Norwalk Chronicler

Evening gazette, Saturday, February 8, 1896 · page 6

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Imagination a Potent Factor in Aoqulrlng

3 ”Fatal 13180886.. ‘ " ' '
. “Of the whole number of persons
supposed to die of disease,” said a:
prominent physician the other day, “I
should say that at least fifty per cent.
are really carried away by fear. Were
it not for this element mortality would
be far less than it 1s.”

In support of this statement he cited
various cases where the element of fear.
had entered largely in as a pctent fac-
tor to persuade people that their time
had come. IPresentiments, prophecies,
premonitions and general nervousness
all played their part. 0n the other
hand, a short time ago a patient of a

New York hospital was frightened into
getting well. This man was brought
in an ambulance, suppoSedly dying
from heart failure. ‘

He was laid on a table and a diag-
nosis showed him to be suffering with
hysteria. The surgeon turned to. one
of his assistants and, asking for a knife.
remarked that he would cut down to
the heart and find what the trouble

THE EFFECT oE FEAR.I , I

 

was. The patient gave a yell and.
leaping from the table, started for the 5
door. Remonstrance was in vain. That .
man was cured and never came back.

Some t1me ago four cr1minals,con-
demned in Russia to die, were taken to
a house and Shown several beds, in
which they were told a number of
cholera patients had died. As a mat-
ter of fact, the beds were new, never
having been slept in. The criminals
were informed that they would be set
at liberty if they would undergo the
«.r deal of sleeping several nights in the
beds. From the prisoners’ point of
view it was a possible, though a des-
perate. chance of escape. They one.
1 nd all decided to take the chances. At
the end of the time prescribed two.
.. ere uninjured and went free, but the
others developed all the symptoms and,
(led of Asiatic cholera.

Two physicians determined to take
advantage of the impressionable mind

 

of a female patient and prove a theory I

for the benefit of science. The lady*
had complained of an itching on he1
back. She was told that a blister
. would be applzed. ~. Instead, a common
postage stamp was‘ appli‘ed, and, so
111ns the chroniclehperformed all the
offices of the plaste1 ‘vv ‘11 Was not
there. ' -
A college professor was once the sub-
~ jcct of a practical joke at the hands of
the students. They met him one aftef
another, and each successivelvinquired
after his health, saying that he looked
ill. He took to his bed, a physician was
called and for days the professor imag-
ined he was ill—N. Y. World.

 
 

 

ONLY A MISTAKE, AFTER ALL.

And Nothing Ifor a. Respectable - Colored
Gentleman to \Vorry About.

A serious blunder occurred m a West
Virginia county not long ago. A num-
ber of the farmers had sustained losses
of sheep frOm their respective flocks,
and, being skeptical as to the efficiency
of the law officers, one night took the
matter in their own hands. A dozen or.
more of them proceeded some miles
away, to the house of Rehoboth Jem-
son, and, notwithstanding his protesta-
tions of innocence, gave him a severe
drubbing.

The affair c1eated no little stir, as

l‘ehoboth was a very respectable col-
ored man, who owned a snug little farm
and was a deacon 1n the Baptist church.
He had the confidence and esteem of I
his white neighbors, who 1vere 'iso
worked up over the matter that they
considered the expediency of an investi-
‘ gation that should lead to the punish-
ment of the raiding party.

Within a few days the farmers d1scov-
ered they had made an awk1vard mis-
take, the guilty party having been

 

caught red- handed and had made a full -'

confession; so, being in the maina right,

good set of fellows they decided to offer .

balm to Rehoboth for his many wounds. '-
Three of their number were designated‘

. a committee with full power to act, and :
they hastened to the discharge of their '
duty. Old Rehoboth was sitting in his
neat little cabin with bandaged head,
1". hile his wife was applying a cooling

‘ wash to his lacerated back. The com— .
mittec looked foolish and scarcely knew I
how to begin; but finally one . of the -
number stammered out an apology, and
added that they were willing to pay a
reasonable amount as recompense for
his sufferings.

