray again. I was that weak an' trembly 1 seemed as if I could die easy enough. 1 knelt there an' waited be- tween the times I prayed. I wouldn't stir from me knees. Me eyes were abut. I was in an agony, an' the sweat rollin' fromme face in big drops, an, 'God be marched to me a ginner" oar= front me lips. Then, in a minute, something nomad to be by me. I heard a voice or felt I heard one plain enough. It said "My son, thy sins, which are many, are forgiven." To the day o' me death, 1'11 think I saw a light about me an' smelled some - thin' sweet as flowers in tine Sell. I didn't know if I was alive or not. I shouted Out, "Ob, praise God f praise God 1" "Shut your noise," the guard said, goin' by. "What's the matter with you." "I've found Christ," I says, "Me sine are all forgiven me." "I'll report you," says hs, an' be took me number, but ho didn't report me. Well then, eeein' how it had Some to mo, I bogan to pray for othere. I was (plot an' content all the time, an' 1 believed if it wag good for me, God'd find a way to let me out o' prison. 'I didn't pray for it for two years, but iuet work. ed there to save others, en' many a one timed to a new life sn' stuck tc 16. Then at leat octane a pardon when X'd been in seven years an' six menthe just, MI' 1 (Iamo back down the river to New York. There wag never a lonesourer man alive. I wouldn't gohack to else fourth ward, for fear I'd be tempted, en' so I wandered round tryin' for work, till one day 1 met a friend ao he took me to a lager beer saloon, Leger beer had oome up since I went up the river, I didn't know it was any more hart than root beer • they said it wasn't. But that first night did for me, Me head got in a bus, au' in a week or two I wanted soma• thin' stronger. I got work in a hat shop, an' bad good wages, but a strike Dome an' I led it an' lost the plass. It was war time, an' I went into the bounty businese—a rascally businees too. Then I had a boat on the river again. I'd boy stolen goods of the sailors and then make them meatier fear of being arrested, an I took the bounty. The end of the war stopped this, an then I stunk to the river, buyin' an sellir' smuggled goods, an pay. ing all I could in counterfeit money." Do yon remember when the Idaho burn ed in the East River ? 111e and me partners rowed out—not to save life, but to rob ; but when we saw em soreamin' in the water we turned to and helped em, though one o' me partners in the boat said we'd make a pile pipkin' up coats and hats. Often an often I was shot at. Do you. think I didn't remember what I'd had given me, an how I'd lost fb ? I didn't pray, I didn't dare to, I kept under liquor all the time to head off thinking, for I said God was done with me and 1 was bound for hell sure and pertain. About this time, one night, I'd gone over to Brooklyn very drunk—too drunk to do me share of the work we had laid out for that night, an as me partner boarded the ship we were after, I slipped an fell overboard and went under like a shot. An eddy parried me off, and the boat went another way. I knew I was drownin' for I went down twice, an in me extremity I called on God, though I felt too mean to do it. It Beamed as if I was lifted up and the boat brouent to me. I got hold of it somehow, I don't just know how. The water had sobered me. When I was in it, I heard, plain as if a voice spoke to me, 'Jerry, you've been saved for the last time. Go oub on that river agin, and you'll never have another chance.' I was mud. I went home an drank, an drank, an drank. I was sodden with drink an as awful lookin' a case—more so, than you have ever laid eyes on. An oh, the misery of me thoughts. It wee the John Allen excitement then, an I heard the single' an was sick with re- membering, an yet drinkin' day and night to drown it all. A oily missionary came in one day to the house on Cherry street, whore I boarded. He shied a little bit when he SEM me at the top of the stairs—a head like a mop and an old red shirt. He'd been pitched down stairs by fellers like me, an I'd a done it meself ems. I hang round while he wens in a room, tbinkin' may be be could get me job of honest work, an when he oame one I told him so. He asked me to step out on the pavement. lis said afterward I was that evil lookin' he was afraid of me, an he didn't know what I might do. So out on the street I went, an he took me straight to the Howard Mission, an there we had a long talk, an a gentleman wanted me to sign the pledge. 'It's no use,' says I, 'I shall break it.' 'Ask God to keep yon from breaking it,' be eaid. 1 thought a minute and then I signed it and went home. Me partner was there and he laughed himself hoarse when I told him. He had a bottle o' gin in his hand that very minute. 'You! he says, 'Here drink 1' I took the glass and drank. 