Washington Day by Day
News Gathered Here and There
at the National Capital
MISS SHONTS WILL NOT
WED FRENCH NOBLEMAN
WASHINGTON—The departure of
Theodore P. Shouts. former
chairman of the Panama canai com
mission, with his two daughters, for
New York, where he is now head of
the Metropolitan traction interests,
has again revived talk concerning the j
engagement of Miss Shonts to the !
Due de Chaulnes.
If there ever was an engagement
it is now off, as Washington society !
has the story, and the reason for this j
failure of another international alii- j
anca is said to be the refusal of Mr. !
Shonts to grant the ducal demand j
for a settlement.
It is accepted here as the correct j
version of the departure of the duke j
without a bride that Mr Shonts stood
firmly for the American idea of mar
riage settlements. He is reported to j
have told De Chaulnes that he would j
give his daughter a stylish wedding. !
provide her with a trousseau fit for a |
princess, and a substantial wedding j
allowance that would keep her in pin
money for a long time, but to enter
into any agreement to settle an in
come on her for life before marriage.
HS real reason for the estrange- {
ment between Speaker Cannon,
eight other members of the con
gressional party and the canal zone
officials was not because of the quar
antine regulations but because Speak-'
er Cannon and his party did not be
lieve they were properly treated.
When the steamship on which the
Speaker and his party were arrived
at Colon the men who are digging the
canal and caring for the canal zone
did not even send a rowboat out to
meet them. The party boarded a
train at Colon, going to Panama and
after it had started and was nearing
Culebra cut Speaker Cannon went
strolling through the coach ahead.
In it he found Chief Engineer Stevens,
who recognized him and talked with
him a few minutes.
“Well, goed-by.” the chief engineer
said, waving his hand, as the train i
approached Culebra cut. “This is j
where I get off." 1
FAIRBANKS’ AMBITION
OPENS HIS POCKETBOOK
WITH a presidential bee buzzing
merrily in his bonnet. Vice Presi
dent Fairbanks has entered on a so
cial campaign that has made the whole
capital rub its eyes in surprise and
wonder at his extravagance.
Sinc-e the Fairbanks weather eye
was fixed steadily on the White House
The expenses of the family, it is said,
have jumped from $"0,000 to $100,000.
Mrs. Fairbanks now is one of the
most popular hostesses in Washing
ton. and from the occasional recep
tions of two years ago has developed'
to two formal affairs a week.
Formerly the Fairbankses lived in a
modest house at Eighteenth and Mass
achusetts avenues, the rent of which
was $3,000 a year. Then they had
only five servants in all. and they
were without a carriage, hiring a ve
hicle whenever needed. Now they
pay $12,000 a year for the mansion of
TO HAVE the proper and legitimate
expenses of national campaigns
paid from the national treasury for
the different political parties, and to
permit in presidential campaigns only
a closely limited use of money other
than that drawn front the public
funds, is the striking project which
the president has in his mind as a
means of purifying national politics
and preventing improper use of money
drawn front improper sources.
There has been much doubt wheth
er the scheme of publicity, after elec
tion. of campaign expenditures would
be very effective. Practical politi
cians have protested that it is locking
the barn after the horse is stolen.
It would be required, of course that all
money should be carefully accounted
for, vouchers should be made and
carefully audited, and the purposes
for which it could be used would be
limited to speaking, literature and or
ganization.
It is understood that the amount
made available from the public treas
ury would be apportioned among the
parties on some such basis as the rel
ative votes polled at the last preced
ing national election. This would let
in the small parties for their share.
Politicians regard the scheme as
Utopian, but are not at all certain
whether it could be defeated if seri
ously presented to congress by the
president.
The president has not developed de
tails of the plan, and may be con
vinced yet of its practicability, but
fie has talked of it with much inter
est, and is thus far disposed to re
tms ne woum noi: ao.
Personally the head of the Shonts
household wants to see his daughter
happily married, and. if he had any
objections to the French nobleman,
was willing to put them aside if Miss
Shonts was satisfied with the duke.
