path: root/53280-0.txt

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 53280 ***

 [Illustration:

            WILL ROSSITER’S
             TALKALOGUES
      BY THE WORLD’S BEST WRITERS

   J. S. OGILVIE         57 ROSE STREET
   PUBLISHING COMPANY    NEW YORK
 ]

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            WILL ROSSITER’S

                                ORIGINAL
                              TALKALOGUES.

                                   BY

                            AMERICAN JOKERS.

                                -------

                  (COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY WILL ROSSITER.)

                                -------

                               NEW YORK:
                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
                            57 ROSE STREET.




------------------------------------------------------------------------




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------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            PUBLISHER’S NOTE


                    If at times you’re feeling blue,
                  Take this book and read it through;
                    Pass it on to friend or brother;
                     For yourself—just buy another!




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                                Contents


               TALKALOGUES                           9-33
                            _By E. P. Moran_

               MORE TALKALOGUES                     34-38
                          _By Joseph Horrigan_

               LOVE AND LAGER BEER                     38
                        _By Leontine Stanfield_

               THE MAN FROM SQUASHOPOLIS            40-49
                          _By Harry L. Newton_

               THE PACIFIC SLOPE                    49-60
                          _By Harry L. Newton_

               WOULDN’T GOLF DIALECT DO?            60-62

               SOME WESTERN STORIES                 62-64

               HAPPENINGS IN KEROSENELAMPVILLE      64-67

               BITS OF VERSE AND PROSE              68-72
                         _By Edwards & Ronney_

               RAPID FIRE                           73-85
                          _By Harry L. Newton_

               “A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME”              86

               AN ORIGINAL HABEAS CORPUS CASE       87-89

               LI HUNG CHANG’S JOKE                    89

               FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH A PLAYWRIGHT    90-95
                          _By Harry L. Newton_

               POPULAR SONGS APPROPRIATELY APPLIED     96




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            WILL ROSSITER’S

                                Original
                              Talkalogues


Well, well! here we are again! I just did manage to get here on time,
too. I never thought I’d be able to do it in the world. My wife and I
were out riding in our automobile, and we got into a heated argument as
to which of us was the better chauffeur. During the excitement of the
argument we both neglected to hold the lines of the automobile, and it
shied at a piece of paper and ran away.

Instinct told us both to make a grab, I for the lever and she for my
hair. Just then the automobile struck the curb-stone, and my wife and I
had a “falling out.”

[Illustration:

  My wife and I had a “falling out.”
]

There I was, several miles from the theater, with a broken-down
automobile and an angry wife that wouldn’t speak to me. Wasn’t that
suffering for you? I felt sure that I could make it to the theater all
right, but I didn’t know whether I’d have time to “make up” or not.

This trying to please a woman is a tough game. I tell you, ladies, the
trouble is the men don’t know just how to take their wives. Now I took
mine in an automobile, and it turned out a frost. Maybe if I had taken
her in a wheelbarrow she’d have thought it delightful—still, I doubt it.

But I wasn’t married always; I was an American citizen once myself. I
say American citizen once, because an American citizen prides himself
that he is under no tyrannical ruler, enjoys liberty and the fact that
he can do as he pleases. Therefore, a married man can’t be an American
citizen.

The reason I married was that I was out of work. I answered an
advertisement for a situation, and the proprietor asked me “if I was
married.” I told him no, that I was single. Then he said: “Well, I’d
give you the position at once, only I must have a married man.” I said:
“Keep the place open for about an hour, and I’ll fix that all right—it’s
easier to get married than it is to get a job.”

There’s no trouble in getting married at all; the trouble starts after
you are married—when you have to get up in the middle of the night and
walk the floor with Reginald singing coon songs; that is, Reginald does
not sing coon songs—you’ve got to sing to Reggy; and you can’t sing a
lullaby, or you’d go to sleep yourself.

Why, I had an awfully hard time getting used to it; the kid used to cry
so much that it wouldn’t even stop for meals. The neighbors all said:
“O, my! why don’t you feed that baby on Mellin’s food? It would make a
different child of him.” I didn’t say a word to anyone, but went out and
bought eight watermelons and five cantaloupes and then I fed him till I
thought he’d bust. Well, after the doctors brought him to, he was a
different child; they asked me why I didn’t feed him on cucumbers and
sliced tripe.

Of course, after that experience I knew better. So I got a box of the
true article at the druggist’s, and took the baby on my knee to feed
him. The directions said: “Before feeding the baby, shake well.” Well,
that was pie for me, because I had it in for him, anyway. I nearly shook
the life out of him; then I fed him.

[Illustration:

  “Before feeding the baby, shake well.”
]

I was overly anxious to follow the directions strictly to the letter, so
I read the whole thing through two or three times to make sure. Down
near the bottom it read: “N. B.—After child is fed—set in a cool place—”
I put him in the ice-box.

                  *       *       *       *       *

I went home the other evening and my wife said: “Ed, you know that this
is the night that we are to go to the swell reception given by the
Richmonds.” I said: “Yes, dear, I remember.” I hadn’t given it a
thought, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Then she came over and put
her arms around me and started to cry. I asked what the trouble was, and
she said: “Well, you know, dear, I only intended getting just a light
dinner, because, you know, we’ll get plenty to eat at the reception.”
Then I lied again and said: “Yes, I know.” “Well,” she went, on, “the
cook has allowed what little we were going to have to burn, and now
there isn’t a thing in the house fit to eat. But don’t scold,” she said,
“for she is so young and inexperienced, and, besides, she’s so sweet;
won’t a kiss do instead?” I was pretty hungry, but I said: “All right;
send her in.”

[Illustration:

  Put her arms around me and started to cry
]

For a long time I didn’t think we’d go to the reception—but, finally I
squared matters and told her to run on and get dressed. I read the
evening paper until she started putting on her hat,—and then I started
to get ready. After I was dressed and waiting about five minutes she
said she was ready. So we started for the reception, she on her dignity
and I on an empty stomach. And I might as well say right here, I took my
empty stomach back home with me again, for all I saw there to eat was
some opera-glass sandwiches—that is, you could look through them.

With these they passed around lemonade, and after that was gobbled up by
the hungry mob they flashed a box or two of bon-bons. Think of
it—bon-bons on an empty stomach! If it wasn’t for fear of my wife being
jealous I’d have gone to the kitchen and made a play for the cook.

I never attended anything that I got so disgusted with in all my life.
Did you ever have to go to one, fellows, with your wife? The women all
sit around in bunches, and each bunch runs down the others. Mrs.
Hypocrite will look up rather suddenly to see if she can discover
anybody talking about her, and she notices that Mrs. Stabyouinthe Back
is gazing fixedly at her; then, each seeing that they are caught, smile
sweetly, bow to each other and go back to knocking.

How can they do it, girls? How can they do it? Each woman there knew,
deep down in her heart, that every woman three feet away was talking
about her! If it wasn’t about her hat being one of last season’s styles
it was about the way her dress was made; and if both of these happened
to be above criticism then they would say: “O, pshaw! what good is all
that finery to her? It doesn’t become her! It would be just the same if
she had a Worth gown on, and the hat—well, she could put on picture-hats
from all the picture-books published and it wouldn’t make her look
dressed! Why, she can look well with nothing on!”

As though that woman would go to a reception with nothing on!

But the part that takes my time is that after all their knocking they
stand in the hall when it’s time to go home, and, with the door open
until everybody in the house is chilled to death, they have three or
four rounds of kisses, tell what a delightful time they have had and
invite each other to come and see them!

Henceforth I scratch receptions off my list. Nothing but a stag goes
with me any more.

There was one poor fellow there that I took quite a fancy to—he was
holding up the wall opposite to me. After a bit I went over and spoke to
him. “How are you getting on?” I asked. “O, I’m holding up all right,”
he said—I didn’t know whether he meant the wall or his spirits.

We talked for a while, and then he gaped and said: “Excuse me”; and I
gaped and said: “Excuse me.” Then after a bit I gaped and said: “Pardon
me”; and he gaped immediately after me and said: “Pardon me,” and we
went on talking. Finally he said: “Don’t you think it’s a long gap
between gaps?” I said: “So it is.” Then, feeling one coming on, I said:
“Have a gap on me.” He said: “Not on your life! The last one was on you;
have this one on me”—and I did.

I said: “It’s awfully slow here, isn’t it?” “I should say it is,” he
replied. I said: “Let’s go home.” “I am home,” he said; “my wife is
giving this affair.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

My mother-in-law is a lovely woman—at least, that’s what my wife tells
me, anyway; so it must be so. The old dame thinks a great deal of me,
too—in fact, she’s always thinking of me, and she’s not the little girl
that’s afraid to tell me what she’s thinking, either. My! but my left
ear is burning!

We came near losing her the other day—unintentionally on our part, too,
because you couldn’t lose her if you tried.

It happened in this way: We have a large, old-fashioned clock hanging in
the hall. It’s a massive affair and weighs quite a bit. Well, we were
all surprised to hear a terrible crash, which was caused by the clock
falling from its place on the wall and breaking in a thousand pieces.

Now my mother-in-law figures in the story in this way: She had been
standing right underneath that clock only two minutes before it fell—and
had walked away.

Of course, I was awfully sorry—to lose the clock, as it had been in our
family for generations back, and in all those years it had kept good
time up until the time it fell—and then it was ONLY TWO MINUTES SLOW.

[Illustration:

  Only two minutes slow
]

                  *       *       *       *       *

I was walking along the street the other day when a tramp walked up and
touched me on the arm. He said: “Pardon me, but I have seen better
days.” I said: “So have I. I can remember back when such awful weather
as this was unknown.”

[Illustration:

  A tramp touched me on the arm
]

I said: “So long,” and started to walk away, but little Willie was right
there. “Excuse me,” he said, “but will you give me five cents for a bite
to eat?” I said: “A bite! what good is a bite? If you had a meal for
sale I might talk business to you.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

Of all the narrow escapes from death I ever witnessed I think the one
that I saw to-day was nothing short of a miracle. I was walking along
Broadway [substitute local street] when my attention was attracted to a
man standing on a scaffold painting an advertising sign on the fourth
story of a building. It made me feel dizzy to look up at him. He worked
away, seemingly unconscious of his dangerous position.

Suddenly I noticed him stagger; he made a grab for one of the ropes to
protect himself, but missed it. I closed my eyes in horror as I saw him
fall—the blood seemed to freeze in my very veins—I felt faint.

[Illustration:

  I closed my eyes in horror
]

I could stand the suspense no longer. I opened my eyes, but all seemed
blurred before them. “Is he dead?” I asked of a man standing by my side.
“No; he’s all right,” the man answered. “But he fell, didn’t he?” I
cried. “O, yes, he fell all right,” he said; “but he landed on a bunch
of rubber-necks and bounced back on the scaffold again.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

Wishing to make the jump from New York to Chicago a few weeks ago, I
called on a friend of mine who stands pretty well with one of the
officials of a certain railroad. I asked my friend if he thought he
could get me a rate over that line, and he promised to see what he could
do for me.

He said: “I’ll go right down, and if I can possibly get you a rate I’ll
send word up to your hotel.” I said: “All right, old man; I’ll
appreciate it very much.”

After waiting around the hotel for about an hour I recollected that I
had a little business to transact down town, and I thought I’d have time
to attend to it and get back to my hotel before the message arrived
concerning the rate. So I bought a newspaper and jumped on a down-town
car.

I had scarcely rode over four or five blocks when the conductor came by
and shook me roughly by the arm and said, in a rough, surly manner:
“Hey, you! Did you expectorate? [Expect a rate.] Now don’t sit there and
tell me that you didn’t,” he added, “for I know you did.”

[Illustration:

  “Hey, you! did you expectorate?”
]

I was on my feet in an instant. “Why, you little insignificant,
illiterate collector of plugged coins and dispenser of pennies!” I
cried. “What do you mean by insulting me before this car full of people?
Yes,” I said, “I did expect a rate, but that’s my affair. It’s none of
your confounded business, nor anyone else’s, if I expect a pass! What I
expect and what I don’t expect concern me alone!”

“O, is that so?” he sneered. “You’re going to bluff me—that’s what you
expect. Now here’s what you don’t expect”—and he called a policeman and
had me arrested for spitting on the floor of the car.

                  *       *       *       *       *

Did you ever have the toothache? My! but isn’t it a great thing to make
you forget all your other troubles? I had the toothache the other night,
and it nearly had me wild. I wouldn’t have minded being awakened by the
tooth so much, but it was the nerve of the thing that struck me—and it
struck me properly.

I jumped up, dressed myself and dashed over to the dentist’s. I said:
“Doc, you argue with it, will you—you’ve got more of a pull than I
have.”

[Illustration:

  Dashed over to the dentist’s
]

Then after he had it out he showed it to me, and I was surprised to
think that such a tiny thing could make a person act so foolishly.

But I wasn’t the only one in misery, for there was a lady that came in
shortly after I, and her jaw was swollen out like that. [Measure.] The
doctor looked in her mouth and said: “My dear madam, you have evidently
made a mistake—this is a dental office, not a quarry. You’ll have to
take that to some place where they blast rock.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

I went into a cigar-store the other day, and walking up to the counter I
said to the proprietor: “Let me have a Childs cigar.” “Pardon me, sir,”
he said; “but what did you say you wanted?” “A Childs cigar, if you
please,” I replied. “A child’s cigar? I am very sorry,” he said; “but we
are not allowed to sell a child a cigar—but if a cinnamon cigarette will
do you any good I can sell you one of those.”

[Illustration:

  “Let me have a Childs cigar”
]

                  *       *       *       *       *

I had a friend once that suffered terribly from a half-dozen different
complaints. He woke up in the middle of the night once, and he didn’t
know what ached him the most—the cold that had settled on his chest, his
liver that was out of order, or the corn that he had on his little toe.

Anyway he got up, dressed himself and woke the druggist up to fix him
some medicine that would give him some relief. The druggist fixed him up
a powerful liniment, some pills and a corn-plaster, saying: “Rub your
chest with the liniment for your cold, swallow the pills for your liver
and use the corn-plaster for your toe.”

My friend kept repeating this to himself all the way back home, but when
he got there he was all puzzled up. He stuck the corn-plaster on his
chest, swallowed the liniment and tied the pills on his corn.

After that, he never suffered any more pain—he died without a struggle.

                  *       *       *       *       *

Isn’t it strange the funny things a man will run into? Now I ran into a
well-known comedian this morning. I got an awful bump, too—it cost me a
V. Have you ever noticed that an actor whom nature has best fitted for
comedy invariably wants to break into the legit., and vice versa?

Now, for instance, the man that I met this morning is doing comedy,
while every one that knows him will tell you that he is at his best in
“touching” scenes. He can get my testimonial any old time.

                  *       *       *       *       *

Do you know a woman can’t stand flattery? It’s a fact. Now I went home
the other evening, and, seeing my wife so earnestly engaged with the
housework I could not refrain from commenting on it. I said: “Why, my
dear, you’re as busy as a bee”—and the next day she got all jollied up
and broke out with the hives.

                             By E. P. Moran

[Illustration]

------------------------------------------------------------------------




There seems to be a lot of talk about woman suffrage going on lately.
It’s in reference to giving women the same right to vote that men have.
Some men are in favor of it, while others are not; but, strange to say,
the politicians to a man are against giving woman the right to vote, and
I’ll tell you why.

A politician can get up in front of a gathering of men, throw out his
chest and exclaim: “I am man’s greatest friend”—and they’ll believe him.
But can that man get up before a crowd of women and say: “I am woman’s
greatest friend”?

