The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-07-01


she would have found the landlady trying on
her garnet surah tea gown. and that would
have been awkward 100 She will won Ter
when sue next wears that gown how its
back seams got so strained and how the
sleeves were torn. Landlady rather likes
that garment, and has already made up her
mind that ii the ledger goes out of town for
night and leaves her extra clothes, size, the
landlady, will wear that tea gown over to
Mrs Martinmuzzen's some evening, or else
invite in few people to ice cream, when she
will play the hostess attired in it. She isn't
quite sure Just which she will do.
There is an overpowering quaint OF
curiosity lying about Boston. 1t seizes upon
| the stranger and Lores him full of holes be-
| fore he has had time to accustom his di-
gestion to Washington pie and hot brown
bread. Nor is its thirst ever allayei. Every
time you go and come, the people whose In
quistiveness is highly developed, and their
name is legion ask you the why and where
fore. 1t is very much of an ask town, this.
They don't consider it any trouble to
ask questions, and they don't draw any very
delicate lines around their interest i'll other
people either.
Mr.. D., from Chicago spent last winter
here. BY some unhalowed luck he located
in a social stratum that reeSed with curios-
ity and devoted its whole time to satisfying
it. He and his wife constituted the family.
They went to housekeeping on q econd floor.
The family on the lower floor plunged into
their affairs with the zest of whale hunters
Every question under the sun relating to
their personal or business affairs was fired
off at them. No evasion, no change OF sub
iect, no tactics known 70 politeness warned
off the dreadful invaders, who fairly de-
manded, with sword and gun, to know the
inpermost qualifications of their life. They
seIt a little boy up one day to boldly ask
v'nat salary Mr. D. received
Mrs. d. was q little older than her hus-
Oand The family below asked them both
their respective ages over and over again.
Not receiving anything satisfactory in
answer, the "od lady" of the house, vet
eran of the inquisitive corps, who ought to
have been strung all over with medals for
heroic service in her line, walked up to Mrs
d., saying:
aDid you ever see Daniel Websterl"
"No."
"were you born in Websters dayl"
mo"
"Well, you don't look so very old"
"No, I'm not so uery ID"
"Well, how old are you, anywayp
"Oid enough to mind my own affairs and
trouble nobody"
"Well, how old Is thatp
"Some persons reach that point when
quite young, and others never reach ii.
When goods would come to the house for
the DIS this watchful lower family inter-
viewed the messengers asking where they
were bought, what they were and what they
cost.
When Mr.. ID. left the house, travelling
satchel in hand, some one of them darted
after him and asked him where he was GO
ing
He always made the same answer: III
haven't fully decided" and yet their vulgar
curiosity was never checked When a car
rage called for him they asked the driver if
he knew where Mr.. d. was going.
Very nearly like this family in delicacy
was the landlady of boarding house where
an acquaintance of mine, lady, boarded
She wasn't extremely young AMI yet she
didn't consider herself even in sight of middle
age. A friendly crow had alighted on her
face often enough to leave track or two;
but nobody thought of her as in the least
elderly. One morning at the breakfast
table, while all the boarders silently ate their
scorched pancakes, the landlady, ever anx.
ions to increase her stock of information,
called out: MRS G., do the members of your
family wrinkle earlyP' Mrs. G. looked up
In establishment, not thoroughly compre.
hending the remarkable question.
@Do they wrinkle earlyP reiterated the
persistent demon Of inquisitiveness, II see
you have good many wrinkles, yet don't
suppose you're SO very old.
Even the horse car conductors become i'm
bued with yearning to know all about
their passengers. An acquaintance Of mine
was In business that shipped great many
' small boxes Sometimes an order would
come in to be filled instantly. The shipping
clerk would dispatch an assistant with 1t at
once Going so frequently on the same car
line, carrying the same kind Of a small box
J apitated the conductors mind One day he
said to the clerk:
~What have you got in your boxP
IL don't know"
@Why, it's very strange IL you have been
, carving boxes like these for months and
, not know what's In them"
! at isn't my business to know what's in
them. It's my business to carry them, "
said the clerk, who was English and knew
nothing about anybody's business, save his
own, and considered it a bore to be forced
to know
would't say that all Boston was 80 fear
fully inquisitive. Indeed, it would have ex-
ploded from curiosity long since If it had
BEEN But certain stratum Of its society
is highly developed in this direction. Occa-
sionally one comes in contact with blue
blood who has it as bad as any one.
MAX ELTON.