The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1882-04-18
? - - : -
A Double Barreled Joke.

Tho otherevening, round at Nc
Governs saloon. the boys were put
ting up an elaborae g practical joke on
somebody, aud they asked old Capt
Skiddy, who had just happened in
to take n hand. ei eg7.
No, gentlemen, said that csiiinable
old citizen, decisively "You don't
catch me taking par, In any practical
jokes, went out OF that business
Tor good over ten years ago.
How was thair asked the group oil
bier exterminaiors.
Well, 1t was in the winter of'70,
maybe '7I. was living la Daven
port, H., aud a man came 'ronnd
there giving balloon ascensions. Oae
day IL was advertised that the mayo.
oi the town was going up with hal.
Now the may or wasa big, tat man,
who always wore a light suit OF
clothes aud white hat This put
ire III the notion Of working off a
joke on the people. got nc.
qnainteG with the neronauf, and he
agreed 10 assist me in the scheme
We then got an old suit Of light
clothes aud fixed up.a dummy, which
we filled with sand, 40 that II weighed
about two hundred, aud would.
therefore, drop straight and heavy
like man. The day ofthe ascension
there were over thirty thousand lpeo
Pile Oh tic ground and the excitement
was very great, Us there was slight
wind blowing ut the time. After the
balloon got up about nilc, aud may
be that tar south of the town, they
dropped the dummy over.
Big sensation then, Ell ?
N Well, | should say SO. But that's
just where | lost my grip. While
the crowd was shouting and going
wild with horror, | just hid down
on The ground, rolled over and
laughed until was just sick
Should think the crowd would
have taken tumble, too, uggested
the audience. a ses saas
But just wait. or course, the
crowd made a break out oftown 10
scrapc up tho remains, and rushed
home to get my fishing tackle, for II
struck me the most healthy thing
could do would be to go fishing for a
day or two. Before left the house,
however, was arrested Tor. murder.
For murder? g
Exactly. A lot Of the boys, accom-.
panied by the sheriff, rushed IN and
collared lne They claimed that the
dummy had fallen ON q farmer and
driven his skull clear into the heels Of
his boots. They said that tho hal
loonatic had turned states evidence,
aud the chances were I'd DO hung by
a mob before night. las
That was rough. 4N f=sri
Well so thought. | was just
Scared plumb TO death. and | begged
the boys to stand by and protect me.
III ponied up $50 for legal expenses,
and they hid mo in the garret Of a
neighbours house. They kept me
there ten blessed days, and there
wasn't a dav but they struck me for a
twenty or two for contingencies,
One night the whole gang came
around tull Of beer--on my money
uiind you--and said they had con
cluded, as an additional precaution,
TO hide me IN tho hollow of an oak
tree about threc miles out IN the
woods. l saw through the whole
business then, and drove 'em out with
a club. II was good square case Of
the bitter bit, know, but thew never
left up calling me Dummy Skiddy
after that, until they actually run me
out OF the town, aud | had to emf
CRATE to this jumping.off place o.
creation" and the captain shock his
head with disgusled air ne hs paid
for his hot Scotch and walked OUT
San Francisco Post.