Show RETIRED BURGLARS STORY Remarkable Manner in Which Ho Lost Valuable Safe One of my earliest experiences said the retired burglar was In cornpany wlth a bigframed ablebodied man I I who was known to everybody who knew him at all as BIg Bill Big Bill had marked down i me diumsteed cafe which he had seen standing In the back second floor room of a house where he had gone to beg and Incidentally to prospect and Bill thought the thing to do with that safe was not to try to open It in the house but to carry It off and open It at his leisure And I was to help him The room this safe was in was n kind of an office or study or something or other for the man who owned the house Nobody slept there This house was In a suburban town and the rooms window opened on a nice smooth grassy yard Of course the safe never c6uld be moved across the room and down the stairs without waking up everybody In the house about seventeen timesover but Bill did think that he could dump It out of the window to fall on that smooth fine thick nod below without making any noise at all and thats what we set out to do with It Bill had a horse and wagon of his walon own and the night hed fixed on he and I took his outfit and went to this house to get the safe We didnt know Just what the safe weighed so we carried along In the wagon two stout boxes of dlflcrent height to stand by the tall Jf the wagon In case we needed them If we couldnt lift the safe by deadweight dead-weight from the ground to the agon Bill and I though Bill could lift three times my capacity could end It up on those two boxes we thought like upon up-on steps and ao get It Into the wagon We got into the house without any particular difficulty and up Into that room The safe stood right alongside a window so we didnt have far to move It but Bill took no chances that he could avdld He Just drenched the four rollers under the safe with oil so that they wouldnt squeak when we setout set-out to move I laid l down on the floor a couple of strips of quarterInch Iron to roll It on the window so as to distribute the weight a little and so lessen the danger of squeaking in the boards and finally wo got the safe to the window Thanks to Bills precautions It hadnt made a sound He looked out of the I window below to see that everything was clear and then we got the safe upon up-on the sill without having made anything any-thing crack anywhere This was business busi-ness this was but Bill had calculated I all to a nicety He cast one more glance below and then he and I together to-gether got under the end of the safe inside the window and lifted and pushed And down she went with Bill and I looking out of the window at her and struck on ono corner In the turf and struck by snakes noiseless as a piece of down falling on n pillow this for about a millionth part of a second and then thenCrunch Crunch crash 1 Biff bang Crack smash and the safe seemed lo be settling set-tling into the ground for a moment and the next moment It disappeared from view I had strucIC on the top of and broken through Into a clotcrni I turned the brim on Big Bill for Just a moment to see how he was taking i and he was taking It hard Of course he didnt say anything This was no place for loud conversation but 4lie looked mot e than I ever heard any man speak There was nothing for us to do now but to get out we carried a fairish kit of tools but we didnt carry derricks and hoisting machinery DO we took to the wagon Now you know I was a young man and all things considered taking a pretty cheerful view I of life and I thought that the losing of this safe in this way was the rcoldnrndest funniest thing I ever heard of In my life but recollecting the look on Bills face when I turned the headlight on him I didnt InughNew York Sun QUEER APPETITE OF A PONY Oakland Cal Nov 23R R L max of Alambda Is the proud owner of a pony named Button and he says there Is not money enough In all Alamcda county to buy it from him Button Is an equine of many accomplishments and ono Icehe chews tobacco Yes Button Is a confirmed chewer and after ho has placidly enjoyed his quid he wallows the chew For the past ten years this strange pony has been addicted to the tobacco habit Every day Lomax supplies him with the wecd and he takes we1 talcs a generous slice of the plug too as much as three ordinary men would chew Button Is an epicure too He turns up his nose at most of lie tid bits dear to horseflesh and tickles his palate with ham sandwiches and candy No dont laugh for It Is the veriest truth and more remarkable still Button scorns to drink water from a bucket and prefers to quench his thirst by drinking from a hose Thus has ho done for nearly two decades The hands of the children of Mr Lomaxs father have hold Ihc hose to thl parched lips of Button and now Mr Lomax himself and his children proud ly I encourage the peculiar pony In his novel method of slaking his thirst Bu ton is 23 years old and In excellent excel-lent health wild Mr Lomax In speaking speak-ing of his pet He has already lived three years longer than the average ago allotted to horses and he gives Indication In-dication of living many ycars longer Ho has chewed tobacco since hiM earl est years Button has been In our family fam-ily the whole of his life time and Is 1 tho most intelligent bit of horseflesh I have ever ran across Besides doing many ordinary tricks he will walk up flights or stairs and I havo often taken him into my house He Is half Shetland twelve and a half hands high and is broken to both saddle and harness Chicago Chronicle v 6 I I t l t T t t T I I J |