Show A PECULIAR LOTTE I 1 RY chances for a husband bought by massachusetts maidens the only marriageable man in town captured Cap by the poorest of f twenty T ety young women who drew tor for him A Drum drummers story A sun son reporter coming over fro from philadel philadelphia p fell or was thrown into conversation with a chicago he might have merely fallen into conversation versa tiou with anyone else budwith but with a chicago drummer he was thrown in for a chicago drummer let any passenger on a train escape the conversational al pool if he can help it and he most in 0 st always does 4 by jove old man he said with the seductive lve familiarity of all drummers that little tale you have just boldine told me about the summer girls mobbing the only man at the hotel a patching to a cooperative matrimonial snap I 1 ca cam across one time when I 1 was in a a section in massachusetts where men are am s scarce that when the girls give a part they have to find a man with a search warrant war there was a wedding at the biggest church in the town the evening I 1 gut got there and the whole town was illuminated and everybody was out as I 1 if there was a fourth of july celebration going on and naturally I 1 asked what all the row was then the landlord of the tavern told nie me it seemed that flat there were 20 marriageable young women in the town and only one man and he was so poor that he wa was afraid to venture being thrifty as most yankees are and not caring to assume obligations without corresponding capital the girls were well to do that is to say they were worth or apiece but that was hardly hardai enough for the thrifty eligi eligible big 0 so ie he proposed a cooperative matrimonial scheme as I 1 have called it though the n name ame exactly ap appropriate ate his proposition was that all the girls chip in so much for a chance at him no subscription to be less than and each subscription of that amount entitling the subscriber to one tl ticket with additional tickets at each the girls were anxious Lux ious the young man desi desirable te and the enthusiasm soon poon li become come intense in one girl who was worth a little nio mor etlan ethan the others ol 01 was moreana more anxious I 1 do dont nt recall which blew in 1000 on six tickets and several of them harl barl more than one chance on the day of the drawing there was something so methin over gover t in the pool an and d the young man was ivas pleased to death the girls on the other hand yvere were dreadfully nervous and anxious for while ih the e man was a sure sur winner vinner only one of them was go ln ang to get the man and the pot the drawing took place in the town hall where an admission n of f ten cents was charged the suni sum to go toa to a consolation fund to be distributed among the 19 unsuccessful ones the drawing was conducted by the town officers and was very simple the names of the girls being put in ote one hat bat those who had bad more than one chance having their names a corresponding number of times in the hat and the name of the young man with a number of blanks in the other then the dl drawing WN ing wais waa made and at the draw the young mans name came out oui with that of a girl who had only on one e chance h ance and of course she w was as declared the winner the wedding two months later was the event of the season and as strange as it t may seem to you this was one or of the cases of lottery where both dren pr prizes aies for they lived very happily and ar are e stin still living that way I 1 suppose though I 1 seen them in ten years another odd thing about it was thattie that the unsuccessful ticket holders seemed t to 3 take a proprietary interesting inte in the couple and they hey have bare a reunion ore every ry year and call for an accounting though they never ask sk for dividends on their jh eirin investment Test vestment meni imay say the lucky zein man his has made money enough to agam agresto to hafto pay to each of the con contributors 1000 on her marriage and up to the last time I 1 heard franr them he chehad haa ha a paid three or four of them axe are in maiden graves however and the chances are he will never have to give giva up as aa much as they gave him N Y |