Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-09-11
heard any time these ten years at New
York ward meetings.-[N. y. Ii16,me.
THE ROMANCE OF MoNoNA.
1 Love, Liquor and Suicide.

lnautsou CIV ISL Letter 10 the ST. Louis Demo-
Just at this period of the year, while
the surface of Lake Monona is the fav-
ored spot of gay and joyous humanity,
whe' merry pea's Of Laughter ring out
over the waves and are echoed along
! the shoe; where happy groups with no
care in the cup Of lie, collect for hilar;-
Gus hedday, and who see nothing in
the fosure but one rosy vista of pleas
u;e-laden days opening, one into the
other, to the years beyond-it is at
such time that the startling death
wall Of but Twelve month ago comes
back to me in all its croeI lea ity.-
Just one little year ago these same
dancing blue waves messed the
closing scene of a love-dlama whose
participants we e members of two of
the most prominent families in Madi-
son. - noifi zslgJ acI Do iit.ii-3.-- -
They were lovers. She, the daughter
of Hon. s. d. Hastings, former Sale
Treasuie;, and he the son of Simeon
Mills, Esq. ., one OF the oldest settlers
and best known res sidenis of Madison.
As a banker and real es ate broker he
rad amassed a large fortune, and lived
in afHpence just on the shore of Lake
yMonona. HIS son Herbert was a fine
looking, talented youth, who, in an
other bank, oiiciated in lhe capacity of
teller. Spili, with all his CHAINS and
attractions, Herbert Mills had one
great fault, which, in the eyes of such
Il grea temperance man as SD. Hast
ings, could not be tolerated. Dge sss'-s
Notwithstanding the fact that he
was engaged 10 his lovely daughter
Florence, and, outstanding the
fact that she threatened to return to
him the engagement ring if he did not
yield to the entreatie5 of love and the
higher laws of reason, yei be could not
altogether forego the allutemeDts of
the " inecup; and ot,entimes,. even in
the presence of his affianced, he gave
unmistakable evidence of inebriety,
and showed that the cbaias which
bound him were stronger than the ties
of love. Piqued at his persistent course,
and seeming indiffe ence to her wishes
and greatly doubling the depth of a
love which could make no sacrifice, the
yoong lady temporarily broke off the
engagement. She would try little
experiment. ..--..- ...- ....r
Ooe evening not long afterward,
while entertaining two young gentle
men who had called, she was greatly
surprised and equally mortified at the
entrance. of Herbert Mills bordering
upon a.state of intoxication. Her Wis.,
itors, appreeia,ing her embarrassment,
soon succeeded in escorting the in-
truder TO his home, and on the nezt
: evening, overcome with remor.e for
his last nights appearance, he hasten
? l.el to apologize. He poured out his
regrets, his deep sorrnw for his con-
duct, his promise SO sin no more, and
finally hisundying love.
Howeve-, the young lady was cold;
J she could not forget in single day her
: modification of the night before, and
! she assured him, in spite of his entrea-
t ties, that she remained firm. ..s.-
!, 'Then, good by, dear Florence" he
said, snatching a kiss and fastening
down the steps; "the next time you
hear of me it will be through the pa
pers." 1-.-..5..,,s., s-.f4sta Do l.f.i5
But after an hour or so of reflection,
. her anger cooled, and she sat down
; apd wrote him letter, recalling her
, decision, and agreeing again to receive
him on ihe old footing The note was
, sent 10 the bank the next morning, but
he had not been there; then 10 his
, home, hut he had not been there. The
night before his boat had been unlock
ed, used, and fioated to the shore. The
J alarm was spread, and search was
made. The days passed, and the aux-
iety Of every heart responded to the
daily inquiry in the papeJs, "Where is
Herbert Mills ?' "It is only a ruse to
see if she loves him." said some. If it
; was for test, certainly the proof was
ample and sufficient to convince the
most ipcredulOUs. Broken-hearted,
} she mourned as the moments dragged
} their slow length to US, hiding her face
from the lake. Hl Uf
The tenth day after his sudden dis
appearance, boatman possessed Of
the knowledge that bodies float after
certain number o. days, and with a
practical eye 10 the large reward, start
ed out early and found the water
drenched Iema.os of poor Herbert
] Nils. He had unlocked his boat,
fioated to the centre of the lake, which
slept so sweetly in the moonlight, and
with probably one short prayer to
Heaven and last farewell look toward
the roof that sheltered his supposed
faise love, he made the final plunge
A gloom settled over the entire COM
mupity in consequence of the sudden
and much deplored calamity; and now
when cast eyes upon this still, blue
faced lake, with its argosies of mirth
and merrimeut, / Iam reminded Of that
white fice and of that too truthful
love drama with its sad, sad ending.
4 Dbl. .r.rl -tI
John T. Newport, OF Warren county,
died q few days ago, aged eighty-one
years. He was born in Fayette ccun-
ty, Pa, and served under General Har-
rison in the war of 1872, being at the
battle of Fort Meigs and in several
skiimishes with tie Indians. He isl