Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-03-18
IN THE SMOKING
COMPARTMENT.
BY c. s. YOST.


''lG.at cigar" said the passenger from
Pomona. as he contemplated the black
and pudgy cylinder in his hand. that
cigar cost the man who gave it 10 me Il
good. honest dollar-and it's punk That
what it is-it's punk. "
Il never smoked many dollar cigars.
nor even many 50-cent ones" remarked
the red-headed man in the corner but
! never tackled one that | didn't regret
1t. My taste may be low, but | believe
that cigar that sells at three for half
Is about the limit of excellence and a
three for Il quarter is good enough for
ordinary consumption"
1t nil depends upon circumstances
observed the traveller from louisville
y straight ten will usually satisfy me,
but the best cigar / ever smoked cost
me cool $1,000. and it was Wheeling
stogie at that Moreover. il was worth
the money"
y man can't lay down proposition
OF that kind i'll the smoking compartments
without offering an explanation" said
the red-headed person
Don't shoot" cried the Louisville pas
senger. I'm explain, but | beg leave to
amend my statement. The best cigar |
ever smOked--the aforesaid Wheeling
stogie-was never smcled ut all | keep
1t i'll Il glass case decorated with silver
tillgree. and for seventeen years il has
rested on my Office desk where | can see
it every time | sit down to work lit
cost me $1,000, rs told You, and I'd
have to be mighty hard up before /
would sell it for another thousand"
Come come, now" protested the red
headed one next thing you'll be trying
to make us believe that stogie's fairy
wand
That wouldn't be so far wrong,
either" said the Kentuckian. but it
doesn't cast Il spell over anybody but
me. III tell you how | got that stos.ieA
There was an old fellow named Mitchell
who run pretty much everything in the
Michigan town where | was raised He
was president of the bank, owned the
general store, ran u big farm and was
the main pillar in the Presbyterian
church. He owned good part of the
town and he hossed all of it. He was
cranky and grabbed, sour as winter APP
pies in July, and the closest tightwad
You ever saw. There were only three
things in the world he cared anything
about The first was his daughter the
prettiest girl in the county-jolly, gen
erous-eyerything that the osd man
wasn't The second was his horse,
Jerusalem. | blue-bloOded bay that
could walk away from anything in that
section of the state. and the third was
his Wheeling st0gies. He bought EN-
by the thousand and he smoked EN- from
getting up To gong to bed. Nobody
ever saw Mitchell without he had one of
these black sticks stuck in HIS face, cx-
ccpt when he was at church, and some
folks said that he even smoked EN- in
bed.
You can make rough guess thar
nobody loved Mitchell but his daugh
ter. but you can bet your life that
every young buck in the neighborhood
had his cap set for her And it wasn't
altogether on account Of the old mans
money. either. She'd have been easily
the most popular girl in the town if
she hadn't had a cent But counting
Mary Mitchell wasn't an easy job. She
could wrap the Old man around her lit
tie finger and make him loosen up his
pocketbook without n grnan, but when
it came TO lovers he guarded her with
the eyes Of a hawk and the teeth of a
bulldog. No young man could call on
Mary unless her father was present
and ii was mighty cold reception he.
gave any of US Some of the boys could
never get any farther than the front
door. and ! was one OF those not on
the old mans visiting list, l asked him
one day, point blank, what he had
against me, and he said; Nothing at
ALL sir, but | don't like your looks
Mary, as I've told you, was ditfereu5,
You'll all wonder why, hut she did like
my looks. There's no way 10 account
for wOmeuS tastes in the matter of men.
was probably jae ughest youngster in
Iullsdale and didn't cut any particular
dash IN society, hut Mary, somehow ar
other. favored me more than amy OF the
rest of the boys, and. although | was
tahooed at her house, | got 10 see her
at other places. An my rivals tried to
get into the old mans good graceS with
soft soap. | made up my mind TO take
the other track | was studying law
then and got myself elected to place
in the city council Then | opposed
everything that Mitchell wanted For
two years | fought him tooth and nail.
hut the old man was a good tighter
himself. and he respected any other good
tighter. even if he hated him. hnd
reason to believe thar he mated me quite
plenty He ordered his daughter never
to speak 10 me under any circumstances
and instructed his houseman to sic the
dogs on me ii came around the house
while he was away. And YET he him.
sometimes he would even go so far as
10 shake hands Queer old character he
was.
"ue reminded me a good deal Of Cen
Grant. He wasn't given 10 In king, but
let somebody mention horses and his
tongue would begin TO way. One dav
| passed by his store when he was sif
ting out IN front Dragging about Jeru-
salem 10 half a dozen fellows 'Tb3r
horse q mine he was saying. can hpot
anything that wears hair Just 10 an,
nov him. | butted i'm.
ShuckS. | says that old bag O.
bones couldn't run away from a COW
He's % haS-hecu'
. That amt So That ain't So" he
yelled hammeriug the walk with his |