November 8, 2025
WRONG MAN SIGNED PLEDGE.
How Joe Donnegan Was Euchred by
Friend Who Drank.
Joe Donnegan, theatrical manager and hotel man, is pledged to abstain from the use of alcoholics for five years. When Joe, who does not drink anyhow, discovered that he had taken the pledge, he was wroth. Not that he delights in supping from the cup when it is red, or blowing the froth from more plebeian beverages, but that he was euchred into signing the pledge when, at the time, he thought he was merely a witness to such a transaction for a friend.
A couple of weeks ago Donnegan induced a friend who had been looking long on the cup to accompany him to a notary, there to take a pledge of total abstinence from liquor for five years. It was hard work for Joe, but he finally gained his point. The friend insisted on two last drinks, and these he was permitted to have.
Joe walked into a saloon recently and there, just able to hold on to the bar, was his friend who had taken the pledge.
"You are a fine specimen of manhood," declared Donnegan, as he grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him. "I thought you took the pledge not to take a drink for five years, and here I find you so drunk you can hardly stand up."
"You're mishtaken, that's all," replied the friend, at the same time pulling a sheet of paper from his coat pocket. "You see you took the pledge. See your name. I am witness to it, and you dassent take a drink, so be careful now and don't violate your pledge. What'll you have?"
