Mocking Bird Food

A north side cable car the other day waa the scène of a most comical incident. It was about 4 o'cloek in the Hfternoon and the car was comfortably l".lled with ladies returnlng (rom tne.r ihoping to;T3, says Chicago Tribune, liitting between two ladies was an old gentleman of patriarch! appearance. Suddenly both tüe Iadle3 uttered a chriek and jumped frorn their seats. The conductor rushed forward, and on liis inquiry what was the matter the agitated ladies pointed to the old man. "See! See!" thcy#eried, "look at the worms." And sure enoügh on the o'Ü nian's overcoai 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 eaid; "they are only flour worms for my tnocking 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, from out of one of his pockets, "I got a couple of hundred in here," he eaid. The worms were gathered together, the ladies quieted down, and the old man amused the passengers with a description of his beautiful mocking birds. The car had by this time approachod Lincoln park, when a lady sitting third from the old man made a suelden gTab at her dress somewhore about the knees. "Oh, my. I must have some of them!" she excla aed, to the amusement of the other passengers, ar.d an expression of agony swept over her face. She loolced 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 oyier side about hSs mocking birds, when he was told of what had happened by one ót 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 uow nwiny she got away with?"