The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, May 29, 1914, Image 8

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THE 8EMIAVEEKLV TRIBUNE NORTH PLATTE. NFRRAftWA
A Telegraph
Joke"
By SARAH BAXTER
W ILAKllNG
A CROWN
By JOHN Y. LARNED
v a &lll 111
Tropical Waters
By DONALD CHAMDBRLIN
V-lP'inaGf -&rr mwuM''' ' inimiwpai
foA i5Sn
1 was at anchor In my yacht ono
iilgtat near the mouth of tho great
'Yaqul river, In Santo Domingo. 1 bad
put In thcro In obedlenco to storm sig
nals and was waiting for tho storm to
como and go. Dut it did not appear.
Tho night I speak of was clear, and
thoro was a full moou. Of courso It
was hot It Is always hot In that
region.
Thcro wero rumors of negro Insur
rections and revolutions In Ilaltl,
which Is tho western part of tho Is
land and not far from whero I was
lying, and I was not enjoying my stay,
for, being at no great distance from
plther shore, I did not know when a
party of lawless negroes would como
aboard for murder nnd'loot.
Unfortunately during tho day wo had
heard of a dnnco that was to tako
place at tho iiouso of ono of tho small
planters living in that region, and tho
wholo crow asked mo for lenvo to go.
I preferred that nono of them should
lenve tho yacht, but reluctantly con
sented that half should go in charge
of tho quartermaster, leaving mo tho
other half. They had not been gono
long beforo I suw a boat coming with
a single man In it, who told mo that
some negroes wero looting his bouso
nud begged mo to send n forco to drive
them off. I could not rcfimo such a
request, and my men all wished to bo
permitted to go. I sent four of tho
live, retuinlng ono man, Erlckson, who
wbb uot very well and thercforo per
fectly willing to remain with mo.
Tho second detachment had not been
gono long when, pacing tho stern deck
dissatisfied with myself for letting my
crow leavo tho yacht unprotected, 1
saw a boat evidently well loaded with
human beings leave tho north bank
of tho river and pull directly for mo. I
smellcd danger at onco and called to
Erlckson, who was in his bunk in tho
forecastle, to bring up an armful of
weapons and ammunition.
Ho soon camo up tho companionway
staggering under his load and distrib
uted them in different parts of the
yacht. When tho approaching boat
camo near enough to distinguish her
crow and I could seo that they wero all
blacks, It (lashed across mo that tho
Information that had been given my
men as to tho danco and tho story
about tho attack on my visitor's homo
wero simply ruses to get my men away
in order that n party might como out
and loot the yacht I took position
with n repeating riflo astern and or
dered Erlckson to placo himself further
for'ard. If 1 fired I would pick n man
in tho bow, and ho was to Are at a
man in tho stern.,
When tho boat camo within rango 1
ordered tho men to keep off, but thoy
paid no attontlon to tho order, pulling
right along. All but tho helmsman had
their backs to mo and overy oarsman
was busy with his oar; consequently 1
had tho ndvnntago of thom, for they
could not both row and fight, whllo I
could pour lead Into them ad lib. Tho
boat was n yawl and thero wero eight
oarsmen In her, each man pulling a
single oar.
I gavo a second order beforo firing,
and still not being obeyed I took aim
ut tho bow oarsman as near as I could
distinguish htm from tho others and
fired. My shot was followed by ono
from Erlckson. Wo could not seo Just
what damago wo had done, but it was
evident that wo had thrown them Into
confusion. Thoy stopped rowing and
Bomo of thorn wero ovldcutly minister
ing to wounded men, while others wero
Jabbering at each other In a lingo' we
did not understand. At least wo wero
not near enough to do so.
Not wishing to hurt any moro men
than necessary, I ordered them to turn
about and pull away. Hut tho steers
man, who was evidently their leader,
was yelling nt them to pull for tho
yacht, for most of thom gavo way. I
fired again and saw a man fall back
ward. Erlckson duplicated my shot,
but upparontly did no damage. Seeing
that our enemy was bent on rushing
us, 1 dropped my rlllo and picked up
a couple of hand grenades, calling to
Erlckson to do tho same.
