The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1892-06-25
HE DROPPED THE TICKETS.
An Episode at the Entrance of the Brook
lyn Bridge.

lyn Bridge.
Tickets for the Brooklyn Bridge rail-
way are sold in lots of ten, no reduction
by the quantity. That is to say, ten
tickets cost twenty-five cents, and null
tiples of ten cannot be bought for any
thing less than an equal number of
multiples of twenty-five.
When purchased, the tickets are at
tached to each other and numbered from
one to ten-not sincerely attached, as
John Phoenix said of the horse that
would not run away with the wagon he
was drawing-but so as to be easily de-
tached by the application of little
muscular force through the thumb and
forefinger.
Many bridge travellers find it most
convenient to tear off single ticket
each time they wish to use one. Others,
as soon as they purchase a package,
proceed to destroy the ''tie that binds"
and then, by means of a rubber band,
keep the loose tickets from straying in
to out-of-the-way corners of their pock-
cts.
1t was one of the latter who arrived
at the Brooklyn entrance one day last
week when there was more than the
usual allowance Of mud to the square
inch. Thousands of hurrying feet had
carried large quantity of the mud in
side the station and heaped up ter
minal moraine close to the ticket-boxes.
The traveller just mentioned ap-
preached with the haste characteristic
of Brooklyn man having his office in
New York, and just before reaching the
box thrust his hand into his waistcoat
pocket for ticket.
He got it.
In fact, he got several. And he got
more than he bargained for.
The next moment he was gazing with
rueful eye-as the novel-writers say
upon dozen or more tickets reposing
within the space of square yard upon
the mud-decorated flooring.
There was nothing for it but to stoop
down and gather up the nasty bits of
paper, and, with his overcoat dragging
in the mud, the man proceeded to re-
plevin his property. Meantime thirty
or forty passengers were pressing
around the unlucky one muttering
audibly at the delay which his sup
posed awkwardness had caused. The
man kept his temper admirably, though
he couldn't keep his face from growing
red, and his ears visibly tingled.
All would have gone well-at least,
comparatively well-had it not been for
the ticlet-chopper. He was one of the
men who may be described as "too
fresh" He laughed coarsely when the
mishap occurred, and continued to
smile-like the man on the stile when
confronted by the awful COW whose
heart he hoped to soften-while the
process of recovering the scattered and
bedraggled tickets went on. When
only two or three remained to be gath
cred up an idea occurred to him. He
slapped his thigh vigorously, and with
a loud guffaw, exclaimed:
1--WE won't charge you anything for
the mud."
That was the last straw.
The man with the red face uttered a
smothered ejaculation-it would have
been an imprecation loud as well as
deep but for the proximity of a number
of women just entering the station
dropped one of the muddy tickets in the
box and rushed up the stairs two steps
at time.
AT the top he paused. His face was
redder than when he had been taking a
humble attitude near the ticket box.
He gingerly punched the soiled tickets
together, and then, wrapping them in a
bit of paper, returned them to his
pocket.
'I'd like to see myself do that againr'
he said under his breath, as he stepped
aboard the train and resumed his Jour
new to Neysr Xorlz M Y "