Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1876 — A Strange Meeting. [ARTICLE]

A Strange Meeting.

A touching incident happened at the rooms of a well-known social club of Newark, on Tuesday evening last. It was a meeting between a son and a long-lost father under very peculiar circumstances. It seems that the members of the club hatl invited a party of friends to spend the evening with them, and among the number was a young gentleman from Bayonne. Shortly after nine o’clock an old man, considerably under the influence of liquor, poorly clad, and carrying a bundle in his hand, entered the club room, and, without saying a word, sat down in a chair near the door, and quietly took a survey of the surroundings. One of the party, desirous of having a little sport at the expense of the new comer, pulled oft his hat and gravely informed the party that he would give them a specimen of his skill in phrenology. He then manipulated the old man’s head, giving his peculiarities in such high flown language that the room was in a roar, the old fellow also entering into the spirit of the occasion and laughing until the tears ran down his cheeks. Presently the young man from Bayonne, who had kept aloof from the throng, elbowed himself up to the amateur phrenologist, and said, “My friend, wouldn’t it be much better to try your practical jokes on a younger person?’’ The person thus addressed explained that no harm was meant, as the old man himself did not object and enjoyed the iuh, and commenced anew to give his peculiarities. At this juncture the young man burst into tears, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, exclaimed: “Boys, that man is my father; for God’s sake, stop this.” He then went up tothe aged man and threw his arms around his neck. The suddenness of this strange denouement astonished all present. The stranger recognized his son, and the two shortly afterward left the rooms and did not return. It was ascertained yesterday that the two men went to Bayonne, where the family reside, and that a reconciliation was effected between a husband and wife who had been separated nearly fourteen years. Truth, indeed, is stranger than fiction. —Newark Courier.