[Illustration:

  “I am man’s greatest friend”
]

No, sir—not on your life! They wouldn’t believe him—not while there is a
bottle of Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound on the market!

                  *       *       *       *       *

In front of the office of the New York Journal [name local paper] on
last election night, a tremendous crowd had gathered. They pushed and
squeezed each other in order to get a look at the election returns that
were being shown by the stereopticon. An old maid passed that way, and
wishing to continue on down the street she said to a police officer
standing there: “Officer, can I get through that crowd?”

[Illustration:

  “Officer, can I get thru that crowd?”
]

He looked at her a moment and said: “Lady, if you attempt to go through
that crowd you’ll be squeezed ’most to death.”

A bright smile overspread her antique countenance as she looked up at
him and said: “O, I’m not afraid to die!” Then she jumped into the
crowd.

                  *       *       *       *       *

In a small town in New England, where the laws against prize-fighting
are very strict, an ambitious youth by the name of Green was caught
training for a fight. He was arrested and brought before the Judge, who
said: “Mr. Green, you are charged with violating the law by training for
a prize-fight; have you anything to say in your defense?”

“Well, your honor,” said Green, “is it against the law for a young lady
to put on a corset?” “No,” replied the Judge, “it is not.”

“Then, your honor,” said Green, “I ask to be discharged, as there is no
difference between a fighter training for a fight and a young woman
putting on her corsets—they are both getting into shape.”

[Illustration:

  “I ask to be discharged”
]

                           By Joseph Horrigan

[Illustration]

------------------------------------------------------------------------




          Now the thing we call love is like lager beer,
          Only good when it’s fresh on tap, I fear.
          Out of cut-glass and silver of course it’s nice,
          If you can afford it and have the price;
          But you’ll find any day when your purse is small
          That from pewter it’s better than no beer at all.
          The one thing important, and this is no “con,”
          Is to get your drink quick, while the thirst is on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                             _The_ Man from
                              Squashopolis

                           By Harry L. Newton

 [Copyright MCMIII by Will Rossiter]


Ladies and gentlemen, and those that are sitting in the boxes, and you,
too, orchestra, you’ll pardon me if I hesitate for a moment, but I’ve
just returned from a very long walk. All the way from Squashopolis,
b’gosh! I think that was the name of the town where our show closed. We
say “Closed,” you see. You know when a saloon-keeper or a bank, or a
chop-suey restaurant, or an iceman, gives up business, we say that the
owner liquidated, or busted up, or went to the devil, or it was a frost;
but a theatrical troupe always “closes.” It sounds better, you know;
just as if the manager got tired taking in money and was hiding some
place so that no one could throw any twenty-dollar gold-pieces at him.

But Squashopolis is a great town! Ever heard of Squashopolis? No? Why,
it’s right between Pumpkinhollow and Spinachville. Squashopolis is the
largest town on the map. You see it was this way: The mayor and the
fire-department and the postmaster—that is, the fellow that ran the
saloon—bought a map of Indiana to find out where they were at, and
finding that the man who wrote the map had made a mistake and overlooked
the flourishing town of Squashopolis, the mayor and the fire-department,
etc., of the aforesaid town betook themselves to the pen and ink and
placed Squashopolis upon the map in a manner calculated to give their
beloved town its due importance and dignity; and that is how
Squashopolis became the largest town on the map. The census of the
village—I took it myself—revealed the fact that its population consists
of one saloon and three dogs. You see the town has gone to the dogs. I
asked the man at the railroad station where I could find the mayor. He
said: “Why, the mayor’s left and gone to the Klondike.” “How’d that
happen?” He said: “Why, money makes the mayor go.” Well, I’ll sing you a
sing.

                            [INTRODUCE SONG]

Well, I see that I’ve come out of that alive; now I’ll hand you some
more. Now, in all my adventures on land or sea, and I’ve often been at
sea as to where I was going to land (you never can tell in this
business), in all my travels the saddest event in my career occurred the
other day. I was invited to a swell dinner party—you know, a handful of
lettuce and a cup of coffee; they’re something fierce; you all know how
they are—maybe.

Well, as soon as I got through my turn I left the theater prepared for a
long walk, as it was some distance from—pay-day. I stepped into the
alley—you know they always dump us into the alley when they get through
with us (they dump everything into the alley—actors, ashes, everything),
then you have to sneak your way between the piles. Why, it, was only
last night that I fell in a heap.

Well, right on the corner of the alley I noticed a man posting some
bills. I said: “See here! Don’t post any bills there.” He says: “Why
not?” I said: “Don’t you see that sign: ‘Post no bills under penalty’?”
“Well, you big lobster,” said he, “don’t you see I’m posting them over
penalty?”

Now that man was in the wrong business. I said to him: “What are you
posting those bills for?” He says: “Why, don’t you see? Them are
pictures of Richard Mansfield. He said if I’d stick these pictures up
for him he’d buy the drinks.” I said: “O, I see; you’re sticking him for
the drinks.”

I just reached the sidewalk when I was approached by a tramp; no, not an
actor, but a decent, hard-working tramp. Yes, a hard-working tramp; I
know he worked me hard enough. He was one of those fellows who has a
child and sixteen wives to support. He said: “Friend, can you help a
poor old slob who has got money in the bank but don’t know how to make
out a check?” You know I’m generous; I’ve never yet refused any beggar
who came to me and asked—for a match. With tears in his voice he said:
“Say, mister, save me from a watery grave.” “How’s that?” I asked.
“Young fellow,” he says, “if you don’t give me a quarter I’ll have to
work in a soap factory or jump in the lake.” Well, I couldn’t help
parting with a week’s salary, so I gave him a quarter. You know,
somehow, he touched me. The man was overjoyed. “Friend,” he says,
“you’ve saved my life. I don’t know how to thank you. I feel as though I
never could repay you.” He never did.

[Illustration:

  I was approached by a tramp.
]

Talk about beggars! That night I met them all. If there was any I missed
they were on a vacation. They all seemed to take to me. They all seemed
to keep in touch with me, as it were. One man had nerve enough to ask me
for 19 cents to buy a shirtwaist. I gave him the 19 and told him not to
waste it. Talk about begging! I asked one man what he did for a living
and he begged the question. I asked: “Why don’t you go to work?” He
says: “I can’t; I’m a cripple.” I says: “That’s a lame excuse.” “Well,”
he says, “you see I’m tongue-tied and I can’t do a lick of work.”

Then a young worried woman—I mean married woman—stopped and said:
“Excuse me, sir, but I’m in such trouble. My husband gave me sixty cents
to go down to the Boston Store and buy some radishes and a new
folding-bed, and I forgot myself and thought that I was single and spent
the money for a bunch of Allegretti’s; and now I haven’t any money to
buy the radishes, and I don’t know how in the world to get home.”

I always did pity a woman in distress so I showed her the way. Then a
man came up to me and said—well, before he could say anything I asked
him: “Well, what is it? Radishes or a folding-bed?” He says: “I don’t
understand you. I wanted information as to where [local street] is.”
“O,” I said, “you want information? I thought you wanted a nickel.”

The doctors say that begging is a disease, and I notice everybody has a
“touch” of it. Why, I believe there are more beggars in this town than
there are prohibitionists in Milwaukee. Why, all the boxers in China are
a Sweet Caporal guard along side the soldiers of misfortune I met that
night. I made a detour around the courthouse to avoid their left flank,
but I was confronted by the enemy’s center, which advanced toward me and
occupied a strong position on [local street.]

They were commanded by a blind man with a picture of his finish on a
sixteen-inch hand-organ. With this he was doing great execution—to the
music. Among the wounded were the “Wild Irish Rose,” “She Is a Sensible
Girl,” “My Rainbow Coon,” “Whistling Rufus” and a “Bird in a Gilded
Cage.” “The Georgia Camp-Meeting” was also badly broken up.

My retreat being cut off by their right flank, which moved around to cop
me at [local store] kopje, I decided to cut my way through the center
and encounter the enemy en masse, en massay, en massee—well, in great
big juicy bunches.

One of the enemy approached me; as [local writer] would say, he was
brimful of the bibulous effervescence of concentrated outpourings of the
intellectual excrescences resulting from the imbibition of
infinitesimal—well, he was drunk. He started a spirited argument with
me. I scented trouble, and observing trouble—I mean a copper—I gave him
a cent. He gave me several scents and I almost lost my senses. He tried
to thank me but I told him not to breathe a word of it.

Then a deah little child came up to mah and spoke to mah. She said she
was a long way from home. Her aunt had given her three cents to chase
herself to the parental roof—to ride home on—and she lost the money.
Seeing she was but a little child (under 12 years), I thought it was
only half fare, so I put her on the car.

At this point the organ-grinder with a monkey began a disturbance on the
corner. One man declared he ought to be “pinched.” I said: “Certainly
not.” He asked: “Why not?” I said: “He is a human being and has a
perfect right to use his own organ.” He says: “Yes, as long as he
doesn’t monkey with anybody else’s.”

I will now beg leave to change the subject, and tell you about the
dinner party I mentioned seven minutes ago. Well, no sooner had I
arrived at my destination than I was greeted by the hostess, who said:
“Why, how do you do? Won’t you recite something?” You know they think an
actor is just like a slot-machine. You throw in a meal and out comes a
stunt. Well, I didn’t like the meal very well, so I sung them a song.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                           _The_ Pacific Slop

                           By Harry L. Newton

 [Copyright MCMIII by Will Rossiter]


I have just returned from the Pacific slip—slop—slope, I meant to say.
Excuse the slop—I mean the slip of the tongue. I say “returned,” but I
didn’t say in what way. That’s a long walk—I mean talk—I should say
story. That slip—slop—slope has got me sloppy—slippy—twisted, I mean.

Well, while on the slip—slop—slippery slope, I slopped—slipped in love.
I fell in love from slipping on the sloppy slope. I came pretty near
getting a life sentence—married, I mean; it’s the same thing. The girl I
loved was a brunette by birth. You know some are brunettes by accident;
this girl was born that way. I don’t like brunettes. I like the blondes.
This girl from the slope was a slippery—slobbery—slobby—I mean
nobby—girl and was deeply infatuated with me. She would do anybody,
anything for me. She declared she would die for me—and she did. That’s
how she’s a blonde now.

Her father was a doctor—a “cure-all.” He claimed he could cure anything.
When he found out I loved his daughter he tried to cure my love for her.
He gave me a prescription. His specialty was rejections—injections, I
mean. So he injected a load of buckshot into my frame. He said I needed
something to increase my weight, so he filled me with lead.

The prescription was a good one, though. If they hadn’t called in
another doctor to pick out the shot, my love would have certainly proved
fatal. They took me to a horse-pistol—I mean a hospital. While I was
filled with lead the boys used to come in and borrow me to go fishing
with. They used me for a stinker—I mean a sinker. One day I asked the
nurse how much longer I was going to be laid up and used for a sinker
and she said I’d be well enough to leave just as soon as the fish quit
biting. They couldn’t find all the shot that the prescription called
for, so I had to leave the hospital “half-shot.”

Well, I finally did a slide from the slope and came east by way of the
Northern Precipitate—Northern Pacific, I should say.

We started a game of poker on the train. I lost thirty dollars. When the
train was twenty miles out I was thirty dollars out. I didn’t have a
cent left. The conductor asked me for my fare and just then the train
stopped. One of the passengers called to the conductor and said: “What’s
the matter? Anything broke?” The conductor said; “Yes, one of the
passengers.” Then the conductor asked me if I could fix the “break.” I
couldn’t, so I got off.

Then the conductor began to kick about having to stop the train, and I
was the receiver for his kicks. They came so fast I couldn’t stop them
all. I do hate to feel—hear a man kick against little things. It wasn’t
fair—or rather it was fare—that is, I didn’t have the fare. But anyhow
it made me sore. I wouldn’t get back on his old train.

After I had collected my thoughts and the other parts of my anatomy, I
found I was several parts of anatomy shy; so I went up to the conductor
and I asked him if he had any old anatomy of mine hanging to him; that
is, if I had anything coming that I had not got. He raised his foot—his
large, massive right foot. I looked at it. It was too large for me; it
wasn’t my size. I knew as soon as I looked at it it wouldn’t fit me, so
I began to wend my way. I found it was cheaper to wend my way than to
pay my way.

When I got to the next station I went into a balloon—I mean
salome—so long—saloon; I always did forget that word. Well,
on the wall was one of those strong—wrong long-distance
telephones—nickel-in-the-slit—slop—slap—slot machine. I thought I’d call
up the doctor and tell him what I thought of him. I didn’t think much of
him—only about five cents’ worth.

So I slipped up to the slot and slipped a nickel in the slot to get a
connection with the slope I had just slipped from. Just then the keeper
of the life-shaving—life-saving station, the bar-slender—sender—tender,
asked me what I wanted; I said I thought I’d take a gee whiz—a ginfizz.
He said I had another thunk coming, so I told him I would take a glass
of Schlitz before I heard from the slope. So I slanted a glass of
Schlitz in the slot in my face and slowly sopped—sipped the Schlitz.
Just then the telephone-bell rang; I went to the rang and rung the ring.

The doctor says: “Who are you?” I says: “I’m the fellow that took your
prescription.” He says: “Well, what are you calling me up for?” I says:
“I ain’t calling you up; I’m calling you down.” He says: “I think you
sloped from the slope with my child, you slob, and if ever I see you
again I’ll puncture your——”

Just then the barfender—bender—lender—tender asked me to have another
Schlitz, so I dropped the fender—the sender to sip the Schlitz. Just as
I sized up the Schlitz to seize it the bartender told me to settle for
the last Schlitz. I couldn’t settle, so the bartender settled me. He
gave me a sassy slap in the slats and spilled all the Schlitz that I had
sipped.

Then I got desperate and commenced dropping nickels in the Schlitz and
Schlitzes in the slots, then I got some more slaps in the slats; the
doctor was trying to call me and I was calling the bartender—something I
can’t repeat here, and—well, I finally got out and after a while, about
thirty days after, I reached home—my old home. My father and mother said
it was the home of my birth. Well, if “my birth” owned that home he
never got any rent for it. The first person I met was a girl. Of course
I met three politicians; but she was the first person. She was a
singular person; she was the first person singular—singular because she
wasn’t married. But that wasn’t so singular, because she was born with
only one good eye. In the other one she got in a crockery store—kind of
a bum pair of lamps.

Then one day she had the misfortune to be walking on a railroad track
and she met a train—that, is, the train met her. Of course, there was no
regular introduction; they just came together as people and trains will.
Well, the train met her and now she’s got a cork—she’s got a corker.
[Slap leg with hand.] Well, as I say, I met the corker—I mean the
girl—and she told me she was engaged to be led to the slaughter—I mean
sled to the halter—I mean led to the altar; going to be
murdered—married; and she invited me to bring presents—I mean to be
present at the wedding.

There wasn’t many people knew she had a corker. The fellow that was
going to board her for life didn’t know she had a corker, either. The
day before the wedding the gloom—that is, the groom—you know, the fellow
that was going to marry the corker—I mean the girl—well, he was kind of
a diffident fellow; he asked me to go to the parsley—the parsnips—the
parson with him, and I went with the victim.

