The Washington herald., 1916-11-19

Say, boss, a pal o. mine claims that
introducing strangers Is a turrible risky
business. How about it,"
We'll. Lon. II Is a risky business. an
sometimes II amt only a risky business,
but you're liable L get your block knocked
on tryin' L make two apparent strangers
hob-nob with each other, cause for all
you know 1t may be that tn party of tn
hrst part has borrowed couple o.
bucks" from tn party Of tn second part,
an has forgot to come over.
i learnt my lesson in tn introducin'
line way back some 10 years ago, when
] took 1t upon myself to introduce Percy
(MikeD Evans. tn gentleman Jockey, who
was killed a few weeks ago up at tn
Piping Rock Hunt Club to your old friend
John L. Sullivan. ex-champion heavy
weight of tn world.
/ lived in tn Big Burg at tn time, an
right around tn corner from my suite
on Forty-second street between Sixth ave-
nue. and Broadway was tn emporium run
by John L. an his partner. Brooklyn
Jimmie" Carroll. TIL old ex-champ wasn't
on tn dry in them days, an neither
was Brooklyn Jimmie" so tn hardest
task tn two proprietors had was tryin'
to keep on tn wagon on alternate days.
Tn saloon was a meetin' place for
many night celebrities. tn championship
belt. minus tn jools. hung over tn cash
register. an in tn back room where tn
old King held court. was a round table
which in it's day held many a cold bottle.
l used L trip in every afternoon for
wee smack o. ticker. an have a III chat
with Brooklyn Jimmie's" brother who
attended to tn bar.
TIL day tn introducin' took place was
a nasty rainy one in tn early part O.
winter. l runs into my old friend Mike
Evans down by tn Grand Central Sta
ton. an we saunters up Forty-second
street with nothin' on our minds but our
hair.
tn Rig electric sign. displayin' John
LIS full name. struck a light just as we
was crossin' Sixth avenue, an Mike
wants t know If it's tn Champions
place. l tells him it is, an suggests we
go in. Mike" allows he amt never saw
John l.. in his life. an smarty like me,
says. TN introduce yaw
TIL introducin' was easy enough. as
John didn't care no more for Kings than
he did for deuce spots when he got a
bit wet" so into tn back room tangoes
with Mike" trailin' close.
john says i. L wantcha t meet nv
friend. Mike Evans O. Colorado SuTings,''
Mike" had lived out there at one time.
Th' Big Fellow grunted a ''howdy," an
after recallin' few names Of some folks
N.
Mike" happened t know well, he in
vited us L be seated an Join him in a
nip.
Mike" an me was both loaded with
'kale." an was havin' a grand time, It'll
/ gets up t go into TIL next room, when
tn sad part commenced.
Seated over in a dark corner with his
head on his hands. was a guy who
thought had been overlooked entirely. an
fnA liV7f hxy Io lElyA
tn place. ! taps him on tn shoulder an
tosses him this. "Wassa matter. stranger.
why amt va in tn parade" He wal
lowed around like lost ship at sea, an
then battin' his peppers" he spIutters
out loud, Beat It. va 'mackeral,' / wanna
go L sleepI'
Ordinarily I woulda beat 1t double
quick. but with tn last two rounds lust
startin t get busy. I grabs him by tn
collar an comes back like this. Now,
see here. va Lame Duck. IL You don't
wanta be a Sailor. an Join tn crew, why.
get out entirely
Lon, them was tn last words I spoke
for nigh on t two days. Quick as a flash
tn sleeper had awoke. He hops on my
ear-piece. an before L can whistle I'm
all over tn floor. First this way an then
that tn more I got up tn more I went
down. tried t locate him. but he
wouldn't locate. when at last. Just
through kindness O. heart. three or four
at tn round table fished out a net. en-
tangled tn Hyena. an dragged him away,
Por old Mike who was some kind o.
scrapper. couldn't say beans" cause IL
he'd ever made a move he woulda been
eat up alive. He seen me to a drug store,
an then took me home. an to this day
amt never found out who tn tor
pedo" was 1 started T. put out. / never
even walked on that side Of tn street
after that. but heard in a round about
fashion that Spider Kelly was tn party
who wantee + sleep. 1 can't vouch for
that, nor do l care. cause tn whole
thing done me good. an learnt me never
TO introduce strangers just for tn sake
o. introducin. Let 'em get acquainted
themselves.
DOPEY DAN.
Note-Lon says if you wanta get a
knockers" goat, just tell him how kind
ly tn party knocked had always spoke
of him