So. according to some of the wise
ones, the match will never come o2,
as the duke is reported to "need the
money." for while he is long on
lineage anti incumbered estates, 1? is
short on cash.
To all appearances the two young
iteople are really in love. "But what
can a duke and duchess do without
sufficient means to keep up their end
of the social game?" asks Washington
society. Still, some believe the young
people may yet decide to marry with
out the settlement and take t.heir
chances on papa s determination not
to rehabilitate the Do Chau'.nes es
tates.
While in New York the- Misses
Shonts will help their father in select
ing a home for the family, to which
they will move from here some time
early in June.
CANAL ZONE MEN HURT
PRIDE OF CONGRESSMAN
The congressional party headed by
the speaker believed they had been
so badly treated tliar they had the
steward on the steamship prepare
their luncheon for them. Each mem
ber of the party on the train carried
a lunch box.
When the train pulled into Panama
Superintendent beard of the Panama
Railroad company had prepared an
elaborate luncheon for the members
of the speaker’s party They went in
the dining-room and ate the luncheon,
and on leaving the table each mem
ber of the party left at his plate the
customary price for a luncheon.
Superintendent Beard found the
money on the table, and. as his
guests had gone, sent it back to the
steamship with a curt note th.-t he
was not authorized to collect, money
for the luncheon.
"The Panama commission ruay have
gentlemen in its offices in Washing
ton. but it certainly has none of them
at work on the canal," the speaker is
reported to have told Gov. Magoon.
Col. Edward Morrell, of Philadelphia,
and they have more than a dozen serv
ants, with twice that totai several
days a week. Over the Fairbanks’
kitchen now presides John Rook, <he
chef who was the joy of Levi Z.
Leiter and his friends.
Rook has so much money to spend
that he gains precedence in the mar
ket over Pinckney, the buyer fer the
White House. Fairbanks has given
his man a free hand to stock the par.
try with the choicest luxuries and
just what this means may be gathered
from the fact that at two receptions
nearly 1.000 guests partook of a buf
fet supper at which tarrapin, every
kind of shell fish and the finest im
ported wines were served. Lavish
ness is the keynote of the Fairbanks
establishment, and to her regular en
tertainments Mis. Fairbanks now has
added frequent .and large theater par
ties.
TO HAVE GOVERNMENT
PAY CAMPAIGN EXPENSE
Sard it as more tuan an impractical
vision.
Politicians say that if the idea
should be followed to its logical con
clusions it would eventuate in noth
ing less than the creation of a great
election board possessing unlimited
opportunities for corruption.
Cable Aids Weather Reports.
The completion of the submarine
cable under construction between Ice
land and the Shetland islands is ex
pected to afford facilities for a great
extension of the area covered by the
existing system of weather prediction.
Iceland in the' winter time occupies
about the center of the Atlantic low
pressure, or storm area, and the ab
sence of telegraphic communication
with that island hitherto has prevent
ed the collection of information of
great value to meteorology.
By utilizing the Iceland cable and
the reports from the Central Physical
observatory at St. Petersburg, cover
ing the vast stretch of Siberia, the
United States weather bureau hopes
hereafter to possess a knowledge of
the state of the atmosphere completely
around the earth in the northern hem
isphere, a fact of great importance In
long-period weather forecasting.
Keeping on the Safe Side.
Caller—I'd think that your father's
duties as building inspector .would be
awfully dangerous, going around un
safe buildings.
Small Son oi’ the House—Oil, no;
he doesn’t go near ’em till
i fall down.—Life.
MAIL ORDER EVIL
ITS RISE IS NOT THE RESULT OF
LEGITIMATE DEMAND.
DUE ENTIRELY TO GREED
And It Feeds Upon the Prosperity
of the Country Towns—A
Menace to the
Nation.
■ (Copyrighted. 190«. by Alfred C. Clark.)
