The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-02-12
WHOLE NUMBER 98l
UZTz .OId Toe. :

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In the PLEASANT little town or Hsddouhsld,
IN. J. some yearssgO, there fesidsasn ol5 isl-
fow-who was sfdmiiiarly knowHinths Wings
md country around, sshOId JOe.ss Hshh4
no particular oseopation, noFany particular
lOcutiOhs He ate wherever he c6Biasgtt =
ute, hdsiept wheressr he could nhd s.Ibdgs
ide place. He was harmless old fsilous
md occasionally made q fewkshilIlngs "
cutting wood or working 10 iAs fsidisJos
vas regular old topper. and Jersey light
ming badsno more effect on .tis Ihsidss thkA
% much water: Old Joe was nsvertnsxsp
tOsloser anything but wblsisey, 1snd be ID
lsps that. asI1e generally made his hes1r
quarters at the lower tavern. There Hsst
two taserns in the village OF the timspt
which swrlte. lie would sleep and d6ss'
away the afternoon on an old bench 10 one
corner Of the ,terroom, bat wss slwsys.
awake when there was any drinkfn g6ipgoa
He sdid he never could sleep wh En- be heard
the iiUgIing ofglassss,dnd thSGqfgli9E sound
Of old rye and apple jack. When he was
not asked to drink, he would slip 70 the bar
md drain the glasses Of the few, drops lett
in them. One afternoon, DR.. Bola5, the
village physician, was in the tavern mixing
up preparation. He placed tumbler half
full Of aqua forsis on the bar, and turned
round to mix up some other ingrsdiedts.-
A few moments after, he had occasion to use,
the poisonous dug, when he found to his
dismay that the lumbler had been drained u
the last drop. ~
'"fr. Wiggins." exclaimed the Doctor,
in alright, to the landlord. "what has become
Of that aqua fo'tis put on the bar . few
moments ago!'' 80.
al don't know" exclaimed fhe landlord
"unless cld9Joe slipped in and drank Il" !,
In this suspicion they were both, soon com
frmed, for the hostler said he had seen Old
Joe swallow the fatal drsught. The Doc
tor, knowing that be must certainly die af.
ter such a dose, instituted q, search at onee;
After some hours spent in looking through
the barns, out. houses and woods for three
or foul. miles around the village. hs wss.
bondoned to his fate. It was coh plight,
and us the village topers assembled around
the blazing hickory fire in the bar rooms
nothing was thought Of Or talked Of but tha
unfortunate end of poor Old Joe. With ail
his faults, the greatest of which was his
drinking propensi,ies, oid9oe was quite, 4
favorits among the women and children, and
some Of the old topers hung their hsads an,
inously, while tear 1ras seen to- trickIs
down their bloated cheeks. Some four days
had elapsed, and nothing having been heard
from Old Joe, they all came to the conclu-
1 sion that he was q goner. The Doctor,
about this time, hnd occasion to visit Q pa.
tient some eight miles distant. What was
his surprise when about FIVE miles from the
\ village, to see Old Joe in front Of = far.
mer's house, splitting wood. ,s.s,s. ...,..
i "Why, Joe" saidsthe Doctor, riding up. tc
the fence; Il thought you was dead and bur-
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1 led. before this" ,,..,a "a !. 3 !, VA
"Wby, what made you think that. Doe.
tori" said Joe, leaning on his axe.handls.
i "Didh't you drink that dose ! left on Wig
! gins bar, q few days since!''' ,.si s..f sas,
eyes," replied Joe, half ashamed to own it:
! "Doyou know what it was!'' asked me
4. DOCTOR s,Ff l..- ts t.g..f.aa al sHS
i, "No!n returned Joe. .4f e.a sseasas =,
"Why, it was aqua fofiis-- enough to Kill
, dozen men" :, si s,d,s Ia .y Il,
i "Well, now. Doctor. do you know that
thought there WINS something queer sbonl
that darned stuff, for after drunk H. ,svsry
time Itlo,oed my nose burnt q dole in ny
pocket handkerchief" ,a29 &
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