Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-02-10
SIZE IVES ON THE SEA.

"a tt -, " " IN is u Bette Nuir to au At
Isnti" Steamship Company
There are quite Il number of New
York men who think nothing of cross
ing the ocean five or six times a wear.
some merely for pleasure and others In
the coulSt of their business. One of the
latter. an art dealer, remarked as he
stepped on board Il Liverpool liner:
See that old woman there? She's n GU
r1ous duck. Nearly every time l have
taken this line she has been among the
! passengers. think she must be
diamond expert or Il smuggler of
something or other"
! The woman referred to was seated on
Il small leather cabin trunk, placidly
waiting. Whether she was going on
board 0rnot no one could guess from
her manner. There was no furry
about her, and she watched the pre-
paratiOnS for departure with IN indif-
fercnt langrlid eye. There was moth
ing striking about her dress The gown
WAS black silk or alapaca, the rest OF
the attire was dark and ladylike In
style. Her hair was white and sho had
Il pleasant, contentcd. refined face.
Half IN hour or so later Il younger
woman, also dressed in dark clothes,
well designed and well made, came
tripping up behind the first one did
you think | was going to be late?" she
asked with asmilc. NO" replied the
G der; but l preferred to sit here and
watch the passengers pass on. We
have twenty minutes yet, but might
as w.ll 20 aboard" She called IA por-
ter, who sheuldered the little leather
trunk and followed them across the
gang plank with it.
Evidently she was an experienced
traveller, for what woman is there who
would not be nervous about catching @
steamer with only margin of twenty
minutes? That she was Il smuggler
regularly coming and going rs such,
was out of tn" question The very fire.
qucncy of her trips must have excit-
ed suspicion. bne of the revenue in
spectors, when questioned. said why,
we've seen her for years. She comes
'on one steamer and goes back by the
next. She's no smllggler; shes q per
feet little lady"
An official of the company, who prob
ably knew all about her, was very re-
tcent. In an uptown club ships
officer on leave remarked, ooh, / can
tell you all about the old lady. She has
crossed with me several times There's
no mystery about Ii TIT oil. It was this
way: Twenty years ago Tn. company
wanted to extend its>sEamises at LIVER
pool, and resolved to buzz f. piece of
land belonging to a maiden niy of
uncertain age. She sold her laIh- =
very low price, and as a set-of reque.
ed that a clause should be put In the
agreement to the effect that during her
whole life she and companion should
at any time travel free in the com
pany's vessels.
"On the day after the agreement was
signed she sold her furniture, let her
house and went on board the first out
ward-bound vessel belonging to the
company without troubling herself
about the destination.
"Since then the lady has always lived
on one ship or another, accompanied by
some lady traveller, for whom she ad-
vertises. She is reckoned to have made
over $4,000 by the transactions, and
the company has offered her at least
that sum for her privilege, but cannot
get quit of her at any price"