'That's the lase glass I'll ever take,' says I. Yes, says he 'till the next one.' I'd hardly swallowed it when who should come in bat the missionary. We went out together an 1 told him I was dead broke, an hungry, an I would have to go on the river again once more any- how. 'Jerry', says be, 'before you shall ever do that again, I'll take off this coat an pawn it.' The coat wae thin and old. I knew he wae poor, an ie went to me heart that he'd do such a thing as that. He went away a minute, an when he Some back be brought me fifty cents. An he kept on hslpin'. He followed me up day after day, an at last one night at his hones, where he'd had me to tee, en there was singin' and prayin' afterwards. I prayed meself once more, an believed 1 should be forgiven. There wasn't any ehoutin' this time but there was quiet an peace. It was hard to pull. I got work now an then, but more often not, and then everybody thought I was ehammin' for what 1 could get out of it. 1 didn't wonder, an I helped it along by doing what you'd never believe—I caved in again. Three times I wns drunk, an do you know what did it ? Telmer*. That's why I am so down on tobacco now. Chew an smoke an there'll be a steady creaks' for something, and mostly it ends in whiskey. e1 man that honest- ly wants the spirit of God in him has got to be clear, I tell you, inside and out. He's got to shut down on all his old dirty Welts, or he's gone. That is the way I found ib. I was married by this time to Marie, and she has been God's help from that day to this, an often we talked about some way to get at the poor souls in the fourth ward. We were dein' clay's work, both 0f us, an poor as poor mould be. But we said, 'Why have we both been aged to filth an matinees, en all else, if not Bo's to know how to help some others out of it ?' An one day I had a sort of vision. I thought we had n Ihoueo in the fourth ward, and a big bath an a stream of people =min' in. I washed em out. side an the Lord washed em ineide, an I cried as I thought, 'Oh if I could only do Cul for Jesus' Bake.' Do it for one if you can't for more, said Maria, an that is the way we began in an old rookery of a betas, in one room, an a little sign hung out, "TRPS RIMING HAND Fon MEN." You'd never believe bow many, that sign drew in. We did what we cotild, an When Tbanksgivin' day oame, friends gave ue a good dinner for all. After- wards there was a meetin', and it wag se blessed we were Moved to say that they should•all mini the next night. From that day to thio—first in the oid bundle', on then in tette, the new ono—there has been a meetin' every night in the year, an now it's hundreds—yee, thousands- that can any the Water Street Mission was their help to a new life. Day en night we work—you know how. My life ie slowly but surely gobs' from me. I feel it, but livin' or dytn' it'e the Lord's. All tbees years he has held me, but I dou'i know now but that I'd .have fallen again if 1 had not been 00 busy boldin' onto others, and that's the wey to keep men, set 'sin to work. The minute they say they're sink 0' the oid ways, start 'em to pull in somebody else. You see when your soul is just en fire longin' to get at every wretch an bring hien into the fold, there's no tins for your old tricks, an no wands' to try em again, I could talk a month tonin' of one an another that's been here. Oh there's stories, if one but knew em 1 An not, a day that you don't know there ain't a hummer in the fourth ward so low down but .what the Lord San piolr him out o' the gutter acid set him on his feet. That's why T tell mo story an everythin' right out an plain. There's tithes I'm dead sick o' rememberin' it, but I have to do it, ate them very times seem the ones that help the most. An as long as tongue San move, may I never be ashamed to toll whet I've been saved front its Lost The Bet. My travelling companion happened to he a Boston drummer who was very touch struck on himself. Just ahead of us eat a very pretty young lady. The oar was crowded and the young lady had without doubt been unable to procure a seat in the parlor oar, so she oeoupied one with her maid, a mulatto. Myseatmate tried in various ways to attraot the notice of the young lady. He talked shop to me for awhile, inoidenbally confiding the fact—or f,otion—that his father was a very wealthy man whose eccentricity had caused him to place his son in a position for acquiring a thorough knowledge of every branch of the dry goods business. Next year he expected to be taken into the firm. Ile was think- ing of getting married and settling down if he could meet his ideal. Then he went on to describe his ideal and he outlined the young lady just ahead of us, winking Draftily at me. I was pertain she heard every word but I could not tell if she was offended. At length my loquacious oompaniou leaned close to me, lowering his voice to a guarded tone as he said :— "P11 go you ten to five I get is kiss from her before we have gone another four miles." I was disgusted with the fellow, but thinking he would surely get a rebuff that would teach him a lesson I retort- ed:— "Dens 1" One minute later the train plunged in- to the sudden and overwhelming dark. ness of a tunnel. The drummer nudged me with bis elbow. "Now I have it," he chuckled. I felt him partly rise and lean over in his seat end I was simply paralyzed with the immensity of his gall.