As the years go by we are more
than ever brought face to face with
the vital question of trading at home.
During the past decade the habit of
buying goods abroad has grown to
such proportions that the country
merchant may well feel alarmed at
the probable outcome unless something
is done to forestall the great calamity
which will surely result therefrom.
Trade conditions 25 years ago were”
satisfactory. At that time catalogue
houses were entirely unknown and
country merchants were "monarehs of
ail they surveyed." so to speak, in the
lines represented, and the people were
prosperous and happy. Perhaps not
so much because they generally had
money enough to meet their wants,
but because of the contentment that
prevailed throughout the country at
that time. The farmers raised good
crops, generally, and received good
prices for what they had to sell. They
sold their surplus stuff to the local
merchant and bought what they
wanted; and this was the height of
It seems that It could be easily
pointed out to him that if there was
no town near him and he had to drive
20 or 30 miles to take his produce to
market and haul his groceries the
same distance home, he could easily
set? that his land would greatly depre
ciate in value and the disadvantages
he would encounter on every hand
would be very disastrous to his time
and he would gladly spend his money
at home to divert this calamity.
One of the most potent levers with
which to control trade in country lo
calities is th? liberal use of printers'
ink. coupl€>d with intelligence in ad
vertising the wares of the merchant.
T-.ie catalogue houses employ the best
talent obtainable to write their adver
tisements and spend large sums of
money in this way. Besides advertis
ing judiciously they advertise on a
large scale and consequently get the
business. The old saying that "You
must Sght the devil with fire" will ap
ply in this case. The home merchant
must advertise. He must do more than
say: “Come to Smith's to trade,
cheapest place on earth." He must
describe his merchandise as he would
in private conversation over the coun
ter to a customer, and then quote the
price, This will nearly always act as
a clincher and will at least put him
on a standing with the catalogue
house. In fact it will give him an ad
vantage over the catalogue house, for
in almost every case he can sell the
same grade of merchandise cheaper
than the catalogue house can sell it.
This is not mere theory but a state
ment of fact, for the reason that the
country merchant's business is oper
ated at a very much less expense than
that of the mail order merchant.
Are you, Mr. Resident of This Community, feeding to the mail order
hog the dollars of this community? Are you pouring the money that should
stay in the home town into the trough from which the gluttonous hogs of
the city feed? If so you are doing not only the town, but yourself, an irre
parable injury, and one that you should stop at once.
heir ambition, hence the contentment
that prevailed.
But in after years, when cities
grew and trade expanded, the mer
chants of these cities not being con
tent with conditions of trade, devised
plans by which they might reach out
for more business. Advertising in the
newspapers being a cheap way of
putting the merits of their goods be
fore the people, this plan appealed to
them and it was adopted. At first they
operated on a small scale; then, as
the merchant saw the opportunity for
making it pay, he added to his adver
tising fund. And so it has continued
until to-day millions of dollars are
annually sent to mail order houses by
the people of the United States.
The best and most effective way to
throttle the catalogue house has been
a question uppermost in the minds of
country merchants for several years
past: some advocating one plan and
some another. There are several plans
which might be presented to induce
the farmer to buy at home. In the
first place his pride might be appealed
uj. iuere ait; veiy it:** laruiem **uti
own their own farms but that would
be interested in building up his own
locality. He realizes the fact that if
his farm is to be valuable it must be
farmed in the most scientific manner
and all buildings, fences, etc., must be
kept up in the best possible shape,
and above all the farm must be lo
cated not too far from some good
town, for we all know that farm land
brings a much better price when near
to some good town or village. It is
not hard to get the farmer to realize
this, for if he ever sold any farm land
or tried to sell any, he knows this to
be a fact. Well, then, after he has
realized this fact, the thing for him
to do is to patronize his home mer
chants and business men, so they may
be able to build and maintain a good
town.
