The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-05
BRYAN VICTIM
 OF JOKE PLAYED
 BY COL. HOUSE
William Jennings Gets Short End of Deal on
 Hunting Trip.

Texas who amassed few millions ! and then quit the game fn order to ! 'tjust visit around has a habit of running up to Washington every six months in order to, as he puts it, ] fgive the lawmakers and national 1 capitaleFs the once over."' During 9 recent trip he got real chummy with a western congressman one night as they sat in a hotel lob 1 by. Following a discussion of the field of presidential candidates, the old Texan chucklfngiy remarked that the fuz.niest thing that had ever hap pened in all his fife was the time Cos> Edward Manden House played a practical joke on William Jennings Bryan
 Up to this time the westerner had been FoIling far back in his big leather cha5r with his feet anchored high against a nicely polished marble pillar, What, Col. House play practical joke on William J. Bryan 9 he loudly demanded as he brought his feet floorward and his body to an erect position,
 Never, The idea is preposterous! Why, House is as quiet and dignified as enc of those mummy cfsAps who have been slumberfng meath pyra- mid tombstone since long before that Cleopatra girl canoed up and down the Nile on moonlight nights snug gIed close to the one man.
 'I might beliVe your tale if it was any one but this quiet, somber old scout from Texas who has the de- n1eanor of a, Quaker deacon, and who wears B plug hat, Prince Albert coat, no smile and patent leather shoes, and who has proved himself to be such an able friend and assistant to the President in deciding what, when, how, where, why and who to do in the way of cabinet making, Lea2Ne of Na1loning, raflroading, Samuel gonpertng, suffrasettfng, prohib@ tioniug, cOngreSsdng and various other odd jobs that have been bob ping mp for several years past,
 However, am curious and good naturek1, and willing to be the goat now and then and bite, so Mr. Texan cut locse with your House Bryan yarn.''
 "Weu, you see it's like this" stSRted in the visitor as a reniuis cent smile lighted up his face, sfsome fifteen or sixteen years ago Bryan decided to give his native state q little vacation - he'd been usin' is considerable - so he comes down to Austin, Texas, which in addition to bein' the state capital, also used to be the permanent home of Col House.
 'TThere was some excitement when the news commenced to spread that Bryan was goin' to spend the winter in a house right next door to Col. House. Naturally, they gets neigh borly and talks some across the dividin' fence - leastways Bryan talks.
 Not wantin' to monopoIize the en- certain of the honored orator and presidential runner. House confers with Jim HOgg, a friend of his'n he had been instrumental in maxim gov ernor q few years prior, and they rig up the greatest huntin trip ever staged in Travis county. They i'm pressively notify Bryan they are plan. nin' & wild animal huntin' trip fo1 him, which seemed to please that NebraSkan much.
 There was old panther chained to the post in the back yard of our most popular saloon-yes, we had lots of saloons them days To strangers, how be ever, she was always referred to as a. wild Mex ican wolf. The critter was weIl-nigh h blind and only had one upper and one lower tooth, neither of which hit, maxim bitin' and eatin' con siderable difficult In fact, she had dined on nothin' but soft vitties fol years This animile was kept be. cause she was aInusin' to the tipplers who preferred listenin' to her style of growfin' instead of goin' home.
 House and Hogg give a, nigge1 boy a dollar six bits to lear the wolf under cover of early mornin' dark ress, to strip of woods a righ smart piece beyond town-mebbe sir or eight miles and put her up in tn, forks of whalin' big cottonwood tree.
 '-Early that 1nornin' the huntin party paraded up Congress aYenoO everybody on horseback or nuleback House and Bryan a-leadin' the pro cesslon, Bryan stTadd1in' his sorre mustang as dignified and straight a Napoleon Bonypart and John Persh ing combined
 'They was followed, reckon, b fifty or hundred men and boy armed with muskets, shotguns, an six-shooters It was an imposin' a lookin' a band of hunters I ha ever seen Every hoan' dog for mile around had been borried for this pal ticuIar festivity- Bryan, of cours was some happy, duly appreciatil 4he kindness of his new souther neishbors in goin' to all this fuss order 10 SnOW u4Iu u nS SSIt1ISi hospita1ity-''
 A few miles beyond the city 1inai the dogs took the scent, and ava they scampered; such howfin' an barkfn' and growlin' I never hear in all my born days Them tn; could, jumped their hosses ov' fences and creeks; them tn; couldn't, got all excited and cut a l. of wire fences and just waded u creeks.
 f~When we reached the big cotto1 wood you never seen such a pfctu. dogs made surroundin' that tree ar bayin' away at that old panther gi as she -blinked down at them fro her safe perch wonderful, I s'pos what it was all about Everybody
 the crowd, by prearrangment, act scared and excited as if they expect' the panther to leap at them al second and rend them arm from Ie
 'Gent1e1nen,' said Col. House, D liteIfke, like a true Southern geEtl
 man, being as how MT. Bryan is
 highly honored guest in our, mid! I would respectfully suggest that
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