I had scarcely changed my weapon
wheu by n spurt tho blacks camo up
and rounded alongside. Both Erlck
son and I met whero they touched tho
yacht and each tossed a hand grenado
into tho boat A terrlblo havoc was
produced, but I did not stop to seo Just
what damage was done, for I heard
vats pulling with n quick stroko on
the other sldo of tho yacht. Shouting
to Erlckson to defend that side, I ran
to tho other sldo, carrying nn armful
of weapons with ma
1 saw unother boat coming which 1
did not doubt was nn auxiliary forco
to tho ono 1 had been opposing. With
out waiting to hall them, I llrod a shot
at them, I don't think I hit any one,
but a another moment I heard a hal
loo andtho Bound of oars In another
direction, This I knew to bo some of
my crew returning. Tho boat ou my
sldo changed its courso and pulled
away as fast as It had como. Tho
boat on the, other sldo In which most
of tho men had been disabled had al.
ready dropped off, ecolng Erlckson'a
arm raised with another grenade.
When I got my crow togothcr again
I put thom in our small boats, with
hawsers attached to tho yacht with
orders to pu.ll down tho river. Thoy
did ao, and when day broko wo hoisted
Mil and put out to sea. I had had
enough of that Island, and I have nev
er visited it since.
"What do you think, doctor, of this
statement that metal worn on tho head
of one afflicted with hysteria when tho
sqme Is placed on the head of another
person will produce a Uko effect?"
"I don't bellevo It"
"I do."
"Why?"
"Because, In the first place, It has
been demonstrated by medical men In
Paris, and, in tho second place, I onco
had a case of it in my own practice."
"OIvo mo tho caso."
This was tho doctor's story:
"Thero wero two sisters. I do not
caro to glvo their names, so I will glvo
fictitious names Lillian and Louisa.
.Lillian was tho older. During n cer
tain winter it wns proposed to glvonn
entertainment for charity, and tho sis?
ters wero among tho performers.
Among other attractions wero living
tableaux. In ono of theso tableaux
Lillian took the part of Queen Mary of
Scotland, seated in a room of Holy
rood palace at Edinburgh, surrounded
by courtiers. Lord Darnloy, whom sho
nftcrward married, wns among them.
"Now, tho man who personated Darn
ley was a very tall man Darnloy him
self was long, you will remember
whom Lillian hod never seen before
rehearsal. Strange to say, sho fell vio
lently in lovo with Darnloy. There
was but one rehearsal beforo tho per
formance, and, while those who took
part wero being posed, it was noticed
that tho queen's eyes were bent on
Darnloy lovingly. Perhaps you havo
never soon a womau so Infatuated with
n man that she can't keep from show
ing It. I have.
"Nobody thought of tho crown tho
queen of Scots wore or whore It enme
from, I certainly did not then, but
slnco I havo hunted tho matter up
and have learned all about it Lillian
by her evident predisposition for this
fellow who personnted Darnlcy attract
ed tho attention of all present at re
hearsal. When tho tableau was giv
en beforo an nudienco sho looked nt
him so lovingly that all except those
who know supposed it to bo n part of
tho pqrformanco nnd wero delighted
with the representation.
"This performance was such a suc
cess that it was determined to repeat it
the following week. Tho day It was
to bo given again I was called ou to
visit Lillian professionally. I found
her In nn abnormally nervous condi
tion, with other symptoms. I forbade
her taking part In the tableau, which
was to como off that evening, nnd It
wns decided that her sister Loulso
was to assume tho part in her placo.
"What do you BUpposo happened?
Louiso was very Uko her sister, and
during tho few moments that tho pic
turu was exposed to tho audience sho
regarded Darnley with the samo lufat
uated look that her sister had worn,
so thot most of tho audience supposed
tlmt k was Lillian who posonntetl tho
queen and was assuming the same
lovelorn expression as when sho hnd
exhibited before. I wns In the au
dience and was astonished to seo a
real lover look such as I bad sccu in
Lilllau.
"Among tho performers the mntter
mado a good deal of "talk, for It was
evident to most of them that these
lover's looks of the sister were reaj.
I, being n brain specialist, at onco snw
a problem beforo mo. It seemed to hie
that thcro must bo something in the
relntlvo position of Darnley and tho
queen known to each of tho sisters
that produced tho lovo or an effect sim
ilar to tho emotion felt by tho real
Queen Mary for the real Darnley. But
on Inquiry I learned that Lillian knew
nothing of the historical relationship
between Mary and Darnley, while Lou
lso had supposed that Mary hated him
"I talked with both girls and. without
accusing them of being In love with
the man who had personnted Darnley.
drew from them their feelings while
In tho tableau. B&tu admitted that
thoy had felt a strauge emotion which
had disappeared as soon as tho curtuhr
was rung down and thoy took off tho
crown l made bold to aBk them the
nature of this emotion; but. It being
n matter on which a woman would
slirlnk from speaking, 1 got no definite
information. But from different nil
missions coming from one or tho oth
er of the two 1 gathered that they
felt an emotion the nature of which
they did not understand themselves.
