The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
SHE WORE PANTS
MANHATTAN BELL BOY TURNS OUT
TO BE A GIRL.

Looking for Small Hole to Crawl
Throueh--They are in the Giddy Whirl
of Real Sensation--TheE Engineer Made
the Terrible Discovery--She Was .
Winker From WinkersviIle--stuck Love
Letters Under Her Shirt Bosom How
She Was Discovered.
There was great agitation among the
bell boys and porters at the Manhattan
hotel last night.
They gathered about in knots and
talked in solemn and serious tones.
When the business of the evening had
relaxed they held solemn conclave in
the wash rooms and other hooks about
the building. Some were seen to butt
their head against the wall at certain
stages of the conversation while others
INDUCED in the somewhat difficult feat
of kicking themselves with their own
heels. 1t was quite easy to see that
some great event had occurred in their
circle.
Night before last Fred Brown was
one OF their number last night he was
not.
Yesterday afternoon Fred departed
for field unknown and he had not gone
long when the dark visaged engineer of
the hotel entered the Office and made
the startling announcement that Fred
was not a bell boy at all at all but a
bell girl, a genuine girl every inch OF
her, form the tops of her blond curls to
the SOleS of her No. 3 slippers.
The clerk nearly tainted. the porter
went back in the alley and nearly crack
ed his spine trying to kick himself, the
day bell boy searched for a small hole
tocrawl through and the bootblack bit
his lips and swore that he was a genu-
inc down south block head in three
languages.
The young men who board at the
hotel had not all been heard from at
the time of going to press but many Of
them had broken their New Years res
olutions on the strength of it.
Every man and boy about the place
scratched their noggins furiously try
ing to recall all the conversations they
had with Fred and particularly the
character Of the language they used On
each occasion.
Fred, who was also called kid, came
to the hotel dead broke about three
months ago. He. or rather she, was
put to work in the kitchen washing
boys was discharged and she was in
stalled in his place on a salary of IS
per month. She at once became quite
faVorite, but was always noticed to
be strange kind of a boy. In the
quiet hours of the day the boys would
go back in the rear room and indulge
in Scrapping matches, but when they
attempted to scuffle with Fred she
would slip back into the office, take a
seat and calmly await the tinkle of the
bell. She never swore or said mean
things and when the other boys would
say anything rough to her she would
blush and get away without any effort
to resent it.
Fred was a winker. She winked at
everything she said cute. When she
wished to be understood as knowing
what's what in the affairs of life or
business she invariably winked just
exactly as girls do. The chief clerk
was the SPECIAL object of her winking
and she bored the life out of him with
the habit. She used to make him ner-
vouS winking at everything he said.
One day a letter came to Fred and
she read it just exactly like girl reads
love letter. She was tickled and
when she had read it over and over and ]
the bell rang she hastily folded the let
ter and forgetting herself ran it I'M
der her shirt instead of in her pocket.
pected anything. Another day a let
ter came to Miss Freddie Brown. us
this for you, Fred?" asked the clerk
She looked at it, turned red in the face
and said that it was not. 1t was after
wards sent back to the poStoffice but
Fred, it appears, went there and got it.
The suspicion of the clerk became more |
acute as each day passed. He wanted
the floor scrubbed one day; in fixing for
il he ran across a pair of No. 4 ladies |
slippers. He told Fred to give them to |
some of the girls about the house, but |
the first thing he knew Fred was wear |
ing the slippers herself and they were |
a size too large for her. Yesterday !
some other things occurred |
that aroused the clerks suspicious SO |
much that Fred noticed it. She an
that she was sick and would |
lay off for the Gay. She went to her |
room and was seen packing her va |
lise. The clerk conveyed his suspicious |
to the engineer and the latter said he |
would find out all about it. He went /
to Fred's room. Fred was seen to rush |
out of it rather rapidly. She came |
down stairs, got her money from the |
proprietor and departed, saying that |
she had quit. The engineer had con-
veyed what information he had to the |
clerk in the meantime and when Fred |
came to bid the clerk goodbye he |
10 eAdIllllle neT
hand. She, seeing this, withdrew it /
apidly, winked one of the same old |
killing winks at him and left the house.
1t was not long after when the en-
gineer made a public announcement |
that Fred was a girl. All about the
place are now acknowledging that they
were muttonheads all the time, for it
was easy to see, If they had a grain of |
sense, that Fred was a girl
What her object was in being attired
as a boy no one is able to guess. and
her case is a strange ont altogether.
She was modest and rather refined and
not soul can say that she ever be-
naved in any way that was not abso-
utely lady like in every particular.
5SHE KISSED A PRINCESS.
Baby That Kissed Eulalia Visiting In the |