The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-01-01
,ERMS $500 PER ANNUM In ADVANCE
Practical Joking and its Resn,,

Mr. Jacob knous OF the firm of Weatberbv.
hnous d Pelton, wholesale and retail drv
goods dealers in Hartford, was recentlv in
DVS'oh ior few weeks, undergoing a surpi-
opoia'ion' At his hotel on Christmas
- 'osenlai party enjoyed dinner by them
oe'eS' MT hnous being one of tho connanu
- 'no "o' acquainted with him Joined the
party' ana one OF the number inon;rod en-
you know Knous?' Pretty soon
stranger came in, and he was accos.o, -
the inquiry, do you know Knous %, -,
'ne query was repeated, innocently and nron-
cry enough, as two or three more annaaro1.
but Its repetition made it a standing ioka 90
during the whole dinner festivities and ano~
there was constant revival of the comm
drum, do you know Knous p, GOOD doo,
OF fun was made oft, as win be made ont ~
better things when company of wide-awak.
fellows are in the mood for laughing at triaes
What followed this perfectly good natured
chafiing is told by our correspondents in
Hartford -
Mr. knous started for home on Tbnrsdav
AFTERNOON, and II the train he took had NOT
been snow bound near Worcester he wonId
have arrived soon after seven O'Clock. His
hotel friends In Boston, knowing nothing of
the delay to the train, aud supp0sing he had
reached Hartford on time, thought they
would senl the joke al ng with him and so,
waiting, as they believed till he had got home
a dispatch was sent to his address in Con,
sress street, in these words -
Do you know Knous ?''
in this sh pe:- -0i "@iueu
we nave fOund q ,,,o,, - Is.
Knous." "-0 Non Ano"
both these dispatches were delivered at the
In'.0 an olnio anu were received by Mrs. Knous.
VINO was expecting her husband. She nIaced
but one construction upon them a,,d lit
was that Mr.. Knous had met with a rall,, on
accident, nd that the real purport Of the LAST
ueSpatch, which was confused by transmis-
sion, was that some one was wanted TO iden-
liy him. She at once sent for her father
James u Shultas, leading ard wealth. eiti,
zen, and ne became riously alarmed, and at
once sought the services of d. NJ. Seymour
Vice-Presldent OF the Hartford Life and An
nmty Insurance Company, who is a friend of
the family, and Mr.. Seymour and Mrs. Knons
~ once started for Boston, the latter leaving
her house and children in the ca. of Mr.
seymour The case was an urgent one, and
no sort OF inconvenience could be allowed to
stand in the way of immediate action.
And now followed combination of cir
cumstances which added to the aixieties and
anguish OF the parties directly interested.
The train to Boston was stopped at Worcester
and here Mr.. Seymour and Mrs Knous waited
In the most restless condition. They tele-
graphed to Boston, but got no response.
While there the train from Boston passed.
and on this train was Mr.. Knous bimseK
alive, well and happy, and entirely uncon.
scious OF the fact that at that very moment
his wife was within dozen rods of him, suf-
ering the most terrible solicitude on his ac-
count Mr.. Seymour went through the
the train to see if he could not find some one
who could give particulars OF Mr.. Knous, and
escaped noticing Mr.. Knous becau e that GEN.
tleman was in d compartment in one of the
drawlng-room cars. The result was that
Mr. Knous arrived home Friday morning and
found all his friends in fearful suspense over
his fate, while the town was full of
rumors concerning his sad fac. Mrs.
Knous reached Boston so newhat earlier, and
1t was not till she got there and saw the Ia nd
lord OF the hotel that she found relief to her
anxious mind. The family is again reunited
and of course more cheerful than eyer.-Eos-
ton AdUertiSer.