An Extraordinary Pastime.

Opunake Times, Volume II, Issue 61, 1 February 1895, Page 4

An Extraordinary Pastime.

A general arrived from St. Petersburg in a garrison town in the interior Of Russia to hold an inspection of the troops. • After the review he stepped into the officers’ mess-room, where he noticed on the counter a row of bottles, to which, instead of the usual labels, white tickets with a single letter of the alphabet on each, were affixed. The bottles stood in rank and lile and in alphabetical order. “ What does this mean “? ” the general asked the lieutenant who was showing him round. “ That is an officer’s charade, your excellency,” replied the officer, rather embarrassed. The general continued his enquiries, and elicited the following information : “Each bottle contains a different kind of liquor. At the meeting of the officers’ club one of us mixes some of these varieties in a glass so that the initials spell a name, and the older and more experienced members of the club after tasting it guess what it is composed of, and name the word intended.” “ Very original idea,” remarked the general. “ And are you able to make a guess of that kind ? ” “ If it is your excellency’s pleasure, I will try,” the lieutenant replied. The general went to the counter and mixed a glass, while the officer stood at the other end of the room with his face to the wall. “ Now, guess what this means,” said the general, as he handed the glass to the officer. The latter drank it at one gulp, smacked his tongue, and replied : ' “ That was ‘ Anna,’ your excellency.” “ Bravo ! ” exclaimed the general; “ it requires a lot of practice, eh ? ” “ Your excellency, ‘ Anna ’ is easy enough, but there is a captain in our corps who can even guess ‘ Nebuchadnezzar ! ’ ”