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Show man take off hit hat In aa elevator aay more than In any other conveyance., aay a street car or cab The ladis don't expect it, because be-cause it is affectation rather than gallantry, gal-lantry, and the gantleman, especially when squeezed in a crowded and narrow nar-row lift, as moat of those in Salt Lako City are, vote it unanimously a nuisance, nuis-ance, which ought to ba abated. - -t- On Saturday comes St. Valentine's day and the show windows in the stationery sta-tionery stores bear already witness of the fact. How the poor old saint has fallen into disrepute since the fourteenth four-teenth century when on the eve of St. Valentine, a number of young folk, maids and bachelors, would assemble together and inscribe upon little billets tho names of an equal number of maids snd bachelors of their acquaintance, throw the whole into a receptacle of some sort and then draw them, lottery-fashion, lottery-fashion, caro of course boing taken that each should draw one of the oppo.sitn sex. The persou thus drawn became one's valentine. These imaginary engagements, as may readily be supposed, often led to real oues, because be-cause one necessary consequence of them was that for a whole year a bachelor bach-elor remained bound to the service of his valci. ino, somewhat after tho custom cus-tom of a mediaeval kniglilof romance, to his lady love. From that exquisite token to tho cheap carricature with the burlesque verses which now passes as a valentine, is truly a step from the ub-linie ub-linie to the ridiculous. ---(--- And yet the latter serves a good purpose pur-pose sometimes, as whea it is used to take the conceit out of some pert, con-ceiled, con-ceiled, saucy or pragmatical creature, without inviting a salacious libel suit. ----- Ceorge N. Ifft, managing editor of The Times, was robbed of money and valuables to the amount of I10U on Sunday Sun-day morning in his rooms on Third South street. It will be noted how well planned the deed was. Tho robber rob-ber selected a newspaper man because he was thus sure to strike it rich. Who else but a journalist carries $S5 in loose change about his person, not to say anything about the other valuables. Then ho choe the Sabbath morning as the only time when he could find a newspaper man napping. Above all else he pickod out a representative of The Timks because he knew this paper is always willing to pay a premium for scoops. The only regret Mr. Hit expresses ex-presses Is that he could uol have a brief interview with tho discriminating burglar bur-glar at the time. Ho Is still aimous to meet him. h- -t- -t-How many people know of the quiet and at the same time most effective way Governor Thomas has of helping along Utah and Salt Lake City? Let a stranger of any note come here, or a person of any kind in search of information, inform-ation, and the governor will seek him out and impart to him any knowledge he might desire. It takes timo and patience pa-tience and a patriotic conception of duty to do this, and It would bo interesting in-teresting to know just how many of our new comers wre attracted hither by the geaial welcome wel-come extended to them in this way by the chief executive of Utah. "Do you know," said a leading member of the stockyard company to the Free Lance, "I like your governor and if I stay her with'you and for good it will be due in a great measure to the impression impres-sion he has made on me. I reckon that a country in which everybody, from the governor down, works for the sama end, that is for the prosperity of all, is a good on to tie to. THE FREE LANCE. Somebody should hasten the building of a new theater iu this city. Anyone taking the pains f inform himself on tne subject win turn unit this is a good "show town," as tho profession denotes it. Certainly the patronage at any kind of dramatic- performance worthy of the name justifies the belief that another temple of the muses would prove a profitable investment in Salt Lake, to say nothing cf the public spirit it would evince. Fcn the horseplays which by courtesy of the critic are noticed no-ticed when they' deserve to be ignored or scored, and which form the majority of our amusements, draw a good patronage pat-ronage if only of gallery gods and howling enthusiasts. We should like to see the scheme which Mr. Morlan sponsored a while ago, materialize. -r -r -T- I A public hall is another crying need of the time. The Theater is a capital ; place for balls and the like affairs, but j it is not always available, aud moreover i it is an expensive job to remove the j chairs from the parquette and lay the I floor every time a dance is to be held j there. Thus last Sunday morning the I'nitarians could only hold services in the Theater iy a special arrangement with the carpenters who were to pre-j pre-j pare the house for the Revellers' ball ! last night. ! , j Wc would like to meet the idiot who i introduced the fashion for gentlemen to i remove their hats iu the presence of ladies in elevators. We imagine ho is a fussy little dude who thought he had introduced a startling fad when he evolved that. Why should a |