Mocking Bird Food

A north side cable car the other day was the scène of a most comical inci dent. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the car was coinfortably filled with ladies returning from their shoping tours, says Chicago Tribune Sitting between two ladies was an ok gentleman of patriarchal appearance Suddenly both the ladies uttered a shriek and jumped from their seats The conductor rushed forward, and on his inquiry what was the matter the agitated ladies pointed to the old man. "See! See!" they cried, "look at the worms." And sure enough on the old man's overcoat and trousers crawled about half a dozen fat, yellow worms about an inch long. When the old man found out what was the matter, be slapped his hand on his knee and commenced to laugh. "Well! well! Don't be scared, ladies," he said; "they are only flour worms for my mocking birds. I can't understand how the pesky critters got out of the box," and the old man hauled a round paper box, with a hole in the cover, f rom out of one of his pockets, "I got a couple of hundred in here," he said. The worms were gathered together, the ladies quieted down, and the old man amused the passengers with a description of his beautiful mockipg birds. The car had by thia time approached Lincoln park, when a lady sitting third from the old man made a suelden grab at her dress somewhere about the knees. "Oh, my. I must have some of them!" she exola. ned, to the amusement of the other passengers, and an expression of agony swept over her face. She looked helplessly round at the passengers, and finally signaled to the conductor to stop the car, jumped out in a hurry, and disappeared among the trees in the park. The old man, unconscious of the new trouble his worms had caused, was talking to a lady on the other side about his mocking birds, when he was told of what had happened by one of the ladies. He looked a little regretfully on the box of worms and said: "Why didn't she teil me? Why, they are absolutely harmless. I wonder how many she got away with?"