Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-03-11
TWENTY Sous.
Their Peculiar Names and the
Popularity OF Their Eyes.

In 1927 there came into old Mr..
Gallagher's hat store a man who asked
to look at q cap. He was shown q
number Of caps, and selecting one that
suited, he stated that he would take
four Of them. The halter was some.
what aStonished to hear the man ask
for four caps at once, especially as he
said he wanted them all the same
size.
Have you four sons of one size ?''
asked Mr.. Gallagher.
YES. sir, | have; and I've got
sixteen others BESIDES" answered the
man.
Where are they?p inquired the
halter, who was now all torn up by
curiosity at the strange statement,
They're down here at the market"
was the reply.
Bring them here" said the halter,
and I'll make them all a present Of a
cap each"
The man went out and shortly re-
turned chasing into the store a drove
of boys that looked something like the
famous staircase band you might sec
in the theater, if you ever visited such
a place.
"Hyar they be, mister. These be
nv boys, they be"
well, we'll, well; l never Doesn't
that beat ALL" calculated the old
halter, as he gazed in wonder at the
group of gankling young fellows as
they stood there in all sorts of awk-
ward attitudes, some staring about in
an absent sort of way, others giggling
like schoolgirls, and the rest getting
all tangled up with esch other in en-.
~deavoring to keep frou tramping on
the boxes and oilelOta or mating on
the floor.
Come in, boys; come in, aud make
yourselves at home shouted Nh.
Gallagher, as the string blocked up
the doorway. And be was soon busy
fitting" their pates with caps.
This 'ere's Thomas Dittimus," .
sa the happy father. dragging forth
the oldest OF the gang. Hes the
first born, and a mighty good boy he is,
too. Hes about thirty-f7e years
old"
He was speedily suited with a cap
and told to stand aside.
This hyar one" said the old stock
raiser, lis the next oldest. His name
is Christopher Holmes" And the
father grabbed another Of the drove
as though he were a big sheep. EFF
you'll notice, stranger, you'll see that
the first boy has got black eyes like
mine, aud this one has blue eyes like
his mother" 1t was but the work of
a second to slap a cap on the blonde
bead, and he was pushed over BY the
side of his older brother, with the In
junction not to get mixed up with the
others till every fellow had got his
new cap.
Step out here, Peter Dialander,
commanded the owner of the bunch
Of boys. At this a third young NAL
ambled out in front of the delighted
halter. who enjoyed the experience
beyond description. Flyers another
bllck-eyed boy" remarked the boy
builder. You see every other one is
blue-eyed. and the rest is black eyed
SO far, and this helps TO keep h run
Of them II yeu understand he system,
but when you come to go through the
whole string you'd get mixed after the
first ten, as Ill explain to you further
along. Nov this one is Calandei
Jones, and making a dash in among
the mob the daddy brought out a
fourth son and almost held him up BY
the back Of the neck. A cap wa
passed down over his head, and ht
was assigned a position among hi
seniors.
Number five was ished out Of thu
regiment and introduced as Eecy Icy
He got his cap and went to join th,
others that we're already fitted out
Then came 0sy Neeshy. followed b,
George WaDpum, then Shawno Cato
Il kind o sort O. try to keep EN-
divided into lots of FIVE, you see, b,
giving them names Of a different ma
ture. yet something alike; for instance
IDjun names all come together. Blu
right about hyer | always get mixeC
when | try to pick the lads out &C
cording to their ages, cause, you see
the eyes begin to change along abou
the tenth baby that comes. Com
mencing with the FIRST, who, as vol
saw, had black eyes, the change o
color keeps on black, then blu
till it gets down to tenth or elev
euth when there is a change RICH.
around the other way. For instance
the tenth being blue, the eleventh
ought to be black, but one of his eye.
is blue and one is black; then thu
others start out just opposite to tn,
way they first began. That is, yoI
will notice, how strange that-let m,
see" unused the father, trying to sin
gle out the proper one. Eyes, thl
twelfth, who should have had blu
eyes if the change had not takel
ptdCCs 10 uldChs Iucu INC UtAb 10 Dlue
the next black, and SO on to the end
On account Of this change the frs
and last are black, whereas, i fthe al
formation had been kept up as !
started they would have been oppo
site in color. In the came way tn
next to the last are both blue ands
on"
The introductions kept on, and thI
boys were all fitted with a cap each
free of cost, by the, good-natured hat
ter. The father stated that there wer
no twins in the party, and that the
were all the offspring of one wife
There was about a year, difference i
their respective ages, the youngest be
ing about twelve. Relative TO keepin
the run Of the family, the old ma.
stated that his wife, the mother of tn
boys, knew them a great deal bette
than he did a great deal-that is, sh
could call of their names and age