Public schools are much better in
the towns than in the country for the
reason that where the population is
most dense, there is more taxable
property to the amount of territory
covered, hence there is more money
collected for school purposes, and as
a result more and better teachers are
employed. All this is of the highest
importance to the farmer, as most
farmers who are of any importance in
their profession are interested in giv
ing their boys and girls a good educa
tion. And right here is wnere the good
town proposition comes to him with
great force. He knows he can send
his children to the village school at a
great deal less expense than to send
them away to college, and that in
most cases better results are ob
tained.
If the farmer seriously desires all
these good things he must of necessi
ty help to build them. Let him under
stand that he is one of the main
spokes in the great wheel of com
merce in his vicinity and that he can
ill-afford to send abroad to purchase
even the smallest item of merchan
dise, though it may seem to him that
he it saving a few cents by doing so.
There are a thousand and one items
of expense which the city merchant
has to meet that are entirely unknown
to the country merchant.
The time is rapidly approaching
when people who patronize mail order
houses will be looked upon as “soon
ers” by the solid and influential citi
zens of all commonwealths and will
suffer ostracism at their hands.
Cities and towns are built by com
bined efforts of the residents thereof;
not by foreign capital. So too are our
churches and schoolhouses built. It
may be true that in many instances
eastern capital has been employed to
make improvements in the west, but
always with good round interest to
the lender of the money. Xo one ever
heard of a case where an eastern man
or firm contributed to western enter
prise for the fun of the thing. Xor
did you ever hear of a case where any
mail order or catalogue house ever
contributed to any church building
fund. Nor yet did they ever build or
help to build any of our schoolhouses.
You never heard of a case of this kind
and you never will. All these, eastern
sharks care for is your dollar, and
you know it, and when they have got
ten that they have no more use for
you. Then why should you patronize
them? You can go to your home mer
chant any day in the year and if you
are short of change, he will extend
you credit. If you are sick and un
able to work the home merchant will
see that your family is provisioned
until you get on your feet again. He
will do all of this and at the same
time furnish the same grade of goods
at the same or even at a less price.
Will the catalogue merchant do this?
a society could be organized and
designated as the “People’s Protec
tive Association.1’ An organization
of this kind could be perfected in
every town and hamlet in the coun
try. Merchants and business men
would push these organizations for
the reason that it would be to their
interest to do so. After the organiza
tion is formed and things are running
smoothly questions of the day may be
discussed and also matters pertaining
to the welfare of the immediate local
ity may be brought up which will in
clude the important question of trad
ing at home. Of course it will be ad
mitted that this question will have to
be handled with gloves on. But there
are men in business in every town
who are equal to the emergency and
no trouble is anticipated in getting
the farmers and others who buy of
mail order houses to listen to reason.
Teach the farmer to love his coun
try, his town and his people; make
him realise that they are his; that
they are a part of his being, his life.
Teach him that it is to his
moral and social interest to bay his
goods in his home town, and if be be
a man he will do it
_J. P. BELL.
■urdein We Would All Assume.
Kidi may be a harden, hat few of
iu are willing to kick at a harden of
that kind.
---- -ii
AT ONCE AN
INFANT AND
GROWN WOMAN
PERPLEXITY IN WHICH MISS
MABEL MERCER OF PITTS
BURG IS INVOLVED
FIGHTS FOR HER FREEDOM
Laws of Pennsylvania Place
Her Under Father’s Con
trol, But in New York She
Is Her Own Mistress—
Daring Escape from Insti
tution in Which She Had
Been Confined—Ward of
H. C. Frick Involved in
Romantic Story.
New York.—Grown woman in New
York, infant in Pennsylvania. Miss
Mabel Mercer has decided that she
wants to stay in the metropolis.
She thinks that the laws of the Em
pire state give her a better chance
than those of William Penn's old
state. As long as she stays in New
York she is perfectly safe from cap
ture by her father, who put her in
the Country home, at Germantown,
Pa., the other day. because she wants
to be independent.
Miss Mercer is just turned IS. Here
the law says that a woman of 18 is
of age. In Pennsylvania a father is
a child's guardian until she is 21, and
until then she is an infant.
