Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-12
A PANEL MUSEUM.
If You Must Go TO tho Bowery stay on
the Street.


There are several quite respectable
end properly prosperous dime museums
in town, and one for which q License IS
very strangely delayed, at the same time
that the Bowery is encountered with
fraudulent little places. For instance
4 Young Englishman was walking up
that thoroughfare, when his eye
lighted on the SIGN "Dime Museum
over a broad and gaudily-painted door
way near Chatham Square. As he en-
tered a sort of ante-chamber, he dlscov-
cred very countrifed-looking person
standing in open-mouthed awe before
nickel-plated machine, a small, dap
per, well-oiled young man emerged from
the inner room and said:
Pardon me, gentlemen, but is either
Of you interested in electricity as applied
TO the testing of blood 2"
Both the EnRlishman and countryman
looked at each other and shook their
heads
81 saw you looking at that machine, "
went on the dapper young man. at IS
very remarkable piece of mechanism,
can assure you. If you care about it,
will show you what its uses are.
You observe these two glass tubes on
the sides of the machine filled with a
| pink liquid substance. Well, by hold
| ing the two brass handles that you see
here in your hands that pink liquid is
made to indicate the condition OF your
blood. The test is inevitable, and it
does away instantly with the necessity
Of ever having doctor examine your
blood. If your blood is in good con-
diiion the liquid, upon your grasping
the brass handles, viii bubble like boil
ing water. Should your blood be thin
and poor the liquid will remain motion
less. Now, suppose you gentlemen try. ."
The countryman clutched the handles
first and the pink substance Immediately
began to bubble. Then the English
man tried, with q similar result.
"You both have excellent blood, " said
the dapper young man.
The Englishman was smilingly turn
ing away when he was stopped by a
voice saying, cone dollar each, please. y
1t was the young man who met the IN
curing gaze OF the Englishman with a
nod toward the machine, upon which
was now a perfectly plain sign, that had
not before been visible, reading, blood
Tester, One Dollar" The Englishman
protested, and so did the countryman,
but after o moment the latter nudged
the other, saying, "We've been svindled,
but guess we'd better pay up and save
trouble, pardner."
But the Englishman was not prepared
TO evade difficulty in this style, so he
stoutly refused to pay. as he made for
the door he received blow on the back
of the head that nearly knocked him
down. Turning about he swung the
heavy walking stick aloft and felled the
dapper young man to the ground. Then
to his astonishment the countryman
came rushing at him, aiming a blow
with slung-shot at his head. For the
first time the seriousness Of the
situation dawned upon him and
he began fighting for his life. He
was soon surrounded by strange group
Of wild, uneanny persons, in every style
OF attire. who all seemed bent on beating
him TO death. These were the imitation
"freaks from the inner rooms, who
were trained to act when a necessity Of
this sort demanded 1t was not until
the Englishman had been frightfully
beaten that he succeeded in escaping TO
the street. Such is the depths to which
the show business can sink In this city.