The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-01
ven,y miles away, the chances are it

twenty miles away, the chances are it
is"
Il thought ycu got kilograms about
the weather. said the young man as
he walked briskly out.
Crowds came and went. A pretty
girl came In 10 see If she had time 10
go homo and dress before the train left
for bethlehem.
The bureau man thought she had II
she could accomplish the feat in twen-
" minutes.
The girl decided she could not, and
then she asked him if he thought she
looked well enough 10 go to a tea. The
bureau man was equal to the emer-
cency. He looked her over critically,
and gave IT as his opinion that If she
got some of the mud off from her boots
and brushed her hair a bit she was all
right.
A prominent business man in the
city came 20 see if hc really had missed
his train. as all the officials on the out
side had told him.
IT'S hard luck, hut I'm afraid You
| have" and the bureau man smiled
slightly.
The man saw the smile and it was
I ll'e ~ match in a keg of gunroWdcr
You are laughing at me becaus" !
4 lost my train. How dare you laugh,
sir! How dare you? Do you think
came down here to be insultcd" lie
stamped out, banging the door hehin
him.
\ prnspcruus- looking citizen came in
with stealthy tread. He took the
! bureau man by the buttonholc and
I pulled him Over and whispered mys-
tcriously in his ear. I thought he was
asking for the most convenient safe to
/ tap Nothing of the sort. He 1usl
wanted to know when the first tram
went to Mahanoy City. He was Guy
Han official and he whispered merely
from force of habit.
, Later in the day a woman OF the
verge OF tears came III. She left her
! pucketbOok in the cars. she could not
/ find it and she knew she was the last
/ one out of the car. The bureau man
! was sorry, but no pOckctbook had Deeh
turned in. After she had gone out ne
said every woman that loses her poe
! textbook insists that she was the last
/ one to leave the car. There are per
sons called regular riders who make
practice Of going through the train last
and getting in everything that is left
!
they can to catch them, but 1t is almost
impossible, for they are so sly. IN
doubtedly one of these persons had
this woman's pOCketbook. Women
are careless. anyway about such
things" said the bureau man. some
times we have as many as five purses
n day turned in. AS for umbrellas,
there is n regular procession here on
hrplllC
/ seats
Pathos sometimes Creeps into the'
routinc cf the bureau mans life, and
notwithstanding all he has to sour his
disposition and harden his heart. there
Is \ good sized soft spot left in it.
The bureau man would not acknoW-
ledge II for the world, but some of the
other employees tell how he paid a
drunken womans fare out of his own
pociet for the sake of the two, helpless
little children clingin2 to their moth
er's skirt and crying to 20 home. TheY
tell many ether stories OF his weakness
for little children, but the bureau man
himself would deny it Indignantly.
"Cranks," said the bureau man
thoughtfully, seem to run in schools
like shad or mackcrel. Sometimes |
catch it straight along for an hour or
two. I feel as though the entire public
had n grudge against me- Then sud
dcnly people will brighten up ana
everything goes smoothly until another
school comes
How soon can leave for Chicago"
asked n man in a slow, deliberate voice
He fixed his eyes suspicious upon the
bureau man as though he expected him
to tell an untruth, and it was his IN
tention to catch him in it.
The last man ] saw was SVengali. At
least that was the bureau mans sup
position, and mine also. He was the
Image of Wilton Lackaye with his best
Syengali makeup on. Mr.. Svengali
was going to Princeton. ! thought per-
hans he was going with the intention
cC hypnotizine Mr.. Cleveland into the
belief that he could run for a third
term.
4 buster man, even. than the one at
the Reading Terminal is the man in
the Bureau of Information at the Broad
street station. 1t is alleged that the
man who occupies the Office in the af-
tcrnoon has not smiled for five years.
Formerly il is supposed he had a
hright. sunny disr osition, sang at his
work. sometimes jested often laughed.
That time is past Now he sits like an
animated encyclopaedia, pouring infor-
nation into the CaDaClOus public ear
No more songs. or jests, or smiles. il
is very sad.
Even now he is not really savage;
but he did Intimate that his fingers
sometimes ached TO get hold of club
with knots on the end 10 bring down
last once ON the skull Of persons who
asked when the 10 o'clock train got in
and if he knew where they could meet
their mothers-in-law SCIETlE.