The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-04
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BIZ JAY e. HOUSE
<Fron Philadelphia Public Ledgsf.l
BIZ JAY e. nc

sWhak was the funniest thing you
ever SAW" writes a correspondent
The moment is inauspicious. This Is
not our morning to be humorous. All
day yesterday we awaited a message
from our laughing snake. None came.
All day the sins and sorrows of the
world weighed US down and closed
respondent doesn't mind, we shall take
pleasure in relating the details of the
most pitiable incident we ever wit
messed. 1t is a fitting wreath of
laurel to hang upon a drab afternoon.
Late in the afternoon of an autumn
day in 1910 there came into the Illinois
Central station in Memphis, Tenn, a
colored gentleman bearing a two-gal-
lon jug. He was of the type known
in the fields as "gangle-shanked," and
he was modestly illuminated. Sparse
whiskers, which suggested the plant
known vernacularly as crab grass"
grew upon his face and he may have
been fifty years old. 1t may be well
to say the two-gallon jug contained
gin. Sooner or later that fact must
be revealed. 1t may as well be told
now. It developed later that the
colored gentleman was a tie-chopper
whose permanent habitat was a camp
across the Mississippi river and deep
in the Arkansas woods. For ten hours
day. six days in each week. he
chopped railroad ties for a honorarium
of s1.25 day. After each pay day he
and Travelled to Memphis to refresh his
soul.
The colored gentleman had re-
, freshed his soul and his body bore the
insignia of his revelry. His time was
up and his funds were low He was
down to u sum barely sufficient tc
| buy two gallons of gin and pay his
railroad fare back to the tie camp
And so. setting his face homeward, hs
| appeared at the /. C. station bearing
his cherished earthenware. Steppins
to the ticket window, he sat the jug
down beside him and conducted the
necessary negotiations with the tickle
agent. The formally concluded. h.
reached for his jug. 1t wasn't there
IL was as If the earth had opened and
swallowed it up. Nobody saw it go
Nobody noted the abandoned soul whit
| had wres-ed it from it's legal owner
A nasty search of the station and it.
| environs failed to reveal the slightes
clue. either to the jug or the manner
of its disappearance.
The colored gentleman faced an.
other long stretch in the woods. Finan.
cially he had refrigerated beyond hi.
ultimate sou, markee. His ticket wal
purchased. his train was due and hi
gin was gone. There was written upor
his face the emotions of pain and sor
row. remorse, depression, acute misery
| deep woe, bitterness, doubt, regret
dependency, despair and suspicion. 1
was a Kaleidoscope picture of all tn,
brooding, somber passions revealed il
| the twinkling of an eve 1t was tn,
| nil 10 Ia NIT
messed and we hereby offer it for tn
| records.
The incident may not appeal to you
to the key of c major for the balance
of the afternoon may enchance you.
| Meanwhile, we counsel you to enjo,
your well-earned vacation while you
| may. The time is coming, it is not fal
distant. when you will be compelled t.
listen to the new bunk framed
around Babe" Ruth.
More than a year ago we wrote o
those who had struggled and tough
bring about prohibitions:
'A>febriie peace will claim them for
And then they will away again
To take another curse off man."
We are willing to leave it to you
Did we say anything?
Recreational and Industrial item
Henry Peverill Whitcomb, who retired
as the head of the business concern
with which he was identified and qui
work forever few months ago, ha,
been compelled to employ two add
tional stenographers and three new
clerical assistants.
In this country when a man quit.
work for himself everybody rides him
We superimpose an old thought
upon a revolving crime recently com
mitted in Philadelphia. It is that e
good mans wife often disappears
leaving no clue. But a bad mans wife
/ or LADY friend" goes to the ditch
with him and will, if necessary, lie
down in it.
At that, we haven't the heart to crit
| icise the wife OF the good man. He is
.,1rSSaJ HE