The parson charged him $5.00 to tie the connubial nit—the connubial
knot. The parson said: “My dear sir; I will charge you $5.00 to set you
sailing on the sea of matrimony.” My friend said: “Well, what’ll you
charge for a round-trip ticket?” You see he didn’t know about the
corker, but he was a corker. He says: “I’ll save you $4.00 to tie the
conjugal knit-knot”—not knit but knot. But the parson refused. He said:
“$5.00 or knot—nit.” The parson would not take any less than $5.00 for
the imposition—the operation. He belonged to the “union.” So my friend
that was engaged to the corker paid him the flea—the fee to knit the
knot—I mean tie the knot. Well, the next day we all went to the church
to see the fight—the wedding.

The young couple stood up in front of the parson and the parson opened a
jackpot—I mean the Bible, looked all around the church and said: “Is
there anybody here to give the bride away?” I jumped up and said: “Yes,
I can, but I won’t!”

Then the queer—I mean the choir sang queer—that is, the queer choir sang
“Take Me Just as I Am.” And the young fellow did. Of course, he didn’t
know anything about the corker until——

Well, an old woman, 78 or 48, who lived in the town died one day. Of
course, that isn’t strange, because old women die every day. But this
particular old lady—but she couldn’t have been particular, either, or
she wouldn’t have died. But anyhow she died, with a will, or against her
will; that is, she had a will or left a will when she died. In the will
she bequeathed to the corker—I mean the girl who married the fellow that
didn’t know she had a corker—she bequeathed to her an old arm-chair.

Everybody gave the young couple the horse-laugh, but the young fellow
took the old arm-chair home and put it in the house along with the glass
eye and the corker. A few days after that they sat down to the
breakfast-table—the fellow, the glass eye, the arm-chair and the
corker—and while sitting at breakfast, talking over their cocoa, the
husband said something over his cocoa, and then the wife said something
over her cocoa, and they got into an argument over their cocoa, and
finally he picked up the old arm-chair, over his cocoa, and passed it to
his wife, over her cocoa, and broke it all to pieces—not the cocoa, but
the old arm-chair. The old arm-chair was smashed all to pieces and out
rolled fifteen million dollars in gold bull-con—bull-coin—gold bullion.
You see, this wise old lady knew that the husband would break the old
chair over his wife’s cocoa when he found she had a——

[Illustration:

  Out rolled fifteen million dollars in gold
]

Well, the result was a divorce, and naturally the fellow that married
the remnant—the girl—came to me, as I had been present at the
execution—at the wedding—and he naturally looked upon me as a confidence
man—as a confidant—and he asked me my advice.

You see the corker’s brother, a big fellow that weighed about two
hundred and looked it, had taken offense at the sister’s husband talking
about family secrets and was out looking for trouble. So when the
husband came to me for advice I told him to challenge the brother to a
duel. He said he didn’t know anything about a duel. So I told him to go
get a pair of gloves, go up to the brother and slap him in the face with
the gloves.

The next day the young fellow got a pair of gloves, went up to the big
brother and slapped him in the face with the gloves. Then he came back
to report to me. I says: “Well, did you get the gloves?” He says: “Yes.”
I says: “What did you do after you got the gloves?” He says: “I did just
what you told me to do. I took the gloves in my hand and went up to the
big guy and slapped him in the face with the gloves.” I says: “Well,
what did he do?” He says: “He knocked me down and took the gloves away
from me.”

[Illustration]

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                       WOULDN’T GOLF DIALECT DO?


You’ve heard about the deacon, haven’t you? Deacon Jones? No? Well,
well! I thought you had. The deacon went up to our minister one Sunday
afternoon and told him he was looking for advice. The reverend gentleman
desired to know on what particular subject he required advice.

“I’ve taken to playing golf,” explained the other, “and I—er—I find it
difficult to restrain—er——”

“Ah, I see what you mean,” said the minister—“bad language.”

“Exactly,” replied the pillar of the church.

“Well, how would it be to put a stone in your pocket every time you
found yourself using a wrong word, just as a reminder, you know?”

“The very thing!” exclaimed the deacon; “thank you so much!” and
departed.

A few days later the worthy cleric was passing along the road which led
to the links, when he met an individual whose clothes stuck out all
over, with great, knobby lumps.

“Gracious me, Mr. Bagshawe!” he cried, as the object approached nearer,
“is that really you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” grunted the voice of the deacon.

“Why, you don’t mean—surely all those are not the result of my
suggestion?” continued the horrified parson, gazing at the telltale
bulges.

“These!” snorted the other contemptuously; “why, these are only the
‘dash its.’ The others are coming along on a wheel-barrow.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

------------------------------------------------------------------------




When I was out West I saw two miners playing cards in a place called
Toughnut Cafe. They finally found their amusement rather a dull one, for
neither could overreach the other. At last one of the precious pair
pushed his chair back, arose, and said:

“I’m tired of this; let’s have a change—I’ll jest bet yer a even
thousand that I kin take them keerds and cut the jack o’ hearts the very
fust time.”

“I’ll take yer,” replied the other, a very quiet fellow.

Stakes were deposited with an onlooker, and a pack of cards was produced
and laid on the table between the gamblers. The layer of the bet
thereupon drew his bowie-knife and neatly sliced the cards in two from
top to bottom.

“Thar,” said he, “I cut the jack o’ hearts the fust time, mister, an’ I
reckon I’ll freeze on to that thar cash. Fork her over, mister. The
agreement was that I were to cut the jack the fust time, an’ I done it.
I cut it, didn’t I?”

“Wal, no,” said the other, “I rayther think not, for th’ jack were not
there. Yer see, stranger, I thought it wiser, under the circumstances,
to take the precaution of placing that there card up my sleeve!”

                  *       *       *       *       *

Jap Johnson told me that! The greatest man to jump into a town and get
acquainted with folks I ever saw, Jap was. Give Jap a night and a day in
a country place and everybody there would call him by his first name,
and he’d call everybody the same way, even the girls. In forty-eight
hours he’d know every man, woman, child, horse, dog and cat in the town,
and could tell who married who, who got drunk once in a while, and who
had fits or rheumatics. Give him three days in a town and he’d have
every bit of the gossip and old, musty scandals that ever went over the
back fences of that town. He was a wonderful man, Jap was, and he could
sell goods like a house afire.

The biggest thing he ever did, though, was about four years ago. He had
four hours to spend in a little town out west. In that time he sold two
bales of goods, was invited to dinner by the mayor, decided four bets,
was referee in a dog-fight, proposed marriage and was accepted by the
belle of the place, borrowed ten dollars from her pa, beat another man
two games of billiards, and, it happening to be election day, he capped
the whole by sailing in and having himself elected town clerk by a
majority of eleven votes.

                  *       *       *       *       *

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                    HAPPENINGS IN KEROSENELAMPVILLE


Did you see me this morning? My cousin Silas was with me! He’s a good
fellow, Silas is! Deacon of the church in Kerosenelampville! Ever been
there? If you haven’t you’ve missed a lot—of trouble. I took Silas up to
our club one afternoon and when he saw Billy Smith and Chris Lane
playing chess he ventured to interrupt the game.

“Excuse me,” he said, “but the object of both of you is to git them
wooden things from where they are over to where they ain’t?”

“That partly expresses it,” replied Chris.

“An’ you’ve got to be continually on the lookout fer surprises an’
difficulties?”

“Constantly.”

“And if you ain’t mighty careful you’re going to lose some on ’em?”

“Yes.”

“An’ then there’s that other game I see some of you dress up odd for,
an’ play with long sticks an’ a little ball.”

“You mean golf?”

“That’s what I mean. Is that game amusin’?”

“It’s interesting, and the exercise is beneficial.”

“Well, I reckon it’s a mighty good joke.”

“To what do you refer?”

“The way I’ve been havin’ fun without knowing anything about it. If you
young gentlemen want to reely enjoy yourselves, you come over to my farm
an’ git me to let you drive pigs. You’ll git all the walkin’ you want,
an’ the way you have to watch for surprises, an’ slip about so’s not to
lose ’em, would tickle you nearly to death.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

One day an artist ambulated into Kerosenelampville, and Silas asked him:

“How much’ll you charge to paint my house with me a-standin’ in the
door?”

The artist said fifty dollars, and Silas told him to go ahead with the
work.

In due course the painting was finished. But, alas! the careless artist
clean forgot to paint my cousin on the picture.

“I like it,” said Silas; “but where’s me, lad—where’s me?”

The error he had made flashed across the artist, but he tried to pass it
off with a joke. “O,” he said, “you’ve gone inside to get my fifty
dollars.”

“O, have I?” said Silas; “p’r’aps I’ll be coomin’ out soon, and if I dew
I’ll pay you; in t’ meantime we’ll hang it up and wait.”

Just as I had entered a barber’s shop to-day and was hanging my
top-piece on a nail, a 290-pounder rushed in and said to the only other
man in the place—a fellow with his coat and vest off and an apron tied
around his waist:

“I want my hair cut, and no talk.”

“The——” began the man in the apron.

“No talk, I tell you!” shouted the heavy man. “Just a plain hair-cut.
I’ve read all the papers and don’t want any news. Start away now.”

The man in the apron obeyed.

When he had finished, the man who knew everything rose from his chair
and surveyed himself in the glass.

“Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “It’s really true, then? You barbers can’t
do your work properly unless you talk.”

“I don’t know,” said the man in the apron, quietly. “You must ask the
barber. He’ll be in presently. I’m the glazier from next door.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                         Bits of Verse & Prose

                          By Edwards & Ronney


                           LOVE’S WONDERMENT

                I loved a maiden fair as dewy morn;
                  She was not lean, nor was she stout;
                And as we spooned the livelong day
                  I wondered how ’twould all turn out;
                And the sun went up in the azure sky,
                  And the sun went down as she and me
                Sat all the time and wondered why,
                  And questioned what the end might be.

                I’m married; my wonderment is o’er—
                  The future now is no longer hid;
                For while my darling lays back to snore
                  I walk the floor with a howling kid;
                And my son I raise from his little bed,
                  For he won’t stay there—not he;
                And as my heel goes on a tack
                  I wonder what the end will be.

If you are in need of a good smart bank clerk go to Canada—the smartest
ones have gone over there.


                     FOUND IN A COUNTRY GRAVE-YARD

          Mary was healthy, Mary was young;
          But Mary lies here, for she had but one lung.

          She talked all her life till she died with lockjaw;
          I now rest in peace—she was my mother-in-law.

          The grass is green, the rose is red,
          But the man who lies here had no hair on his head.

          A man lies under this monument grand
          Who was caught with five aces at once in his hand.

          With seven wives when on earth he was blessed,
          But now the poor lobster is taking a rest.

          Lonely and sad and silent and damp,
          But nobody cares, for here lies a tramp.

          Johnny lies here all sweet and serene;
          Johnny ate apples both sour and green.

          On earth it may rain, hail and snow,
          But the climate is different, here below.

          The day-time is light and the night-time is dark;
          Did anyone know me—my name was John Clark?

          I never thought skating in winter was nice;
          But where I am now I wish they had ice.

          Neither flesh nor blood rest beneath these stones;
          Just fifty pounds of skin and bones.

                           THE RED, RED ROSE

                 The red, red rose is beautiful,
                   As it grows by the garden-walk,
                 But do not sit on the red, red rose—
                   There’s a thorn in its every stalk!

                      THINGS WE SHOULD NOT FORGET

No man can be all right—half of him is left.

And no matter which shoe you put on first you always put the left one on
last.

What kind of cow gives the milk of human kindness?

If all men were created alike, as the constitution of the United States
proclaims, what an awful time married women would have trying to find
their husbands!

If the man who wrote “The Snow, the Snow, the Beautiful Snow” lived in
Florida, then the man who wrote “There Is No Place Like Home” never had
a wife; ergo, no mother-in-law!

“There is more pleasure in giving than in receiving.” Certainly, if you
are talking about a licking. Any five-year-old kid knows that.

Most people keep their spirits up by pouring spirits down.

The Society for the Prevention of Crime is going to stop the Poultry
Show in Madison Square, New York. They say it is a fowl (foul) show.

A bald-headed man is surer of salvation than a man with an abundance of
hirsute appendage, there being not a hair between him and Heaven.

You can use the old saying “Slow but sure” when talking to me, but for
the sake of your own personal comfort, don’t say it to Dan Smith—and
above all don’t say it to Thomas Lipton.

We are all kings and queens in this country—we all have crowns on our
heads.

Men’s minds are like onions: some of them are stronger than others, and
what is in them often brings tears to women’s eyes.

    Hop medasin Kompanie:

    Gents—please dont send me enymoar uf yer patent medasin
    sirkulars. every tim i reed won uf them i half every diseas yu
    menshun. last sumor i hed the mesells an the kattel tuk it an
    they broak out uf the pastchur.

    Deer doctur:

    mi wife used tu stutter sum wen she talked. i used siks botels
    uv yer wundurfeel Remadie an now she has the locke gaw. pleas
    sent tu moar botels fer mi mutherinlaw.

                                                     Yers trooly
                                                         Hen Henpeck

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                               Rapid Fire

                           By HARRY L. NEWTON

                   COPYRIGHT MCMIII BY WILL ROSSITER


Tom (Comedian): Can you tell me where there’s a fire-insurance office?

Dick (Straight): Why, are you going to insure your property?

Tom: Well, not exactly; but my boss says he’s going to fire me, and I
want to see if I can’t get protection from the fire.

Dick: Well, why don’t you attend to business? Get around bright and
early in the morning.

Tom: I would, only my watch stopped this morning.

Dick: What was the matter with it?

Tom: A bedbug got between the ticks.

Dick: O, quit your kidding! I want to ask you something serious—

Tom: I don’t get paid until Saturday.

Dick: O, I don’t want money. I have a plenty of that.

Tom: My goodness! How long since?

Dick: I want you to understand that I am very well off.

Tom: Yes; you’re away off. (Taps forehead.)

Dick: That’ll do you!

Tom: But I knew the time when a bean sandwich looked like a week’s board
to you.

Dick: Well, you needn’t tell everybody here about it—that’s my
misfortune.

Tom: I won’t say a word. But if you don’t behave I’ll tell everybody
here that I loaned you a shirt, till you get yours from the laundry—

Dick: Say, please keep—

Tom: O, I won’t breathe it, don’t worry; and I won’t say a word about
you wearing my collar and tie, either—

Dick (angrily): See here—

Tom: O, shavings! Don’t get angry!

Dick: Well, then, listen and be serious. I have written a play—

Tom: Thirty days and costs.

Dick (sarcastically): I suppose you think you could write one.

Tom: I did write one; I wrote a melodrama.

Dick: A melodrama, eh? Was anybody killed?

Tom: No; the audience yelled for the author, but I wouldn’t come out.

Dick: Ha! Ha! It’s a good thing that you didn’t. Now in my first act—

Tom: Say, did you ever hear the story about my coal-bin?

Dick: No; is it a good one?

Tom: No; there’s nothing in it.

Dick: O, behave! In my first act I—

Tom: Say, a fellow asked me to-day if he would have to take a course in
a barber-school before he could shave ice at a soda-water counter.

Dick: O, behave! In the first act I have introduced a—

Tom: A piece of cheese.

Dick: Yes; a piece of cheese—no; nothing of the sort. The idea!

Tom: What’s the best way to catch a rat?

Dick: I suppose there are several ways. What is the best way to catch a
rat?

Tom: Crawl in a pantry and smell like a piece of cheese.

Dick: Will you behave? I heard you had been speculating on the board of
trade?

Tom: Yes; I was a speculator.

Dick: What were you, a bull or a bear?

Tom: Neither. They made a monkey out of me.

Dick: Serves you right! In the first act—

Tom: Say, are you still in the first act?

