The sun. (Wilmington, Del.) 1897-19??, 1901-01-22
HIS QUEER CALLING.

story of adr.nture.
my occupation was never officially
classified, replied the little man, smilingly,
'but suppose ] might have been termed
professional vandal-an expert defacer OF
public and private property"
"a what?' exclaimed the questioner in
amazement, and in response to a general de-
mand the dapper stranger proceeded to ex-
plain himself more fully. II can best make
the matter clear" said he, "by telling you
briefly how | came to invent the business.
In the summer Of '92 happened to be in a
certain large northern city, out Of work and
badly in need OF money. One Of the local
merchants was flooding the place at the time
with all sorts Of advertisements for a new
shoe, which was then trade novelty, and
seeing his announcements at every hand
conceived bright idea.
"In front of magnificent public library,
which was the pride of the city, was a
statue of Shakespeare, seated in chair with
his legs crossed He was supposed to be in
an attitude of reflection, but he was also in
the attitude of man trying on new pair
of shoes What win you give me- asked
the enterprising merchant, If put one Of
your shoes on shakespeare's raised foot, an
other in his hand and a banner on his shout
III give you $l00, he whispered, but no
guarantee aginst lynching.' | took the con
tract, and next morning the whole city was
aghast at what the newspapers called "a
fiendish desecFatoh Of noble work Of art
OF course the merchant promptly denied all
knowledge OF the affair, and the exploit was
generally attributed to larking college stu
dents
my scheme in a few words" continued
the dapper man, was TO put up advertise
ments in strange, unexpected and forbidden
places, and the row that invariably ensued
gave my patrons a species of publicity that
was absolutely unique. They could always
stand from under by simply denying CON
nection with the affair, and it was then GER
tain to be sat down to unknown practical
lokers In such business ii was, Of course,
impossible Ia lay down any fixed rules; the
work in each case depended entirely upon
circumstances.
"you may remember, for example, the
| terrific uproar that was occasoned by the
mysterious Appearance Of baking powder
| adj on the marble-hoored rotunda Of the
state house in one of the North Atlantic
| capitals. Tie facts, as afterward developed
| by the senate investigating committee, were
| very strange and puzzing. The retunda had
been freshly scrubbed it seemed by an old
Irishman, Vile Had done a particularly neat
4 and thorough JILL, and dozens Of people who
| passed through 1t during the next two days
testified that thr marble was absolutely
stainless. On ia bird morning, however,
curious dark spots began to appear and soon
resolved themsev ives into letters. They grew
blacser and hlacEtr, and BY noon the baking
powder adj loonad out in all its glory, %
80 ions nv 49, ieee "iue' caP the
Ina y - &C., tnIt ne ulsco!o,ai AZ
eAtelu t lni' ihs marble llliiy an eighth OF
en o 5meh, dhu iH.sl on cost the state nearly
S -; TO nave y tGmoVed by sand blast.
me matter has s'qce been arranged with
the authorities fa ! don't mind telling you
INA. WIT tle Ili,oeent oi0 lrlshmah was
~. ~ I ~ luietiy traced the Jet,
SIT y a, 4 e"olisNs S9lutioh OIL nitrate OF
il.Ner' lhAl s4sHlrai; ~ you probably
MiloM, DeGoi''os ,''' aLter nelng exposed to
" .is sl Ior Sei'Hlh lehetn OF time; The
ynn n ;ra,, ~ set"ooei WI lease
ahotnef coup that attracted wide atten-
tIon aI the lilne was the lneXpllcable pres
elic tJa ~ 4 eeoi39t ftcsamSr living from the
~ n.ou i' -'"les ana bearing the name
dscoyaraa 10 patent medicine. 1t was
rar,, al oi,e ',4tter cog morning IN Jan
1 aaaS ann created profound amazement, for
zoro tbat sic .I az nVe degrees below
sibia 60 oaN' anu u was manlfestly impos-
siaat -, "'lS human h eg to have scaled the
1a,I, Ia Tatl" sPire' Inc pinnacle was eX-
,,,,,.s,. ~ 49, ""9Fe me pavement, and the
a"Vaaeea all sorts OF weird the
i's,, t".tu1iiHs re use Of KITES and airships,