Evening Star Newspaper, January 26, 1895, Page 17

. THE EVENING STAR. SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. 17 —— J "! (Copyright,1895, by Bacheller, Johnson & Bacheller.) “Who can be be?” thought I, as I watch- ed my companion tn the second-class car- riage of the London and Dover railway. I had been so full of the fact that my long-expected holiday had come at last, and that for a few days at least the gay- @ties of Paris were about to supersede the dull routine of the hospital wards, that we were well out of London before I ob- served that I was not alone in the com- partment. In these days we have all pretty well agreed that “three is company and two is non upon the railway. At the time I write of, however, people were not so morbidly sensitive about their traveling companions. It was rather an agreeable surprise to me to find that there was some chance of whiling away the hours of a tedious journey. I therefore pulled my cap down over my eyes, took a good look from beneath it at my vis-a-vis, and repeated to myself: “‘Who can he be?” I used rather to pride myself on being able to spot a man’s trade or profession by @ good look at his exterior. I had the advantage of studying under a master of the art, who used to electrify both his Patients and his clinical classes by long Capt. Wilkie. shots, sometimes at the most unlikely of pursuits; and never very far from the mark. “Weill, my man,” I have heard kim say, “I can see by your fingers that you play some musical instrument for your livelihood, but it is a rather curious one— something quite out of my line.” The man afterward informed us that he earned a few coppers by blowing “Rule Britannia” on a coffee pot, the spout of which was Plerced to form a rough flute. Though a novice in the art, I was still able to as- tonish my ward companions on_oc- casion, and I never lost an opportunity of practicing. It was not mere curiosity, then, which led me to lean back on the eushions and analyze the quiet, middle- aged man in front of me. I used to do the thing systematically, and my train of reflections ran somewhat in this wise: “General appearance, vulgar, fairly opulent and extremely self-possessed —looks like a man who could outchaff a bargee and yet be at nis ease in middle- class society. Eyes well set together and nose rather prominent—would be a good long-range marksman. Cheeks flabby, but the softness of expression redeemed by a square-cut jaw and a well-set lower lip. On the whole, a powerful type. Now for the hands—rather disappointed there. Thought he was a self-made man by the look of him, but there {s no callous in the palm and no thickness at the joints. Has never been engaged in any real physical work, I should think. No tanning on the backs of the hands; on the contrary, they are very white, with blue projecting veins cnd long, delicate fingers. Couldn't be an artist with that face, and yet he has the hands of a man engaged in delicate manipulations. No red acid spots upon his clothes, no ink stains, no nitrate of silver marks upon the hands (this helps to negative my_half- formed opinion that he was a photog- rapher). Clothes not worn in any particu- lar part. Coat made of tweed and fairly old; but the left elbow, as Zar as I can see it, has as much of the fluff left on as the right, which is seldom the case with men who do much writing. Mignt be a com- mercial traveler, but the little pocket hook in the waistcoat is wanting, nor has he any of those handy valises, suggestive of sam- ples.” I give these brief headings of my ideas merely to demonstrate my method of ar- riving at a conclusion. As yet I had ob- tained nothing but negative results; but now, to use a chemical metaphor, I was in @ position to pour off this solution of dis- solved possibilities and examine the resi- due. I found myself reduced to a very limited number of occupations. He was neither a lawyer nor a clergyman, in spite of a soft felt hat and a somewhat clerical out about the necktie. I was wavering now between pawnbroker and horse dealer; but there was too much character about his face for the former; and he lacked that ex- traordinary equine atmosphere which hangs about the latter, even in his hours of re- laxation; so I formed a provisional diag- nosis of betting man of methodistical per- suasions, the latter clause being inserted in deference to his hat and necktle. Pray, do not think that I reasoned it cut like this in my own mind. It is only now, sitting down with pen and paper, that f can sce the successive steps. As it was, I had tormed my conclusion within sixty seconds of the time when I drew my hat down over my eyes and uttered the mental ejaculation with which my narrative be- wins. I did not feel quite satisfied even then with my deduction. However, as a leading question would—to pursue my chemical analogy—act as my litmus paper, I deter- mined to try one. There was a Times ly- ing by my companion, and I thought the ©pportunity too good to be neglected. “Do you mind my looking at your pa- * T asked. “Certainly, sir, certainly,” said he most urbanely, handing it across. I glanced down Its columns until my eye rested upon the list of the latest betting. “Hullo!” I said, “they are laying odds upon the favorite for the Cambridgeshire. But perhaps,” I added, looking up, are not interested in these matters? “Snares, sir!” said he violently; of the enemy! Mortals are but given a few years to live, how can they squander them so! They have not even an eye to their poor worldly interests," he added in @ quieter tone, “or they would never back a single horse at such short odds with a field of thirty.” ‘There was something in this speech of his which tickled ms :mmensely. I suppose it was the odd way in whi je blended religious intolerance with worly wi I laid the Times aside with the conv that I should be able to spend the next two hours to better