The Coconino sun., 1901-03-02
AN ITINERANT JOKE.
There Is COnfusiOn After All aS to Who Is Really the yies
 tim of It.

all sorts or 1arce comedy cOmplca- tions, says the Kansas City Journal. It revolves around the home products show that was given in Convention hall by the Manufacturers associa- tion. When the committee of the show decided to issue a souvenir pro- gramme the proceeds were donated to the woman's auxiliary, which is cor relative organization. The women were to solicit advertisements, and this they did. One of the features of the programme were the pictures of the officers of the Manufacturers as- sociation, for which fee was charged. The officers themselves cared little about having their pictures in the programme, but they nearly all con sented in order to help the women out.
 One officer of the association was out of the city at the time and some of his associates conceived the idea of inserting in the programme picture of the manufacturer that had been taken quarter of century ago, when he was a young chap, and the clothes in which he had sat for the picture were the ones in which he had been married only few days be- fore. This picture was very old-fash- toned and represented the subject as not quite up to date as regards the fashion even at that time. It was, in fact, the sort of picture that staid old couples generally relegate to an obscure part of the family album and classify as an uncle who went to sea and was never heard of again.
 The picture was sent around to the office of the women's auxiliary by the jokers. with instructions to run in the programme. This was done.
 Here is the sequel: A week ago the manufacturer returned to town. and on his desk was bill for the insertion of the picture in the programme. He looked up the book, and, sure enough, there was his picture, but, oh, how changed! Suspecting some joke, the manufacturer wrote letter to the women's auxiliary in which he said such an insult had never been perpe- trated on him before. He said that the picture in the book was that of his wife's first husband, and that to ask him to pay for it was filling his cup of humiliation. He added: My wife al- ways did love her first husband more than she does me, and now to think that you want me to pay for that pie ture is too much"
 Having written the letter, he hunted up a friend whom he could trust and instructed this friend to spread the re- port that a horrible mistake had been made by the jokers. When the wom- ans auxiliary got the letter the joke was charged to them. They were horri- l fled that so grave mistake should have | been made as to publish a mans wife's first husbands picture instead of the living one. and then to have sent the bill to the living one-it was too much. also. The women decided to sift the matter to the bottom. and they hunted up the letter instructing them to in- sert the picture, and learned that the picture had been sent by the Manufac- turers' association by way of miser- able blundering joke.
 Upon the receipt of the letter and the bill the friends began to doubt, and after a consultation it was decided that the wife of one of them should call up on the wife of the manufacturer and ascertain to certainty if the picture really was that of her first husband.
 Now the manufacturer, who had been chuckling in his sleeve all this time, had posted his wife on the complica- tion, so that when the blushing better half of one of the blundering friends called upon her to automatically in- quire about the picture Mrs. Manufac-