Evening star., 1900-06-30
IN QuIETRAlLpELPHIA

Ing goes, over in Philadelphia last week,
said Washington man who happened to be
in the big sleepful town during the repub-
lican convention. This small boy was
probably Bryanite. At any rate, he ap-
peared to have so little respect for the dele
gates that he set out with the determina-
ton to have fun with them. His method
was an old one, but 1t worked splendldly.
The boy got hold of huge imitation can
non drecracker. 1t looked just like one Of
the real things, but it was hollow. Then
the boy bought himself goodly stock O.:
fuses. such as usually stick out of one end
of the real cannon cracker, and started in
to do business with the delegates to the re-
publican national convention.
He chose as his field those hotels along
Filbert and Walnut and Arch and SAMSON
streets, in front of which the deleSates
were wont to sit picking their teeth after
dinner. The boy would stick fuse into his
property cracker. furtively light the fuse,
place the cracker beneath the chair of one
of the visitors and then run and yell. HIS
yelling would attract the attention OF all
hands, and then the Sizing of the fuse
would catch the ear of one of the strangers,
who would Shout warning, and then tne
whole bunch would bound from their chairs
as If the ground was about to open up be-
meath them and start to run from the scene
like quarter horses, in momentary expecta-
ton OF hearing an explosion that would IN
1ure the drums OF their ears ana SIndSl al
of the front windows of the hotel to flinders.
The explosion, of course, never followed,
but in the absence of all hands the boy
would sneak back and pick up his property
cracker and then scoot off, with derlsiFe
yells. 1t was a great scheme, that, and II
caused more incipient heart disease and
general discomfort among the brigade of fat
delegates who were victims of 1t, and no
doubt injected more deep, heartfelt joy into
the bosom of the small boy who worked 1t
than few.
"One of the men who got bit by the per-
formance, and who came near bursting
numerous blood vessels in order to get away
from the explosion that never came, was
ponderous delegate from Minnesota whom
1 happened to know, and with whom l
iocked good deal during the convention.
He was sitting in front of his hotel on
Filbert street. not far from 18th, when the
small boy showed up with his little contrap-
ton, and he ran about half block before
the laugh behind him put him wise to the
fact that he'd been buncoed. He mopped
his forehead and thought about 1t Tor
while, and then something struck him. He
saw the small boy making down the street,
and he took up good pace after the poy:
The Minnesota man gained on the boy ana
pretended to be greatly amused as ne walk
ed up behind the shaver.
Let's see that thing. bub.' said the
Minnesota man laughingly to the Kid, and
the boy, seeing that the stout man was
gcod-natured about it, handed over the 1mi-
tation cracker. The delegate laughed i'm
moderately over the thing, and he did a
little mental measuring that the boy dldn
notice. Then he handed the cracker back
to the youngster. saying: You certainly are
an ingenious little cuss for fair and went
his way. His way took him to a big hre-
works store. where he bought a genuine
cracker of the exact size, as near as ne
could remember the measurement, or the
imitation affair the small boy was having
so much fun with. Then he strolled over
to Walnut street, where he figured ne
might find the kid continuing to divert him
self.
HE figured correctly. The small boy
was doing his little stunt with tremendous
effect and great glee in front of the hotels
along that thoroughfare. The Minnesota
man got up just after the boy had turned
the trick with vast success, and he was
again laughing with great good nature as
he asked the boy to let him look at the
imitation cracker again. The boy had 1t
all fiXed up by that time for another scare.
The boy handed it over with grin. and
then his attention was momentarlly attract
ed by a scrap between some vagrant dogs
across the way. The delegate took advant-
age of this to switch the dice as it were,
upon the boy, who walked off with the real
thing ir. the way of a cannon cracker IN
his pocket. The Minnesota delegate follow
ed the kid up to see what was going to
happen.
1.-The boy walked couple of blocks down
Walnut street until he came to another
hotel, in front of which a number of dele
gates were sitting. and then he edged up,
put his cannon cracker beneath the chair
of one of them, yelled in the same old way
and ran. Every man holding down chair
jumped up and ran except the man under
whose chair the cracker was siZZing. This
man only grinned in a complaisant manner
and yelled after the chaps who were in full
flight:
"'What are you running for? 1t amt
loaded. I was fooled by that kid yesterday
afternoon. It's only dummy. It's got
nothing inside of it but
Bang! The thing went off with report
like that of an eight-inch rifle on man
o'-war, and the comDlaiSant man was lifted
about two feet in his chair. but not other
wise damaged, except as to his temper.
don't think l ever saw such surprised ex-
preston On a mans face as he wore but
the expression of surprise on the frecked
face of the kid as he ran with all his might
down the street was a good second. The
Minnesota man was leaning up against the
rail of an area holding his sides when the
complaisant man who'd been victimiZed
whizzed by him in chase of the small boy.
He was big man, but he could run like
sixty, and he got the boy, and the next
off that boys knickerbockers at the full
ness thereof caused my Minnesota friend
to actually gurgle with ecstatic rapture
When the small boy was finally returned to
a standing posture by the infuriated dele
gate the Minnesota man extended the imi-
tation cracker to the weeping kid. but the
boy wouldn't take it. He probably knew
vixen he had enough. But he backed away,
still digging at his drenched eyes, and he
bawled at the Minnesota man and the man
who had warmed his knickerbockers:
"Jes' youse people wait till mex Novem-
ber, dats all!"