Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1903-01-09
THE STORY OF A NECKT1E.

One of our prominent dealers in
gentlem-n's neckwear hailed the
Inter Oceans city editor on the street
yesterday and said! essay, I have
made quite a STUDY Of reading a mans
or luck by the necktie he is
sporting, and to show you that it is
an almost ~unfailing index Of at least
a certain pioneer real estate dealer Of
Devils Lake, I will mention this little
incident. Last Thursday, New
Years day, he boarded the west bound
train for Rugby where I have since
learned he went primarily to attend a
wedding in high society-so he wore
the conventional white party tie and
looked quite like a veritable old time
deacon.
His good wife returned home alone
tho following day radiant with the
recollections of the happy wedding.
But with n eye to business, 1.-THE
rustler'' went on to Minot and took a
twelve mile ride in the brief morning
hours inspecting two quarter sections
that cost him 5000 each and found to
his delight that they were easily worth
81, 900 each. Before taking the re-
turning train he put on the largest
white tie he could find at Minot, the
social center of the Mouse and thought
the opening days of 1908 were very
.roseate and happy-at least for him.
But would you believe it, when he got
off the train at Devils Lake Saturday
afternoon, imagine my surprise to see
him with the blacklist. necktie you
ever saw and a countenance as glum
az if he had lost a cool thousand in
a little game in the wilder and woolier
west of Ward county.
yesterday made bold to ask him
for an explanation as in the cause of
the scientific reasons for changing
neckwear was much absorbed and he
said: Il will tell you, but it must be
on the dead quite. When I got to
Rugby on the way back from an un-
usually happy trip-as evidenced by
the two white ties made a side run
up to souris to see about a collection
about which I had felt a trife dubious
for a year. I discovered that my bird
had flown towards the south, along
with the ducks, but no one knew at
what point he would light. I blew
in Sc. IS for a chattle abstract by
phone from Bottineau and then turned
private detective and found that two
Of the mortgaged horses had been
foreclosed two weeks ago for a large
feed bill-in fact that they had eaten
off their heads and thirty dollars worth
of oats besides-for which the feed
barn man mourns and that the Repub-
lican had a foreclosure notice for the
sale of two more of the raw-bones
against which there was a feed bill
sufficiently large that one might expect
to see slick, we'll groomed horses, but
oh my, the equity for me was
worse thar nit.
"sThe machinery had been traded
time and time again, the heifer had
months ago eaten herself up at a feed
barn, the COW had gone to the cows
happy hunting ground, the mower had
never been seen in those parts, etc.
etc., world without end, amen. The
mare with white. star in forehead was
so designated in twelve mortgages but
her color varied form light bay, to
red, brown and gray; and the white
spot on the left hind foot changed
over to many parts of the body and
finally lodged on her stomach. l
traced her to an old Scotchman's five
miles out, spent SO for a livery rig to
ask him personally how he came by
her. He answered me ne'er a word
but flashed a typewriter statement
giving the complete record OF that
animal, how she cost him $3.50 cash
and three law suits of $25 each to
hold her and that the star might
now be seen out in the snow bank,
deader than a door nail. The
memorandum stated there had been
twenty creditors before me inquiring
about his right to the dead horse.
"But there was a little grim salts
faction to find that sCoxey' had 6
long retinue of 'mourners' reaching
from his old REIMBURSEMENT in 1888
to Souris, Bottineau and even tt
Devils Lake. As I drink.
thank you-to drown my sorrow-
I ripped off that plagued white til
and bought a regular funeral emblem
THE largest I could get at the infan'
metropolis of Souris and I am to wea'
that tie and the mournful counter
ance, for the conventional thirty days
or at the rate of $40. a day for the
claim. Charity and experience accoun
have the first 1908 entry and all m.
resolutions to live a more happy life
to cultivate a bouyant, joyous spiri
II ~ =, a y a. NJ w. 1o-o 81