Dick: Certainly. Why don’t you let me go on?

Tom: O, go on; I don’t care what happens.

Dick: Well, in the first act, I have written—

Tom: You have written home for money.

Dick: Yes, I have written home—no, nothing of the sort.

Tom: Not guilty?

Dick: Not guilty; my folks haven’t seen my face in four months.

Tom: My goodness! Why don’t you wash it?

Dick: Now, stop it, I tell you! In the first act—

Tom: Why is a cascaret?

Dick: Why is a cascaret what?

Tom: Because it works while you sleep.

Dick: For goodness sake! is that a joke?

Tom: I should say so. It’s one of the best I ever traveled with.

Dick: Then you don’t travel with much, do you?

Tom: No; I generally travel with you.

Dick: O, behave, you rascal!

Tom: Say, do you know what?

Dick: No; what?

Tom: What is worse than a giraffe with a sore throat?

Dick: Why, I can’t imagine anything worse. What is worse?

Tom: A centipede with the chilblains.

Dick: I wish you’d behave! I was going by your house yesterday, and I
saw your sister looking out of the window; but I didn’t see any of the
rest of the family—

Tom: Well, sister is the only one that’s working, and she looks out for
us all.

Dick: Behave! Behave! Is your sister a blonde?

Tom: No, but she’s dyeing to be one. (Slaps himself on the wrist.)
Behave! how dare you!

Dick: Say, are you going to listen to me?

Tom: Certainly.

Dick: Well, in the first act the villain comes on and strikes the
heroine—

Tom: For ten cents to buy an automobile.

Dick: Yes, for ten cents to buy an auto—no, no, he strikes her—

Tom: Why, he must belong to the union, then?

Dick: Certainly, he does—no, he doesn’t either. The idea!

Tom: If two peaches make a date, and two dates make a pair, what do
apples make?

Dick: Why, apples make cider, of course.

Tom: And Pears make soap, is it?

Dick: Is it! You talk like a cake of yeast.

Tom: Sure. You see I always rise when I talk. Ha, Ha!

Dick: What are you laughing at?

Tom: That joke. I thought of it so quick. It must be quick-rising yeast,
are they?

Dick: Are they! There you go again.

Tom: Did you hear about it?

Dick: Hear about what?

Tom: My sister eloped yesterday.

Dick: Is that so?

Tom: Yes, a horse ran away with her.

Dick: O, behave! That reminds me. When are you going to get married?

Tom: Hush! Can you keep a secret?

Dick: Sure.

Tom: I’m married.

Dick: Why, that’s news to me. How long have you been married?

Tom: Six months.

Dick: Six months, eh? And I suppose you think your wife is an angel?

Tom: No, not quite—but I have hopes.

Dick: O, behave! You know in the first act—

Tom: You know when I asked my wife’s father to marry his daughter, I
said: “I love your daughter and I can’t live without her.”

Dick: Very noble of you. And what did the old gentleman say?

Tom: He says: “Take her, young man; I can’t live with her.”

Dick: Ha, ha! And you took her?

Tom: I did. I took her for better or worse, and got the worst of it.

Dick: Too bad! But who gave the bride away?

Tom: Her little brother.

Dick: Her little brother? I never heard of such a thing. The father
usually gives the bride away.

Tom: The old man never said a word. It was her little angel-faced
brother. He told everybody that she had a cork leg. It was an awful case
of give away.

Dick: Then I suppose you took a bridal tour?

Tom: No; I felt more like taking an ax to her.

Dick: Why, that, wouldn’t be very nice—to take an ax to her.

Tom: I would, only she began to sing “O, Woodman, Spare that Tree.”

Dick: O, behave!

Tom: You know my wife used to be a “summer girl.”

Dick: And what is a “summer girl?”

Tom: A “summer girl” is a rack to stretch shirt-waists on; inside is a
compartment for lobster salad, chop suey and ice cream; while outside is
an attachment for diamond rings.

Dick: A very good definition, my boy. I suppose you hung a diamond ring
on the outside?

Tom: No; I hung up my watch on the inside of a pawnshop.

Dick: Well, don’t worry—a man should be satisfied with what he has.

Tom: O, I’m satisfied with what I have. It’s what I haven’t got that
causes most of my dissatisfaction.

Dick: You look well. That ought to help some.

Tom: I just returned from taking a water cure.

Dick: Did you derive any benefit from the water?

Tom: I don’t know. You see the water was in a well, and I think the
exercise I got going to the well helped me.

Dick: Why, was the well a long way off?

Tom: Yes; you see I was far from well.

Dick: O, behave! In the first act—

Tom: Is your play funny?

Dick: Yes; every hearty laugh adds a day to a person’s life, you know.

Tom: I don’t believe it.

Dick: Why not?

Tom: I laughed yesterday when a guy slipped on a banana peel, and I’ll
bet he kicked ten days off of my life, all right.

Dick: Well, you only got what was coming to you. Now the first act—

Tom: Here’s a funny thing.

Dick: What’s that?

Tom: Why, night falls but it doesn’t break.

Dick: Well, what, of it?

Tom: O, nothing, except that day breaks but it doesn’t fall.

Dick: O, behave!

Tom: My landlady forgot this morning and helped me to a second piece of
steak.

Dick: That was luck.

Tom: Yes, tough luck.

Dick: O, behave! I see that Kid McCoy says he’s willing to meet any man
in the world for any amount of money.

Tom: So am I.

Dick: So are you? Why, the idea! Ha, ha! That makes me laugh.

Tom: Laugh away; but I’ll meet any man in the world for any amount of
money, any old time.

Dick: You will?

Tom: Yes, I will. J. P. Morgan preferred.

Dick: Good! You’re all right. Well, in the first act the heroine is
discovered asleep in a snow-bank.

Tom: Then she must have cold feet.

Dick: Yes, she has cold—no, she hasn’t got cold feet.

Tom: O, she has a hot-water bag on her feet?

Dick: Yes, she has, of course—no, she hasn’t either. The heroine is
discovered asleep in a snow-bank and the villain comes on and—

Tom: And she wakes up and gives him the “frozen face.”

Dick: Yes, now you’ve got it—O, behave!

Tom: Say, my old maid sister found a man under her bed last night.

Dick: Is that so? What did she do, send for a policeman?

Tom: No; she sent for a minister.

Dick: O, behave!

Tom: I ain’t going to church any more.

Dick: Not going to church? Why, what’s the reason?

Tom: I’m sore at the minister.

Dick: What about?

Tom: When my brother died the minister said he had gone to join the
great majority.

Dick: Well, what’s wrong with that? That’s simply an expression: “Gone
to join the great majority.”

Tom: Yes, but two weeks ago he said that more people went down below
than there were up above. Wouldn’t that jingle your small change?

Dick: I understand your brother was a hard drinker?

Tom: Yes; his habits were a little moist.

Dick: Moist?

Tom: Yes, he kept pretty well soaked.

Dick: The idea! In the first—

Tom: Gee! but my father was late in getting home last night.

Dick: What made him late?

Tom: The trolley-car kept stopping every two minutes.

Dick: Every two minutes?

Tom: Yes, it would stop every two minutes and then wait one minute
before starting again.

Dick: Wasn’t your father angry at the waits?

Tom: No, they were only short waits and he’s used to short weights—he’s
in the coal business.

Dick: O, behave!

Tom: If you ever do what you did last night I’ll never speak to you
again.

Dick: What did I do?

Tom: I met you last night just as I was coming in the hotel.

Dick: Yes; what of it?

Tom: You were going out of the hotel when I was coming in, and you
insulted me.

Dick: Insulted you? How did I insult you?

Tom: You were singing a song.

Dick: Well, what of it? There’s no harm in that. What song was I
singing?

Tom: “All Going Out; Nothin’ comin’ in.”

Dick: O, behave!

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                       “A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME”


Bishop Conaty, rector of the Catholic University at Washington, while on
a visit to Brooklyn recently, told of a priest’s experience in a small
New England town. The clergyman was just about to retire for the night
when he heard a knock at his door. He called “Come in,” and a negro
presented himself and said, rather shamefacedly:

“Father, there is a girl outside. May I bring her in?”

Assent having been given, he disappeared for a moment, and returned with
a white woman and informed the scandalized priest that they wished to be
married.

He was shown the door with promptness, and the girl was severely
admonished on the course she was pursuing.

Fifteen minutes later there came another knock, and on opening the door
the priest found himself again face to face with the would-be colored
bridegroom.

With great indignation the priest said:

“I thought I sent you about your business before!”

The darkey paralyzed him with this reply:

“Yes, I know you did, Father James; but Mary and I have talked it over,
and we thought maybe you would look at the matter differently if you
knew I was willing to turn Irish.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                     AN ORIGINAL HABEAS CORPUS CASE


Some years ago a well-known promoter started to boom a new town in
Montana. He adopted the usual methods, built electric railroads,
established an electric-light plant, put up business blocks, and erected
himself a fine house.

Among the other business enterprises he established a bank, of which he
made himself president, and, in order to inspire confidence in this, as
well as in his other ventures, he persuaded some well-known Montana men
to become directors, among others the then United States Senator T. C.
Power.

Things went along swimmingly until the panic of 1893, and then the
bubble burst, and the bank suffered in consequence. At a directors’
meeting, at which the president was conspicuous by his absence, it was
decided that rather than have the bank fail, each stockholder would “dig
up” and save it. After the meeting the members of the board went around
to Mr. Promoter’s house to acquaint him with their decision. They found
him smoking in his luxurious library, and he listened attentively until
the spokesman had finished his explanation, and then he said:

“This is a very good idea, gentlemen, very, and I only regret I cannot
join you.”

“Why not?” inquired almost every man at once.

“Because I have absolutely nothing to give.”

“What’s the matter with your business blocks?” asked one.

“They belong to my wife,” suavely replied Mr. Promoter.

“How about your electric railroad?” inquired another.

“That, too, belongs to my wife.”

“Well, to whom does this house belong?”

“I gave it to my wife as soon as it was built. I am very sorry, but you
see I have absolutely nothing but my body that I can call my own. I
would gladly give that to be divided up if it would do any good.”

“Well, gentlemen,” and Senator Power spoke for the first time, “if you
decide to accept Mr. Promoter’s last proposition and take his body, I
speak for his gall.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          LI HUNG CHANG’S JOKE


A salutation of respect in China is to comment on the mature and even
venerable appearance of one’s guest. When the Minister to Siam called
officially on Li Hung Chang he was accompanied by a prominent
missionary, a man eighty years of age, with white hair and beard, who
was to serve as interpreter. Unknown to Mr. Barrett, the missionary and
the Chinaman had had a falling out some years before. Li came into the
reception-room, saluted Mr. Barrett cordially, and bowed stiffly to the
patriarchal interpreter. To the youthful minister the premier said:

“I congratulate you, sir, on your venerable mien.” And then, nodding
toward the octogenarian, he asked: “And is this your son?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            Fifteen Minutes
                           with a Playwright

                           By HARRY L. NEWTON

                  [COPYRIGHT MCMIII BY WILL ROSSITER]


I have written the scenario of a play, which I think will prove an
innovation in the drama. It is entitled plain “MICKEY THE MOUSE: or, THE
POROUS PLASTER.” The porous plaster does not appear in the play at all—I
merely tack it on the title to make the play draw well.

                                 ACT I

Scene 1: Curtain rises to terrific snow-storm. Thermometer 906 degrees
below faro—zero. Heroine, as poor flower-girl, enters in an automobile;
bunch of violets in each hand, bunch of roses in another, while with the
other she holds herself—erect. She wears a beautiful sealskin coat, and
a sad smile, for her parents have only five million dollars apiece and
no coal, and she has to help support the family by selling violets and
daffodils at so much per daffi.

“Fresh violets! Fresh roasted violets!” she cries. Enter chorus and sing
song in answer to The Maiden’s Prayer.

Exit chorus, enter villain, an icy smile on his face. Can you blame it?

“I have come to ask you for your hand.”

“I have only two. I have none to spare—I need them both!” the maiden
cries.

“O, car-r-ses! car-r-ses! and once again car-r-ses! Can nothing thaw
you?” the villain thus speaks.

“You are a bum actor. I cannot give you a hand. I can only give you the
frozen face.”

“Filed—foiled! in act first, but watch my smoke in act two.” Curtain,
VERY quick curtain.

                                 ACT II

Scene 2: Same as in Act I, only more so.

The snow is still snowing. Nothing is heard but the howling of the
audience—howling of the wind. Enter the villain and Mickey the Mouse.
Villain bribes The Mouse to kidnap the heroine, tie her to the cold,
cold snow, go down to the river, bring it back, and make the heroine
take a cold plunge—to death.

Mickey the Mouse accepts. Enter Chasem Cheese, the brave detective. He
has been on the trail of the mouse so long that he has grown stale.

The Mouse smells Mr. Cheese. Exit The Mouse. Cheese follows closely,
still strong on the scent.

Heroine enters.

“Hot roses! Red-hot roses! Please buy my roses!”

Enter The Mouse. Womanlike, she screams at sight of The Mouse. He seizes
her and is just about to splash her into the river, which the
property-man has just pushed on. She begs him not to throw her into the
cold, cold water, but to wait until it’s warmer. “You had a mother
once,” she cries.

He did happen to have a mother once, and he relents; he waits until the
ice thaws, then he throws her in.

She is about to swallow the river, when the hero comes on and does a
song and dance. One more swallow and the river would vanish forever, but
the hero does not wait. He plunges in and gets his feet wet—all for the
love of her.

“Shaved—saved!” she cries; “you have saved my golden hair from being
lost forever!”

O, joy! exceeding joy! Exit sorrow until act third.

                                ACT III

Scene 1: Home of the poor flower-girl, on Fifth Avenue, New York.

Heroine discovered in boudoir of her wretched million-dollar residence.
Enter French maid with card.

“’Tis he!” the heroine screams—“my brave hair-restorer!”

She glides down the marble staircase; she would have done a two-step,
but the glide is more fashionable.

There is no handle on the front door, so she opens it with a glad smile.

The hero walks in upon her invitation; she seats herself upon his
entering, and, with a scream, faints upon his departure.

Again quick curtain.

                                 ACT IV

Scene 1: Same as Act III.

Heroine discovered in a pensive mood and an expensive gown.

Enter villain without knocking. He is no “knocker,” though he be a
villain.

“I have come for me answer!”

“Will you have it wrapped up?” she answers, a la Siegel-Cooper, and,
seizing a glass of wine, she dashes it in the villain’s face.

“Car-r-se the luck!” he yells. “The drinks are on me.”

Slow curtain to give the villain time to put on dry clothes for Act V.

                  *       *       *       *       *

Now, instead of an elapse of nine years between acts four and five, I
have written the play in nine acts. That ought to prove an innovation.

Between acts seven and eight another innovation: coffee and rolls will
be served. The ushers will pass hot coffee and the curtain will come
down with a roll.

Between acts eight and nine morning papers will be distributed, and the
milkmen will be admitted free.

Now comes Act V.

                  *       *       *       *       *

                                 ACT V

Scene: Home of The Mouse.

He is discovered trying to get into the ice-box for something to eat.

Enter Chasem Cheese, the brave detective.

The Mouse is surprised at the entrance of Cheese.

Desperate struggle.

The Mouse seizes a keg of gunpowder, hurls it at Cheese and blows him
into a thousand pieces.

But Cheese will not give up.

Startling and thrilling climax:

A piece of Cheese chases The Mouse off the stage to quick music.

