The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-11-04
A COUPLE OF MYTHS,

One in Philadelphia Society and the
 Other in English Politics.
 Once upon a time, as the story used to run in a newspaper office in Phila- delphia, it became necessary at the last moment to remove two names from a list of persons staying in a hotel at Cape May, and to substitute for them the first that occurred to the man that was revising the paragraph, When he read it in print, his invention-a sonc- rous name of three parts and many syllables worthy of Rittenhouse Square-so pleased him that for the rest of the summer in appropriate para graphs he carried his phantoms, as the American custom then was, from wa terlng place to watering place. By au- tumn they amused his acquaintances as much as they did him, and in due course they elected to pass the winter in Philadelphia where they went often to dances. dinners and entertainments In general In a few months their in ventcr had so well established them so- cially that he began to find their names in lists of guests sent to him for publi- cation by hostesses, who wished to per- suade the town that they had every one worth having in their drawing rooms. Such semhlance of flesh and blood soon brought veratious questions to his door, and he prudently sent his phantcms to Europe, where the hus- band died and the wife chose to dwell permanently.
 The narrow limits and the comnara- tive intimacy of society in Philadel- phia make against the probability of the tale, which. if it be true, newly related jest in similar vein of the late Sir Frank Lockwood, the eminent bar rister and still more eminent wit, much surpagsas it. Sir Frank set his phan- tom in politics, much more intricate and closely scanned field In a debate in the Commons his friend MT. Birrell, had set a man of straw as target for argument which he named the Rev. Tohias Boffln, B. A., Gondon,) and which it is easy to guess, represented some amusing vagary of the non-ccn- formist conscience. In half an hour MT. Rirrell had demolished Boffln and he had nearly forgotten him, when. two or three days later, he received a letter from him, sharply resanting the attack in the House. He was the more surprised and perplexed when. not long after, he chanced upon Boffin's name in a list of those present at conference of northern liberals in Leeds to consid- er the reform of the upper chamber. From Leeds. as a newspaper soon in- formed him. BofIin had apparently come to London. and attended q dinner in horror of ord Kimberley By ths time MT. Birrell was a little dismayed. Had he. by some pure accident, given his man of straw name that really had flesh and blood and some local in- fluence in his own party behind 1t? The sudden prominence of Bifffn how ever, in paragraphs that were likely to catch his eye, Guickened his suspicions; inquiries confirmed them, and Sir Frank Lockwood found so much pleas ure in his jest that he half admitted it. The BoffIn of the speech had tinkled the barrister's fancy. and he had forthwith persuaded friend or two in the press gallery of the House to place his name in paragrap phs where it would most dis comfort and perplex Mir Birrell
 After the dinner to Lord Kimberley, BofFn seemed to return to the obscuri- ty of his meeting house. but from time to time in the season, especially when MT. Birrell was in the company of oth- CT members, the persons card would come from the lobby with an urgent re- quest for 'an intervi-w " on private bus mess" At the long vacation Sir Frank went to his houses in Yorkshire, and MT. Birrell fancied he was done with his indignant pursuer. In November. however, when political meetincs beran to be frequent again, he received q clip ping from a newspaper that purnorted to summarize the speech of a Ii eral member in the North Ridias The speaker had mentioned MT. Birrell. "Thereupon,' the report proceeded, 'hthe Rev. Tobias Boffin. B. A., Go d ) came to the front and expressed in strong language his regret that MT. Alfred Pease had thought fit to allude to MT. Birrell, NJ. F., as his honorable friend and good liberal" He wen on to say, amid considerable interruption, that for his part he would be ashamed to number among his friends such a man. The chairman asked MT. Boffin to postpone his remarks and to allow MT. Pease to continue. Cheers and Sit down. Boffin!O Amid general dis order MT. Boffin quilted the plat form.' When he left the hall he vanished as completely as did the Philadelphians in Paris London Correspondence of the Boston Transcript