The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1876-04-19

he can discover anything harmiel 10
them
Conductor, EheR You receive taTe-
Punch in the presence CT the passeHlaFei
A blue trip slim fo- IA eight-cent fare
a bun trip slip for a siz-cent fare,
A pink trip slip for three cent fare,
Punch in the presence Of the passeniare
CHORUS.
Punch, brothers! punch with care.
Punch in the presence ofthepassenlare
came across these .iingling rhy-
mes in newspaper, little while ago,
and read them a couple of times.
They took instant and entire posses
sion of me. All through breakfast
they went waltzing through my brain;
and when, a. last, | rolled up my
napkin, | could not tell whether | bad
eaten anything or not. l had care
fully laid out my days work the day
before-s thrilling tragedy in the
novel which | am writing. ] went
to my den to begin my deed OF blood.
| took up my pen, but all l could get
it to say was, Punch in the presence
of the passeDjare" / fought hard for
an hour, but it was useless. My
head kept humming, "a blue trip
slip for an eight-cent fare, buff trip
slip for a six-cent fare,n and so on
and SO on, without peace or respite.
The days work was ruined-I could
see that plainly enough. | gave up
and drifted down town, and present
ly discovered that my feet were keep
ing time TO that relentless jingle.
When | could stand it no longer ! al
tered my step. But it did no good !
those rhymes accommodated them
selves to the new step and went on
harassing me just as before. | re-
turned heme, and suffered all the af-
ternoon; suffered all through an un-
conscious and unrefreshing dinner
suffered and cried. and jingled all
through the evening went to bed
and rolled, tossed, aud jingled right
along, the same IS ever got up at
midnight frantic, and tried to read ;
but there was nothing visible upon
the whirliDg page except punch
punch in the presence of the passen-
jare." By sunrise l was out of my
mind, and everybody marveled and
was distressed at the idiotic burden
of my ravings,-"Punch oh, punch
punch in the presence of the passen-
jare !"
Two days later, on Sunday morn
ing, | arose, totterlng wreck, and
went forth to fulfil an engagement
with o valued friend, the Rev. Mr.
-, to walk to the Tslcott Tow
er, ten miles distant. He stared ct
me, but asked no questions We
started. Mr.. - talked, talked,
talked-as is his wont. 1 said moth
ing: l heard noehing At the end of
a mile, Mr.. said,-
"Mark are you sick? | never saw q
man look so haggered and worn and
sbsent-minded. Say nothing; do J"
Drearily, withou enthusiasm, said:
Punch, brothers, punch with
carel Punch in the presence of the
passepjarel"
My friend eyed me blankly, loobe ed
perplexed, then said
81 do not think l get your drift,
Mark. There does not seem to be
any reyelancy 10 what you have said,
certainly nothing sad and yet may
be it was the way you said the words
never heard anything that sounded
so pathetic. What is''-
But l heard no more. l was al
ready sfar away with pittiless, heart
breaking "blue trip slip for an eight
cent fare, buff trip slip for a six-cent
fare, pink trip slip for a three-cent
fare: punch in the presence Of the
passenjare." l do not know what
occurred during the other nine miles.
However, all of sudden Mr..
laid his hand on my shoulder and
shouted
''Ob, wake up! wake up! wake
upl Don't sleep all day! Here We
are at the Tower, mani ] have
talked myself deaf and dumb and
oiind, and never got response. Just
look at this magnificent autumn land
scape. Look at it'll look at it feast
your eyes on i'll You have travelled;
you have seen boasted landscapes
elsewhere. Come now, deliver an
honest opinion. What 90 you say to
fhis ~