The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1886-12-31
ODD EXPERIENCES.
49,. GATHER FUNNY STORIES TOLD
sy PROMINENT CLERGyMEN.

ev PROMINENT CLERGyMEN.
,..t,ess Boy in the Gallery-An Eng
p,v Dog In the Auditorium-Ex-
s,n,t,on of Religious Zeal Among the
Young Folks.
~ had an odd experience last Sunday"
81 one Of the most prominent cergymen
,he city. 81 was in the midst OF my
mon, thoroughly warmed to the subject,
n was talking first to the people on the
ain floor, and then TO those in the gallery,
Scn ! noticed directly in front OF me
.ssleSs. chubby boy who insisted in leaning
cor the gallery rail Occasionally he
r,uld got one leg up as though he were
ding TO climb over, and his mamma would
.ske a clutch at him and put him down
rth bounce on the seat beside her. In
90 minutes the boy would be again in his
,vorite attitude Of looking down on the
sople below.
IAN undercurrent of my thought TOOK
=, the possibility OF the boy topping over
al his mother clutching at him, grasplng
"a foot and Juggling with might ana main
-. I'D
drag him back, while the fat man Dehlno
~ exerted himself in assisting her 10 mann
ain her own equilibrium. This Stubborn
,pdercurrent worked persistently at .nis
,.ctacle until it came 70 the surface IN
.smax that set me laughing in the midst Oh
nv sermon. OF course nothing OF tne hiiio
rcurred. My secondary line OF 'hougn'
sd simply taken up the merest sugges'ion
4 a possibility and worked forward 70
r5iculous climax.
A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE.
CDR Patterson told me on one occasion OF
-. rmilsr experience OF his own. dc was
reaching q very earnest discourse and was
arrying his congregation with him, when
"a English pug dog crossed the line OF his
rsion The dog attracted the attention OF
~ one in the auditorium, and there was
% reason why it should have attracted the
,ttention Of the preacher, but the thought
anne to him that the dog bad its tail curled
sbout as tight as circumstances would per
nit Then came the question II the tail
vas curled once moro what would happen.
Would it not be possible to curl the tail SC
tight as to lift the hinder parts OF the dog
and start him walking on his fore feet with
bis tail in the air. All the time he had
been going on with his sermon, but when
this odd conceit of giving the dogs tail an
extra curl came over him he burst into
horse laugh.
1.-THE interruption came not only in the
middle Of proposition, but in the middle OF
a sentence He broke off without ceremony
into a laugh that startled himself quite as
much as the congregation. Once started he
found it very difficult to stop, and although
be used bis handkerchief and made pre-
tense of having a paroxysm of coughing,
still he laughed until the tears came Even
when he started again on his sermon he
found great difficulty in getting away from
this idea of that dogs TAIL and several
times his voice trembled and he had to
shake himself as one in a dream.
AN EXHIBITION OF ZEAL.
preachers have odd experiences OF
which they say very little, =" said another
minister. "When l instituted my Sunday
evening meetings l was very much gratified
At the large attendance of young people.
I attributed the large audience, of course,
70 interest in religious services, and took
all the young ladies and young gentlemen
into my heart and praised them without
stint for their exhibition of zeal Ono night
Is | announced the hymn, Il Need Thee
Every Hour, l distinctly saw a young lady
In one of the front seats nudge young gen.
tleman at her side Three seats back | saw
young gentleman nudge young lady,
and five seats back | saw another gentle
man nudge a young lady. This set me to
thinking, and the next Sunday night gave
out the hymn with my eyes wide open, and
Is | uttered the words, i Need Thee Every
Hour, l saw several people nudge several
other people, and my notions of the zeal of
these young ladies and gentlemen changed.
They came to church to be in each others
company"
"To chanre the subject said a young
nan who had been a somewhat embarrassed
listener to the last remark, II know young
lady who is greatly misunderstood because
she is always carrying ordinary incidents or
accidents in life TO absurd or ridiculous eli
makes If she sees a man slip on a banana
peel, recover himself and give the peel vi
cious kick over the sidewalk she supposes q
case in which the man falls grabs at the
coat tail Of the man in front, and he grabs
at another coat tail of a man in front, and
that man grabs frantically at the bonnet of
a lady in front, and finally they all tumble
on the sidewalk; then when her imagination
has played this trick she bursts out laugh
ing wherever she happens to be, and people
look at her in wonder. They canno. under
stand why lady should go into paroxysm
Of laughter or go snickering along the street,
but to her the superstition is as plain as
reality. Inter Ocean "Curbstone Cray
onsn