"I say, Johnny, what will you take for the rat?"
An Oakland, California, bootblack deserves special mention as an honest man who would not deceive his patrons. When he first went into business, six years ago, he put up a sign which read:
"Joe Garibaldi, bootblack. Has two small children."
Each succeeding year found him deserving of more sympathy, for he kept amending the sign, until it read eight small children. A few days ago Joe's bootblack stand was locked for a whole day, and when he returned the next morning, he confided to the butcher's boy that his baby had died. His first work was to amend the sign so that it might not mislead the public, and it then read: "Joe Garibaldi, bootblack. Has seven small children." Then, to avoid being placed in a false position before the public, he added with his finger and shoe-blacking, "One he die."
Senator Voorhees relates a story of emotional eloquence which came to an ignominious end, as Current Literature tells it. He had succeeded in delivering an appeal which had brought tears to the eyes of several jurymen. Then arose the prosecuting attorney, a gruff old man with a piping voice and nasal twang.
"Gentlemen," said he, deliberately helping himself to a pinch of snuff, "you might as well understand from the beginning that I am not boring for water."
This proved so effectual a wet blanket to the emotions excited by Mr. Voorhees that he realized the futility of his own "boring."