St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-05
THE TRAVELLERS CLUB.

"Now boysP' exclaimed the corpulent MT.
Richards as no walked through a crowd OF
Jolly travelling men and prepared himself 20
call them TO order. snow boys!' he con-
tinued, as he played with a cane and looked
about him. al hope that we can organize
Travellers club to-day. We met here last
Sunday and talked and that's ali we did"
Il just want 10 ask one question" inter-
rupted a man from Illinois. do you pro-
pose TO have any insurance connected with
this clubg'
mo" replied the fat advocate OF organic
alton. "If you will permit I'll explain my
idea OF what our club should be"
swell! I'm glad to hear that we wont try
any insurance business, for If there is any
insurance in 1t 1 don't want TO belong, that's
ALL"
ST don't believe in this mutual eneft-so-
cety-insurance anyway" continued the man
from Illinois. There are too many chances
for cheating and raising the rates on the
boys. know man in Quincy, who just
PLAYED il to the kings taste on a mutual ben
eft association, and ever since then I've been
kinder scarey. know when get enough Of
good thing as well as anybody you ever
saw. His name was Skinner, this fellow that
played IL, and he was properly named. He
big, honest eyes aud q face that was always
cleanly shaver. He looked like a minister,
or an actor or a prize fighter. 1t was one OF
those combination faces. 1t was face that
once seen was never forgotten. He was an
insurance agent, and was one OF those good
takers who die high up the scale or in
prison. Dress? Why that fellow had more
clothes and better clothes than anybody, and
he never thought of going anywhere unless
he had a carriage 10 take him. He married a
nice girl and had nice family of boys. His
wite's mother trusted him implicitly, and
everybody thought he was a happy man.
zone night he disappeared and never came
back. His wife believed for a long time that
he was insane. but finally died OF a broken
heart over her desertion and her husbands
disgrace. 1t came TO light soon after his sud
den disappearance that he had got his
mother-in-law TO indorse his paper for a good
many thousand dollars. The old lady had to
pay and was reduced 10 actual want. Skin
ners accounts were all wrong and the Dick
ems was to pay generally.
knew him very well aud was not surprised
To see him in his coffin few days ago.
happened TO be In a small Connecticut town
one summer and there learned for the first
time that IL was SINNERS home. He came
with a friend while / was there, and soon
afterwards died. He was at this friends
house, his near relatives all being dead. The
friend had just built a vault in the old ceme-
terry and into this SINNERS coffin was placed.
The friend was a physician. He made out
the death certificate. After death it was
| found that SINNERS insurance policies had
been made p ayable TO this medical friend in
stead of his widow and children. the change
being of recent date. The mutual benefit
company, in which 1 was then interested,
paid the loss, but the regular life companies
made an investigation. About this time the
friend disappeared. The casket was re-
moved and was found to be filed with a
dummy. The peculiar features of the whole
transaction dawped on everybody and 1t was
the general impression that Skinner bad
played the dead man to get the insurance.
| he and his friend are now in London.
80
ST don't like that kind of story" chimed
in q Missouri man. 'If it has any point 70
1t the insInuation is strong that we would put
up Job on the club for few thousand
ducats or else that the men in charge Of that
department were not up 10 SNUFF.
THAT story reminds me of a dream 1 had
about Illinois men the other night. i thought
that l was dead. l passed through all the
particulars of the funeral. and remember
distinctly how the old man was on hand and
how sorry he seemed TO be. Well. after had
gone through the whole business and had
headed the procession out TO the graveyard,
and my body was safe in the grave, APP
peared in the lower regions. 1 saw lots of
steam-heating apparatus, coal, birthstone and
everything Of that kind. 1t struck me that /
had got into a cellar. for there were long halls
with stone partitions and rooms and furnaces.
was walking along leisurely when the boss.
Old Nick, came along. He appeared TO be
glad TO see me, and said that he had been ex-
pecting me for some time. He asked me IL
didn't want TO see the place. 1 didn't care
much about seeing IL, but knew il was his
hobby, so | said that / would like to see the
out. He pointed out the different rooms, and
finally came to large apartment that was
apparently used for drying. ] asked him
what that room was for. oh said his sa-
tanic majesty, as he borrowed my last chew
of,tobacco, that's what we call the drying
room. There are some people who come
down here who are too green TO burn well so
have TO put them in that room for a year OF
two and let them get seasoned. II is gener-
ally filed with Illinois travelling men,
II awoke aud found il was one OF those
miserable hotels at Quincy, Ill. 1 half wished
my dream had been true"
| -
"I like stories as well as anybody" re
marked Mr.. Richards, "but think there is q
time for telling stories. Now, what we want
first is an organized club"
''Oh. let up on that club business" came
from an elderly man who claimed New York
as his headquarters. 1--WE came in for lit
tie fun. and we are going 10 have It. What ;:
the good of a club when we have Just as much
fun without ity'
snow. what started in to say" continued
the New York man, twas TO confirm the story
about playing dead. Sothern, the actor, wa:
a great hand at practical jokes, and beinl
such a good actor, he could generally carry
out his part, no matter how difficult the un
dertaking or improbable the situation. He
and a friend were discussing the realism of {
death scene on the stage. The friend re
marked that he had never seen q death beC
stage representation that touched him in the
least, and he doubted very much whether &
could be sufficiently natural to affect him
Sothern said that he thought that it could b,
made real enough TO deceive anybody.
"'why,' said Sothern, Il believe that
can act as though was dying aud do it 81
that even my wife will be deceived
"'I'n be: you a good wine dinner that you
can't do anything of the kind remarked tn,
friend.
Its a bet continued the late lamentec
actor, provided I'm TO have my own tim
about it
-
"That very night Sothern appeared in hi
great creation OF Lord Dundreary in th
American Cousin Between the secon
and third acts he was taken violently sick
He was standing between the flies at the tim