The bee., 1908-11-12
THE LAND OF
FEDORA
A Country That Has Long since
Passod Away

Hat hal" cried the first ancient
mariner.
"I1l bet ye," said the second, that
ye're thlnhn' of Fedora"
Fedora" said the first, "was a
South American country, but you
needn't look for it on the map because
Il amt there"
And this is why" said the second.
And this is why" said the first.
''Tbe ruler of Fedora was an uneasy
kind Of a potentate, always wanting
laws to be passed The people mustn't
do this under penalty, and they
mustn't do that under penalty, and
with one thing and another 1t went
from bad to worse until he had
law passed that the people must al
ways stick to the literal truth under
penalty Of Imprisonment without the
option Of a fine"
And that's how It began" said the
second ancient mariner.
We'll, sir, Bill and me landed in
Fedora the next day, filed with inno-
cenee about the passage of incriminat-
ing regulations, and we made a few
remarks, promiscuous, about sea
serpent or two, days run we made,
tidal wave we saw and few odd
things like that" .faA
Thinking no harm"
And first thing we knew we we're
I'm jail, tight. But we hadn't been in
long when another string Of prison
ers we're conducted to the dungeons.
Six. What are you In forT said we.
First man said: was telling a GER
tain senorita that she was the most
beautiful In ali Fedora and they seized
me- Second man said: I was telling
a friend about the wisdom OF my In
FAINT child and they seized me- Third
man said: I was relating my expert.
ence on a recent fishing expedition
and they seized me- Fourth man
said I was telling an old fogy that
| was glad too see him and they
seized me- Fifth man said: i was
telling tho boys that my wife didn't
care how late / stayed out at night
and they seized me- Sixth man said:
I was telling a stranger how fast my
horse could trot, and here I am
'Senors,' said ], as they all began
to groan, rest easy, for feel an ap-
prehensiOn that we shall soon have
company"
"A lot Of company" corrected the
FIRST.
"Muy muchendos," said the second.
And while was still making the OBJ
servation about the propinquity Of
company the doors swung open again
and q dozen more prisoners we're cast
into the cells. Three we're merchants.
three were lawyers, one was the
weather man, one was a huckster who
had been crying Fresh fish, one was
real estate agent who had been
caught saying that the plumbing was
ia good order, one was q painless
dentist and the other two had been
caught signing business letters Yours
truly"
This IL outragiosos,' said one
"MSllyl But some one shall suffer
for thisp said another, and the rest
began to gnaw their nails and hiss be
tween their teeth.
%'Senors,' said l. fear not, for un
less | greatly mistake the signs and
portents, Fedora is in for larks,'"
whereupon the two ancient mari
ners made merry and we're glad.
by eight O'Clock that night we
we're six IN sell, . said the Hrst'>
"By nine o'clock we were ten in a
cell" said the second.
by ten O'Clock they were stuning
them into. the courtyard said the
nrst. .4, 4v.t' ~
And still they came. In the morn.
ing the court hAd to skgn an order en-,
larging the confines OF the fall to in
clude the market place and the grand
opera house and before noon the or,
der WAS amended to include the regi.
mental barracks. the racetrack and.
all the public parks. Feeding the pris-
oners became serious problem and
when cook got tired all he had to
do was to tell about a storm he had
seen once where the hailstones were
as big as hens eggs and Immediately
he was placed under arrest, and In
stead OF feeding others somebody had
20 feed him.
We'll, sir, the prisoners came in by
the shoals and droves and the court
had to pass another order stin further
enlarging the limits of the Jail to
include all that territory lying within
the boundaries of Fedora. Next morn
ing there was no breakfast and you
ought to have heard the way the pris.
oners howled. insisting on their consti-
tutional rights to be fed.
But, senors, the cooks are all In
JAIL said a voice.
Then let the judges pardon them
cried the prisoners.
But seniors, the judges are In jail.
too said the voice.
Then let the legislature pardon
themv