New-York tribune., 1903-06-21
COMEDIES OF A CONSULATE.
Continued from first page.

dressed woman who came in about two months
ago. carrying In her arms a nine or ten months
old baby. Her story was somewhat striking,
and, disbeleve it much as would, there was
a sympathetic place in my heart for the little
fat baby blinking at me SO innocently.
This sir is an American baby. Its mother
| is in New-York and goodness knows where its
father is What shall do with it?" and she
held the bundle of humanity toward me so
threateningly that Twas on the point OF taxing
it, Though confused at the idea of becoming
father so quickly, I patiently and calmly lis
tened to her story She had been employed as
nurse by the mother, who had returned to New
York. promising to send money for the baby,
but none had come, and, now that she was too
poor herself to keep the child. she wanted to
know what to do with 1t. I suggested taking
IL the Mayor
But he says it's an American baby, and told
me TO bring It to you
1 said 1 would write TO learn IL the mother
| lived at the New-York address she left.
What will the baby do while you're writingP
Starve? haven't anything to feed it,
L examined the poor little thing again, and
| felt very sorry for it. Here it was. not only
| home .ss and parentiess. but countryless gave
| the woman 10 francs and she sorrowfully de-
parted.
making a round of the fifteen consulates in
Rouen with similar story, and that the baby,
instead of being countryless, had within week
been English, Russian German, Brazilian and
goodness knows what else.
Every two three weeks some wayfaring man
comes in demanding transportation to America
| Usually these characters go away content with
| two or three francs which, of course. is spent
! for drink. A dirty old fellow. whose travel
| stained appearance indicated an emulousness of
| men like Stanley and Livingstone, made his ap-
pearance one morning declaring he had been
| drugged the night before and robbed of $50 He
claimed to be an American citizen. and. as it was
not his desire to disgrace the United States by
| begging. he had come to that the facts
| might not leak OUT as he expressed it.
commended his consderateness for the digni-
ty Of the United States, and suggested that,
it had successfully withstood the strain of his
debauch, the leakage of its disclosure would not
be such additional burden as TO cause ankle
t.. He begged. however. to disag gree, and took
the liberty to exhibit q on his leg which
looked though in ages past some hungry dog
had dined there. He declared il was a wound
received during the Spanish-American War. His
lie palpable that 1 showed him the door.
whereupon he became violently enraged, and
left the consulate reverberating with a string
Of oaths that would be beyond the moral, If not
physical. ability of any printer to put in type.
Office a over-of-the-cheerful- giver gang came
in practising the deaf and dumb game. He
was armed with the fragment Of a pencil
about half inch long and a soiled note
book, IN which was written 'i am def an dunn
( hav lost my rale rode tikit an pocket book"
knew at q glance that he was the ingenious
architect of his own calamity. and not being
busy I drew from the desk some paper. and
attempted TO trap him by means of the fol-
lowing questions, to which, with painful and
daring excursions in orthography. he supplied
answers:
Where did you buy your ticket?"
from Havre TO Paris
why did yoa stop here?"
'f was lost my tikit in the trane."
DO you speak French?''
mo not word only inglish ritin an tockin
finger is all no."
IF you can't talk French. how did you buy
your ticket in Havre?'