Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1903-08-28
KNOC KABOUT
OF ES
PERSONS and THINGS
As Seen and Heard by Gath

"Have you any news p we asked a
prominent business mar of the city
the other morning on our rounds as
we saw him piled high with work:
emo he replied pleasantly, "I'm
too blamed busy to hear anything"
We walked away thinking the man
that is too busy to hear news will
never kill the town. A few weeks
ago we met one of those cranks who
was living on peanuts and crackers,
getting his body in condition so that
it would stand the severe starving or
deal it would have to undergo this
winter. He predicted starvation, and
forty other things Of a like character,
had the shutters hunted out of the
rubbish heap so that he could close his
place of business on short order when
the farmers should begin starving to
death. Here in the face Of this
bilious pessimist is a man so rushed
with work that he cannot find time to
learn what his neighbcr is doing.
Facts are stronger than fiction First
class funerals are good things for the
prosperity of a country sometimes.
Are you going to attend the meet
ing of the bankers at Grand Forks 2"
we asked one of the popular bankers
Of the city yesterday. "No, he re-
piled, II cannot go, but the meeting
is a good thing, and I would like to
attend were it possible for me to do
so. The National association is a
good thing too. I will show you just
what it has done. When the war
revenue law was enacted by congress
in 1898, a special tax Of $50 was
placed on National banks. That
was an injustice, as there was plenty
Of men who had as much capital in
vested as many of the banks, and who
were clearing as much money as the
banks were, but who were not sub
iected to the same tax. The national
Bankers association took hold Of the
matter and the law was repealed.
Then we got the stamped check
which was another good thing. Yes
the association is all right" =
X X
We have often noticed the persis-
tent fight made on those pesky crea-
lures from Pharoah's s%tubborness, the
flies, by one of the tony druggists of
the city. just let one of those abom.
nations pass the Screen door of that
drug store, and he is just as certain
to pass to the happy hunting grounds
a kentuckian is to drink whiskey
instead OF water. Well, the fight is
worth much more than at first would
seem. Flies are the dirtests insect in
existence. Did you ever at the table
in a boarding house, have the ap-
petizing experience of using your
fork for a harpoon tn remove a fly
from the cream pitcher where it was
deliberately bathing it's feet, fresh
from a two hours trip afoot over the
nea useating remains of some decayed
substance? It does not make you feel
like eating everything before you, by
any means. There is nothing more
filthy than the matter carried by the
feet Of flies and deposited on every
thing with which they come in con-
tact No wonder, then. that an up
to-date druggist makes such a per.
sistent fight on the Egyptian nuisance
Mr.. Gath: I called on nv best
girl the other day just before dinner
and found her dressed up just like it
was Sunday afternoon, and she was
not expecting me, either. Don't you
think have the best in the city
Johnnie
Not by a long way, Johnnie, and
you will possibly find it out to your
sorrow should you pursue the usual
course of the spoony young man, and
marry the living doll. The girls
place at the hour you mention should
have been in the kitchen or dining
room helping her mother prepare din.
ner, unless she be one of those fortu-
nate young ladies who, are arcidently
born daughters of mil1ionaires.
But in that event she would pro-
baby be seeking a brainless foreign
count rather than . sentimental
American dude though the evils are
so near alike it would be difficult
to select between them. If she is Just
an ordinary every day girl that is not
beautiful to any n except yourself,
she is not the lest girl in the city.
She is likely one of the kind who can
not cook, sew, sweep, or wash. She
may be able to wear clothes her
mother or some other Industrious per.
son made for her, but az a wife she
would be a failure. Tidiness is very