The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-05-21
ALL IN MY EYE.

... ALL IN MY EYE. .taa4. / /
An overwhelmingly Funny Incident.
From the Chicago Tribune.l
in Caroline county, Md, the other day,
as the Rev. Mr. Walton, Of Shepherds Chapel,
was engaged In fervent prayer, . hilarious Wor-
shipper named Marvel took quid Of tobacco in
his hand, and, Watching for favorable oppor-
back in earnest devotion, let ay the moist weed.
which struck fair in the face Of tho human
mark The prayer suddenly stopped and
scene ensued, and Marvel was taken before
resident magistrate and fined IS costs. This
reminds one that prominent Southern preach
or has said that the only time he ever felt like
laughing in the pulpit was when he saw q man
in the gallery drop quid Of tobacco In the face
Of sleeping man in pew on the ground floor
Of the church.
EYES," said venerable Briton, Cock
ney of the Cockneyest, to the writer,
who had shown him the item above, 1T
is getting we'll on to fifty years since I
saw something like that and quite rs
funny, in q London theater. The play
was Richard and the Richard was Ed
mund Kean. The theater was packed,
and every one in it was under the spell
of the actors magic. The play was a.
most over-in fact they had come to the
tent scene in the fifth act, where Rich
ard bids Ratclif leave him, and every
body is preparing for the rising OF the
ghosts. Well, in the front row of the
gallery I could see one admirer Of the
drama, fairly wrought up by the players
passion and expectation. clenching tho
front Of the gallery with his hands. and
leaning away out over it, staring down.
ward, with his eyes protruding and his
mouth opening. Right beneath him, in
the pit, was another admirer Of the
drama and the actor, a. intensely
wrought upon BY the mimic
scene, who, with hts mouth and
eyes wide open, was staring up
ward as intently. And, just at this
instant, frem the unheeding jaws of the
man in the gallery fell tremendous
quid. 1 traced its fight through the
air, and-kerslapl-down it comes flat
in the eye of the man in the pit. He
in the gallery started back, awakened
from his trance. and his victim, awak-
ened from his, jumped up, and, turn
ing to the gallery, yelled, 'In give s5
to any one who will show me the son OF
a sea-cook that dropped his tobacco
quid into my eye.' This incident and
exclamation, as you may naturally i'm
agine, coming right in the middle of
the extreme tension to which the audi
ence had been wrought up, had tre-
mendous effect, and every one in the
house fairly shrieked and doubled up
with laughter-even the actors on the
stage could not control themselves
and the curtain had to come down.
Finally, when every ones sides we're
sore, and the audience was too ex-
hausted to laugh any more, it was
rung up again and the play proceeded
perilously but decorously till Richard,
Catesby, Ratcliff. and the others came
on. Then there was gurgling giggle
heard in one or two quarters, choked of
by desperate effort, till the precise
passage was reached at which, little
while before, the fatal quid had fallen
when simultaneously every soul present
remembering the exquisitely absurd IN.
cident, made one convulsive attempt to
restrain himself, and burst out in roar.
ing gufGaw. The fountains of the great
deep of merriment were broken up, and
people howled, Rugged themselves, lay
back in their seats, and grew apoplectc.
Down came the curtain again, and, when
at last the audience was worn out, it was
once more raised, and the play went on
This time all went nicely, the fatal line
was passed, and there was not q smoker
when one staid old gentleman in box
who had never smiled through th&
whole ordeal, but had sat in deep dis
gust, having been communing with him
self all this time, and having arrived q
the conclusion that the conduct of til,
audience was shockingly ridiculous
soiloquized aloud in still, small voice
distinctly audible in the hush, VIVA
- foolsp This brought back instant
~ both the preceding scenes, plus tn
old gentleman's mental processes, and
scream went up to which the other,
were whispers. The end Of it was the,
had to leave the play unfinished and pu
on farce. Yes" said the old gentle
man, redectively, "1et man get quit
Of tobacco in the eye on any PARTICULAR.
solemn occasion, and the result will b.
startling" ."1
Postage stamps.
The Washington correspondent Q
the Cincinnati Commercial has bee1
collating some statistics from the Post
Office Department that have bearin,
upon the material and intellectua
growth of the country. The entir
number of stamps issued since June &c
1847, amounts to 9, 719, 3OS 1927, enough,
the calculator informs us, " to reach 81
times around the earth if placed end t
end" Their aggregate value reache
$3.50, 1927 $4,000. At the opening of tn
war they had reached PIC, $50, an
represented face value of $5,920,93!
There was slight falling off in 1861
but that was promptly recovered, an
since then the issue of stamps has il
creased on the average about 100000
day or more than 100000 900 yearly. I
the fiscal year ending last summer tn
number Of stamps amounted to IA
O71,518, and their value aggregate
$20,562, 463. During the fifteen years j
which stamped envelopes have been il
sued, the Government has sold to th