purpose than in its perusal. “You speak as if you understood the matter, at any rate,” I remarked. “Yes, sir,” he answered; “few men in England understood these things better in the old days befora I chanzed my pro- fession. But that is all over now.” “Changed your profession?” said I, in- terrogatively. “Yes; | changed my name, too.” “Indeed?” said I. “Yes; you see, @ man wants a real fresh start when his eyes become opened, so he has a new deal all round, so to speak. Then he gets a fair chance.” ‘There was a short pause here, as I seem- ed to be on delicate ground in touching m my ccmpanion’s antecedents, and he id not volunteer any information. I broke the silence by offering him a cheroot. “No, thanks,” sald he; “I have given up tobacco. It was the hardest wrench of all, was that. It does me good to smell She whiff of your weed. Tell me,” he add- ed, suddenly, looking hard at me with his shrewd gray eyes, “why did you take stock of me so carefully before you spoke?” “It is a habit of mine,” said I. “I ama medical man, and observation is everything in my profession. I had no idea you were looking.” , “I can see without locking,” he answered. I. thought you were a detective, at first; I couldn't recall your face at the time I knew the form.” “Were you a detective, then?” said I. “No,” he answered, with a laugh: was the other thing—the detected, you know. Old scores are wiped out now, and the law cannot touch me, so [ don't mind fessing to a gentleman, ‘We are none of us perfect,” “No; but I was a real out-and-outer. A ‘fake,’ you know, to start with, and after- ward a ‘cracksman.’ it is easy to talk of these things now, for I've changed my spirit. It's as if I was talking of some other man, you see.” “Exactly so," said [. Being a medical man I had none of that shrinking from crime and criminals which many men pos- sess. I could make all allowances for con- genital influence and the force of circum- stances. No company, therefore, could have been more acceptable to me than that of the old malefactor; and as I sat puffing at my cigar, I was delighted to observe that my air of interest was gradually loosening his tongue. 3 “Yes; I'm converted now,” he contin- ued, “and of course I am a happier man for that. And yet,” he added wistfully, “there are times when I long for the old trade again, and fancy myself strolling out on a cloudy night with my jimmy in my pocket. I left a name behind me in my profession, sir. I was one of the old school, you know. It was very seldom that we bungled a job. We used to begin at the foot of the ladder, the rope ladder, if I may say so, in my younger days, and then work our way up, step by step, so that we were what you might call good men all through.” see.” said I. vas always reckoned a hard-working, conscientious man, and had talent, too— the very cleverest of them allowed that. I began as a blacksmith, and then did a little engineering and carpentering, and then I took to sleight-of-hand tricks, and “y “Ty then to picking pockets. I remember, when | 1 was home on a visit, how my poor old father used to wonder why I was always hovering around him. He little knew that I used to clear everything out of his pock- ets a dozen times a day, and then, replace them, just to keep my hand in. He believes to this day that I am in an office in the city. There are few of them could touch me fn that particular line of business, though.” “I suppose it is a matter of practice?” I remarked. “To a great extent. Still, a man never quite loses it, if he has once been an adept —excuse.me; yeu have dropped some cigar ash on your cout,” and he waved his hand politely in front of my breast, as if to brush it off. “There,” he said, handing me my gold scarf pin, “you see I have not forgot my old cunning yet. He had done it.so quickly that I hardly saw the hand whisk over my bosom, nor did I feel his fingers touch me, and yet there was the pin giittering In his hand. “It is wonderful,” I said as I fixed it again in its place. “Oh, that’s nothing! But I have been in some really smart Jobs. I was in the gang that picked the new patent safe. You re- member the case. It was guaranteed to resist anything; and we managed to open the first that was ever Issued, withfh a week of its appearance. It was done with graduated wedges, sir, the first so small ‘Checks won't do,’ said I; ‘I must have it in gold.’ - “It would take an hour or so to collect in gold,’ said he. “That will just suit,” I answered, ‘for I have not got the watch with me. I'll go back and fetch it, while you raise the money.” “I started off, and got the watch where I had left it. When I came back the old gentleman was sitting behind his study table, with the little heap of gould in front of him. “ ‘Here is your money,’ he said, and push- ed it over. ‘Here is your watch,’ said I. He was evidently delighted to get it tack; and after examining it carefully, and assuring himself that it was none the worse, he put it into the watch pocket of his coat with a grunt of satisfaction. “ ‘Now, my lad,’ he said, ‘I know it was you that took the watch. Tell me how you did it, and I don’t mind giving you an extra five-pound note.’ ““I wouldn’t tell you In any case,’ said I; ‘but especially I wouldn't tell you when you have a witness hid behind that cur- tain.’ You see, I had all my wits about me, and it didn’t escape me that the curtain was drawn tighter than it had been before. “You are too sharp for us,’ said he, good humoredly. ‘Well, you have got your money, and that’s an end of it. I'll take “I Managed to Pick His Pocket for the Second Time.” precious good care you don’t get hold of my watch again in a hurry--good night— no; not that door,’ he added as I marched towards a cupboard. “his is the door,’ and he stood up and opened it. I brushed past him, opened the hall door, and was round the corner of the square in no time. I don’t know how long the old gentleman took to find it out, but in passing him at the door I managed to pick his pocket for the second time, and next morning the family heirloom was in the melting pot after asl. That wasn’t bad, was it?” The old war-horse had eyident ten all about his conversion now. was’a tone of triumph in the conclusion of his anecdote which showed that his pride in his smartness far surpassed his repentance of his misdeeds. He seemed pleased at the astonishment and amuse- ment I expressed at his adrottness. “Yes,” he continued, with a laugh, “it was a capital joke. But sometimes the fun lies all the other way. Even the sharpest of us come to grief at times. ‘There was one rather curious incident which occurred in my career. You may possibly have seen dote, for it got into print at the sald I. lines telling stories it is hard against one’s self, but this was how it hap- pened: I had made a rather good haul, and “Well, the swag in buying a ry fine diamond ring. I thought it would be something to fall back upon when all the ready was gone and times were hard. 1 had just purchased tt, and was going back to my lodgings in the omnibus, when, asx luck would have it, a very stylishly dressed young lady came in and took her seat beside me. I didn't pay much atten- tion to her at first; but after a time some- thing hard in her dress knocked up against my hand, which my experienced touch soon made out to be a purse. It struck me that I could not pass the time more profitably or agreeably than by making this purse my own. I had to do it very carefully; but I managed at last to wriggle my hand into her rather light pocket, and I thought the job was over. Just at this moment she rose abruptly to leave the ‘bus, and I had hardly time to get my hand with the purse ed some of “YOU SEE, I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN MY OLD CUNNING.” that you could hardly see it against the | in it out of her pocket without detection. light and the !ast strong enough to prize it open. It was a clever managed affair.” “I remember it,” said I. “But surely some one was convicted for that?” “Yes; one was nabbed. But he didn’t split, nor even let on how it was done. We'd have cut his soul out if—’ He sud- denly damped down the very ugly fires which were peeping from his eyes. “Per- haps I am boring you, talking about these old wicked days of mine?” “On the contrary,” I said, “you interest me extremely.” “I like to get a listener I can trust. It's @ sort of blow-off, you know, and I feel lighter after it. When I am among my brethren I dare hardly think of what has gone before. Now, I'll tell you about an- other job I was in. To this day I cannot think about it without laughing.” I lit another cigar and composed myself to listen, ~ “it was when I was @ youngster,” sald he. “There was a big city man in those days who was known to have a very val- uable gold watch. I followed him about for several days before I could get a chance; but when I did get one, you may be sure I did not throw it away. He found, to his disgust, when he got home that day, that there was nothing in his fob. I hurried off with my prize, and got it stowed away in safety, intending to have it melted down the next day. Now, it happended that this watch possessed a special value in the owner’s eyes because it was a sort of ancestral possession—pre- sented by his father on coming of age, or something of that sort. I remember there was a long inscription on the back. He was determined not to lose it if he could help it, and accordingly he put an adver- tisement in an evening paper offering £30 reward for its return, and promising that no questions should be asked. He gave the address of his house, 81 Caroline square, at the end of the advertisement. The thing sounded good enough, so I set off for Caroline square, leaving the watch in a parcel at a public house which I pass- ed the way. When I got there, the gentleman was at dinner, but he came out quick enough when he heard that a young man wanted to see him. I suppose he guessed who the young man would prove to be. He was a genial-looking old fellow, and he led me away with him into his study. ‘Well, my !ad,’ said he, ‘what {s it?” “‘T’'ve come about that watch of yours,’ said I. ‘I think I can lay my hands on It. “Oh, it was you that took it!’ said he. No,’ I answered; ‘I know nothing what- ever about how you lost it. I have been sent by another party to see you about it. Even if you have me arrested you will not find out anything.” “Well,” he said, ‘I don’t want to be hard on you. Hand it over, and here is my check for the amount.’ It was not until she had been gone some time that I found out that in drawing out my hand in that hurried manner the new and ill-fitting ring had slipped over my finger and remained in the young lady’s pocket. I sprang out and ran in the direc- tion in which she had gone with the in- tention of picking her pocket once again. She had disappeared, however, and from that day till this I have never set eyes on her. only four pence half-penny in coppers in- side the purse. Sarve me right for trying to rob such a pretty girl; still, if I had that two hundred quid now I should not be re- duced to—Good heavens, forgive me! What am I saying?” He seemed inclined to relapse into silence after this; but I was determined to draw him out a little more, if I could possibly At This Moment She Rose Abruptly. “There ts less personal risk in manage It. I the branch you have been talking o! remarked, “than there is in burglary.” “Ah!” he sald, warming to his subject once again, “it is the higher game which is best worth aiming at. Talk about sport, sir, talk about fishing or hunting! why, it is tame in comparison! Think of the great country house with its men servants and its dogs and its firearms, and you with only your jimmy and your center bit, and your mother wit, which is best of all. It is the triumph of intellect over brute force, sir, as represented by bolts and bars.” “People generally look upon it as quite the reverse,” I remarked. “I was never one of those blundering life- preserver fellows,” sald my companion. “I did try my hand at garroting oncq but it was aj ist_my principles, ana ¥ gave it up. I have tried everything. I ve been a bedridden widow with three eo young children; but I do object to physical ree.” force.’ « ‘ou have been what?” said I, “A bed-ridden ‘widow. Advertising, you know, and getting subscriptions. I have tried them all,, You seem interested in these expenteicre he continued; “so I will tell you another anecdote. It was tha narrowest escapé fdr penal servitude that ever I had in my life. A pal and I had gone down on eguntry Leat—it doesn’t signify where st was—and taken up our headquarters in alittle provincial town. Somehow it gat, naised abroad that we were there, and hoysecholders were warned to be careful, ag, suspicious characters had been seen in the neighborhood. We should have changed owr, plans when we saw the fgaine was up; but my chum was a plucky fellow and wouldn’t,consent to back down, Poor little Jim! He was only thirtyour around the chest,,and about twelve at the biceps; but there i: not a measuring tapa in England could have given the size of his heart. He said we were in for it, and we must stick to it; so I agreed to stay, and we chose Morley Hall, the country house of a certain Col. Morley, to begin with. “Now, this Col. Morley was about the last man in the world that we should have meddied with. He was a shrewd, cool- headed fellow, who had knocked about and seen the world, and it seemed that he took a special pride in the detection of crimi- nals. However, we knew nothing of all this at the time; so we set forth hopefully to have a try at the house. “The reason that made us pick ‘him out ‘To make the matter worse, there was. among the rest was that he had a good- for-nothing groom, who was a tool in our hands. This fellow had drawn up a rough plan of the premises for us. The place was pretty well locked up and guarded, and the only weak point we could see was a certain trapdoor, the padlock of which was broken, and which opened from the roof into one of the lumber rooms. If we could only tind any method of reaching the roof we might force a way securely from above. We both thought the plan rather a good one, and it had a spice of original- ity about it which pleased us. It is not the mere jewels or plate, you know, that a good cracksman thinks about. The neat- ness of the job and his reputation for smartness are almost as important in his eyes. “We had been very quiet for a day or two, just to let suspicion die away. Then we set out one dark night, Jim and I, and got over the avenue railings and up to the house without meeting a soul. It was blowing hard, I remember, and the clouds hurrying across the sky. We had a good look at the front of the house, and then Jim went round to the garden side. He came running back in a minute or two in a great state of delight. ‘Why, Bill.’ he said, gripping me by the arm, ‘there never was such a bit of luck! They’ve been re- pairing the roof or something, and they've left the ladder standing.’ We avent round together, and there, sure enough, was the I seo. It is a very easy trick to pick up if you only give your mind to it. I hap- pened to have come across one of Col, Morley’s letters some days before, and I can write so that even now I defy an ex- rt to detect a difference between the nds. This was a great assistance to me now, for I tore a leaf out of my nocket- book and wrote something to this effect: “‘As Squire Brotherwick has seen some suspicious characters about, and the house may be attempted again, I have sent down to the bank, and ordered them to send up their bank cart to convey the whole of the plate to a place of safety. It will save us @ good deal of anxiety to know that it is in absolute security. Have it packed up and ready, and give the bearer a glass of beer.’ “Having composed this precious epistle, I addressed it to the butler, and carried it back to the Hall, saying that their mast had overtaken me on the way and ask me to deliver it. I was taken in and made much of downstairs; while a great packing case was dragged into the hall, and the plate stowed away, among cotton-wool and stuffing, It was nearly ready, wnen I heard the sound of wheels upon the gravel, and sauntered round just in time to ses & business-like closed car drive up to the door. One of my pals was sitting verv de- murely on the box; while Jim, with an offigial-looking hat, sprang out and bustled into the hall. ““‘Now, then,” I heard him say, ‘look sharp! What’s for the bank? Come on “Wait a minute, sir,’ said the butlet “‘Can’t wait. There’s a panic all over the country, and they are clamoring for us everywhere. Must drive on to Lord Slack- bury’s place, unless you are ready.” “Don’t go, sir!’ pleaded the butler. “Ther2’9 crly this one rope to tie. There; it is ready now. You'll look after it, won't you?” “That we will. You'll never have any more trouble with it now,’ said Jim, help- ing to push the great case into the car. “I think I had better go with you and see it stowed away in the bank,’ said the butler. ‘All right,’ said Jim, nothing abashed. ‘You can’t come in the car, though, for Lord Blackbury’s box will take up all the spare room. Let's see—it's 12 o'clock now, Well, you be waiting at the bank door at half-past 1, and you will just catch us.” “<All right—half-past 1,’ said the butler. “Good day,’ cried my chum, and away went the car, while I made a bit of a short cut and caught it around a turn of the roud. We drove right off into the next county, got a down train to London, and before midnight the colonel’s silver was fused into a solid lump.” I could not helping laughing at the ver- satility of the old