Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1886 — A COMICAL ADVENTURE. [ARTICLE]

A COMICAL ADVENTURE.

Ab American Imprisoned and Fined for Joking in Bad German. Some time ago a successful but somewhat impudent young man, residing in the valley of the Mississippi, married a beautiful maiden who had fled from a convent in order to share the joy and burden of life with him. It was determined that the wedding trip should comprise a tour of Europe. The excursion across the sea and as far as Herbistal, near where Belgium borders on the confines of Rhenish, Prussia, was accomplished in a piping and pleasant way. At Herbistal the French garde gave way to a German schaffner, and when the young American was asked by the new conductor to show his ticket, he swiftly marshaled his knowledge of German, and inquired: "Sind wir in Preussen?" (Are we in Prussia?) and, receiving an affirmative answer, he said: Ans diesem land kommcn alle unsere spitzbuben her." (From this country come all of our tramps.) Among the Germans of the Mississippi valley the word “spitzbuben” is sometimes used in the sense of tramp. In Germany it means thief and rascal. What was more unfortunate still, the railroad on which the American was traveling was the property of the state, and the conductor wore the regulation uniform of the imperial railway service, and according to law as well as to public sentiment an insult offered to a uniformed person serving his majesty the king in any capacity is a grave misdemeanor, punishable with line or imprisonment, or both. When the conductor’ heard the words of the American he replied with some excitement: “Ich werde ihnen ziegen woe die spitzbuben sind wen wir in Aachen ankommcn" (I will show you where the spitzbuben are when we arrive at Aachen). The window of the coupe went down with a crash, and the train sped on across the Prussian frontier, on over a spur of the Ardennes, and twenty minutes later rolled into Aachen, the famous old kaiserstadt. The conductor was true to his promise. As the train halted two policemen approached the coupe occupied by the bridal pair and requested the husband to step out. He indignantly refused, and was helped out. No words were wasted. No explanations were allowed. The prisoner was hurried along the dark and narrow streets of the city, and the young bride, ignorant of the language and unable to comprehend what was transpiring, saw her husband dragged forcibly from her, and found herself alone at night in a strange land, amidst strange laces, hustled along by an officer of law toward a second-class hotel, where she threw herself on a sofa and lay prostrate for hours, dumbfounded and dazed at the remarkable scene w hich had taken place. About midnight a policeman came to the United States consulate, and, arousing the consul, related the incident, and handing him the prisoner's passport, intimated that the American citi-

zen would like to have him call at the • prison as early as possible the next day. The consul dressed himself and went to the place of imprisonment at once. He found the American in a narrow cell resting on a bed of straw. He told the story of his misfortune and begged the consul to ascertain the whereabouts of his wife and afford her all necessary protection. The consul left the prison and proceeded to the residence of the chief of police, where he presented the details of the case to that officer with the request that the American should be released, vouching at the same time for his appearance at court the next day. The order for the release was granted, and at 3 o’clock in the morning the western gentleman was given back to his young bride, whom lie found half crazed with fright and anxiety. At 10 a. m. the next morning all parties concerned met at the office of the police commissioner and the consul, fully aware of the severity of the German courts in all cases of majestats beleidigung'(insult to the crown) endeavored to effect a settlement, but without avail. The testimony was heard. The conductor swore that the prisoner said “Alle Preussen sind spitzbuben" All Prussians are spitzbuben). The American insisted that the conductor had misunderstood him, and that he had only intended to say in “from Prussia came all of our western tramps.” Of course the. grave German court saw nothing very funny about it; and, the conductor’s testimony having been taken, the prisoner was sent before the amtsgericht, where the evidence was reviewed, and from there the case went to the schoffengericht for final trial. It usually requires days, and sometimes weeks, to dispose of such a case, but by energetic management seventeen hours after the alleged offense had been -committed the final judgment of the court was made known. The prisoner was sentenced to pay a fine of S6O, in addition to S4O in costs and he was warned that the mild and merciful sentence was owing to his ignorance of the law and the true meaning of the offensive phrase by which he had insulted a uniformed servant of his majesty the kingThe prisoner eagerly settled the demands of the court and started at once with his bride for the railway station. As the train moved away he opened the window of his compartment and said, in somewhat muffled tones, to the consul: “Mum is my name until I get out of this country, but I’ll watch for the frontier, and when we cross it I’ll open my mouth as wide as the delta of the Mjssiasippi and shout: ‘Thank God, we are safe once morel’ Washington Republican. Kevada is the paradise of the school teaeber, where the average salary is per mouth for males and for