The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1891-07-02
HIS cELLuLoip COLLAR.
1t Became Disarranged and Caused Him
Trouble.

| AI became Disarranged and Caused Him
| Trouble.
He was one of those men with long
! neck and prominent Adams apple,
and his face and neck were lust the
| color of corned beef. He wore a cellu-
Iold collar and no necktie, and through
the great button-holes in the front of
the collar his neck cleaned a ROSY red.
He had large, shiny bag of black
leather between his feet as he sat in
the street-car, and somehow YOU felt
that he was a pilgrim and stranger in
the great city.
lie was very much interested in all
That he saw from the car windows,
and his head was constantly turning
hrst to one side and then to the other,
until by some sudden motion the COM
blnatlon whichheld the celluloid button
hole and the bone ollar-button together
was broken, and one end of the stiff
collar sprang away from its fastening
as though it had been a steel spring.
and it nestled lovingly against his neck
and under his ear in little yellowish
white coil that looked like the paper
case of a charlotte russo.
The man was painfully conscious that
something had gone wrong. He care
fully felt to see if the green glass stud
IN the bosom of his shirt was gone; then
his fingers wandered up to his collar,
and finally he traced the fiendish COM
bination of camphor and gun-cotton
around and succeeded in locating it un-
der his ear.
lie made several attempts to find the
end, but it evaded him each time until
he began at the buttonhole in the back
and ran his finger carefully around the
top edge of the collar, Strengthening il
out as he did SO, and holding it with
vise-like pinch when he came to the end.
Then came the search for the button
mole. 1t was delicate task for his
clumsy fingers, and they crept around,
leaving grimy marks behind them, and
at last the thumb and forefinger met
through the large round hole.
The man looked relieved. but he
found that fate had another trial in
store for him when he attempted to slip
the buttonhole over the little bone but
ton. In his large, awkward fingers the
sense of touch was undeveloped. and
the button was so small that he could
not tell whether he felt it or not; and
besides this, he was hampered bv hav-
ing to hang on to the buttonhoie, for
he knew that once lost his trouble
would begin anew.
And another thing made his position
a trying one-the two small bows sit
ting opposite him had begun to sniclzer
and had drawn the attention of every-
body in the car to his performance.
Up and down and around he felt:
over the button his fingers slipped again
and again. The thing was growing
wildly exciting to the passengers, when.
either from jolt of the car or from
pure nervousness, the man lost his grin
on the buttonhole, and the thing curled |
up like watch spring and settled
down under his ear once more.
1t is easy to do thing after one
knows how, and the man had no trou-
BILE in getting the end again. He went
at'it with both hands this time, and |
with the index finger of his free hand |
he was carefully trying to locate the
exasperating button, when one of the
small boys called out: 81 say, mister.
try and button it on yer Adams apple
its bigger
There was an audible litter and the
man grasped his gripsack and rushed
out of the car, and the last the passen-
gers saw of him he was standing on the
corner, his bag between his feet, care
fully swathing his neck in a large red
bandanna handkerchief-M More
Marsh, in Chicago Times.