scoundrel. “It was a daring game-to play,” I said. “Jt is always the daring game which suc- ceeds best,” he answered. ‘At this point the train began to show symptoms of slowing down, and my com- panion put on his overcoat and gave other ladder, towering above our heads, and one or two laborers’ hods lying about, which showed that some, work had been going on during the day: We had a good look round, to see that everything was quiet, and then we climbed up, Jim first and I after him. We got to the top, and were sitting on the slates, having a bit of a breather before beginning business, when you can fancy our feelings to se der that we came up by suddenly stand straight up in the air, and then slowly de- scend until it rested in the garden below! At first we hoped it might have slipped, though that was bad enough; but we soon had that idea put cut of our head. “ ‘Hullo, up there!’ cried a voice from be- lo} “We craned our heads over the edge, and there was a man, dressed, as far as we could make out, in evening dress, and standing in the middle og the grass plot. We kept quiet. “‘Hullo!’ he shouted again. ‘How do you feel yourself? Pretty comfortable, eh? Ha! ha! You London rogues thought we were green in the country; what's your opinion now?" “We both lay still, thcugh feeling pretty considerably small, as you may imagine. “It's all right! I see you,’ he continued. ‘why, I have been waiting behind that lilac bush every night for the last week, expecting to see you. I knew you couldn't resist going up that ladder, when you found the windows were too much for you— Joe! Ice!” : “*Yes, sir,’ sald a voice, and another man came from among the bushes. “Just you keep ycur eye on the roof, will you, while I ride down to the station and fetch up a couple of constables? Au revoir, gentlemen! You_don't mind wait- ing, I suppose? And Col. Morley—for it was the owner of the house himself—strodo off; and in a few minutes we heard the rat- tle of his horse's hoofs going down the avenue. “Well, sir, we felt precious silly, as you may imagine. It wasn’t so much having beon nabbed that bothered us as the fecl- ing of being caught in such a simple trap. We looked at each other in blank disgust, and then, to save our lives, we couldn't help bursting into laughter at our own fix. However, it was no laughing matter; so we set to work going round the roof, ‘and seeing if there was a likely water pipe or anything that might give us a chance of escape. We had to give it up as a bad job; so we sat down again, and made up our minds to the worst. Suddenly an idea flashed into my head, and I groped my way over the roof until I felt wood under my feet. I bent down and found that the colonel had actually forgotten to secure the padlock! You will often notice as you go through life, that it is the shrewdest and most cunning man who falls into the most absurd mistakes; and this was an example of it. You may guess that we did not lose much time, for we expected to hear the constables every moment. We dropped through ‘into the lumber room, slipped downstairs,®*tore open the library shutters, and weredtout and away before the astonished gréorfi could make out what had happened. There wasn’t time enough to take any Iittle‘souvenir with us, worse luck. I should have liked to have seen the colonel’s face when'-he came hack with the constables and found that the birds were flown.” si “Did you ever come across the colonel again?” I asked. z “Yes; we skinned“him of every bit of plate he had, dowh to the salt spoons, a few years later. It»was partly out of re- venge, you see, that we did it. It was a very well-managed and daring thing, one of the best I ever saw, and all done in open daylight, too.” | “How in the world did you do it” I asked. “Well, there were three of us in it—Jim ‘was one; and we set about it in this way: We wanted to begin by getting the col- onel out of the way, so I wrote him a note purporting to come from Squire Brother- wick, who lived about ten miles away, and was not always on the best of terms with the master of Morley Hall. I dressed my- self up as a groom and delivered the note myself. It was to the effect that the squire thought he was able to lay his hands on the scoundrels who had escaped from the colonel a couple of years before, and that if the colonel would ride over they would have little difficulty in securing them. I was sure that this would have the desired effect; so after handing it in, and remark- ing that I was the squire’s groom, I walk- ed off again, as if‘on the way back to my master’s. : “After getting out of sight of the house I crouched down behind a hedge; and, as I expected, in less than a quarter of an hour the colonel came swinging past me on his chestnut mare. Now, there is an- other accompiishment I possess which I have not mentioned to you yet, and that is, that I can copy any handwriting thet signs of being near the end of his journey. going on to Dover?” he said. e€ “For the continent?” “How long do you intend to travel?” “Only for a week or so.” “Well, I must leave you here. You will remember my name, won't you? John Wilkie, I am pleased to have met you. Is my umbrella behind you?” he added, stretching across. “No; I beg your par- don. Here it is in the corner,” and with an affable smile, the ex-cracksman stepped out, bowed, and disappeared among the crowd upon the platform. I lit another cigar, laughed as I thought of my late companion, and lifted up the Times, which he had left behind him. The bell had rung, the wheels were already revolving, when, to my astonishment, a pallid face looked in at me through the window. It was so contorted and agitated that I hardly recognized the features which I had been gazing upon during the last couple of hours. “Here, take it,” he said— “take it. It’s hardly worth my while to rob you of seven pounds four shillings; but I couldn’t resist once more