The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1882-04-06
4 DOUBLE BAREsELtH1E1 y @1kE
The Perpetrator Of Which Ha'
Gone Out Of the Business.

The other evening, round at Meoovern, s
saloon, the boys were Putting up an elab-
crate practical joke on somebody, and they
asked old Capt. skiddy, who had just hap"
pened In, to take q hand.
''No, gentlemen said that eatitnable
old citizen, decisively; you dent catch me
taking part in a practical joke. ! went out
of that business for good over ten years
ago.
ssHow was ttat?'' asked the group Of
beer exterminators.
swell, it was in the winter of 10, may
be I'll. | was living in Davenport, Iowa,
and a man came round there giving bal
loon ascensions. One day il was advertls-
ed that the mayor of the town was going
ND with him. Now, the mayor was a Dig
fat man, who always wore light SUIT OF
clothes and q white hat. This put me III
the notion OF working of a joke on the
people. | got acquainted with the aero
naut, and he agreed to assist me III the
scheme. We then got an old SUIT OF hga[
clothes and fixed up dummy, which we
filled with sand, so that it weighed about
two hundred pounds, and would therefore,
|drnp, straight and heavy like . man. Inc
day of the ascension there Wereoyer thirty
thousand people on the ground, ,sAnd the
excitement was very great, aaz there was
:, ufr,f, hlovilg at the tiu1e. Affen the
balloon gotup about u mile, and maybe
that far south of the town, they aaropped
the dummy ever.
'sBig sensation then, en-
"Well, Ishould say so. But that's just
where I lost my grip. While the crowd
was shoutingand.. going wild with horror,
iusr laid down on the ground, rolled
over. and laughed until I was sick.
..should think the crowd would have
taken a tumble, too suggested the audi
ence.
But lust wait, Of course the crowd
made break out Of town to scrape up the
remains. and rushed home TO get my nsn-
inc tackle, for it struck me that the most
healthy thing could 10 would b. to go
fishing for day or two. Before left the
house, however, was arrested Tor mor-
der.''
"For mulder? ?'
s<Exaet1y. 4 lot OF boyes, accompanied
bv The Siberia, rushed in and collared me.
Thev claimed that the dummy had fallen
On ) farmer and driven his skull clear anto
fba l,eela Of his boots. They said that the
hal1oonatic had turned states evidence,
and the chances were I'd. be hung by mop
before night.
"That was rough .
.sWell. SO I thought. II was scared
n1nuh 70 death, and begged the boys to
stand by and protect me. ponied up $9o
for LEGAL expenses, and they hid me IN the
earret CT neighbor's house. They Kept
me there ten blessed days, and there WASH {
a day but they struck me Tor q twenty or
two for contingencies. One n1sht me
whole gang came around full OF beer-on
nv money, mind you--and said tnat they
now concluded, as additional precautlon,
- hid me in the hollow on an oak tree
sho,,t three miles out 10 thessFoods. saw
through the whole business anu drove en-
onf with a. club. Il was . good square re case
ofthe bitter bit, know, but they never re let
up calling me Dummy skidy, after ,5 that
nnfil fhey actually run me OUT OF fne 1o"il. Z
and arri.l j had to emigrate TO this jumping OF
,e1.a a1see II a ereatlon.u andthe Captain shook
| his his head with distinguished, air az ne pau
for far his hot scotch aud walked out.-'>or'
| Francisco Post.