Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-07-22

Ky
! that al Alfred Dueling, an numpie coz.
- ,,,ay employed as hat-raek waiter at
~. Mernorolitar Hotel in this city. Al
ga : ar,rszrenslv about tliirty-fise years OF
go AMI 4 hricht and intelligent in appear
arace. He has the faculty o. rtiheiIIs'c1ans
So na,nes FACTS etc. that is very won
derful indeed Ii fifty men are ID Ioo yail
and all are strangers 70 hlhi hs eAn "s,
around and inquire the name q eacn ana
then go around again amt cali eseIs man
by his proper name. keaa pase "a :
book 10 this remarkable person anu he
will repeat the whole afterwaTu nom iie ~
orr. He can keep the accounts Oh lhs
steward of the hotel In his bead wees ~
4 month At a time, with items. expelidl-
lures, etc, correctly. thus constituting MN
self mental dayfsook ana ledgef.
The most curious illustration OF Alfreds
power. i in his remembering hats. II =
his particular business at tne ho'ei ~
stand in the aute-room leading % the din
ing.hall 20 receive the hats OF guess a.
shey mass Ia. Alfred takes the hats and
places them on rack ana when eacn
c1,est comes out OF the diningroom that
particular guest is handed his nal. III mas
ieen said that this colored man can re-
sons 10 whom they belonged, as he did ON
one occasion when there was large ia.h-
ionable ball at the Academy OF Music
He told the Mercury reporter, however
that 400 wa. too high figure and an ex-
aggeraiion circulated by some OF his san,
gT,ine and enthusiastic friends, but, SAID
he, II can remember 3OO without any
difficulty at all. / have handled during
4I.afT kays
this business the hats Of the most distin-
guished men in the land.
There's poor old Uncle Horace Gree
Jey-bless his hearti-I'ye put his famous
white hat, ard his black hats, too, on the
rack scores Of times" His head was a
twenty-four incher, and was as wide ID
front rs 1t was at the back. In this
spect Uncle Horace was different from
most persons Nineteen men out OF
twenty have hats the insideef which Mt
ting their heads resembles pear, the
forehead being narrow and the back VIDE.
The founder Of the 7rfbune seldom took
his hat from Alfred without bestowing q
quarter or a half dollar Tor the taking care
of his tile. Hewas very liberal in this re-
spect. Alfred always watched Horace TO
see that the latter did not in fit OF alb
sent-mindedness put his hat on hind side
before.
One time the great editor had his hat
full of scraps cut from newspapers, and
when he took il off his head the scraps
flew all over the floor, and some of them
blew out of an open window. Somewhat
angry at the occurrence Mr.. Greeley ex-
claimed There, now! See, there they
go-all the material for to-morrow's edi-
torialsr' Several walters who were
standing near hastily gathered up all the
fiuttering pieces of paper that could be
found and returned them TO the editor.
The famous Journalist looked them over
and said: Well, all that / care about
are here, except one about Chinese Coolie
Labor. LII give anyone five dollars who
will lind that for me" The prospect Of
gaining this reward induced the walters
and bell-boys to make vigorous search,
which was prosecuted for some time In
vain, and Horace departed Three
or four hours afterward when 1t was
eleven or twelve O'Clock at night, bell
boy, who had been more perseyering than
the others in his search, found the missing
article on Chinese Coolie Labor half
buried in the mud in the area OF the hotel.
The little fellow rushed breathless 10 the
Tribune office, and up to the room on the
second story where DIR. Greeley was busy
writing. "There's your newspaper scrap
exclaimed the little fellow, handing the
mud bedaubed slip to the editor. Mr..
Greeley took the slip, smiled benignly ON
the boy, and gave him five-dollar note.
The next morning the article appeared in
the Tribune.
The most dilapidated hat ever placed on
| the rack leading to the Metropolitan din.
| ing.room was the tile Of Long John Went
worth, of Chicago. This Identical hat
was worn by the noted Illinois politician
! ten wears, and then was taken to the hat
| ters and furnished with new band and
| lining, and Is probably still doing good
| service. On one occasion Long John,
who stands six feet eight in his stocking
| feet, came to the dining-room door and
asked the waiter TO remove his hat fol
| him. I" But / can't reach your hat" said
the waiter. Mr.. Wentworth replied
'sGet chair and stand on it, and then
you can" The waiter did as requested,
and, removing the tile from the head Of
the tallest man in Chicago, deposited 1t on
the rack. Long John ate his dinner, and
when he had finished, one of the bell-boys
got upon a chair and replaced the tile
The smallest man who ever gave his hal
into Alfrcd's keeping was Little Mac, p
| the minstrel
Charles Sumner once dined at the Met
ropolitan, and left the diDing-room. for
getting to have his hat returned To him
| The waiter had tofollow the absent-minded
Senator clear out INTO the street in order 70
give him his hat. Sumner received the
| hat, thanked the waiter and added: g i
declare, forgot all about my hat. ! have
| so much on my mind now that il is a
wonder / don't forget my head and leave
| 1t somewhere"
Artemus Ward and friend once came
| 10 the dining room together, and had on
hats exactly alike. II puzzled Alfred to
| tell which hat belonged to the respective
| owners. and he had to hand the tiles TO
| the gentlemen at random Alfred never
knew whether the two humorists got their
right hats or not The fact that Alfred re
members hats and their owners so readily
is owing to his being the pupil of a teach
err Of the art of remembering things when
he was a boy.--N. Y. Mercury
| Osier Collins.
l The .g0fUrd0u Rerjs3s qiypS the following