“La, child, how you does talk, sho’ly!
Ameckin’ sich a furse dat I’s ershamed
on ye! You jes’ git bacx ter yei homes
’n’ stay dar. I ain’ axin’ nuffin’ ’n’ don’
11 ant nuflin'. W’y honey, ef I done tuck ~
on erbout de mistecks er white folkses ’
I’d‘ jes’ be plum’ mis’able barf de time.”
—Chicago Tribune. ‘

 

 

Fooling the Keeper. I

A humorous old suburban farmer
tells the following story of how he once .
fooled a toll- -gate keeper. “It was'
when‘ I was a drumme1,” he said, “and

'selling goods around‘ through country!
towns in these parts. I was goin’
through one of these old gates, and I
slowed upabit and askedof the old
fellow at the door: ‘Ah, my friend, do
preachers pay to go through your
gate?’ ‘No, 5,511, said he; and with a
profound obeisance he waved me on
and backed into his little room.

. “Well, after that I passed through!
some eight or ten times, when one day'
he accosted me as I drove up:

“ ‘Good day, sir,’ he said; ‘what
church- -do you preach at, sir, may I
ask?’ ' I

“ ‘None, my good fellow, none, ’I re-

 

plied - l _

“ ‘What! Didn’t you tell me you wuz
a preacher,’ said he. .

“ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I only asked you if
preachers had to pay. I was just a
little curious to know.’ Well, you
should have seen that old fellow’ s face,
as it dawned upon him where the joke
came 1n.”—-N at10na1 Tribune. '

 

, Career Before Her. , l

“I suppose you loved your_ last hus- .

band dearly,” said Mrs. Hunter, of J er-

‘ sey City, toMrs. Lakeshore, of Chicago. I
“I haven’t married my last husband
3',et ” was the reply. “If you firean to

- little.

. quered an empire.

1 which,

I him, she began to reason with him upon

 

express a supposition that I laid my
1 most recent husband, I can fly that I
61 .”—Town Topics. '

 

Mister Chicot, mnkeeper of Eperville,
stopped his tilbury in. front of Mother

Magloire’s farm He was a big fellow 'I‘ '

of forty, red-faced, high-stomached,
and passed for being mischievous.

He tied his horse to the way post at
the gate, then took his way into the
court. -He possessed an estate adjoin-
ing the old woman’s land, -,which for a
long time he kept watch upon. Twen-
ty times he had tried to buy it, but
Mother Magloire obstinatelyI refused.

“Here I was born; here will I die,”
she said.

He found her peeling potatoes in
front of her door. Being seventy- two
vears old, she was dried up, wrinkled
and bent, but as indefatigable as a
young girl. Chicot tapped her in a
friendly way on the back, then seated
himself on a stool beside her.

“Well, mother, and 1s you health al-
ways good?”

“Not so bad; and yours, Mr. P1 osper ‘E”

“Eh' eh! A few pains, otherwise it
is satisfactory”

“Well, so much the better.”

And she did not say anything more.

Chicot watched her accomplish what
she wanted. Her crooked fingers,
knotted hard like crab’s claws, seizing,
pincher fashion, the grayish tubercles
with one hand, and quickly she moved
it, taking ofi long strips of the skin
with the blade of an old knife which she
held in the. other hand. And when
the potato had become quite yellow she
threw it into a pail of water. Three‘
fearless fowls came, one after the other,
close to her skirts to pick up the peel-
ings, then ran off as fast as their legs
would carry them, bearing their booty
in their beaks.

Chilcot seemed ill at ease, hesitating,
anxious, with something on the tip of
his tongue which would not come out
At last he begins: ..

“Tell me, Mother Magloire—”

“What can I do to oblige y ou. 9”

“This farm, you still will not sell itI
to me?”

“As to that, no.
I have said it.
again.’

6“The fact' 1s, I have found an arrange-
ment which will suit us both. ”

“What is that. 9”

“Here it is. You will sell it to me,
and still you will keep it. Don’t you
see? Follow my meaning?” '

The old woman left off peeling her _
vegetables and fixed her quick eyes 1
with their crumpled eyelids on the inn— ‘
keeper.

He resumed: “I will explain myself.
Every month I will give you one hun—
dred and fifty francs. You hear me
well-—every month I will bring to you -
here, in my tilbury,'thirty crowns of
one hundred sous. And so there is noth— 7
ing changed—nothing at all. You re-1
main here at home; you need not
trouble y ourself about me, you owe me
nothing. You only take my money.
Does this suit y.ou 9”

He looked at her with a joyous air,
with a good-humored air.

The old woman, looking for the snare,
considers it with misgivings. She
asks:

“That is for me. But for you—that
does not give you this farm at all.” .

He continued. “Don’t worry your-
self about that. You will remain as
long as the good Lord lets you live. You
are at home. Only you,2 give me- a little
l“note from your lawyer to say that after
you it comes to me. You hav 0 no chil-
dren, only nephews, for whom you care -
Does this suit you? You keep
your land during your life and I give
you thirty crowns of one hundred sous
every month. It is all gain for you.”

