M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1856-12-04
A Tale.

oSllpJ luduuoCIIpb udo lIOiuSullJ lul'
nished the basis of many a spirited
bon mot, the best we ever saw having
been penned by the late Major Noah.
But the peculiar illegibility of Mr..
Choate'S handwriting will be seen by
the following incident.
On the occasion of the meeting Il
became necessary that the letter of
dcclination should be publicly read,
ard the chairman was called upon to
fulfill the Office. Chairman according
ly rose from his seat and thrust his
hand into his left pocket to find the
letter. Letter wasn't there. Chair
man tried the right-po 60. Tried
the coat'tail pockets--no success. Let
ter turned up missing. Chairman
stared at Secretary, and Secretary In
turn scrutinized the countenanee of
the Vice President; no Choate manu-.
script to be found. The nextstep was
for the person to whom it was address
ed to 60 to his hotel, Col. Richard B.
Jones, Lock Street, and hunt the let
ter. Col. Jones was as busy when
his guest entered as a musk-rat at high
water, engaged in giving q Dutch
carpenter directions for making an
ornamental eornice.
What's the matter, sirl' he asked,
as the fat gent rushed into,the saloon
putting like porpoise; what's your
humyP ..' .r.
why, Colonel, I'm as mad as thpn-
der; I've lost Rufus Choate's letter to
the democratic meeting and they're
waiting to hear it read . 'at
'Ah, indeedr remarked the Colonel,
with bis usual sympathy. Where did
you leave it lastP ......',.
'Well, the fact is, / don't know, but
I'm pretty sure left it in my ROOM
Have you looked therel o'i 9,
Yes, but can't find it, : u
why, that's very strange; nobody
has entered your room since you LEFT.
Suppose you go up and take another
look. ..0a .'a ."...a
The fat gentleman aequiesced and
they ascended the stairs together,
when fat gent espied a paper lying on
the floor, which he declared to be the
missing document. This he seized
and hurried up to the State House
where the meeting was in session.
: He entered, and as the audience was
, on tue 0iimacteric of expectancy t2
know what Mr.. Choate's sympathies
, were, fat gents appearance, red as
lobster in a new suit Of vermilion,
with paper in his hand, produced a
round Of applause. Fat gent subsidized
into a chair and wiped his face with q
square yard of cambric, while Secre-'
tary arose, adjusted his spectacles and
neck-tie, pulled up his shirt collar
precisely three-quarters Of an inch
higher, and then unFolded the -docu--
ment When he did 50, he blushed
scarlet red, returned paper to fat gent
and sat down. Audience began to
hiss, while fat gent soon saw that in. ,
stead of the Choate letter, he had
] brought with him by mistake, an ar.
chitecturaI design. The house then
went into an uproar. AS it was too
late to read the letter, while the secre-
tary stated the facts in the case, our
fat friend returned to Col. Jones to
enlist his sympathy. While the Col.
was listening to his chubby friends
narrative, in comes a Dutch carpenter
with planed board under his arm,
sawed in angles innumerable. Dutchy
looked irate, and, as matter of course,
his employer wished to know why.
why, Chones, l shust give up dis
shob and has nothing more to do nit
| it-dat is ALL! s'a3 O. 'I.'l q
! why notF was the surprised re-
! joinder. .-ao, a. ui e.,ssuo.
S Yes, why not q added fat gent,
quite interested in the mans manner.
i well, pecause it takes too much
c stuff and too much work, and | loose
4 money on it pesides.' ,. 4. !.
u why you get all you ask, don't
e youl' inquired the Col. li- 49,. -' ~
- Yes; but you tell me that the dia-
: gram was plain, and you send me one
!, what is different every ten foot, and as
! ! lard to make as der tuyiel!' .s, D.
nj why, that's odd,' said the Colonel,
!. let's look at it, .t,.
'Dere, by tonder! said Dutchy, pro-
ducing the paper and spreading it on
U the table. 'Shoost dell me how you
. dinks | make dat for six tOllarsP
% THE dencep exclaimed the COL,
|. with emphasis. = O.. .re-r7 q
J. Goodness graciousi' said the fat
d gentleman, he's been making a cor
d nice By that Choate letter.
e Such was the case. The carpenter
> "a newly arrived Leipsiger-had, by
!, some mistake, got hold of the fat gen.
q tleman's treasure, and snppnsing Il to
;, be the draft Of a tam, Yankee cornice,'
had faithfully endeavored to saw out
pattern. 1t was most unexam.
ID pied case of perseverance under ex,
A. treme difficulties, as Col, Choate's