The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1898-04-09
rHEKIMBALLGRAP
CLATE r. TINAN.
Official Pausr Of the CITY and Gounty
A RICH STORY

Official Pausr Of the CitYand county
A RICH STORY
In Which Former Kimball Edi-
tor Plays q Prominent Part.
George Ade. the famous writer OF the
"Stories Of the Streets and Town in the
Chicago Record. gets off the following
good ons in which W. s. Willis Is an &C
:cessorv before the fact. as it were. Will
is now living in Chicago.
The man from Milwaukee told this
story OF what happened on a tram:
II visited a relation OF mine named
w. S. Willis. in Sioux CITY Iowa, seye-
rel wears ago, in the good old days Of
railroad passes. and when | was ready
to return home lie said to me: See
here, there's no sort Of use in your go-
ing and paving your good dollars to get
back 10 Chicago. I've got an animal
over tile st. Pau! road, and never have
an occasion to nsa 1t In Tho east. ride
around here III Iowa and Nebraska a
little, but mona OF the conductors on
the through line know me. and you
NAV as we'll pass for the editor II the
Western Sportsman as any one else.'
s''rhls of course struck me as very
Epious idea, and Immediately set, to
work to use that pass in a systematic
manner. provided myself with about
a dozen old envelopes. all addressed to
~. $. Willis. Sioux City, iowa aud one
of them placed tho pass fn, taking care
that that particular envelope. should be
nearly the bottom enc in tlie. pack. 1
pasted liable on my grip bearing the
name W. S. Willis in very prominent
characters, and wrote the same hare
on a caad which stuck in the lining OF
my hat. went down to Omaha, anu
there boarded the train for Chicago. l
placed my grip on the opposite seat in
such manner that. the labla showed
very plainly, aud as it was warm day
l removed my nat and laid it on its side
on the seat in position which just
happened TO show that card in the lin
Ing. Presently the conductor appeared
and found me very deeply engrossed in
a newsDaper-so deeply, in fact. that lie
Was compelled to speak twice before he
| succeeded in securing my attention, aud
then it seemed to dawn on me all of a
lsudden that he probably wanted MY
ticket. With vely bored expression
laid my paper aside and commenced to
tumble in various pockets. finally pro.
ducing the pack of Willis envelopes
After quite an extended search through
several Of these envelopes l finally pro.
duced the annual, and passed it over to
the conductor. He looked at the pass
and looked at me. where DO you. wist
to go today, Mr.. Willis?' he inquired,
pleasantly.
Chicago l answered. returning
to the earnest perusal Of my paper.
i All right, Mr.. Willis, Chicago It's,
he replied, as he engaged himself ii
making his official memorandum.
lie handed back the pars with plea
SAINT observation on the state Of the
weather and an inquiry rs to the gene
| raj condition Of the newspaper busines
i'll Iowa. l was familiar enough WI IL
7 the newspaper business to be able te
make an intelligent answer, but i
seemed to me that for base railwa,
menial and hireling lie was disposed t
. be unpleasantly familiar. He passe
], on through tho train, but on lis wa
back he stopped and inquired: "Hoy
are the dear people in the matter OF pay
ing up their subscriptions these days
Z MIR. Willis? Get plenty OF cordwooh?"
Il realized the necessity Of tact, an,
answered him with violently humor
GUS story about an imaginary man VIII
!. wanted to work out his subscription a
, assistant editor OF my paper. He the
j, inquired If l knew his friend Brand
OF Sioux City. and received my assur
ance thatI did, he asked after all tn
details OF his health. fam lily and bus
ness. By merest chancoit happene
that had heard OF Brands. and mad
some wild stabs at answering the ques
lions. The genial conductor assure
me that he was glad to meet man vii
was friend of his friend Brands, ant
II l knew. Brands, Of course / kne
sticknoy. oh, yes, knew Stickney
lGIeat boy tha. SITE ssttiieiSnheeg. Did ! eye
here the story about the time Stickne
fell in the river? Oh, yes, indeed
. hundreds Of times. Funniest thing
ever heard. Have otter been tempted ,
print it. Well, I'll see YOU later, NJ
Willis; ! must get through the trai
again now, but wantto see yon abot
soms more Of tho boys in Sioux City,
!. Then l set there and wished som
thing would happen to that conductt
before he could get back to me agai
2 | had successfully STAYED him off SO ia
but there was no sort Gf telling ho
soon Ishould run up against awfu
sDag, for as a matter of fact | knew vel
little about Sioux City or tile people
. Lit, and we ware hundreds Of miles fro
Chicago with conductor very much il
Z clined to gossip. How lived tllroue
4 the long hours ofthat weary aiternoo
~ 1 shall never know. That loQlaciol
conductor came and sat by me abol
once every thirty miles, and began
ask questions about Sioux City a,
various and sundry Toms aul Die
and Harrya, and / sat there in q co
perspfration AMI parriei him with
skill that ] cannot now understand.
wished a thousand times that the pa