The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-01-16
ANDFIA La. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16 1895.
TIGHT SQUEEZE FOR SMITH.
All Because He Wanted to Retu IN Cent,
He Was Taken For a Bunko Man.

All Because He Wanted to Return Cents
He Was Taken For Bunko Man.
Not to be provided with small coin
sometimes leads to embarrassing sit
uations on the surface cars. A friend
of mine, whom I shall call Smith,
had an experience the other day
which he will not soon forget, and
moro than a dozen passengers on a
Broadway car will go through life,
if they do not read the story, believ-
ing they saw genuine bunko man
trying to secure prey in the leading
thoroughfare in the city.
This Mr.. Smith boarded Broad.
way car at Twenty-third street to go
to Canal street. When the conductor
asked for his fare, he searched
through all his pockets for a small
coin. Failing to find one, he took out
! his pocketbook aud handed the con-
ductor $40 bill.
II can't change that" said the
conductor coldly. Smith asked some
persons in the car to give him
change for the bill, but none seemed
able to do 50.
do you want me to leave tho
carp" asked Smith.
lyon need not do that, " said the
conductor, 'but you should not ex-
pect conductor to give change for
so large a bill"
Then an old 1ady-one of those
good old souls you meet everywhere
made her presence known. Here,
Mr., Conductor, she said, "I'll pay
the mans fare. don't like to have
you stand it, as I'm afraid you will. I"
She handed the conductor a 5 cent
piece. He rang up the fare, and
Smith thanked her for her kind act.
Then he again started out to got
change for his bill. He had asked a
half dozen men to accommodate him
and had reached the forward end of
the car before he found one who
could or would make the necessary
change. 6l.all bills and coins were
counted out in his hand while he
still held his own SO Jill. just as
the last dime had been counted, and
before he had handed over his $40
bill, Smith happened to see the kind
old lady leaving the car. Hoping to
catch up with her, he started for
ward with his own and the other
mans money held firmly in his
hand.
"Hold on; you don'tget away with
my money SO easily as tllat?' shout
ed the man who had furnished the
change, while he grasped Smith by
the arm and pulled him roughly
around. Every passenger looked at
Smith with suspicion, and he was so
embarrassed he could not say word
for himself.
'You are bunko man," was
plainly written on the face of every
one in the Car, and Smith read the
words as plainly as though they had
been actually written. The men
seemed ready to assault him, and
the women crouched as far away
from him as possible.
"But I only wanted to give the
lady her Nickel, Smith finally man.
aged to say. II had no thought Of
taking your money"
well, she's gone now," said the
man, who had not relaxed his grasp,
land the best thing you can do is to
give me back my money. Iwant my
own, too, not your bill, which may
be spurious.
Smith gave him his money, sat
down in q far corner of the car and
for the rest of his journey tried to
appear unconscious Of the whitening
glances cast upon him. As he alight-
ed at Canal street he heard dis
tinct sigh of relief from every pas
senger in the car.-New York Her
aid.
Wood Mosaics.
Wood mosaics are now manufac-
tured in purely mechanical way at
the Paris Palace of Industry. The
scale of colors is extremely rich,
there being no less than II, 900 diff
ferent shades that can be used. This
being the case, the worry best paint
ings of the old masters can be faith
fully reproduced. The great advan-
tage attained in a mosaic is that,
should the colors fade, they can be