The old woman remained surprised, 1
but tempted. She replied:

“I do not say 110, only I want to think I
it 0v cr. Come again and talk about it ;
the middle of next week: I will tell you '
what I think of it.”

And Mister Chicot went away as con-
tented as a king who had just con-
\Iother Magloirc

The next night

 

Do not count on it!
Do not talk about it'

 

 

remained thd‘ughtful.
she did not sleep. During four days
she had a fever of hesitation. She
smelt something bad for her in it, but
the thought of thirtycrowns a month.
of this lovely, clinking money which
would come rolling into her apron,
.without her doing anything.
would fall to her as if from heaven,
consumed her with desire. She went,
therefore, to see the lawyer and told;
him her case. He advised her to accept
Chicot’s proposition, but instead of
thirty to ask fifty crowns of a hundred

. sous, her farm being worth at least

sixty thousand francs.

“Should you live fifteen years,” the
lawyer salt , “in this way he only pays
forty-five thousandfrancs.”

The old woman qnivered at the pros-
pect of fifty crowns of one hundred sous
per month; but still she had her doubts.
fearing a thousand things unforesecv
'——tricks hidden—Land she remained
until evening askingquestions and un- .
able to decide or to go away. At last
she orders the act toIbe prepared and l
she goes home, dazed as if she had1
drunk fourI pots of new cider.

When Chicot came to“ know the‘an-
swer she allowed herself to be entreat-
ed, declaring that she would not. But,=
gnawed by the fear that he would not
consent to give the fifty crowns of one'
hundred sous, as he insists she at last '
announces her pretensions. , " I.

He had a shock of disappointment:
and refused. Therefore, to convince

the probable duration of he1 life.

“I have little more than fiVe or six
3 cars for certain. Here I am nearly
soventy- three, and at that not vigorous...
The other night I thought I was pass-7
ing a11ay. It seemed to me that they
were obliged to early me to my bed.”

But Chicot was not to be caught.
“Come, come, old experienced one, you.
are as solid as the church bell. You'wvill
live at least one hundred and. ten years.
For certain it w ill be you who will bury 1
me 9!

The whole day was.lost' 1n discussmn

 

u

But as- the old woman would not con-

'gi1e the fifty crowns. ,
The following day they signed the I.
agreement, and Mother Magloire dc;

”of wine.

Three yeals passed. The old woman
was mil aeulousl y w ell. She did not
seem to have aged at all, and Chicot de-

spaired. It seemed to him that he had ‘

"been paying this income for half a

century; that he had been deceived,

. cheated, ruined. Sometimes he went

to pay a visit to the farm, just as one
gees in the fields in July to see if the
wheat 1s lipe for the flail. She received
him with a m1 schiev ous look. One would

have said of her that she congratulated

3 no”

herself on the good joke she had play ed
on him, and he remounted his tilbury ,
muttering: “Y on old carcass; y ou
won’t die!”

He did not know what to do. 011
seeing her he would like to have choked
her. He hated her with a sulky, fero-
cious hatred--with the hatred of a peaS<
ant who had been robbed. ’

. ‘ Well then he would find the means.

Accordingly, he'came oneday to see
her, rubbing his hands as he had done
the first time when he came to propose

'the arrangement. Then, after chatting

a few minutes:

“Say, mother, why do you never dine
at my house when you go through
liperville? 'People tattle; they say
that we no longer are friends, and that
makes -me mourn. You know that at
my house you do not need to pay. I do .
iiotgrudge a dinner. Any-time you'
feel inclined to come, come,without cer-
emony; that will please me.’

\Iother Magloire did not wait for a
second invitation. Two days after, on
her way to market 111 her jaunting car,
conducted by Celestin, her groom,
without formality, she put her horse in
Mister Chicot s stable and claimed her
promised dinner. ,

The innkeeper, radiant, treats her
like a lady, serves her with chicken,
meat pudding, leg of mutton, and cab-
bage with bacon. But, being from her
infancy tempel ate, having alw a3 s lived
on a little soup and a buttered crust,
she ate scarcely anything. Chicot.
disappointed, insisted. Neither did
she drink. She refused to take coffee.

He asked: “You will accept, of
course, a small glass of brandy ‘2”

“Ah! as to that, yes. I do not say

And he called across the inn with both
of his lungs: “Rosalie, bring the
brandy, the superfine, the Eau-de-vie.”

