National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-03-13
A pRIBLEn BRIDAL TouR.


moves the placid susquehanna in summer
time, while others go humping and tum
bling pell-mell along like amountain torrent
in the spring. Some take everything as II
is and all things easy,while ehers nervously
seize everything by the wrong end and gel
very angry II II burns. The latter incllna.
ton accounts for a great deal of the un.
pleasantness encountered by Americans
while doing Europe. They forget the pat
saying that "when you are in Turkey you
should do as the turkeys do.n Some 20
abroad loaded with the unfortunate idea that
freedom OF conduct has as much western
Wilderness on the banks Of the Spree as IL
has on the red cliffs Of the upper Missouri,
and It is not until they run bang into the
maws Of some police regulations that they
realize how sadly they are mistaken.
Some time ago. successful Dung man,
residing in the valley Of the Mississippi,
married beautiful maiden, who had fed
from a convent In order to share the Joy
and burden Of life with him. It was set
tied that the wedding trip should comprise
q tour Of Europe, in short, journey from
the father Of waters to the bright shores OF
the great middle sea as far as Naples and
return.
The excursion to New York and across
the damp domain of Neptune and even to
Herbistal, near where Belgium borders on
the confines Of Rhenish Prussia was made
IN piping and pleasant way, but at that
point II received an unexpected and some.
what novel check.
At Herbistal the French gdrdc gave way
to German schdGRer, and as soon as the
young American, on whose shoulders now
rested the cares OF husbandhood, was asked
by the new officer to show HIS ticket he
smartly marshaled his knowledge Of Ger.
man and inquired, "Sind lUir in Pr,,ssenP''
(Are we In Prussiap) and receiving an at.
firmative answer, he said, "Aus dicSem land
kommon allie unsere spitzbuben her," (From
this land come all of our tramps.)
II would have been better for the Mis-
slssippi gentleman had his tongue Glove Ia
the roof Of his mouth before uttering that
sentence In the land OF the iron Chancellor.
Among the Germans Of the Mississippi
valley "spitzbuben" is sometimes used In
the sense OF tramp. In Germany II means
thief and rascal. What was more unfor-
tunate, still, the railroad upon which he was
travelling was the property Of the state, and
the conductor wore the regulation uniform
Of the imperial railway service, and, accord.
ing to law, as well as public sentiment, an
insult offered to a uniformed person serv-
ing his majesty the king in any capacity Is
an insult TO the crown, and must be consld.
tTtu US BTuNC UlIbucluehUDT, DuulbuuDlC
by fine or imprisonment or both.
When the conductor heard the words OF
the American he replied, with some excite
ment: "Ich rerdo linen zeigCn 400 die spit=.
buben sind tUenn tUir IN Adchen dnkomnleil'-
Il will show you where the spitzbuben are
when we arrive at Aachen.) The window OF
the coupe went down with q bang, the
train sped on across the Prussan frontier,
over spur Of the Ardennes, and twenty
minutes later rolled into Aachen, the old
Kaiserstadt.
The conductor was true to his promise
AS the train halted two policemen ap
preached the coupe occupied by the Ameri
can bridal pair and requested the husband
to step out. He Indignantly refused, ant
was helped out. No words were wasted
no explanations were allowed. The pris
oner was hurried along the dark and mar.
row streets of the city, and the young bride
ignorant Of the language and unable &c
comprehend what was Transporting, saw he
husband dragged forcibly from her ant
found herself alone at night In q strange
land, amid strange faces, hustled along by
an officer toward a second-class hotel, wher,
she threw herself on sofa and lay PROSTATE
for hours, dumbfounded and dazed at the
remarkable and incomprehensible seen,
which had taken place.
About midnight policeman came to tht
United States consulate, and, arousing tn,
consul, related the incident, and, handing
him the prisoners passport, intlmated tina
| the American citizen would like to hav
him call at the prison as early as possible tn
| next morning.
The consul dressed himself and went T.
| the place OF imprisonment at once. III
| found the American in q narrow cell, rest
| ing on bed of straw. He told his side o
the story, and begged the consul TO ascer
| tain where his wife was, and afford her oil
necessary protection. The consul left tn
| prison, and went at once to the residence
| Of the chief Of police and presented tn
case to him, with the requests that tn
| American should be released, vouching a
the same time for his appearance at cour
| then day. The order for the release
was secured, and at 3 o'clock In the morn
| ing the young husband was given back Il
| his bride, whom he found half crazed will
| fright and anxiety.
At 10 a. m. the next morning all partie
concerned met at the office OF the polio
commissioner, and the consul, full aware o
the severity Of the German court in cases o
lfdjeStdts Geieidigitng Insult to the CROWN
endeavored to effect a settlement, but with
out avail. The testimony was heard. III
conductor swore that the prisoner said
ARe Prussen sind spit=buJen (all Prussian
are spitzbuben,) The American insisted
| that the conductor had misunderstood him
that he only intended to say "from Prussi
came all our western tramps." or cours
| the officers testimony was accepted an
the prisoner was sent before the Amt
| gericht, where the testimony was reviewed
and from there the case went to tn
| Schotengericht for final trial.
II usually requires days, and sometime
weeks, to dispose Of such a case, but b
careful and energetic management seven
teen hours after the alleged offense had
been committed the final judgment wa
made known. The prisoner was sentence
to pay fine Of $50, in addition to $40 4
costs, and he was warned that this mil
and merciful sentence was owing to hi
| ignorance Of the law and the true meanin
Of the offensive phrase by which he had In
suited a uniformed servant OF his majest
the king.
The prisoner eagerly settled the demand
Of the court, and started at once with hi
bride for the railway station. AS the trai
moved away he opened the window OF hi
compartment and said In somewhat mui
fed tones TO the consul, "My name is Mur
until / get out OF this country, but Il
watch for the frontier, and when we eros
1t I'll open my mouth as wide as the delt
of the Mississippi and shout, 'Thank Go
we are safe once morel'
l
large number of English and American
who were at that time sojourning In the oil
Kaiserstadt, and several amusing incident
occurred in connection with It. An oil
Irishman, who was unable to attend I'll
trial, owing to illness, asked friend no.
1t all turned out. "The American had
pay eco sterllng,n replied the frienC
"IIow many words did he spake to the COZ
ductherSn inquired the Irlshman. "0nl
four words, all Prusslans are spitzbuben,
was the answer. The Irishman refecte
gravely for a moment, and then saiC
"Well, be jabbers, 1t seems to mo that {
long as he had anything to spake aglnst Il
Glrmlns 1t wud have been a mighty sigl
chsper to have remained In Belgium an
tilegraphed over"
What Beats the PeachblOw Vase.
The little peachblow or crushed stray
berry vase which was sold for $4,000 at IL
| Morgan sale In New York city last Monde