- In another second to my ears came the unmistakable sound of escalation. I expected to bear a shriek and words of protest, but in this I was disappointed. Just before the train passed out of the tunnel the drum- mer sank back at my side. An instant later we dashed into daylight once more. I glanced at the young lady. To my surprise she had changed places with the mulatto, and sloe was smiling merrily, while the tan colored maid was laughing outright. I looked at my oompaniou and saw he was staring with horror at the grinning nogress. He gasped and tried to speak, but it was some moments before he could gurgle : "Great eters 1 I kissed the wrong one. I havelost the bet." He took an early opportunity to vanish from the ear. I am still welting for him to fork over the $10. Exteter. A new iron roof is being planed on F,tn. sou's Block by H. Spackman: Operations for the repairing of the dil- apidated Presbyterian church have com- menced. Dyer & Howard are tke con- tractors!. Considerabion $1,000. E. H. Fish purposes putting in a shoot- ing gallery in connection with his bar. her shop. He has applied to the Council for permit but has not yet received their sanction. John Granger, bead sawyer in the Exe. ter saw mill, met with a painful accident while cutting stave -bolts on Friday last. It appears he was turning a piece of timber on the log carrier and accident- ally got the middle finger of his right hand caught between the timber and the machine, squeezing it so badly that it wns nsosssary to amputate it at the first joint. John kloGarry intonde shortly to build e large addition to the WhitelyIlono in this village. The village oonstabie made a raid on the village Sows on Saturday and drove some 10 of the bovines to the pound. Whey were liberated, however, a tow been afterwards in order to give their owners an opportunity to secure pasture. Al the annual meeting of the Lttoknow Mechanics' 'Istituto abs following officers were elected for tee ensuing year :— President,.John Murohieon ; Vioe•Presi- dont, D. 112. Gordon, M. D. ; Seorebary, J. G. Murdoch ; Treasurer, lt. D. Gain• exon ; Dlreotorg, D. D. Yule, C. A, Shep- pard, J. C. Brown, P. A. Maloomson, S. Blathers, G. W. °atter, W. S. Holmes, John Soobt, J. W. Jewitt. The reports of the officers in connec- tion with the I. 0. G. T. showed that the finances of the District Lodge were in a satisfactory ooudibien and that a net gain of 25 had been made in the membership during the last quarter. The member- ship in the district ,tt present is nearly one thousand. After the other businese was disposed of the Lodge elected Die. trict officers for the ensuing year as fol. Iowa :—B. 0. T., Bro. Brookenshire, Wingbam ; D. V. • T., Sister Mrs. S. Mothers, Luoknow ; D. C., Bro. George Newton, Wingbam ; D. Seo.•Treae., Bro. Bond Lauravon, Londesboro ; D. Shap., Bro. Wm. Gray, Bluevale ; D. N., Bro. J. G. Mnrdoeh, Luokuow ; D. G., Sister Miss Wiehtman, Belgrave ; D. P. T,, R. Somers, Blyth. 'FSE COOK'S BEST FRIEND 1.ARGEST SALE IN CANADA. HONEY TO LOAN. Any Amount of Money to Loan on Farm or Village Pro- perty at 6 6. 6A- Per Cent., Yearly. Straight Loans with privilege of repaying when required. Apply to A. Hunter, Division Opurt Clerls, Brussels. Ayer's Pills Are compounded with the view to general usefulness and adaptability. They are composed of the purest vegetable aperients. Their delicate sugar. coating, which readily die - solves in the stomach, preserves their full medicinal value and makes them easy to take, either by old or young. For constipation, dyspep- sia, biliousness, sick headache, and the common derangements of the Stomach, Liver, and .Rowels ; also to check colds and fevers, Ayer's Pills Are the 1: est Unlike other cathartics, the effect of Ayer's Pills is to strengthen the excretory organs and restore to them their regular and natured ac- tion. Dootors everywhere prescribe them. In spUe of immense compe- tition, they have always maintained their popularity as a family meat- dyne, being in greater demand now than ever before. They are put up both in vials and boxes, and whether for home use or travel, Ayer's Pille are preferable to any other. Have you ever tried them? Ayer's Pills Prepared by Dr, d. C, Ayer & Co., Lowell, Masa Sold by all Druggists. Every Dose Effective THE 70RTMAI\ & WARD 1Y