The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-09-04
JAYHAWKER JOTs.

BeIoit has four veterans of the Mexi-
can war. They hold reunions every lit
tie while.
Burglars tried to blow open the safe
in the Stockton mills the other night,
but failed And the safe wasn't locked
at all.
Pitchfork accidents are the fashion
in Kansas just now. After the haylng
season is over it will be time for the
counsellor accidents.
The bonded Indebtedness of the Ellis
worth county district schools has been
reduced in the past four years from
S4S, 600 to $500. Not a bad sort of a
showing.
A Lincoln county man claims that
alum is a frst-class remedy for snake
bites. 1t may be true, but he can never
make some men believe it as long as
the good oId-fashioned snake bite cure
can be had
It is not generally known in Kansas
why Henry Allen has so little use for
Democrat. Back in the early nineties
Henry was local man on Joe Bristow's
Salina Republican. That was when he
first entered newspaper work, and long
before BristOw had any idea of going
to Washington and becoming chief
headSman of the Mckinley adminiStra-
ton. The Republican Office in those
days was on the third floor of the old
ODER block, which was destroyed in the
big Salina fire in 1895. The block was
built during boom times and the stair
way leading from the second to the
third floor was very wide and ran up
the middle of a wide hall. The baniS-
ters were of polished oak, and it was
an established custom among all of the
newspaper employees to gracefully slide
down the banisters when coming down
stairs. Neither Bristow nor Allen ever
did such a thing when anyone was
| looking, as it was too undignifed for
them. There was another newspaper
| Office on the third floor of the block
| the Evening News, Democratic pa
! per. There was eternal enmity between
| the carrier boys of the two papers and
fights between them were of daily Oc-
| currence. One hot July day the Demo-
! cratic carriers conceived the brilliant
/ idea Of getting even with their adver-
| saries by stringing a lot of printers
! ink on the banisters. Soon afterwards
J Henry Allen emerged from the Repub-
! HCan editorial rooms to go down to the
| street. He had on pair of new trous-
| ers that had cost him mint of money
| for a newspaper repOrter-and it was
! with a feeling of pride that he started
! out to parade them before the public.
They were beautiful trousers! They
! were of the light variety, with a law
! ender stripe in them that could be seen
! a block away. Those were the days Of
! trousers with big flowing legs, and
Henry had gone to the extreme and
got all the cloth possible in his trOus-
ers. AS he approached the head of the
/ stairs he glanced nerVOusly around to
| see that no one was looking, then with
/ a graceful motion acquired by long
| practice he threw one leg over the ban
| lister and started down. He had not
/ gone far before a damp feeling made
J him believe something was wrong. He
/ attempted to grasp the baniSter with
! his hands. but his hands slipped and he
! had forgotten to bring any sand along
TO sand the track. He shot off over the
I end of the banister like creased light
! ming and then surveyed himself He
was ink from head to foot. His beauti-
full new trousers were ruined, and words
( failed to come to his relief to express
I himself He has always blamed those
) Democratic carriers for that act and
: then and there he swOre eternal VEN
/ geance against everything Democratic.
/ Soon after Henry had started out the
( back way to sneak home through an
1 alley, Bristow started down stairs. He
| went through the same performance of
| looking to see if any one was in sight
! that Allen did, and seeing the coast
clear he made preparations to embark.
! He could not throw his leg over the
banister and slide down with the same
! nonchalance that Henry did, because
his legs would get tangled up. So he
! carefully tied his legs in a bow knot,
tucked the ends under his arms and
started in on a realistic Descent of
Man" He. too, discovered that some
thing was wrong. Hastily untying his
as a sort of anchor, and stopped his
mad career downward. Dismounting
he discovered the printers ink BristOw
never used profanity, but into two
words that he uttered there was
crowded a world Of meaning. He simp-
ly said, Great Scotti'