                  *       *       *       *       *

That’s as far as I can get. That finish to Act V is so strong I don’t
know what to do for the other four acts.

A piece of cheese chasing a mouse has got anything beat that I ever
heard of in a drama.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                       WHAT SONGS ARE POPULAR IN—


Philadelphia: “Please Go ’Way and Let Me Sleep.”

Kentucky: “Trouble.”

Kansas: “I Guess I’ll Have to Go, ’Cause I Think It’s Going to Rain.”

Chicago: “Blue, Blew, Blew.”

Milwaukee: “Down Where the Wurzburger Flows.”

New Orleans: “Creole Belles.”

Coney Island: “My Water Lou.”

Sing Sing: “A Bird in a Gilded Cage.”

                         APPROPRIATE SONGS FOR—

Earl of Yarmouth to Alice Thaw (before marriage): “Can’t Live on Love.”
(After marriage): “Home Ain’t Nothin’ Like This.”

Grover Cleveland: “If Time Was Money I’d Be a Millionaire.”

J. P. Morgan: “Hello, Central, Give Me Heaven.”

Andrew Carnegie: “My Money Never Gives Out.”

Wm. J. Bryan: “If I But Knew.”

Jeffries to Corbett: “Just Kiss Yourself Good-By.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                      It astounds! and then some!

                             HAIR RAISING!

                          STARTLING! AMAZING!

                              Sophie Lyons

                         QUEEN OF THE BURGLARS.

                           _BY SOPHIE LYONS_

                      The Uncrowned Queen of Crime

In this epoch making book in which truth makes the wildest imaginings of
the wizards of fiction dull and commonplace, Sophie Lyons, known to the
police of two continents as the shrewdest, cleverest, brainiest, and
most daring and resourceful criminal of the age, tears aside the veil
and reveals the most desperate characters of the underworld, the
millionaire aristocrats of crime, as they plot, plan and later execute
their dark and incredible deeds. With breathless interest we watch these
masked midnight marauders as the mighty steel vaults of the greatest
financial institutions swing wide at their bidding, yielding their
boundless treasures to the crafty cracksman and scientific burglar, the
magic manipulators of gun, dynamite and jimmy.

                   Through the Whole Gamut of Crime,
                     Stupendous and Blood Curdling.

We are personally conducted by the Queen of Criminals. Read how
Gainsborough’s matchless Duchess of Devonshire was stolen, and how the
most desperate exploits in the annals of crime were successfully
executed. Your heart will almost cease to beat as the authoress tells
you of her miraculous escape from Sing Sing. Read how a million dollars
was dishonestly made, and learn in spite of enormous ill gotten gains

                        WHY CRIME DOES NOT PAY.
             TENSE!      THRILLING!!      BLOOD CURDLING!!!
                 FICTION OUTDONE!      ROMANCE ROUTED!

The most fascinating and astounding narrative of the underworld ever
placed before the public.

The work contains 268 pages of reading matter besides being fully
illustrated and bound in handsome paper cover printed in colors.

                  Price 25 cents, for sale everywhere.

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
                 57 ROSE STREET,              NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                      NEWS AGENTS AND BOOKSELLERS

will do well NOT TO READ our latest Joke Book just issued, unless they
wear a belt instead of suspenders, as their sides are apt to split with
laughter.

                                IT IS BY
                          RAYMOND AND CAVERLY
                            AND IS ENTITLED

                           The Wizards of Joy

[Illustration]

      These professional fun-doctors and dynamiters of sorrow have
          written a roundelay of merry patter, that is a sure
                    cure for any kind of melancholy.

          Witty German Dialogue! Clean! Amusing! Entertaining!

                   Funny Sayings, Jokes and Parodies.

                  GUARANTEED UNDER THE PURE FUN LAWS.

      The most up-to-date German dialect conversation, cross-fire
               jokes, gags, conundrums, songs, parodies,
                        and wit, on the market.

Raymond and Caverly are known from coast to coast as the most popular
vaudeville team of German comedians. Mr. Wm. R. Hearst recognized their
talent by running their humorous articles in his chain of papers,
including “The New York American,” “Boston American,” “Chicago
Examiner,” “San Francisco Examiner,” and “Atlanta Constitution.”
Thousands will embrace the opportunity to secure this good material in
book form. =THE BOOK WILL BE A BIG SELLER.=

It contains 178 pages, printed from new, large type on antique wove book
paper, illustrated, with attractive cover in colors. It is for sale by
all booksellers and newsdealers, or will be sent by mail, postpaid, on
receipt of =PRICE, 25 CENTS=.

          J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING CO., 57 ROSE ST., NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                       THE HOUSEWIFE’S TREASURE!
                       THE HOME-KEEPER’S DELIGHT!

                         PEERLESS! UNEQUALLED!

                                  THE
                           EVERYDAY COOK BOOK

saves money, saves labor. Makes cooking pleasurable, easy and
delightful. Without previous experience or instruction, by the aid of
this magic volume, the busy housewife can quickly learn to make hundreds
of savory, appetizing, nourishing dishes, plain or fancy, dainty or
substantial.

                 Easy! Practical! Economical! Concise!

                         THE EVERYDAY COOK BOOK

is the Aladdin’s lamp that converts the kitchen into fairy land, and the
stove, oven and range into magic producers of appetizing and delicious
edibles.

                     TWO THOUSAND FAVORITE RECIPES

for cooking every known variety of food. Dishes that tickle the palate,
satisfy the appetite, aid digestion, promote health and prolong life.
The magic portal to a world of toothsome delights.

                  IT TELLS YOU HOW! IT SHOWS YOU HOW!
                      Makes Poor Cooks Good Cooks!
          Converts Drudgery Into Pleasure, Toil Into Delight!
           It Tells You What to Eat! When to Eat! How to Eat!
                 What to Buy! When to Buy! How to Buy!

Every recipe has been thoroughly tried and tested, and pronounced by
numerous housewives to be _par excellence_, not only as to pleasant
results, but also in regard to the _small cost_ involved. Also contains
scores of immensely valuable household hints and information on every
subject of interest to the cook, housewife and home-keeper.

         A Cook Book and Home Encyclopedia All In One!
           Invaluable for the Kitchen! Unequalled for the Home!
             You Want It! You Cannot do Without It! Buy It Now!

The book contains 200 pages, size 7 × 5 inches, is bound in heavy paper
cover, and will be sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of only 25 cents
in stamps or silver.

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
             P. O. BOX 767        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                      OGILVIE’S JOKE BOOK SERIES.

[Illustration]

All of these books contain more laughs to the square inch than any other
books in the market. They are all bound in illustrated covers, profusely
illustrated throughout, and will be sent to any address upon receipt, in
stamps or money, of 25 cents per copy.

       Fun On Draught.
       Some Funny Things Said by Clever People.
       Five Hundred Merry Laughs.
       The Funny World. One hundred illustrations.
       Three Hundred Funny Stories.
       Twenty Good Stories.
       Tho Comic Cook Book.
       Ton of Fun.
       Jack Robinson’s Yarns.
       Funny Experiences of Mr. and Mrs. Bowser.
       Two Thousand Prize Jokes.
       A Bad Boy’s Diary. Part 1.
       A Bad Boy’s Diary. Part 2.
       Blunders of a Bashful Man.
       Trials and Troubles of the Bowser Family.
       Ten Funny Stories. By Opie Read.
       The Travels of a Tramp.
       Widder Doodle’s Courtship. By Josiah Allen’s Wife.
       Our Drummer’s Trip Through the Sunny South.
       Six Tank Tales. By Clarence Louis Cullen.
       New Irish Yarns. By Mickey Finn.
       The Sinker Stories. By J. Joseph Goodwin.
       New German Yarns. By J. Joseph Goodwin.
       Tales I’ve Heard Told. By Lewis A. Leonard.
       Race-Track Stories.
       Base-Ball Stories.
       Life in New York; or, Tales of the Bowery. By Mickey Finn.
       The Funny Fellows Grab-Bag.
       The King of Unadilla.
       Miss Slimmens’ Window.
       Miss Slimmens’ Boarding House.
       Corse Payton’s Joke Book.
       Hi Holler’s Joke Book.
       How About It? Joke Book.
       A Bad Boy’s Adventures. No. 1.
       A Bad Boy’s Adventures. No. 2.
       On a Fast Train Through Georgia.
       Slang Fables From Afar.
       A Feast of Fun.
       Opie Read In Arkansas.
       The Smiles I’ve Caused. Part 1.
       The Smiles I’ve Caused. Part 2.
       The Smiles I’ve Caused. Part 3.
       Twelve Kentucky Colonel Stories.
       Here’s to Ye; or, Toasts for Everybody.
       Weber and Fields’ Funny Sayings.
       Weber and Fields’ Stage Whispers.
       Old Isaacs’ Joke Book.
       A Drummer’s Diary.
       Stage Jokes. No. 1.
       Stage Jokes. No. 2.
       New Jokes by Old Jokers. No. 3.
       New Jokes by Old Jokers. No. 4.
       Drummers’ Samples.
       Southwick’s Monologues.
       Southwick’s Jokes Without Whiskers.
       Talkalogues.
       Hot Stuff Jokelets.
       A Thoroughbred Tramp.
       Actor’s Monologues and Jokes.
       On the Hog Train Through Kansas.
       Side-Tracked.
       Easy Money.
       Lew Hawkins In Black and White.
       Barber-Shop Joke Book.
       Hiram Birdseed at the Fair.
       On An Army Mule Through Virginia.
       Ogilvie’s Slow Train.
       The Sunny Side of Life. By A Merry Widow.
       The Scottish Joker at Home and Abroad. By Harry Lauder.
       Going Some.
       “The Man of the Hour” Joke Book.
       When the World Laughs.
       Picture Joke Book.

Mailed, postpaid, for 25 cents per copy. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                                  THE
                                FUNNIEST
                                  BOOK

issued in years is the one giving the account of the humorous adventures
of our old acquaintance

                            HIRAM BIRDSEED,
                              AT THE FAIR.

There is no “frost” about this book. It’s about the only thing at the
Jamestown Exposition that made a real hit, and YOU ought to read it.
Pronounced by critics to be the best thing since “David Harum.”

The book contains 245 pages of solid reading matter, 8 full-page
illustrations of the Exposition, and 25 full-page illustrations of
Hiram’s funny experiences. It is bound in paper covers handsomely
printed in colors and will be sent by mail, postpaid, to any address
upon receipt of only 25 cents in stamps or silver.

_If you enjoy a good laugh, don’t fail to send for this book._

Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                Are You Interested in Things Theatrical?

      If so, don’t fail to read the new book just issued entitled

                             STAGE SECRETS

                        AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE.

                   BEING THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ACTOR.

                             By FRANK LEE.

This book is all that its title implies as far as the life of those on
the stage is concerned, and especially as regards the snares and
pitfalls to be avoided in making contracts disadvantageous to an actor.

We give herewith some of the subjects written about:

                  The Vaudeville Manager’s Easy Graft.
                  The Actor Must Take All the Chances.
                  How Managers Rob One Another.
                  The Actor’s Fitful Game.
                  =Tricks of Managers and Agents.=
                  What the Actor Does With His Money.
                  Looking For Work.
                  The False Alarms.
                  Furnished Rooms.
                  =Actor’s Salaries.=
                  Playing Parts.
                  Stage Hands.
                  About Burlesque.
                  About Moving Pictures.
                  The Theatrical Clubs.
                  What Makes a Successful Sketch.
                  =How to Get Ideas.=
                  =What the Actor is Up Against.=
                  How to Get On the Stage.
                  How to Write Songs.
                  The One-Night Stands.
                  The Hotels.
                  Getting “Canned.”
                  The Dressing Rooms.
                  =How to Get a Big Salary.=
                  =Photo Play Writing.=
                  Graft.
                  Vaudeville’s Seamy Side.

The author of this book has been through the mill, and knows whereof he
writes. Don’t think you know it all, and that this book cannot tell you
anything you don’t already know. One little point may be the means of
securing for you =Ten Dollars a Week= more salary than you would
otherwise receive, and if so, the cost of the book is money well
invested. You need the book and should have it.

It contains 120 pages, bound in paper covers, and will be sent by mail,
postpaid, to any address on receipt of price, =50 Cents=. Send for it
to-day, this minute, and you will never regret doing so. Address all
orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          WELL! WELL!! WELL!!!

[Illustration]

                      Talk about your mystery and
                           detective stories—

                              THE MYSTERY
                                 OF THE
                               RAVENSPURS

                           By FRED. M. WHITE,

                         is certainly a hummer.

Mr. White stands in the forefront of the mystery and detective story
writers of the English speaking world to-day, and this is one of his
best and latest books.

Do you like surprises that make your eyes open wide? Sustained
excitement and strange scenes that compel you to read on page after page
with unflagging interest? Something that lifts you out of your world of
care and business, and transports you to another land, clime, and
scenes? Then don’t fail to read

                     The Mystery of the Ravenspurs.

It is a romantic tale of adventure, mystery and amateur detective work,
with scenes laid in England, India, and the distant and comparatively
unknown Thibet. A band of mystics from the latter country are the prime
movers in the various conspiracies, and their new, unique, weird,
strange methods form one of the features of the story.

Read of the clever detective work by blind Ralph, which borders upon the
supernatural; of walking the black Valley of Death in Thibet, with its
attendant horrors; of the Princess Zara, and her power, intrigue and
treachery laid bare; of the poisonous bees and the deadly perfume
flowers. Unflagging interest holds your spell-bound attention from cover
to cover.

                     NEW! UP-TO-DATE! ENTERTAINING!

The book contains 320 pages, bound in paper cover, with handsome
illustration in colors. Formerly published in cloth at $1.25, now issued
in paper covers at =25 CENTS=.

For sale by booksellers everywhere, or sent by mail, postpaid, upon
receipt of price. Address

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                       FRENCH DETECTIVE STORIES,
                           By EMILE GABORIAU.

We call your attention to the following books constituting the best
works of the most widely known and popular writer of French Detective
Fiction—EMILE GABORIAU.

[Illustration]

                        MONSIEUR LECOQ.
                        THE HONOR OF THE NAME.
                        THE WIDOW LEROUGE.
                        THE CLIQUE OF GOLD.
                        CAPTAIN CONTANCEAU.
                        THE THIRTEENTH HUSSARS.
                        THE MYSTERY OF ORCIVAL.

                    _Marvelously Mysterious Stories,
              Wonderfully Woven, Entertainingly Written,_

holding the reader spell-bound with interest. The stories are
delightfully treated, and from the beginning of the plot through each
succeeding discovery of the wonderful French detective, one’s interest
is increased and expectancy raised until the end of the book is reached.

To bring these clever and entertaining stories within the reach of all,
we have just issued the above books in paper covers. They contain about
200 pages each, are printed in good, clear type on novel paper, with
cover illustration in colors. For sale by booksellers and newsdealers
everywhere, or sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of price, 25 cents
per copy, or any 5 for $1.

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          HERE’S ANOTHER ONE!

If you have read any of the detective stories which we have recommended
to you, such as THE WORLD’S FINGER, MACON MOORE, Etc., you know that our
statements in regard to their being “the real thing” were not overdrawn.
We now have another one just as good, which we unhesitatingly recommend.
It is entitled

[Illustration]

                               THE HOUSE
                             BY THE RIVER.

                                   BY

                            FLORENCE WARDEN.

                     WHAT THE REVIEWERS SAY OF IT.