trying my hand;” and he flung something into the carriage and disappeared. It was my old leather purse, with my re- turn ticket, and the whole of my travel- ing expenses. His newly awakened con- science had driven him to instant restitu- tion. : se THE QUESTION WAS ANSWERED. She Wanted Her Escort to Guess Her Age and the Conductor Spoke. From the New York Herald. Loud talking in public places, such as restaurants and public conveyances, is more of a European than an American custem, but occasionally you meet Amert- cans or persons born in this country of foreign parents who have that European habit strongly developed. Sometimes this hatit occasions embarrassment to those who indulge in it. A woman, dressed gaudily and in a way that did not comport with her years— for she was in the neighborhood of two score, while her attire would have been more appropriate for a girl of seventeen— entered a Broadway car at Herald square a few days ago. It was evident from her attire that she had an object in concealing her age. Her escort was anout thirty-flve years old. Their actions denoted that she was either his sweetheart or trying to be. ‘The woman talked very loudly; her escort answered quietly. Everybody in the car could hear every word she said. When the car reached 41st street she announced: “My birthday will be tomorrow.” “Indeed!” replied the escort, “I am glad you have imparted the information. It will give me the op—” “Now, see if you are a good guesser, Guess how many,” she interrupted. “Oh, I wouldn't like to try. < “Go on. Guess how many. “Forty-second!” cried the conductor, The passengers struggled to suppress laughter. The wonian’s escort smiled, but Sd Wi looked angry. “Let’s get out!’’ she said softly—the thing she had not said loudly. z ou ——§_+e+—____ Human Nature, From Tid-Bits. It is related that a certain man was re- cently very sad because his wife had gone on a visit, which she would not shorten in spite of his appeals to come home. He finally hit upon a plan to induce her to re- turn, He sent her a copy of each of the local papers with one item clipped out, and when she wrote to find out what it was ie had clipped from the papers he refused co tell her. The scheme worked admirably. In less than a week she was home to find out what it was that had been going on that her husband did not want her to know about. —_——_+e+_____ Also on the Lie. Brom the Indianapolis Journal. Teacher—“Tommy, would you say that a man lies easy, or les easily?” Tommy—“It depends on the man.’* ‘The Cry of Alarm. From the Meggendorfers Blaetten, Sergeant—‘‘Meler, just imagine yourself to be standing sentry at the outposts one evening. Suddenly a figure approaches you from behind, and you feel yourself casey by a pair of powerful arms, What will you give?” Soldier—‘Come, Marie, let me, loosel” Highest of all in Leavening Power.— Latest U.S. Gov't Report Ro al Ya7ZAB Baking Powder ABSOLUTELY PURE —s EXPENSIVE ERRORS Losses by Telegraph Companies and How They Originate. OPERATORS PAYING FOR MISTAKES AUnique Plan Compelling Care on the Part of Employes. SOME INTERESTING CASES Ss Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. N THE MATTER of damages claimed and aliowed, the telegraph companies of this country stand on almost equal terms with the steam and street railway companies. The steam railway cor- porations, of course, head the list, as the immense traffic car- ried by them natural- ly results in many injuries and consequent claims for a finan- cial healing balm. But with this one ex- ception the telegraph companies pay out as much money for damages as any other corporation in existence. The unique fea- ture of the payment of damages by the telegraph companies lies in the fact that while they allow damages, when the amount is not too large, they very seldom pay them out of their own treasuries. The employes ‘hat are responsible for the mis- takes that lead up to the claims for dam- ages pay the amount out of their salaries, and in this respect the telegraph corpora- tions possess an envious monopoly, from a stockholder’s point of view. Other corporations are prevented from following the example of the telegraph companies because of the difference in the salaries paid, the difficulty of placing the responsibility, and the larger damages al- lowed in lump sums. While the aggregate amount paid out by the telegraph com- panies is very large, the majority of claims will average from one to five hundred dol- lars. After the telegraph companies have located the authors of the mistakes they are given the opportunity of paying the claims off in installments, say, at the rate of ten dollars per month, or of quitting the company’s employ. If the employes con- sent to the first proposition the companies pay the bill, and keep tab on the ten-dollar allotments until the accounts have been wiped out. In the case of a railroad em- ploye the damages may be up in the thous- ands, and socner than be under this heavy load of indebtedness he quits the company and goes to another road. The telegraph operator cannot very well do this, on ac- count of only two companies being in the field, and consequently stands the squeeze. An Operator’s Mistake. To cite a case in poirt. A firm dealing in Christmas novelties was approached for a bid en 1,000 candy boxes of a peculiar make. This was a month before the holidays, and the boxes were to be used at a Sunday school celebration. The firm's bid was sat- isfactory and it telegraphed to the manu- facturers in Boston, the only firm in the trade that made this peculiar box. The telegram read: “Ship one thousand brick candy boxes at once.” The firm’s manager took a letter press copy of the telegram. Time went on and nothing was heard of the order. The Sun- day school people became nervous at the delay, and the firm, thinking its Boston friends were out of the boxes, finally gave up the order. Two