The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-07

A little party of men and women who have knocked about the world a good bit drifted onto the topic, at Mt. Pleasant home a few nights ago, of the smallness of the world. Three interesting stories were told, says The Washington star.
 "One afternoon two summers ago. said a gentleman who spends the bulk or ms time in New York. T was standing ldy in front of a tea house in Kobe. Japan, watching the passing show. AS stoou there A couple of well-groomed, middle aged men passed into the tea house. One of them was short and stout and had ,be look and accent of a German. while inc other seemed to be either an Eng ushnan or an Americana couldn't quite make out which from his talk. as he nassed into the tea house. Glad to see a couple of men in my own dress, strolled into the tea house and took seat near the table that had been cnosen by the pair I had noticed. They were talking volubly, and frequently l over heard the man who looked like either an gINhmsn or an American mention the word Harlem The word had pe- culiar significance to me, for the reason Mat my home for the past thirty years has been in that part of upper New fork City which is called Harlem. It seemed strange to hear 1t mentioned In such an out-of-the-way corner of the earth as Kobe, Japan. When I got to renecting over it, however. I smiled to myself.
 .. That man, said I to myself, Is not talking about the Harlem on Manhattan Island. hut about Harlem. Holland What the deuce should he know about Harlem on Manhattan?'
 That was a rather unphilosophical way of looking at 1t, of course, but, as I say, it seemed incredible that in such a place should hear a man engaged in a discourse on the corner of New 1ork l belonged in.
 At length, however. I happened 10 overiear fhe man who had mentioned Harlem drop such a thoroughgoing Amer icanism that I became convinced that after all. he was an American. So l in troduced myself presently to the pair of gentlemen, and was cordially received.
 "T happened to hear you advert 10 Harlern.' said I to the man whose na- tionaiity had puzzled me. You will par" don my curiosity. but were you speaking of Harlem, New York. or Harlem. Hoi- land?' fi.5
 Why, Harlem. New York. of course. Ae iauxhingly replied. Haarlem Holland is not much to talk about why oo you ask?' -q,
 < Because said I, 1t sounded good to hear, the old place mentioned. since it has been my home for a generation
 GO 'wayi Is that SO? he exclaimed with A thoroughly American manner. Why, Harlem's been my home for most of my life. too.'
 What street up there do you live on? I asked him.
 ' Hundred and Twenty-elghth,' said he.
 $ So do l. said I.
 sTfe looked amazed, naturally.
 What nunfber?" he asked me.
 s'I mentioned. the number of my house
 ''F4e mentioned the number of his house. m the same street as mine, and It was only two squares from my Harlem home And he had been going down town at the same hour as I had for many years, and returning home Un the same street, and vet I certainly had never seen him before. and he swore he had never seen me. although when we exchanged cards we knew all about each other"
 .As some of you know" said a charm ,ng Baltimore woman of middle age, T gained what is foolishly called the nm ishine' of my education in Paris, in Whicn spent four years with my mother Few American girls reside in Paris for any length of time without having trivial filtration or so and mine happened to De with a clever young British army onlcer' who, was one of the military attaches with the British embassy at Paris He thought that he was desperately in love with me. and thought that I was madiy in love with him, and of course we went through all of the stages of youthful