The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-05-06
THE SOCIAL BLUFF.
People Who Pretended to Have an Ac.
quaintance with a Ships Officers.

New York Evening Sun.
A certain officer appeared on the Raleigh's
and grab him by the hand with a How
do You do, Lieutenant Dash. how do you
do? Delighted to see you again.you re-
met you in the Bahamas in SO. Let me
present you to my wife, Mrs. Blank. and
my daughters, the Misses Blank. All. it's
all are of you and what" and so focth.
Not only had the lieutenant never been in
the Bahamas. but he hadn't the least re-
where. He manage to conceal his amaze
ment, however. and tried to be cordial.
Presently another officer appeared. who's
told him Ensign S~o-and-so." "Ah!" cried
the man, rushing forward, $50 glad to see
yeu roa Ensign ~, S SSaa ps you remember sn,i r. me ne
Bermudas In 81. Let me present you to my
wife. Mrs. Blank. and to my daughters, the
Misses Blank. Delighted to see you look,
so forth A little later Captain Coghlan
came on deck. Who's THAR" asked the
man. The ensign told him. "Oh, Captain
Coghlan," cried the man, rushing forward,
delighted to meet you again. sir. You
remember me. of course-Blankie Blank; it
we present e ff You N to- M e scu Five FiV times
did the first officer witness the man go
through this same. performance. and each
time in precisely the same way, and with
almost the same words. The officer later
learned that his own identity had been re-
NedleQ 10 the NlSllOr Dy n 1ellOW neuttndnL
through the same course of questioning.
1t was a problem whether the visitor was
by profession a book agent or a bunco
steerer. Either makes use of just such a
scheme to discover his victims identity.
Like unto this were the invitations to dine
or otherwise make merry that the Raleigh
officers received from persons assuming to
be long-lost friends or former classmates or
even distant relatives, but concerning whom
the recipient hadn't the slightest actual
knowledge. Dear Mr.. A." such an invita-
tion would run, won't you dine with us on
Tuesday next? 1t has been so long since we
saw each other, though l have never forgot
ten that jolly summer at Portsmouth, and
I'm sure that you haven't. Be sure to come
early Tuesday; with such old, old friends.
count upon a very warm welcome. Yours.
-" followed by a name that the oficer,
rack his memory as he might, couldn't for
the life Of him recall. 'Heroing" was what
they called it. this being made to pose
whether they liked il or not, and IL Is safe
to say that most of them didn't. "All that I
want is to have this heroing' over with and
get down to work" was TO be heard upon
all sides. Invitations TO the officers In gen.
eral came to be even more unwelcome than
individual ones. When such an invitation
arrived the captain posted IL where all
could see, with the notice that the names or
volunteers to make up the necessary quota
Of guests would now be received. There
was no such rush as there would have been
had the notice demanded volunteers for
duty. however, and as the date for the din
ner drew near the captain would remark:
We'll, there aren't enough volunteers; I'll
have to make assignments" Then, with
whatever grace they could summon. the Of
ficers would submit 10 the captains selec-
ton or draw lots for the ordeal, as the case
might be. and in this manner OF drafting"
were the guests recruited for most Of the
dinners in honor of the Raleigh.