The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27
STORIES TOLD ny MORTON.
There Is Kind of Prcvaricator
That lie Likes.

"Tbere is a sort of harmless. wide
spread liar on EARTH" remarked Secretary
Morton the other day, whom l like. His
mendacity is fangless: he poisons nobody.
and his Munchausea-iike tendencies are
merely employed for ones entertainment.
He probably doesn't expect one to believe
his yarns himself =.
There was a member Of the tribe whom
we win call Robinson who lived near Ice
in Nebraska. In his origin Robinson was
a product of Indiana, a state which in
its luxuriant strength gives us everything
from hoop-poles to Holmans; pumpkins
TO Presidents. Before Robinson came to
Nebraska he drifted out to Montana
scalpeq around in mining claims until
he made several thousand dollars 1t was
with this lie bought his farm in Nebras-
ka.
Robinson never allowed anybody to tell
a story beyond his power to parallel
recall on one occasion when several Of
the farmers of the neighborhood were
together at my place. 1t was a Sunday
afternoon. The moon, as it frequently
does, was sharing the heavens with the
sun and looking down very pale and gray
ana White as moons must at O'Clock
in the afternoon. With nothing else on
their minds, several members of the party
turned the tides Of their gossip upon
q Was it inhabitedg that was the ques-
"One after another several gentlemen
expressed their views, and finally / turn
ed to Robinson and asked for his.
What do you think about il, Robin
SOM ! inquired. Is the moon inhabited?
What do l think?' asked Robinson in
reply with tones half scornful, what do 1
think2 | don't think; l know
" III tell you how l found out about it,
continued Robinson. The moon IS fnhab-
tied sure enough. and If yop people had
seen what l have you'd know It mighty
Well You reconect when was out in Mon
tana that time and got that money-that
was before ! came to Nebraska had
about SlCVO in my pocket and was allow
ing to leave Montana. come down to that
town of Helena one night and thought I'd
stay a day or two and then start east.
After | had eat my supper the first even
ing and just TO show you what 1 cared for
money, l want to tell you / paid a dollar
for 1t, started to walk around the town.
/ was going along by myself, smoking a
25-cent seegar, when l run up on a party
with a telescope.
This telescope was the biggest thing
ever saw. 1t was about forty feet long
and big around as the b'iler of a steam
boat. He had her swung with a pair of
shears which was fifty feet to the cross
These shears was the tallest of the kind
l ever seen; fifty feet tall and made out
of Norway pine! big as the mast to a boat
The fellow with the telescope was pintin
il at the moon which was shinin' partic-
ular big and bright that night As | came
along this party looks up at me and says
What to take lock at the moon to-
night. stranger"
much about the moon nohow."
Folks is havin' a pretty hot time up
there tonight, says this party with the
Telescope, ''pullin of some sporting event
l reckon"
What for a sportin' event" I says,
ARE them moon people pullin' OFF,
oh we'll replies the party, kinder
careless and Indifferent, "if you want to
know anything about 1t you ought to put
up your money and get in.
What's the ante for lookin at the
moon" said 1, with this big spy glass Of
yours?'
Five dollars" he says
"Wen, sir, l flung him five dollar bill,
for l wasn't feelin savin' at all that night
and I sets down in a chair and takes
squirt through the machine. There was
the moon, sure enough. And, say talk
about its bein inhabited; there's more'n
a million of people running around like
a lot of two-legged ants. This sportin
event the telescope man spoke about was
a horse race. They were having the goll
dangest horse race you ever did hear of.
And talk of bettin'i l never see such bet
tin in my life
AT the conclusion Robinson looked
gravely and inQuiringly about; nobody said
anything or made any inquiries. They