The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-03-01

pocket. Gentlemen. that was the bitter
est moment of my life. l do not refer to
the broken particles of glass that ad-
hered to and penetrated me; but to be de-
posted at Council Bluffs at of the clock
on midwinter morning with two feet of
snow on the ground and nary the price in
your clothes, and then to have a whole
carefully nursed pint go smash on you
well. ] simply submit it to the club if
that wasn't harder'n wrought nails
A murmur of sympathy ran around the
room.
at was darker than ink when ! pick
myself up and tried to look around" re-
sumed No. s. land still showing. | missed
my overcoat a lot. There wasn't soul
at the station. and the waiting rooms
were locked up tight. l looked through
the waiting room windows and saw big
baseburner, redhot all around the bot
tom, standing in the middle of the room
but its heat wasn't for me. When my
train pulled out and left me standing
there all alone in the snow, overcoatless,
with thin summer russell shoes on, and a
thirst that, up to that hour, had been
plenteously assuaged for fully three weeks
previousy-well, I was almost sorry that
l had not been good. l might even ven
ture to say that, upon mentally turning
over parts of my pass career I almost
found myself deficient in some few re-
spects. l had to keep a-moving or freeze
to DEATH and so l struck up town. ! had
II make the first track in the snow myself
and it wasn't easy walking. Now, it was
pretty cold, and | remembered that my
underwear wasn't particularly warm. l
got a short. grisly chuckle, anyhow. out
of that suit of underwear l had on when l
thought about it. 1t was silk. and it had
cost me $40. l had got four suits of it
while | was doing my eight months sober
act in Chicago. and on velvet and didn't
know what had become of the other three
suits. The grim humor of the blooming
idea got CHASTITY laugh out of me even
as I ploughed along through the snow
that back morning III Council Bluffs.
The first CLEAN of light l caught sight
of came from couple of oil lamps in a
corner rum factory that was just opening
up at about o'clock. / didn't have the
dime, but | went in. anyhow. There was
a young fellow with a good-natured mug
starting the ball a-roling behind the bar.
He looked me over when | walked in and
over to the stove. At that / guess I must
have been good deal Of an appartion to
him | had on a black cutaway coat.
worsed trousers, the summer russets and
black derby and l had about three
inches of snow all over me.
g Been doin a job?' the young fellow
behind the bar asked me.
job? said I. for I didn't understand
him exactly. being heap dazed with the
cold and things.
Where did you leave your toos?' he
asked. and then I got next to his mean
ing. | told him | hadn't got around to
the cracking game yet.
"'You look like you'd been left at the
post at that. he said consolingly, and
then | told him | had just got in.
MIA -han faS ct hn
Bluffs-like hell. amt it,? he said, and !
soon found out that he was from Chi
Cago.
"'Have a few? he said then, showing
up a tall bottle, and when l told him |
wasn't buying. he said that he hadn't sup
posed I was and passed the bottle up
anyhow. Decent duck, wasn't heT Then
h. went to the back room and cooked his
breakfast of steak fried eggs and pota
toes, and invited me to jump at it with
him. If any member can name a town
where he got better treatment than this
that | had chucked at me from the go-off
at poor old Council Bluffs, it's up to him
to spell it out.
by the time | got through with that
breakfast | had reconsdered my vague
idea of going down to the Missouri and
hopping in between ice foes. | was about
ready to go out and take a walk around
it was then long after daylight-when
a customer came in. He and my friend
the barkecp got into bit of talk in the
back room. and then the customer came
out and asked me if | wanted a couple of
days work. He was the leading printer
of the town, and he had lot of new cal
endars that he wanted to have distributed
around. / took the job on the spot. He
took me up to his printing shop and
picked pretty good Irish frieze ulster off
hook in his office.
"'rhis is my No blanket he said to
me, but ] don't wear it any. Put it on.
If it fits you it's yours, if you want it
81 started out with a bunch of the cal
endars under my ann and put in a whacl
ing days work. The printer gave me 81
that night. I got a room for half and
meal for two bits, and had $1.25 velvet.
The rum was cut out, for it was up to me
to turn a win-out trick then. l finished
the calendar-dis tributng job the next day,
and got another 81. The printer asked me
what | was going to do.
Well, I'll tell you he said. there's
one of these here travelling mesmerist
fakirs here that I've printed a lot of bills
for. and he wants them scatterd around
right. He's going TO give his show at the
hall here tonight. Want to stack up
against him.?
~ met the long bearded mesmerist and
made 81 arrangement with him to scat
ter a couple of thousand handblls over
the town. When went to him that night
to get my SIT was just before the show
was to begin and the hail was rapidly FILL
ing up-the mesmerist looked me over care
fully as he handed me my pay. Then he
told me that his chief assistant had gone
off to Omaha on a toOt and asked me if
l thought | could go on and do anything
as a mesmerist's helper. OF course |
could.
" I'm going to fire that fellow, any
how the mesmerist told me. He's good
helper, and. contidentially, between you
and me, almost as good a con man AS |
am myself, but he's getting too chesty,
and he's untrustworthy besides. If you
pan out any tonight maybe I'll engage
you right along. Can you pay any
stringed Instrument
Il told him that the banjo and guitar
were my particular graft, and this delight
ed him. So ! went to one of the dressing
rooms, stripped and put on the gutta
percha undersuit that mesmerists' assist
ants wear to protect their hides from the
pins and needles that are stuck into them,
and resumed my clothes while the mes