days previous to Christ- mas an Adams Express messenger brought to the firm a package containing 100 brick boxes. When the firm's manager saw what the package was made up of he refused to receive it. Then the express company tele- graphed particulars to Boston, and the firm in that c!ty wrote a scorching letter, denouncing the local firm and threatening damages. ‘A hasty trip was made to the telegraph cffice and the criginal message scanned. it was all right. A copy of the telegram as received in Boston was forwarded, and it was found to read: “Send one hundred brick candy boxes by express.” The Boston firm was also sent a copy of the original message, and, of course, it looked to the telegraph company for re- dress, as did also the local firm for the loss of the sale. How such a mistake could have occurred is a mystery to a telegraph operator with careful ways, yet many in the business will understand that the pro- pensity “to copy behind” no doubt was the cause. The damages in the case in question amounted to something like $300, and an operator in New York city was held re- sponsible. An assessment of $10 a month was levied, and it goes without saying that that operator will do no more copying be- ni At Least Once Anyway. The writer recalls a similar case, in which he figured as the victim. A young operator considers it a great feat to “copy behind,” and being new in the business, compartively speaking, had worked him- self down to such a fine point that as high as twenty words, and sometimes a whole message, would be off the wires before he would begin to put it on paper. Then came the fatal “once too often.” A broker or- dered five thousand bags of coffee sold at a@ certain figure. When the message reached its destination it read “buy,” in- stead of “sell,” and the responsibility was finally placed, after much “ducking.” upon the writer, the damage resulting from the mistake being placed at $350, the broker losing on each bag of coffee a fraction of a cent. Had the message been sent at a time when the market was active the loss could just as easily have been away up in the thousands, When an operator is charged with such mistakes it is only bus- iness for him to try and place the blame on the operator at the other end of the line. This is called ducking. It is a well-known fact that hardly one telegraph operator cut of fifty, on an aver- age, but has gone through the experience of making a mistake. Some are lucky, and get off with a reprimand, while others will run into a financial loss. The earlier this mistake occurs in the operator’s career the better it will be for him, as it reduces to a normal state a popular disease known as the “swelled head.” Cases are cited to illus- trate that the making of mistakes has re- sulted in real benefits to the apparently unfortunate operator, inasmuch as after the damages have been decided upon the salary of the sponsor for the mistake has_ been raised sufficiently for him to meet the obligation without any considerable inconvenience. Little acts like these, in- stead of taking the heart out of a man of. tender years, will nerve him for better work in the future. One-of Dr. Green’s Ideas. In conversation with an official connected with one of the local telegraph offices the matter of damages and mistakes was broached. The official said: ~ “Tho unique way the telegraph compa- nies have of settling the claims for dam- ages resulting from mistakes of employes, 1 believe, originated in the fertile brain of the late Dr. Norvin Green, who was pres- ident of the Western Union Company at the time of his death. He believed in giv- ing an employe a chance to redeem him- self, and in way the plan of the em- ployes footing bills for their own mis- es came about. I was a youngster in the telegraph business when I first came across Dr. Green, and I well remember his words. We were discussing the case of a man that stood high on our books as re- gards to merit, but who had slipped up on an important message through his pro- pensity of copying behind. Dr. Green saidy “Have a talk with the young man and dissect his traits. If the inspection proves favorable and the damages are not too heavy make him foot ihe bill, but don’t discharge him.’ “I took his advice and it was a sight, gocd for weak eyes, to see that young fellow buckle down to work. In fact, he worked so hard and improved so fast that inside of six months I gave him two in- creases in salary. His indebtedness was scon liquidated and he went up the ladder of success with more than the usual ra- pidity. Today he sees to it that more than three hundred operators do their tele- graphing correctly. He has frequently told me that his one mistake, while costly at the time of its occurrence, was a blessi: behind a mask. We would have ruin that man’s career had he been discharged. Some Will Not Settle. . “But all operators will not foot the bill of damages,” continued the telegraph of- ficial wit a merry twinkle in his eye, “and especially is this so in the cases of first-class men. When a $300 suit and its usual termination confronts them they quit instanter and we have to settle the bill. They are so expert that the press as- sociations, brokers or the opposition com- pany gobble them up. Sometimes they drift into the larger cities and under as- sumed names come back into our employ and we are unable to catch them. They take as an excuse for not paying the bill that they are too expert to make mistakes, but when the man at the other end of the wire is equally as good at the business the proper location of the mistake is not difficult. A receiver of the Morse alphabet will make ten mistakes while the sender of the same will make one. The class of employes that, as a rule, make the mis- takes and are willing to pay the piper are these receiving salaries ranging from $45 to $60 a month. They are comparatively new at the business and want to stay with us. “It is not necessary to tell you of the immense business we do with the racing associations and their patrons. It amounts up in the millions each year, but strange to say, mistakes are few and far between. This might seem strange to those not conversant with the true state of affairs, but to me it is easily explained. Three out of four operators have, at some time, taken an interest in horse racing, and al- thovgh it may not have been to the ex- tent of more than a $19 bill, they never forget the experience. Consequently they silently follow the horses, but we make it a point to place men on the race wires that_know every horse from ‘Snooks’ up to ‘Henry of Navarre.’ Then we place a list of the entries for the day before them and they get to know the horses’ names thcroughly, no matter how swiftly they come over the wires. Tip.on the Races. “Another thing in our faver, in dealing with the race associations and their fol- lowers, is that they are easy to deal with, and if we show them conclusively that the mistake was the result of bad wires, or quick transmission in our endeavor to serve them promptly, they will depart without broaching the subject of damages. “I remember a case in point in which a race track follower got a message that had a@ mistake in It, but which benefited him to euch an extent that I felt like making him pay damages. A message came to htm from Louisville, Ky., telling him to play a certain horse in the third race on the day in question. From early morning that day a tip on another horse in the same race had been floating around the office to euch a degree that everybody was sending money over to the island track. The ‘tip’ had come from Louisville and through an operator in that city. The message in question came in red-hot time and the op- erator that did the receiving is a first-class race track fiend. He had coilected together $50 and had sent it ‘over the river’ to be placed on the tip, and consequently he could see no other horse in the race, es- pecially as his friend had notified him over the wire that his money had been placed at the odds of 8 to 1. At the point where the racing man was advised to play a certain horse this man substituted the horse he was backing, and to this day he is willing to swear that the telegram read that way, and that if a mistake was made, the send- ing operator was the erring one. Strange to say, the horse backed by the operator won, consequently the sporting man at the track was away ahead, financialiy, on the transaction. This man came te me a week later and showed me the original message, and wanted to go up steirs and reward the operator for his mistake, but I wouldn’t aliow it, end after much persuasion con- vinced him that it would demoralize our business to permit him to do so. “I have always maintained, and gener- ally rightfully, that it is only through care- lessness of the gressest kind that mis- takes are made in our business. Of course I don’t refer to the press business, as the operators with the associations do not carry the responsibility and consequently a dozen ‘bulls’ a day on an average will be registered. Our operators are “instructed to spell out figures, but there is a class that will persist they know all the details thoroughly and will handle figures straight. Let me tell you a little story wherein & lady belonging to this class made an blunder, and through the connivance of a superior official made our company pay the bil It Ended in Marriage. “The lady in question was more than usually good looking, and I'll give her the credit of being a good operator. It was this goodness that made her take to re- ceiving figures instead of letters. She re- ceived a telegram one day over the New York wire calling for the purchase of 5,000 bushels of wheat. It was addressed to ona of our local brokers and came from one of his customers in that city. The message was ‘rushed,’ as usual in such cases, and in her haste our lady expert left off one of the ciphers and made the order, cali for 500, “Ths next day there was the deuce to pay. There had been a tremendous ad- vance in wheat and t broker and his customer were furious. I tried to bluff them off by citing the agreement printed on the back of each telegraph blank, calling for a repeating of the mes- eage, but they knew a thing or two and wouldn’t have it. Then, after locating the guilty party, I tried to , on their sym- pathies, telling them a bright and beauti- ful young lady had made the mistake and that she was the only support of an aged parent. This plea also failed, as they wouldn't believe the story of the company making the young lady pay the bill of damages if allowed. “After several days of wrargling we final- ly Gecided to take the loss and placed it at $800. The broker first claimed $2,000. Thig was an immense sum to the lady, and she had a case of hysterics when I told her of the final decision. Then after a day’s pondering she came to me with tears in her eyes and said she had devided to work out the loss. Day after day she sat there with gloom on her face, but worked per- sistently on, her determination winning the love of her superior officer. I think she paid about two menths’ assessments, or about $20, when she left the company high and dry with a bill of $780 on its hands, She went off and got married. Oh, who married her? Well, she sometimes calls herself my better half. a The Batteries He Charged. From the Cincinnati Tribune. “Say,” shouted the G. A. R. man, “what right have you to be telkin’ about chargin’ batteries at Vicksburg? You know you were too young. Was it—the truth?” “Aw, old maa, who said anything about the war?” replied the youth. “I am an e-ectrician.” 00 The Grace of Experience. From the Boston Transcript. He—“How well Miss Elderberry carries her age.” She—"But, then, she has become so a0- customed to it, you know.”