The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-15
THIS DIMINUTIvE WORLD.
A MAN VINO TRATERsEs II TELLS
or HIS CHANCE MEETINGS.
Tho reuth American Merchant with = Hsahit 81
TuruinG Up Arywhere-Persens OF Ranae
who were net ard Recognized IN n
Little western village DurinE . Washout

ThA A0Wth AmeFteAh gFG1ah VII - H4AAAh ~
Turu,nG Up Asywhere-Persons OF Hane
who were Saet and Reeogntsed IN n
Little western village DurinE = Washout.
WARRINGTON, Aug. lA.-"The extreme dimin-
utiycness Of the world is q thing that has ofton
startled mo since 1 have been on the road. =" said
lev G. Wheeler, q travelling man whose terri
tory Is the globe, for he sells bridges, "and until
the incident happened that I ap going to tell
you about l had pretty nearly lost the capacity
for surprise over extraordinary meetings.
CHANGING in many different parts Of tho earth
upon people l never expected to SEQ moro
than once is an experience l have had SO
often that It has certainly shrivellsd my
world into an exceedingly small affair. For
example, four years ago I voyaged up the
west coast from San Salvador on q coffee
treishter. The only other passenger on tho
steamer besides myself was q planter from Qua
temalA-a middle-aged Central American. and
n very entertaining and accomplished man.
We smoked. talked, played cards. and ate and
drank In company all the way up to San Fran
cisco, and enjoyed the trip thoroughly. both OF
ms. HI told me that he was starting out on a
little tour OF plcasure, but did not mention where
he was going. We parted at the Palace Hotel
In San Francisco with mutual regret.
"I made . straight jump for New York. A
week after 1 got there l ' went down to Manhat-
tan Beach one evening tor some ar ana music.
Twas taking q bite alone on the hotel verands.
when who should come strolling up to my table
with q smile and his eternal yellow cigarette
but my Guatemalan friend. was glad to see
him, and we made Q night of It in the city. He
bade me adios carly in the morning. saying that
he was going to take q steamer that same DAY.
So was L In the afternoon. when I went aboard
the Galveston steamer. I bumped one OF my
grips against q man In a duck suit and q pith
helmet who was leaning over the rail and smok.
ing a 'eiow eisafetVe. = .ufnea 70 spoiosile
and my friend from Guatemala smiled at me in
his beard-for they're a cool lot, you know. those
I'VE had "a. "a pretty ct s. good time ct .Os get, sn on IN tn, The
Joining rooms a. the big Beach Hotel; a few
H mnss oat mT sa %, ses 'I IN G, Tnsn we ,s got ! s snefo sra !,
then with the Central American had a vol ~
rest and fun on the gulf sands and in the city.
Then my concern me back to New
Of regrets, We separated. A while after l re-
turned to New York q cousin OF mine. . fairly
the State. turned up. and i showed him around
some. Nothing would. suit him but to cat q
down to Mott street. and we started in on
one OF those hitS , Tsir s1,. fssdf E., we hadn't got
fore my planter friend from Central America
stro!led in and greeted me just as II we had
made an appointment to meet each other at tho
Chinese restaurant that evening. When l left
him uptown q little after midnight-Id been
compelled to take the cousin boy to his hotel In
ming, across him again wore pretty slim. for I
was booked for q trip to Japan, to try to sell .
and he told me that he himself was OF on o long
journey, without thinking to mention where he
was going. Again it was adios. 4 month
later l was writing my name on the regis.
ter of the Grand Hotel In Yokohama when / felt
somebody touching me on the shoulder. /
turned around and looked into the placid,
black-bearded phiz Of my GuAtemalan planter.
haven't run across him since I left Japan, but
This is only one Of very many similar II ePPp ssii:
snsss have had; 30 thst ITS probably NO wonder
r. s I Of z ,b ve Eor profound impression of the
1t was an incident that happened ut Glenn's
Ferry, Idaho, in the middle of March, 1895, how,
Element Of Gienn's FRerry-f suppose somosh iis
like 300 people. live there's on the Oregon
making for Portland, Or. and having the devils
own time getting there, for the road was one
big Tashout all the way from Pocatello. Idaho,
to Huntington. Or; and the train had to creep
along like one OF those mule-hauled street cars
You see In small Southern towns. 1t was
in the rosdbed were deep and sponsy.
When we finally crawled up to the Glenn's
far as our getting ahead at all was concerned.
and that there was a wait OF about a week in
eSAAAh
repaired. That saw about misery loving com:
Pany Is about the most human one Of the lot. !
think that every man and woman on our train
was pleased to lind that there were five other
trains. bound both ways. stalled at Glenn's Ferry,
Tor the east-oound trains had orders to stay there
until the track at P~ocatello had been fixed up.
Wei there we were, six trainloads of US. I'M
der the lowering March skies OF Idaho. damned
up IN a little sheep herders' and railroad mems
town. right In the middle OF the deadly monoto-
nous sage6rush country. on the north bank OF
the snake River. the gloomiest stream, bar none.
this side OF the Styx. / think we were about az
mixed a company as ever sat down at table TO
eat together-for the railroad eating house had
10 reed US, IN relays. OF course, for there were
nearly 900 people in the six train loads; and the
eating-house people certainly did have to do
some tall old foraging TO keep us going on the
three-meaIa-day system. for the sagebrush coun.
Try makes people hungry. Three of the stalled
trains, TWO east bound and one west bound.
were palace trains, loaded up with about as
hlsh-class travelling folks as this country pro.
Guees-a good many of them from Europe. and
pound Tor southern California by way OF the
Portland came and some OF them on their
way 10 hawaii and thence around the world. all
Kinds oil, people with all kinds Of money. stuck
mere in their palace coaches on the right bank of
the dismal snake River. One OF the other stalled
Trains was an emiRrant train with q load OF
scandinayians bound for the kootenai country.
The other two trains were composed of ordinary