The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1885-01-17
A Doubled arreled Jokes

The other evening, round at McGov-
ern's saloon, the boys were putting up
an elaborate practical joke on somebody,
and they asked old Capt. Skiddy, who
had just happened in, to take hand.
"No, gentlemen" said that estima-
bic old citizen decisively, "you don't
catch me taking part in any practical
Jokes. went out of that business for
good over ten years ago."
Chow was that ?" asked the group of
beer exterminators.
:Well, it was in the winter of 10,
may be II. was living in Davenport,
Iowa. and man came round there CIV
ing balloon ascensions. One day it was
advertised that the Mayor of the town
was going up with him. Now, the
Mayor was big, fat man, who always
wore light suit of clothes and white
! hat. This put me in the notion of
working off joke on the people. I got
acquainted with the aeronaut, and he
agreed to assist me in the scheme. We
then got al old suit Of light clothes and
fixed up q dummy, which we filed with
sand, so that it weighed about 200, and
would, therefore, drop straight and
heavy like man. The day of the as
cension there were over $4,000 people
on the ground, and the excitement was
very great, as there was light wind
blowing at the time. After the balloon
got up about mile, and maybe that far
south of the town, they dropped the
dummy over"
Big sensation then, eh ?"
"Well, 1 should say so. But that's
just where lost my grip. While the
crowd was shouting and going wild with
horror, just laid down on the ground,
rolled over and laughed until was Just
sick"
"Should think the crowd would have
taken a tumble, too" suggested the
audience.
"But Just wait. OF course, the crowd
made break out of town to scrape up
the remains, and rushed home to get
my fishing tackle, for 1t struck me that
the most healthy thing could do would
be to go fishing for day or two. Be-
fore left the house, however. I was ar
rested for murder"
"For murder? ?"
EXACTLY. A lot of the boys, accom-
panied by the Sheriff, rushed in and
collared me. They claimed that the
dummy had fallen on farmer and
driven his skull clear into the heels of
his boots. They said that the balloon
attic had turned States evidence, and the
chances were I'd be hung by mob be-
fore night"
"That was rough"
"Well, SO I thought. I was just
scared plum to death, and begged the
boys to stand by and protect nue.. I
ponied up $50 for legal expenses, and
they hid me in the garnet of neigh
boris house. They kept me there ten
blessed days, and there wasn't day but
they struck me for twenty or two for
contingencies. One night the whole
gang came around full of beer-on my
money, mind you-and said they had
concluded, as an additional precaution,
to hide me in the hollow of an oak tree
about three miles out in the woods. I
saw through the whole business then,
and drove 'em out with club. It was
a good square case of the bitter bit, I
know, but they never let up calling me
Dummy Skiddy after that, until they
actually run me out OF town, and I had
to emigrate to this jumping-off place of
creation" and the Captain SHOOK his
head with disguised air as he paid for
his hot Scotch and walked out.-San
Francisco Post.