Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-03
THE TOPICAL TALKER.
All Sorts of Odd Little Incidents in Our
Daily Life That Usually Escape Busy
nInngn Anrnnnin.

Daily Life That Usually Escape Busy
Mems Attention.
A PITTSBURGER sends to me from St Paul.
an account OF queer proceeding which he
thinks may interest the readers of this column.
The letter runs: "As was standing outside
the Clifton Hotel, in tnis city, last night well
dressed man with pleasant rather handsome
face, crossed the street in front of me, walking
diagonally from corner to corner. bearing his
hat and shoes in one hand and two long lighted
candls in the other When he came near me
saw that his feet were bare He did not seem
to see anyone, and when he reached the curb he
turned about and crossed the street again. He
kept at this strange performances for long
while, and nobody seemed to pay any attention
to him. I inquired of ST. Paul friend what
the meaning of all this was. He told me that
the actor in this odd play is a wealthy Irishman,
who at one time, with his brother, was mixed
up in an accidental killing For his share in the
fatality he has performed this self-imposed
penance every evening for several years. won
der that the papers here have not written up
the story"
Well, the story is peculiar one to tell in the
last quarter of the nineteenth century.
HsS
AMONG the correspondence of the sporting
editor of this paper the other day l came
across letter containing challenge to fight
some Philadelphia pugilist with bare fists.
Such epistles are not uncommon, of course,
ana the sporting editor regards them much as
sweet seventeen would billetdottI writ in
violet ink and sealed with cupld's mask. But
there was something about this letter which
fascinated my eye. The challenge was written
on paper which bore the headline: Young Mems
Christian Association, Johnstown, Pa
Can it be true that Y. NJ. G. A. young man
of Johnstown wishes to pound some one and
be pounded in a 12-foot ring? With bare fists,
mind you. The millennium is not approaching
after all.
THAT woman," said green Hungarian as
he came out Of an American boarding house
near Brownsville the first morning after his
arrival, .is q fraud. She gave US the water off
the coffee, and kept the coffee herself" and
the boss of the gang hearing the fellow grum-
bling, made inquiry, and found that the gentle
man from Hungary considered himself abused
Decau Sc he had received no coffee grounds in
his cup. This is fact.
-
A FEW days ago I had business with a rail-
road contractor who is working near Woods
Run, and it was no easy job to find him. After
good deal ofinquiry,I stopped at doorway in
what is known as Shanghai Row. a newly
painted block of tenement houses near the rail-
road. There was joIly-looking old lady at the
door, and appealed to her toset me on the
right track. She smiled graciousIy, and said
with the speed of a shell in its first flight:
Yen fiEd him by Tim Gradys-bethune the
lumber yards. l lived forninst Tim, the poor
bye-he had his leg cut of with the shifter-
bless his soul! He's awful poorlyP'
found my man.
BUT old Mr.. B - was not such bad lot?'
asked of man who had been giving, as the
vulgar have it, fits to Mr.. BIS sons.
"Oh, no." cheerfully responded the critic,
'he's was a good enough man. He was a
blatherskite, and in many respects fool, but
he was good enough, you know"
50
THERE is a farmer in this county who
ought not to stay farming day longer. He is
too enterprislng by far. The Stock Exchange
should be his pasture
A while ago this same farmer came to town
and entered into negotiations with some mer-
chants of this city to do piece of work for
him. The merchants agreed, but after several
conferences with the farmer found that they
could not carry the underta king further They
notified their bucolic customer of their resolve
and very fairly offered to pay him his railroad
expenses and for the time he had spent in the
city negotiating with them.
The merchants were surprised nightly when
they received one day last week a bill from the |
farmer in which the railroad fare figured as a |
small item beside one for good many dollars |
which represented his per diem expenses.
The farmer had charged for his time $40 |
dayI
SOME womeu-I say some, mind-cannot |
Keep their mouths shut when to open it means |
disgrace and loss of money.
When steamer from the port of Glasgow
arrived at New York during the initial rush of |
tourists from abroad last September. there was
/ certain lady, whom we may call Mrs. Jen-
1ings, among the frst-class passengers. She |
lad several articles upon which she would have |
10 pay duty in her trunk, and she was particu-
arly anxious to get large roll of costly velvet |
through the Custom House free. She went to
/ friend, gentleman, and persuaded him to
AXE the velvet and stow it in his steamer
;runk.
When they were on the steamer pier in New
FORK at last Mrs. Jennings trotted about from |
me passenger to another saying goodbye and
adding in a whisper that she intended to evaGe
he Customs House inspectors. Several Pitts
burgers remember all this very well. After
while and just as Mrs. Jennings had satls-
actorily passed through her own ordeal with
IN inspector, she addressed herself to a lady
Who stood beside her. Said she to the stranger
for Mrs. j. did not know her: DO you
lee that gentleman over there? He's just had
lis trunk examined. and they didn't find fine
,iece of velvet hid in it."
didn't they7" said the strange lady, ''then
I'll find it now. am an officer of the Customs
House, madam"
She was one of the new female inspectors,
nd she found the velvet.
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