    “Florence Warden is the Anna Katharine Greene of England. She
    apparently has the same marvelous capacity as Mrs. Rohlfs for
    concocting the most complicated plots and most mystifying
    mysteries, and serving them up hot to her readers.”—_N. Y.
    Globe._

    “The author has a knack of intricate plot-work which will keep
    an intelligent reader at _her_ books, when he would become tired
    over far better novels not so strongly peppered. For even the
    ‘wisest men’ now and then relish not only a little nonsense, but
    as well do they enjoy a thrilling story of mystery. And this is
    one—a dark, deep, awesome, compelling if not convincing
    tale.”—_Sacramento Bee._

    “The interest of the story is deep and intense, and many guesses
    might be made of the outcome, as one reads along, without
    hitting on the right one.”—_Salt Lake Tribune._

This book contains 310 pages, printed in large clear type, and is bound
in handsome paper cover. It is for sale by booksellers and newsdealers
everywhere, or it will be sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of price,
25 cents. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                              MACON MOORE,
                              ... THE ...
                          SOUTHERN DETECTIVE.

[Illustration]

Here is another rattling good book that we unhesitatingly recommend to
every one who enjoys a thrilling detective story. Each chapter contains
a startling episode in the attempt of MACON MOORE to run to earth a gang
of moonshiners in Southern Georgia, whose business was that of
manufacturing illicit whisky.

His capture by the “Night Riders,” and his daring escape from them at
their meeting in the Valley of Death, forms one of the many exciting
incidents of the story.

One of our readers writes to us as follows:

    “I was absolutely unable to stop reading “Macon Moore” until I
    had finished it. I expected to read for an hour or so, but the
    situations were so dramatic and exciting at the end of each
    chapter, that before I knew it I had started the next one. I
    have read it three times, once while practicing exercises on the
    piano, and shall read it again. It is a corker.”

The book contains 250 pages, is bound in paper covers, and will be sent
to any address by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of 25 cents. Address all
orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                          LAUGH! YELL! SCREAM!
                       Read It! Read It! Read It!

                                 A Bad
                              Boy’s Diary

                          By “LITTLE GEORGIE,”

                         The Laughing Cyclone.

                    THE FUNNIEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN!

In this matchless volume of irresistible, rib-tickling fun, the Bad Boy,
an incarnate but lovable imp of mischief, records his daily exploits,
experiences, pranks and adventures, through all of which you follow him
with an absorbing interest that never flags, stopping only when
convulsions of laughter and aching sides force the mirth-swept body to
take an involuntary respite from a feast of fun, stupendous and
overwhelming.

In the pages of this excruciatingly funny narrative can be found the
elixir of youth for all man and womankind. The magic of its pages compel
the old to become young, the careworn gay, and carking trouble hides its
gloomy head and flies away on the blithesome wings of uncontrollable
laughter.

                       IT MAKES YOU A BOY AGAIN!
                       IT MAKES LIFE WORTH WHILE!

For old or young it is a tonic and sure cure for the blues. The =BAD
BOY’S DIARY= is making the whole world scream with laughter. Get in line
and laugh too. =BUY IT TO-DAY!= It contains 276 solid pages of reading
matter, illustrated, is bound in lithographed paper covers, and will be
sent by mail, postpaid, to any address on receipt of price, 25 cents.
Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




DO YOU ENJOY

[Illustration]

reading a book that has just enough dash and piquancy about it to cause
a smile to wreathe your face? A book that tells in an extremely humorous
way of the doings of some smart theatrical folk? Life is many sided, and
our book,

                             THE LETTERS OF
                      MILDRED’S MOTHER TO MILDRED.
                            BY E. D. PRICE,

shows one of the sides with which you may not be familiar.

Mildred is a girl in the chorus at one of New York’s famous theatres,
and her mother is a woman who “travels” with a friend by the name of
Blanche. The book is written by E. D. Price, “The Man Behind the
Scenes,” one well qualified to touch upon the stage-side of life.

The following is the Table of Contents:

                  Mother at the Races.
                  Mother at a Chicago Hotel.
                  Mother Goes Yachting.
                  Mother Escapes Matrimony.
                  Mother Meets Nature’s Noblemen.
                  Mother Joins the Repertoire Company.
                  Mother in the One Night Stands.
                  Mother and the Theatrical Angel.
                  Mother Returns to Mildred.

Read what Blakely Hall says of it:

    “I don’t know whether you are aware of it or not, but you are
    turning out wonderful, accurate and convincing character studies
    in the Mildred’s Mother articles. They are as refreshing and
    invigorating as showers on the hottest July day.”

The book contains 160 pages, with attractive cover in colors. Price,
cloth bound, $1.00; paper cover, 50 cents. For sale by all booksellers
everywhere, or sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of price. Address

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            The Confessions
                            Of a Princess

[Illustration]

A book of this sort would necessarily be anonymous, and the name of the
author is not essential as indicative of literary ability, the strength
of the story depending upon its action as revealed through the laying
bare of the innermost secrets of a “Princess of the Realm” whose
disposition and character were such as to compel her to find elsewhere
than in her own home the love, tenderness, admiration, and society which
was lacking there, and which her being craved. Position, money and
power, seem to those who do not possess them, to bring happiness. Such
is not the case, however, where stability of character is lacking and
where one depends upon the pleasures of sense for the enjoyment of life
rather than on the accomplishment of things worth while, based on high
ideals.

The writer has taken a page from her life and has given it to the world.
She has laid bare the soul of a woman, that some other woman (or some
man) might profit thereby. The names have been changed, and such events
omitted as might lead too readily to the discovery of their identity.
Each the victim of circumstance, yet the _price_ is demanded of the one
who fell the victim of environment.

_The Confessions of a Princess_ is the story of a woman who saw,
conquered and fell.

The book contains 270 pages, printed from new, large type on good paper,
bound in paper cover with attractive design in colors. For sale by
newsdealers everywhere, or sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of 25
cents. Bound in cloth, price, 75 cents.

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                               500 Toasts

[Illustration]

We do not hesitate to say this is the best and largest collection of
original and popular toasts published. Hundreds never in print before
and all the classics by world-renowned authors:

                              Longfellow
                              Wordsworth
                              Mrs. Wilcox
                              Burns
                              Tom Moore
                              Thos. Hood
                              Ben Johnson
                              Scott
                              Thackeray
                              Goldsmith
                              Byron
                              Shakspere

This is a book for all classes. There’s no telling when you may be
called upon to propose a toast. To be unprepared means embarrassment.
Send for this book and memorize a few. By mail, 15c; cloth-bound, 30c.
Mention “500 Toasts.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                               A Thousand
                               Conundrums

[Illustration]

This is a companion book to our “500 Toasts.” It is pocket size and
contains enough conundrums, riddles, etc., to last you for years. Here
are one or two taken at random:

    Q. If a bear went into a drygoods store, what would he want?

    A. Muzzlin’.

    Q. Why is a new-born baby like a storm?

    A. Because it begins with a squall.

    Q. What is a good definition of nonsense?

    A. Bolting a door with a boiled carrot.

Well, boys, there are 997 more of these conundrums, and if you want to
have a bunch of fun with your own girl, or some other fellow’s girl, you
should send for this book at once. By prepaid mail for 15 cents.

    Any of the above books will be sent by mail, postpaid, on
    receipt of price by J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company, 57 Rose
    Street, New York.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                        OLD WITCHES’ DREAM BOOK
                                  AND
                        COMPLETE FORTUNE TELLER.

You dream like everyone else does, but can you interpret them—do you
understand what your dream portends? If you wish to know what it means,
you should buy this book, which contains the full and correct
interpretation of all dreams and their lucky numbers. This book is also
the most complete fortune teller on the market.

We give herewith a partial list of the contents.

    Dreams and Their Interpretations.

    Palmistry, or Telling Fortunes by the Lines of the Hand.

    Fortune Telling by the Grounds in a Tea or Coffee Cup.

    How to Read Your Fortune by the White of an Egg.

    How to Determine the Lucky and Unlucky Days of any Month in the
        Year.

    How to Ascertain Whether You will Marry Soon.

    Fortune Telling by Cards, Including the Italian Method.

The book contains 128 pages, set in new, large, clear type, and will be
sent by mail, postpaid, to any address upon receipt of 25 cents in U. S.
stamps or postal money order. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                        The Model Letter Writer.

A comprehensive and complete guide and assistant for those who wish to
become perfect correspondents. This book contains Sample Letters of
Compliment, Inquiry, and Congratulation; Letters of Recommendation,
Letters of Business, Advice and Excuse, and gives Rules for Punctuation,
Postscripts, and Styles of Addressing, etc.

=It also contains love letters, giving the correspondence between a
young man and a young lady, on love, courtship and marriage, and should
prove indispensable to all young people.=

You cannot afford to be without this book, as you do not know at what
time you may have to write a particularly important letter. If you have
a book of this kind on hand to consult, it may be the means of bringing
to a successful end matters of great moment, and upon which may depend
your entire future happiness, well-being, and success in life.

The book contains 128 pages, is bound in paper covers with handsome
illustration in two colors, and will be sent by mail, postpaid, to any
address upon receipt of 25 cents in U. S. stamps or postal money order.
Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                                OUR
                                ENDEAVOR

in selling books to you, is to have you feel that you are getting _your
money’s worth_. We therefore desire to call your special attention to
the following

                             Four Books In
                                  ONE,

                             You are Courting,
                    which If You want to Court, or
                             You want to be Courted,

you should obtain at the earliest possible moment.

_HOW TO WOO; WHEN AND WHOM_, which gives full and interesting rules
    for the etiquette of courtship, the time and place for
    conducting the same, and some good advice as to the selection of
    your partner for life.

_COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE_, which tells how to win the favor of the
    ladies, how to begin and end a courtship, and how to “Pop the
    Question;” and also gives full information in regard to the
    invitations, gifts, ushers, bridesmaids, conduct of the wedding
    ceremony, etc., etc.

_THE LOVERS’ COMPANION_, which gives the flirtations of the
    handkerchief, parasol, glove, fan and napkin; also, the language
    of flowers; how to kiss deliciously; and a cure for bashfulness.

_THE POPULAR LETTER WRITER_, which tells how to write business,
    social, and love letters, giving numerous examples of all.

This valuable work, containing the _four books above mentioned_, is
issued in one volume under the title =HOW TO WOO=, and it will be sent
to any address, postpaid, upon receipt of 25 cents in postage stamps or
money. Address

                 J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
                             57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




HAVE YOU EVER

                               HEARD OF A
                            COMIC COOK BOOK?

We publish a book under that title, and it contains more good laughs to
the square inch than any book in the market. Notice a few of the
recipes:

    TABLE MANNERS.—In carving, should the bird slip from under your
    knife, do not appear covered with confusion, although you may be
    with gravy, but simply say to the lady in whose lap the bird has
    landed: “I’ll trouble you for that hen,” or words to that
    effect, and proceed with the autopsy.

    TO BOIL FISH.—Place the bird in a kettle of cold water and let
    it boil so gently that the water will remain about as warm as a
    June day. By so doing the fish can swim about in the kettle, and
    come to the table, along with the other guests, in a not
    overheated condition. It will require about eight minutes to
    cook a fish weighing one pound, and of course, only four minutes
    to cook one weighing twice as much.

    TO FRY FISH.—Remove the works from the interior department, pick
    off the scales, remove the teeth, and fry in a frying pan—or
    anything else which fancy dictates.

    CHICKEN CROQUETTES.—Having stunned a heavy set hen, croquet the
    dark meat through three wickets. Loose croquet the bust and
    other blonde meat until you are a rover. Chop it all up and add
    something to make it stick together, mould it into sausages,
    roll in bass-wood sawdust (the croquettes, not yourself). Fry in
    red-hot lard.

    CALVES-FOOT JELLY.—Get a yard of the material, i. e., three
    feet. Chicago beef is best, as the calves have the largest feet.
    Cut off the calf for future reference. Wash the feet, applying
    chilblain remedies when necessary, boil them for a while or so,
    add enough glue to thicken; stir in a few molasses, strain
    through a cane-seated chair. Pour the amalgamation into a blue
    bowl with red pictures on it, and send the whole business to a
    sick friend.

    ANGEL CAKE.—Chop up green apples, raisins, bananas, in
    quantities to suit; stick them in dough. Feed to the children
    and the angel part will materialize.

    ROMAN PUNCH.—Only a Roman nose how to prepare this dish
    properly. To prepare it the other way add some rum to your
    punch. This should be served before the roasts at dinner, but
    should be eaten frugally, as it was a Roman punch that killed
    Cæsar.

    EMERGENCIES.—Should a child swallow a button, lower a
    button-hole down its throat with a piece of string, pass it over
    the button and yank it out.——If you see a runaway horse
    approaching and are unable to get out of his way, speak to him
    firmly, saying, “Lie down, sir!”

    TO TELL A BAD EGG.—This depends entirely on what you wish to
    tell the egg. If it be bad news, break it gently—this applies
    both to the communication and the fruit. The former had better
    be made by telephone, with the safety plug in position.

    TO BREAK A COLT.—Hit him across the back with a sledge hammer.
    One blow should be sufficient to break him—or at least break his
    back.

    TO MAKE ICE-WATER LAST.—Prepare everything else first.

Sent post-paid to any address upon receipt of fifteen cents in stamps.
Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
             P. O. Box 767        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




=How to Read Character by Handwriting.= By Henry Rice. Even to the
uninitiated eye there is a greater or less degree of difference in every
handwriting, such as the slope of the letters, the upward or downward
slant of the line, the coarseness or delicacy of the writing, its
neatness and legibility. What the uninitiated do not know is that each
of these peculiarities is indicative of the character of the writer, yet
a student will be surprised to see the revelations which a few moments’
intelligent perusal of a specimen of handwriting will afford him. Over
sixty specimens of handwriting and letters are given in this book, with
comments by Mr. Rice as to the different characteristics from a
scientific standpoint. Graphology opens up a new field for intelligent
effort, and the rapid strides it has been making the past few years bid
fair to soon place it above Palmistry, Astrology, etc., in point of
popularity. Book sent postpaid for 25 cents.


=Pursuit of Virtue.= By Roland Burke Hennessy, author of “Beautiful Bad
Broadway,” “When a Young Man’s Virtuous,” etc. This is the latest from
the pen of Mr. Hennessy, and we consider it one of the best stories he
has ever written. The scenes are in and around New York and abound with
many thrilling adventures. This book also contains the following short
stories:

                       Peeping Into Paradise
                       An Act of Heroism
                       A Wise Gazabo
                       Synonym Sammy
                       A Great Scheme
                       The Man Without a Hoe
                       Love’s Tokens
                       A Moral and An Experience
                       What Three Maidens Dreamed
                       The Matinee-Girl
                       Etc., etc.

—all in all, it would be hard to find a book of light reading of more
interest than the above. All the above sent prepaid on receipt of price,
25 cents.


