Smyrna times., 1896-09-09
A KENTON JOKE.
Through the Charms Of a Bohemian Girl, Young
Man Falls an Easy Victim
Special correspondence to The Times


Special correspondence to The Times.
kGNTON, Sept. 8.-The young men
of this town, ever on the alert to play
some practical joke on the unwarv,
had their innings Wednesday, Thurs
day and Friday of last week, when
they made one of their numbers blood
run chilling through his veins. Quite
a number of BOhemians come here
every summer to work in the to-
mato canning factory, and this sum-
mer there came with the rest a rather
comely Bohemian girl of about nine
teen years, who attracted the attention
and admiration of one of the Young
men of this town. He was persistent
III his endeavor to win her good graces
and the other young men of the town
knowing this, thought they would play
joke on him. SO accordingly one of
them dressed up in imitation of the
girl and made arrangements with some
OF the rest of the young men CwhO
claimed to know her better, to meet
the young man down the road Wednes-
day evening, as her parents would not
allow him to call on her at the house
This was gladly accepted by our towns
man and when the time set arrived. he
was promptly on hand: so was the
supposed girl. AS it was dark he was
easily deluded. The fellows who had
planned the deception were also there
IN numbers, though secluded in an ad-
jacent corn field. When our gallant
was within few feet of his supposed
charmer and had spoken, there rained
from the cOrn-tield general fusilade
of corn, pistol shots and miscellaneous
other things, mingled with angry
shouts IN gibberish English, that the
young man, thinking it was the girls
people after him, ran out of his coat
and hat right up through the town,
crying "murder!' 'stop them!' This
gave the pursuers a chance to get into
town unObserved by their victim, and it
was the general talk that evening, the
young man not finding out the joke.
The next evening a young man from
a neighbOring town but a stranger to
the young lOvemaker, came on visit
to friends in town. He was let into
the secret and induced to play the part
of detective sent there to work ND
the case and claim the young girl was
betrayed and in the fusilade was shot
by the young man and he was there to
ferret out the guilty parties and hold
same under heavy bond or be sent to
jail for trial. So, Friday morning the
detective set out upon his duties and
finding the young man made him give
him the full account of the affair,
which he took down in shorthand as
given by the thoroughly scared victim,
who thought the Bohemians had en-
ployed the detective and they could
present clear case against him and
charge him with shooting the girl. So
the young man related his precarious
predicament to one of our merchants.
who knowing the facts of the case,
consented to go his bail. This some
what eased the young mans mind and
ne went to work, but there were so
many who knew the real facts of the
case that it leaked out so the accused
could hear it, that the visitor was q
fake detective. When he heard this
hisanger hardly knew its bounds and he
made several threats against our friend
the detective. But we are glad to say,
no bodily harm was done anyone, and
though the victim does not yet know
the Bohemian part of the joke, the affair
is dying out. AUREL1Us.