The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-06

that they were apprehensive some dan- ger had befallen him Would Cousin Arnold advise them whether Ed" had called on him, as they understood he intended to do so? This deluge was manipulated by invoking the assistance of half dozen friends of Mir. Law son, who induced their wives, daugh- ters and sisters to enter into a chain , letter campaign.
 Could therc be such person as "Ed Scatterskill' after all? And vas he, perhaps. some countryman getting into trouble in a large city? These aues- tions troubled Mir. Arnold. but he could get no definite information. Next day the telephone began to work from different parts of the city and the suburbs A stranger would hastily enter a drug store and ask? Has Mir. Arnold been hercf' What Mir. Arnoldr,
 Why. Allen Arnold. the broker. Don't you know him?'
 T know who he is.s but I don't know him personally."
 Well. had an appointment to meet him hcre If he comes in ask him to
 wait, will you? I'll be back in five
 minutes. Say. would you do me the ! favor to call his offlce, in case he hasn't started, and say to him that his cousin. Ed scatterski.l,' is here waiting for | him?'' e lF
 Picture the pleasant acquicsence of
 the drug clerk and the ,amazement of MT. Arnold at this round of telephone calls.
 Ed scatterskill" began to be a nightmare to him. Ed" got into all kinds of trouble. He was arrested for passing plugged silver dollars, after being discharged on the count of drunkenness. and he finally wound up in an insane asylum, still writing to Friend AT and always concluding his letters with Yours in honor"
 Finally, at the end of four days, he announced that he was going to leave town. He was sorroy he couldn't find time to call on his Cousin Arnold. but he was anxious to express his grati- tude for the interest the latter had taken in him. shortly afterward these Expressions of gratitude began to ar rive. A big coiored porter would call at the banking rooms with a whole side of beef on his shoulder and drop 1t on the counter. All he could say was that he had been instructed to leave it with the compliments of
 Cousin Ed" Other market men be- gan to arrive with barrels of squash es, barrels of cabbages, barrels of po- totatoes, barrels of onions, farm pro- duce of every description, until the place was choked.
 Then messenger boys began to ar- rive, each one bearing a hat. One by one they filed in, each one carrying some peculiar style of long forgotten stock of an old hat store, until. in se1fdefense, Mir. Arnold had, to lock himself in and refuse to accept testi- monials from Cousin Ed"
 From that time Ed drifted out of his life. but he made 1t highly interest- ing for him for nearly a week, and the mention of the name of Ed Scatter
 skilI' Is sufficient to cause a roar among those who were "in the know"
 The propensity for practical joking Is not by any means confined to this side of the water. The present king of | England, when Prince of Wales, dearly | loved q joke, and his favorite butt used to be his private secretary, Sir | Francis Knollys. One day, however. much to the amusement of the prince, | Sir Francis turned the laugh on him
 and his principal henchman. Captain I Bay Middleton, in an exceedingly clever manner.
 MiddIeton's favorite trick was to 1 approach from behind some unsuspect- | ing man and seize his coat tails and wrench them apart in such a manner
 as to split the garment up the back. l At Sandringham Sir Francis took pains |
 lant Bay" When the men retised to | the smoking room he walked over to | the fireplace and, leaning his head upon hls hand, appeared to be lost in | thought.
 | Such an opportunity might never come again, and it appealed irresistibly | to Captain Middletons sense of hu- nor. After asking the princes permis- sion to leave the card table, he crept \ up softly to Sir Francis. suddenly
 seized hold of the tails of his dress coat and, with a quick jerk, tore i, | from waist to collar. Everybody
 laughed. including Sir Francis. who appeared to enjoy the joke as much as the rest.
 Somewhat disappointed as the result l of the trick, the prince inquired how
 1t was that Sir Francis treated ths matter with such indifference
 That is easy to explain. sir." was
 the reply. "The coat is not mine. l had heard of Middletons fondness for this particular form of amusement and l accordingly when I came downstairs just now to the smoking room I took
 the precaution of going into his room and putting on one of his dress coats
 which happened to be lying on the l bed"
 At his reply there was a perfect
 hurricane of laughter, indulged in by all with the exception of Captain Mid | dleton, who was thoroughly discon-
 certod ana annoyed to have himself thus destroyed one of his best evening
 dress coats. Thus the joker was jok- ed.
 Another monarch who has a reputa- ton as a joker is the present kaiser | of Germany, but on one occasion he had the experience of having a joke | turned on him that nearly cost his | fife The kaiser soon after his access | sion to the throne joined in the sport
 of St. Sylvester's night. or New Years I eve. On that night no citizen ventures | to appear on any public highway wear | ing tall hat or even 8 derby The | students have always had an unwrit- | te might to bonnet any civilian thus
 arrayed by mashing his hat with sharp blow of the fist.
 He soon had several badly wrecked | hats to his credit, but then encounter ed an elderly citizen of benevolent mien, whose looks. however, belied his character. Having been bonneted in previous years. he had resolved to teach his tormentors a lesson and for
 this purpose wore a skull cap made
 of leather, thick In texture and stud ded with long, sharp nails. When the emperor brought down his fist. upon the tall hat his hand was pierced in many places by the nails and covered
 with blood. the injuries at one time threatening locktaw
 The citizen was arrested and impris- oned, pending an investigation as 10
 '1ese majeste." but was afterdard re- leased as his offense was an innocent one and the Emperor realized that no offense was meant to him as the ruler.
 Among those Jokes that have been