The servant appeared, holding’a long
bottle, decorated with a paper vine
leaf.

He filled two small glasses.

“Taste that, mother; it is famous."

And the good woman began to drink,
1 cry slowly, taking small sips, thereby
making the pleasure last longer. After
empty ing her glass she drained it, de-
cleal' mg:

“That, yes—that is the fine cham-
pagne brandy. ”

She hadn’t finished speaking 11 hen
Chicot poured her out a second dose.
She would have refused, but it was TOO
late, and she slowly tasted it, as she
had done the first.

He then wanted to make her accept
a third allowance, but she resisted. He
insisted: “This, this is milk, do you
see ? I drink ten, twelve without harm.
It goes down like sugar. Nothing in
the stomach, nothing in the head; one
might say it evaporated on the tongue.
’l‘hereds nothing better for the health!”

As she had a desire for more she ac-
quiesced, but she took only half a glass.
'l‘hereupon Chicot, with a breath of
generosity, cried out to her:

“See, since it pleases you, I will give
you a small cask; this will let- you see
that we are always a pair of good
friends’

The good w oman does not sa3 no, and
she goes away a little tips3. °

The next day the innkeeper entered
Mother Magloire’s court, and from
the bottom of his carriage pulled out a
little barrel encircled with iron. Then
he wished her to Itaste its contents to
prove that it was the same brandy; and
when. both drank three glasses on going
away he declared:

“And besides, you know, when this is
finished there is still more. Do not feel
embarrassed. I am not grudging. The
sooner that is finished the more pleased
I will be.”

And he remounts his tilbury.

Four days later he returns. The old
woman was in front of her door cutting
bread for her soup. He approached
her, wished her good day, talked close
to her face in order to inhale her breath.
He noticed a whifl of alcohol. Now his
face brightened.

“You surely will offer me a glass Of
b1 andy. 9” said he. .-
They tench

times.

But soon the news spreads through
the country that Mother'Magloire got
intoxicated when alone. One picked

glasses two or three

. her up sometimes in her kitchen, some-

times in her court, sometimes in the
neighboring roads where they were

obliged to carry her home as inani-
mate as a corpse. Chicot did not go to
see- her any longer. When one spoke
to him about the peasant he murmured, '
with a sad face:

' “Is it not sad, at her age, to have
taken such a habit as that? Don’t you
see, when one is old there IS no help for.
it. Some day it will likely end badly for
her. ”

It did, indeed, end badly for her. The
winter following, near Christmas, she
fell drunk 1n the snow.

And Mister ChiCot inherited the farm.
while he declared: ' “That peasant, if
only she hadn’t become a drunkaIrd,
surely might have lived ten years
longer. ”-—From the French, for Chicago

I Tribune.

 

—_’l‘here' s no music) in a “rest.” but
there’s the making of muSic in it.‘ And.
people are always missing- that part of-
the life melody, always talking of per-
severance and courage and fortitude;

_. . but patience is the finest and werthiest

part of fortitude, and the rarest, -tooI.

' —:Ruskin.

 

cede the innkeeper at last consented to _

 

EDI AWAY.‘ BEFORE FOBTY MEN.

 

Captain McCain Know the Sioux Better
Than They Know Themselves, and They

' Dead Shot. and A130 Scalp Takersf‘,
- » 1

In the pioneer days, to reach Montana

_‘ from Cheyenne. in I.Wyoming, required

a roundabout journey: that involved a
double crossing or the Rocky mountains,

with a change of base at Salt Lake City. ’
IIThé United States government brought

about a better ,Iconditlon of travel by‘

constructing a on 1' through the Gallatiu

valley along the course of the Gunpowder
river, reaching around the base of the
mountains in a curvilinear form, which
avoided the heights of the Rockies. To
protect this route from marauding In-

dians three forts were built—Reno, Phil

Kearny and C. F. Smith. These were
garrisoned by United States troops.

