The times., 1898-01-23
BISHOP wHlPPLE's STORY.
How 1t Was Received by an Ecclesi-
asticaI Audience in England.

! How 1t Was Received by an EccleSi-
asticaI Audience in England.
tFrom the st. Paul Pioneer Pressl
! Perhaps no American clergyman is held
in higher esteem among Enelishlnen who
know him than Bishop Henry BENJAMIN
whippIe, OF Minnesota. He has paid fire.
qHent visit TO conferences and other gath
erines of the established church iii Eng
land. During the recent Lambeth con-
ference he preached in Westminster Abbey,
and a tremendous audience went to hear
him. But the Bishop is felly as popular
as a good Story-teller. In the latter ca
pacity he has done effective missionary
work iii converting the British mind to an
understanding and appreciation of Ameri-
can humor.
Before the Bishop had succeeded in
arouslng this understanding, however, he
met with several experiences which would
have been embarra sSing had not the mar
rator been gifted with irrepressible good
humor. The Bishop on one occasion told
story the point of hich was overlooked
by his stolid English audience.
This is a story aid the bishop, of the
Western frontier, ana illustra ties the breyity
of pioneer speech. Years ago had charge
on the extreme Western line OF civiliza ton,
and saw a great deal of wild frontier life.
AT that time every man carried firearms
on his person, and kept rifle or pistol
within easy reach of his bed a night. One
night one OF the coolest and most courageous
men on the frontier was sleeping. as was
his custom, with his rifle lying beside him
OH the bed He had the reputa ton of being
a dead shot, and it was well known tha
no one ha any chance when Dick once
got the drop on him."
VIII you explain what drop means in
that queer Western usage?'' asked Sc
date bishop.
why, it means said Bishop whipple,
that one man has another covered by
his gun-pistoi, / mean
You made use of the word gun in
advertently, of course, for pistol Is it
commonly used in-ah-the States?''
Not al an replied the Minnesota n.
We sal pistol, but the people in the West
sometimes prefer the terser expression,
gun. y
And, excuse me- said another digni.
tary at the end of the table, but do you
mean 10y dead shot that the man you
get the drop on with your gun is equal
to a dead man.
Precisely, said Bishop WhippIe.
We'll, as was about To remark Dick
was awakened one night by noise at his
window. Slowly turning his face toward
the noise, 50 not TO give warning to any
possible enemy there, he saw "a mans bead
ana shoulders framed in tie upen window.
Dick, still as motionless as a serpent,
reached for his rifle. He raised it slowly
under his own bedy until the barrel was
III line with the intrHder's head. Dick
always made sure of this point, and that
his adversary was directly in front of his
weapon before using any palaver. He
hated ~ to waste Ammunition"
'And. pray, what is 'paIaver?'" asked
bishop, W ho had not heard he same word
as used by the English themselves in
Africa.
''Oh, palaver' means talk-idie worls.''
"As soon as Dick felt that he had the
drop on hls visitor, he sung out:
% You git
The robher locked up hastily, saw in
stantly that the dead-shot had covered min
with the rifle, and replied ccolly:
:" You bet and dropped TO the ground
and disappeared"
Not a uitered head lost its dignity by
appreci attng the humor OF the story.
There was pa inful silence for moment.
Then one member of the hierarchy said
What does git mean, Bishop?''
why git is American for get and
means go away 'be OFF, "
'Ah, see" replied the Englishman.
Then another Britisher asked:
And what, pray does you bet mean"
That" said Bishop Whittle, with a
smile, ''is slangpirase meaning of course,
or that the proposition is SO sure that
you can bet on it,
''Ah, very cIevah indeed" said another
Anglican, but what queer words you
Americans make use Oft Do you all talk
that way?"