Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1886-05-12
HE HAD NERVE.
The Travelling Printer and an Iowa

had been devil in The Buqler office
in . town in Iowa, about four months
when the editor was one day calle,
away. The man who was acting a
composition, pressman, job printer, col
lector, solicitor, and so forth, seized tn
opportunity to 60 off on a spree, and
was thus left in sole charge.
just after dinner, as l was washin,
the roller and cleaning up generally, il
walked the first old ''printer bum''
had ever seen. The duds on his bacl
weren't worth a silver quarter, his hail
was long and unkempt, his face covered
with dirt and bristles, and his breath
scented the room. He was ragged
dirty, homeless, and penniless, and had
been let out of the county jail, eigh
miles away, that morning.
''Howdy, boy" he said as he came
in, and without second glance at m,
he took a seat at the desk and attacked
the remains of my lunch. When h,
had eaten the last crumb he picked his
teeth with the editorial pen, peeled of
his old coat, and commanded:
hoy hunt me up a Job stick"
l obeyed, and as he took it he walked
over to the rack, slung in two or three
lines of display type, and then stepped
to the small plea case and set up the
body OF a circular reading:
He Has Arrived!
The World-Renowned Prof. Peters!
Ventriloquist! Mesmerist! Phrenologist
Prof Peters has engaged Snyder
hall for the evening of Sept. 90, 1865
Tomorrow evening), and will give the
citizens of GARNER City an exhibition o1
his wonderful powers in ventriloquism
mesmersm, and phrenology. Will i'm.
itate the notes of all the birds; will
speak to you in sixteen languages; viii
wager 500 to So that he can mesmer.
ize any person in the audience; car
read your character by feeling of your
head; will forfeit $500 if he fails in q
single case Medals from all the crown
ed heads of Europe. Flattering press
notices from the leading newspapers o.
the world. Everybody turn out. Ad
mission only rs cents. Children free.
He placed this matter on a galley
pulled proof and corrected it, anc
then cut lot of print paper to the righ
size and said to me
"Get up the roller and roll for me-"
l complied, and he worked off two
hundred of the circulars. He was not
only good compositor, but he wrestleC
that old hand-press around like mar
who had never done anything else
When we had finished he said:
"Take the tin pail and get me quar-,
Of beer. Tell 'em to charge it to the
office"
was afraid of the man, and / got the
beer and paid for it out of my own
money. He drank the whole quart
with only one breath.
"Now, then, take these circulars ou,
and distribute 'em," he said as he put
away the pail ''Be good boy and I'll
give you two tickets to this great enter
tainment.n
That was enough, and in two hours,
with the the help of another boy, had
billed the town. When returned the
"bum" had washed up, combed his
hair, and had on a new suit of clothes.
He had gone to clOthier's and bought
them and had them charged to the
office, claiming that he had been en-
gagged as foreman. Further than that,
he had been and engaged the hall ]
had been back only five minutes when
the boozy compositor came in. He had
scarcely entered the door when the
''bum" rose up, waved him back, and
tragically exclaimed:
$50 hence! This is no place for the
depraved! How dare you enter my
office in your present condition."
The comp. " backed down stairs
drunker than ever, and after the strang-
er had questioned me as to when the
editor would return he went to the ho-
tel and engaged the best room. l had
81 tLnt Ill