"The matter passed so far as remark
was concernedbut not from my mind.
Yet, seeing no solutlou of it, I finally
dropped trying to solvo It. Then camo
the announcement of these fellows In
Pails I had no sooner read It In tho
newspapers than 1 reverted to tho
tableau, and I Immediately thought of
tho crown worn by the two sisters. I
went to the man who had furnished
the costumes for Information about It
lie referred me to a certain theater
and gave me his card Introducing mo
to tho property man. I asked him to
tell mo something nbout the Crown
that hnd been used In tho tableau.
" 'There's a history to that crown,' bo
replied 'It wns worn by nn actress
who committed stilcldo for lovo. She
played a part requiring her to wear It
nt many successive performances.'
" 'Was sho In love with an actor who
played with her?' I asked.
" 'No,' wns the reply; 'ho had nothing
to do with the stage.' "
Thoro were a few moments of silence,
after which the narrator said:
"You may think wlint you Uko about
this discovery, doctor; I bellevo thero
to something In It
No ono knows of tho serious nud
comic episodes that havo occurred bo
twecn telegraph operators. I refer moro
particularly to thoso of tho opposite
sex. I havo been n telegraph operator
for twenty years, and I can count flvo
marriages between operators that I
know of personally And threo of
these began by tho sending of mes
sages between persons who bad never
seen ench other.
When I wns a young man 1 was lo
cated at a railroad station In a quiet
placo whero thero was no recreation
whatever. I spent most of my tlmo
In the office, nud In order to get away
with tho time when I wns not busy
I kept books there. I read everything
I could get to read nnd even then
thero wero times when I wna hungry
for something to do. Ono evening 1
wns called on for some information
about a train by nn operator some dls
tnnco down tho road and, being par
ticularly lonesome, asked If thero was
anything going on "at your station."
I was dying for something to break
the monotony of my existence, nnd if
thoro was a ball or n barn dnnco I
would run over by tho next train.
My correspondent replied thnt there
wns nothing on hand for that evening,
but there would bo n dnnco in Aeolian
hnll In n few days. I asked If he
would get mo an invitation, but ho re
plied that It was a pay dance, tho
tickets being for salo to any ono who
could pass tho committee, and ha didn't
think I would havo any trouble.
I had said nothing over tho wire
about whether I wns mnn or woman,
nor hnd my. correspondent. I assumed
that ho was n man, and ho talked to
tne as though he supposed mo to bo a
man also. But presently ho said some
thing that sounded feminine, nnd 1
wondered if I wns not talking with a
woman. I asked to which sex he belong
ed, and tho reply came, "A man." But
thero wns a hosltnncy between tho "a"
nud "man" which led mo to believe that
my suspicions wero correct. Then it
occurred to mo to say that I was a wo
man.
Upon this my correspondent began
to say some very gnllant thlugs to me.
Some of them wero without a manly
ring nnd couched In phrases that a wo
man rather than n man would use. 1
replied, using as fcmlnlno lnnguago as
I could command, and I flatter myself
I, was very successful. Then camo n
request for my photograph, and I con
sented to nn exchnnge. I hnvo n num
ber of pictures of relatives and friends
nnd sent ono of my sister's, who had
tho name of being n very pretty girl.
I received ono of n fairly good looking
young mnn. Then my correspondent
nnd I Indulged In any quantity of flat
tery, ho tolllng-tno that I was pretty
enough to kiss and I telling him that
he was "Just to handsome for any
thing.;' After several' days, with occasional
chats over tho wire, I was still uncer
tain whether I was chnttlng with a
mnn or a woman. As to my corre
spondent, 1 couldn't Infer from any
thing ho said that he didn't believe mo
to bo n woman. Ho invited mo to go
with him to tho dance in Aeolian hall,
nnd I nccopted tho Invltntion with
thnnks. Ho asked what train I would
como on and promised to hnve a car
riage at tho station to tako mo to the
danco. I todk n-lady friend into my
confidence, and sho wrote out n num
ber of questions for mo to ask my
correspondent as to how I should ar
ray myself.