Of Prominent Pittsburg Family.
The Mercers are among the best
known people in Pittsburg. The fa
ther is Capt. George S. Mercer, super
intendent of buildings in Allegheny
county. Now. Miss Mercer had fin
ished school, and was about to take
her place in society, when she met
young Carl Borntraeger, a ward of
Henry C. Frick. He was young, good
looking, and he stands to inherit a for
tune. He proposed; she accepted.
But Mr. Frick couldn't see it in the
light that the young people did, and
for that matter, neither did Capt.
Mercer. There was a stormy scene,
some hot words, and Miss Mercer
stalked out of the house.
"All right,” she said, "you don’t
have to support me. I can get a po
sition on the stage if I have to."
Her father laughed at this, but the
girl made good her threat. She did
get a place in "The Earl and the Girl"
company, and she came to New York
to rehearse for her part. It looked as
if she would succeed. She was dainty,
winsome, extremely pretty and chic..
But along came Papa Mercer.
"Your mother is very ill, ’ he said
“and you must come home to see her."
Of course the girl gave in. Tear
fully she took the train for Pittsburg,
as she supposed, hoping to see her
dear mother before she died and to
beg forgiveness for running away from
home. There was a stop at Philadel
phia.
we get out nere. said the father.
| sternly, and suddenly a detective ap
peared—he had been coached for his
part
“You've got to come along," said
the man, “and it’ll be better if you
don't make a scene."
Then Miss Mercer realized that it
had all been a trap. Her mother was
not ill and she wasn't going to Pitts
burg at all. Instead she found herself
on the way to the Country Home, an
institution conducted by the Protest
ant Episcopal church at Germantown,
a suburb of Philadelphia.
Before the girl could recover from
her surprise and indignation she was
in uniform and under restraint. That
was on March 25 last. Right then and
there she made up her mind to escape.
And escape she did. Now she can
snap her fingers at the laws of Penn
sylvania and her father, too. She is
of age in New York and an infant no
longer.
Here she’s a woman: there she’s a
child.
So here she proposes to remain.
Planning Her Escape.
All this took wits and pluck. Miss
Mercer realized that she was being
watched every minute. She was made
to scrub floors and wash dishes, wait
at the table and make beds—things
she had never done before in her life.
She scrubbed and washed and ironed
until her white little hands were all
red and sore. But all the time she
was waiting her chance.
She found herself practically a pris
oner. Matrons watched her ali the
time. Even her clothing was taken
away from her and she had to wear
the uniform of a prisoner; if she es
caped it would teil all the world that
she was under restraint.
Miss Mercer's native wit overcame
ail the obstacles. She heard the honk
honk of the automobile out in the
road, she hastily made a rope of
sheets, she forced upon the window
and squeezed her trim little body be
tween the iron bars of her window
and slid In safety to the ground. The
j automobile did the rest,
j But let Miss Mercer tell the story
herself: “I have broken with my fath
er forever," she said, emphatically,
with a toss of her shapely little' head,
"and no power on earth can ever get
in': under his control again. I'm a
woman here in New York, even if the
law say’s I’m an infant in Pennsyl
vania.
“I did run away from home—I want
ed to go on the stage. My reasons
for leaving home are my own secret.
I won’t tell them to anybody.
“At once my father made a search
for me, and finally found me in the
Plymouth hotel. I was about to se
cure an engagement to go on the stage
when he appeared with another man
I and forcibly took me away. My father
I told me that my mother was sick in
Pittsburg and wanted me home.
Inveigled Into an Institution.
“We took a train for Pittsburg.
I However, after the first stop, when we
got over the Pennsylvania line, the
| strange man. who proved to be a New
York detective, left us. I became sus
picious at this, and my suspicions
were confirmed when we got off at
North Philadelphia.
