Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-08-30
AN ELECTRIC BLUFF.


Had Vol been Acquainted Win
Very Long Draft Ca>hed and
Dinner Thrown In.
pei | ever tell You about the
great bluff invented and worked
oil on u country hotrI proprietary
asked Mcykiu. the lazy inventor.
~ hc tilted back hi chair and lit
his pirc. 1t would have heen
blamed lnconvcncut for me if |
hadn't brought my inventive fac
ultic> to bear on the subject, and
If had neglected. t. observe the
ncw telephone. 1t came about like
this: was making tlvlng tri p
through the west in search of a
man who WA, said to have invented
process for tempcring copper by
electricity. One evening about
dinner time reached AN Indiana
town which LII call Jayville, as
the town is still there, and so is
the hotel proprietor. | rushed
into the only hotel i'll the place,
asked for some dinner and was
shown to the dining room after |
had registered. wanted to
catch the 9:I3 train for lndianap
oils, so 1 could spend the night
there. When | Ind finished my
meal, | fished around in my peck
cts for a dime to tip the waiter
with. found | hadn't bloom
ing cent in my clothes. You
know I'm careless about money
matters, and never think of lucre
until I'm out of it. Well, | hadn't
any cash, but l had a $50 draft on
New York in my pOcketbook. |
let the waiter 90 without his tip
and walked out to the office, where
l found the landlord. l ostenta-
tiously took "a pen, asked the land
lord his name, and made the draft
payable to him.
Now said l, if you'll kindly
take out the price of a dinner and
give me the balance of this $50 III
be obliged
"The landlord read over the
draft forward, backward, sideways
and upside down. Then be held it
up to the light. At last he looked
at me sharply and said:
"'Your name Meekin?'
g" Sure thing said l.
CT. j. Meekin?
Sure
GO How do | know it?'
"You don't, but I'm telling
you,' said l.
allow do | know you amt one
O these yere flim-hammers?'
CSC You don't. Do look like
flim.hammer"
&c" Wal, ye mought and We
moughtn't,' was the landlords en-
couraging reply. 1t was getting
near train time, and l was getting
nervous. In glancing around the
office with the faint hope that I'd
see some one l knew, my glance
fell upon long distance telephone
over in the corner. Right here
was where l invented my bluff in
Jayville at S.45 p. m.
"'See here, Mr.. Man, l said to
the landlord, you know a bank
draft when you see it. don't you?
Well, that's bank draft. Now, it
don't make any difference to you
who l am if can prove that the
drafts good, does it? All right. l
see you have "A telephone. Can l
use it?'
aye can if We know how to
work the thing. Just put Der in
yistiddy, an l amt on to the game
yit.'
"All right l replied. Now
you come over here to the tele-
phone with me, and III soon salts.
fy you that your suspicious of me
and this draft are all wrong
1--WE went over to the phone;
the landlord leaned up against the
wall watching my every move
ment. Luckily no one was around
but an old man asleep near the
stove and a stupid German porter.
l picked up the receiver without
ringing, and this is what the land
lord heard:
"'Hello, central! Gimme New
York. Hello! This New York?
Gimme 1888 Cortlandt? Manhat-
tan Exchange National bank? Mr..
Crandell there? Hello! This
you, CrandalI. old man? This is
Meekin. M-double-e-k-i.n. Yes,
Meekin, T. J. How are you? Say.
I'm in Jayville, Ind. Hotel man
says your draft number 347 on my
account is no good. How about
it? Well? Good for $4,000, is it?
Sure? You are, ell? Good joke
on your old bank, amt it, Gran.
LID Cock ,,1,, . Lo<k1o ,,,loo 7