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Show ORIGIN OF "TWENTY-THREE" Hero of Dickens' Story Who Died on tho Guillotine Was In Line on That Number. Dickens lovers havo no troublo those days In proving that all of our sup-pored sup-pored up-to-dato Americanisms nro merely stolen expressions from their fnvwlto author. Thoy havo Indeed found that Dickens used many phrasos and expressions that havo been taken up to-day as universal Dy-words, and tho latest acquisition of tho enthvs-lasts enthvs-lasts ot this sort Is told In tho statement state-ment thnt Dickens originated tho expression ex-pression "twenty-three," which In the vernacular ot tho present Is used to express "nil In," "chnso yourself," "Fklddoo," "tho end," nnd mnny other things. It will bo remnrked by anybody, says the Kansas City Star, that In tho last chapter of "Tho Talo of Two Cities" Cit-ies" Dickens describes tho procession of human-leaden tumbrils to tho guillotine. guil-lotine. In ono of them is Sidney Carton, Car-ton, tho hero. In a garden overlooking overlook-ing tho hideous mnchlno is a group of old women knitting. As tho heads fall In tho basket ono nftcr another tho women knit stealthily and count thoin out loud. Tho paragraph describing tlio last moments of Sidney Carton icadr thus: "Tho murmuring of many voices, tho upturning of many faces, thj rresslng on of many footsteps In tho outskirts of tho crowd, bo that It f.wella forward In a mass, llko ono great hcavo of wntor, all Hashes away. Twonty-thrco!" There you hnvo It. You can take It for what It Is worth. |
