Omaha daily bee., 1888-01-22


self Oh his figure but sits on his shoulder
blades in COURT. AN he's got round
eyes an wears glasses, an he
makes thin tin images up in Twenty
fifth street"
"Oh-ah-yes-just so. AL right,my
good woman, YOU come to court IN the
morning, and I'll zee if ! can fix it up
for yon,'
The boss went back to his fine art
friends. But the 'tn images" was
too good to keep within so small
coterie.
Did you ever encounter demonstra-
lively drunken woman in street con-
veyance. where you could not relieve
yourself of her presence within a certain
time without Inconvenience | did, the
other day---or rather the other night,
for was on my way to downtown
thcater. She was a young woman---per-
haps twenty-five. Her dress was neat
enough. but tawdry, and she carried
pretty babe in her arms, which could
not have been more than six months
old. The car was well filled, but not so
well as she was.
Suddenly she removed stony stare
from fat man in the corner, and en-
deavored to look out OF the window be-
hind her, maintain the upright and hold
the baby simultaneously.
"WOner where we are?', she said
aloud. "Guess we'll be late home, baby.
Do you hear mammals pet? Who cares!
Hoop-la. Everything goes--don't it,
baby. hey?'
Three or four whisky-laden kisses
here attested the mothers affection.
THE LADIES sHUDDERED,
the gentlemen scowled, and the
young man who was smoking
bad cigar on the rear plat
form grinned; while newsboy en-
gagged in stealing Il ride ,peered through
the glass and tried to hirt with the
infant. For few moments the exhil-
arated female seemed lost in thought,
during which time the little one was
only saved from descent to the floor
by q kindly disposed neighbor. Then
she madea sudden dive for her pocket.
"Hullo-ain't got my night-key. l
say baby what you think o that. We've
lost the key. Well, everything goes,
and | suppose we've got to make Il
racket to get in-whoop! It's all right
anyhow--ain't it baby? Say con-
ductOr-"
Here she glared at the man with a
bad cigar, and he stopped grinning and
looked another way.
Hello, this a bobtail, No conductor
on bobtail-forgot all bout that-ha!
ha! Well, that's funny, too, amt it,
baby? But everything goes, SOS all
right. Whoop! Say, Mister, where's
Houston street? wanter get off Hous-
ton street. This it-that's all right.
Come along, baby. Won'er where that
keys gone, anyhow. 'Scuse me-"
Here she nearly sat down on the fat
man. The ladies present drew back as
she passed them and the men looked
the other way. The man with the bad
cigar said, "Where yer gettin' to
brace up" when she staggered against
him and nearly dropped the baby. The
newsboy got off the step, seized her arm
and piloted her to the curb, whistled at
the baby, and waited for the next car.
Barnum is to open his circus here in
March. Robbins has his circus open
now. Barnum doesn't mean to let the
New Workers forget Barnum through
thinking altogether of Robbins. Hence
the Barnum boomers are hard at work.
And he takes a hand at it himself. |
was seated in an elevated train on the
Sixth avenue road when q stout, genial
looking man boarded it. There was
something familiar about his face which
struck nearly every occupant of the car
in which l was, and he received consid-
cradle attention as he made his way to
the center. He sat down on one of the
side seats, between two much smaller
and slighter men, and sat there for Il
moment with his brows creased. He
seemed to be thinking very hard.
There was an air OF exceeding
good humor about him, and he surveyed
fatherly, patronizing air. 1t took me
p. I. BARNUM,
and by that time the train
had reached Twenty-third street station
on its way down town. Mr.. Barnum
unbuttoned his overcoat and threw it
back. Then diving his hand into an in
side pocket. he drew out big bundle of
Of letters. There must have been at
least a dozen in that one bundle, and
they were held together by rubber
band. He pulled off the rubber, and
| began to assert the letters in his lap,
arranging them in rows of three in such
| n manner us to enable all the persons in
his immediate vicinity to see the words
'P. Il. Barnum" written in different
| styles of writing upon the envelopes. AT
| the next station the gentleman to the
| right of Mr.. Barnum got up, and then
| Mr.. Barnum took all the letters and ar
ranged them carefully on the now vacant
seat. Everybody in the car who could at
all see him had by this time become inter
ested in his operations. Two stations
below, the gentleman at the left got
out, and then the great Snowman took
another bundle of letters out of another
pocket. The rubber was removed from
this in the same calm, deliberate man
ner, and he laid out the second batch of
letters on the seat to his left in the same
pre- elise and careful way. Then he took
up one letter after another, and care
fully removed the envelope and deliber-
ately spread the letter before him, SC
that everybody could see again whom
it was addressed to, and rnad it through
slowly. 1t took some minutes for him
to get through the two dozen letters
and, by this time, the conductor, all the
brakemen, all the passengers of the first
car, and some in the second car, were
aware that the illustrious Snowman was
on the train. The engine was putting
into the Park Place station when Mr.
Barnum gathered up all the
etters as deliberately as he had
distributed them, and carefully re-
placed them inside the rubber bands
ahd again placed them back in his
| pockets. Then he got up, stretched