The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-05-13
a Hotel Clerk Puzzled.

a peculiar case Of helplessness In man.
hood was developed at Alexander's no.
tel last evening. About O'Clock last
evening two men entered the hotel and
presented themselves to Col. John Sulli-
van. the clerk. One said he had found
the other, who appeard to he deaf and
dumb. just outside the door. and having
delivered himself Of his charge the
spokesman departed. Then il was that
Mr.. Sullivan looked Mt the unfortunate
and the latter looked Mt John. The pat
ent.inside smile faded from the clerks
face as he began to realize his position.
Twill you have some supper. sir I" in
quired he. as blandIy as possible under
the trying circumstances
The effect of the inquiry WAS good. for
the man shook his head in aquiescence.
He was sent to the diningroOm in charge
Of a bell.boy. and Mr.. Sullivan's face
heameh pleasantly as he thought what
an excellent thing it was to be able to
deal with all sorts OF people. The smile
faded, however, when the boy returned
with the man, saying the latter refused
to enter the dining room. 4 council OF
ways and means was called in Uncle
,lue's" private office, and the man was
brought there. lie was dressed in the
garb Of well.to do farmer and appeared
healthy and bright. lie was perfectly
ut ease. which in itsNlf was astounding.
lie handed the clerk his large satchel
and took n seat. He then delivered over
II large roll of bills amounting to several
hundred dollars.a bag Of gold and silver.
large pistol and double handful Of
cartridges, tying up the latter in a hand.
keichef. twas found that he could
neither hear, talk, read or write, and an
effort to communicate with him by
means Of the simple finger language
failed utterly. Here was a dilemma
certainly, and had it not been SO anus.
ing would have proved distracting. The
mans utter nonchaance and his excel.
lent financial condition rendered sympa-
thy unnecessar, but what to do with
him was the question. He had no let.
ters. papers or any kind Of writing on his
person, nothing to designate who he was.
where he was from or where he wanted
to 90. The readiness with which he
trusted his vauabes to the clerk gave
evidence that he was accustomed to
travelling, but how he had ever been able
TO purchase q railroad ticket was a puz-
zle All the guests of the hotel were
brought in and one after the other ex-
hausted his knowledge OF sign language
without result. Finally he bent his
head to one side, placed his hand against
it. and closed his eyes. indicating that
he wished to retire. He was shown to a
room. leaving all to debate upon who in
the thunder he could be-. On sight he
would be taken for an honest country
man Of average intelligence and means.
In the Mexican city of Zacatecas they
have monthly auctions for the queer
purpose of dlsposing of superflouohs state
convts. The shops of the Acorlata, or
city prison, can employ limited mum.
her of skilled prisoners: the surplus. Of
ten including rufiians Of the vlest de-
scription. are intrust,d to the highest
bidder. some responsible capitalist who
agrees to answer tor the safety of his
bondsmen and can employ them in any
way promising to recoup his investment.
The convict may be rabd with thirst for
revenge against his nformers and judges
but if he is a half Spaniard the idea OF
being trusted on a parole is generally
enough TO insure his tolerably good be-
havior. Desperadues who would risk
their lives to break out Of q public man
cage will hesitate to abuse the conf
,lence of private citizen who has given
bonds for their honorable conduct, and
treat them to an occasional twist of
smoking tobacco.
The best opportunities of the mass Ut
the children of the public schools lie in
the direction of manual labor and, there
fore, their education should prepare
them for that and awaken in thema low e
for such work. 1t is not necessary. and
it is not advisable. to give them a thor
ough technical training, but the chill.
dren should be taught to use their hands
and to practically apply what they learn
so that education shall come to mean to
them more than the mere training Of
their wits. New York Sun.
Parsons murderous proclamation is
filled with professions Of devotion TO the
interests Of the "toilers Of America"
Will some of our Chicago contempora-
ries be kind enough TO inform us what
Parsons tolls at: II, as we suspect,
he has no vocation. we suggest that he
he put at pulling hemp. This will de-
mand no active exertion Of him. New
York Star