The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-12-27

age! 90 We are prone TO tell
'" ourselves and our neighbors.
But. at the same time. there are
things going on around VI everyday
that certainly seem to give the lie to
such q boast. Things that are az
strange and unconventional a. any that
transptre within the realms Of fiction.
Romance IL not dead among US.
Neither IL the preparation Of the
weird, the unusual, the amazing. In
deed, the very gods" themselves must
laugh when they behold the strange
things poor mortals do in an age that
boasts Of its civilization, its culture
and-most Of all-its hard common.
sense.
II you wish to Join the aforesaid
gods" In their merriment at our ex-
pense, or II you doubt the above state
ments. listen to the narration Of a
few Of the queer things that have hap
pened In the year Of our Lord 1918.
Culled from the news Of the day dur
Ing the short span Of the twelve
months past they are but q partial
record Of the odd things that have
are amazing.
Ate Scales And An.
From the beginning. the college
boy, when in frolicsome mood. has
been considered an irresponsible. pes
tiferous fool. Also, he has been
grossly libelled and made the butt of
much undeserved ridicule. But surely
just about the limit IL reached when
he eats a bowl Of raw goldnsh-to
win bet. And that Is precisely what
one of them did several months ago at
one of the New England colleges.
DoR h0 O..
the deed since he was q freshman. At
all events. he was sitting in a chum's
room, along with several other stu
dents. when one Of them dared him
to put his hand into a bowl of goldfish
on the table. catch a fish and eat 1t.
The freshman hesitated. But when
his tormentor bet him a quarter he
hadn't the nerve to do 1t. our hero
reached right in. caught up the wig
Cling. Tapping. shining -@goldAsass
crushed 1t between his teeth and swal-
lowed 1t in triumph-pocketing the
quarter.
Still unconvinced. the tormentor bet
him fifty cents he couldn't swallow
another. He did. Moreover. before
the piscatorial prodigy quit he had
exhausted the supply. of goldfish in
the bowl and had won $3.50 from
his fellow students.
Out in Montana. on q Government
reservation. there Is an unusually fne
tribe Of Indians called the Black
feet. They live in the open nearly
the whole year round. So, when a
party Of them visited New York City
during very cold spell last winter as
sort of combined guests-and- exhibits
in an industrial affair. they refused to
sleep in the steamheated, electric
lighted hotel rooms. but went up on
the roof. pitched a regular Indian en-
campment there and were comforta-
BILE.
Chief Three Bears, over eiRnty
years OF age. couldn't close his eyes
within the walls of the fashionable no.
tel; but up on the roof, with the wind
whistling around his tent and the snow
falling. he slept in peace. So did
Long-Time-Sleep and White Calf. both
of them remarkably picturesque speci-
mems Of the American Indian at his
best. And 30. too. did their squaws
and a little ten-year-old Indian maid.
There. above the caves. whence they
could look out over the city's artif1-
cial peaks and canyons, they pitched
their tepees. cooked their meals and
lived for all the world as though they
were back on their native prairies.