Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-08-26
As YOU LIKE II.
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 Nese Deek.

 ring imbedded in the tail of family cat owned by William Ward. resi- dent of A Massachusetts city, steps were taken recently to obtain the re- lease from the state reformatory or William Henderson, sent there two years ago on a charge of stealing the ring. The ring mysteriously disap- peared from the dressing table or Mrs Ward. The supposition is that a enid in the Ward family, while playing with the eat. slipped the ring over the tail of the cat. where 1t was hidden py the hair which became entangled and held the diamond in position.
 King Edward represents fully the average height in British stature' which is five feet seven and seven eirhths inches, his actual height In his boots being five feet eight and one half inches. Emperor William falls slightly below his royal uncles, but not below the average German height. Of the elected rulers, President LouDet represents the French average. which is i've feet six inches. On the other hand. we find the emperor of Japan to he far above the national standard of height. His majesty is a tall man for a Japanese-fve feet six inches. The fullest royal parsonage is King Leo bold, six feet, six inches, which places him next to Peter the Great. who measured six feet eight and one-half inches.
 Charles T. Aldrich, the star of A., H, Woods production of Secret Ser vice Sam," has in his gift promising position for a small boy. The lad would be obliged to work only two hours and a half day. he would have an exceptional opportunity to see the country and he would appear in "Se- cret Service Sam.' His duties would he simple. Tn the first scene of the play he must drop from the fire escape of a tenement house, in the second scene he must be shot down the Hud- son river in a pneumatic tube. in the third scene he must cling to rope attached to burning building, and In the fourth scene he must stop run away chemical engine. If he be still alive at the end of that act he Will have other opportunities later on Ill the play. Notwithstanding the advan- taees of the position, Mir Aldrlch Is having some difficulty in filling 1t.
 Just now, when everyone is inter- ested in the visiting peace envoys, many puns are made on the name Of Witte, says New York writer. The other day on Broadway car a man in d green shirt remarked: T think there was too much funny business in the Portsmouth conference" The con ductor grinned. What can you ex- pect when the czar sent over Witte enyoy?' The man who was smoking a cigar with red band on 1t smiled and said: We have our Mark Twain, but who has Russia In the humorous lineT' "It has the czar,' ventured the shoe clerk. "Yes, and its Wittes." The passenger who wore a Rialto nat frowned. "To the tall smokestacks.
 he exclaimed. "Why, such puns as those should be allowed only on roof gardens and In minstrel shows. But If you want to hear good joke, can tell it." Let's have it. chorused the messengers. And the man in the Ri alto hat curled his lips and whispered; "If a train on the elevated weighs 100000 pounds, what does the SUD weiQh?' When the man In the Rialto hat was last sighted he had passed the Harlem river and was still running.
 In these days of upholstered boot blacking parlors and fancy chairs where well dressed manlpulators Of the brushes and polishing cloths work like automatons. it is an unusual incl dent to meet one of those old-fasliion- cd colored bootblacks. with his box swunQ over his shoulder and his fa- miliar cry of: "Shine. boss; shine 'ein up." Occasionally, however, one works his way up from the southern states, where the colored bootblack still predominates. and drifts around the docks and depots of the northern cities. If there are many travellers from the south In town the dimes come quickly, for the reason that the southerner prefers the colored boot black to all others. He Is used to him. Not long ago one of these nomad boot polishers drifted up from Dixle and started his cry of shine around the Grand Central station at New York. He was a short mulatto. little lame. and a well-polished medal on his breast informed those who took the trouble to read that his name was "BiIl." It also informed them that he was the champion bootblack of the country. But it was his box that at tracted more attention than the medal. This receptacle for brushes and black ing was decorated with a collection of coins that would have done a nurnis- matoloyist good to gaze upon. There were old coins and new coins; Ameri- can coins and foreign coins. The George Washington cent and the Span ish peseta were side by side. and not far away were the German pfennlg. Turkish plaster. Indian anna and chil- Ian centavo. There were queer Chi nese coins with holes in the center. and old Egyptian ones that looked as though they might have been coined ln Cleopatra's time. How long did it take YOU to collect all those coinsf
 oueried a patron. Fifteen years. sah.
 responded the sable polisher. And how did you get them!' "Ob. diher- ent ways. Bought some. shined he shoes ob sailors for others. and traded | lot.'' What are they worthy
 well. An wudn't take a fortune fot dem. sah. peh's two or three dozen sIlbeh coins among dem on some det An hab been offered a doiIah apiece snIi. But Ah tells yo'. ssh. An must be mighty hawngry befo' Ah pahi> -ts -t..- -s..o .h dat.a no~rss aff irtssk