St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-10-03
ThG TAILOR AND HIS RIVAL



4 Doel WITH New 0airs Deewosa DsGer,
Dlaoa Men.
There is Q fashionable downtown
tailor. not many blocks from the posi-
Office. who recently fought . duel
with clotheA He doesn't like to say
much about Il, but although it hurts
his professional pride he is forced te
admit that he was vanQuished fairly BY
. man whose name he does not know.
The contest lasted for only i've weeka
II was watched with interest by the
commuters who live In . small Jersey
town and do business In New York.
This was the way in which it hap
pened. Tho tailor IS fine figure of q
man. and does not believe in some oi
those old saws about the blacksmith'a
horse going without shoes. and fash
ionable tailors wearing ready-made
clothes Indeed. this tailor prides him
self ON being ono Of the best dressed
men in New York. For instance, he
has tic Of different pattern for every
day in the year. His clothes are Of the
latest style. though never extreme in
cut, for he il . very swell tailor. and
he detests sporty" c.otheA
Not long ago this same tailor rented
. cottage for the summer in one of New
Jerseys prettiest villages. possibly one
Of the Oranges II need hardly be said
that he became . conimutcr, and a.
such took In the other commuters who
came in with him in the morning and
went out on his train at night He be-
gan to smoke . brier-wo0d pipe, be-
cause that Is the distinctive mark Of an
Orange commuter. He didn't know
many of the men by name. but he had
. " hist acquaintance with all Of them.
BY all odds the best dressed man among
them was the tailor.
Some of the Brick Church young men
discarded plush ties after they had
known him for two weeks, and the
Montclair circle of yAung mems whist
commuters put aside their Prince Albert
coats for business wear. Then it was
that the rival appeared. None Of the
other commuters knew him nor has any
of them yet discovered his identity. He
was undoubtedly . We'll dressed man.
On the morning that rhc first made his
appearance he sized Sp the tailor and
the tailor sized hims up TIE other
commuters agreed that honors were
even Each man looked at tho other in
that critical way that is popularity sup
posed to be the exclusive right Of wom-
en-. No words were spoken but the
challenge had been passed and accepted.
The next morning the tailor appeared
with the same suit of clothes. but with
. new tie and . new cane. The rival
scored the first point for he wore .
different suit from tho one Of the day
before. and it was every bit a. swagger
In appearance He was conscious Of
his superiority. and - he looked 1t the
tailor there was just . suspicion Of .
gct-on-to-my.clothes snicker around his
eyes The tailor felt hurt Il was the
first rebuff he had received for many
When he reached New York
he ordered his cutter 20 map out half
dozen new suits Of clothes for him from
the best material in the shop.
Then his pleasure in anticipating his
rivals crushing defeat was increased by
the visit Of . young Wall street broker,
who liked to wear many suits in sum-
mer Of good cut but whose income was
Of the threc-suits-a-season style. For
the broker and the tailor wore
clothes Of the same size. The tailor
struck . bargain with the broker by
which the latter agreed to take his
clothes that he wore in tho duel at half
price. The broker protected himself later
by selling these same clothes to his clerk
1t Q still greater reduction. Then the
tailor felt that he had his rival at his
mercy. The contest began In earnest
Every two or three days the rival wore
, new suit Of clothes, and the tailor
met him with . suit equally new. The
became 30 interested in this
deadly struggle that they gave up whist
aud took to poker. because It did not
demand such close attention. Tho
tailor began to feel . certain amount
Of respect mixed with his hatred
for his rival He tried to discover his
name and business No one knew it.
and the rival was known as 'the other
well-dressed man."
At the end of Ave weeks the tailor
devoted few minutes to mstnematic-
n calculation. His dead loss on the
clothes that he had entered in the con-
test was Ave hundred and Atty dollars
The broker told him he was going too
fast and he could take no more of the
kailor's clothes. The rival seemed to
be ss fresh as when he started, and
when the weather became warmer he
like . tropical plant He
was already several suits ahead Of the
tailor, and in the matter of ties and
other minor details Of his dress his dis
play would have maie swell outfitter
green with envy. The tailor thought
L all over. He could never face that
club Of commuters again IL he weak
sned II he didn't weaken bankruptcy
stared him in the face. II was tho
most critical crisis, that he had ever
laced. He solved 1t BY giving up the
lease of his eottaxe and moving TO
for the summer. The COM
mrters missed the tailor. and in . few
lays the rival. finding that Brick
Church was not inclined to enter the
dropped out Of sight
''Who that man was aud where he
got his clothes I don't know" said the
tailor one day. ''but he is made Of the
right stun. don't think I shall take
; vacation this year; It Is 30 easy TO
run down TO the beach from New York
when you feel like I'M. Y. Sun.
in olden times 81 . person accused
II crime refused 10 plead he was con-
1emned TO the forte peine ct dure."
He was stripped. taken into . dungeon,
md laid on the door. with . sharp stone
nnder his back. On him was laid
loor. whereon were piled heavy
weights - much as he could besr and
more The first day three morsels OF