In 1866 the murderous Sioux from the
Yellowstone valley pursued a sanguiuary
course up through the Gallatin valley
and into Montana. It was marked by
rapine and plunder. They besieged Fort
Reno and killed many of its garrison,
including a brother of A. K. McClure.
They envir‘oned Fort Phil Kearny,- and
wiped from the face of the earth every
human being whosawalls it failed to
protect. Then .3they surrounded Fort C.
F. Smith, where 200 Union soldiers
found themselves surrounded by more
than 1, 000 death seeking Indians. Ea-
cape seemed :; impossible. A courier got
word of this condition of aflairs'to Gen~
eral Hancock, who was then stationed
at St. Paul, and he sent a messenger to
the governor of Montana at Bozeman,
calling upon him to relieve the besieged
garrison. The chief executive of the ter-
ritory of Montana at that time was
Green Clay Smith, who, by the way, re-
cently died in Washington, a Baptist
clergyman. He had been a member of
congress from Kentucky, but President
Lincoln made him territorial governor
of Montana. He was seated on the porch
of his residence in Bozeman when Han-
cock’s message was handed to him. To
a visitor from theeast, who was seated
by his side, and who is authority for
this narrative, he 'said:

“What in the name of heaven can I
do? Fort G. F. Smith is 250 miles
away. The country between here and
there is filled with Sioux Indians. Our
militia force consists of exactly 427
men. Not a man of them could reach
Fort C. F. Smith alive. I am absolutely
powerless. However, 'I will send for
Colonel Howie. ”

At that time Colonel Neil Howie was
United States marshal for the territory
of Montana. He was a typical frontiers-
man.

It was to this man that Governor
smith addressed himself, banding him
General Hancock’s dispatchIand saying:
“Colonel, we can’t do anything for
those poor devilsin Fort C. F. Smith.
We haven’t enough men, and those we
have couldn’t get ‘ there. Am I not
ri ght?”

“No, ” said Colonel Howie quietly,

without any exhibition of excitement.

and with the gentle voice of a woman.
“There is no trouble about that, ' govern—

or. We can arrange that matter and still :-'

leave the Montana frontier protected. I
will need some picked men and a good
leader for them. I think Captain Mc-
Cabe is best fitted for this undertaking.
I will go out and find him. ”

McCabe was another gentle voiced
man with blue eyes. He didn’t make
much noise.
governor: .“Oh, yes; it is easy enough.
But I’ll need 40 of the best men I can
select. You can keep the rest of your
volunteer force here’

Governor Smith looked at him in
amazement. So did the visitor from the
fort. They both thought he was either
insane or a braggarIt. Governor Smith
said to him, “How 1n the name of heav-
en do you expect to raiSe the siege of
Fort C. F. Smith with 40 men when
you know that it is surrounded by more
than 1,000 bloodthirsty Indians, and
that the country between here and there
is covered with thousands more of mur-
derous Sioux?”

Said McCabe quietly: “Why, govern-
or,- it is easy enough. The Indians know
us, and knew that we know them better
than they know themselves. You folks

from the east have an idea that What‘

yOu call Indian atrocities are simply un-
meaning exhibitions of brutality; that
scalping, for instance, is simply a form
of torture. In that you are mistaken.

The Indian believes that no man can go
to the happy hunting ground—heaven
we call it—who has been deprived of his
hair. Their motive in scalping a victim is

to carry out fiendish hatred to its utmost . I-

by preventing him from having a happy
hereafter. Therefore to deprive an In-
dian of his scalp is to rob him of his
hope of a happy hereafter. My men nev-
er kill an Indian without scalping him,
and the Indians know that. The 40 men
I will select for this expedition are un-
erring in their aim with the rifle. They
can shoot 16 shots in 16 seconds, and
every ball means a dead Indian, and ev-
ery dead Indian means a scalp, and ev-

ery scalp means a warrior deprived eter- =
belly of a chance of ever reaching the

happy hunting ground. My 40 men will

walk from here to Fort C. F. Smith

Without firing a shot. ”
“Incredible,” said Governor Smith.
“True, ” said Captain McCabe.
What was the result?
Forty men walked the 250 miles from

Bozeman to Fort C. F. Smith. Indians

watched them on every 511716.133! days
their progress was signaled by circling
columns of smoke and by night by fire'
from mountain tops. But not a shot was
flied. When they gotwithin sight of
Fort C. F. Smith,- the 1‘, 000 Whooping
Sioux who held the garrison in siege

fled, and the 40 frontiers'men from Boze- '

man marched in and escorted the 200
Union soldiers bagk to the territOrial
capital without the loss of a life. N ot a
shot had been fired. Not a scalp had
been lifted—Philadelphia Times.

I

Know the Captain and His Men a...

He acted. He said to the'

sDIDN." T. FIRE A SHOT ~

-,WHY THOUSANDS OF INDIANS MELT?
manded ten crowns for some measures ‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

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