When tho evening came round 1 got
myself up In tho best clothes 1 had and
provided myself with a bouquet. If my
correspondent should turn out to bo a
man our episode would have little sa
vor; If he were n woman it would bo
Interesting. I wondered if ho wore In
doubt about my sex nnd how, If a wo
man, sho would recelvo me. My train
arrived nt the stntlon nt 8 p. m., nnd
tho danco wns to begin at 8:30. As
tho train drew up to the stntlon I snw
from tho window scvernl girls in their
best dresses standing togother on tho
platform. Ono in tho center of tho
group held n bouquet. I mado up my
mind at onco thnt my correspondent
wns n girl nnd tho ono with the bou
quet If sho expected"a girl sho would
not bo looking out for one. I alighted
from tho train and walked right past
tho group, nono of them tnklng any no-
tlco of me, but still on the lookout.
It was evident to me that they ex
pected ono of their own sex, upon
whom they would havo tho laugh. 1
stepped up to them, my hnt in ono
hand and my bouquet in tho othor, and
asked tho center ono if sho wero ex
pecting me. Tho look of Burpriso on
her fnco gavo way beforo n twluklo
in my cyo to ono of dofent; then tho
wholo party broko Into u laugh. I
handed tho center flguro my bouquet
and accepted hers.
"You'vo lost Kltl" cried ono of tho
girls, and tho rest followed with good
nntured taunts.
"I havo n enrringo for you, as I prom
ised," said Kit. "Cornel"
Going to the other sldo of tho sta
tion, I got into a enrringo with her,
whllo her friends entered another.
Then wo nil drove to tho dance, and 1
found myself nn object of Interest to
overy ono there, tho secret having been
told huw a Joko wns to havo boon piny
cd ou a girl telegrapher and how tho
Joker caught a tartar.
I was mado acquainted with every
ono In tho hall nnd pnssed a delightful
evening.
MOVE IT ANYWHERE
The New Perfection is light two people can carry it easily.
It is cool it concentrates all the neat on the dinner. It is
clean no ashes or coal to handle.
IVctV Perecttort .
roasts,, toasts, broils, bakes. It cooks better than a coal
stove, because its heat is controlled.
In 1,2, 3, and 4 burner sizes. Look for the 1914 model
4 burner cabinet range with fireless cooking oven. At
hardware, department and general stores.
I Standard
The Musical Maids Company
TUB Musical Maids Company Is one of the twenty r more musical companies organized by Mr. Charles F.
Horner to present to Chautauqua audiences music they like. Ho has spent eight years building Chnutau
quns and studying Chautauqua demands, nnd some of the strongest companies that have appeared in the
Chautauqua in recent years hnvo been organized by Mr. Horner In this way. The Musical Maids form an
orchestra nnd vocal sextet and present many novel features. Among them Is a fencing drill. They have a unique In
dian sketch in which they wear Indian costumes. Their program is decidedly different from anything that ha3
been, sent out before, and It will prove one of the big successes of the Chautauqua.
DR. HARRY MITCHELL
GRADUATE DENTIST.
Telephone Kcd 4 605K Dowcy St.
North Pla 'to, Nebraska.
Offico phono 211. Res. phono 217
L. C. DRIOST,
Osteopathic Physician.
North Platte, - - Nebraska.
McDonald Bank Building.
Qillce Phono 410 Res. Blk 552
Bertha E. Mangon, M D.
Physician and Surgeon
Daaaaiaa ofWoman and Children a'Speclalty
KOUTII PLATTE, NEB.
Now McCabo Blbg.
1 GEO. D. DENT. I
Physician and Surgeon, I
Ofllce over McDonald Bank.
P1.M Office 130 I
Phones RealdencQ nB
flr Ut
John S Simms.,
Physician and Surgeon.
Oiflc In Keith Theatre Building
Special Attention slven to Obstetrics
and Diseases of Women
Omce 209 "PHONES Retldence 33
U Bv hSt Hy frl '1C IpWBi iHI
Perfection Oil Gives Best Results
Oil Company
(nebraska)
"Omaha .
omefhing About
Government Ownership
No.
The Bell Company has
created the entire art of
telephony.
Almost without excep
tion, none of the impor
tant contributions to the
art have been made by
any government
owned telephone
administration, or
by any other tele
phone company,
either in this coun
try or abroad.
Type after type of in
struments, of cable and
switchboards have been
invented, built and dis
carded for something
better.
Sell Telephone Strviee Has Set the
Standard for the Rest of tlri World.
NEBRASKA TELEPHONE COMPANY
5
All Europe, with 405
million people, has less
than three million tele
phones, or less than one
tenth the number per pop
ulation used in the United
States.
During the last
eight years Bell
telephone wires
have been erected
at the rate of two
miles a minute
or a million miles a year.
In modern facilities,
quality of service, and
reasonableness or rates,
no telephone system in the
world approaches the
Bell organisation.
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