The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-19
STORIES OF THE STREET.


That's a boss on YOU is one of the
expressions of street parlance whose
f1gurative implications seem so far fetch
ed as to be entirely beyond the possibil-
ity of being actually tangible-many
terms of this strange vernacular admit
of more reasonable construction, but
there is one, and perhaps a half dozen
people in st. Paul who will be free to
concede thai the sportive sentence above
is susceptible of a practical definition.
why shouldn't it be?' asked one of
this number, when you actually see a
great big horse come falling down
through the skylight not over two-tenths
of an inch from where you are stand
ing Instead of being only an idle ex-
pl essien, this piece of gamin lingo came
dangerously near being a stern, if not
a fatal reality to one or more young
men in the basement of the Dispatch
office yesterday afternoon.
1t was strange eXperience-one which
those who witnessed will not soon for
get
The huge cylinder presses We're grind
ing out the last edition of the evening
paper The mailing department was in
full operation a few yards away, and
back of the mailing den were the cir
cuIating heads, supplying the score or
more of small urchins with their daily
batch of papers. On the ground above,
one of Pratts draymen was trying to
get his horse, which was attached to a
truck, back up to the basement Win
dow, which let's the light into the lower
apartments from the alley in the rear
of Newspaper Row By some mishap
the horse fell into the window basin
The driver and several men in the alley
did their best for about fifteen minutes
to get him. They could not. The busy
employees below were too much consumed
with their work to take much notice Of
what was going on outside. IT mattered
little to them whether the nag laid there
all night or whether he was rescued from
his cramped position.
The window did not lock to be over
five feet wide, nor of a greater depth
and the idea of possible danger was
quite remote from the minds of the
faithful workers in Newspaper Row
But presently the window gave way;
there was a shout outside from d dozen
voices; the small truck was instantly de-
tached from the horse, and then with
crash and a clatter the animal fell with
heavy force down through the aperture
into the basement where the busy proc
ess of getting out a daily paper was
going On. A veritable CONSERVATION was
the result. One young man, who was
standing almost ON the very spot where
the steed fell, declared he was killed,
as he thought he could feel the great
beast crush upon him; a young lady who
was assisting at the mailing desk-well,
she survived. The crowd all scattered,
and but for the merest dint of good
fortune a calamity would have been the
result.
The poor horse came off unsecured, but
not unsecured. He was large animal,
and for that reason his escape from in
jury was al the mere remarkable, and
by the same reasoning it may be con-
Guided his fright was the greater, as his
whole body quivered in every muscle for
some time afterward. The horse struck
with his hind feet first. There was
large cabinet containing files of the pa
per Just against the wall at the Win
dow. and the horse cleared this piece Of
furniture without ever touching it.
The freight elevator served to take the
steed from the scene of his thrilling eX-
perience.
Yes said floor walker in one of the
big stores yesterday, as he piloted a party
of women to the toy department. 1--WE
are doing considerable business, a little
better, I believe, than in previous years,
but I am afraid the profits will be sadly
depleted when the column headed stolen
is totaIed up.
Nothing big, mind you but just triEes.
a toy here. handkerchief there. with
occasionally something more bulky for
variety. It's steady drain. impossible
to head off, and while small, yet man
ages to crawl up to considerable amount
when the ledger is balanced and the
profits counted.
do we ever make an example? Oh.
yes, to the extent Of informing them
that they are wanted in the managers
Office, but the article, as a rule. Is so
small that they are willing to pay Tor it
rather than suffer the publicity that we
threaten. Sometimes we overhaul a pro-
fessional, the three women. for instance.
now in Jail here. With them we have
no mercy, just simply turn them over
to the police. Women, am sorry to
say, lead in this petty thievery. while
children come next Their clothing is
peculiarly fitted for the hiding of stolen
goods of the character I name. while
their deft fingers, dipping into every box