=Fortune-Telling by Cards.= Here, indeed, is a book every young man or
woman should have. To-day “playing cards” for an evening’s enjoyment is
a most popular pastime. No matter where you are, no matter where you go,
nowadays “playing cards” is the thing. When played solely for amusement
it is a most innocent entertainment, and at the same time a great
memory-trainer. You must have often noticed at card parties, while
sitting or standing around waiting for late arrivals to come, there are
a few moments when you wish they’d start, or you wish there was
“something doing.” Just at this moment is your chance to make a hit with
your fortune-telling by cards. No matter how “bum” you are at it, the
girls will flock around you four and five deep. You will be the king
bee, as it were, and you will have the inward pleasure of making the
other boys feel like a long skirt on a rainy day—very damp. In addition
to the above, “Fortune-Telling by the Magic Crystal” is gone into in
detail, giving all the symbols for a correct divination of the future.
“The Oraculum: or, Napoleon Buonaparte’s Book of Fate” (specially
translated) is given here for perhaps the first time in the English
language. A table of questions generally applicable has been compiled,
and sixteen pages of answers, to suit any temperament or individuality,
are given. “Fortune-Telling with Dice” is very complete, giving an
assorted list of thirty-two answers to questions for every possible
throw of two dice. Get this book, study it, and spring it on the “bunch”
at the first opportunity, and if the girls don’t say you are certainly
IT we’ll refund the money. There’s many a time you’d pay $10 to make a
hit with ONE girl—here’s a chance to make a hit with any number of
them—all for 25 cents.

    Any of the above books will be sent by mail, postpaid, on
    receipt of price by J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company, 57 Rose
    Street, New York.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                             Were You Ever
                             Side-Tracked?

[Illustration]

                        Whether You Ever Were,
                        or Not, You Cannot Fail
                        to Appreciate ...

                           HARRY L. NEWTON’S

                            GREAT JOKE BOOK

                                ENTITLED

                            “SIDE-TRACKED.”

There is really “something doing” in this joke book. It has been
pronounced IT with a capital I. One hundred and twenty pages of clean,
fresh, bright humor—=not a dull line=!

Harry L. Newton, the author, has declared it to be his masterpiece, and
his assertion is being borne out daily, as our sales are increasing very
rapidly. The first edition of 50 thousand was sold =in less than two
weeks=.

If you want to laugh and grow fat, read “=Side-Tracked.=” It’s cheaper
than the price of a pound of meat and just as satisfying. So get busy
boys, and order a copy before the other fellow beats you to it.

“=Side-Tracked=” contains the greatest lot of slow-train stories ever in
print. This book is getting so popular you see people reading it on the
streets, on the cars and in barber shops. There hasn’t been such a run
on a joke book in years. Get it! Get it! Get it! Enjoy it and pass it
along. Push it along. It’s a good thing. It contains 120 pages, bound in
paper cover handsomely illustrated in colors, and will be sent by mail,
postpaid, to any address upon receipt of 25 cents. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                             A THOROUGHBRED
                                 TRAMP

[Illustration]

“A Thoroughbred Tramp” was written by thoroughbred writers and is a
thoroughbred publication in every respect.

As a “Tramp” compilation it has every other book backed off the
boards—and then some.

One hundred pages of unalloyed joy, spiced with whole bunches of
delirious gladness, and seasoned with inimitable wit.

That’s pretty strong, but it goes—and so does the book.

Some of the best writers in the country have taken a crack at supplying
the material for this volume.

That’s why we boost it so strongly. We feel that you will get your
money’s worth and won’t be disappointed.

We’re not in the business to disappoint anybody.

When you pick up this book and open the first page, hold on to your
sides or something will rip. At about the fifth page, call your wife to
help you hold them. If you have no wife, call in somebody else’s. When
you reach the middle of the book, call for the whole family and you’ll
all have a merry-go-round.

Will send you copy by prepaid mail upon receipt of price, 25 cents.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




 Popular
 Recitations

[Illustration]

A new collection of old and new favorites for home and stage uses. For
want of space we mention only a few to be found therein.

=Face on the Bar-Room Floor, Jim Bludso, Whisperin’ Bill, ’Ostler Joe,
How Salvator Won, Little Meg & I, Casey at the Bat, Kelly’s Dream,
Shamus O’Brien, The Dying Actor, The Village Blacksmith, The Volunteer
Organist, Annabel Lee, A Story of St. Peter, Casey’s Tabble Dote,
Courting in Kentucky, Gunga Din, Old John Henry, The Betrothed, The
Clink of the Ice, The Yarn of the Nancy Bell, Walk, & many more.=

This book contains 128 pages, printed from new plates in large type,
with attractive cover design in colors. Price, 25 cents.

Either of the above books will be sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of
price by J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Co., 57 Rose St., New York.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                        THURSTON’S CARD TRICKS,
                    (The Greatest Magician Living,)

gives a full description of Thurston’s sensational rising card trick;
also his famous continuous front and back hand palming of cards,
together with a great number of his new and heretofore unpublished
tricks. You can learn them for the purpose of making money or to
entertain your friends. The book contains 83 pages with 45
illustrations. Price, paper bound, 25 cents.

                        HAND SHADOWS ON THE WALL

shows how to produce shadows on the wall by the arrangement of one’s
hands held in front of the light. Every position is fully illustrated,
and the book will afford a good evening’s amusement for the grown-ups as
well as the children. Paper bound, 25 cents.

                             HOW TO BEHAVE.

The guide to true politeness. Every person wishing to be considered
well-bred, who desires to know the customs of good society and to avoid
incorrect and vulgar habits should send for this book. It contains table
etiquette, street etiquette, how to overcome bashfulness, the art of
conversing, and many other things too numerous to mention. Price, paper
bound, 25 cents.

                           YOUR HAND IS YOUR
                                FORTUNE;

[Illustration]

or, Modern Palmistry. We have published a cheap edition of our Modern
Palmistry book under the above title, to enable those who are interested
in this subject to secure for little money the same material for which
we charge 50 cents and $1.00 in another form. It is a complete book on
palmistry and will be useful to all who wish to learn this art for the
sake of making money. It is fully illustrated, contains 192 pages and is
just what you are looking for to enable you to tell the future by
reading the hand. Price, paper bound, 25 cents.

Any of the above books will be sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of
price by

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




=Talkalogues.= Illustrated. Some of the best monologue and cross-fire
material ever published, now in print for the first time. Such good ones
as E. P. Moran, Joseph Horrigan, Leontine Stanfield, Harry L. Newton,
Edwards and Ronney, etc., are the principal contributors. There is a
wealth of material in this book for the up-to-date performer, amateur or
professional, and while it is fresh is the time to make a hit with it.
Some of the shorter selections are just the stuff for encores. Or they
can be assembled and strung out in such a manner as to keep the audience
screaming while you are on the stage. The “rapid fire” by Harry L.
Newton is worthy a place on the most select bill. All the above,
postpaid, for 25 cents.


=Taylor’s Popular Recitations.= A new collection of old favorites for
home and stage use. Read the contents carefully. Gems from the pens of
James Whitcomb Riley, Eugene Field, Robert J. Burdette, Ella Wheeler
Wilcox, S. W. Foss, John Hay, Rudyard Kipling, etc.:

                 Casey at the Bat
                 Volunteer Organist
                 Countersign Was Mary
                 Yarn of the Nancy Bell
                 Farewell
                 Life Lesson
                 Matter of Business
                 Metaphysical Dilemma
                 Old Sweetheart of Mine
                 As My Uncle Ust to Say
                 Tale of Conscious Virtue
                 Thankful Parson
                 Yaller Dog’s Love for a Nigger
                 Bedrock Philosophy
                 Bedtime
                 Bohemia
                 Casey’s Tabble Dote
                 College Revisited
                 Courting in Kentucky
                 Der Vater-Mill
                 Faces We Miss from the Stage
                 Young British Soldier
                 Trilby
                 ’Ostler Joe
                 What to Do with a Water-Melon
                 When the Green Gits Back in the Trees
                 Whisperin’ Bill
                 Violets
                 Two Sinners
                 Hamlet’s Soliloquy on Death
                 Father’s Way
                 Walk
                 Gunga Din
                 Honest Confessions
                 Jim
                 Jim Bludso
                 Kathleen Mavourneen
                 Kelly’s Dream
                 Letty’s Globe
                 Face on the Bar-room Floor
                 Little Breeches
                 Little Meg and I
                 Level and the Square
                 Covered Bridge
                 Dying Actor
                 How Salvator Won
                 Old Stage-Queen
                 The Popular Song
                 Village Blacksmith
                 Worldly Way
                 They Were Mixed
                 My Sweetheart of Long Ago
                 Old John Henry
                 Our Two Opinions
                 Over the Crossin’
                 Parson Snow’s Hint
                 Retrospection
                 Sadie
                 Shamus O’Brien
                 Sherry
                 Father Phil’s Subscription-List
                 Teamster Jim
                 That Queen
                 Betrothed
                 Clink of the Ice
                 Annabel Lee
                 Psalm of Life
                 Rustle Convert
                 Story of St. Peter

Printed from new type on antique laid paper. Is hand-sewed and opens
flat. Cover is an attractive design printed in colors on double enamel.
Price, 25 cents.


=500 Toasts.= We do not hesitate to say this is the best and largest
collection of original and popular toasts now published. Hundreds of
original toasts never in print before, and all the popular toasts by the
world-renowned authors:

                        Wm. Makepeace Thackeray
                        Henry W. Longfellow
                        Sir Walter Scott
                        William Wordsworth
                        Ella Wheeler Wilcox
                        Ben Jonson
                        Bobby Burns
                        William Shakspere
                        Oliver Goldsmith
                        Tom Moore
                        Lord Byron
                        Thomas Hood

These toasts are arranged in classes under the following captions:
“Toasts to Sweetheart,” “Toasts to Wife,” “Toasts to Woman,” “Toasts to
Man,” “Toasts Cynical,” “Toasts Patriotic,” and “Toasts Miscellaneous.”
This new book, “500 Toasts,” is a book for all classes. There’s no
telling when you may be called upon to propose a toast. To be unprepared
means embarrassment. Send for this book and memorize a few toasts.
Mention that it’s “Will Rossiter’s 500 Toasts” that you want. Send
to-day. By mail, 15 cents; cloth-bound, 30 cents.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                              DON’T MARRY

This book was not written with the idea of advising people =not to
marry=, but rather with a view to giving them advice as to =whom NOT to
marry=. You can readily see how important the marriage question is, how
it will come into your life, and how your decision may be your uplifting
or your downfall.

This is a question no one is free from, and this book will not only help
you to decide, but will result in life-long happiness. “The genius of
selection is the rarest of faculties.”

The following is a list of contents:

                   Don’t Marry for Beauty Alone.
                   Don’t Marry for Money.
                   Don’t Marry a Very Small Man.
                   Don’t Marry too Young.
                   Don’t Marry a Coquette.
                   Don’t Elope to Marry.
                   Don’t Dally About Proposing.
                   Don’t Marry a Drunkard.
                   Don’t Marry a Spendthrift.
                   Don’t Marry a Miser.
                   Don’t Marry Far Apart in Ages.
                   Don’t Marry too Old.
                   Don’t Marry Odd Sizes.
                   Don’t Marry a Clown.
                   Don’t Marry a Dude.
                   Don’t Marry From Pity.
                   Don’t Marry for an Ideal Marriage.
                   Don’t Break a Marriage Promise.
                   Don’t Marry For Spite.
                   Don’t Mitten a Mechanic.
                   Don’t Marry a Man too Poor.
                   Don’t Marry a Crank.
                   Don’t Marry Fine Feathers.
                   Don’t Marry Without Love.
                   Don’t Marry a Stingy Man.
                   Don’t Marry too Hastily.
                   Don’t be too Slow About It.
                   Don’t Marry a Silly Girl.
                   Don’t Expect too Much in Marriage.
                   Don’t Marry a Fop.
                   Don’t Marry in Fun.
                   Don’t Spurn a Man for His Poverty.
                   Don’t Marry Recklessly.

This book contains 112 pages, size 7 × 4-3/4 inches, printed in large
type on good quality paper, is bound in durable paper cover, and will be
sent by mail, postpaid, to any address upon receipt of 25 cents in U. S.
stamps or postal money order. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                           VAIL’S DREAM BOOK
                                  AND
                        COMPLETE FORTUNE TELLER

                         By J. R. & A. M. VAIL

You dream like everyone else does, but can you interpret them—do you
understand what your dream portends? If you wish to know what it means,
you should buy this book, which contains the full and correct
interpretation of all dreams and their lucky numbers. This book is also
the most complete fortune teller on the market.

We give herewith a partial list of the contents:

Dreams and Their Interpretations.

Palmistry, or Telling Fortunes by the Lines of the Hand.

Fortune Telling by the Grounds in a Tea or Coffee Cup.

How to Read Your Fortunes by the White of an Egg.

How to Determine the Lucky and Unlucky Days of any Month in the
    Year.

How to Ascertain Whether You will Marry Soon.

Fortune Telling by Cards, including the Italian Method.

A Chapter on Somniloquism and Spiritual Mediums.

The book contains 128 pages, size 7-5/8 × 5-1/4 set in new, large, clear
type, and will be sent by mail, postpaid, to any address upon receipt of
25 cents. For sale where you bought this book.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                                JUST OUT
                       TEMPTATIONS OF THE STAGE.

There is probably no other book of this kind on the market that tells so
much truth from Stage Life as does this one. If there is, we do not know
of it. We herewith give the contents and leave you to draw your own
conclusions:—

[Illustration]

    Ever in the Limelight.

    “Propinquity” _versus_ “Association.”

    Flattery.

    See How it Sparkles.

    Gambling—Drugs.

    Dangerous Pitfalls on the Road to Success.

    My Narrow Escape. _By Della Fox._

    Girls in Burlesque Companies. _By May Howard._

    A Nation at Her Feet. _By Pauline Markham._

    Jane Hading’s Career. _By Herself._

    A Woman’s Blighted Life. _By Jennie O’Neill Potter._

    Cigarette Smoking.

    A Unique Sensation. _By Nina Farrington._

    Yvette Guilbert’s Songs.

    A Tragic End.

    Triumphs and Failures. _By Isabelle Urquhart._

    A Mad Career.

    Likes to Wear Tights. _By Jessie Bartlett Davis._

    Jolly Jennie Joyce.

    Thorns of Stage Life. _By Maud Gregory._

    The Stage is Not Degenerating. _By Eva Mudge._

    Ethics of Stage Morality. _By Jessie Olivier._

    Stage-Door Johnnies.

    The Pace That Kills.

    Stage Love Letters. _Mlle. Fougere._

    From Tights to Tea Parties.

    Cure For the Stage Struck.

    Stock Companies.

    In Other Walks.

The above book contains 128 pages, bound in paper cover handsomely
illustrated in colors, and will be sent by mail, postpaid, to any
address upon receipt of 25 cents. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




=ACTORS’ MONOLOGUES AND JOKES.= This book contains the complete
up-to-date monologues, word for word, of such well-known “stars” and
“top-liners” as:

                         George W. Day,
                         Charlie Case,
                         James Thornton,
                         Low Sully,
                         John W. Ransone,
                         George Fuller Golden,
                         J. W. Kelly,
                         James J. Morton,
                         Lew Bloom,
                         Digby Bell,
                         James J. Corbett,
                         Elizabeth Murray,
                         Loney Haskell,
                         George Thatcher,
                         Frank Cushman, etc.

This collection contains just the things you’ve been looking for—funny
jokes and funny sayings. If you want to be popular when out in society
you must have some funny things pat to your tongue to say, and when you
get the boys and girls to laughing it’s a sure thing you’ll get invited
to every party. If you are going to “act out” in the amateur show that
the boys are getting up, this book has just the piece or monologue you
want. We send it, postpaid, for 25 cents.