"When we stopped at a restaurant
to eat I tried to get away. I found
that I could not do this, but I had a
chance to write a telegram and send
it out by a boy. It was to my New
York hotel, directing that no one be
allowed to remove my effects without
my consent. From th£ restaurant we
went to an Episcopal mission on East
Walnut lane, Germantown.
“My father left me after I heard
him tell the matron that I was to be
put at hard work.
“I had never worked before in my
life. I had to scrub, wash, iron and do
other menial tasks. I made my escape
last Saturday. The day before I had j
noticed a wfindow on the third floor j
front which I thought I could squeeze I
through. That morning I pretended *
!J
Philadelphia where I had stopped with
my father the Monday previous. This
he did.
“Who was he? Don’t ask me.”
It was young Mr. Borntraeger, Mr.
Frick’s ward, however.
"There at the restaurant,” went on
Miss Mercer. “I told the proprietor’s
wife of my escape and she was kind
enough to help me.
“I know that I am right in what I
have done. A lawyer whom I have
consulted has assured me that my
father has no right to force me to go
with him, home or any other place. I
am fully capable of earning my own
living and of living my own life, and I
am going to do so.”
Family Is Divided.
“I am going to make every effort
to get my daughter back.” declared
Captain Mercer. "She is incorrigible."
"And 1 am going to help my sister
keep out of the hands of her father,”
said her brother, George A. Mercer, a
deputy coroner in Pittsburg, when he
heard of this.
Miss Mercer has two other brothers,
one a clergyman and the other is stilt
at school. As for young Borntraeger.
he isn’t saying anything, but some
thing may happen any day. At any
rate, when he’s 21 and comes into the
$2,000,000 which Mr. Frick is husband
ing for him, there may be a wedding.
This is the letter Miss Mercer wrote
to her brother when she arrived here
in free New York, where girls of 18
are no longer infants.
"Suppose you have heard about dad
putting me in some kind of a convent,
and also of my escape. Monday he
put me there. Saturday, about 12
o'clock, daytime, I escaped by un
screwing iron bars, crawling over two
roofs and falling. By mere good luck
I reached New York in a half-living
condition. 1 had not a cent when I
ran away in a calico custome of blue
and white check. These roofs were
covered with barbed wire, and my
arms are all covered with bandages.
Soon as I could I communicated with a
Mr. O’Reilly, the Thaw attorney, aud
kw ims/tEscm
escaped szxxrm
'COCWTFT rrOiTE*
CA/5C 3QE>N7&4£GB?
I that I was sick and they locked me in
' my room.
.“At about two o'clock one of the ma
trons came into my room. I sprang
out into the hail and turned the key
in the door, locking her in.
"I had nothing but the ugly uniform
of the institution on, and I knew that
if I did get out the chances were that j
j I could not get very far away. How- ;
, ever, I was desperate. The window J
’ I got out of opened upon the roof of a I
| porch. It was protected by a sash of !
| interwoven iron, bat I managed to lift !
I up one end far enough to squeeze my ;
I body through.
Fredom at Last.
"It was a hard task, and left black |
j and bine marks on me that I have yet.
; But once on the roof 1 slid down on
! a rope of sheets I made from my bed
ding, to the porch below, and then I
I lost my balance and fell to the ground.
| “The only person who had seen my
| escape was a young man who was
; standing by his automobile across the
street. I appealed to him for protec
tion. I explained as quickly as possi
ble. that I had been placed in tie con
vent against my will. I asked him to
take me to the restaurant in North
received advice and help from him.
The detective dad had with him is
in all kinds of trouble. Even a mur
derer cannot be taken from one state
to another without a warrant from the
governor, and, too, I am of age in this
state.
Would Have Gone Crazy.
“I am too ill to do any law fighting,
but have a good attorney to fight for
me. I should have been crazy had I
stayed in the convent much longer. As
it is now. I have nervous prostration.
“I look terribly battered and ill. I
have |25 to last me until I start to re
ceive my wages. This 1 borrowed from
a girl I met in the other company.
