Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1843-10-14
JENNY AND HE WHICH,

prevails of young men giving their
watches IN trust TO y Dung women for
whom they have declared their attach
ment. The watch is kept aud carried in
the bosom of the fair one until the anx-
.iOus couple are united in the bon Is o.
wcdlock, when, as 4 matter OF course,
the pledge Of sincerity is delivered up
10 ITS or gina owner. his is imagined
by the country lasSes as an infinitely
letter plan for securing The fidelity Of
q sweetheart, I an hat of breaking a
sixpence A watch Is a valuable aud
highly priced article. Ii is worth al
least = couple of pounds, and The loss
OF that SUN by an Individual in a humbls
condition in life, is u very serious mat
ter. Sill we believe there are cases in
which the proposed match is broken off,
and he match abandoned lurever, tho
doubtless this is only in cases OF great
fckleness, or when weighty reasons for
GesertiOn intervene.
The following l~dughoble incident re-
gardlng a watch so entrusted, occurred
a few years ago Jenny Symington, a
well favored, sPrightly girl, IN a certain
farmhouse In Galloway, had been in
trusted with the watch Of her sweetheart,
Tam Halliday, and which she carried
with most S~crIpulous care ia her bosom;
but even the most carefully kept articles
will sometimes disappear in spite OF all
The precautions considered necessary 10
preserve them. Jenny, be it known,
was esteemed a first rate hand at prepar.
ing potatoes for the family supper; none
could excel her in serving them up
beaten and mashed in tho most tempting
style. On one occasion ia harvest.
when the Kitchen was crowded with a
number Of shedrers, waiting for their
evening mral. and while Jenny was Lu
sy beating a mess Of potatoes, what did
the unlucky watch do, but drop from
her bosom, chain, seal, and ali, into the
POI among the potatoes. Jenny's head
being turned away at the moment, she
knew nothing Of the disaster, and there
lore continued TO beat on aud on at her
task. She certainly was a little s%urpris-
ca when she felt there was sill n hard
potatoe 10 beat, Notwithstanding ho,
previous dlligencei BAT thinking nothing
OF II, she continued TO beat, occasionally
giving the hard potatoe, alias, the watch.
a hard.thump with TIE end Of the bee
lie. AT length she thought she had fair.
~ completed the business, and SO inIu.
sing a large jar OF sweet milk into the
mess. she stirred ali together, and placed
The vessel ready for the attack OF the
hungry on .lookers
Behold, hen, the pot, a round rawsv
tripod, planted in The middle of the floor.
y circle was formed round il in a trice
aud horn for hoi n the 81 carers kepan 10
stretch and strive. Many mouthsfuI
mad not been taken, beGor re certain queer
looks began 10 be manifested. 'De'I,s
IN The taties,' says Que. i think they've
got banes IN them 'Banes! saws an.
other, they are the funniest banes
over saw; they're made o. broken glass
and pieces o. brass; III sup nae MAR c'l
them With that another produced a
silver watch case, all battered and use.
Tess from his caPacious horn spoon, and
u universal strike among the suppeIs
Immediately ensued. II was clear that
a watch had been beaten up with the 90
%iatoes; So the good wife had nothing for
II but % order the disgraced pot out Of
the way, and 10 place a basket of oa,.
meal cakes and milk in its Place.
What were poor Jenny's feelings dur
ing ths strange ~denoument! On tho
hrst appearance Of the fragments Of the
watch, she slipped he's hand 10 her bo-
SON, and soon fond how matters stoud
She had the fortlIude, however, TO show
no symptoms Of surprise; AMI although
every n vas wondering where the
broken watch had come from, she did
no: disclose her knowled . e Of how il
had round lis way into the pot. As il
had belonged TO no one in the house, the
materials we're not identified, and as
Jenny was a young woman OF great
prudence n modesty, and had never
shown any u that she had Il watch in
her possession, no one icased her about
IT. In u short time the noise Of the
circumstance died away, but not Till il
had gone over the neighborhood that the
family had found a watch in the potatoe
poland among others it came to the
"ars Of the owner, Tam Halliday. who
highly pleased with the conduct of
his beloved Jenny, for nc thought that I'll
she hai cried or sohbed, and told TO
whom he watch belonged, it would h 70
brought ridicule on them both. Tam,
was, 10 short, delighted with the way
the ma ter had been managed, and hes
thought the watch was well lost, though
II had been ten times the value.
Whatever Tam's ideas were OF the spb
ject, Jenny felt conscious that il was her
duty to replace the watch. Accordingly
time she met her lover, she allow
ed no time to elapse before she thus adj
dressed him: Now, Tam, We ken very
well how have demollshed your ro,t