The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-04-01
Fatal Fifteen.

Time was when man who arrived at
his business late in the morning, with
blood-shot eyes, careless dress, pale
face and nervous manner, would have
been strongly suspected of having in
dulged in drink. He would have been
looked upon with distrust by his en-
ployers, disfavor by his friends, despair
by his relatives and disapproval by the
moral portion of the community. Rep
rotation would have outweighed any
commiseration that he would have re-
ceived. Now it is not so. Fifteen"
has changed it all 1t is understood at
once that the unfortunate man has been
"trying to do the puzzle,' and has
been unable to find time to eat, sleep OF
dress. He is pitied rather than con-
demned, for he has fellow victims on
every side. The public at large is given
over to the consideration of the puzzle
The ticket-sellers on the 81 " roads
forget to count their change in the alb
straction that comes of ''almost getting
it" Errand boys stop around the COR
ner and pull out their little square boxes
and shove the blocks around despe-
rately. The pressmen in the Herald
office when they finish their nights
work do not 60 home as of yore, but
stop to "play fifteen - through the
early morning hours. Business men
puzzle over it on their way to and from
their offices. Clergymen ponder it in
their studies. And yesterday man in
Broadway, with a stand heaped high
with "gem puzzles" became so deeply
absorbed in trying to solve the puzzle
that he forgot t offer his wares for sale
and paid no attention when a gamin
stole one from his store, and going half
block away sat down to work it out
himself. DR.. Hammond declared in the
Academy of Sciences on Monday night
that the puzzle was an excellent thing
for physicians who treat the nervous
disorders of the brain. 1t improved
their practice. 1t has also been said
that for few weeks the number of COM
mitments for lunacy by the police JUS
tees of the city have been far in excess
of the usual average, and the officers of
the Lunatic Asylum were unable to ac-
count for it until they discovered fifteen
patients trying to arrange themselves in
order on a large diagram they had
marked out on the floor of one of the
halls of the Asylum on Dlackwell's
Island.
Against the craze the reaction has al
ready begun. A large number of signs
have been printed with the inscription
"Pinafore and Puzzle Prattle Pro-
hlblted," which may be hung up i'm
drawing-rooms and offices by those who
have either escaped the popular fevers
or recovered from them. 1t is expected
that this reaction will become as strong
as the mania itself. 1t will probably be
dangerous after time to mention the
matter, and threats of violence have al
ready been sent to the Herald office by
mail. 1t is, therefore, in a spirit Of
kindness that the Herald suppresses the
name mentioned by one of its cores
pondents, who writes an interesting
letter claiming that the game of eff
teen' was invented seventeen or eigh-
teen years ago by gentleman who was
then in Keokuk, Iowa, but is now
merchant in Little Rock, Ark. The
game, ne says, was well-known in Keo-
kuk, and was much INDUCED in by the
officers stationed there during the late
war. The inventor, he declares, was
an officer in the late war under General
Sherman. 1t is probable, therefore,
that the misguided person is a man of
sufficient personal bravery, and Little
Rock is very considerable distance
from New York; but considering the
state of public feeling here at present,
it would be unworthy of the Herald to
expose the unhappy mans identity.
Since he has sought the West for safety
let him go unpunished. He probably
did not realize what he was doing
Y. Herald.