PSOT' S, CO.'S spa a arrow. The Best Pulverizer. The Best Cultivator. It bas no equal for pulverizing hard slay lamps. It is beyond question the best machine for making a seed bed or inverted sod. For preparing fall plowing for spring seeding, especially in heavy clayaoil, where the lend is batted or become hard and difficult to move. For nutting up and pulverizing any kind of stubble land, Dither for the purports of starting foul seeds or fitting for seeding. It is unquestionably far superior to anything in the market for cultivating any kind of land that is very difficult to subdue. Where every other tool has failed the Spade Harrow will be found to be just the machine needed. As will be seen by the cut, it is constructed with two revolving cylinders, oom. posed of 56 spades, 6 inches wide and,8 inches long, est 2 inches apart, and When in motion turn the ground up as completely as can be done by hand. The machine hag 168 sharp cutting edges, and in working the ground it dose not drag or trail, but turns the soil up and tete it drop loose behind the machine, leaving the sub•soli on top and level surface. It wetke in any kind of land ; and in mucky, clammy soil, when the Nee and Spring Tooth Harrows oiog up and become useless, the Spade Harrows does first -Slaw work. ALS) AGENT FOR THE SOLID D1S0 IIA1IIIQW. % betelOm WASAICEIR. AGENT, Bit,USS]ILS. MAY 26, 1898 all Paper HOULO BEAUTIFY Not simply hide baro walls, As discordant strains of music are to the oar, so is the eye tortured by out -of -harmony paper on the 'walls. If you look to cheapness alone you might as well cover your plaster with penny -a -dozen newspapers. But if you appreciate real beauty you should consider many things in purchasing papers—the location, light and woodwork of the room, etc. Our stock includes something especially adapted to every room —more colors and patterns than any other wall paper store in the town. Our Gooch Papers cost you no mon° than the poor ones others sell. Call and sae otir thousand -and -one styles. Persons thoroughly versed in Wall Paper will wait upon you and aid you in making selections. Wo hang paper in a first-class manner and are prepared to ex- ecute the best kind of decorations. WINDOW BLINDS.—I have an elegant stock of Window Blinds, wall assorted, that will only need to be seen to be appreci- ated. They may bo had either trimmed or plain by the yard. ,/ W . RODDIO , House, Sign, Carriage and Ornamental Painter. ABM iS ES JOHN DOWNING, LAIRD BLOCK, BRUSSELS. Do you like nobby looking, perfect fitting, good wearing Shoes ? If so, our new styles for men in Calf, Cordovan and Dongola, can- not help but please. The Price is Right. The Fit is Right. The Style is Right. The Quality is Right. FOR, IjA DI I1S- We are showing some exquisite styles in Ladies' Buttoned Boots. Our Glove Fitting Hann:erns and Welts are beauties that cannot help bub please you, and the pride is not extravagant. Drop in and take a look at them. Special Attention given to Custom Work, raeBIPS SEWED FREE OF CHARGE. IIJST 0 ANOTHER lot of ne iv Hats for men, youths and boys. The largest, finest and cheapestrange we have ever shown. Have a look at them the first opportunity. Extra good value in Suits made to order, also a complete stock of men's boys' and children's Readyluaclo Suits. Are your Boots the worse of the wear ? If so come in and we will give you something that is good, stylish and comfortable. Dress Goods in all the latest styles with Trimmings and • Buttons to Match. Prints, ChalZies, ldSZi72S, Einl-pideries. NEW SEE OTJR 89c. PARASOLS. CORSETS. Ar Strachan. THE NEW CHEAP STORE, 8E2, SS - GEO. GOOD'S OLD STAND.. Grand Opening Sale on Friday and Saturday and Following Days. We have been for several days opening up the finest stock• of New Goods ever displayed in Brussels. Wo invite you to vit our store and we will offer you such bargains as will, make our Opening Sale memorable and the New Cheap Store famous in Brussels. The New Goods at the New Cheap Store consist of Ladies', Misses' and Child. ren'e Fine Boots, Shoos and Slippers in all the new 0nlore and materials Gentle. mon': Fine Laced Balmorale, Oongresa, Gaitere and Oxfords in Dongola Rid, Cor- cloven and Calf. Working Shoes for Farmers and Mechanics—Stroeg, neat, durable and cheap. Boys' and Girls' School Boots very Cheap. Our Boot hue Shoo atria TRUNKS n of all intending purobaaere. T is wall worth the attention VALISES—NEWEST AND BEST, Chinaware, Crockery and Glassware in Tea: Sete, Diener Sets, ToiletleSete, Water Sets, Lemonade Sets, Fancy China Plates, Cups and Saucers. Fanny 0heesore, Goblets, Lamps, Seo. Don't fait to see our Handsome Goblete at 50. each, in fact don't fail to inspeet this elegant stock of China, Crockery and Glassware. GOOD B,ROS. 'J NEW CHEAP STORn. MRS, TUFTS, Manager. Butter and Eggs Wanted'.