The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-12-29
AS BAD AS HE LOOKED.
One Time That the Bad MAN Was NOt
Overcome BY the HARMLESS
Little Man.

It happened in a restaurant not far
situated from the busy downtown dis
trict. That there were no arrests was
due to the fact that the policeman on
the beat arrived at the place about two
minutes after the walters had finished
cleaning up the debris of broken dishes,
bottles and glasses, and the victim had
been taken to nearby physician forre-
pairs.
As the stranger entered the restau-
rant the trained eye of the waiter sized
him up as one of the class of big, coarse.
overbearing fellows met in all public
places of big city; one who, if allowed
Lis way, would terrorize the peace
towing people who happened to be near,
but who would succumb and confne
himself to the space occupied by his
unwieldy self If given to understand
that size and tough" manners had nc
special terrors for man with pluck
enough to back up his rights and self
respect. In brief. he was a good speci-
men of the bad man whose broad
shoulders, big hands and ugly face ter
rorized women and children wherever
he happened to be.
He gave his order in the manner sx-
Iected. The waiter received it meek
ly, carefully arranged the linen, served
the meal. and inquired of further wants
as faithfully and promptly as if serv-
ing one of the regular patrons, who al
ways concluded with a remembrance
to "Jobn" in the shape of the odd
change that happened when the bill
was paid. The meal did not suit. TIE
butter was vile, potatoes not suff-
GENTLY fried, meat required an AKIN
fact, everything connected with the
meal was unsatisfactory to the bad"
man. This was just what was expected,
and accepted by the waiter with the res
ignatior that accompanies acceptance
of the inevitable.
When he grew abusive, the propri-
etor, who had been observing the man
since his entrance, was appealed to.
The bad" man refused to accept or
pay for the meal, nor would he listen to
reason from the proprietor. Reasoning
wasn't his forte. HIS arguments were
made with fists, and he had made up his
mind on the subjec. under discussion
and nobody could change it. He also
intimated desire to clean out the res
taurant in order that possible future
customers shculd not be made victims
CT, as he had been.
The proprietor all this time was en-
Leavoring to restrain himself, but,
from the determined expression Oh his
FACE, had the bad" man been observant
lie would have discovered that unless he
changed his tactics something would
happen, and that it would happen to
him. When. in emphasizing an ex-
pressed determination to not be SWIM
died, the "bad" man appeared to forget
himself and brought his big fist down
On the table with sufficient force to jar
a dish from the table causing it to fall
to the floor and break, the proprietor,
known as a man of determination but
few words, lost bis self-restraint.
Then it happened. He took hold Of
the 'bad" man and started to drag him
out of his chair and TO the front door,
It did not last long. When the excite
ment was over the walters dragged the
quiet but determined proprietor from
beneath the mass of crockery, glass
ware, parts Of the table and other rem
PANTS accumulated during the battle,
while the bad" man walked slowly
Gown the street and into place where,
Judging from the absence Of excite
ment, he found the eating more to his
liking.
All of which led to a remark by one
customer who lad been an apparently
disinterested spectator, that some
times people ART as tough as they look."