Strangers have all been so good to me.
"In that convent, while kneeling for
hours in their worship, I thought they
were fools to think a God existed or
also that no hell but here on earth ex
isted. I fee] ashamed for their relig
ion. I tell you I would have commit
ted murder had I stayed there much
longer.
“My thoughts were terrible in that
six by ten room. Lovingly,
“MABEL.”
Does the pluck of this sound like an
infant’s?—New York World.
AND THE BEAR FELL DEAD.
Remarkable Hand Held Against Own- 1
er’s Four Aces the Cause.
r _
‘‘Had a pet b ar cub once." said j
Zebekiah Hagin, the most venerable j
landlord in Kansas. “Didn't git it j
’doptin’ it out uv pity, 'cause t'wuz an 1
orphan—me havin' shot its motner in |
the wilds uv Arizony—but I took up a
claim on it rite here in my hotel on '
the unly an’ main stret uv Dodge City.
“Took a wond'ful liking to me, did
that b’ar. Bein’ a moughty observin’
cretur, it Boon com to learn all ’bout
the game uv draw poker. It mouglit
have bin ’cause it wuz bora in Arizony
or count ov keepin’ sech a close watc h
on me that it got wise to all ins an’
outs uv poker, an’ cam to know the
value nv cards as nat’ral as if t’wuz
born in Arkansas. It couldn’t deal,
seein’ its fingers wuz all toes.
“It used to help me out tho’ con
sidbul by stand In' behln’ the t'other
man’s chair an’ puttin’ me wise to the
strength uv his cards. At Bight tiv
a full hand. It would wiggle its left
ear to and fro, and times when It
stared at four aces t'would lay both its j
ears close down to its head. T'want I
like stackin' the cards or ringin' in
a cold deck fur the b'ar to do this, so
I didn't make no objecshuns. Anyhow,
t'wus the b'ar cub that played crook
ed, not me.
"Whenever those two ears dropp'd
close to the b'ar's head I laid down ,
four kings without seein' the raze. If
only one ear wiggled I bet my four
kings fui* all they wuz worth. I soon
becum known to the bunch as the mos’
skillful card player on the cattle
ranges. I made a bar’l uv munny—
’til Eph 8cott nv Glairsfield, Neb.,
cum to take a band in the game.
"Cards didn’t run very int’rustin' in
the fust ha'f hour uv the game. The
bizzy lettle slit in the green cloth got
mos’ dv the munny that had bin in
acshun. Then there cum a jackpot
fur ten dollars. Being the dealer, I
had dealt myself four aces. It wuz
Eph’s fus say, an’ he didn’t do a thing
but pass. I opened it tor $25. Eph
staid, an’ ask’cl fur tour cards. I
dealt myself one card, not that my
tour aces could be helped, but that
Eph mought think I was only boldin’
rsvo pairs. I picked up the card an’
made believe I was studyin' rite hard,
so's Eph mought think I wuz bluff
ing. Being as I wuz the opener, I
finally bet $50. I thought it like findin’
munny when Eph put in the 50, but I
fell diffrunt when he razed It $200
more.
"I had sech confidence in them four
aces that I hadn’t even thunk of look
in’ at the b'ar. It ’peared to me such
a lead pipe cinch that I didn't need
any outside assistance. When the
$200 raze was made I took a squint fur
th b'ar. I had seen him stanin' be
hin’ Eph’s chair a momunt befo’, but
the cub was nowhere to be seen.
Raisin’ myself a leetie in my seat, I
saw th b'ar lyin' stiff an’ stark on
the wooden floor. Its shaggy fnr wuz
streamin' with cold moisture an’ ita
forefeet were stretch’d out at full
length as if in agony uv death. It cost
me $200 more to call Eph's raze, but
I found ont what had killed the cub.
He bad dropped dead when he saw
Eph make a straight flush with hia
four-card draw.
* “Knowin’ draw poker as well as I
do, I can’t ezact*ly blame that b’ar.”
