The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1893-12-21
AN wHIMs
sP Richard Burton Was q Great D..,
Crank.

Sir Richard Burton, the Enp,;s,
explorer, was a man who had Nav.
of his own. According to his widow
he spoke twenty-nine languages. ana
asve: passed a day without readina
at least one Of them, to keen hi
knowledge fresh. He was loved and
trusted by servants, children. and
animals. A British sailor was mt
into prison at Trieste, where Burton
was Consul. The next day Sir Rich.
ard received a very dirty-lookjny
note, addressed on the outside n
THE Council" The seal was Jacks
dirty thumb Inside was: ~
.BuRTIN. i am hin trobel. Kun IAN II,
me haou.. TIN T~gotN
The Consul vas delighted. anc
promptly secured the mans release.
His tastes were simple. as is prot.
ably true Of most men who have b.en
great travellers.
His wife used t. busy herself.
Martha like, making his room com.
Portable. but If she put anything
pretty into 1T. il was at once put ont
into the passage. He liked large.
plain deal tables, and plenty of them:
Il for each piece OF work on which
he happened to bc engaged. For q
pen wiper he tied a red bandanna TO
the table leg. His chairs, too. were
hard. and he slept on Il small iron
bedstcad, with an lron-wove mat
tresS and no sheets, but plenty of
white. soft blankets.
He would never have blinds or
shutters drawn. as lie wanted the
last Of the twilight. and the first
CLEANS Of dawn. He would bring in
Il single wild flower and PIT il in a
vase, but if some one brought "A
bouuet or hot-house flowers, he found
a way to get rid OF it,
He had a licc ear for music, but
loved only the minor key. she
would 90 to the opera to hear Il new
rima donna, but he could not abide
amateur music. and if anybody pro-
posed music OF an evening. and a girl
got up and n~ervously warbied Il bal
lad about banks and butterflies, he
used to put his hand to his stomach
and walk out Of the room"
He rubbed his old ,iothes. espcci-
ally his boots, of which he some
times had a hundred pairs in the
house. Once he lost Il fencing-shOe
and went to his bootmaker 70 get him
to replace it.
NO." said that worthy, "but l
will make you a pair"
That did not suit Sir ! ichard and.
as his wife says, he carried that shoe
all over the world, and every boot
maker he saw he asked to make him
the mate to it: but not one of them
ever would. For eighteen years he
did this. There is a superstition
among such people, it appears, that
If a man makes an odd shoe he will
die.
For food the traveller liked com
mon things, but was fond Of French
cooking. ''FIench cooking, English
materials, and a good cellar" he used
to say, Fought to heep any man
alive for a hundred years" Wher-
ever he went, he was accustomed to
eat the native dishes. Dried Goldfish
and sauerkraut were two of his deli
cacieS.
One thing he could not bear and
that was honey. He could hardly sit
in the room with it, though it might
be in some secret drawer or cupboard.
He OWNED its presence As some per-
sons divine the presence Of a cat.
Sometimes after dinner his wife
would say to him, What make you
look so uncomfortable"
''There was honey in the roOm," he
would answer. 'and / knew they
would think l was mad if l asked to
have it removed; but / felt quite
faint"
Horse Language.