The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1901-12-19
THE VALUE OF TIME.

A group of travelling men were dis
eussing the assassination of Presi
dent Mckinley the other day wher
one of them said:
"Gentlemen-not to digress from
the subiect-but have any OF you
ever considered the value of five min
utes?"
All answered in the negative.
"Well, | never considered it myself
until the other day when a friend Of
mine met with an experience which
showed how precious five minutes
can be under some circumstances. 1t
was on the day the dead president
was buried, when, as you remember,
the street cars and the telegraph
ceased to operate for five minutes as
a mark of respect for the martyred
chief.
My friend, whose home is in Wash
inston, was engaged to be married
to young lady in Cincinnati. 1--we
never seen the lady, but it goes with
out saying that she is the sweetest
girl IN the world and all that sort of
thing-they all are.) Her father is q
very particular old gentleman and
had not looked with favor on my
friends suit. The couple had been
engaged in secret for three years,
and it was only a month ago that
the parental consent was secured.
The young lady and her father
were visiting friends near Annapolis,
and it was while there that he was
prevailed upon to give in.
OF course, they wanted to have the
ceremony performed at once before
father could change his mind, and it
was arranged to take place on the
10th of September-the day McKin-
ley was buried.
My friend travels through the south
for New York house, whose busiest
month is September, and he could
only get two days leave. lie fixed
his dates so that he would be in
Baltimore, where the wedding was
to tuke pfHcV on the fgth, and all
arrangements for the affair were per-
fected by letter.
Well, the day OF the wedding the
groom came up from Richmond,
where he was working, and stopped
over in Washington to attend to
some important business matters.
The bride-to-be and father-in-law-to-
be were to leave Annapolis for Balti-
more on the 2:35 train, meet him at
a hotel near the station, where the
ceremony would be performed by a
minister who would be in waiting;
the three would then take the 4:5O
train for Cincinnati.
The business took more time than
he anticipated and, and it was Is
minutes after two before he could |
break away and start for the train. |
He would have to catch the 2:35 |
train in order to be in Baltimore on
time to meet his bride-elect and her
father, and he did some tall hustling,
| tell you
At 20 minutes past two he was on
a trolley car going down Pennsyl-
vaHia avenue, and allowing for stops |
would reach the B. & O. station at |
2:30 and have five minutes to spare
",fore the train pulled out. Conf
lent of being on time, he lit a cigar
and was soon lost in contemplation
Of the great happiness in store for
hin.
Suddenly the car stopped and re-
NAMED standing still longer than it
vas necessary to take on a passen.
ser. He looked up and saw a string
,f cars in front OF him.
Whats the natter" he asked ex-
itedly of the conductor, with his
leart in his mouth.
"The cars are stopped for five min
ties out of respect for the dead pres
dent" said the conductor.
"Great Scottr
He looked at his watch; it was half
,ast twol The train would leave in
i've minutes and he couldn't posi-
'ly catch it now. What was he to
10? Across the street was a telegraph
,ffice. Quick as a flash he conceived
he idea of telegraphing to his fam
ee's father before he left Annapolis
him of his predicament.
If course, he realized that only by
,reat good fortune could the mes