The times., 1898-10-30
PRESS AGENTS. ROUND TABLE.

Tim Murphy is an Ir:shman, and con-
sequently more laughable incidents have
occurred to him than to any other man
alive-unless that man has a better press
agent. which is extremely doubtful. One
of the most unique of these things came
said TO have been unprecedented. Muir
ply. who is fond OF a quiet drink after
the performance, had discovered a cozy
little rathskeIlar near the theater, and
had invited half a dozen of his friends to
share a flowing bowl there with him some
evening. When the time arrived, how
ever. and with it the party and the waiter,
1t was learned that the manager of the
place was not in business for the bene-
tit his constitution might derive thereby,
and that the flowing bowl afcrc men
toned was nothing more or less than a
quaint German stein, with rcom for
about two fingers of wine. The rest of the
crowd, all of whom We're addicted to beer.
and beer alone, had no fault to md with
their helpings. but Tim looked askance at
his thimbie of port and made unkind re-
marks about the waste OF stone involved
in filling up the inside OF the tumbler.
This feeling of disgust was increased to
positive anger when the comedian turn
ed to take the swallow afforded him and
discovered that the liquid was gone. BE
looked round the table suspiciously but
the people were talking in blissful igno-
rance of what had happened TO their COM
rade: he glared at the waiter but that
dusky individual was discussing the
weather with another servant at the 9TH
er end of the room and then he began
wondering If he had unconsciously quaff-
ed the drauSat or if it had evlporated in
the minutes ne had devoted t. comment
ing upon il. Finally Tim called the man
and had the stein retilleI. II was set on
the table and the actor was about to tell
his friends what had transpired when his
thirst became troublesome and ne put the
mug to his lips. To his surprise it was
empty. Murphy had seen his liquor there
only a moment before and the mystery
of the matter seemed so deep that he
actually became frightened. He went
over the incidents of tne day to convince
himself OF his sanity, kicked his shins
TO find whether or not he was dreaming,
looked the cup over carefully in vain
search for a leak. tried without success
to find a drop of the stun spilled on the
table and then fell back In his chair and
thought of sending for doctor.
And while he was in that attitude hG
suddenly leaned forward. and. with q
look of complete understanding on his
face began running his hands over the
outside of the stein. 1t was damp anC
sticky. By this time every one in the
room had noticed the commotiOn, and
some ladies We're begging their escorts tc
call for the police. The condition Of th'
mug had changed, too. and the damp
ness had given away to a moisture th2
was supplemented by a steady flow o.
small drops Then Tim laughed. AfteI
a moment ne explained TO his comrades
and they laughed. too. Finally the waite
examined the tumbler, and went into ex
stasies of mirth. The proprietor was tol,
of the matter. and Joined in the genera
merriment.
The cup was of porous stone. and hai
absorbed two whole glasses of wine, only
10 filter and give them up again aftel
some fifteen minutes of waiting.
There is a man named Smith in "a
Brace OF Partridges" and he is tWins-ol
at least, he should be. Tor he assumes {
double role and is supposed on each oc
casion to look more like the other fellow
AA4AiA NA1f liA Liz hOl4h tAttNAA2AE
himself There is OF course, a slight dif-
ference in makeup and Mr.. Smith has
even cOntrived a suit of clothes that le;s
one OF him seem taller than the other. i
was through this expert bit of work that
the comedian learned, after his first daS
in New York, Of the true character o
American stage hands. He had been as
signed the star dressing room at tn,
Madison Square Theater and had takeI
possession bag and baggage-or, as MIR
Smith is an Englishman, lug and lug
gage. The official stage carpenter. how
ever, was anxious to get the apartmen
for a few days so that he might re
through some work to be done there. Tw
or three times the actor had been begge
10 change his quarters without effect an