Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-11-23

But an Inquirer Had to Buy a Pair Of
Shoes To Find It Out.


But an Inquirer Had to Buy a Pair of
Shoes To Find It Out.
~ want a pair of girls Shoes" said a
man to the floor walker of a big Sixth
avenue shoe store q day or two ago.
Last aisle on the left, sir, il you
please"
The man stumbled over a door mat,
struck his shin against the sharp edge Of
a settee in his effort t avoid running
over a diminutive mother who was help
ing fit q large sized child with a pair Of
shoes, said something i~nexcusable not
far enough under his breath TO escape the
ears of the diminutive mother; she said
'Oh. myr' to which the man responded
Don't mention il, pray" and tipped his
hat, hurried along, and finally got within
one of the last aisles.
ohm a sub floor walker asked: "Been
waited on?' Meow. | hain't," with a
dash OF sarcasm that passed undiscovered.
miss Terwilliger, wait on this gentle
man"
Miss Terwilliger was q pretty little
blonde, and the arcasm vanished from
biic Hail . JOlcbs out lOOhCu up q DIX
way to the mans eyes and asked: What
kind of shoes do you wish, sir?" She
looked as full Of fun as last week was Of
weather. He said: Il want q pair Of
girls school Shoes"
"What size, p~lease?'
"Number four and a half Bennie."
That word .'Bennie' acted like an In
/ tra1.cfsan from fhafr ls,uf frsapAa nm oil
the salesgirls within earshot. 1t was fired
Off with a good lung Pre~sure. and half
dozen who knew what 1t meant looked
up and laughed and ,Asspleasant chances
at the big man.
Little Miss Terwilliger laughed and
turned away quickly to o dumb waiter
connecting with the stock room in the
basement. ''Send me up a pair of girls
school ~ Bennie," she called, and then
turned her heal away to conceal her
mirth. Presently she returned with a
pais If shoes, size ~ b. The man said:
"TI,cse are too narrow"
"But you called for Bonnie, didn't
your
"Yes; but / didn't know what it meant.
1 heard one of the salesgiris call for a
'Bennie,' and an oyerpowering curiosity
to find out who 'Bennie' was or what
Bonnie meant led me to call for it. !
saw by the commotion it made that you
have a shop meaning for it. l suppose
Bonnie is your love name for b, isn't
it,"
'It Is the name we use In this store for
B widths"
"Well then, what does G stand fory'
Charlie"
"And Dr.
"Davie."
sand e."
Eddie"
"Bennie, Charlie, Davie, Eddie. And
A, does that stand for AndieY'
"No; A stands for itself. You see, all
the other letters have the E sound, and
in calling for them through the speaking
tube we had the same trouble In distin-
gushing between them that you have
over the telephone. So we invented
names to distinguish the widths of the
shoes that correspond in their first : /.
with the size letters"
i but why did you give them boys
sc ssss@ssssdl and l Msy a. Siff b5rly ? and sal E sasa sss
"Oh, they come much quicker when
we call them by boys names" This was
delivered as a parting shot. but the mis-
chievous little clerk remembered that
she hadn't sold her shoes yet, so she
added. what size do you want, sir?'
"Well, you see, my daughter had the
misfortune to be born out west-in Chi
cago, you know"
"Then you want Al Eddie. l suppose
the salesgirl interrupted.
1.-THE same. New York Times.