The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1894-09-22

eence I hnH there when / fooled some of
its bigwigs. sItywas only a few years
ago, when I stopped there for a rest, on
my way from Paris by the Oriental ex-
press to 'Constantinople. I noticed an
unusual excitement at the Hotel Hun
.garia, could see there were many stran-
gers in town, and across the Danube,
over the Schloss, fioated the royal4stand-
ard Of Hungary as a sign that the king
was there. You know the Hungarians
never speak. of Franz Josef as emperor,
always as king.
During the day I heard that the
ministry would resign the next day, and
that Premier TIA would make his last
address III parliament. Well, you can
well imagined wanted to be in at the
death and set about to secure a ticket of
admission to the dict hall. Those whom
l asked simply laughed at me. Tickets
We're at a high premium, and some TO
whom I applied gave me a Hungarian
look. of whitening contempt which made
me only anxious to get there.
"But the morrow came, and Isaw the
chances for a peep at the show growing
exasperatingly less, when l suddenly
felt myself possessed of an idea. Invent
to the house of parliament and after
much inquiry learned that the librarian
| of the upper house, and he alone, could
admit me, and l succeeded in seeing
him. I'm surprised, I said to him,
that you have made &c provision for
the press at time SO important as this.
'Press?' said he. Why, press tickets
have been issued to all who are entitled
to them, and If you have received none
it's a mistailo-an oversight. He called
a servant, said something in a jargon
which I could not understand and made
ne q bow Of dismissal. The man, who
was dressed to SO Oh i'll the chorus of
the 'Beggar Student or the Black Hus-
sar, bechoned me to follow him, led
rle to an inner room, where he left me
With a desk, two chairs and my guilty
conscience. / began to wish myself
back at the hotel. with it's good Wine,
| good music and fine view ON the Dan
ube. Visions of police investigation
and an exposure, with possibly a term
in a Hungarian Jail. rose before me, for
you know had no more to do with
newspaper business than I had with
African exploration, when a clerk en-
tered and with many a firt and nutter
proceeded to make out my credentials
for admission to the press loge.
He was a funny little man, this
clerk. who labored under the hallucina-
ton that he could speak English, and
he was further afflicted with that mild
form of insanity which manifests itself
in the dyed mustache. He took my name
and pedigree, asked me whence I came
and how long 1 proposed t. remain in
the city, and l answered all with that
promptness and strict truthfulness which
Il acquires by years Ct association
| with the members of this club.
FINALLY he put the poser, What is
the name.of your paper?' I thought with
right that all great papers must be rep
resented and feared that if I mentioned
OIL OF them | would be discovered and
lost; SO, thinking Of the motto of the
club, God loves a cheerful liar, I said
without a moments hesitation, The
North Adams Transcript He didn't
just remember the name and had to ask
as to the spelling several times while
making out the documents by means of
which / vas to secure an admission
card, but if be had pressed me after /
saw that the bluff went I would have
told him a circulation story which
well, which would not be in keeping
with The transcripts books.
well, | got into the press loge in
time to hear Hungary's grand old man,
Tisza, make the greatest speech of his
life. Of course l could not understand
his Hungarian, perfect as it no doubt
was, but the enthusiasm which he
aroused seemed contagious, and once
during his talk, when a great shout of
approval filed the chamber, women
waved their handkerchiefs and fans, and
members OF the opposition even looked
pleased, | caught myself applauding,
but | quickly recalled the fact that !
was there as The Transcript representa-
tive and as such had no opinion.
THE picture frc the gallery where
we of the press sat was one I shall
never forget Every inch of room in the
spectators pens was occupied, every
deputy's chair was taken, and on the floor
the monotony Of the black and white
was broken by the picturesque costumes
OF the bishops, whose Office entities
them to a seat in the house.
AFTER it was all over I went with
my new companions OF the press to a
nearby restaurant, where we ate all
sorts Of things, all seasoned more or less
with paprika, and drank tokay wine. |
told my StlrI nll Iha EnaIra..+ -