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Show WHERE THE I DRUMMERS STOP Storloo of Odd Hotole. I recall ono hotel down In tho southland south-land which had ono of tho "most prlml tlvo bills of faro In tho worlU, writes E. E. Crossland, In tho Chicago Tribune. Trib-une. Tho colored boy appeared nt tho elbow of tho guest morning, noon nnd night, and his simple Inquiry covered tho cntlro ground: , "How you lalk yoh nigs?" lndoed, the south until within tho last decade, nnd in somo spots still, furnishes tho limit In tho hotel lino. I remember ono evening In March down in Kentucky, I had driven 25 miles over mud roads, and, arriving at tho hotel, which appeared tolerably com-fortnblo, com-fortnblo, I Inquired If I could get a hot bath, nnd, to my delight, was Informed that I could. A 11 no rain, half snow, was falling and n high wind blowing. I went to tho room, disrobed, and, throwing a bath robo around mo, followed fol-lowed tho negro boy down tho corridor. corri-dor. Pretty soon we emerged on to a latticed hack porch on tho second story nnd in a latticowork that was covered with vinos In midsummer stood a bathtub, Into which tho boy had dumped two buckets of howator. Tho latticework was open, nnd ovon tho flaring lamp, sizzling ns tho snow-Hakes snow-Hakes struck It, ruvealed mo to half tho neighbors. I gavo up tho luxury of tho bath and retreated In us good order as possible. Ono of tho oddest hotels I evor struck was up In tho lumber district of upper Michigan. I hit tho town ono election night, nnd found tho placo crowded with loggers from nil up and down tho river. There was ono hotel, n small board olTalr. Tho ofllco and dining-room occupied ono sldo, tho I kitchen was a leanto In tho rear nnd ' ono long bedroom extending along tho entire side of tho hotel completed tho I outfit. A doublo row of cot bods with heads to tho wall made tho furnish-I furnish-I lngs, nnd yet thoro was only about room enough for u third of tho visitors vis-itors in town to sleep. Along about nlno o'clock I decided to retire, and tho proprietor nftcr looking mo over curiously and evidently debating In-, In-, wardly, assigned mo to a bed, and I turned In. At midnight every cot was filled nnd half tho pickled log rollers were snoring, when, suddenly and without a trace of warning, ovory cot was overturned, the occupai.ts dumped on tho floor. Tho sleepers aroso, pu.t on what clothes they had removed hoforo retiring nnd started out without comment. com-ment. I was dazed for a mtnuto and then began to kick to tho boss, who stood In tho doorway and yelled: "All out!" "What tho dickens docs this mean?" I demanded, hotly. "First shift turning out." ho ox-plained, ox-plained, and ns ho did so a lino of men marched In and retired, whllo thoso who had slopt In tho first shift slipped n'way to tho near by saloons. At threo o'clock tho second shift was dumped onto tho floor and at six, when tho third shift wns dumped, I paid tho boss ono dollar extra to lot mo turn In and sleep until eight In earlier days, when I was solllni farm machinery In western Kansas, I struck somo quoor hotels, but tho oddest odd-est of all was ownod arid opprated by a genius named IMchards In a llttlo village In Sheridan county, 15 or 20 miles from Hoxlo. I Itlchnrds wns a quoor character, and his spcclnlty was Invention. Uo had Invontcd moro worthies' things than any man In tho country Almost ovcrythlng ho tundo would work, but ! thoy nil required moro tlmo and la-I la-I bor than tho things ho tried to im-! im-! prove on. His barn lot nnd barn, as well as his llttlo one-story hotel, woro filled with things ho hnd Invented. Uo put mo to bed In n small room, perhaps eight by ten, with ono Bmall window, nnd ono oxtromoly narrow door. I noticed as ho tdiowcd mo Into the room that tho placo seemed to havo double walls. 1 retired. Tho night was sultry and close, but after a tlmo I foil aslcop. i Somotlmo during tho night I wns i awakened by a Jarring, a rumbling, and tho thought Hashed Into my mind that a cyclono hnd struck us. I leaped , out of bed and ran to tho window. A i sickening sensation of falling camo ; ovpr mo. Evorythlng was dark. I I Jammed my arm through tho window nnd my fist Btruck solid earth. I was , torror stricken, hut with a Jar tho movement censed, and with a fow minutes' wo began to ascend ngnln nnd stopped suddunly, A gust of wind struck mo nnd as I was about to climb through tho window IMchards opened tho door and asked; "How did suo work?" I demanded an explanation. "Cyclono," ho said, cheerily. "Took tho calf barn and two haystack's and part of Dobb's barn and hU windmill. I thought It was golitu to hit us and lot you down." Tho next morning ho showed mo tho mechanism. Every sleeping room was really a doublo room, tho Insldo being like nn olovator, nnd ho had rigged weights and counter weights until by pushing a lover ho tuiuld drop all tho sloopors In tho hotol down Into the collar until tho cyclono passed. |