The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-05
SMASHED THE WRONG HAT.
There Was Mistake in Working Out
the Joke.
Lewiston, Me-. JournaI.)

Lewiston, Me-. JournaI)
A man went into a Lewiston store
the other day and they played the
hat trick on him.
This is one of those gentle and artis-
! tic tricks that makes a man feel Just
as though he had a lot of friends who
! didn't love him one bit. A friend of
yours, for instance-one of those dear
| friends from whom you just as soon
borrow money as not-comes along and
In playful way grabs your hat off
your head and seems to dash it to the
floor and with loud ha-has and yells
of laughter in which you cannot join,
proceeds to jump on your hat and kick
it all over the floor and invite his
friends to do the same.
You manage to articulate that folks
seem to have different views of joke.
Perhaps some people might think that
this was funny, but you'll be pardoned
for begging leave to differ with such
distinguished authorities-all so DO
1tely If you can manage to find words
for the language. The more you say
the more the fresh people jump and yeli
and kick the hat around. They draw
of and haste it. They tear il limb
from limb-Or rather rim from rim
When you are just about ready TO grab
on and take a bite out of the back
of some ones vest, the principal Joker
touched, and shows you that the eady
that they have been walloping was a
dummy out of the waste box in the
back alley, produced for the purpose.
The Lewiston man went out of the
shop full of glee after he got his hat
back He had settled for the cigars
all around and was very comfortable
with the good joke tucked away for
keeps
he went over to Bangor recently, and
while there he went into cigar store
and told how they worked this trick in
Lewiston. Every one seemed impressed
with the rare and beautiful conception
OF true humor in Lewiston. One man
remarked that it was q wise guy that
beat out the gang in Lewiston when
1t came to joke. They might be slow
in Bangor, but they were always willing
TO take lessons in swiftness, especially
when they knew that the pacemaker
was the real thing. If it was their duty
TO try the joke and thus follow in the
way that they should go, why, all right
So when the victim was Iured in by
the Lewiston man, in the person of a
well known Bangor friend of his who is
good dresser and prizes his hat next
10 MS wife, 1t was agreed that the best
thlng ever pulled off in sport in the
town was about to occur. 1t was ar
ranged that the Lewiston man should
grab the hat and pass it up to one of
his confederates and that the confed-
crate should make the exchange for
the old hat. Every one was to holler
dramatically when the Lewiston man
clutched at the hat of the Bangor man.
and every one was to work like river
driver in jumping on the hat.
1t all happened just as advertised.
The Lewiston man sided UP to his
friend and grabbed the hat. With a
whoop and a yen like a mad man, he
clutched at the lid and tore it from
the mans head. The pass was made
with confidence, and the Lewiston man
took the hat and slammed il to the
floor. He kicked it and he invited
others to do so. The dust arose from
the scene of battle. The Bangor friend
did his best to prevent the slaughter
He pleaded and he fought, but all too
late. And when it was over he ruefully
looked at it.
And so did the Lewiston mani! For
when the tile was secured in it's ruins
and the rim was brought back from
the corner and Joined to the crown in
the middle of the floor the Lewiston
man noticed that the hat seemed to
have been a pretty good one. Instead
of a back-alley waste box Derby, it
seemed to be Dunlap with a hand
some silver monogram in the inside and
the name of a Washington street CBos-
tom halter in the inside
In vain the man who was holding the
old hat insisted that it was not his mis-
take. He had tried to make the ex-
change, but the Lewiston man was in
too much of hurry. He didn't get
the chance. All of the Bangor crowd
stood around and held on to their
sides and wept tears OF laughter de-
claring that of all jokes the hat trick
certainly was the best, and when Mr..
Lewiston pulled his roll and settled IS
for the hat and so cents for express he
had TO admit that it was all in all the
most beautiful example of Lewiston
and Bangor humor that he had seen
since the days of his childhood.