Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-09-02
The Village Sewing Circle, or Practical
Joking.

year 1S-. writes a correspondent OF the
Knickerbocker Magazine, could be seen
two afternoons in each week, a large coilec,
ton Of devoted ladies', duly organized into a
sewing circle" Among the .:sewers that
went forth to sew" on these occasions. was
a maiden lady about forty, BY name Desire
I Ayers, She was an lnvetefate snuH-taker
and her usual tWang was not particularly
agreeable TO any one and she was some.
times. to the lnconslderate, the subject OF
practical jokes.
By the aid Of the circle, five promising
young men were enabled 10 graduate from
-- University and expected to enter the
ministry. But. 10 the great indignation OF
Desire and others, one had " a call 7 from a
charming young widow. to take charge OF
a plantation, which Of course he accepted
Another had a call to ouack medicines
another to school teachlng-although he
soon arrived to great distinction as horse
jocky; and David Jones. Esq. can post
you up" as TO the fourth. This last, Mr..
P, a laundering, near-slghted. absent
minded man, graduated at the Theological
Seminary and went as missionary to an
island in the Pacific
After twenty years absence, he returned
to the scenes of his boyhood, and TO look
upon the faces Of those who had SO kindly
assisted him. The joy of the "old folks at
home" knew no bounds. The young people
| caught the excitement. score of old
women followed him wherever he went. and
compelled him to pass but single night
under the same roof They lived over
again the scenes ofthe sewing circle. The
biography ofth striped pantaloons was
repeated. Every evening, for many weeks,
Mr.. P held meeting atthe different
houses, where he repeated, again and again,
the story Of his thousand conversions, over
which the delighted villagers cackIed like
pulets over their first egg and each lady
! who had set a stitch for the circle, took full
credit for every conversation, reserying but
a small share for the missionary
No one followed up the meetings more
constantly than little old woman with a
wizzled up face, Of the shape and color OF a
cocoanut. Her head was deposited in the
extreme corner OF huge: fariug bonnet, OF
a fashion which had outrun the memory of
man. This was the veritabe Desire AyFes.
1 Nor had the new growth of boys ceased to
| trouble her.
| Tonight there is a meeting at Deacon
| F-'s. Il is November, and the house is
crowded. Mr.. p stands in the door
way, where the keeping-room enters into
| the kitchen. The village arIstocracy is III
one, and the boys and servants III the other.
| In the kitchen is fireplace as is a fireplace,
in which half the village might assemble
and gossip The services have commenced
| All is hushed. And now Desire marches
in. and brushing small boy off his chair,
| takes it. and seats herself beside the huge
| fireplace. The boys look at each other and
laugh They believed more in Desire than
in P. They pile the wood on the fire,
and are pleased TO see her back and back,
as the heat increases beyond her endurance.
| And now the chesnut wood begins TO snap,
and Desire again pushes back; when 10!
| she has pushed open the cellar door; and
down she goes, chair and all, 10 the bottom
of the stairs Mr.. P, apparently half
asleep. walks calmly TO the cellar door, and
| looks down into the darkness, without offer
| ing to assist, or to let any one pass by him
| to her relief!
| In moment Desire came tFudging up
| stairs. dragging her chair behind her, her
bonnet terribly distorted. She goes to her
first position and raising her chair as high
as conveniently can, brings it to the floor
with Whack; and then sits down and
attempts 10 get her bonnet tlnto condition !"
until the meeting is over.
On the following Sabbath, Mr.. p
preached as a matter Of course. the usual
| request for prayers for the afflicted was
read; and among the rest, one handed to
Mr.. P as he passed through the entry.
1t ran as follows:
"Desire Ayres desires prayers
For tumbIng down the deaeon's stairs. !"
Here Mr. P-paused, and eyed the note
for minute or two. Whether the writing
was bad, or he disiked the sentiment. is not
known, but he placed the note BY his side,
| and still kept his eye on it. The last two
lines. however. he did not read, which were
as follows:
sshe broke no bones, nor bruised no meat,
That either cats or dogs would eat r
And now. as | pass the deacon's house on
my way to the paternal mansion. to eat the
thanksgiving turkey. tell the story, and
point out the deacon's house, and Desires
also, to my stage companions-allo Of which
is true othe letter
ABouT SsAKEsA large rattlesnake,
beheaded instantly with a hoe, would, an
hour and half after, strike at any thing
that pInched its tail. OF several persons
who were testing their firmness of nerves
| by trying to hold the hand steady while
the serpent struck at it, not one could be
found whose hand would not recoil in spite
OF his resolution; one man, great bully. BY
the bye, was struck on the naked throat
with considerable force by the headless
trunk ofthe serpent, and staggered back,
tainted and fell from terror Mr. Stewart.
of Mississippi, tells me he once witnessed
similar scene. An old hunter shot rattle
| snakes head of, and after reloading his gun
and standing some time, he stopped to pull
off the rattles, and the bloody but headless
trunk Of the snake struck him in the temple,
and he tainted and fell down with terror.
Seven venemous serpents belonging to
Ave different species. were made to frateF-
nize and dwell amicably in one den. A
beautiful pair Of long bodied speckled snakes,
known as king snakes. found to be fangiess,
and consequently without venom, were duly
installed as members of the family. Some
uneasiness was perceivable among the oil der
members, but no attempt was made to des-
troy the intruders, though they might have
been killed instanter. The next morning
four Of the venomous serpents were found
70 have been destroyed by the king snakes,
and one was still within their coil, and the
two remaining ones would make no effort
al Snlf-dafencp A larro rafflosnaEa snampd