Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-02
PAYING A FOOLISH BET

81 saw in NewsYSrk one night last week
the squaring up of the most idiotic election
bet that has-ever some to my notice. and
I've been on the scene Of the liquidation OF
a whole lot Of such -wagers." said Wash
ington club a In who returned from the In
fated town 4crosss from Jersey City the
other day. ''eforeS4he election a couple of
young fellow on Ne New York stock ex
change-Bilks and3Dilkins, We'll call them
made this reeuz int: If Bryan won out,
DiIkins the BpublfSan, was to charter for
a night stare beSfat the most prominent
theater. in tile citE and, in his evening
clothes, sit in. the bSx, close up to the rail.
SOS everybody could see him. and chew
peanuts from a large bag from the begin
ming of the performances until the close
thereof If Mckinley scored, Bilklns, the
democrat. was to. do the same
"BilkinS lost out, of course, but shortiy
before the election he was taken sick and
had to go south for his health He only
got back to New York couple OF weeks
ago, and as soon as he made his appeairaance
on the stock exchange his frlend OHklns
swooped upon him and demanded the clean
ing up of that election wager. Bllkins nao
been hoping that the thing Wouid De Lor-
gotten by the time he returned 10 New
agreed to fulfill the election compact at one
of the SWEETEST of the Broadway theaters,
where an intense society piece mas peen
running for some time.
'As soon as the date was set Dilkins
passed the word around among the gang on
the stock exchange floor and among MS
and Bilktns' club friends, ana II S no won
der that sBilkins looked sad, and on tne
verge of boiling for it, when he heard OF
this. Dilkins met Bilkfns at one OF tnelr
clubs at 1880 on the night the thing was
due to come off and they drove In CAP to
the theater where the stage box had been
IN he StODDed All
peanut pushcart and filled the large TOUR
quart paper bag which he had brought
along for the purpose with the fresn,roast-
ed nuts. The theater was pretty well hiled
by the time they got there. When they
alighted from the cab Dilklns handed Bill
kins the four-quart bag OF peanuts, ana
Bilkins had to pack 1t under his arm ana
carry 1t into the box, while all the folks
who saw him wondered whether he had
fetched his lunch along win him.
when Bilkins got INTO the oox ne sa"
that the whole two first rows OF the orcnes-
ira had been secured by his chums on the
exchange and members of his clubs. He
had no sooner sat down thanthey began 10
make remarks to him calculated TO attfact
the attention of the entire house, "hlch was
rapidly becoming crowded; and When the
lights went up they demanded that he draw
his chair closer to the rail and begin busl-
ness He had to comply, ,of course or lay
himself open to the charge OF Weichlng. 80
he drew his chair close to the ran, set the
and started in. He was the most unhappy
looking male person l ever saw before or
since. The chuckle of his friends In the or
chestra never got a smile out OF him. He
felt too sad to smile. He cracked and
munched the peanuts mechanically, while
the people throughout the house Uttered
and pointed to him. Now, Bilkins, ! heard
happened to be a man of considerable per-
sonal dignity, even, pompous. occaSi2naily,
in his manner. But there was no help for
him. He had to either make good or welch,
and he had chosen to make good, even /.
he had to make a show of himself, as he
unquestionably did.
1.-THE curtain went up on the first act,
which was a-quies, finished scene In an
English home, and the only sound that
broke In on the stiffness was that OF the
cracking peanut shells in the stage box &C.
cupied by the miserable Bikins and the
subdued chuckles Of Bikins' friends In the
orchestra, and particularly of Dilkins Some
of the people in the audience became an
noyed over the noise made by the break
ing shells, and glared at the box; but Bill
kins had to munich on throughout the act.
"He had to eat the peanuts all through
the second act, which was another one of
those still, intense affairs, and by this time
the folks in the audience were weary Of the
business, and some kissing directed toward
the occupant1Aof the box was heard. A
number of persons ain the audience COM
planned to the ushere that the man In the
box was distracting their attention from
and actresses began 70 cast indignant
chances atEtie box The ushers rubbed
their cilins over the problem and hunted
up the manager, who was in the box office.
The manager looked into the theater to see
what was going ON, but he didn't feel that
he could interfere. The man in the box
wasn't violating any rule in eating peanuts:
he was, moreover, regular patron of the
house; and the manager decided that he
could do nothing When the curtain de-
scended on the second act the man in the
gallery who was running the calcium light
directed its rays smack on the person of
the bewildered Bikins-Dilkins had been
up in the gallery and making it worth the
while of the calcium light man to do this.
Biikins essayed to move out Of the strong
light, but the gang in the two rows of the
orchestra protested so flercely against his
doing this that he had to remain where he
was. After the green and red and blue and
pink and yellow calcium lights had played
on Bilkins for about five minutes, Dilkins
relented, and told Bilkins he might Join the
gang in the orchestra chairs.
II guess there's one young man on the
New York stock exchange who will have
the sense to fight shy of freak election bets
in the future"