The San Francisco call., 1898-01-27
BRADBURY AS
 4 SNOWMAN The Rich Man Thriftily Gamers TwO-Bit'
 Coins.
Charged a Price for. the Use of His Windows Last
 Monday.
Nearly Got a Beating, and Mourns That Paying Patrons Were
 so Scarce.

W. H. Bradbury is not content with the fame that has crowned him. He wants more He thinks his halo needs additional polish. He Yindicated the right of citizen to spit on a car floor, and paid $5 for it. It was he who kick ed a piano-tuner down stairs, paying for this privilege also and from time to time he has been engaged in contro- versy tending to win renown, and es- tablish beyond cavil his love of liberty, of the nickel and the two-bit piece and to demonstrate that the humble copper was not beneath his notice. His latest essay has been in the show business, and was not wholly successful, Brad bury having neglected to secure a man ager. The result is that now that the show is over, and advertising can do V him no good. he is getting it. This story is an incident of Monday when the town turned out to see the parade.
 Window seats commanding a good view were in lively demand, as a mat ter of course, all along the line of march. People who lived on the streets through which the gorgeous pageant Wended were visited by friends who, perhaps, had not called on them for many a day. In very many cases, too, even strangers were received into the favored houses which provided an op- portunity for viewing the sight, and Californian hospitality, as usual showed itself worthy of its world wide reputation.
 w. B. Bradbury resides in a stately dwelling at the corner of California street and Van Ness avenue, and was among those who received" Hospi- tality was not his motive. His recep- tion was held in a vacant double house on Van Ness avenue, corner of Bush street It was no exclusive affair. No invitations were issued for the event, but any one was welcome to view the grand spectacle of the day as the guest of the big millionaire; anybody will ing to put up two bits for the privilege of peeping through the windows.
 As the time drew near for the rising of the curtain on the great spectacular extravaganza the manager of the en- terprise took a peep at the house." as is the wont of such thrifty managers, and-paradoXical as it may seem-he discovered that standing room outside was at a premium, with very little money inside Only a bakers dozen of people had paid the established fee for a seat behind the Bradbury win dows, while the front steps were crowd ed with men, women and childIen.
 Snowman Bradbury swooped down upon the throng on his steps and read the riot act. The people must enter
 
 mality of paying two bits for the privi- lege-Or they must leave the premises. The aforesaid people-or at least some of them-declined to adopt either al- formative, and some vigorous dialogue ensued. One lady who was burdened ! with a baby in arms refused to sub init to the proposed levy for the bene- fit of the Bradbury eXcheQuer and was told by the snowman that if she did not get off the steps he would put her off. She dared him to do 1t, and he placed his hands upon her shoulders and pushed her down a couple of steps, when an indignant male observer of the episode interfered and announced his willingness to knock daylight into the Bradbury skull In earnest of his good faith he grabbed the capitalistic collar and yanked the capitalist back ward and forward through space a good many consecutive times in very few moments.
 A policeman arrived on the scene about this time, and to him Mir. Brad bury appealed for protection against the mob which he ordered the guar dian of the peace to disperse instanter. The officer took in the situation at a glance, ruminated for a fraction of a second on the nature of the occasion, and judicially decided that "'the mob" was doing no harm at the threshold of Dives, so he declined to interfere. and the big rich man went inside again to mourn over the paucity of two-bt pieces
 MT. Bradbury was seen at his pala- tial residence last night and asked re- garding this incident. He declared that his purpose in clearing his steps was the fear that they would collapse under the unusual weight upon them. they being, as he asserted, weakened by long decay.
 T was afraid of some one getting hurt" he said. 'I didn't want any one to suffer on my premises-and sue me for damages. I had a right to charge people for the use of my house during the parade. Lots of people did the same thing. didn't they?"
 ''Oh, yes; many of them made money that way"
 Did they? Well, I didn't-I hardly <made a good days wages for labor Ing man"
 An injured look and a troubled sigh indicated that the interview was at an end