The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-01
A LIVELY FAMILY OF GoPaERs.
The Excitement They Caused in Pos
senEer Car.
From he CAic000 Tribune.

From The ChicaGo Tribune
When the gates at the Union depot were
opened day or two ago ponderous Ger
man carrying a rough wooden box under
his arm and closely followed by his wife
who was several sizes larger than himself
passed through and boarded an east-bound
train. They were enroute from their farm
in Minnesota to the Fatherland on visit,
and the box under the mans arm contained
lively family of gophers wherewith to
astoniSh the natives A good-natured brake
man seeing how impossible it was for the
couple to crowd into one seat unlocked the
one next in front and turned over the back.
The man placed his box of gophers on the
floor between the two seats and betook him
self to the smoking-car. The woman went
out on the platform to say farewell to some
| friends who had accompanied them TO the
| depot.
| This was the state Of affairs when He
! brew clothing salesman entered the car &C
companied by blooming female specimen
of the same race whom no seemed particu-
larry anxious to propitiate. The lady was
hard TO suit She tried one seat and then
another, and finally catching sight Of the
| comfortable arrangement made tor the ben
eft of the German tourists, she insisted that
the same courtesy be extended her The
| drummer tried in vain to turn over the
| backs of several seats and then went in
search OF a brakeman. When that official
arrived on the scene he refused to grant the
request on the ground that one seat was
ample in this instance. The lady was in
| dignant. 1t was case of unjust disCrhni-
! nation. She wouldn't stand 1t and wound
| up rather one-sldel argument it'll the
drummer by taking POSSESSION of the seats
! pre-empted by the German family. She
jumped the Germans claim, i'll fact, and
emphasized her title to it by bringing her
| heels down vigorously on the box occupied
by the gophers There was an ominous
crack which both were too excited to no
! tice.
Suddenly the lady clappcd her hand on
the region of her right knee, turned pale
and regarded the drummer with a stony
| glare that made his hair stand on end.
Shake" she whispered, sepulchrally,
''vat is in dot poxl"
Jake glanced down at the Eox and sew
| the nose of a small brown animal emerging
! from hole in the cover. With great pres
ence of mind he placed his foot over the
hole and said;
Apples, Rebecca; nothing but apples"
Rebecca's reply was q blood-curdling
Shrek She clutched systematically at the
region of her pocket, shrieked several times
and tainted dead away.
The large German woman entered hur-
riedly and took in the situation at glance
She grasped the drummer by the shoulder
and then showed him into the aisle; and
then, while her generous figure concealed
operations from the view of the other pas
sengers, manipulated the form of the IN
conscious JewesS with great energy for q
minute or so, finally dragging from some
mysterious locality the squeaking father of
the gopher family, whom she consigned to
dark corner of her travelling basket and
slammed down the lid.
1t was still ten or fifteen minutes before
time for the train to start and the car was
not more than half filled. A couple of la
dies went to the assistance of the German
woman and Rebecca wes fast recovering
from a swoon when there ensued further
complications. The German woman now
occupied the seat from which she had elected
the drummer. Suddenly she turned to one
of the other ladies and remarked:
dot vas strange, aind'6 it! Dot imagi-
tion-vat you call Twas PECULIAR l have
shust now gopher in my own clodings felt
| And she laughed to think what tricks the
| Imagination plays with women when some
one says ''ratsT' Her mirth was short
lived. No trick of the imagination could
| counterfeit the SO lsation or the sharp claws
| that were penetrating her stockings and
rapidly carrying their owners onward and
| upward
'"Gott in himmsl" she CALCULATED, ele-
waiting both feet to the opposite seat. Helm
rich Heinrichl Come NAL here Bonner
| wetterp
The whole gopher family had escaped and
were evidently bent on voyage of dis
| covery. 1t was too much even for the
| phlegm of German birth and Minnesota
nerve. The German woman gave three
shrieks that nearly broke the windows and
collapsed. The other lady passengers were
in panic when the big German entered
hastily and did for his wife without cere-
mony what his wife had done for Rebecca.
The result was the recapture of the mother
and two older children of the gopher family.
Two of the animals were still at large and
they succeeded in delaying the train five
minutes while the car was switched onto a
side track and another put in its place.
Jake and Rebecca occupied a single seat
as the train pulled out of the station and
were exceedingly subdued, even humble in
their aspect. The missing gophers fur
nished train hand and his terrier half an
hour of eycnllant SNORT In thu dasertad chr