The Atlanta constitution., 1900-12-03
uLEANINGS AND GOSSIP.


almost regard Private" John Aiiei.
one OF themselves. for the reason thd'
Tupelo is not far distant. and whehe
the high private" tires of the ch,, cha, ~.
of bucolic life and longs for niue III ,ha
spice he always makes trip !"
Bluff City.
A Memphis man was at the hi'
last week and he related the foiio"S
which Private John told on hiihse a
during a recent visit TO the TehheS
metropolis: ar
Last winter said Private John.
decided to take trip to Florida. l hau
been hearing a great deal about M"
Flagler and the late II. Il. Plant hau uoi's
Tor the state, and | thought / Woul"
down and spend few days at the
de Leon at St Augustine. l got 10 IN
Ponce de Leon all right and was as9'e
ed u room by very polite ciefh-''l
only clerk. by the way. whom ever ih'
who was the equal of Ed Galloway VI
the Kimball. at Atlanta.
When | went to my room | was
amazed. l never saw such luxury III His
life thought that by some mistake. ,
had been given one OF the famous brlua'
suites which are said TO be fitted mp WIN
oriental magnificence. 1 rang for pe'i
boy and questioned him i'm a roundaoo"'
way In regard to the room anu S"o''
learned from him that the entire mousse
was on par with my apartment.
Then began TO think about what they
would charge for all that masnincence
and got scared. ] went down TO the care
To get a drink to brace me up. I called
for drink and threw down i5 cents. Thc
man behind the bar looked scornfully at
the three nickels and said no drinks were
served for less than 20 cents. ! hunted
up half dollar and. worse scared than
ever. walked to the cigar stand, threw
down a nickel and called for a cigar.
TIL man behind smiled at my nickel and
said the cheapest cigar was worth 90
cents
Completely demoralized. I returned to
my room and rang for bell boy. When
he came I told him to go to the office and
find out what rate I to be charged
The boy came back and said so a day
[ had only S12 about me and / concluded
TO return to Jacksonville at once. | pack
cd my valise. hurried to the office ana
asked the clerk for my bill. He looked
surprised and said:
Why. You are not going already?
q" Yes ! answered. 4 find that I must
go over to Jacksonville. Please make out
my bill
I am sorry you are going said the
clerk. but there is no bill. When Mr..
for you to be shown every attention and
for no charge to he made
You may believe | was Jared said
Private John. land felt like kicking
myself. but / went TO Jacksonville all the
same"
''The best evidence to my mind that
Atlanta is progressing" said gentleman
at the Aragon recently "is the fact that
racing is going on at Piedmont park. You
may put it down certain that wherever
racing is going on there is money. for it
takes coin To monkey with the ponies.
whether trotter. sidewheeler or FallOper.
II know there are many good people
who are opposed to racing and / am not
defending it morally or in any other way
! am simply stating a truism when 7 say
that the fact that successful jockey
meet is in progress at Piedmont park in
dcates that times down here. if not flush.
are easy
Speaking Of racing reminds me that
the south Is the original home OF the
sportsmen The gentry used to have
great races in the old days. Haven't YOU
ever heard how the JacksOns CottriUs
and Hardens used TO run their horses
four miles and repeat just for pure
sport?"
For pure sport?" was asked doubt
ingly.
well. I'll admit that there was gen
orally side bet that would have appaIl-
ed these modern bookmakers."
Puck. May-Do YOU think one should
marry for love or for money?
Chaperon-My dear. love is an excuse
Tor marriage, but money is a ;ustifica-
ton.
Everybody knows" said a gentleman
to 4 group of KimbaH loungers Tues-
day. that Georgia and Kentucky are IA
nous for their cOlOnels. and everybody
also knows why q Georgian who is aDv-
body at all is a colonel. but very few peo-
pie know why nearly all Kentuckians are
colonels
Colonel title in general use. may
be said to be indigenous to Georgia Be
fore the civil war colonels We're plentiful
i'm the state and my father told me that
some other mans father told him that
there were colonels galore in colonial
times. So | suppose that we have Inherit
ed the title down here and use il as a sort
of substitute for the more peaceful mis-
ter
But Kentuckians haven't always been
colcnels. | am told by a friend. who is
from The Blue Grass State, that there
was time when the title was scarce in
that section. and this friend told me an
interesting story to explain why every
genuine Kentuckian is a colonel Ac-
Cording 10 the story, Justice Harlan. of
the United States supreme court is re-
sponsible for the propagation of the title
in the state Of thoroughbreds and Bour-
bon brave men and fair women
1T was back in 81, when the south was
afflicted with the secession fever and
states were dropping out of the union as
fast as conventions could pass ordinances.
Kentucky. you know. was a slaveholdings
state and had been settled largely by sons
of the Old Dominion. The secession SEN
timent was strong in kentucky and Pres
ident Lincoln was afraid the state would
join her southern sisters. An election was
coming on which would decide the oues-
ton and President Lincoln sent for Mr.
Harlan to ask what course should be pur-
sued to keep the state from seeding.
Mr.. Harlan. after Il little thought
asked President Lincoln 10 make out 9,
large number of blank commissions for
the rank of colonel. The number was so
large the president was amazed but he
did as Harlan suggested, on the latter's
assertion that he would keep Kentucky
in the union.
"Well. Harlan went to Kentucky with
several trunks full of blank commissions
for the grade of colonel. As soon rs he
got there he began 10 send out invitations
10 every young democrat of any note To
come to Louisville to see him. The inVi-
tations went to lawyers, preachers. teach
ers physicians. in fact. TO everybody who
was anybody at all and who was !s;.cwii
as a democrat