Evening star., 1900-11-26

man by birth he is not in sympathy with
the great game which is being played in

man by birth he is not in sympathy with
the great game which is being played in
the east.
Il used to be a clerk in one of the hotels
in Phoenix. AriZ.," said Harry Patterson
at the Metropolitan, ''and while 1 was there
l remember quite well We had an English
man staying with us, who affected to be
real sport. You know Phoenix is sort
of sanitarium for the slop, and all kinds and
conditions of characters are to be found
there. To return to the Englishman. He
had habit Of lighting cigars with five
and ten-dollar notes, just to show his nerve
but it was soon noticed that his valet, who
was always with him. Immediately seized
upon the unburned remains of the bills about
as soon as they touched the floor The
bell boys of the place got on to the game
and concluded that the next time the trick
was attempted to, scramble for the bin
They had idea that the sport was hold
ing out on the crowd by having the bills
redeemed This valet was an Immaculate
sort of chap and the scramble came off
just after dinner Well, the sport didn't
light cigars with bank bills after that but
the valet, say, compared with him. Old Hoss
Hoy would have looked like a fashion
2iate.''
'The recent exposures in connection with
the new French field gun remind me- said
ton, ''of the fact that few years ago while
I was in Paris the experiments with this
new piece of ordnance had just been COM
| nenced by the French government. An
English military attache had, it seems.
opened negotiations with some member of
the French staff to furnish him. not only
with the plans but also a complete account
Of results obtained in the various firing
tests AS a consequence of the scandal
created by the discovery of this plot, all ex
periments with the new gun ceased for
sCme time, and my recollection is that an
oy erhauling was had of the forces connect
ed both with the making of the plans and
the construction of the gun. and many OF
them either discharged detailed for duty
elsewhere. If I remember rightly, the ex-
pcSureS were brought about by Jealousy on
the part of a lady, high in Partisan social
circles, and a result the young English
attache was recalled to London. do not
believe it possible for American officers to
have obtained. the plans of the gun except
through some person highly connected IN
the French government, because, after the
first scandal. the utmost precaution was
exercised to prevent their recurrence.
"An instance of coolness SURPRISING, any
other 1 ever heard of came under my per-
sonal observation some years ago in south
western Missouri while I was there on
hunting trip" said Mr.. Lawrence Mcdonald
at the National.
81 was with a party of five and we had
with US a very diminutive cook-a white
man. some thirty-five years of age. We
had built camp in the woods, and one
evening, while sitting round the campfire a
rough, rawboned native of the mountains
rode up a mule and, dismounting, asked
us to Join him in drink of 'moonshine.
We all assented. except the little cook. He
refused, whereupon the mountainer became
angry, and one word led to another until
finally the native produced from pocket in
his homespun coat huge old-fashioned re-
volver :ushed 1t into the cooks face and
threatened to blow his head off. We all
felt certain that we were about to witness
the death of the cook and Were accordingly
excited. The little man, however, showed
not sign of fear, and without the slight
est tremor in his voice, said to the native:
Put that thing away. If you tear my
clothes with 1t I'll kill you. The mountain
man seemed so astounded and amused at
this display Of nerve that his arm dropped
to his side and he forthwith replaced his
gun and shook hands with the cook. I don't
think l have ever heard of such display
of nerve, and certainly never expect to see
another"