Los Angeles herald., 1891-08-14
HAS SWORN OFF.
How a Young Man Was Cured
of Poker Playing.
Queer Articles Found by His
Wife on His Return.
An Insurance Man Who Got Kicked
for Joking.
A Curious Episode-A Well Known Busi-
ness Mans Experience With His
Poker-Playing Friends-A
Practical Joke Not
Yet Ended.

There is one young man in the city
who has ''sworn off, poker playing. The
young man lives in the west part of the
city not thousand miles from Adams
street in an elegant home, which is usu-
ally presided over by handsome young
wife, whose only fault is tendency to
be unjustly jealous of her husband.
The husband, who will be here called
Mr.. Boxer, because that is not his name,
some weeks ago persuaded his wife to
take the children and go to the seashore
for a stay during the hot weather. She
went to Santa Monica, Mr.. Boxer agree
ing to come down on Sunday and stay
until Monday, as his business would not
permit him to stay all the time.
Now Mr.. Boxer would play poker, and
after his wife's departure he invited a
number of friends down to have little
game. Among the players was a young
insurance agent who has a reputation
for perpetrating those fiendish things
called practical jokes, and who knew
something about Mrs. Boxers suspicion
about her husband.
On Friday night Mr.. Boxer announced
that his wife was coming home on Tues
day, and arranged for grand final cal d
party on Monday night. The insurance
agent was among the invited, and in
preparing for the occasion astonlshed
the young women clerks in several of
the shops of the city by his queer pur-
chases.
Monday evening came and the party
rolled high. Several dozen OF cham
pagne were knocked out, and when Mr..
Boxer got up too weary to play any longer
he went to sleep on a sofa. The insur-
ance agent, who had kept hiszhead very
clear, then made a tour of the house,
and the guests departed, leaving Boxer,
peacefully snoring.
When he awoke in the morning he
felt rocky and headed straight for the
Hammam to get braced up. Mrs. Boxer
arrived in the afternoon and had an af-
fectionate meeting with her husband
at the depot. He put her in
carriage and sent her home promising to
come home early. When Mrs. Boxer
entered the house, she spied woman's
glove in the corner of the hall, a tiny,
scented little affair, two sizes smaller
than hers. She frowned as she picked
it up between her thumb and forefnger,
and cross-examined the cook, who had
come to the door. The servant could
give no information about the glove or
its owner. Madame closely scrutinized
every corner as she went to her room.
There in her favorite easy chair was a
book, a novel noted for its broadness,
and between the leaves, as if left to
mark the place, was dainty little lace
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! ragged. The cook fed to the kitchen,
after vainly protesting that she had not
seen any indications of Mr.. Boxers
faithlessness. Madame made system
attic search, which yielded from the
floor beside the bureau a blonde false
bang, madame's hair is by her enemies
called red, and a mysterious blue silk
band with silver clasps on the ends,
which bore the rather alluring name of
"Gracie."
Mr.. Boxer smiling, with rose in his
button hole, happy in knowing that his
wife had returned, came home in time
for dinner, but he did not get any. At
the end of about two hours he shot out
of the front door, slamming it behind
him, and dashed down town, where he
hunted up his friends of the poker party.
After heated discussion the insurance
man confessed that he had placed sew
eral articles of feminine apparel "just
for fun" in Mr.. Boxers house. MIR.
Boxer said nothing, but he grabbed that
insurance man by the collar, emphatic
ally put him in a cab, drove him home,
hauled him in the house, into the pres
ence of Mrs. Boxer, who had just re-
covered from one attack of Mysteries and
was preparing for another. With Mr..
Boxers hand firmly holding his collar
the unhappy insurance man confessed.
Mrs. Boxer would not believe him; he
was trying to shield Mr.. Boxer. "Swear
to it," threatened Mr.. Boxer. The in
surance man swore fervidly. Then Mr..
Boxer marched him to the front door,
deliberately kicked him, and let him 60.
That is all that is known of the affair
so far. Whether a divorce and duel
will ensue is question. Mr.. Boxers
friends know he is innocent of what his
wife suspects, but that kick hurt the in
surance mans feelings anatomically and
mentally, and he now claims that he
knows nothing about the articles Mrs.
Boxer discovered, and says that his con-
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