=STAGE JOKES.= A big hit. Nothing in the way of a book of up-to-date
jokes and funny sayings has been published in years as good as this
book. It is just the thing you want for home use and for all kinds of
entertainments, and we can best convince you of its merits by naming
some of the well-known professionals who have contributed their best:

                          Weber and Fields,
                          Rogers Brothers,
                          Ezra Kendall,
                          DeWolf Hopper,
                          Joe Flynn,
                          Mark Murphy,
                          Marshall P. Wilder,
                          George Thatcher,
                          Nat M. Wills,
                          Lew Dockstader,
                          Joe Welch,
                          Charlie Case,

—and many more just as well known. You can see why this book is so much
better than others—it is not “written to order” by any one man, but
contains the best efforts of nearly fifty of our best and most popular
comedians. Nos. 1 and 2 now ready. Either book, complete, 25 cents.


=HOT-STUFF JOKELETS.= Hand-lettered and illustrated. “The Unkissed
Maid”; “A Fool Story in Three Chapters”; “Monologue,” by Edwards and
Ronney; “The Chaser”; “Get Your Money’s Worth”—and hundreds of other
choice things are illustrated with the funniest cartoons you ever saw.
There is positively nothing on the market to equal this book. So
original is it that the advance orders from the news and book dealers
totaled 25,000. If you want the best, and appreciate an artistic
publication, send for “Hot-Stuff Jokelets.” Price, 25 cents.


=CARTER’S MAGIC AND MAGICIANS.= There is no use talking, but the girl or
boy, man or woman, who can do a few simple card tricks is the “cock of
the walk” in any sort of social gathering. The tricks in this book are
so clearly explained and illustrated that it takes but a very little
while to get proficient in the art. The girls flock ’round you as thick
as flies on a “squashed” tomato in the sun. There’s nothing like it. You
may not be sporty, you may not spend money with them, but if you can—“by
a simple twist of the wrist”; “now you see it and now you don’t”; “the
more you watch the less you know”—and do it well, you are just the real
fellow. This book is the latest and best on the market. All the new card
tricks and sleight-of-hand monkey-doodle business. Price, 25 cents.

    Any of the above books will be sent by mail, postpaid, on
    receipt of price by J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company, 57 Rose
    Street, New York.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            FORTUNE-TELLING
                                   BY
                              CARDS, DICE,
                                  and
                                CRYSTAL.

[Illustration]

Here, indeed, is a book every young man or woman should have. You must
have often noticed at card parties, while sitting or standing around
waiting for late arrivals to come, there are a few moments when you wish
they’d start, or you wish there was “something doing.” Just at this
moment is your chance to make a hit with your fortune-telling by cards.
No matter how poor you are at it, the crowd will flock around you four
and five deep. You will be the king bee, as it were, and you will have
the inward pleasure of making the others feel like a long skirt on a
rainy day—very damp. In addition to the above, “Fortune-Telling by the
Magic Crystal” is gone into in detail, giving all the symbols for a
correct divination of the future. “The Oraculum: or, Napoleon
Buonaparte’s Book of Fate” (especially translated) is given here for
perhaps the first time in the English language. A table of questions
generally applicable has been compiled, and 16 pages of answers, to suit
any temperament or individuality, are given. “Fortune-Telling With Dice”
is very complete, giving an assorted list of 32 answers to questions for
every possible throw of two dice. Get this book, study it, and use it at
the first opportunity, and if the girls don’t say you are certainly IT
we’ll refund the money. Here’s a chance to make a hit.

The book contains 100 pages, fully illustrated, is bound in paper cover,
and will be sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, 25 cents.
Address

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                              GOING SOME!

[Illustration]

These books contain more laughs to the square inch than any other joke
books on the market. Each book is equivalent to a vaudeville show of two
hours’ duration, and every book on this list has our unqualified
endorsement. =Price, 25 cents each.=

               THREE HUNDRED FUNNY STORIES.
               TWENTY GOOD STORIES.
               A BAD BOY’S DIARY.
               BLUNDERS OF A BASHFUL MAN.
               TEN FUNNY STORIES. By Opie Read.
               THE TRAVELS OF A TRAMP.
               ON A FAST TRAIN THROUGH GEORGIA.
               WEBER AND FIELDS’ FUNNY SAYINGS.
               WEBER AND FIELDS’ STAGE WHISPERS.
               A DRUMMER’S DIARY.
               STAGE JOKES. No. 1.
               STAGE JOKES. No. 2.
               A THOROUGHBRED TRAMP.
               ON THE HOG TRAIN THROUGH KANSAS.
               SIDE-TRACKED.
               EASY MONEY.
               LEW HAWKINS IN BLACK AND WHITE.
               HIRAM BIRDSEED AT THE FAIR.
               ON AN ARMY MULE THROUGH VIRGINIA.
               OGILVIE’S SLOW TRAIN.
               THE SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE. By A Merry Widow.
               GOING SOME.
               PICTURE JOKE BOOK.
               FLIGHTY FUN.
               LOVE, COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
               TEMPTATIONS OF THE STAGE.
               BEHIND THE SCENES.
               THE CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG GIRL.
               VAIL’S DREAM BOOK.

The above books are for sale by all booksellers and newsdealers
everywhere, or they will be sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of 25
cents per copy, or any 5 for $1.00. Address all orders to

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING CO., 57 ROSE ST., NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                         THE SHADOW OF A CROSS.
                                   BY
                            MRS. DORA NELSON
                                  AND
                          F. C. HENDERSCHOTT.

[Illustration]

“The sweetest American story ever written,” wrote one critic in
reviewing the story, which first appeared as a serial in a magazine of
large circulation. A strong inquiry for the novel in book form
developed, and we have just issued the book to meet this demand.

The story is wholly American in sentiment, and every chapter appeals to
the reader’s sympathies, as the whole book pulsates with pure and
cherished ideals. The love theme is sweet and intensely interesting.
Through the political fight, the victory and the defeat, the love thread
is never lost sight of. The intense struggle in the heart of the heroine
between her Church and her lover is of such deep human interest, that it
holds the reader in ardent sympathy until the happy solution, when the
reader smiles, wipes the moisture from the eyes, and breathes happily
again.

While the narrative is intensely interesting, it is more; it instructs
and educates. To read it is to feel improved and delighted. Don’t miss
this treat; it is one of the very best American stories of recent years.

The book is printed on best quality of laid book paper, contains nearly
200 pages, and is bound in paper covers with handsome illustration. It
will be sent by mail, postpaid, to any address upon receipt of price, 25
cents. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                              SENSATIONAL
                             FRENCH FICTION

[Illustration]

makes a strong appeal to a certain class of readers—people who have
lived long enough to realize that there are huge problems of sex and
matrimony, that can only be solved through the actual experience of the
persons concerned. Numberless books have been and are being written and
published treating on these questions, and if through reading them we
are enabled to enlarge our view, look at our problem from a different
angle, appropriate for our own use the benefit of others’ experience
either actual or imaginary, by just so much are we better able to live
and think aright and secure to ourselves the happiness that is our
inherent right and goal.

               [Illustration]    SAPPHO    [Illustration]

BY ALPHONSE DAUDET,

is a book dealing with the great elements of love and passion as
depicted by life in the gay French capital, Paris. It created an
enormous sensation when first written, and has been in steady demand
ever since from those who, for the first time, have a chance to read it.
It should be read by every thoughtful man and woman.

For sale by booksellers and newsdealers everywhere, or sent by mail,
postpaid, on receipt of price, 50 cents.

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                       $1.50 WORTH FOR 25 CENTS!

                    Old Secrets and New Discoveries

               CONTAINS INFORMATION OF RARE VALUE FOR ALL
                 CLASSES, IN ALL CONDITIONS OF SOCIETY.

This book is a combination of six books, each complete in itself, and
which were formerly published at 25 cents per copy. Following are the
titles of the six books contained in =OLD SECRETS AND NEW DISCOVERIES=:

         (=1=) =Old Secrets=;
         (=2=) =Secrets for Farmers=;
         (=3=) =Preserving Secrets=;
         (=4=) =Manufacturing Secrets=;
         (=5=) =Secrets for the Housewife=; and
         (=6=) =The Secret of Money Getting=, by P. T. Barnum.

=This Book Tells= how to make persons at a distance think of
    you—Something all lovers should know.

=It Tells= how you can charm those you meet and make them love you.

=It Tells= how Spiritualists and others can make writing appear on
    the arm in blood characters, as performed by Foster and all
    noted magicians.

=It Tells= how to make a cheap Galvanic Battery; how to plate and
    gild without a battery; how to make a candle burn all night; how
    to make a clock for 25 cents; how to detect counterfeit money;
    how to banish and prevent mosquitoes from biting; how to make
    yellow butter in winter; Circassian curling fluid; Sympathetic
    or Secret Writing Ink; Cologne Water; Artificial Honey;
    Stammering; how to make large noses small; to cure drunkenness;
    to copy letters without a press; to obtain fresh-blown flowers
    in winter; to make good burning candles from lard.

=It Tells= how to make a horse appear as though he was badly
    foundered; to make a horse temporarily lame; how to make him
    stand by his food and not eat it; how to cure a horse from the
    crib or sucking wind; how to put a young countenance on the
    horse; how to cover up the heaves; how to make him appear as if
    he had the glanders; how to make a true-pulling horse balk; how
    to nerve a horse that is lame, etc. These horse secrets are
    being continually sold at one dollar each.

=It Tells= how to make the Eggs of Pharo’s Serpents, from which,
    when lighted, though but the size of a pea, there issues from it
    a coiling, hissing serpent, wonderful in length and similarity
    to a genuine serpent.

=It Tells= of a simple and ingenious method for copying any kind of
    drawing or picture. And more wonderful still, how to print
    pictures from the print itself.

=It Tells= how to perform the Davenport Brothers’ “Spirit
    Mysteries,” so that any person can astonish an audience, as has
    been done. Also scores of other wonderful things which we have
    no room to mention.

=OLD SECRETS AND NEW DISCOVERIES= contains over 250 solid pages of
reading matter, and is worth $1.50 to any person; but it will be mailed
to any address on receipt of only 25 cents. Postage stamps taken in
payment for it the same as cash. Your money back if book is not as
advertised. Address all orders to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                             AN AUTOMOBILE

[Illustration]

has a fascination for millions of people. There is an exhilaration, a
restful, soothing, satisfying feeling about automobiling for pleasure
that seems different from that achieved in other ways. But it has its
trying, adventurous, and fearful side as well, and so to those who have
experienced these emotions, and to those who would like to experience
them, we heartily recommend the book


                                THE CAR
                              AND THE LADY

                By GRACE S. MASON and PERCY F. MEGARGEL,

in which actual experience has been partially interwoven with fiction in
an exciting narrative of a race across the American continent.
Adventure, mistakes, accidents, good fortune, and surprise, follow one
another in rapid succession, keeping the tension of the reader at
excitement pitch until the goal is reached and the prize won—a prize
which at some time in every one’s career is quite the only prize on
earth.

The book contains 276 pages of solid reading matter, printed from large,
new type on good quality of paper, and bound in attractive paper covers
printed in colors. It is for sale by booksellers and newsdealers
everywhere, or will be sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of 25 cents.

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!

[Illustration]

                        Ten True Secret Service
                           Detective Stories.

                                   BY

                              D. B. SHAW.

                    Unquestionably the Greatest Book
                       Of Detective Stories Ever
                         Offered to the Public.

These astounding and absorbingly interesting accounts of crime in real
life abound in hair-raising incidents that hold the reader spell-bound.
Being narratives of actual facts, truthful records of the doings of
crafty and desperate criminals, these stories possess for the reader a
zest and interest wholly lacking in similar works on fictional lines.

From the slenderest clue we view the trained sleuths, as they piece
together strand by strand the meshes of the net which finally incloses
the wrong-doers in the relentless grasp of the law.

Away from the hackneyed and ordinary, and brushing aside the
conventional, these marvellous stories mark a new epoch in detective
literature.

                  =Truth That Makes Fiction Trivial!=
        =A Thrill in Every Page! A Sensation in Every Chapter!=
                      =Unparalleled in Interest!=
            =Unexcelled in Dramatic and Thrilling Incident!=

The book contains 280 pages, is bound in heavy paper covers with
handsome illustration in colors. Retail price, 25 cents. It is for sale
by booksellers everywhere, or we will send it by mail, postpaid, on
receipt of price. Address

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




[Illustration]

                         One Hundred and Fifty
                         House Plans for $1.00.

                             _PALLISER’S
                             UP-TO-DATE
                             HOUSE PLANS._

                         By GEORGE A. PALLISER.

We have just published a new book, with above title, containing 150
up-to-date plans of houses, costing from $500 to $18,000, which anyone
thinking of building a house should have if they wish to save money and
also get the latest and best ideas of a practical architect and eminent
designer and writer on common-sense, practical and convenient dwelling
houses for industrial Americans, homes for co-operative builders,
investors and everybody desiring to build, own or live in Model Homes of
low and medium cost. These plans are not old plans, but every one is
up-to-date (1906), and if you are thinking of building a house you will
save many times the cost of this book by getting it and studying up the
designs. We are certain you will find something in it which will suit
you. It also gives prices of working plans at about one-half the regular
prices, and many hints and helps to all who desire to build. 160 large
octavo pages. Price, paper cover, $1.00; bound in cloth, $1.50. Sent by
mail, postpaid, to any address on receipt of price. Address all orders
to

                   J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
            P. O. Box 767.        57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Transcriber’s note:

Ad Page 1, ‘them’ changed to ‘then,’ “and then some”

Ad Page 1, ‘maginings’ changed to ‘imaginings,’ “the wildest imaginings
of”

Ad Page 1, ‘OGLIVIE’ changed to ‘OGILVIE,’ “J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING”

Ad Page 2, ‘commedians’ changed to ‘comedians,’ “of German comedians”

Ad Page 4, ‘Field’s’ changed to ‘Fields’,’ “Weber and Fields’”

Ad Page 6, comma changed to full stop following ‘Canned,’ “Getting
“Canned.””

Ad Page 8, ‘LECOC’ changed to ‘LECOQ,’ “MONSIEUR LECOQ”

Ad Page 8, full stop inserted after ‘LECOQ,’ “MONSIEUR LECOQ.”

Ad Page 8, full stop inserted after ‘LEROUGE,’ “THE WIDOW LEROUGE.”

Ad Page 8, full stop inserted after ‘$1,’ “or any 5 for $1.”

Ad Page 9, full stop inserted after ‘767,’ “P. O. Box 767.”

Ad Page 11, ‘ordres’ changed to ‘orders,’ “Address all orders to”

Ad Page 14, opening double quote inserted before ‘500,’ “Mention “500
Toasts”

Ad Page 14, comma inserted after ‘Company,’ “Publishing Company, 57
Rose”

Ad Page 15, full stop inserted after ‘market,’ “teller on the market.”

Ad Page 18, question mark changed to exclamation point following ‘sir,’
“Lie down, sir!”

Ad Page 20, ‘containes’ changed to ‘contains,’ “contains the greatest”

Ad Page 21, full stop inserted after ‘anybody,’ “to disappoint anybody.”

Ad Page 24, full stop inserted after ‘YORK,’ “STREET, NEW YORK.”

Ad Page 27, comma inserted after ‘Company,’ “Ogilvie Publishing
Company,”

Ad Page 27, full stop inserted after ‘York,’ “Street, New York.”

Ad Page 31, full stop inserted after ‘P,’ “P. O. Box 767.”

Ad Page 33, ‘exhiliration’ changed to ‘exhilaration,’ “is an
exhilaration,”

Back Cover, full stop inserted after ‘YORK,’ “STREET, NEW YORK.”





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Will Rossiter's Original Talkalogues
by American Jokers, by Will Rossiter

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 53280 ***