St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-08
ONE ON BILLY FLORENCE.
flow He Gave a Dinner to Explorer
III. Nj. Stanley.

flow He Gave Dinner to Explorer
III. Nj. Stanley.
At the st. James hotel, last evening,
there was large group of guests dis
cussing foreign news, and the converse
ton turned to the latest exploits of
Henry M. Stanley, writes New York
correspondent of the Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
Did you ever hear how found Stan
ley?" asked William j. Florence, the
in the negative, and asked for recital
of the story. ''Just after Stanley had
crossed the dark continent" said Flor
ence, | was passing my vacation in
Europe. While in Paris, received
cablegram one day from the New York
Herald, which read about as follows;
STANLEY has arrived at Marseilles,
where we have cabled him. Give him a
magnificent dinner in Paris the day
after tomorrow. Spare no expense.
You may draw against us for any
amount. Please favor us.
II went ahead and worked like beav-
er. | engaged the Hotel Chatham, one
of the best in Europe for big receptions,
and ordered dinner for $50 guests. l
skirmished around, and, thanks to
the intense popularity which the great
African explorer had won, had
no trouble in getting together one of the
most brilliant and distinguished crowds
that Paris could produce. l was very
nervous, of course, about the matter,
and spent the whole day preceding the
night of the reception in supervising
+bf, AOra1 ri ,NtI,ov Aao0rafi0nc nd mr.
ranging the distribution of the guests.
In the afternoon, while hard at work
Illuminating in the choicest American
csc against an imbecile florist, | heard
some one sing out: 'Hello, Bill, what
are you up tO?''
The voice had half familiar ring.
l turned and saw a gray muStached
Individual with rather shabby clothes
and the unmiStakable expression of
New York newspaper man.
lizard at work getting up dinner"
''What is it all about-Some political
AFFAIR.""
'Oh, no; it's a. complimentary ban
Quet to Stanley"
"Well, fancy he'll be delighted. He
ought to be anyway"
All the time l was puzzling myself as
to whom my visitor was, l could not
place him in my memory, and therefore
resorted to the old expedient of asking
questions.
what are you doing here?" began.
''Staying day or two. and then going
back to the States via London"
Anything important or newsy?"
absolutely nothing. Just going back
to rest little. You know, Bill, fell
low can't work forever without some re-
lavatiOu -
was as far off as ever and so tried a
new tack.
Its long time. old boy. since we
met"
Eyes, quite a number of years."
''What was the last placeP' | Queried,
growing desperate.
81 don't remember, Bill, the exact
place or time. 1t may have been New
York, Chicago, Boston or Cincinnati.
I've seen you so often that can't tell"
l paused, not knowing what to say
next.
He promptly took up the converse
ton by remarking:
Say, Bill, l think I'd like to take in
this dinner. Could you accommodate
an old friend?'
This was coming it strong. He looked
all right, and l was certain l knew of
MIN unuer pleasant auspices, DuI he
might be some black sheep that had
strayed from the fold. So l an
swered:
"I'lI try to arrange it, although all the
invitations are out and every seat filled.
Let me have your card, and I'll see if l
can't get plate somewhere around the
board"
He smiled as he answered: "Bill,
haven't got card to my name. But
never mind that, I'll come, anyhow"
This was too much for even me. /
looked at him alphabetically, and said:
My dear boy, must make confess
sion. L have fearfully bad memory
for names and addresses, and, although
we're old friends, | cannot recall who
you are to save my soul from perdition.
Now, who the dickens are you, any
how?"
He grinned all over. leaned forward,
catching hold of my shoulders, and
said: ''Bill, knew you didn't know
me all the time. I'm Stanley himself"
1t took minute to recover from the
surprise and subsequent laughter, and
then we made bee line for the nearest
hottie