SHORT SHIFTS ON THE COMSTOCK.

West Coast Times, Issue 2852, 24 May 1878, Page 4

SHORT SHIFTS ON THE COMSTOCK.

[VIRGINIA CHEONICLB.] A bashful young man called on a B street girl last evening for the first time, and after exhausting the usual stock subject of the weather, they both sat and looked at the fire for several minutes. He at length concluded to introduce the great question of shortening the shifts of the stationary engineers from twelve to eight hours, So he squared around and remarked with manifest self-confidence : "Do you favor the movement for the shortening of shifts on the Oomatock t" " What ?" exclaimed the girl, straighteniug up. " Some people," pursued the young man nervously, •' think that the shifts are too long. As far as lam concerned, I never found 'em so, and Td be willing to let 'em stay as they are." Here the girl indignantly rose up and said that she didn't consider it any of his business how long a shift should be, and if he had no more delicate or appropriate subject to discuss he might take a walk. He slid through the door about ten seconds afterwards, with a coat and hat in one hand, and it was not until he had asked his mother about the matter that he learned how bis innocent attempt to enliven the conversation had been construed. He is now a sadder mau. A man has applied for space and permission to exhibit at the Paris Exhibition his collection of embalmed corpses 1 O certainly (says a contemporary) ; arrange them as attractively as possible ; make a tempting displny, and then hang up a placard reading "Please do not handle. Anything to tantalise the poor. The economy of advertisers sometimes leads to unintentional results. A patentee of a novel gas stove announces in cold v blood that it will comfortably '•• cook from 5 to 500 persons."