The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-18
Copyright, New York Musical Echo Co., 1893.

credible trOusers-no, it would never go;
At 6:55 o'clock the old porter opened
the door of my Office, announcing, in
respectful tone; "Mr. Louis Degars"
Here l am, as l promised, and here are
your 20 shillings,n said my old friend,
Louis, slapping me on the back and Civ
ing me friendly nudge
by Jove!" l said, from out of the
depths Of my surprise. II shouldn't have
thought it. Has your business been
SUGGEST"
"Of course" he said, and showed me a
heap of shillings with the delighted laugh
which characterizes the southerner.
There might be fifty or sixty shillings,
and noticed that he took them out of
the pocket of brand-new pair of trou-
sers. 1t was respectable well-cut pair,
OF a disc ieetly dark-gray color. This ex-
planned the note of respect in the por-
ters voice when he announced my friend,
Louis.
"Can do anything else for you2" 1
asked him, with all the politeness which
is extended to people who pay their debts.
"Many thanks, nothing else 1t will all
run smoothly now"
A few days later met him accidentally
in the street. He did not see me, but as /
looked casually at him l noted that again
a
of charming chestnut color. He must
be flourishinC, surely. Again after few
days he came into our office to make q
small payment into the bank. Almost un-
consciously | cast look upon his legs,
| and discovered-an another new pair of
| trousers, this time of an original, though
not particularly tasteful, olive mustard
green. l shook my head. How very
wasteful of him to so thus into trousers !
! Why could he not spend a couple of SOW
ereigns to buy new coat instead of all
these things His blue coat sadly re-
! quired replacing. ! almost said so TO him.
but was afraid he might then ask me to
lend him more money, and only gave him
a friendly nod
Meanwhile my study of the circum-
! stances connected with my old friends
| trousers had had the curious consequence
! that quite invOluntarily, l oegan to look
| at the trousers of every person with
| whom ! came in contact during the day.
! And imagine what happeded! To my
! boundless CONSERVATION | noticed that all
! our clerks, messengers, porters and other
! officials never wore the same trousers
more than once. They all appeared every
morning in brand new trousers and some
| times they even wore one pair in the
morning and another in the afternoon
! The end was that I could think of nofh-
/ ing but this matter; it took hold of me
! more ana more. DufluR my working
hours and in my very dreams I always
asked the question: What in the world
/ induces all these sensible people to be so
maids extravagant about their trousers 2
AT last l could stand it no longer. l made
some testing remark about it to the old
porter whose business it was TO announce
my visitors. His answer was given in a
reserved manner and with so peculiar a
smile that the dread truth dawned at
once dawned upon me; was maniac,
| There was no doubt about 1t, l had new
disease, trousers mania, a peculiar kind
of hallucination! l decided at once to
keep the matter a profound secret, and to
say nothing about it to anybody. | was
especially careful never again TO breathe
a word about it to any of our officials, but
| could not prevent myself from studying,
with morbid minuteness, and day after
day, the trousers they wore 1t was al
ways the same Every one wore every
day a new pair of trousers, often even
two pairs in a single day Trousers of all
sorts and conditions, striped, checked,
light, dark, long, short, tight, wide-it
was maddening!