News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-04-29
IMPRISONED FOR JOKING,
a YOUNG AMERICANS CoMICAn
ADVENTURE IN GERMANY. D
a Hemark Which Aroused the Ire Of
Halfway ConductOr-Taken 20
jail and Fined.

haiIway ConduCtor-TakeM 20
Jail and Fined.
Some time ago successful but s0mey
What llnprudent young man, residing in
the valley of the Mississippi, married q
beautiful maiden who had fled from a
convent in order to share the Joy and
burden of life with him. 1t was de-
termined that the wedding trip should
comprise tour Of Europe.
The excursion across the sea and ne
far as Herbistal, nelr where Belgium
borders on the confines of Rhonish Prus-
sla, was accomplished in a piping and
| pleasant way.
! At Herbistal the French garde gave
way to German schdfner, and when
'the young American was asked by the
new conductor to show his ticket, he
swiftly marshjlled his knowledge of
German, and inquired: 'Sind l0r IN
Preussen?" (Are we in Prussia ?? and, re-
Ceiying an affirmative answer, he said:
"Ans diesem laad kOmmen ale unSerc
spit<buben her." From this country
come all of our trampS)
Among the Germans of the Mississippi
valley the word ''spitzbubennis sometimes
used in the sense of tramp. In Germany
it means thief and rascal. What was more
unfortunate still, the railroads on which
the American was travelling was The prop.
erty of the State, and the conductor wore
the regulation uniform of the imperial
railway service, and according to law as
well as to pubic sentiment an insult Of
fered to a uniformed person serving his
majesty the king in any capacity is
grave mis- demeanor, punishable with fine
orimprisonment, or both.
When the conductor held the words
of the American he replied with some
excitement: "Ich lrerle linen xeigen 1oe
die Spjt4babea sind seea acir in Aachen
dHkOmmen" q will show you where the
spitzbuben are when we arrive at
Aachen). The window of the coupe went
down with a crash, and the train sped on
across the Prussian frontier, on over a
spur of the Ardennes, and twenty minutes
later rolled into Aachen, the famous old
kaiSerstadt.
The conductor was true to his promise.
AS the train halted two policemen ap-
preached the coupe occupied by the
bridal pair and requested the husband to
step out. He Indignantly refused, and
was helped out No words were wasted.
No explanations were allowed The
prisoner was hurried along the dark and
narrow streets of the city, and the young
bride, Ignorant of the language and un-
able to comprehend what was transpiring,
saw her husband dragged foreibly from
her. and found herself alone at night in
a strange land, amidst strange faces,
hustled along by an officer of the law
toward a second class hotel, where she
threw herself on a sofa and lay PROSTATE
for hours, dumbfounded and dazed at
the remarkable scene which had taken
place.
About midnight policeman came to
the United States consulate, and, arous-
ing the consul, related the incident, and
handing him the prisoners passport,
intimated that the American citizen
would like to have him call at the prison
as early as possible the next day.
The consul dressed himself, and went
to the place of Imprisonment at once.
He found the American in a narrow cell
resting on a bed of straw. lie told the
story of his misfortune and begged the
consul to ascertain the whereabouts Of
his wife and afford her all necessary pro-
lection. The consul left the prison and
proceeded to the residence of the chief
of police, where he presented the details
of the case to that officer with the re-
quest that the American should be re-
leased, vouching at the same time for his
appearance at court the next day. The
order for the release was granted, and at
3 o'clock in the morning the western
gentleman was given back to his young
bride, whom he found half cIazcd With
fright tand anxiety.
At 10 A. NJ. the next morning all parties
concerned met at the office of the police
commissioner, and the consul, fully
aware of the severity of the German
ce.sfs IN ati cases OF Htajootetts ctsiFig'ti'g 4
Insult to the CROWN cndeavored to effect
a settlement, but without avail.
The testimony was heard. The con.
ductor swore that the prisoner said "1W
Preussen sind sPitzbuben" (All Prussians
are spitzbuben). The American insisted
that the conductor had misunderstood
him, and that he had only intended to
say IN fun that ''from Prussia came all
of our western tramps." Or course the
grave German court saw nothing very
funny about it; and, the conductors
testimony having been taken, the pris-
oner was sent before the dmtsgerich,
where the evidence was reviewed, and
from there the case went to the Schc6en-
gericht for final trial
1t usually requires days, and sometimes
weeks, to dispose of such case, but by
energetic management seventeen hours
after the alleged offence had been com
mitted the final judgment of the court
was made known. The prisoner was
sentenced to pay fine of 500 in addi
tion to $40 in costs, and he was warned
that the mild and merciful sentence was
owing to his ignorance of the law ard
the true meaning Of the offensive phrase
by which he had insulted a uniformed
servant of his majesty the king.
The prisoner eagerly settled the de-
mands of the court and started at once
with his bride for the railway station. As
the train moved away he opened the win
dow of his compartment and said, in
somewhat muflied tones, to the consul
"Mum is my name until get out of this
country but I'll watch for the frontier,
and when we cross it I'll open my mouth
as wide as the delta of the Mississippi
and shout: Thank God, we are safe
once more y y Washington RePWHtceR.-